dragnse7en

I would imagine they mean short, as in shorter amount of settings. There's a missing hole for the ball stud on each arm, and the damper hole positions are different too. The older arms have more mounting options.

xxCARLOSxx

Ok so after cleaning the rear pulley bearings, I noticed that when I tried rotated one of the rear wheels, both rear wheels spun in the same direction. I looked up the assembly manual and it said that I might have tightened it too much, so I loosened it and it would still do the same thing until it became too loose and nothing spun... I then noticed that the grease on the ball bearings was hardened and probably the cause of both wheels going in the same direction when I only rotated one.

Also, when I hold one of the rear wheels and rotate the other, the car doesn't move... According to my understanding it is supposed to move the other wheels as well right?

Is there a reason why it hardened? Is there a solution? Where can I buy more grease in the US? Are there any aftermarket greases?

dragnse7en

It does sound as if you may have a thrust bearing problem with that diff. If the diff tightens up rotating it in one direction, and loosens up in the other direction, Then the thrust bearing isn't doing its job.

I would recommend taking both your diffs apart, one at a time so that the F/R parts aren't mixed, as they typically wear well as its own unit. Replace the diff plates - always! I suppose that if the opposite side of the diff plate has a smooth, unscratched, and clean surface, it can be flipped and re-used.

Blast the three bearings that ride inside the center, and check all the diff balls for scratches and pits. After the thrust bearing is clean and dried, check it too and feel for any roughness. If it's still gritty and rough feeling after a good cleaning, it could be bad, so it has to be replaced. Order item #9949300, 620 Ball Thrust Bearing. They come in a set of two, so you can either replace both or have a spare on hand for down the road.

Always test out and check the diffs after they are refurbished. You'll know whether or not it is working, because if it's tightening and loosening as previously described, then the thrust bearing isn't sitting flush with the outdrive.

I buy my oils, lubes, motor cleaner spray, etc. from both my LHS and online. That "hardening" sounds like dirt to me, I've never heard of grease hardening before, but it could get caked up and dry out I suppose.

There's a huge amount of companies that make aftermarket oils and lubes. I use Tamiya's Ball Diff Lube and their Molybdenum Grease, and I buy the biggest tubes they sell (for both cars). I have about 3-4 of the small round plastic packs of the silver anti-wear grease that Tamiya supplies in their kits, but I use that on older cars I have.

For ball bearings, I use something called LaBelle 108 oil. It's an old skool lube for tiny machines, z scale railroad, etc.
www.modeltrainstuff.com/Labelle-108-1-2-fl-oz-Multi-Purpose-Oil-Light-plas-p/lab-108.htm

xxCARLOSxx

Sorry but I meant the ball diff bearings have the grease dried up, not the thrust bearings... I think the thrust bearings are fine since they rotated smoothly when I took it apart.

I looked up the grease on ebay but the tamiya ones I found were from china but if I have to wait the 2 weeks shipping I guess I will. I found some from Kyosho and Muchmore that were from the US but idk if those brands are good...

Here are the links, you tell me:
Tamiya ball diff grease (from China) - http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=130511046598
Muchmore ball diff grease (from US) - http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=150630714029
Kyosho ball diff grease (from US) - http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=270759948658
Tamiya VG ball diff grease (from China) - http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=390324300696

gundermanm

so would this or the other Rev. susp. sets (#53899 or #53974)be preferrable?

dragnse7en

Here's some USA sellers:
Tamiya Ball Diff Grease:www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p
Tamiya Molybdenum Grease: www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p
Acer Racing SIN Lube Synthetic Bearing Oil: www.acerracing.com/ball_bearings/SIN_Lube_Synthetic_Bearing_Oil-967-70.html

I'm getting that Acer oil along with more of their diff balls and ceramic bearings.

dragnse7en

I'm sorry. The original suspension arms, caster blocks, steering knuckles, and rear hubs are all different on the older, original TA05 cars.It's hard plastic and very durable, and all the parts come off of the old TA04 design.

