TRF501X build
 

Since the "TRF501X in production" thread is becoming quite long, perhaps it is time to start some other threads about the car. Since I'm in the process of building mine, first one about the construction.

First : I'm not the first to notice, but the packaging of the TRF501 is not as logical as the AE or Losi cars i've build over the last years. Parts are not packaged together in building steps and you can have a hard time looking for the right screw, bearing, washer, etc. In older Tamiya cars, the bags were clearly identified and every part listed in the instruction manual mentioned the parts bag it was in. This is not the case in the TRF. On the other hand, the instructions are very clear and classic tamiya quality.

Secondly : On constructing the slipper clutch, I noticed that it was quite easy to build it with a rather dramatic wobble of the spur gear. After 3 rebuilds, it was fine though.

third : although the screws are definately better then with the ZX5, be carefull when tightening them and use a quality hex driver or you will round them.

Starting on the diffs now.

BTW, I noticed the manual doesn't mention the use of the bleeding holes on the shocks.

Well, considering there seems to be a few members on here that have the 501, there seems to be a lack of finished painted bodies. Had anyone finished one yet?

heh, maybe it is due to a painter taking a week off from painting over christmas :D

Have you anything planned, bodyshell wise. Has anyone tried fitting an MR4-BX shell over the top of the TRF501X?

The DI didn't have the labelled bags that the older Tamiya cars had.

Neo do you still have your DI? Or have you traded it in for an antique XX4?

Elliott.

you could probably get a BX shell to fit....

I got rid mate and bagged myself a cracking B4. Didnt realise they were such a nice car. Got a XX4WE on its way too. Couldnt make my mind up really. I wanted the 501X but couldnt bring myself to get one. XX4 is a bit dated, but its race pedigree does speak for itself. Plus I wanted one years ago when I first started racing lol.

Back on topic. How is spares support for this buggy? I, myself, aint coming across a lot of spares on the net?

I already posted the link regarding my TRF501X build some days ago in the other thread...here it is again though.

The 501X has been built for some days already but today I posted the final photos. I have posted some comments along with many photos here:

http://kentech.blogs.se

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c9...0-5080_IMG.jpg

Generaly happy with the build, the only issues that Im left to deal with are getting rid of the nasty standard turnbuckles for Titanium ones, (there seems to be a world shortage at the moment) and getting the shell sprayed!! Although I think that I have a plan for that.

Just uploaded a few pics of mine, unfortunately they were taken at the back of the shop where it's a bit dark. I've put it side by side with my DF-03 as a comparison. I've done a very similar paint job (fluorescent green backed with silver, and gunmetal) but haven't bothered painting the wing :D Unfortunately the other day while runnign the car around to try and bed in the gearing and the tyres it skidded at high speed and clipped a wall, breaking a front upright... :mad: I've asked one of my mates to order me a couple of parts so fingers crossed it'll be back up and running soon. :) Anyway, pictures...
http://images.domino.org/d/91489-1/DCP_1433.JPG
http://images.domino.org/d/91492-1/DCP_1434.JPG
http://images.domino.org/d/91501-2/DCP_1437.JPG
I'll get another body some time and give it to someone who can actually paint... :D
-Steve

Steve leave 'em that colour. It'll be fun watching you race outside on the grass at Faversham trying to see where they've gone!:D

What tyres do you have fitted on your cars HairySteve? They look like something from the 80's :D

Cars look good mind, racing on grass is going to be interesting mind!

Bathy those are Schumacker fullspike yellows, about the only things that work at the Faversham track (wooden floor).... :D I should be able to see where my car is on grass, the colour's bright enough and if I do lose it I'll just carry on driving til someone complains about me shunting them off the track... ;) I'm looking forward to getting the 501 up and running in next years outdoor series, should be a laugh. I'm thinking of getting an X6 to run in 2WD as well, I find electric so much easier and more fun than nitro, no mucking around with engines or anything, just plug the battery in and off you go... :D
-Steve

Just completed my build...

The one tip I will give is watch the shim sizes. I built the spur with the wrong size and it was quite tight when seated. I rebuilt using the correct size and the spur is now very free. In fact the whole car will freewheel for a good couple of meters on my kitchen floor.

Must say the build was very easy, just waiting for my Novak 5.5r to arrive. Oh and getting the body painted by a pro hopefully.

Colin

Sounds like I'll be rebuilding mine with less shims then :rolleyes: What about belt tension, has anyone else noticed that the instructions settings are quite tight? One of my mates reckons I should go a bit looser on the belts, the guide pulleys on the centre gearbox should stop the belts jumping. Also has anyone figured out if the TRF uses 48 pitch or 0.5mod gearing yet? ;) If it's definitely 48 pitch then I'll get some Corally long pinions on order for mine...
-Steve

Steve, judging by this link, they are 48dp
http://www.stellamodels.net/catalog/...oducts_id=2784




Merry Xmas ;)

What electronics setups are you guys running in your TRF501X's?

I need a bit of inspiration :confused:

Cheers Neo, that's useful to know :D Looks like I'll be phoning Helger next week to see if they have any of those Corally pinions... :) Ramdrive, I'm running a KO 2133 servo in mine (with metal gears), an LRP Quantum Pro Reverse speedo, and a Spektrum micro receiver with capacitor. Seems to go well. ;) I'm thinking of shoving a Novak GTB brushless in it, the 8.5 (27 turn equivalent) for indoor racing and the 4.5 or 5.5 for outdoor racing.
-Steve

Steve, I could be wrong, but isnt the 13.5R from Novak the 27T equivalent?
Dont hold me to it though.

