K10wN

The IP4000's (25C) are rounded edge packs and fit into all of my Tamiya tubs/battery holders. Only problem with them is they are 3mm longer and you need to trim the chassis slightly with the dremel at the end stops and backside of the battery holder (TA-01/02/03). DF-03, no problems fitting and no mods needed.

Seems to be a bit of air space in the one end of the pack and they could have made it the same length as a regular stick pack if they wanted to and run the wires out of the hard casing better.

First thing I did to them was cut off the useless Tamiya plug of course. Then fit a ribbed deans plug. I've had about 50 cycles through each pack and all are still running perfect.

Li-Po packs get the front/rear weight balance perfect too, chassis jumps level without even trying. When running big capacity Ni-MH I needed to be really hard on the throttle over a jump to keep the heavy nose up.

Like I said in a previous post, only issue I'm having with the MS is the mainshaft gear which is alloy and wears pretty quickly. Rest of the driveline is holding up well to the power.

My DF-03 MS holds the lap record at our local track now after weekend just past. 18.5 seconds, over 1 sec quicker than any other car ever run on the track and timed. Consistant too with my average over 5 races @ 20.1 sec. Best shaft drive buggy chassis from Tamiya yet.

tom_chang79

iTrader: (13)

A little update on my Black Fire Dragon DF-03 Project (don't know what I'm calling it yet so the naming might change from here to there )

I finally finished putting as much sticker as I want to on the Black Fire Dragon body. The Tamiya Color Black is a beautiful shade of black, I just can't say the same for my piss-poor job on the masking You'll see some of the red has bled through, but the black finish is really neat especially with the decals, it really brings out the contrast of those "flame" designs.

Enjoy the pics... Now I just have to figure out how to conduct this surgery, don't want to f-it up so I'm gonna think carefully....

mjderstine

iTrader: (8)

my car with the saddle setup is pretty much perfectly balanced. it doesnt try to move from its take-off position on the jumps,. with drag brake applied the nose drops easily when needed.

take a pic of that body on top of the chassis my man!

Blackcat

My trakpower lipos just fit with a bit of creative dremel work on the Threeracing chassis and will just squeeze in a stock chassis.

My DF-03 is now raceworthy after getting some laps in at the track but as usual something broke to add to the list. This time the rear right arm hinge pin ripped out of it's plastic mounting but this is my fault by not having a brace.

I made a brace out of some strip aluminium and had some A-tree parts so a complete rebuild of the back-end soon had me out on the street testing.

I've got a two hour endurance race coming up this weekend and the DF-03 will probably, if it doesn't break, play a big part.

Nice shells Tom, my painting skills are non-existant I wish I could do anything half as good.

vzereeys

iTrader: (7)

nice looking bodies!

mjderstine

iTrader: (8)

last time at the track after 4 packs through, about 45-60 minutes of practice, i broke the rear left A arm. it broke away from the hinge pin. i have the 3racing rear pin support, and it seems to be doing the trick.

Blackcat

Hi, MJ where on the arms does your rear pin brace fit if you don't mind me asking?

The brace I made for mine sits on the front of the hinge pins and the motor actually rests against it, an impromptu heatsink of sorts. I would have positioned it at the rear but a lot more work with the hacksaw and dremel was required to fit one there.

I'm asking as I'm not sure if the brace where it is does anything to strengthen the hingepins and would be better at the back of the car under the rear bumper.

How do you find yours as a racer? I managed to get some laps in over the weekend and was as fast as some of the other electrics if not faster. I'm still unsure about my turning circle and if can be made tighter overall. I've dremelled alot of the steering assembly to improve right and left turning ability but still not convinced its that good. My nitro Hyper St has a better turning circle! Any ideas or pointers on improving this?

mjderstine

iTrader: (8)

its the blue alloy thing on there. see how it works? the pins are held in place with set screws (grub screws)

works like a charm.
my rear arm broke at the front of the arm, near the motor, right where the hinge pin goes through. the rear was fine.

well i have onyl practiced with it, and it seems to be coming together, i am a pretty new racer, since i usually did onroad before, but i am getting used to it.

i have also noticed that this thing really doesnt turn that sharp int he corners, i have to tap the power to sling the rear end around.

tom_chang79

iTrader: (13)

You can try laying the shocks down a bit more on that last inner hole on the top shock tower to get a bit more steering (assuming that your track is smooth and has quite a bit of grip).

