TLR 22 SCT Steering Rack Modification

As we continue to learn more about the 22 SCT from our consumers and team drivers, this next tech tip is used in conjunction with the ball cup modification posted earlier to improve the recent issue of the steering tie rod popping off. We are currently in the process of updating the steering rack, but in the meantime this slight modification can be quickly accomplished in a few minutes. All you need to do is chamfer the outside edges of the steering rack where the ball studs (left & right) are installed to allow the steering tie rods to reach maximum angle without interfering with the steering rack. This can be done using a file or a Dremel (carefully!) as shown in the pictures below.

Steering Rack before modification.

Steering Rack after modification.

TLR 22 Platform Spring Chart



Hey Guys,

While cruising the forums the other day, I notice a user by the name of Weavty1 had created and posted a TLR Spring Chart.  This quickly motivateded me to put one together, to share on our blog.  Check it out below, download it, save it, and print it to take to the track if you care to!

Race On!
Frank



How To: 2 Hole Pistons

Here at TLR, we are always trying to push our products forward, testing anything and everything we can.  One thing we have run across is the use of 2 hole pistons.  Many people keep asking us how we make 2 hole pistons so we figured we would show you.  It is fairly easy but you need some things to make this happen.  I recommend using the standard Losi glue (LOSA7880) as it’s thicker and stays in the holes you are gluing better.  Accelerator is also a great tool here as it makes it much faster and also makes the bond stronger.  Then you will want the drill bit of your choice and a hand drill.  Some of the metric bits might not be available at Lowe's or Home Depot, so take a look at McMaster-Carr for these.  Its important to drill these by hand so you can keep the hole as precise as possible and also not melt the plastic.

1.  Place some glue in the holes you want to fill.  Make sure that enough goes in that it just comes out the bottom side.

Place Glue in the holes you wish to close

2.  Use some accelerator on both sides of the piston.  Dry the piston off and check both sides of the glued area to make sure that some glue has mushroomed over the edges of the holes you glued.  This makes the glue into a true plug.  If it is not mushroomed, the glue can sometimes work its way loose and fall out.  As you can see in the photo, both sides of the glue have come out and gone around the edge.

Notice how the glue has "spilled over" both sides of the piston just a little.

3.  Simply drill out the remaining 2 holes with the drill bit of choice.  When we refer to a 2 hole 1.6 piston, we simply mean that it has holes each sized with a 1.6mm drill bit.  Make sure you get all the burrs off the edges of the holes so the oil flows properly.

I hope this helps, and RACE ON!

Ryan Dunford

Interview with Darren Bloomfield-European Champ

Check out Horizon UK's interview with the first ever British driver to win a 1/8th Offroad European Championship http://goo.gl/oYDNQ

TLR 22 SCT Steering Ball Cup Modification

The TLR 22SCT will be shipping to racers very soon. As we learn more about the TLR 22SCT we will share information on the TLR blog that will improve performance of the 22SCT providing a better experience for racers. The first tech tip we would like to discuss is the steering ball cups. We have found that under extreme conditions the steering ball cups, the link and ball cup assembly that connects from the steering rack to the spindle, may pop off from time to time under heavy impacts. We have came up with a quick solution that eliminates the ball cups from coming off during these extreme conditions. The solution is to remove .6mm from each of the ball cups on both the steering rack side and the spindle side. This is a total of four separate cuts on four ball cups. This is done using new hobby knife and cutting away from yourself as illustrated below.

Here is a picture of a trimmed HD ball cup (top) and a stock HD ball cup bottom.



Qualifying is over at the ROAR Super Nationals

Qualifying is over at the ROAR Super Nationals

Qualifying is over and we have gotten through all four rounds of qualifying and now ROAR is setting up the main events.  The track this morning was good and consistent for the final round.  It did start to dry out a bit for the 1/8^th scale class but it don’t make too much of a difference with the heavy 1/8th cars and the amount of power they can put down.  They are putting a good amount of water down now which should make the track for the mains really good throughout.

