meowy84

Been out of rc cars for over 15 years. Looking for a reliable, decent touring chassis to get back in. The Tamiya TT01 keeps popping up as a contender. So let me fire a newb question or two. Can it be said that this chassis: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Alloy-Carbo...sAAOSwfcVUJjiU is a 'generic' version of the TT01 and all parts are essentially interchangeable between the two? Sure you don't get a body or motor like in the tamiya kits but you do get the carbon fiber chassis (which to me seems better than the tub), the oil filled shocks (def. plus) and a few other nice alum pieces like bulkheads and driveshaft and susp arms. Seems to me that if you compare chassis to chassis the copy is by far a better chassis (and a better value imho) than the original kit chassis. Does this make sense or am I way off? I also want to mention a couple other chassis that caught my eye, the Sakura https://www.ebay.com/itm/1-10-4WD-G4....c100005.m1851 and this G4 https://www.ebay.com/itm/1-10-4WD-G4....c100005.m1851

The Sakura seems to have good overall reviews and parts are plentiful and cheaper than the tamiya parts. As for G4 I like its suspension design the best out of the bunch and think and looks the best out of the bunch but online part support seems very poor. Belts and shafts being equal what do you all think? What would be your choice and why?

bill_delong

The Sakura is light years ahead of the dated TT01, far too many reasons to list, but I will list my biggest pain points with the TT01:
1) Friction shocks, seriously first upgrade necessary will be oil filled shocks
2) No sealed diffs, no idea how to upgrade to sealed diffs, this is a deal breaker to me, however you can at least lock the rear diff for drifting
3) Battery tray needs to be modified in order to fit traditional LiPo packs
4) Included ESC has LVC for LiFe not LiPo... serious fail by Tamiya

Do yourself a favor and buy the Sakura, it will be far less painful.

meowy84

Thanks for the info Bill. You're mirroring my issues with the standard TT01 especially the lack of oil filled shocks. That being said what about the TT01 clone I mentioned: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Alloy-Carbo...sAAOSwfcVUJjiU It seems to check all the correct boxes on the shocks and aluminum bits. And as for no sealed diffs what do you mean? Looking at the pics of the TT01 it looks like the diffs are covered/sealed. Although I like the Sakura better overall, with all the exposed belts would it not have more problems from pebbles and debris messing with all those belts. Also belts eventually strectch and/or crack with time. I still do like the Sakura though, but especially that G4.

bill_delong

Belt drive off-road buggies has been around for a long time, catching rocks is extremely rare, the belt actually gives some flex so you will be less likely to tear up your drive train on a hard impact, the shaft drive on the TT01 is solid plastic and far more likely to snap over any belt design:
https://www.redrc.net/2015/11/schuma...ff-road-buggy/





There is not a single feature on the TT01 that is remotely better than the Sakura in any form of fashion that I can possibly think of

A "sealed diff" means that there are rubber seals used to hold "diff fluid" for tuning purposes... many cheap basher grades do not offer sealed diffs which will make the car darty/unpredicatble and difficult to drive.

tt01_type_e.pdf




Here is the sealed diff from Sakura, which is a far higher quality:
http://www.3racing.hk/manuals/D4AWD_manual.pdf

meowy84

Once again thanks for taking the time and being the only one willing to help Bill. My reluctance with the belts stems from when I first got into rc cars and my old 1990's belt driven Schumacher buggy. I tend to keep my rc cars forever and they eventually become shelf queens. Anyways, the Schumacher belt performed great but then in the early 2000s I wanted to restore it and discovered the belt cracked from old age and I couldnt find a replacement anywhere. Meanwhile with my old gold tub RC10 which still sits on my shelf I had no such problems: a tranny teardown and regreasing is all it took to (restore) bring the driveline back to snuff. But I do see the advantages of the belt design from a purely functional point of view.

Thanks for explaining sealed vs. unsealed diffs. Things sure have changed. Back in the day the TT01 diff would be considered sealed and an unsealed diff was literally "unsealed and open to the elements" like on this vintage Tamiya Tom's:


I guess you would call this an open diff, which technically is correct but not entirely because in full size case an "open diff" merely refers to a diff lacking the limited slip feature but the actual diff mechanism is still enclosed in an oil bath.

bill_delong

Yes, any rubber part will fail over time, belts are certainly a consumable product, but I find it difficult to believe that you can't find a replacement... granted not from the OEM, you should be able to measure/count the teeth on the belt and order a replacement from a place like this:
https://shop.polybelt.com/

Even better is to invest in a 3D Printer and you can create your own rubber-like belts out of flexible TPU filament

The designs if yesteryear are so basic, it should be extremely easy to fabricate any replacement part you need.

meowy84

Thanks, I love these sorts of tech sites. Gives me ideas. Remember I was trying to do this this in the early 2000s when internet was still young. lol just kidding. I did find a few places that sold such belts (typically used in printers at print shops, etc.) but they all wanted a part number. Maybe the techs know what's what but the people taking the orders at these places were like robots. They had no clue. And no one is going to get a tech to talk to you for a $5 belt. When I told them the pitch and length they asked what machine it was for. When I told them it's actually for an rc car they said they only sell printer belts. Sheesh, way to think outside the box! Then when I remind them most belt measurements (just like threads on nuts and bolts) are standardized so the intended use is besides the point, they said no measurements are given in their computers and items are at the warehouse, etc. Merry-go-round, merry-go-round. Also if most common belts made are say 200mm and 250mm long and your Schumacher just happens to use an odd 217mm belt, then unless you get it custom made or find the company that made them for Schumacher or find an equally tired original you're kinda stuck for replacements. So much hassle for a little belt. This might be worth it if restoring a $250,000 car or something but just not worth the hassle for a $300 vintage rc car.

Now things are different you're right. More companies sell items with listed dimensions for custom applications instead of only cookie cutter parts by part number. Yes I agree, 3D printing is definitely amazing and the possibilities are endless. It is still relatively young and has some limits though. I guess I'll only be happy when they come out with true Star Trek replicators. heh heh Cheers.