Tamiya 53899 Reversible Lightweight Suspension Set (TA05/TB02/TA04)

Here's what those arms look like: There are five option mounting holes for the dampers. The Tamiya kit is #53899. The R, IFS, IFS-R, and MS have the 1st generation reversable suspension arms, and are all carbon reinforced. This suspension system is typically forund on any TB Evolution IV car and on the TRF415 series. These parts have been known to break easier than the hard plastic parts, but they are lighter and much more rigid.






RC Short Reversible Susp Set - (TA05 & TA05-IFS)

The 2nd generation arms are hard plastic, and look the same at 1st glance as the #53899 kit, but the coloring and texture of the plastic is very dark and smooth. The damper mounting hole poisitions have changed, and they dropped a hole for some reason. Here's what those look like: They are Tamiya #54083. This suspension system can be found on the TA05 ver.II cars, The TB Evolution V, and the TRF416 and 417 cars.



Lastly, here are the original arms. My two kits didn't come with these, so Idon't know the damper hole difference from this pic. These are the TA04 generation arms.



On my TA05-R, I use the lightweight rear arms, with the short hard arms up front. My TA05 ver.IIR has the kit's suspension, short reversable all around. The TA06 Pro kit has the same stuff too.

I want to change out the rear hubs on the TA05-R with TRF416 ones, but I need to get a different suspension mount to keep the 2.5 toe that I like. I'm also getting a rear gear diff for the ver.II R

xxCARLOSxx

I had checked towerhobbies but they are unavailable for some reason... If I buy the one from acer, would it do the same job as the tamiya ball diff grease?

dragnse7en

Here's a good substitute for the ball diff grease:
www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p

The Acer stuff is oil for bearings.

xxCARLOSxx

Oh well, Just bought the Tamiya grease from eBay I'll receive it in a few weeks.

Btw I just received the weights, how can I balance the car from left to right and front to rear? Because with the electronics weight calculation it'll just balance the left/right but not front/rear. Seems kinda uneven when I think about it lol idk

dragnse7en

Here is how I balance F/R:

I measure the the running length of the car, and write it down. I would then use a spare mounted tire under the chassis, and balance it out. The mounted tire is standing up, and the setup should look like an insane "unicycle". I would use just a wheel to balance, the chassis, but it slips around so easy that it's impossible to do. I balance out the chassis until it's level, and then I mark the CG (center of gravity) with a piece of masking tape. Measure the shorter distance between the end of the chassis and CG mark. This is the heavy side of the car, and will actually have the larger percent weight between F/R.

Divide the total chassis length by the CG distance. Please note that this will give you the percentage's lower number. Subtract the answer from 100 and that's what the heavy side will be.

Now, if you want to change the CG from here, add weight to the lighter end of the car to move the CG away from the heavy end, and do the opposite to move the CG towards the heavy end.Re-calculate and measure the CG distance after the desired amount of weight is added, and tune it up to where you want that CG.

Of course you'll want to balance out the L/R sides 1st, so that the car is easier to balance on the tire. Also because you want the current total running weight.

Hope this helps!

gundermanm

i just broke the very front suspension mount, and i was wondering if you think it would be worth upgrading to aluminum...would i want to buy four to replace them all, even though only one is broken? and which part number would i want, because tamiya's hop up list includes something like ten different part options (though it says they're TRF415 parts)...whats the difference between them, exactly? they're for the most part different shapes, but which would work? (if any, especially considering they all look different than the TA05's stock ones) Thnx.

dragnse7en

If you can spend the cash, I'd recommend getting an entire aluminum set for the car. The aluminum ones are bulletproof, and and rigid and operate very smooth. They require you to use the 5mm suspension balls at the end of each suspension shaft. The suspension arms themselves are still shimmed out according to your car's instruction manual, to keep the wheelbase the correct length and let the drive line operate more efficiently.

The suspension mounts must be mounted as a F/ R set, and don't mix them with the plastic ones.

