Tamiya Durga DB01 EP Buggy (A cheaper 501X?)

[D3mentor]

Im seriously thinking of upgrading the stock motor in my Durga for a Losi 1/10 Xcelorin S Brushless Combo as my friend said that would make it quick enough to compete with my other friends new Nitro Truck. Heres the question as im still a newb at all this can someone explain in a bit more detail what the difference is that I would be buying from a 3.5t, 4.5t etc etc upto the 13.5t?

My other question is should I be buying a new pinion to go with the motor?

Please help im in urgent need of more speed

[DCM]

I would not go for much more than a 5.5 or a 6.5 (6.5 a little slower) and yes, you will need a new pinion.

[D3mentor]

Thanks for the quick reply DCM, can you guide me in the right direction as to a good quality pinion to buy with the combo please

from here if poss as this is where I will be buying the combo from: http://www.dms-racing.com/

but if not here it doesnt really matter, im just trying to save on postage!

[DCM]

depends on your track, a 17 or 18 would be a good place to start, also, make sure you got the slipper set, and that back diff kept an eye on.

[D3mentor]

Yeah tell me about the Back diff pulley ive allready changed that once. My mate Budgio reckoned a 19 would be good with a 91 spur as im only gonna be using it in fields and tarmac. Theres no racing tracks were I live.

Maybe i will just go in the middle with a 18 to be on the safe side.

Also what do you mean by getting the slipper set? Im guessing that its on and nice and tight

[NitroStar]

About the Durga diffs... will the all metal 501x diff halves work with the Durga? If so, what else do I need to order to replace the Durga diff halves with 501x diff halves??

Do I need:

-501x diff rings?
-any nuts or nut holders
-bolts
-springs
-washers, bearings, misc. items
-???
-???

You get my point. I want to order everything needed to do the diff halve conversion at one time.
Or point me in some direction to get a good answer.
Thanks for the info

[sim]

The diff halves are the only thing you need. The nut, bolt, spring, diff rings, balls, pulleys are all the same.

[NitroStar]

Thanks. When it comes time to rebuild, then I will buy the 501x halves to go back in it.


What are different ways that yall combat heat in these things. I've got a GTB/6.5 setup & now I've geared all the way down to a 13 tooth pinion & it is still getting hot. Cut the slot out above motor & cut hole above fan on GTB. Actually thermaled a few times after 6 or 7 minutes.

[Spoolio]

Originally Posted by NitroStar

What are different ways that yall combat heat in these things. I've got a GTB/6.5 setup & now I've geared all the way down to a 13 tooth pinion & it is still getting hot. Cut the slot out above motor & cut hole above fan on GTB. Actually thermaled a few times after 6 or 7 minutes.

Don't know but if anyone has an answer I'd like to hear it. I've given up with my LRP 5.5 b/less as I also went as far down as a 13t pinion and on a small tight track it was getting so hot the heat transfer was starting to make the chassis feel a bit soft! Am currently rebuilding the car to use a 12 double brushed motor and I'll see if that's any better. Most people I've seen running Durga's at club level (er, all 3 of them besides mine!) have run brushed rather than brushless.

[jimmy]

I've been running a 12x2 on a 19t pinion over here in Italy, but it could maybe stand a couple more teeth on there since it's a loose track. I got the car pretty dialled, using a diff and antiroll bars for my last qualifier. I qualified 77th overall. I stuck a one way in the front for the final and the car was really hard work, I got up to 2nd for a long time but dropped to 4th on the last 2 corners. the one way didn't suit the rest of the setup by that point.

I was very much wanting to run the 501X so I could share setups with other drivers like Hupo, but chose the Durga at the last minute because of the sealed drivetrain in the dusty conditions - less maintenance meant more photos

[sparrow.2]

Do the 501x setups transfer at all to the DB01 or are they way too different with the weight distribution? Or can you sort of get away with using similar setups?

[jimmy]

You can pretty much transfer the setups but I had to dremel my Durga to change some things to get the car similar to Hupos setup on the 501X. Firstly I had the rear on short wheelbase, and the arms hit the chassis stopping it compressing fully. I dremeled the chassis to give clearance

The car has no or very little antisquat and it can't be changed - I dremeled the front suspension blocks on the rear of the car to raise them up slightly, only about 1mm, but it gave some antisquat.