The 8.5 is a 15-17turn equivalent I think

Could be. I asked the CML rep last time he was in and he said it was the 8.5 but he may be wrong. :rolleyes: The 8.5 is rated at 5800KV (5800rpm per volt I think) so that's very quick, so you may well be right about it being the 13.5 instead. I'll have a look on Novak's website, that's probably easiest... :D
-Steve
EDIT Yep, I've just found http://www.teamnovak.com/products/br...article-id=182 this info on the 13.5. I've also been reading about the other Novak motors and it sounds like the 5.5 and 6.5 are going to be best for the outdoor series next year... 5.5 for high traction (like Faversham's grass field) or 6.5 for loose dirt.

I'm running in mine a KO 2363 servo, KO 302F reciever and a Quantum Comp 2 speedo seems to run great for me.

LRP QC2 ESC
Air 94361 Servo
Spektrum
Reedy 7 x 2

--- OR ---- (depending on conditions)

LRP SPHERE COMP.
Air 94361 Servo
NEO 2 Star
Spektrum

Bollox Man, get a 3.5 Whacked in :o

I'm not that good at driving... :D a 5.5 or 6.5 will be more than enough for me. ;) Besides if I get an X6 for the 2wd competitions next year (which I'm seriosuly considering) then I'll need two brushless setups... I'm buggered if I'm swapping the motors and speedos backward and forward between cars all the time... :rolleyes:
-Steve

Finished
 

Going to a trophy race on Jan. 6 2007 will tell you guys what i think of the car, as it sits the shocks and springs feel a little on the soft side but i will try it first before changing rates and whts.:p Attachment 445

Attachment 446

Build is complete. Just started the on the body.

I like the look of the body, but ..........
What were they thinking when designing a body with such weird shaped windows and NOT including window masks. :(

It is crazy not supplying masks. I guess Jimmy will make some for his review car and then these will be for sale. I still dont like the shell, why could they not make it a classic shape like the ZX5? But I guess there will be no mistaking what your driving...

Not including window masks must be part of the weird sence of homour of the japanese:D :
"Let's design an impossible window shape and look at all those dumb white boys mess around with masking tape" :rolleyes:

BTW, I love the body shape. It looks mean and fast.

Stop moaning and get on with it, lol, or you could pay for someone to spray it for you.....

As for window masks, they are nowt more than a pain in the butt!!!

Below is a picture of my car, now painted.

I thought masking the windows was easy, it was trying to mask other areas of the body that was hard :wtf:

Dont judge it too harshly, I hate painting :rolleyes:

Looks good to me, Bender!

I collected my kit on Thursday - started building yesterday after a bit of prep with the carbon bits.

I have some of the alloy TA05 outdrives on order to try, so I'm hanging on for those before I go much further.

Has anyone else noticed the spur gear doesn't appear to run perfectly true? Is this just a combination of the friction pads needing time to bed in, i.e. flatten, and that it's currently not meshed with a pinion gear?

Cheers,

Andy.

looks cool! maybe the shell will grow on me. You might want to put some tyres on otherwise it will slip on your kitchen floor..

N

Ran Mine Yesterday down my local club and bent a shock shaft 1st time out :mad: Pish Flaps! ope I can get spares :o

Does seem a bit soft though, running 40wt oil in front and 35 in rear, anyone else found any springs that fit????

Have also raised the height of the front ball studs and shortered the camber links front and rear to stop it pitching and rolling so much!

Pinions are a bit of an arse too, think I need some of those spangly corally ones!

Associated springs should be a direct fit. I bought some as I've no idea what rate the kit springs are, plus I don't think Tamiya have any alternatives currently available.

Hi,

I am not sure if it is so but I have heard that the associated unobtanium shafts will fit so it might be worth checking this out. I am not sure if it was the fronts or rears that they did this with though.

I should be receiving my 501 kit today or tommorow so I will check it against my B4 and let you know

I was thinking about Associated unobtanium shafts, but I'm a little worried that although in principle they may fit, the mix of metric/imperial will allow for slight leakage due to an improper seal.

Does anyone know how Losi and Associated's system works in terms of the shaft length - is it related to the stroke? The longest Losi do, for example, is 1.2" but surely the shaft itself is longer than this (tip to tip, including thread)?

I'm worried about the strength of the steel (aren't they?) turnbuckles and shock shafts in the TRF501X kit, so I was going to give the titanium equivalents from the MR4-BX a try. They are slightly different lengths though; shouldn't be a problem with the turnbuckles, and hopefully won't adversely affect the handling regarding the shock shafts. I'm pretty sure they'll be a direct fit, I'll check first though.

Associated shock shafts won't fit, tried these when I bent mine! Tamiya shock shaft diameter is 3mm and Associated is 3.15mm :(

I posted a setup for the 501 on my blog a few days ago that I scanned from the latest issue of RC Magazine (japan) .

see here: http://kentech.blogs.se

Thanks
 

Strange they list the shock pistons as #1 and #2 but the pistons in the kit are numbered #3 #4 and #5 , go figure?

maybe running AE shocks and pistons ? The ae pistons don't fit the 501X shocks unless you give then a bit of sanding so probably not using them in the kit shocks.


OR perhaps they are referring to the pistons by their AE numbers, so the largest holes would be piston 1, smallest piston3

I have mine built with piston 1 rear and piston 3 front - same as my BJ4 worlds