Tamiya Falcon

[rebrag]

My brother gave my 10 year old son a Tamiya falcon.
I had to put another radio in it but other then that
it runs great. Even the 20 year old battery took a charge.
We do need new tires and I was wondering if anyone had
any ideas? Also it seems to be fast, does anyone remember
how fast the falcon was in stock trim? Thanks!

[TEM]

Wow, a complete and functioning Falcon! My old man bought me one back in 1987(my first real RC) I still have its broken remains somewhere in the basement.

In stock trim(silver can motor), I didn't find it all that fast. Maybe for a 10yr old it might be overwhelming. It was about running speed? 12-15 km/h? Your LHS will be able to get you tires that fit.

[Maxx42]

I actually just restored my Falcon that I got as a kid back in '87. I threw a Novak SS into it and it flies now (everything else stock on it just had to add weight to the front to balance out the car). The tires that I used are proline dirthawg III 2.2 buggy for the front and dirthawg I 2.2 buggy for the rear. I mounted them on yellow duratrax evader buggy rims. The rear rims were an easy fit but the front ones I had to go down to the local hobby shop with a front axle and rim to see which bearings would fit properly. I get much better traction now and it rides a little higher than originally (these tires are slightly taller than the originals). I hope this helps.

[RichieRich]

The Falcon is a pretty tough car and had decent speed in stock trim. Probably around 15-20 mph. I remember that the only problem it had was with the halfshafts. They tended to wear out quickly, especially if you pump some horsepower through the transmission. So, don't drop a 10 turn in there. :D

[TEM]

The Falcon is a pretty tough car and had decent speed in stock trim. Probably around 15-20 mph. I remember that the only problem it had was with the halfshafts. They tended to wear out quickly, especially if you pump some horsepower through the transmission. So, don't drop a 10 turn in there. :D

15-20mph stock trim with a silver can motor? Not a chance! How many cells were you running? Mine didn't go that fast.

Most of us had issues with the dogbones falling out, especially after the drive cups wear out.

[bholio]

Original tires for a Falcon can be found on ebay if you look around. I think they are a weird size, and new ones won't fit. Bring an old tire to the store to compare if you go to get new tires.

However, the Falcon uses a pin thru the axle to drive some sort of wheel adapter in the rear. You should be able to get a set of hex drives and run modern buggy rims and tires. Bring the car to the store to insure that new rims will fit.

The front rims simply take 5x11 bearings, so any wheel/tire combo which accepts 5x11mm bearings will work on the Falcon, as long as they are not too wide and interfere with the front end.

[RichieRich]

15-20mph stock trim with a silver can motor? Not a chance! How many cells were you running? Mine didn't go that fast.

Most of us had issues with the dogbones falling out, especially after the drive cups wear out.

Maybe you had a crappy battery or motor? I ran a 6 cell.

[Maxx42]

The rear rims for the evader fit directly to the pin that threads through the axle, and they are compatible with just about any 2.2 buggy rear tire you can think of. The axle wheel adapter is not necessary. As far as the half shaft problem goes, that can easily be fixed by putting a spacer between where the tub chassis and rear a-arm meet. This will slightly lower the suspension, but it will also seat the half shafts much deeper into the drive cups. It is almost impossible to knock them out with this slight mod. Also, I ran mine with the technigold motor back in the day. That motor had plenty of power for most cars - and like I said I still have the original dogbones with mine.

[rebrag]

Hey guys thanks for the info. The falcon
is fun to drive and here in New Jersey some
of our yard is sandy soil and it slides nice in these
spots. My son also has a HPI Savage but he is only
10 years old so he is not allowed to run that
unless I am home to supervise. This falcon is
perfect for him to use while I'm at work. I don't remember
electric cars being this fast when I was a kid but then again
my family couldn't afford things like my son has when I was kid
so I didn't have one anyway, so how the heck would I know.
I know this buggy is 20 years old and the new stuff is faster
I assume. We really like the savage but I think the electrics
are cool also and easier to keep clean. My son now wants to
go to a hobby shop and see what else they have in electric.
OH NO MORE MONEY!!!!!! AAAAHHHHHHHHHH

[Maxx42]

Hey rebrag, I hope your son enjoys it as much as the rest of us do. Some guys down at the local track have more fun watching their sons bash around than they do themselves. I don't run my Falcon around too much anymore (I'm more of a monster truck basher), but when I do I get reactions from "Is that a Falcon?" to "I can't believe how fast that dinosaur can go." It's a great hobby and it's always fun to see some old school rc's out there. I have also restored my old pumpkin, monster beetle, and I'm trying to restore a big bear, but some of the gears are hard to find.

[loopy]

I had a blast with my old falcon back in the day.

I seem to remember they had plastic dogbones which sheared off regular as.
That was my only issue with this car, other than that they are almost bulletproof

[TEM]

I had a blast with my old falcon back in the day.

I seem to remember they had plastic dogbones which sheared off regular as.
That was my only issue with this car, other than that they are almost bulletproof


Not sure about bullets, but 10 cells+no radio contact+full speed into brickwall did mine in for good! :(

[Saito]

The Falcon seems to be one of the lesser known Tamiyas of the era. It was certainly overshawdowed by the RC10 that was released just before it. It seemed like a competent buggy (although the idea of rear trailing arm suspension never seemed catch on). It was no Fox, but above and beyond a Hornet for sure. Tamiya simplified a few aspects of the car (front suspension mostly) and birthed the Striker and Sonic Fighter from its basic chassis design.

[munim]

The falcon was the roughly the same as the striker right? If so, watch out for the rear suspension, it's prone to breaking at the outermost suspension "hinge/ballcup".

[Saito]

Correct. I'm pretty sure the rear suspensions were the same (Falcon and Sonic Fighter got oil shocks, Striker got friction shocks) so that problem carries over. If memory serves. it was the front end that was different. I think the Falcon got upper and lower front arms to maintain the camber angle. Striker/Sonic Fighter had only lowers so the camber changed as the suspension compressed.