streetracer745

should be possible. i dont see why it wouldnt. what you need to do is figure out what upgrades you will be getting. then you can determine what parts your going to need. I'll link a online manual for the dark impact(same exact thing as avante just different body) if you got any questions on what might be needed and might not be a necessity just ask. glad to help

http://www.tamiyausa.com/pdf/manuals/58370ml.pdf

rymansl2

Thanks man.

streetracer745

np problem. i see your info says greenville... hit me a PM please

gndprx

Hey all. I'm a very active club level racer and have just picked up my first DI for my 6 year old son to race. He races a rather upgraded Rustler at the moment.

It's still in transit from it's previous owner, but I already have my LHS owner sourcing parts for me. My original plan was for my son to race it in sportsman, but I'm really considering giving him my XXX-4 and using the DI for myself for a while just for the challenge of racing B44's with a Tamiya.

Anything missing off this list of upgrades that I should consider?

TAM53925 - DF03 Slipper Set
TAM53924 - DF03 Heat Sink bar
3Racing DF03-20/SG - SSG Graphite Front Suspension Brace
3Racing DF03-22/LB - Alum Rear Gear Box Stiffener
3Racing DF03-06/SG - SSG Graphite Rear Shock Tower
3Racing DF03-09/SG - SSG Graphite Front Shock Tower
3Racing DF03-10/LB - Aluminum Steering Rack

Kyosho ZX5 wheels all around so I can use tapers, holeshots and bowties as needed.

New shocks. I have plenty of Losi shocks around. As long as the lengths are similar, I am planning on just running those. If they are close, I'll just use limiters, or B4 shocks.

Of course a new body is required to match the paint of all of my other vehicles.


I read somewhere back at the beginning of this thread that the ZX5 wheels are a direct fit. I just want to verify that this is the case. I'm also intending to use B4 spurs so I can have my mix of gear ratios as needed for different tracks.


Can anyone tell me what the gear ratio is in the transmission on these? I need that to set my gearing as needed for a Novak Brushless.

Thanks for the great thread all. Very informative so far!

streetracer745

I am almost positive that the gear ratio is 2.93... almost, but not sure. e-mail tamiya they will let you know. and the B4 gears dont work.... what is the rpm of the motor you are running? you might be able to gear it with the original DI gears or ones built for it. what ive been looking to do for mine, sicne i need to gear it around a 14.0-1 ratio, im going to try running 501X slipper pads and a DB-01 gear. only gear they have is a 91 tooth though. or you could get the kawada conversion so you can run any standard 48pitch gear. you might want a bearing kit... the stock ones are fine... but better ceramic or race spec bearings are a plus. i used the Acer racing kit, but found that not all the bearings were supplied... so you should probly try to find a different kit or order seperate bearings. i think yeah racing makes a good kit for cheap. front one way or center one way if thats your style... you will want CVDs. the dogbones are good, but they wear out fast. mine only lasted a few runs on 3s and VXL... i know you have already bought the buggy, probly for cheap too, but if you really wanna show people up with a "cheap" tamiya, get the DB-01 durga. from what ive seen, it can be amazing, especially on club level, with just a slipper clutch set. no offence to the DI or anything i love mine. race it as well. but the durga is even better apparently. only for $200 too

gndprx

For the 8.5 motor that I'm intending to run, Novak recommends an 9:1 FDR. So IF 2.93 is accurate, that puts me needing around a 78/25 or 80/26. Depending on how I end up with the gearing, I may move to a 5.5 motor.

I'm curious about you saying that the b4 spurs don't work. I run across thread after thread that says you just need to open up the hole about .1mm and it slides right onto the tamiya top shaft from the slipper kit.

Depending on the bearing sizes, I'm pretty well stocked on most of the standard stuff. I'll have to tear it down once I get it to see what shape everything is in and if it needs new bearings anywhere, that's easy enough.

As for the CVD's, Once the oudrives and bones are thrashed, I'll replace them at that point. I'll probably just order them now and swap them out in pairs as needed.