Here's a bare minimum parts list:

1. Front - Outer Suspension Mount - Suspension Mount A #51065 (qty=1)
2. Front and Rear - Inner Bridge Mount - Front Bridge Suspension Mount A #53685 (qty=2)
3. Rear - Outer Suspension Mount - Suspension Mount D #51068 (qty=1)
4. 5mm Suspension Balls #50994 (qty=8)

The parts I think you're talking about - the TRF parts - are designed to fit a wide array of Tamiya on-road kits. It brings production costs down, especially if hop-ups can be universal, otherwise they would have to spend a big buck to pay for all that custom work. So that's why they look different; so that they can fit other cars too

gundermanm

i'll probably get the aluminum mounts, as for the most part, i work on an 'if it breaks, fix it so it wont happen again' system... but so your saying the 'A' mount goes in the very front, then the bridge mounts go more on the inside as the second forward mount and the first rear mount, with the 'D' mount in the very back? and do the suspesion balls go in the mounts?

dragnse7en

Yes, and yes! From the very front nose to trailing end of the rear:

Image example pending

dragnse7en

dragnse7en

* Edit - SEE ABOVE PLZ

dragnse7en

bump

dragnse7en

UPDATE

Team TRF has taken their TRF417 Gear Differential Unit and has adapted the outdrives to match the belt offset for the TA05 series chassis.

Look for the Tamiya item #54312 - RCTA05 Gear Differential Unit.

I called tech support at TamiyaUSA last week, and they said that it is so brand new that they have no clue as to what to use for a diff fluid, and said that they were expected to arrive in 2-3 days for testing at the California track.

I asked the tech guy for all the info he could give me. He couldn't find anything further on it, like I did on his own website, so he asked to put me on hold on the phone for a bit for further details.

He came back to say that it is based off the TRF design, and the pulley comes in an off-white color. He said that his info was straight out of Tamiya HQ itself.

He verified that the pulley is indeed a 37T pulley, just like an IFS version or a V2 car.


I got the TA06 PRO Chassis kit, which has complete F/ R gear diffs, and have been apprehensive about assembling it, since two of the pro TRF drivers crushed their gear diffs. It turned out to be an assembly mistake, and they themselves are experimenting with diff fluid themselves; yet with not even a marginal answer.

My conclusion -

If you are a BL/ lipo nut like me, you can beef up a ball diff all you want, but it will give out and slide under those high-end Kv sensorless systems. Solution? A fluid filled gear differential.

I would like to think that the starting point for filling those diffs would be at least 1000cSt for the rear, and 100,000 cSt in the front, but honestly I would rather put KY Jelly in the rear diff, and use a heavy silicone shock oil for the front.

On-road driving response is absolute, solid, and has a zero-tolerance on the suface its running on, unlike off-road, where it's more forgiving, and things "dial in" after time.

Do not despair my original TA05 friends. You could do the convertion, but it would cost the car its gear ratio. This includes replacing the 16T centers with 18T, and making sure that the both drive pulleys are 37T, one way or another.

To replace 1st gen TA05 driveline:

#53989 RC Center Pulley 18T - TRF501X

342mm belts:

#54045 RC TA05-IFS R Drive Belt - (342mm)
#54170 RC TA05VII Drive Belt (342mm) Low Friction

Add the gear diiff both F/R for cost savings, or build your own 37T ball diiff, one-way, or direct coupling.

Good to see a gear diff again - especiallly for on-road!!!!

dragnse7en

The TA05 gear diff unit fits very well in both my cars. The Exotek version will need zero shims, as the lower tub deck frames will need at least two 0.1mm x 10mm shims on each side of the outdrives to complete.

Exotek TA05 ver.II R



Exotek TA05 ver.II R

gundermanm

do u use or 28mm wheels? because my wheels sometimes rub against the upper connections for the front arms

dragnse7en

Naw, I use 24mm wheels and tires. Where did you find 28mm ones?

When I use 26mm HPI wheels and tires I had the same problem in the front end. I solved that issue by sanding a little bit off the ends of the ball connectors to make them have a flat spot. The raised letttering was rubbing against them.

gundermanm

oops. i meant 26... but your x-patterns were 26? mine had already worn before i found out

dragnse7en

Yep - the HPI pro compund belted radial X pattern tires are 26mm wide. I think all the X pattern tires are 26mm.

gundermanm

i think u can get them in 24...i think