Tamiya Fighting Buggy Project
Page 2: Upgrades!
This is a very strange upgrade story. My RC affliction often
results in my purchase of upgrade parts for a model before I even build
it in the first place. This was one such example. The
suspension set from RC Channel was so pretty that I couldn't resist it,
and I liked their aftermarket blue oil bottle and mounting bracket as
well. I had installed a similar system on my SRB Sand Scorcher
which converted the rear swing arm suspension to double wishbone.
I did the same thing here, but actually found that the "upgraded"
suspension handled significantly worse than the stock setup. I
suspect this was due to the interplay between the unusual shock mounting
position and the suspension geometry. The result was that the
rear end was way too stiff and bounced like crazy. I ended up
removing the parts and reverting to the stock suspension, so in the end I
have no upgrades on my model.
Here is the suspension set from RC Channel. You can see that there
are quite a few parts included and they match the sintered metal look
of the original suspension parts very well. There are even new
wheel hubs which are not necessary since they are identical to the
originals.
Here is the updated suspension. With a cursory glance, you might
not even notice anything had changed. However, now we have an
upright which connects to an upper arm. All the hardware that
comes with the kit is stainless.
With the tires on it is even more difficult to spot the differences.
Finally, here are all the stock parts which were removed when the
upgraded suspension was installed. I ended up putting these all
back on the vehicle and packaging up the RC Channel kit. I will
see if I can find another buyer for it.
©2019 Eric Albrecht
