My Dark Impact hates it's aerial tubes

[Elliott Hopkins]

I was at Tamiyaclub's Reading bash today and due to the position of the aerial, on top of the cockpit, I kept snapping the aerial.

Who makes the aftermarket metal aerial holders that move the position of the aerial?

Are they hard to fit?

Elliott.

[HairySteve]

Fastrax do them, they cost about 3 quid I think.
-Steve

[jimmy]

I have the same thing on my Keen Hawk (indifferent sparrow) - its not far from breaking after one days racing.
The keen was 'alright' by the end, running B4 shocks - I wasn't too impressed with the kit shocks or the tamiya hop-up shocks, both have rubbish pistons.

[philly]

Much More do them in various colours. You just drill and countersink wherever you want the antenna and Robert's your mums brother!
Here's the order link.
http://www.muchmoreracing.com/store/...eyword=antenna+

[Elliott Hopkins]

I was under the impression there would be some countersinking needed. Thanks Philly. It's useful to see a photo too.

You didn't like the upgraded shocks Jimmy? Did you bend a piston? I haven't bent one on the upgraded shocks yet.

Elliott.

[jimmy]

Well, I put 70wt oil in the kit shocks - still too soft - or rather there wasn't enough (any) 'pack'. I built the upgraded shocks the night before - they only come with 2 pistons - again these were same sized holes but 2 or 3 holes.
I put 3 holes in the rear and 2 hole in the front.. the rears were just too soft and not enough pack - I would of ended up with 50wt in there to get enough damping with the 3 hole piston and I hadn't brought the spare 2 hole pistons! oops


If you look at the 501X pistons (same diameter but too thick to be used) they have different sized holes (and 2 of them) - and even the biggest isnt as big as those in the DF03 hop-up shocks.


So to cut a long story short- I couldn't get enough pack in even the hop-up shocks and the car would smack the floor from only a few inches high - so I chose not to run them until I put the hardest pistons in.
I think the best thing you can do to the hop-up shocks is put 501X pistons and shafts in them.

The B4 shocks made a good difference and the car was a lot more planted.

[DCM]

I might try the touring car pistons in mine Jim.

[jimmy]

I'm not overly familiar with the plethora of tamiya parts kicking around and what might / might not work... But if there are smaller hole pistons that might fit these shocks properly then I'd like to know..

The rear diff got a real hammering on sunday - I think it might need a desperate rebuild. The plastic plate holders held up fine despite the monstrous power of the mamba max on carpet - but obviously something had to slip (since there was no slipper) and that was the diff.

[dan_kitty]

mine always bottons out at the rear too, but i havent tried the smaller pistons yet. Did you find any temp issues with the mamba jimmy?, mine comes off very hot from a race, Im not used to 4wd so im not sure how hot they are supposed to be? But then again it used to come off red hot using 19t motors too.

cheers

[jimmy]

The smaller pistons is what you need but they still aren't ideal. You really need smaller holes - as thats where you get the 'pack' from to stop it bottoming out and bouncing around.

The mamba came off from the final very hot indeed- you couldnt put your finger on the ESC for more than a second. but it was fine and worked well. Theres not much you can to, I could (should) of cut the air vent out to aid cooling but never got round to it. The mamba max seems capable of handling the heat.

[dan_kitty]

ah thanks, thats what I wanted to hear, im used to running brushless in a b4 which comes off quite cool so didnt know what to expect
ta

[jimmy]

4wd is always gonna be hotter, the motor is always under the shell and you are usually braking and accelerating harder. if you can / want to, its best to cut out any air scoops in the shell to try keep things cooler.

The df03 is particularly bad with the very enclosed motor.

[dan_kitty]

im thinking about cutting the whole of the front window out, but am afriad this may cause arirodynamic problems. Is this a bad idea?

[jimmy]

The only problem it would ever cause would be water / dirt ingress.. but thats the same with any opening in the shell for cooling really.
aerodynamics on the shell don't really come into play when there is a shock tower in front of it all.. The kit wing on the keen hawk (might be same for the impact) is pretty much used as a bumper also and has no effect at all on downforce I reckon - it is tiny and mounted far too low behind the rear tower.

[DCM]

construction rules states you can't cut out the windscreen, unless you just mean for bashing.

[jimmy]

I don't think it matters at all if you cut the window out - maybe in touring cars etc but for buggys you can do most anything.

EFRA rules are much more strict but even if there was a brca rule like that which I can't see, you can always put a half-hearted driver figure in there and make it legal.

Dan greenwood has regularly run his X-6 without front window

[DCM]

ah right, that rule isn't enforced, cool, although outdoors, I have found holes above the motor and in the air scoops was mostly enough.

[leighriley75]

My first post, so hello everyone.
On the subject of DF03 shocks, has anyone on here experience of the 3Racing aluminium set? I've seen a few DI's on TamiyaClub are running them, and they seem popular enough. Are the Tamiya hop-up shocks worth double the 3Racing shocks, and, are the 3Racing shocks an upgrade over the standard shocks?
Cheers
Leigh

[DCM]

I got some 3racing TC shocks, and they are OK, but I wouldn't buy them again, if that is a hint. I might try a set of B4 ones on it if I can't get the TRF pistons to work though.

[HairySteve]

The Tamiya DF-03 option shocks do really need the 2 hole pistons and really thick oil. The shocks on mine are running 50 weight all round I think, compared to my TRF which is running 35 front 25 rear I think. When I was using the stock kit shocks I ran the 2 hole pistons with 70 weight oil! I like the DF-03 option shocks, I bought 3 sets from JR-RC on ebay and used 1 set on my DF-03, one set on a DT-02 Sand Viper, and one set on a friends Academy SB V2. They all went together with 2 hole pistons and around 40-50 weight oil, and they all work really well.
-Steve