The guys did a great job in the final round of 2wd with the TLR 22SCT securing four trucks in the A-main.  Big shout out to Matt Castellano for his last run to make the A-main.  He ran solid and his truck looked great!!  I am looking for the guys’s to be running strong in the mains today.

Dakotah Phend put in another solid run in the 4wd SC class to put himself third on the grid in the A-main.  He just needs a little more speed to get himself to the front and will be looking to make a shock change for the mains.  We are going to try a two-hole piston instead of the standard four holes.  Mike Truhe did a great job putting his TEN-SCTE in the A-main.   There was some tough luck for Billy Fischer and Dustin Evans just missing out on making the A-Main. 

The final round of 1/8^th scale was another challenging round for the team.  Mike Truhe just couldn’t get going in the last couple of rounds along with Billy Fischer.  Matt Castellano was the only TLR driver that had a grip on the class putting in a couple of really nice runs to be the only TLR driver putting his TLR 8IGHT-E 2.0 into the A-main event.  The mains in the 1/8^th class are going to be really challenging with ten cars in the main and a long main events of ten minutes each where anything can happen.

Main Event Listings:

2wd Mod Short Course

4. Mike Truhe

5. Dakotah Phend

7. Dustin Evans

10. Matt Castellano

4wd Mod Short Course

2. Ty Tessman

3. Dakotah Phend

9. Mike Truhe

1/8^th Scale

10. Matt Castellano

Q3 of Qualifying is done at ROAR Super Nationals

Round 3 of Qualifying is over

Round 3 of qualifying has come and gone here at West Coast R/C.  The third and final round for today saw the track start to dry out more than the first two rounds and the groove has gotten much narrower.  They are still sweeping the track before each heat but the dust just seems to be coming up a lot faster then it was in the earlier rounds.  This was not as much of a problem for the 4wd and 1/8^th scale vehicles but it was a noticeable difference in the 2wd SC class.  Today we have one more round of qualifying after this morning’s couple minute practice round.  I personally am hoping when we walk in the door this morning that the track has been watered a lot like it was yesterday morning.  It’s not as fun at first but the track will be much more consistent throughout the day.  I am afraid from what we've seen in the final round of qualifying yesterday, if it doesn't get enough water we will spend the day in the in-between stages of wet and dry, this is normally the worst stage a track can be in.

In the 2wd class I feel we are getting closer with the set-up.  Dustin Evans, Mike Truhe and Matt Castellano had a great run in round 3 with them all being within 1/10 of a second apart and getting a 4, 5 and 6 for the round.  Dakotah Phend tried going in a different direction on the set-up for round 3 and was not as happy with the changes and will be going back to what he started with the previous two rounds.  This will be going back to a softer rear spring and thicker oil.  He is also making some changes to his tires for both 2wd and 4wd to see if this will give him more rear grip.  I believe it will just be the inserts different.   

Dakotah Phend came out swinging again in the 4wd SC class for round 3 battling to the very end for the round TQ but with a small mistake at the end he would give up the TQ and settle for second.  Dakotah was much happier with the body lower on his TEN-SCTE.  He will be making a couple of tire set-up changes for the final round today.  Dustin Evans was looking much stronger in round 3 after going to a lighter front sway bar.  This just gave him more steering but the downfall was a little harder to drive consistent.  He was more on pace with the others so he will have to hold on to his TEN-SCTE in round 4 today.

We just couldn’t seem to get a run in with the 8IGHT-E 2.0 yesterday.  I was very pumped for Matt Castellano putting in a strong run in for the final round yesterday putting his 8IGHT in the top ten.  I am looking for him to do big things in the final round today and secure his 8IGHT-E 2.0 in the A-main later this afternoon.  Mike Truhe will be going back to a lighter front diff oil for the final round this morning and hopes to get a solid run that will put him in the A-main.  Billy Fischer has been improving on each run and his car is looking easier to drive.  He to will be looking for that stellar run in round 4. 