Front one-way is a must for me. I run a 20-minute version of mod truck (we call it pro truck, roar just calls it brushless/lipo or outlaw class right now) so I'm used to 2wd handling. Much faster and more to my liking with a one-way

Thanks for the input so far. I'm looking forward to seeing what $150 worth of Tamiya (used car plus upgrades cost) can do against the Associated and Kyoshos.

streetracer745

it might fit on the shaft, but the pads wont fit. you could always cut the pads and see if that will work though. you can get the front one way or center. center gives you the diff driving feel, but on the brakes it is only at the rear wheels. front is solid spool feel with no brakes up front.

streetracer745

also, if you only need a 9:1 ratio, you could run the 82 teeth spur with the stock 26 teeth pinion and you get a 9.24 final gearing. gives you a little mroe torque out of it, but it should still be almost the exact same. with just the stock gears(26 pinion and 78 or 85 spur. 82 wit hthe slipper set) running a 26/85 you can get up to a 9.6:1 ratio. wanna go higher then that and you can get pinions down to a 23 pinion, which matched with the 85 spur can get you a 10.13:1 gearing

gndprx

Well, my Losi broke in the 1st heat of qualifying on Saturday and as usual, the part I needed wasn't in stock.

So I quickly threw the DI together with some spares. A simple 16T motor with a 48p pinion and an old 4.4k 6-cell pack and dropped it on the track with no chassis tuning and never having been driven since I received it. I will say that I swapped the Tamiya shocks for some Losi shocks that I had spare. Never would have been able to drive this track with those plastic body shocks on there.

This thing drives remarkably well! It's very well behaved and if you can kick the rear end out you can drift the corners with ease. It doesn't get squirly or ever make you feel like you can't reel it back in. I TQ'd during the 2nd heat and won the main with it.

I had more people come up and ask me what the car was and I got a kick out of telling them it was a $140 Tamiya. Even the nitro guys were having fun because of the sound of the gear mesh. You could hear it clear across the pits because of the high pitch whine of the mis-matched pitch.

I still need a slipper on it and to do some chassis tuning, stiffen up the shock towers and move a brushless into it. But all things considered I was both suprised and pleased.

streetracer745

im tellin you man, no matter how inexpensive tamiya kits are, they kick butt. i love mine. all the guys with sbv2s and zx5s and stuff hate when my little tamiya stomps them. if you really want the chassis stiff and sturdy, get the 3racing chassis. it aparently makes a night and day difference, but i personally havent tried it. really all it needs are cvds, shocks, and a slipper to be good. then over time tweak out and stiffen the suspension. congrats on your TQ. maybe you will start racing this and keep your losi as a backup car.

Frozen72

http://s255.photobucket.com/albums/h...t=100_4133.flv
Would a Dark Impact hold up to a jump a little bit smaller than that with a bad landing? I'm looking for a more race orientated car but I still want to be able to bash it.

streetracer745

if the jump were smaller it MIGHT possibly could. it comes with pretty flexible plastic which makes it a little better for hard hits and it does ok bashing. but i deffinetly wouldnt recomend doing stuff like that. i have personally jumped a car with mine. small car but its still a car. but i had a landing ramp and landed good. with a bad landing you could break something. and with a terrible landing you will

pede_187

What do you need to do to the dark impact to make it run BL without falling apart?

muckute

A good driver and lots of open space

Running mm6900 setups my brother and i regularly break chassis and the front and rear gearbox housings where the lower arms attatch but since fitting the df02 u-shafts this has been reduced. Lots of dogbones and uni's destroyed. The internals of the gearoxes have survived well though

streetracer745

well thats from crashing is it not? if your breaking chassis and stuff? you ened a slipper. and CVDs. thats it. mine has survived VXL and 3s for over a month with nothign btu a snapped dog bone...

gndprx

From what I can see on mine so far, a well adjusted slipper, CVD's and "possibly" some stronger outdrives. Everything else seems to be rather solid and up to the abuse...as long as you keep that slipper adjusted properly.

Phelansa

And the diffs. Especially the rear diff. Make sure to tighten the rear diff up every couple of runs! Other than that the DF03 is an absolute peach!



I used everything short of a crowebar and hammer to force an 5350mA/h 3S Hyperion in there. Scary fast!!!

streetracer745

oh yeh i forgot about the diffs.... does anyone make a better diff set for them? that be great. i actually ended up frying my diff recently, but fixed it the ghetto/poor handling way and CA glued it to be a solid spool haha.

phelansa - that thing is beautiful. any other pictures? that battery tray, is it adjustable if you put spacers on the top? and do you think it could hold a 3s lipo? how is it rigidity and bashing wise?

