jeffescortlx

I have a pair of early Mini Coopers (came with the 3 speed mechaical speed control) I'm trying to bring back to close to original condition.
The only parts I have left to buy is a set of drive shaft and wheel & tires.
I want to stay original as possible, but does'nt have to be 100% perfect.
Been on ebay looking, and rcstation from Hong Kong has "3racing" both drive shafts and wheels and tires for cheap.
Any one have any exsperiance with these? It say's it's for the M03, but the off set does'nt look right, it does'nt have the large deep dish lip the stock rims have.
Are the wheels gonna exspode the first time I hit a wall?
And the drive shafts say they are "heavy duty", any one know how well they fit?

The Mad Modder

I also own a m03 Mini Cooper(it was my 2nd hobby grade RC).
The wheels look like they'd fit, but bear in mind that chrome wheels will show scratches and chips more than unplated ones. I don't own a set of these particular wheels, so I can't comment on how durable they are. Tamiya's have always held up well. Personally I've had better luck with Tamiya's parts than cheaper brands from china/hong kong.
For drive shafts search "9805503" on ebay, they are the oem Tamiya shafts.

dragnse7en

My cousin and I ended up both getting the heavy duty swing shafts from Tamiya, They're a direct fit, and last longer than the aluminum ones and are better than the dogbones. We both also tried out the ball diff hop up option but the splines on the outdrives stripped out on both our cars. 3Racing parts are OKAY but you get what you pay for in quality and fit.

jeffescortlx

I had a feeling I'd get an answer like that.
It's just that "rcstation from Hong Kong" Has every thing I need in one place, axle shafts and wheels with tires. I cant find any body selling genuine mini parts that has every thing I need with out paying 4x the price.

dragnse7en

I think I am not the only one who has reservations about 3Racing parts, as I have read a few complaints about them with the TA05 as well. Their shocks are alright, but the plastic top shock mount that seats inside the top of the cap seemed more flexible and didn't you know it one of em broke during an ordinary crash.

I hope some people would agree with me that their parts seem to be more about shelf queen bling than an aftermarket upgrade or mod.

I did like the chassis spacers, which came in blue aluminum. I also bought the adjustable upper links, aluminum arms, and front and rear hubs and front hub carriers. The arms are not compatible with the factory's stabilizer bar kit, but fit good with their own seperate hubs and the rest of the kit. The upper links/ turnbuckles were a total waste. The threaded rod ends are on the short side, and the rear turnbuckles fell apart the most, even without crashing - just bumps in the road.

The top shock mount can be replaced with the kit's stock part, with a little dremel tool alteration.

It was hit-and-miss with the 3Racing parts on both our M03-Ls, so depending on what you want to do to restore your mini coopers, it's up to you.

If you want both their aluminum suspension arms and the stabilizer bars, you may have to drill/ and or re-tap the holes where the stab bar link is attached.

A pic of my old long-gone beast (after the aluminum 3Racing parts, as most were tossed out):




My cousin's car, older same model yet totally bad ass:




My cousin bought a full set of pre-glued wheels and tires from an Australian seller on Ebay - and this is what happened on their very 1st run. The plastic was obviously way too weak and/ or brittle:



I'll tell you the name of that seller if you PM me. I won't spill the beans in an open forum

jeffescortlx

You convinced me to stay away from Hong Kong wheels/tires. I want to beable to drive the car again and enjoy it with out having to worry about exploding brittle plastic.
I see that both Omni and Tower have real tamiya wheels/tires in stock for $25 but neither of them have drive shafts for the M03. Did Tamiya discontinue these?

dragnse7en

He's what I found for you:

<div class="font-xlrg-bold">RC M03 Assembly Univ Shaft</div><span class="font-smx">Item #53597

Those are the ones we used.

The wheels we ended up using are the Suzuki Swift wheels - Item no. 51237.

Both items are in stock according to the Tamiya USA web site.
</span>

ElectricGuy007

Wow! Unheard of for a wheel tire combo to break in thier first run. I bet it wasnt even a hard hit.

dragnse7en

My cousin bought those pre-mounted tires from an Australian seller on Ebay. I will PM you his ebay name so you are the wiser . . . .

jeffescortlx

Thanks, but since I have to buy 2 sets, and don't plan on doing any competitive racing, I'd like to just find OEM type dog bones.
I'm just going for a stock OEM original box art type build. It will spend most of it's time sitting on a shelf next to my other Tamiya's, but do want to take it out for the occasional friendly race.

proanti1

My Feedback: (2)

There is a lot more than one run on that wheel... it looks like it was slammed into a curb. Any wheel will break if its crushed like that one. Half the chrome is missing...

dragnse7en

Both he and I have hit curbs before but never had a wheel get trashed like that. It took us about 30 minutes to find the wheel b/c it exploded off the car and flew off somewhere. It was dark that night, and the parking lot lights did not help at all.

It was winter time and cold. But if the wheels are moving they should heat up a bit right? And not be cold brittle plastic?

Irregardless, he was completely upset about it when it happened b/c he really liked those, and the crash wasn't very fast at all. He had a Trinity P2K2 pro stock motor in it, so try and figure that one out.

jeffescortlx

The rubber looks all most new to me. My original tamiya tires are worn bald, and have been in many crashes, but the rim is still in one peice. That plastic looks brittle.

The Mad Modder

Most decent manufacturers make their wheels from durable plastics like nylon or ABS, which would be fine even in cold temperatures. You really wonder sometimes what goes into some of these cheap junk from hong kong. If he's looking for some similar style wheels, HPI makes quite a few designs. Also, don't mind proanti, he's just one of the trolls around here. Doesn't matter what you say, you're wrong to him.

The Mad Modder

The part # for the original dog bones is 9805503. They go for $5 on ebay.

jeffescortlx

yep right I know. But I cant find a single seller that has every thing I need, two set's of dog bones, and 4 wheels and 4 tires and I also might need the parts bag with the steering links (Tamiya 9415453 C Bag ). But I have to pay seperate shipping fee for each seller. I checked Omni and tower hobbies, they have the wheels and tires but not the axles.
It would be nice to just pay one shipping fee.