Newly built Tamiya Top Force.

[Brandon G]

Yup, been busy building....

Top Force with Hi Caps, full bearings, full electronics. The fronts are the minis when they need to be shorts. Got the short bodies on the way....

I will have some serious paint work ahead of me when the weather warms back up!

[kaiser]

vonats 2014 4wd entry?

nice car, always liked the top forces, or any df01 for that matter.

[zuki250]

ha..i am racing the Vonats next summer...that would be amazing to see that thing there!!

[stickboy007]

You clearly have a lot of time on your hands, Brandon

I think the Top Force would do okay in 4wd buggy at the VONATS, but there's too much plastic that can break, in particular the steering knuckles. Also, the mounting points for the gearboxes (the front in particular near the steering rack) tend to crack/break.

You can certainly pimp it out with alloy goodies (as I have done to mine), but something this pretty doesn't deserve the abuse of hard racing. If I were to run this platform, I'd run a Manta Ray or Dirt Thrasher in the classic class and then take a CAT, YZ10, or Lazer into the 4wd class.

[sheriff]

very nice build, good work. Wish I hadn't sold my new built one now

[tamiyadan]

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[kaiser]

the plastic holds up just fine. the only alloy upgrade i'd do is a propshaft.

"alloy aint for race cars"

[stickboy007]

Oh, I wasn't referring to alloy everything, especially the arms. Mainly the steering knuckles.

[8rad]

the plastic holds up just fine. the only alloy upgrade i'd do is a propshaft.

"alloy aint for race cars"

Is it the same as the Avante/Egress shaft?

[tamiyadan]

.

[Delorean]

I agree with Dan, minimal alloy, prop shaft, motor mount, maybe hub carriers, that would be about it.

Whether the car could race hard and reliably with a 10.5 I don't know, but it'd probably cope with a 13.5 ok

Bear in mind that the top force qualified 4th in the 1992 Euros in the hands of Lee Wright so it has the potential to go quite well

[rccars4sal]

Good looking naked buggy! I have a dirt thrasher in the box, and a choice of frp chassis,, but no hi caps. Mine will just get the DT body also. My kids gravel hound will donate its star dish wheels.. Im currently knee deep in kyo gold shocks,, would that be sacrilege to put em on a Tamiya? Im wondering why all the important spares dried up so quickly given that the RERE was out. It took me about a year to finally get some J parts,, and I think they came from France or somwhere far.

[kaiser]

I agree with Dan, minimal alloy, prop shaft, motor mount, maybe hub carriers, that would be about it.

Whether the car could race hard and reliably with a 10.5 I don't know, but it'd probably cope with a 13.5 ok

Bear in mind that the top force qualified 4th in the 1992 Euros in the hands of Lee Wright so it has the potential to go quite well

the drive train will hold up to a 10.5 no problem, i've run hotter in mine for long periods.

[rccars4sal]

Some things to consider when racing a top force or any ta01 based buggy: The drive train is extremely draggy. The slower it spins, the more efficient it is, so big race type 2.2 tires are best. I liked mine best with a 1 way in front. Several different ways to do this, with the Tamiya torque splitter, or aftermarket 1 way bearings. Back in the day, we would boil our Tamiya plastic parts to soften them up. This would help them to flex a bit more before actually breaking. Its kind of like annealing metal.

[Delorean]

I agree with Dan, minimal alloy, prop shaft, motor mount, maybe hub carriers, that would be about it.

Whether the car could race hard and reliably with a 10.5 I don't know, but it'd probably cope with a 13.5 ok

Bear in mind that the top force qualified 4th in the 1992 Euros in the hands of Lee Wright so it has the potential to go quite well

the drive train will hold up to a 10.5 no problem, i've run hotter in mine for long periods.

Hey Kaiser. that's good to know mate. Was that running ball diffs front and rear? The ball diffs are good but non adjustable so I always worried about them a little bit under high loads