Hupo suggested lowering the rear inner camber link (or raising the outer) neither of which are possible on the Durga. You can use alloy hubs with vertical balls on the hubs but the inner link is static and can't be altered.

The weight layout isn't enough for a different setup - the fact you can't really get the same setup anyway is the real point.
I ran dogbones for practice all round (kit items) but changed to CVD's in the front, and then in the rear later in qualifying. The rear actually felt better with dogbones but maybe the track had changed - either way I was running LOTS of droop and had no problem at all with the driveshafts coming out of the diff halves like I've heard from other people? I was running one o-ring inside to limit the rear shocks, and running on the middle hole on the wishbone.

[NitroStar]

I ran mine a lot yesterday on my track with some other racers. I had the 501x shocks on with 35w oil all around. I took out ALL of the limiters. Bottom of shocks mounted on outside hole in arm and #2 on rear tower & #3 on front tower. Red dot springs front & rear. Was hooked up WAY better than with all the limiters in the first time. Turned & jumped well.

[sim]

Here's what I know about the shock shafts...

I've only tried dogbones in the rear and they don't fall out. The original 501X has grey shock shafts, which are shorter than the gold ones that come with the Tamiya TRF Buggy Aeration damper set. I have the longer gold shock shafts and I don't run any internal limiters and the dogbones still don't fall out. The squidgy sponge things do flatten over time, so you need to keep adding O-rings/sponges to keep the dogbones centred.

Also, I found the gold shafts that come with the set very weak and brittle. The front ones break on what me and my friends consider quite mild collisions and they snap off around where the screw threads begin, so you not only lose the shaft, you lose the rod end as well. I noticed there were two part numbers for the gold shafts... one is the 7-digit number and one is the usual 5-digit one. I bought the 5-digit part and the new shafts are the same length but look slightly different from the originals. There's a line between the 2 E-clip grooves (where the piston goes), and it doesn't do anything apart from (I'm guessing) make these rods look different from the originals. I'm hoping they are an improvement. I swapped both front shafts with these and so we'll see if I can't manage to break one or both of them this weekend.

[stefke]

I've said it before and I'll say it again : stop trying to use any Tamiya shockshaft and just use The yokomo shockshafts. They are stronger and smoother, even compared to the WCE shafts.

Jimmy : about setup differences between the TRF501X and DB01 :
Since we can use Lipo's for our nationals now (the Belgian GP proved it to be a big succes), I am building a hopped-up DB01 now to compare it to the TRF501X when using Lipo's because I have an idea that with the lighter Lipo's, the DB01 might just have the better weight distribution.

I also noticed that you cannot change the inner ballstud height like you can on the TRF501X, which is a shame because it is one of the setup options I like to use the most. I'll use the TRF 501X WCE alu blocks at the rear. I didn't like them on the 501.

[millzy]

jimmy: You can pretty much transfer the setups but I had to dremel my Durga to change some things to get the car similar to Hupos setup on the 501X. Firstly I had the rear on short wheelbase, and the arms hit the chassis stopping it compressing fully. I dremeled the chassis to give clearance

The car has no or very little antisquat and it can't be changed - I dremeled the front suspension blocks on the rear of the car to raise them up slightly, only about 1mm, but it gave some antisquat.


Jim i thought there where washers under the alloy front hing pin holders and you can change the sqaut there??


stefk: also noticed that you cannot change the inner ballstud height like you can on the TRF501X, which is a shame because it is one of the setup options I like to use the most. I'll use the TRF 501X WCE alu blocks at the rear. I didn't like them on the 501.

i found this a pain on the durga as well, even with the 3aracing / custom towers
plan is to have some towers made and then fit a horizontal ball stud blocks as well as other things i want to test.

still think the Durga rocks

[DCM]

3racing shock towers are poo... grumble grumble.... cheap carbon fibre grumble grumble....

[millzy]

dcm moded ones are better

[DCM]

it is amazing what you can do in a shed..... (nothing rude please lol)

I didn't feel the car needed any more rear squat, as on the max setting, little bumps would want to kick the rear up in the air, so I have mine spaced down 1mm.

[CAClark]

Originally Posted by DCM

3racing shock towers are poo... grumble grumble.... cheap carbon fibre grumble grumble....

I was surprised rightly or wrongly that the first time my Durga went upside down that it snapped the 3Racing shock tower. I got the plastic ones on now. Mind you, I haven't used the car for months, so the 3Racing ones would be fine now