Almost finished with the body food the TT-02 kit I'm giving to my step-dad. He said he's ready to build a kit, but I also know he'd have no patience in doing the body (and, considering I've already spent a good 15 hours on it, NOW I understand what perks mean about Tamiya bodies being "complicated". Anyway, here's what it looks like so far.

I'd recommend the Tamiya upper adjustable arms for front and back. These are nice pieces. Also made out of the stronger grey reinforced plastics like you get with the one kind of TT02D kit that has the grey A parts(?)
So I found an issue with my rear diff, one of the internal gears that seats the drive cup rounded out, I had JB welded the diff. Still locked, but one side wasn't spinning like the other. This was causing it to pull left HARD under throttle. Slapped a fresh open diff in from my rally chassis and it's about as straight as an arrow again.
I'm still running YR lower arms, shock towers, front hubs and NHX rear hubs. Haven't bent the lower arms but it doesn't take much to bend the rear hubs. I've had the Tamiya 3° hubs bent, and the YR 2° hubs bent in the rear. The NHX I bent, but luckily had enough machinist tools to bend it right back.

You used flat paint it looks like? That looks really slick man!

As posted above, the rear diff being damaged is what was causing the hard pull under high throttle. Good to go now. Charging up my 3s to see if I can break something 😆

Yes...and no. Used standard Tamiya PS & Traxxas ProGraphix paints on the inside. Then, using my scalpel (I don't use X-Acto knives), I carefully...and, very lightly...cut the overspray film around the areas needing to remain 'glossy' (windows, headlights, taillights, front & rear air dams), and packed away the overspray film (except in the aforementioned areas. I also left the tape covering the windows, headlights, and taillights on the inside. After that, I sprayed Traxxas ProGraphix flat clear, waited for our to dry, and finally removed all (exterior) overspray film & (interior) tape. Just a standard "trick" for creating 'flat' paint jobs. My custom-painted Losi Baja Rey body, as well as both of my Spec Slash bodies, have all received the same treatment.

That's pretty cool. I was thinking something similar just didn't know that was a thing! It looks really good like that.

I've retired my GTR34 body and started using my 1991 Audi V8 body painted stock instead. Almost ready just waiting on the mail to come so I can add a little rear toe! Straight enough to try 3s again. Last time it fragged a cheap eBay wheel at like 50something lol. That was a crazy roll and somersault.


Stay tuned for pics of the completed EVO VII Tommy edition rally car. Waiting on a cheap 13.5T to go with the TBLE-04S, Wheels to match, and another high speed gear set.

Hi guys. Went with the Tamiya 54752 steering upgrade kit instead of the Yeah Racing one.

So this is pretty dumb, but I got the Yeah Racing rear toe plate. And the only way to get less than 3.5 degrees of toe in, you have to grind some rather large chunks off. Even though the instructions show the inside most lines are 1 degree of toe in, there is no possible way to achieve this with the toe plate.

Just thought I'd throw that out there in case anyone was interested.

EDIT- Upon actually trying to use the piece I've discovered that it's only the lines that have been printed wrong. The inside most position appears to be either 1 or zero toe.
I'll throw it on the setup station to make sure.

TT CLASS - ST. CHARLES, IL, HOBBYTOWN

Would be great if our local track (NorCal Hobbies, San Jose, CA) added something like that. On the outdoor track (only Saturdays, except for "big" events which also don't on Sunday), we only have VTA & USGT on a constant basis (the two most popular on-road classes). Technically, 17.5 RC, 21.5 TC, Modified TC, Tamiya Euro Truck, & F1 are also run, but only if there's enough to meet the 'minimum'. There is also a "being what you got" Rookie class...but, no *spec'd* class that's inexpensive, like the Tamiya TT class your track runs.

What was funny was the numbers for oval and on road. It's a small carpet track and they ran on road in the morning and early afternoon and oval in the evening. They had three TT drivers for on road and they all finished on the same lap. For oval they had seven drivers. One may not have been a Tamiya TT car. My only criticism of the rules is there are too many hopups allowed. Obviously you need bearings, but the cars come with a motor and esc.I still thinks it's a very good idea.

Some might say "too many hop-ups allowed", while others might say "not enough hop-ups allowed". For example, I'd be in agreement on running the stock motor, but the stock ESC isn't good, so could allow alternates (the Traxxas XL-5 would be a great choice). I like the spec'd USGT tires, pinion, and the aluminum center driveshaft (the plastic one is garbage), but I could also see allowing the aluminum shocks (they don't leak like the plastic ones). I could also see allowing the oil-filled diffs, turnbuckles, and aluminum steering parts (if only because the stock units of all three are also garbage...ok, the stock diffs aren't 'garbage', but they also aren't very good).

The upgrades I've mentioned are all inexpensive (ok, except for, maybe, the shocks)...but, none of them are truly "performance" upgrades (ok, allowing oil-filled diffs would be a slight "performance" upgrade, but it's also a "handling" upgrade) - they are all "handling" upgrades (except for ESC, which is more of a "reliability" upgrade). Even with the upgrades I think should be allowed, the "performance" of all vehicles is maintained fairly equally, and only the "handling" characteristics are improved...thus, the real 'test' comes down to "driver ability". I guess another way of putting it is, upgrades dealing with "handling" should be allowed, but "pure performance" upgrades would be banned.

Bearings, servo saver, and front universals are all my track allows. Of course some take it over the edge but a lot of those hop ups don't actually make the car any faster. TT class just makes sense if your track isn't huge.

NorCal hobbies is a great place! I read that they just added a Stock Slash Spec class for their indoor carpet track-- if the demand is there, they might do the same for the tt02 (maybe try posting up in their FB group. I like the suggestion of only limiting motor- maybe limit to the Tamiya sport tuned brushed one that comes with the kits?). Does NorCal stock parts for the TT02?

I'm not a serious racer, though, I'm trying to learn, so I'd probably just want to show up for practice laps... maybe run a rookie class- I've never actually raced. I've been meaning to get down to NorCal hobbies for an on-road weekend. It's the closest track to me, but it's still a bit over an hour away, so finding the time at the right time isn't easy. I wish they just left the on-road track set up 24/7.

Took the TT02 out on 3s today. Did really well, till, well it didn't 🤣

https://youtu.be/be0ibqRUbx4

Don't have much room to even do the 58mph it does on my road.

Actually, it's a Spec Slash class. Whereas Stock Spec Slash only allows changes to the pinion (and, maybe, a few other very minor changes...I'm not 100% certain), Spec Slash only requires running the stock ESC & motor, and tires. Anything else you want to change, as far as I'm aware, is "ok". Want to swap in the LCG chassis? Go for it. Want to switch our the (garbage) Ultra shocks for GTRs? You bet ya. Want to change the 2075 servo for something faster/stronger? That's also allowed. Want to replace the plastic shock towers with CF towers (of you know where to get them)? You can do that, too. It's not a 'sanctioned' class.

So this'll be the second time I'm having to rebuild the Savox servo LOL. It takes a rather large hit to break even with a solid servo horn. Ordered 2 rebuild kits this time.
While I'm waiting on that stuff I threw the new high speed gear set in the rally/drift chassis, and changed the gearing from 19/70 to 23/64 for a pretty decent increase in speed without sacrificing the torque if the torque tuned motor. Took it out and ran through a whole 5200mah 100c 2s drifting on the dusty pavement out front with some cheapo rubber tires. Super fun. Can't wait to finish the decals on the Evo VII body!