Phelansa

Lol, I can imagine it must be pretty fun with a spool in the back!

Not adjustable no. If you try move the "Upper deck" any higher it will actually catch on the Drive Shaft! So the trick becomes removing enough of the "Bracing" to allow the Battery to fit as low down in the "Battery Bay" as possible. I had to take out most of the braces and use the 3S LiPo as a "Stressed Member" of the chassis. So if anything it is a LOT more rigid now than the CF chassis was originally.

The problem is still mostly in the "Short" battery bay. Any battery longer than 139mm will struggle to fit.

I will take some pictures with the 5350 mAh tomorrow when it is light (wrong side of the globe). The pictures I have are all of a 3300mAh 2S. That is why it looks like there is so much space.

Edit: Oh, I run my rear diff pretty tight. Tight enough that if you turn one back wheel the other will turn in the same direction (normally it will turn opposites). But just loose enough that you can hold one wheel if the other is turning. It makes for really good drift turns. Suits my driving style.









Waiting for comments on the ugly toes [&o]

squeeguk

Hehe, check daai vrot tone, lol. I'm not gona translate that. Ace looking car though buddy.

Phelansa

Rofl. Ya, Ek moes geweet het

Thanks bud. I am pretty happy with how it turned out

streetracer745

do you race it? how sturdy is it and how does it hold up to bashign and stuff? and yes its tons of fun with the spool on the back! i only can drive on the road with it because it slicked down the tires and my vxl on 3s is WAY too much power for off-road... but yes i tend to drift as well, just the way i drive, so even offroad on 6cells i can drive my di really well with the spool. here are the specs on my batt in widthxlengthxheight. think you could tell me if it would fit? 45mm X 138mm X 26mm what wheels are those?

Phelansa

I get bored very quickly. So do not really race. But yes I have had it around the track once or twice . It is very heavy with that huge LiPo so it does take some extra care to prevent it from spinning out. But with the massive power it just flies. I only run about 60% EPA on my throttle when I am on the track.

Those are Proline DirtHawg Buggy Tyres. I run the rears right around, mounted on HPI SS Wheels. They look good, and they last well. But man... no grip what so ever. I can drift the DF03 on Asphalt with those wheels. For Dirt I still use Micro Pins. On asphalt I destroy a set of micro pins in about 5 minutes [&:]

I am currently running an MM4600 80/22 Spur/Pinion on a Kawada 48pitch conversion. It really does make the slipper a LOT smoother (basically replaces the "paper" with lots of little Durlin bushes). I tried a VXL in the DF03. But after the MM4600 I was left rather cold (Typical lack of gearing options on the Tamiyas). Also, that VXL ESC is friggin HUGE. The only way I could fit it on the CF chassis was to mount it on its side. And then the body did not fit properly. So back went the MM. Next I want to try one of the Exelerions!!

Oh, for brilliant onroad grip try some of these!! Proline RoadHawgs. These have such massive grip that they would flip a buggy over if you turn to sharp at to high a speed. They really are awesome [:-][:-]



They are a pretty good fit on 1/10th buggies

streetracer745

yeh i have a set of road hawgs that are kind of a mix between my df and my pede, but my pins(stock) are so slick now that i just use them. and i know the VXL is huge, which is why i never even use the body anymore... haha. and you say the lipo is heavy? you must have that backwards. lipos are half the weight of standard batts. my 3s weighs as much if not less than a 6cell pack... and again... hows the chassis hold up? sturdy? strong? can it take a beating. i really want one but since i bash as well as race i want to make sure it can take a slight beating...

Phelansa

Yeah LiPo has a much higher energy density than NiMh.

This is a 3S 5350mAh battery!! Trust me this thing is heavy!! Weights a lot more than a 6 cell 3600 mAh NiMh.

So far the chassis is awesome! A couple of scratches on the bottom rear under the gearbox. But that is pretty normal! I can recommend the 3Racing CF chassis any day! Like I said, I use my battery as a stressed member in the chassis. It makes the chassis extremely rigid. I cannot flex it by hand at all! I would recommend you get the CF shock towers at the same time.