TT02 FRD: Swapping Eagle Parts to Reduce Front End Play

I really like my Eagle Racing TT02 FRD, and plan on keeping it for a while. If I have one main complaint about the chassis it is the excessive amount of front end slop it has. I have changed rod ends, and shimmed up places as much as I could, but there are some things that can't be fixed as easily without causing binding. The stock upper arms are one of the main culprits here. Despite having a seriously long pivot shaft, the arms were designed too narrow, and due to manufacturing tolerances, this created a lot of slop in some cases.

I think Eagle listened to it's customers and team drivers, and chose to make this better on the new TT02 RWD chassis that was recently released.

Designing a New Style of Wire Retainer

One of the things that I haven't used in my chassis builds up until now is motor wire retainers. I like the look of them, but don't care for the cost. Once I have my motor wires all done up neatly, what do I do with the sensor cable? Recently I gained access to a 3D printer, so I thought I would work on a better wire retainer design as a first project. Someone may have already done it, but I have not seen a design that also retains the sensor cable. So I modeled up the design in Solidworks, and printed out the first prototype parts.

Sakura D4: Got lock?

I really like the design of the D4 overall, but as I have mentioned earlier, I feel like the front lower arms are just a little too big in diameter.  The insides of the wheels hit at full lock, and can stop the wheel rotating, inducing a spin.  I was able to gain a little more by adding 7mm hexes and 1mm spacers to get some decent angle, but the wheel still hit pretty easily.

Here is what it looks like with the wide hexes.  Not bad, but the wheel is hitting the y-arm at this point.

Respect the Drift!: Hobbytown Mooresville Drift Comp

Our local track, Hobbytown USA, in Mooresville, NC held a drift comp this past Sunday, February 22nd.  The name of the event was "Respect the Drift" since that is the mantra we have when sliding together, and what we try to instill into new drivers.  The turnout was good, and lots of nice rides came out to battle.

TT02 FRD: Changing the Rear Gearing

After initially running my TT02 FRD with the recommended 10.5T motor, it seemed a little slow even with the timing bumped up.  Eagle hasn't released an alternate gear set specifically for the TT02 FRD, but they do have a countersteer gear set for the regular TT02.  By adding the TT02 FRD Joint Cup Shaft to the countersteer gear set, you are supposed to be able to use those gears.  The stock gears on the FRD are 39/15.  The CS gears are offered in 27/16 , 25/16, and 22/16.  I received all the parts that are required, and they can be made to work, but it is not a simple "drop in" operation.

The Joint Cup:

TT02 FRD: More Bling from Eagle Racing

Been doing a few more upgrades to the Eagle Racing TT02 FRD.  First up is a nice, heavy duty servo mount.

It is really nicely made, comes with all mounting hardware, and best of all...

Eagle Racing TT02 FRD Update: Brakes and Weights

Just a quick update on a couple of new additions to the Eagle Racing TT02 FRD.  First order of business is a brake upgrade.  Eagle Racing makes a really nice disk brake kit that comes in several colors.  Be sure and order the set that fits the R31 chassis, as it also fits the TT02 FRD.  I picked the light blue color that matches the rest of the chassis.  The kit comes with four nice aluminum calipers, rotors/hexes, and all the hardware needed to install them, including shims to take up any play in the axles, if needed.

Eagle Racing TT02 FRD: Current Chassis Settings and Corner Weights

With the holidays, and taking a trip to visit family, I have not had much opportunity to test the new TT02 FRD chassis at the local carpet track.  I have been able to spend some time testing on the polished concrete in my garage though.  I have been playing around with springs, weight, and alignment settings.  I am also trying to stick mainly with parts that come with the car, along with using some cheap fixes, to demonstrate that it can be pretty capable without throwing a lot of money and  parts at it.  I recently invested in a setup station from Yeah Racing to make the setup process more consistent and accurate.  Couple that with an Integy set up board and ride height gauge, and it is easy to do the setup right.  You can get by with some simple tools and a flat surface, but using the whole system makes the process go a bit smoother, for me.

Eagle Racing Dampers: A Cheap Fix for Sticking

The Eagle Racing dampers, that come in their poplar offerings, are similar to other dampers on the market, specifically Tamiya.  They are machined well, and have a nice finish overall, but have one main shortcoming.  They tend to be sticky out of the box, and don't provide smooth, free suspension movement.  Many folks may upgrade to a nice set of TRF dampers, or dampers from another manufacturer.  If your budget is tight, there is an easy and cheap fix to the sticky dampers, that will improve them a great deal over stock.  This mod was mentioned in Patrick's  YouTube video of his R31 setup, and I am documenting that mod step by step.

The only thing required for the mod is four Dubro 4-40 nylon washers, or alternatively you can use the spacers that come in the Tamiya TRF Damper Rod Guide & O-Ring set (53574).  The spacer is approximately 2mm thick, and can be seen in the pic below.

Eagle Racing TT02 FRD: Finishing up the Chassis

I had a little bit of a delay finishing the chassis up, because I needed a longer sensor cable for my Speed Passion 10.5 motor.  While I was waiting, I went ahead and made a simple mount for they gyro.  It is made from a small piece of extruded aluminum.  I like mounting the gyro this way, because I can mount it more securely to the chassis using the bracket.  I also use two pieces of double sided tape on the back side to minimize the vibration that the gyro sees.  I have had good results using this method.

Eagle Racing TT02 FRD: Moving to the Front

With the rear finished up for the time being, it is time to move towards the front.  The first thing to install is the steering servo.  This is pretty straightforward, using the hardware that comes with the chassis kit.  Eagle Racing did a nice job getting the angles of the linkage correct in relation to the steering wiper and servo arm.

Eagle Racing TT02 FRD: Rear Initial Setup

I would liked to have built this chassis completely from a kit of parts, but they only sell it already assembled.  I am going to go through each part of it to check and setup everything to my liking.

First are the rear shocks.  They don't come with oil in them, so remember to add that.  I am starting out with the red, soft springs in the rear and 20W shock oil.

Eagle Racing TT02 FRD: Chassis Detail Shots

Here are some detailed shots of the Eagle Racing TT02 FRD production chassis, as it comes out of the box.  There a lot of nice parts and details.  Enjoy!

Eagle Racing TT02 FRD: Unboxing

Picked up the new Eagle Racing TT02 FRD Chassis Kit tonight.  This Chassis has been anticipated for a few months now, and it is finally here!

As it comes packaged from Eagle Racing:

Breaking the seal: