The Racing Factory Blog

The next step in the build of Tamiya’s new TRF501X buggy is the front end, starting with the front differential.

The front diff is exactly the same as the rear, with the exception of the pulley. While the rear pulley is from the TA05 and 36t the front pulley is from the TRF415 and 35t. This creates an overdrive for the front axle meaning the front wheels will spin faster.

Obviously you could also fit the same pulley front and rear if you want. Once again my limited experience in offroad prevents me from having an opinion about this feature…although I understand what it does and what the effect should be in theory.

Usually TRF machines are very throughly tested and have lots of development work so this is obviously something that the TRF team found beneficial.

On this picture you can see the round diff rings.

Steering assembly ready to go onto the chassis. The steering is very smooth with a total of 6 bearings. Obviously the steering is tilted to match the front kick-up.

Next up you attach the front bulkheads to the chassis. Also attached to the chassis at this stage are the rear mounts for the front suspension. As you can see very nicely machined and fits into the small pocket or cut-out in the front of the chassis.

As with the rear end, the chassis only extends to just behind the diff. Again this should help the front end from digging into the ground.

Here is the steering system attached to the chassis.

Time to attach the front body mounts to the front upper deck. Then route the upper deck under the belt and fasten the rear screws that attaches to the middle bulkhead loosely.

The final part of the chassis then. The upper front bulkhead and damper tower is is now attached with a similar bridge/camber link mount as at the rear end. Again the height of this mount (i.e. thecamber links) can be adjusted with spacers. The standard setting is 2mm just like the rear.

Before you tighten everything down it’s a good idea to place the chassis on a flat table or setup board (also loosen the rear upper deck screws) and check that everything is straight while tightening the screws that hold down these parts.

Once assembled the whole structure is very, very solid. Although the chassis and upper decks are ‘only’ 2,5mm thick, the way that everything is designed, with the bulkheads and stiffeners, means that the chassis is really stiff. There’s virtually no flex at all.