Q2 Report From ROAR Super Nationals

Q2 Report from the ROAR Super Nationals

We have just finished up with the second round of qualifying here at the ROAR Super Nationals.  The track is staying together much better today along with holding more water than yesterday providing a more consistent track.  This is really good but kind of made yesterday a waste for setting up on the vehicles.  We have gone back to some of the standard set-ups rather then what we found to work yesterday when the track was dry.

The team is getting closer to a happy place with the set-up on the TLR 22SCT.  Surprisingly we have been stiffening the truck so it won’t roll as much.  Some of the guys have liked the 30 degree kick in the front and other like the 25 degree kick.  For the final round today we will be trying a softer front spring with thicker oil.  We will see what happens. 

Dakotah Phend was back to himself in the 4wd SCT Modified class with his Orion powered TEN-SCTE  taking a second for the round.  The final round today we will be lowering his body a little to try a lower CG and get a little more speed out of the truck.  Mike Truhe had another consistent run and Billy Fischer picked it up with a 6^th place finish for this round.  They will go into round 3 with the same setup and are just looking to improve their runs by cleaning it up a bit and taking out the small mistakes.

1/8^th Electric Buggy did not go as planned for the second round today with none of the drivers making a top 10 run.  For the final round today the team are going out with the a key component of just not making any mistakes.  We will see what we can do in the final round today. 

TLR Results for round 2:

2wd Short Course 

4. Dakotah Phend

7. Matt Castellano

8. Mike Truhe

4wd Short Course

2. Dakotah Phend

6. Billy Fischer

8. Mike Truhe

11. Dustin Evans

1/8^th Scale

12. Mike Truhe

18. Matt Castellano

19. Billy Fischer

Q1 Report From ROAR Super Nationals

Q1 Report From ROAR Super Nationals

Big surprise today when we walked int the door of West Coast R/C this morning!  The track was super wet with standing water and the track was not absorbing it up like they had planned.  The decision was made to extend the practice round in the morning to help get the track into racing conditions.  It did help get the track dried out but really changed the way the cars were going to handle.  We had spent all day yesterday getting the cars dialed in on the dry track and were looking forward to a couple of set-up changes in the morning.  We still went for the changes in the practice run but it didn't provide the results we were looking for.

The first round went well for the team in the 2wd SC class with the new TLR 22SCT with Mike Truhe and Dakotah Phend putting in solid runs to finish the round 3^rd and 4^th.  Dustin Evans and Billy Fischer both put their TLR 22SCT trucks in the top 10 while running a slightly different set-up.  This was a great start for the team in the 2wd SC class and we were excited for the next round of qualifying.

The 4wd SC class didn’t go as strong as planned; there was not really any reason, as we just didn’t get any breaks on the track with lappers.  Mike Truhe put in a good run with a 4^th for round.  The TEN SCTE are really good so there won’t be many changes going on with the TEN-SCTE truck for round 2.

In the 1/8^th class it was a lot of the same problems with small uncharacteristic mistakes that should not be happening.  The 8IGHT-E 2.0 buggy looks good on the track and fast.  We just need a little more luck in round 2 and we will be up there.  Mike Truhe put a solid run and finished 6th in the round.

TLR Round 1 Results:

2wd Mod Short Course:

3. Mike Truhe

4. Dakotah Phend

6. Dustin Evans

9. Billy Fischer

4wd Mod Short Course:

4. Mike Truhe

8. Dakotah Phend

9. Billy Fischer

1/8^th Scale Electric Buggy:

6. Mike Truhe

13. Billy Fischer

15. Matt Castellano 

  

ROAR Super Nationals Practice Report

Super Nationals Practice Report

Today started the second half of the ROAR Super Nationals that include Short Course and 1/8^th electric.  The track has been changed around to go in the opposite direction versus the first part of the week.   The track running in this direction just seems so weird after watching the track go the opposite direction for four days, LOL.  They have also made a couple of changes to the program today since there was a lighter turnout then expected.  We will now run three rounds of qualifying tomorrow and the final round on Saturday.  Then we will go right into the main events to complete the program on Saturday.

