TA04 Questions... First Upgrades

[Speedyejl]

Hey I picked up a TA04-S chassis kit slapped her together and shes been running pretty good.

I'm not really looking into doing competive racing with this car, just want to have a nice parking lot basher, with a nice amount of speed.

What would be some nice effective upgrades to pick up the speed a bit and give it a tad better handling. (My friends HPI RS4 turns circles around mine, I'm running slicks though)

Right now I have:
17T Jaguar
Tamiya ESC (crap)
everything else is basically stock

I was looking at this ESC and upgrading to a faster motor (12t?)
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXPB65&P=0


Any upgrade recomendations?




http://www.elairsmiths.com/car.jpg

[TRF Drive Hard]

Damn those rs4's!!! :p my friends rs4 sport 2 does laps around me too... you need to properly gear the ta04 to achieve the speed... typically 128/36,35,34 ratio is good for stock, believe me its fast with a p2k2 pro or monster pro... be sure you have bearings... a full set is better...

the minimum turn on that esc you linked is 13t... you could go 12t but you have to monitor the esc temp and motor temp... otherwise you'll fry the esc... most guys here will say that is the manufacturer settings... but you can go low... go too low and its poof...

[alphaslider]

Nice to see others are brave enough to run a ta-04. TRF is right about gearing but if you can not afford to buy different gears from T.H. then buy off of Ebay. You will find great deals on Ebay for ESC's and hop up parts for the ta-04.
I would say skip the F1 Super ESC and try and buy a ESC with no motor limit. I run a F1 Pro in my ta-04 with a 8x2 Reedy Krypton motor. My cousin and I call the motor the Demon due to the speed and (sorry to say) the heat that this motor puts out. but if you just want to take your friend to school, get the Reedy Krypton 12x2 or Platnium 12x2, the quad magnet designs are the way to go. If you need more help with finding stuff on ebay email me:
lightstormglow@hotmail.com
I will not get back to you right away but i will get back to you. Good luck.

[monyet fangkeh]

maybe some different springs to setup the suspension and different shock oil can help alot on handling. this is maybe not really important...but when i change the white servo saver to the black servo saver. it really reduce the slop a lot. make the handling more precise. but thats just me anyway.:p

[TRF Drive Hard]

^^^absolutely correct about the black servo saver... the tuned springs is also something too, good for a wide range of surface... i personally like to use the ultra hard springs when i race... and if youre interested, go to walawala_com for tamiya parts... this guy has em all... cheap shipping rates too... tell em house.of.jurai sent ya :D btw, he is on ebay... ;)

[AlexV2024]

i woudn't get the KR unless your going to cut it every 2-4 runs. if you want a high performance mod get a V2/vantage and go one wind lower (single insted of a double ) and it should run about 20-30 runs w/o cutting

great to hear some one running something other then losi and AE (tho i love my xray and losi)

~Alex

[monyet fangkeh]

^^^agree on that. if you just wanna parking lot bashing maybe stock motor or 15T more suitable for you. cos low turn motor need a lot of maintenance, like comm cut, changing brush. with stock motor or 15T you can get fast enough if you can find the right gearing. BTW i also heard the team orion V2 is really good, low turn motor with less cutting the comm. maybe you should try that.

[Speedyejl]

Thanks for all the responses its really appreciated,

I've owned a 27T motor in one of my other cars for over a year and I've never touched it maitanence wise. With a higher performance motor what would care consist of, I heard "comm cleaning" and "changing the brush" what do those tasks consist of? Also as well whats a stock motor?

One more quickie do carbon fiber/ graphite parts make a noticble difference in performance or are we talking just taking tenths of a second off a lap?

[monyet fangkeh]

if your LHS has a comm lathe, you ask them to cut your comm there. maybe around 5 bucks. after few run...the comm can get out of round and make the brushes bounce and create a spark or arching. this is reduce the performance because the brushes doesnt make a full contact on the comm. that is why you need to cut your comm, to make it perfect round again.

to clean the comm you can get a comm stick. it use for cleaning the burn mark on the comm. after that get a motor spray and just spray that few second and your comm will shiny again. but you still need to cut your comm.

you can change the brush everytime you cut your comm. just check the brush if there is a noticeable(sp?) wear. and if the length of the brush is short.

a stock motor is a 27 turn and has a lock timing 24 degrees. motor like reedy mvp, trinity monster stock, triniti p2k2 and many more is consider as stock motor. as long they are 27T and 24 degrees lock timing.

maybe someone can help you better in detail.

[alphaslider]

Since you are not racing in competition then i say stick with stock. Carbon and graphite parts are lighter and just as strong as the plastic stock parts but not worth the cost if you are just bashing unless you can afford them.
But I would advise to at least get the graphite lower deck:
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXCCV8&P=7
Its lighter than the palstic stock deck and it offers better cooling for the motor and battery. But you will have to clean it more often. hope this helps.
Just let us know if you beat your friends HPI rs4 after the up grades :o .

[TRF Drive Hard]

BTW, which RS4 is it? imho, its hands down the rs4 sport2 will win in a stock race versus the ta04... even stock gearing on the sport 2 i cant seem to match it with my 04...