Tamiya DB-01R
15 June 2010
This is the R version of the DB-01. I will mainly be focusing on what's new.
I will try to avoid repeating some of the points I have already covered in my earlier
review of the regular DB-01 Baldre.
Alright, now let's get started on the build.
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The box is a little smaller than the Baldre/Durga boxes, but not by much.
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Lots of goodies, but no body shell, no wheels, no tires.
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The diffs aren't the first step of the build but I put the parts aside anyway.
Disappointingly, they are the regular two piece, metal and plastic ones everybody complains about.
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I swapped them with the ones from my old buggy - built with TRF501X diff halves (51286) and ceramic balls (42142),
sealed with dust protector stickers (53970). Unbelievably smooth!
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The shock towers are made out of Tamiya's carbon reinforced plastic.
The manual says to drill out all the shock mounting holes to 3mm but I just tapped M3 threads all the way
through them for a more rigid setup.
(Update: I've sinced drilled them all the way through for more convenience, but I used a 7/64" drill bit instead of the 3mm
for a tighter fit)
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I also made pre-threaded the spur cover and diff cover mounting holes on the chassis.
The bottom of many of these holes have a recess for a small nut. In the event that the threads strip out,
there is the option of using longer screws with a nut through them.
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As far as I can tell, this chassis is similar to the regular chassis, but has a hole under the motor for mounting
this aluminium heatsink (included). I suspect the motor might run cooler without this heatsink,
as it obstructs potential airflow through the bottom.
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The aluminium inner suspension mounts are a smidge under 7mm thick.
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The original plastic ones were about 8mm thick (probably 7.9mm once you clamp them down).
This means there's a difference in thickness of about 1mm, or a distance from the chassis to
the centre of the hingepin of 0.5mm. This allows for slight kickup and anti-squat adjustments.
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The manual recommends 1mm spacers in the rear and 0.5mm spacers in the front.
This means, at kit settings, the DB-01R has the same kick-up but less anti-squat than the old buggy.
I highly recommend replacing the 3mm X 10mm Phillips head screws with socket head cap screws (2.5mm hex) to
mount these things if you want to play around with kick-up and anti-squat settings.
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Everything that can be anodised has been anodised, including these steering posts, which will hardly be visible
once the buggy is finished. There's no need to threadlock these as nylock nuts will be installed later to top off
the bellcranks (The threadlock will make them impossible to remove if you ever need to replace the chassis).
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When I was pre-threading one of the front suspension mount holes on the bottom of the chassis earlier, I went a bit
too far and the screw deformed a bit of plastic where the diff mounting brackets would sit. Took a bit of careful work
with a rotary tool to get it back in shape. My advice is to not bother pre-threading holes on the chassis.
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The kit comes with fancy new belts. Not sure what the big difference is between these and the old ones.
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At this stage of the build, I already felt a noticeable amount of friction in the drivetrain.
I degreased and oiled all the bearings and everything felt much better, but still not as free-spinning as
I had imagined they would be.
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The slipper is the same as the 'single' slipper set (54018) except the spring is now much stiffer.
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The inner belt cover piece is easy to overlook when it's time to mount the spur cover, so look out for that.
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The universal drive shafts are, as far as I can tell the regular ones (not the wide angle ones). There's an error in
the manual saying to put 950 bearings on the front shafts (the kit only comes with 1050 bearings, which are the correct ones).
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The kit arms (bottom) are the flimsier high traction ones.
The old DB-01 arms (top) are the same size as the TRF501X buggy arms but made from a softer material.
(Update: It didn't take me long break the 3 of the kit arms. I now use the super strong 501X arms (51275 and 51279)).
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I've heard stories about the rear universals being too short and popping off. Without the shocks,
this can happen easily at full droop but once the shocks are mounted, everything seems to stay in place nicely.
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The shock shafts are not titanium nitride coated, but are otherwise the same as the ones from the TRF buggy shock set (54028).
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The shock pistons are moulded (The TRF set comes with machined pistons). Not a big difference to me.
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To speed things up, I'm just rebuilding my old shocks for this buggy.
The manual recommends adding a 1mm spacer under each rear shock piston to limit the droop.
Since my rear universals occasionally come off the diff cups, I've gone up to a 2mm spacer.
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Note: The kit recommended setup seems a bit bizarre so I'm going my own way: kit springs
(yellow front, red rear), 30 weight oil (Team Associated) all around, 8mm pre-load front,
0 pre-load rear, middle hole on all arms, inner middle hole on all towers.
Camber and toe are at kit recommendations.
(Update: I now run a bit less camber in the front (24.5mm space between rod ends/ball cups))
The new buggy next to the old. They don't seem too different in this picture,
but they have different chassis, belts, drive shafts, shocks, suspension mounts, suspension balls, shock towers,
shock mount bushings and slipper clutches (or to be precise: the old one doesn't have one).
With electronics installed. There's plenty of space for the ESC.
To mount my thick Lipo battery, I'm using the TA-05 Carbon Battery Plate Set (53884) but
with the kit (black) pin holder screws and spacers.
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I replaced the rod ends on the front camber and steering links with the new grey ones which are much stiffer (54257).
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The nice thing about the (kit) high traction rear arms is that they have shock mounting holes on both sides.
I flipped the camber links to the front of the shock tower, and mounted the shocks to the rear of the buggy.
You'll need to add about 5 to 7mm worth of spacers between the tower and shock bushings.
This makes shock changes much more convenient.
(Update: I broke both rear arms on the same pack, so the 501X (51279) arms are going back in
and I'm back to the regular shock layout).
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I tried different ways of cooling down the motor, but in the end, had to resort to cutting the shell for a fan.
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I'm trying some JConcepts Rulux wheels.
They bind slightly against the knuckles so I made some very thin spacers to space them out.
Threadlock on the wheel nut is a must to keep them on.
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The stainless steel ball stud on the knuckle snaps off after awhile, making the whole spindle carrier useless.
On the replacement carriers, I drilled the screw hole all the way through and used a 15mm set screw along with a
3mm spacer and 5mm ball nut.
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What you need to complete your DB-01R:
1. Baldre body shell (51338)
2. Wing (58404)
3. Front wheels (51320)
4. Rear wheels (51321)
5. Tires (51240, 51241, 54185, 54186, 54187, 54188)
6. A radio control set (Transmitter, receiver, servo)
7. An electronic speed control
8. A motor
9. A battery and a charger.
Recommended upgrades:
1. DB01 Titanium screw set (54024)
2. TRF501X diff joints (51286)
3. 3mm ceramic balls (42142)
4. Dust protector seals for differential gear (53970)
5. TRF501X F Parts (Front Lower Arm) (51275)
6. TRF501X R Parts - Rear Lower Arm (51279)
7. TA-05 Carbon Battery Plate Set (53884)
8. 5mm Reinforced Ball Adjuster (grey) (54257)
For a comprehensive list of upgrades, check out our earlier review of the DB-01 Baldre.
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