Today’s practice went really well but we are still working on the set-up for the TLR 22 SCT.  The truck is handling well but we need to get a bit more comfort out of it.  There is a short practice run in the morning and each driver is going to try a little different direction and we will see what works and what don’t.  I am confident that we will find what we are looking for in the morning.  The TEN-SCTE was very safe all day; we will be looking to make it a little more aggressive in the morning practice.  Ty Tessman was extremely fast today in the 4wd SC class and he is running the TEN-SCTE 4wd truck.  The TLR team is looking to go in the direction Ty has with his truck.  The 1/8^th scale class today was a surprise with how many entries there were!  This is looking to be one of the biggest classes when I think everyone was thinking it was going to be the smallest.  (Wrong)  I have to give a big thanks to Tim Long for coming out this weekend and helping the team with the 1/8^th class.  He has done an amazing job with helping set-up the car for the team.  We don’t have the chance to run the 8IGHT-E 2.0 much indoor so there was a lot of time spent today making changes and I have to say by the end of the day the team was looking fast.  From what I understand Tim is going to make a couple more changes for the morning practice run just to find more steering.

Well, that’s it for tonight; we start at 9:45am tomorrow morning with the practice round and then qualifying starts shortly after.  Look for updates after each round of qualifying tomorrow.

TLR 22 SCT Support Package

A lot of racers are asking what is the TLR 22SCT Support Kit for? At TLR we identified that many racers prefer to buy support parts for their new vehicle allowing them to create a support system for their new vehicle. Well we made it easier and cheaper for racers by providing a support kit for the TLR 22SCT in one convenient package. The TLR 22SCT Support Kit provides all of the following parts, both for tuning and replacement parts.
Rear Hub Set
Rear Camber Block for rear motor (2)
Steering Rack (1)
5 Degree Caster Block Set
Front Arm Set
Front Camber Block (1)
Rear Arm Set
4mm Trailing Front Spindle Set
Idler Gear (2)
Shock Bushing (2)
23T, 24T, & 25T Servo Horn (1 of each)
Body Post (4)
Front Wheel Hex (2)
Rear Wheel Hex (2)
Shock O-rings (8)
HD Rod End (8)
Front Wheel Hex (2)
Rear Wheel Hex (2)
60mm Turnbuckle (1)
65mm Turnbuckle (1)
70mm Turnbuckle (1)
Front Spring, 3.5 Rate, Green-One step softer than stock
Front Spring, 4.1 Rate, Black-One step harder than stock
Rear Spring, 1.8 Rate, White-One step softer than stock
Rear Spring, 2.3 Rate, Pink-One step harder than stock

Nitrotane Fuel On Top at European Championship

Nitrotane Fuel On Top at European Championship

Once again Nitrotane Fuel finds itself on the top of the podium in 2012 with its phenomenal fuel mileage and strong power.  This time it was the prestigious European Championship held in Fehring, Austria.  Nitrotane/TLR Driver Darren Bloomfield came out on top after a long grueling week of competition.  Darren used Nitrotane 30% Race Fuel to power his TLR 8IGHT 2.0EU Buggy to the TQ  position in qualifying and had one less fuel stop in the A-final on his way to his Nitrotane's first 1/8th European Championship proving that Nitrotane fuel creates excellent power and superb fuel mileage.

Congratulation’s Darren Bloomfield!!

Photo's From The European Championship

ROAR Super Nationals First Half-Report

Super Nationals First Half-Report

The first half of the Super Nationals are complete.  I have to say this is quite strange having the format with the traditional classes done and over with already with still racing to go.  The race was really a challenge with the track changing at the beginning so much with all the dust.  We were behind on set-up the first part of the week but pulled everything together as a team for the final day of qualifying in all three classes.  Once we had gotten a couple things worked out with the set-up it was game on, the TLR 22 buggy was amazing with tons of grip on a lose track that had become polished. 

