F104 front tire grip

Guys do u have problem with F104 "push head".

My 104 with all stock setting and tires, just tested, it cannot make small turn. Just very similiar to M04. The straight is very fast, but the turn is difficult when compare with 1:10 touring car.

I think is not my driving problem. Any experience to share?

which T motor ?

hk_sdu:  Just a few questions regarding setting:

1. How much roll have you adjusted at the T-bar?
A friend of mine had it screwed in to the max, hence the car couldn't "roll" hence could turn nicely.

2. Also related to bodyroll to help turning, is there any chance that you might have swapped the chacha damper springs with the front suspension springs?

3. What surface were you playing on?
I tried TRC & TC, my F104 turned better than I expected at both tracks  =)
Is your rear diff tightened a lot which could reduce steering?

4. Is your "chacha" damper screw set up relatively loose?

5. What is the ride height that you drove with?  Although this affects high speed corners rather than low speed corners which is the grip level you're concerned with.

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Strangely,
I find the grip of my stock F104 front tires quite remarkable even at stock setting,
and matches those of relatively quick M cars.
The always-understeery character also makes it very easy to drive.

I do agree with the compound of the front tires making the car understeery.
It's designed to make the general public able to drive it for fun.
I have installed and will try next time:
Using the rear tires at the front, possibly around 26mm width or so.

Will see how long the rear tires last if placed in front.
The front tires, given the super hard compound,
worn out on me after 1 day of play at TC.  (Around 3 hours total run time)
I'm guessing the rear tires would last no more than 2 hours if placed in front, will try soon  ; )

Hi LeoChan,
I am using TeamPower black pig motor at the moment, straight is fast enough. If i can manage on the track. Next try will be BL 8.5T, will it be too fast?

Oh BHP, you are so detail !
1. the t-bar screwed a little bit loose, allowing the o-ring to flex around. Let me try harder setting. Your friend screw it to the max? means pressed the o-ring very flat? I though the softer the more turnable, no?
2. haha, the chacha spring and front spring is different size, can't mix up
3. i tested on concrete road, will do real test on TRC tomorrow
rear diff is as instructed "fully tighten the lock nut, then loose by a quarter turn". But it seems to be tight. What is your?
4. the chacha spring at instructed, screw down with 4mm space. But no chacha grease. i don't like those sticky grease
5. ride height F : 5.5mm, R : 6mm, with full load. i will try to set down on the front

This is interesting as i have zero experience on pan car, but like it very much. My last time is on a 2nd hand L12R3, which keep on spinning around, make me give up finally

the front tire is not as soft as rear, but seems to be normal for 2WD car. Just try to switch front and rear on M04 (RWD), it spin very easily, cannot drive normally. I guess it will be the same for F104. Its true that first thing to do is tire, but at the moment, i will try on all the possible small settings ... diff, t-bar, damper, ride height, even the sticky chacha oil ... i believe thats the fun i am looking for on RC.

Hi LeoChan,
I am using TeamPower black pig motor at the moment, straight is fast enough. If i can manage on the track. Next try will be BL 8.5T, will it be too fast?

Oh BHP, you are so detail !
1 ...
hk_sdu 發表於 2009-7-8 01:19

                               
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Yeah, softer T-bar screw setting should make it more turnable  =)
As for my diff setting, I forgot how many turns I am from lock.
Probably the factory 1/4 with another 1/8 loosened.

The rear of 6mm sounds like a good start.
Front rideheight will decrease as the front tires wear out at the rate of around 1mm per hour.
My F104 turns best at the end of each run, when the front ride height is lowest (down to 3mm).
My current setting at the start of each run is F 4mm R 6mm, runs smoothly.
Might try 7mm rear next time, but it doesn't look good with the ass swinging around in mid air  =)

You're right,
using rear tires at the front would probably make the front way too grippy ---> spinning all the time and uncontrollable.
You might wanna custommake wider front tires using existing front tires (cutting & combining parts),
or try using other tires say the F1 rubbers for HPI F1.

I probably won't be RCing this week due to a tight schedule,
would have to hear from you guys regarding this front tire lack of grip issue  ; )

this car is long wheelbase , so harder to setup small turn !

Tested on TRC yesterday. Suprisingly, different with my other cars, it grip well on TRC. May be due to floor cleaning recently. The F104 turn very very well, without any problem. I found it is almost as fun as touring. Not easy to drift or spin, as people said on F103. The rear tire is Super. The front tire not bad, but wear our from original 64mm down to 57mm in only 4 battery !!!! Same as your case BHP.

Due to it is too fun, i finally damaged by 1 of the front tire. So make sure u have 2 sets of front tire for F104. It wear out really fast!

And i found out the t-bar screw is impotant, it control all the turning behaviour of the car. to share with u, my setting is. Loosen 2 turns after the screw is fully tighten. Too tight, car cannot turn well. if u use white chacha, and sand well on the carbon plate in between, the chacha grease almost useless.

I think will keep using the stock tires at the moment and apply some "tire water", which i have not done yesterday. And apply BL system with 8.5T motor, black pig is not difficult to manage at all.

What a good chassis design from TAMIYA this time !

Nice to hear that it gripped for you this time  =)

Wow, 64mm ---> 57mm in just 4 packs?
Those must be really big packs haha~
My front tires worn to 53mm after 10 packs of 3200mAh  =P

Yes, if you plan to play for more than 2 or 3 hours,
it's a good idea to have 2 to 3 pairs of front tires.
The rear tires...  Maybe 1 pair just in case {banned} happens  =D

Last time I have applyed tire-water to all 4 tires,
the front became too grip & car oversteered too much.
Next time I will apply to only the inner or outer lip of the front tires and try that way  

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On the other hand,
on which surface did the front tires have very little grip?
Because on both TRC & TC, I found the front tires quite grippy,
but I haven't tried other surfaces yet

Also, has anyone experimented with the white soft T-bar?
I am only using the T-bar screw to adjust body roll,
cos I think a soft T-bar is the same as loosening the screw?

i only use those 4000mah, 20-25c, stick pack

the little grip surface that i test is those street road near by my home

i haven't try the white t-bar, but i guess the effect is very small, may be even not noticable for low sensitive people, like me.