Im not sure what your talking about Tom, because that Mako board in his photo does not have the small 5 pin plug socket for the Tamiya BU cable plug. Its pretty clear, he has a TBU, he has the board, the board doesn't accept the TBU. His version is not the one you are thinking of that you have stated takes a TBU base plug.

So if you wish to wish to connect a tamiya apple to a mako 2018 you can use the HL size 5 pin (which I believe is the jst plug with 2.54mm pin spacing) and the jst pH (same pitch as tamiya) on the other end.

Below are some shots of the jst pH fitting a tamiya mfu slot, and a molex fitting the jst pH female plug (on a tiger ring but same as the one on the mako 2018).

This is why I don't understand why your having issues fitting a TBU to a mako2018. If you aren't using a TBU base but want to use the tamiya apple you need to use what I've described about but I don't think it's reasonable to expect this with the mako!

(As an aside when I bought my tiger and panther rings, I asked Kevin if he could use the HL 5 pin size plug so they would fit my Clark boards and he very kindly did, that same cable would connect your apple to a mako without the tbu base).

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