My recent Fast Attack Vehicle build was a very long, slow, deliberate process, and though it was all well worth it, I've been set back in my schedule a bit, and it's time to catch up. As such, I'm going to do a string of onroad car builds since they tend to go relatively quickly.

This is the relatively new TB-03 chassis in its original version with the lower-performance laydown style front shocks designed to fit lower-profile bodies. The chassis is the replacement for the TB-02, which had a good, long run as an inexpensive platform with good performance and a host of tuning features.

Here goes nothing!

Saw an upgrade and endurance type of review in RC Driver a while ago about this car. I really really like the body on it. Best of luck with the build, although I'm sure you won't need it.

Thanks loco_oso!

So, I've been multi-tasking, but here's the progress so far. It's always nice to see a proper, tight, lightweight, pro-style ball diff. This is also the first kit I've built that eschews both the petroleum-based gel and ceramic (boron nitrode) grease in favor of a low-tack, high-temp molybdenum grease. I'm looking forward to trying this stuff out in more vehicles in the future.

I'm already very much appreciating how everything keys together in this kit. Screws are bearing a lesser load than in lower-end kits, and strength of the core components should be excellent. Check out that motor mount unit. Even though it's cast, it's an impressive piece, keying into the chassis in several ways. It also has an exposed, ribbed heatsink section on the bottom side to help keep the motor cool. Speaking of keeping things cool, not seen in these pictures is a NACA duct molded into the chassis ahead of the motor to pull a little air up from underneath.

More progress, by the pic:

1. Gear covers installed. This'll surely help to keep rubber dust and/or carpet fibers out of the mesh! The tall thing sticking up on the battery side is a transponder mount. Optionally it can be placed up front.
2. Steering installed. Pretty compact fit.
3. Front gearbox fitted & center shaft installed.
4. Rear a-arms. Note the ball ends that slip over the inner pins. This ensures binding-free adjustments of anti-squat and toe-in. You can also see that there are spacers at both sides of the arm, for wheelbase adjustments. Definitely feeling like a competition-ready car here.
5. Rear dogbones & uprights installed. You get 10 camber link length options, infinitesimal roll center adjustments, and 8 shock mounting options back here!
6. Here's the front end. Here you get 5 camber link length options, adjustable roll center, and two shock pushrod mounting options. Shock progressiveness and ratio can be adjusted slightly via spacers on the cantilevers.

Tips:

• At step 9, the insertion of the BB11 set screws can be a little confusing. You want to attach them to the chassis as your first step to the steering post assembly. Screw them in until about 1mm worth of the screw protrudes above the ridge around the hole, on the chassis. Then screw the actual metal posts on over these, fully.
• At step 11, note the sidebar recommendation to screw in your droop stop screws until they protrude by 2mm on the bottom.
• At step 14, you want to put a full red foam disc in the left diff outdrive, and a single half disc in the right. The "half-size is for front axles" note is very confusing. Just ignore it, use a half-disc on the right, and know that the other half you cut will be used later. Strangely, though, neither side seems to have nearly enough padding with the kit-recommended setup, as both bones can slide in & out a fair amount. There's no way to correct this with the parts included in the kit.
• At step 15, like #11, set your droop screws to 2mm.
• At step 17, be careful not to overtighten the BC3 long ball studs. They can bind up the steering slightly. Make sure the knuckles can flop about freely.

Next up, shocks, electronics, and and chassis finishing touches.

Ok, finally got around to finishing this chassis up, so tomorrow I can work on the body. It's one of those bodies with a billion decals, so that'll probably take all day.

This was a pretty nice build and I really like how well thought-out the components are. For a sport-level chassis, the CoG is very, very low (if you ignore the cantilever setup, which can be replaced), and there's a delightful amount of adjustability.

On the negative side, the springs are too soft, and the manual-specified droop and/or preload settings are way off, as I have unsprung droop at both ends. I'll get this tightened up after mounting the body. Also, the amount of play in the steering is uncharacteristic for the quality of the rest of the vehicle. Half of the slop is in the servo saver itself. I'm surprised that the kit uses 2mm offset wheels to get full width. Finally, naturally, the kit tires are somewhat comical in compound. Perhaps they'd be useful in 120 degree weather.

Back at it tomorrow, hopefully!

Interesting build goin' on here, Jang. This is the first time I've seen cantilever suspension used on an onroad car, is there any performance gain to doing this with onroad cars?

Does Jang sleep??

As I noted twice above, it reduces performance Nearly all cantilever suspension setups in RCs reduce performance, as they increase weight and raise the center of gravity. Even on full-scale cars, cantilever setups are only used because of physical fitment issues with a standard setup, or for aerodynamics.

Wait, cantilever setups raise the COG?????

Yes, because they put the shocks up higher on the chassis.