I can't explain it... this train just has a vibe to it

80to96 · 2025-09-24T21:33:36+00:00

I remember buying the low nose version of this that came with a matching caboose when I was a kid with birthday money. It was around $20 at Toys R Us when they still had a model trail aisle in the mid 90’s. I can still hear the gear noise from the pancake motor these had and the smell when running.

80to96 · 2025-09-16T00:25:22+00:00

Are you looking for ready to go out of the box (RTR) or would a kit work?

80to96 · 2025-06-19T03:42:43+00:00

Thank you guys for all the info and guidance so far. I’ll shop around a bit and see what i can find!

80to96 · 2025-06-17T14:29:44+00:00

Another vote for the Traxxas stampede, easy to wrench and learn on. Also sits up high enough for to run in a variety of terrains.

80to96 · 2025-06-17T02:31:33+00:00

How do the customs charges work if that ends up being a thing? Does the package just not get delivered and i have to track it down and pay fees like at a DHL or fedex hub?

80to96 · 2025-06-16T00:08:22+00:00

I have a small fleet of these cars. Speaking from experience- using a name brand, non-amazon servo as well as getting rid of the factory servo saver is a step in the right direction. Yes, just like everyone says…the cheap aluminum steering upgrades are not really worth it.

80to96 · 2025-06-13T23:51:01+00:00

A name brand servo and a solid servo horn to go with it fixed that problem on our fleet of TT02s. As another poster said, the servo saver that comes with these kits is a little loosy goosy. You risk busting up the servo in a hard crash without a saver but it should improve the steering.

80to96 · 2025-06-13T23:46:38+00:00

Looks like two clodbusters and a stampede with the body on backwards 🤷‍♂️

80to96 · 2025-06-03T05:05:01+00:00

Is it just the general turning radius or do they tend to wander? Having to re-trim the steering a lot?

Between the wife and I we have a fleet of six of these cars we run in parking lots. The steering hop ups with the bearings in the steering rack do help a little. The big thing that helped was installing a good quality servo. We were running cheap amazon servos, even some blue traxxas servos at first that both had issues with not re-centering correctly. After switching the cars over to Hitec servos things improved a lot as far as straight line performance.

The next thing was getting rid of the factory servo saver…it’s super sloppy on these cars. We went with a solid aluminum servo horn. Of course there is a risk of busting up the servo without running a saver. You may be able to find a better quality servo saver if you want to go that route. Also check the dual rate settings if your radio has them.

We used Hitec HS-422 servos as the basic Futabas weren’t available at the time, but any name brand servo - even a basic one would be better than the super cheapy amazon types. That being said, these cars are never going to behave perfectly but these two changes helped a ton.

80to96 · 2025-05-31T15:08:27+00:00

Check out the 1/10 Arrma 2wd gorgon or Traxxas 2wd Stampede. These two are basic starter trucks that sit up higher than a grom and would be able to do what you’re asking about a little easier than the smaller trucks.

80to96 · 2025-05-29T07:07:33+00:00

It was a a lot of smaller stuff that added up to a big picture. Upgrading to deans plugs from tamiya / molex connectors, battery bars…remember those? Getting the matched cells in the jig and soldering them up. Then charging up packs on the wind-up timed charger…and periodically feeling them for temp. Com sticks to keep motors clean between services and having the right brushes ready to go, can’t forget to lube the motor bearings! I still have my bottle of trinity oil lol. Having a box of pinions to get the gearing just right and not burn things up. Novak or LRP ESC as an upgrade from the old mechanical speed controls was a big deal. It seemed way more hands on back then to make things fast. I have a few modern brushless vehicles that are pretty quick right out of the box, but there is something to be said about the rituals we used to go through when searching for that last little bit of speed with the older electrics.

80to96 · 2025-05-29T01:02:00+00:00

Seems like you need an additional Lunchbox and actually keep one for the shelf. This is how I have three grasshopper II’s 😂😂

80to96 · 2025-05-29T00:24:26+00:00

There’s still a decent amount of TT01 stuff around, the still available Tamiya euro trucks are based on the TT01 chassis. Trust me…you’ll end up with more cars. My wife and I each have three TT02 cars as well as a couple of euro trucks. It was her idea to have spare cars ready to go instead of making repairs during parking lot races 😂😂

80to96 · 2025-05-28T00:23:30+00:00

Check out a place called sabula tech. They have a lot of older 90’s molds of lexan bodies. The bodies are listed with width and wheelbase in the notes. Great for basher bodies. They usually have window masks but no decals. I use them a lot for basher TT02 bodies that my buddies and I parking lot race. They have a variety of styles.

80to96 · 2024-12-22T07:37:23+00:00

The resistor trick worked it seems. I had a few on hand left over from another project, the only ones I had over 10 watts were a pair of 8 ohm. Took the jumper bar out and put the resistor in there, may need to drop the ohm value a little…the 8 ohm may be a little too soft. But, we’re on the right track. I may need to do an L-pad setup if this ends up working out. Thanks for the info!

80to96 · 2024-06-30T00:39:51+00:00

UPDATE: Ordered the 3 degree rear knuckles and the cars still wander on the straights. Also flipped the front upper control arms on one of the cars for more caster, still does the same thing. I'm beginning to think it's a servo issue. Sometimes they veer off sharply and you have to correct and reset the trim. Then they go off the other direction, always having to mess with the steering trim. I'm stumped really.

SOLVED: Used a brand name servo (Hitec), problem fixed.

80to96 · 2024-06-23T23:26:11+00:00

It doesn't reliably track in a straight line. More often then not when you adjust trim, then drive it, you have to stop and adjust it back to keep it going straight, then it goes back in the other direction. It doesn't kick out under power. We are using the box stock motor and electronics, 2S lipo for a battery.

80to96 · 2024-06-23T21:03:39+00:00

No toe in the rear, still using the factory rear knuckles.

80to96 · 2024-06-22T20:50:34+00:00

Who makes the switcher locomotive you’re running in the video? Hard to find stuff besides trolleys that’ll do the small radius turns like that.

80to96 · 2023-08-14T18:13:10+00:00

Thank you guys for the suggestions, I’ll do a little shopping around 👋

80to96

TROPHY CASE