Tamiya 511 Upgrade Kit - Fitted pics
 

Thought a few of you would like to see what`s included, and what it looks like fitted.

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/j...ps56a64232.jpg

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/j...pscdb9f48a.jpg

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/j...ps58164bc3.jpg

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/j...ps7738f9e1.jpg

Very nice indeed Rich. Can't wait to get mine!

Cheers DC. You must have half a dozen ordered ;).

Diffs are a lot better. Watch out for the lipo mounts. They look the same but are slightly different. You will need a new hole for the aerial too. Quite a big job to fit !

Very nice Rich

Haha, only 3, even though I have many 511's :D.

Cheers for the advice.

So what do you get in the box and how much does it cost ?

Mine arrived last night and it comes with a new slim chassis, new motor mount (more centrally located), new diff halves with keyed diff plates and 39t pulleys also longer drive belts and (presumably) the 502X battery mounting plastic parts.

Think that's it apart from a few odd screws and spacers.

Of course i'm assuming that by putting all this on the car I will become a world champion and all for a shade over £100. Bargain!;)

Two threads same topic... in the original thread I observe that they want us to "cut" an aluminium part (step #17, BD20) - how does this work?

Looking at the manual posted on the Stella Models website, I'd say its not so much a "cut" that's required, but to file down some of the part (BD20) so it does not rub against the newer, larger 39T pulley. Get out your dremel or file and take a little off at a time, check & re-check your fit and clearances.

I'm sure that's what they mean yes, even if they say "cut" but really? That's pretty poor form by Mr. Tamiya I feel - they should have just upped the cost by 5 bucks and included the correct parts... :-/

How much is it ?

I ve been looking at this kit aswell the cheapest ive seen it for including shipping is 109 pound.

Whats putting me off at the min is are the belts available if you was unlucky to do one,are the diff rings available,and also what is the main advantage of the upgrade kit whats it change to the handling of the 511.

Thanks.

Front hinge pin brace needs a fraction from it, its minimal. Manual also states that the steering base needs filing. Mine clears, its close but it doesnt need adjustment. Will recheck once the belts are run in and re tensioned.


Part numbers for replacement items are all listed. The belts are pretty much bomb proof. Ive never stripped one of the original items in 3 seasons use. Diff rings are from the TRF417 so these are readily available.

The kit has been developed with team driver feedback to optimise the car for lipo use. Remember the car was designed with NiMh cells in mind. The chassis is narrower and it generally places the weight nearer to the centre. Diff design is improved to prevent dirt ingress aswell as the change in pulley size. Rear (front) suspension pivots are also included. The Diff outdrives include flat surfaces to prevent diff slip that sometimes occurs on high grip surfaces.

From an advert .......

- Brand : Tamiya
- Part No : 84315
- Item Type : RC TRF511 Chassis Upgrade Set

- This parts set is designed for the TRF511 Chassis and includes a wide range of race-spec Option Parts to further improve its performance potential.
- The new carbon lower deck and aluminum rear suspension mounts enable the chassis to be compatible with square-shaped battery packs.
- The new aluminum motor mount shifts the motor position towards the center of the chassis.
- In addition, the use of 39T pulleys results in an optimum secondary gear reduction ratio.

Set Contents
- 2.25mm Carbon Fiber Lower Deck (new)
- Aluminum Rear Suspension Mounts (new)
- Aluminum Slide Motor Mount (new)
- Aluminum Center Bulkhead Bridge (new)
- Diff Joints (Front & Rear) (new)
- Drive Belts (Front & Rear) (new)
- TRF502X J parts (battery holder)
- 39T Ball Diff Pulley (Front and Rear)
- TRF417 Diff Plates (Front and Rear)
- Compatible with TRF 511 chassis ONLY

I,ve looked at the instructions on the Stella site and the parts are listed in Japanese, is there any english available?

Replacement part numbers are listed in the upgrade manual. Most of them likely to be special order i would imagine. That doesnt mean that they arent available though. Just takes a little longer to get them.

I paid €110 on pre-order + €15 Euro shipping from HK.

I've never stripped a belt on my 511 and I got it on pre-order back when it was released. As for the rest I think Rich sums it up well...

Thanks Rich good to know about the front brace (lol - mine is mangled from the local 1/8 track anyway!), looks like you're using the alu steering base (as am I) - the upgrade manual refers to the stock plastic one which is a totally different shape so I'm hoping the Hop-Up doesn't need to be filed.

+1

Here you go...

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/10492238/IMG...103_205047.jpg

Thanks Rich for info.

Thanks for the parts list:)

...too bad none of those part numbers are recognized on Tamiya's website, Google doesn't even know what they are!

..... Hence the term special order

Never had any problem getting parts for the 511 myself. Some you just need to order that's all.

belts and so
 

Hello, my name is Miroslav, I'm from Czech Republic and until now I was just the reader.

I wondered how the special order works? Is there just the way through local Tamiya supplier or can I contact Tamiya myself?

Belts and pulleys are one of the parts that breaks most in my experience. I think they should really make it widely available. I managed to strip three rear belts and three rear pulleys at my 501, because of no diff covers and stone got under the rear pulley. Month ago I bought brand new 511, bought second handed unbuilt and I would really like to upgrade it with the new chassis, but I'm simply worried that I might experience some belts/pulleys problems as well. I can imagine, that then I would wait 3 months before Tamiya will ship parts to Europe. I already have the Fredriks diff covers for my 511, but worried still - I never broke anything else then belts and pulleys on my TRF buggies.

Hi Miroslav and welcome.

If you're not able to source them locally in the Czech Republic you can see if the team in Germany are expecting to distribute them (http://www.tamiya.de/de/service/kontakt.htm) - I suspect they will as they did for the 501 and 511.

