Brushless DF-03

[gracoat]

Does anyone actually have a brushless df-03?
Lots of videos on youtube etc, but no one ever says "I spent 50 bucks on repairs today cause I melted the plastic here and had to get replacement this's."
Or... "I totally spun the teeth off the spur gear this afternoon and it's like the THIRD time I've done it."

I suppose I'd like to hear some testimony from someone who's actually done it.
Guh... My Mrs. DF-03 would probably divorce me for spending more... heheh... But there's a bunch of new in box Mamba Max 5700 kits on ebay for some smokin' prices. ...wives aside... Am I asking for repair bills that I probably wouldn't have to spend had I gotten a Durga, or 501?

Could someone please talk me into it?

[widnerkj]

I don't know if anyone got back to you on this in a PM or not, so I'll say what I know. There are quite a few of these little buggers running around with brushless motors, but there are quite a few required upgrades before headed that route. First off is a slipper, which have been difficult to find aside from straight off ebay. Dinball stocks quite a few upgrades for this car, as does stella models. Using the MM motor is pretty difficult as the screws around the can cause interference issues. But the word from castle is they are only there for while the cement dries, we can take them out without worry. The part plastic rear diff cup, WILL melt. I've ordered the 3racing steel ones. So far the biggest worry has been trying to figure out spur and pinion combos for this thing as they are .5 pitch. (correct me if i'm wrong)
One of the guys here is running one, that we put a trx vxl burshless combo in for a few runs to see how it'd handle. (as dumb boys go.. we didn't have a slipper on it) It was crazy fast with the supplied gearing, but all of a sudden turned into a front wheel drive car. So we pulled the rear diff, and found the plastic gear that holds the diff balls had melted. No hobby shop or part support here in Afganistan, so we broke out the CA and turned it into a spool. Runs very fast, and the rear swings out wildly in turns. but everything is holding together quite well. I wouldn't race a DF-03 with a "welded solid" diff, but it's pretty reasonable for bashing.
I've got a kit for myself on order, and am probally going to run the MM 5700 in it, though I'm going to be super carefull on building / reinforceing the diff's in order to keep them alive.

[stebedford]

hmm i was going to make my df03 brushless but i dont like the sound of things melting lol.

Mines got most hop ups available but where can i get the steel diff cup?

[widnerkj]

The best place I have found for parts for this car are right off of ebay, I'll list the sellers that have been treating me the best so far.

the-toyz
stellamodels
jr-rc
toyeast
rdvtg
dinball

There is a very long post about this car here on oople, and quite a few people are running brushless setups in this car. I'd really reccomend the slipper, and the steel diff outdrives by 3racing, if you can fit the motor and keep the temps down it should be problem free and faster than most other things.

[qatmix]

I have been running a 5.5t brushless in mine. The car has a slipper clutch and still has the plastic outdrives. At the moment they are still fine. I do have a spare front outdrive (the tamiya front ones are metal) which I will use if and when the plastic one gives up.

I like the df03 for ragging around, the shorter wheelbase makes it good for bashing as its keen on throwing the end out.

Other hop-ups that are good are

CVJ's at the front
carbon front suspension brace
Rear aluminium suspension brace
centre one way is also good for more steering, cheap as well (£8)

[stebedford]

hmm on a slightly different matter, the steering seems to stick on my df03, like full left lock, when i take the top off it looks like the connection to the servo has slipped and i need to take if off and re align, anyone else have that problem? or know how to fix it?