Side by Side

Long Overdue Maintenance

Today, I replaced the belts that had been on my car since last June. They were still in pretty good shape, but they looked haggard. While I had the car apart, I also installed a brand new ball-diff with diff shields.

I cleaned a spot on both of the belts so you could have an idea of what they used to look like. The belt on the right had a run in with a rock at one point.

Team Excel belts installed:

Tamiya Transmitter Bag

Whenever I travel long distance with my RC gear, I always pack my transmitter in the original box it came in. This can be a hassle, though, when travelling to local drift sessions. I picked up this transmitter bag from TamiyaUSA.com on sale for $10. The bag is made from neoprene, so it won't protect your transmitter from a high fall. But it will protect it from getting scratched in the back seat or trunk of you car, or from getting dirty at the track. It's perfect for Tamiya fans or drifters on a budget.

With my Futaba 3PM inside:

3-Lap Time Attack

I've been watching too many Best Motoring videos lately...
This is a stock TT-01 (set up for drifting) that I just put some rubber tires on. I know it's not exactly the fastest RC around, but it sure is fun to drive.

Waiting for My New Spur...

I finally got around to sealing the lower deck, and it was supposed to be my first full day of testing. However, this happened after only a few minutes of driving:
This is the first time one of my spurs has been eaten after years of owning belt-driven cars, so I guess I really can't complain...

Square TA05 Hop-ups

Yesterday, I installed some hop-ups on my Square TA05. I switched out the bushings in the steering arms for a nice set of ball bearings and also added some 5mm shims to eliminate play on the posts. While I had the upper deck removed I sealed it with CA glue.

Bearings installed:
5mm shims installed (Tamiya #53587):
Sealed upper deck:

Square TA05 - Initial Impressions

I haven't spent too much time behind the wheel of this conversion yet, but it already (with very little tuning) feels as good as, if not better than, my main TA05 drifter. Here are some of my first impressions:

• The chassis has plenty of steering without feeling like it's oversteering (I'm not really sure if that makes sense). It doesn't need a lot of steering input to initiate drifts, and once you set your angle it's happy to stay pointing where you want it.
• I've tested it with two different batteries (a lightweight 2000mAh and a heavier 3600mAh), and it felt much better with the 3600. With the 2000, it felt as if there wasn't enough weight in the rear to keep it sideways, and the car wanted to straighten out on long sweepers. With the 3600, the car was still plenty responsive, and long drifts were much easier to maintain. The chassis does have two sets of mounting holes for the battery; the standard location (which I'm using now), and one that moves the battery 10mm closer the rear diff (which I still haven't tested). The rear location should better suit lightweight batteries.

Here are a couple of things I don't like:

• The motor is completely unprotected and sticks out about 12mm from the chassis. This isn't a big deal for me (I still run cheap brushed motors ^_^) but might cause some concern for those who run brushless motors.
• I don't generally have a problem with Phillips head screws, but I really don't like using them on the motor mounts. I'll be replacing them in the very near future with some quality hex screws.

A few closeups of the completed chassis:

Square TA05 Build

Here are some pictures I took while working on the conversion.

Opening the box:
Upper and lower decks:
Front end installed:
Rear end and belts:
95% complete:

Square TA05 Drift Conversion

Today, I'll start building my next chassis, the Square TA05 Drift Conversion Kit. I've been wanting to try this kit since I first read about it and hope to have it done within the next few days.