OldSchoolRC
05-04-2008, 10:45 AM
i sat down friday night and started building my CR01 chassis and all i can say is what an awesome build! i have a few odds and ends to finsh, but it's almost done. Jason did a great job with the online build, so i didn't post any pics - just wanted to pass along a few tips i leaned along the way as i figure there's more than a few people with these on the way.
when building the cantilevers, make sure the index for the swaybar is consistant with each side, i didn't and when i went to mount everything up, i had 1 going vertically and 1 going horizontally.
pay close attention to where the upper spring perches mount onto the chassis, the front and back do not mount in the same holes, and i only found out when putting the axles on and the front spring perches didn't line up with the axle. it was a real pain taking them off and moving them back a step.
oh, and i forgot the swaybars too. oops!
if you are using the rear lock-out, the rear axle's linkages bind up if installed in the directions locations. the directions say to use the innermost holes on the knuckles, but then the linkages do not clear the servo plate. I used the outermost holes and it lined up much better.
the front upper links bind up if installed according to directions, they are fairly short and when in the V shape it puts some stress on the links. i used a longer screw where they mount to the chassis and used an extra spacer to remove the stress and they pivot much freer. Oddly enough, the rears worked fine where they were - i know Jason ran into some binding, but mine were perfect - it was the front that was giving me fits.
the turnbuckles need to be a bit shorter than the directions state, they did not allow for full up-travel of the axles. The shock reached full extension as the axles moved up well before it should have, i adjusted it out using the turnbuckles.
when building the driveshafts, the directions say to use pliers to bend the plastic parts up to accept the universal ball.....this will tear up the plastic pretty good. What i did (and i do this for all my universals) is seat 1 peg of the universal ball into 1 of the holes on the outdrive, 1 peg into the driveshaft, make sure everything is lined up square, and chuck it into my vise. using 1 hand to keep the whole thing steadily, SLOWLY close the vise and the pressure will force the other pegs to ride the channels and will pop the other sides into place. Works GREAT, i have never broken 1 yet, and highly recommended as building the universals otherwise is a pain in the nether regions.
and that's it - i have to say I love the trasmission, what a work of art!
1 note though, the suspension is imo overly designed. it looks cool and everything, but i see very little benefit (with the exception of the swaybars) to the stock set-up over just hanging the shocks off the chassis. if it was set up for realism, i could understand but it's not so not sure why the overdesign. it is a all ball raced, so it addes some cost to the kit too. I can say after the first few runs it's the first thing i plan on changing. Not a knock on Tamiya, just my observation.
Very, very cool kit!!!
when building the cantilevers, make sure the index for the swaybar is consistant with each side, i didn't and when i went to mount everything up, i had 1 going vertically and 1 going horizontally.
pay close attention to where the upper spring perches mount onto the chassis, the front and back do not mount in the same holes, and i only found out when putting the axles on and the front spring perches didn't line up with the axle. it was a real pain taking them off and moving them back a step.
oh, and i forgot the swaybars too. oops!
if you are using the rear lock-out, the rear axle's linkages bind up if installed in the directions locations. the directions say to use the innermost holes on the knuckles, but then the linkages do not clear the servo plate. I used the outermost holes and it lined up much better.
the front upper links bind up if installed according to directions, they are fairly short and when in the V shape it puts some stress on the links. i used a longer screw where they mount to the chassis and used an extra spacer to remove the stress and they pivot much freer. Oddly enough, the rears worked fine where they were - i know Jason ran into some binding, but mine were perfect - it was the front that was giving me fits.
the turnbuckles need to be a bit shorter than the directions state, they did not allow for full up-travel of the axles. The shock reached full extension as the axles moved up well before it should have, i adjusted it out using the turnbuckles.
when building the driveshafts, the directions say to use pliers to bend the plastic parts up to accept the universal ball.....this will tear up the plastic pretty good. What i did (and i do this for all my universals) is seat 1 peg of the universal ball into 1 of the holes on the outdrive, 1 peg into the driveshaft, make sure everything is lined up square, and chuck it into my vise. using 1 hand to keep the whole thing steadily, SLOWLY close the vise and the pressure will force the other pegs to ride the channels and will pop the other sides into place. Works GREAT, i have never broken 1 yet, and highly recommended as building the universals otherwise is a pain in the nether regions.
and that's it - i have to say I love the trasmission, what a work of art!
1 note though, the suspension is imo overly designed. it looks cool and everything, but i see very little benefit (with the exception of the swaybars) to the stock set-up over just hanging the shocks off the chassis. if it was set up for realism, i could understand but it's not so not sure why the overdesign. it is a all ball raced, so it addes some cost to the kit too. I can say after the first few runs it's the first thing i plan on changing. Not a knock on Tamiya, just my observation.
Very, very cool kit!!!