Gearing the Tamiya Up
OK everyone - so I tested the TT-02 on the stock Tamiya gearing to see what top speed we could hit straight out of the box.
The result was….less than flattering.
It achieved a top speed of…26mph! Fast right?
Even though Frank and Nick found it hilarious, we could tell that it was just a matter of gearing the car correctly to unlock the performance of the Hobbywing motor - remember the stock gear ratios are for a Tamiya brushed 540.
It was clearly hitting top speed and maxing out instantly (also the motor was cold throughout despite being bashed for half an hour). So now let's see how much quicker we can make this car!
First things first - I know that it will never be as quick as some of the more expensive RTR cars that sit on the shelves at Wheelspin, but I love these Tamiya kits. Half the fun of having an R/C model car is in the building and messing around with it and upgrading/repairing etc. So we might not achieve Infraction speed but let's make it at least respectable.
First thing is to remove the spur gear cover.
The next step is to remove the rear differential cover. This can be accessed by removing the rear shock tower and the shocks themselves. You will need to take the drive shafts out at this point.
Now you need to remove the motor (literally two screws underneath the chassis), and remove the prop shaft. The prop will easily come out of the front coupling if you gently lift it from the back end and wiggle it out. This is great news because it means you do not have to open the front differential at all. When it's out you need to remove the stock spur gear, the original coupling, and the rear differential pinion gear.
Parts being used:
- TT-02 high speed gear set
part ref: HC-54500.
- Tamiya pinion gears
part ref: HC-50477.
- Optional TB-03 spur gear
part ref: HC-51356.
The stock spur gear is 70t - the high speed gear set spur gear is 68t, but I will be taking advantage of the torque of the 3300kv brushless motor to use the optional 64t spur from the TB-03 chassis that is a direct bolt on replacement. To add to this I am upping the stock 22t pinion to a 25t.
The speed gear set comes with a great little manual showing all gear ratios and where to mount the motor depending on what number of teeth are on the pinion and spur gear on your setup. You can continue to use the stock motor mount (we will see if it breaks).
When removing the motor from the plate, you will see that it is in position G (22).
See above - all you need to do is find the section for the spur gear you have (64t/68t/70t), and then find the pinion teeth number on that section and then work your way to the left and that will be your motor position.
You can see that for a 25t pinion and 64t spur we will need motor position D (19). Simply turn the motor plate around for positions A - E.
Once the motor is in its new position the new pinion and spur should mesh perfectly as before. Remember to re-grease all gears and moving parts.
Spot the mistake! Once re-assembled, the car should be ready to go. I will update you guys when I have a new speed reading!
One final thing - when gearing up your car, you are putting extra stress on the motor. Always check its temperature when running a new gear ratio. If your motor is too hot the car is geared up too much.
