Alot of slop in the DB01 suspension parts

[RBX]

Just finshed building my DB01

And the noticed a fair amount of play in the rear suspension especially at the rear wheel!(theres seem to be alot play between the rear axle and bearings)

Anyone else having this problem?

do all brands have this amount of slop?

Or is it because DB01 is more budget oriented?

[Power Surge]

I can only give you my views on my own cars, although some here may disagree with it.

I got back into this after about 15-20 years. I completely rebuilt my old vintage Terra Scorcher, to modern specs. Brushless, CVs, billet shocks, full bearings, clamp on 12mm wheel hexes, etc, etc.

The car was tight and accurate, and smooth as silk. It was a rocketship, and handled awesome. Weight with a 3000 nimih pack was about 1500grams.

The problem? Well, vintage Tamiya plastic doesn't deal well with big on-track air.

So I figure it's time to get a modern buggy. I bought a DB01 Durga and a 501x. And to my surprise, I was amazed at all the slop both cars have. The front and rear suspension have tons of play, you can move the wheels all around in any direction. These are supposed to be modern technology? My 20 year old Tamiya has way less slop. Also, and I know plenty here will disagree, but the wheel attachment on these cars is a rediculous design. All 8 wheels on both cars would wobble when spinning. I solved that issue by converting both my Durga and 501x to DF03 wheels using the Yeah Racing 12mm hex conversion kits. Now all the wheels spin nice and straight.

But yeah, my cars have tons of slop too.

And here's a trick for the axle to fit better in the bearing:

Take a small pointed punch, and stamp 4 dimples around the axle stub at each point where a bearing sits. It will slightly expand the metal and make it fit nice and snug into the bearing. You'll get rid of a bunch of wheel slack just from that alone.

[94eg!]

If built per the kit instructions, it should be nice and stable. When assembling the rear uprights, you first slip two 0.5mm plastic spacers over the axle. Then you slip one bearing over the axle. Then you press the upright over the bearing. Then you slip a 4mm plastic spacer over the axle. Then you press another wheel bearing on. Then you install the blue tapered washer onto the axle and slide the pin through. Now the wheel slips over the pin. Once you tighten the wheel nut down, the back of the rim is pressed flat against that blue washer. This in turn squeezes every little piece together. If anything is out of order (or missing), it won't work right.

If your experiencing play between the wheel bearings and the upright, then you can always try applying a thin layer of CA glue to the inside of the upright where the bearings press in. Once dry, it should make for a very tight fit when the bearing is pressed in. You just don't want to use too much glue or it will pool to one side and your bearing won't sit centered. I've built two of these cars, and I can say you shouldn't have to do this...

[RBX]

I'm going to recheck the manual to see if i forgot something in the rear upright.

[jhammond]

I've always shimmed out any major slop.

It's sort of to be expected on most plastic moving parts.


Julius.

[94eg!]

Originally Posted by jhammond

I've always shimmed out any major slop.

It's sort of to be expected on most plastic moving parts.


Julius.

With the plastic kit spacers in the rear, I didn't need any shims in the back. The front took a single 0.2mm shim behind the cross pin and it seemed just about right. May have been able to go to a 0.3mm, but I didn't have any on hand (kit only includes 0.2mm).

I'm going to be installing all the metal spacers from the TRF/DB01-R kits this weekend (about $9.50 in parts). I'll post again if shimming is any different...

[94eg!]

Originally Posted by 94eg!

With the plastic kit spacers in the rear, I didn't need any shims in the back. The front took a single 0.2mm shim behind the cross pin and it seemed just about right. May have been able to go to a 0.3mm, but I didn't have any on hand (kit only includes 0.2mm).

I'm going to be installing all the metal spacers from the TRF/DB01-R kits this weekend (about $9.50 in parts). I'll post again if shimming is any different...

The metal bearing spacers didn't really change any shimming. They do, however, allow you to tighten the wheel nuts quite a bit more with no binding in the bearings.

BTW: I did switch to a 0.3mm shim behind the front wheel hexes and it made the front end just right...

PS: If you switch to metal hinge-pin balls, and want to use metal spacers on your DB01, you will need the following shims and spacers on your hinge pins (because metal balls are slightly longer than the plastic ones).

Front: Use the kit recommended 0.2mm x 2 shims on each of the front hinge pins. This makes the front nice & snug instead of sloppy like stock.

Rear: Use one 2mm aluminum spacer and one 0.7mm aluminum spacer on each of the rear hinge pins. No additional shims are necessary to get the rear arms just right. The kit spacers are plastic and total 3mm on each side which makes them rather tight w/ the longer metal balls. The 0.7mm spacers are the same part that's found on your motor screws in the kit. They are sold in a 10 pack from Tamiya for about $4.50.