This will make the steering seem to respond faster. Also, make sure that you're getting the full throw of the steering. Here's a dumb mistake that many of us made, I'm sure you probably didn't, but it doesn't hurt to check:

The steering rack's ends bends forward. If you have the ends of the rack bending towards the rear of the vehicle, it's on backwards and it will severely limit your steering.

First time I put this kit together, I made this mistake and I was flabbergasted that Tamiya would release a vehicle with such a limited steering. Upon examining that step in the instruction more carefully, I slapped my forhead and had a "doh" moment!

What I do to make sure I get the full throw is I first make the EPA on the Left and Right 100% (or 150% depending on the radio), basically "max" setting. Then unhook the LONG steering arm that connects the servo to the steering. Manually pull on the steering so it's maxed out. Then pop one end of the steering linkage back onto the steering assembly. Keep the other end where it connects to the servo horn free. Then keep adjusting the EPA while maxing out the servo (in its respective position), until you're able to snap the ball cup in.

You did lots of on-road so I'm sure you probably have five other methods to adjust the max throw for this vehicle...

tom_chang79

iTrader: (13)

My Fire Dragon body on the DF-03 chassis is finally complete. I'm going to officially call it "FD-03MS" which is a play on the original part number "DF-03MS."

I was thinking about it for days thinking whether I should just scoot the body back and not chop anything off or chop the nose off to make it somewhat comparable in position with the actual Fire Dragon.

Here are some pics in all its glory. Tomorrow, I'm going to try to take a side by side pic with my Fire Dragon buggy to show two technologies from different eras next to each other...

Qatmix

Hi all

I'm thinking of getting the tbr bumper set, can anyone tell me if the set which includes the front and rear bumper includes the racer brace front bumper?


Cheers

tom_chang79

iTrader: (13)

Hey what's up Qatmix? Welcome to the DF-03 thread... Regarding the tbr bumper set, you might want to contact Richard or Andrea at TBR:

http://www.t-bone-racing.com/index.html

That's their homepage. He usually responds pretty quickly. Just tell him what you want and I'm sure he can kit whatever one you want, price it accordingly, and throw it on ebay for you...

Regarding the outdrives, yes, the front and rears are identical, except defaultly, Tamiya decided to use half plastic for some odd reason on the rear. Just get the replacement for the front and use it on the rear.

It's about a couple of pages back, but I discussed the 3rd-party outdrives from 3Racing. They are junk. Get some good solid Tamiya ones and you won't regret it. I've already gone through a set of them (front and rear) and I've only gone to the local track with my DF-03 about six times or so. My DF-03 always had one pair that were the Tamiya steel ones (the ones that's called out for the front in the kit), and they show minimal wear...

Would love to see some pics of your DF-03 once you finish it up! Remember, the UJ that's called out in the MS kit (the MS kit is a regular Dark Impact with all the hop-up options such as shocks, slippers, etc...) is the UJ for the DF-02 buggy. It's the same dimensions so if your Topforce one wears out, just buy the DF-02 universal joint. Again, I would highly recommend the Tamiya ones because many of the 3rd party ones from Hong Kong are just junk.

The Five Racing and the Xenon stuff is from Japan so they are pretty decent. I've also used the 3Racing (Hong Kong) carbon fiber stuff (chassis and shock tower) which are fairly decent. In terms of steel components, stick with the Tamiyas. The Xenon chassis is very trick and very expensive, but it is very high quality...

Pics, pics, pics!



BTW, forgot to mention, if you're putting in something hot like a 5.5T brushless on your DF-03, make sure to outfit the buggy with a slipper clutch if it doesn't already have one. I think even a 13.5T would be able to chew through your diffs if you don't have a slipper to absorb some of the shock load....

Qatmix

cheers mate

My mates have been racing df03's for some time, I race a 501x but have to admit that I enjoy ragging the df03 more. At teh moment its only been running a 19t motor so thats why it was ok with the std set-up.

sim600

iTrader: (15)

Hi all,

Can somebody measure length of the centre shaft of the DF-03 for me (center of pin to center of pin, if possible).

I'm trying to compile a list of driveshafts lengths (among other things) as a resource for custom builders and modders.

Thanks.

tom_chang79

iTrader: (13)

It roughly 170mm to 180mm in length from what I can tell. I'll be able to give you a more accurate measurement next time it's out of my car...