spare parts to have on hand for dNano

[lornecherry]

My lap timer is finally on the way from Japan ...so now I'm going to order 10 or so cars to test on the Porta-Trax and TTR tracks.

I need to know which spare parts I should order along with the cars and which brands are recommended, if they are after-market parts.

I'm mostly interested in increasing reliability and longevity - not speed. I would think the usual suspects, such as bearings would help. But what about H-plates, front tie rods, etc. ...i.e. the things that used to always break on Mini-Z's.

Also, I will be testing on both Ozite racing carpet and rubber surfaces, so tire recommendations for those respective surfaces would be helpful. (We used foams on the carpet for the Z's before, but I'm not sure if foams even exist for the dNano, or if there is high-grip rubber tire I should source?)

Any and all suggestions from those who have run the cars for a few months would be helpful. - Thanks, Lorne

[-J-]

I've had my dNaNo for about 5 months and I haven't broken but 2 things, and I'm not a great driver. :o I stripped the servo gears, and I've broken the tie rod, that's about it. I'd keep a couple sets of servo gears and tie rods on hand.

As far as upgrades go, you're probably gonna want bearings and a ball differential for better runtime. The stock motor is plenty fast, especially on a smaller track, so I wouldn't worry about the x-speed just yet. ;) The carbon h-plates really help to settle the car down. Besides tires, that's about all the upgrades you really need. A front spring set for tunability might be nice, but again not necessary. The only upgrades you can get for the dNaNo right now are Kyosho brand. Atomic R/C makes ties and h-plates, but since AtomicMods doesn't carry them, you guys in the US are probably gonna have a hard time getting a hold of atomic products.

I run on carpet (not sure if it's ozite, but it's carpet nonetheless) here in Hong Kong, and I run 40s in the rear, and 30s in the front, but I'm not exactly happy with the setup so far, so you could start there and then find what you personally like. I don't have any experience with the other track surfaces you mentioned so I can't help you there.

BTW, let us know how you like that lap timing system, it's software, etc. Hope this helps.

[lornecherry]

Thanks, J ... appreciate the insight ...seems like the cars are reasonably bullet-proof.

With respect to your carpet setup issues; most carpet is reasonably close in traction properties ... hence, I understand the difficult in getting rid of the over/understeer issues, having tested Mini-Z's for two years on our caprtet tracks before I found the very best setup. No rubber tires could even come close to foam. And as no company at that time even made foams for the Z's, we adpated the stock foams from the Tamiya Mini 4wd cars. They fit perfect and were cost just 4 US a set. Handling issues solved.

With an optional gyro and the light weight of the dNano, I'm not sure if this much "tuning" is even necessary though ...just thought I'd mention it if you should find foams that could possible fit the Dnano

Which H plate did you find was best ... I see they have different hardnesses?

[-J-]

Thanks, J ... appreciate the insight ...seems like the cars are reasonably bullet-proof.

No problem. There isn't much mass, and therefore inertia, so you don't hit very hard.

With respect to your carpet setup issues; most carpet is reasonably close in traction properties ... hence, I understand the difficult in getting rid of the over/understeer issues, having tested Mini-Z's for two years on our caprtet tracks before I found the very best setup. No rubber tires could even come close to foam. And as no company at that time even made foams for the Z's, we adpated the stock foams from the Tamiya Mini 4wd cars. They fit perfect and were cost just 4 US a set. Handling issues solved.

Foams would be great, but I think it's a long way off. ;) I'll keep testing. It actually doesn't handle bad, I just feel there's a lot of potential to go faster.

With an optional gyro and the light weight of the dNano, I'm not sure if this much "tuning" is even necessary though ...just thought I'd mention it if you should find foams that could possible fit the Dnano

There aren't as many tuning options as with a mini-z, but there are quite a few. H-plates, front springs, wheel size, ball diff. settings, just to name some. Plus, as more hope ups become available, tunability will go up.


Which H plate did you find was best ... I see they have different hardnesses?

I'm using soft. Medium and hard just had too much grip. Instead of slightly sliding out around a high speed corner, it would bounce. My driving style is fairly aggressive, so you may be alright with medium.