Otherwise there's always eBay or an online store from Hong Kong or Japan.

re
 

Thank you very much for the link. There is Tamiya distributor at Czech Republic as well, but I hate to use their services. There is not very much TRF cars at Czech Rep. (I know about 4 buggies only) so they do not have anything on stock for them. Therefore they must order it from USA/Japan the same way as I would done it. Except there is one more shipping price included (from distributor to me), one more profit (I understand that they can not sell it to me without any), one more time delay (they order only once in a week, from Japan probably once a month), I think you got the point.

You are right there is always ebay, amainhobbies and other sites, but try to google 13700123 pulleys or 16248001 belt. Ebay do not know it yet, and what is even worse, Google will find nothing as well!!

I wondered if you guys can guess if these new spare parts will be available later, or if it will be just this special order thing forever. I'm in this only for 3 years, but perhaps you experienced similar situation with TRF products already, for example with common spare parts when new model comes out.

If the common experience is that sooner or later special order parts will be available at hobby shops and ebay, then I will risk the purchase and pray. But if special order parts mostly keeps forever being only special order items, then I'm afraid I will have to give up this beautiful upgrade :blush:

Yes, this is typically the case. It will take some time for the part numbers to become available individually (from Tamiya) or from people who break up Upgrade Kits. I can assure you Tamiya will make lots of spares, this is one of their main competition chassis' worldwide.

Unfortunately this doesn't mean they'll be easy to get, some 511 parts are difficult to get now... :( It was impossible to find a 511 carbon lower chassis plate a few weeks ago, I bet there will be a lot (of standard ones) available soon!

My money is on a 511 v2 very shortly with the upgrade kit included, if that's the case then parts will be available for a few years to come.

But I'd never recommend buying something on my advice... ;)

Will this kit fit a 501x worlds car? Im thinking about trying it.

No i dont think so, it states on the box that its for the 511 only.

......ooops double post, see below:)

No, Rich is right, the 501x and 501x W.E alloy diff housings have different mounting holes and positions on the chassis, so it wont work;)

I thought you`d know Steve :)

Have you got yours yet ?

Not the best pic but here's a side-by-side with the stock 511 chassis.

The standard one is the one with the battery slots of course.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/10492238/Plates-1.jpg

Subtle but significant changes.

511 is too flexible without a lower plate... ;)

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/10492238/Flexi-1.jpg

Put the kit on the 511 last night.

Love it!

Does anyone know what the new internal ration of the car is now due to the pulley sizes?

:blush:

It's in the manual.

2.17 on the new kit. 2.06 on the old one.

Have you got yours yet ?[/QUOTE]

:lol: not yet buddy, I ran that lipo position before mr tamiya thought of it:woot:

not sure if to do it or not as I do like to use a one way a lot.........decisions, decisions....

Finally finished - it took longer than I anticipated because of other projects but I'm happy with the result.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ps14cc68c6.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ps9587bd1b.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ps5fbc17c0.jpg

I found that I could simply add 4x1mm spacers for the front aluminium brace and file down the plastic bumper rather than trimming the aluminium bit itself.

I'd mention again that I think Mr. Tamiya should have included adapted parts for us to use rather than making us trim existing ones.

I'm not sure of the benefits of the thinner chassis, it seems to serve no purpose as it in itself doesn't really affect the centre of mass but does expose a little more.

But I am convinced the belt swap allowing the motor to be moved inboard will be a big improvement, especially for those with short motor shafts as I have - now the mesh is much more confidence inspiring.

But the front belt will surely rub on the servo stay now... shame:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ps624f2cc8.jpg

For the extra teeth and the belt swap alone I think this was worth it but I can't imagine huge improvements in lap times. On the other hand I enjoyed the excuse to do a ground up rebuild of my 511, it's not something I need to do often and it was a nice reminder of the privilege we have to own such a nice bit of kit.

Well, I've put my upgrade kit together now. Quite surprisingly I did not have to shave any of my plastic or aluminium parts for clearance on the belts and pulleys.

I like the chassis but am a bit disappointed with a few things.

First, to me it looks like the top bridge was an unnecessary new part, and the kit could have been a tad cheaper.

Second, I'm not liking the fit of the lipo trays at all. My Lipos have a LOT of side play. The max width for lipos is 47mm and I measured 48mm. While it may not seem a big difference, it lets the lipo move quite a bit.

Besides, I'm getting quite a bit annoyed at the impossibility to have the plugs facing towards the front of the car, meaning quite long wires from ESC to the packs.

Soooo I've come up with a new design for the top deck that will allow the plugs to be placed forwards, along with new lipo trays.

I'm currently waiting on the parts to be produced, I will post pictures once I'm 100% sure all fits well.

First run will be on sunday, hopefully with the new lipo mounting way :thumbsup:

It's reversed so I don't think so...

Agreed, Fredrick's trays were much more secure, mine also have +1mm play. They are for LiFe batteries, I wonder if they're bigger?

:) Been used to it since the 501x came out and all my wires sets are the required length now!

Looking forward to it....

A bit of an FYI:

I was vexed by how close the front belt ran to the included servo stay so I had a look through my parts box and can confirm:

Tamiya 53875 TA05 Lightweight Aluminium Servo Stay
http://tamiyashop.jp/shop/images//5/3/53875.jpg

Does the trick perfectly. You have to accept half-height stays but I'm pretty sure that won't be an issue.

The key here is that this pack has asymmetrical stays with a bevelled top surface so it falls comfortably under the belt. It's still close but the gap is increased about 200%.

Edit: also available in black

Tamiya 84010 TA05 Lightweight Aluminium Servo Stay Black
http://www.myrcstation.com/webshaper...ya/84010_l.jpg