The team got their TLR cars working  well by the time the mains came around and the team was looking  positive but it came down to just not starting close enough to the front that would cost us the races.  Most of the time our bad luck in the mains would be mistakes from our competitors that would collect us in their mistake.  For the final A-main of 4wd buggy Dakotah Phend would prove he had the speed with a great start that would put him out front where no one could catch him.  He would take the win and secure himself the final spot on the podium. 

Privateer racer Kevin Motter showed that his three out of four TQ’s in qualifying of 17.5 Buggy would not be a fluke after winning the first two A-mains.  Kevin would lead every lap of both A-mains in dominant fashion with his Schuur Speed powered TLR 22 buggy. Kevin also contested in the 17.5 Stock Truck class  where he also chooses to run his Schuur Speed powered TLR 22T and yet again put in an impressive drive to take 2^nd places after winning the second A-main and just falling short in A-3 taking second which would give him second overall.  Great job Kevin Motter!!    

TLR A-main Results:

2WD Mod Buggy:

4. Dustin Evans

6. Dakotah Phend

8. Matt Castellano

Modified Racing Truck

3. Dustin Evans

7. Dakotah Phend

9. Matt Castellano

4WD Mod Buggy

3. Dakotah Phend

6. Dustin Evans

Today starts the second half of the ROAR Super Nationals here at West Coast R/C in La Mirada, CA.  This half of the program is the 2wd, 4wd Short Course Truckand 1/8^th Electric buggy.  The team spent the day-off yesterday at OCRC Raceway getting tires broken in and ready for practice today.  The start of the second half of the Super Nationals should be much better since we have a better understanding of what the track is going to be like and where to go with the set-up on the new TLR 22SCT.  We feel really confident in the 4wd SCT class and 1/8^th buggy set-up that we have been running and will start with the standard set-up.  We will fill you all in at the end of practice today, there has also been some rumors floating around that ROAR may shorten the program to end on Saturday.  We will confirm once we know more.

Kevin Motter Wins 17.5 Buggy

Kevin Motter Wins 17.5 Buggy

Privateer racer Kevin Motter continued his dominate ways  today after taking TQ in three out of the four rounds of qualifying yesterday in 17.5 Stock buggy with his Schuur Speed-powered TLR22 buggy.  Kevin would take the win in both A1 and A2 from start to finish, never losing the lead once.  This was the first 17.5 Stock national title for this 14 year old talented young driver. Look for his name to be around for a long time as he is pretty dialed!!

Kevin also kept his hopes alive in the 17.5 Stock truck class by winning A2 after a rough A1 with his Schuur Speed-powered TLR 22T.  Look for him to be a contender in the final A3 main event for a possible weekend sweep of the stock classes.   

ROAR Super Nationals Qualifying Report

Super Nationals Qualifying Report

The super nationals kicked off over the weekend at West Coast R/C.  This has been one of the toughest ROAR nationals in sometime due to the track changing so much at the start of qualifying.  There were some good decisions made after the first round to start sweeping the track between each race that really helped out the track and the race a lot. 

Qualifying was really up and down throughout qualifying for the TLR team as we seemed to be making good changes to the car from the track conditions the race before but the track would change and we would find ourselves going in the wrong direction.  We made some good decisions for the final round of qualifying were TLR driver Dustin Evans would just miss out taking round 4 TQ by 1 sec.  Dakotah Phend was also able to put in another strong run with his TLR 22 buggy and secure his spot in the A-final.   The team seemed to be very happy with their TLR 22T truck from the start of practice but as the track changed a lot for qualifying  they had to start making some changes.  The truck just had to much steering for the amount of grip the track had in qualifying.  One of the big changes was going to a different compound tire that really helped the grip in the rear and tamed down the steering on both the TLR 22 buggy and 22T truck.  Overall for the way the track has been throughout qualifying I am very happy with how the team has done.  I will say this has been one of the toughest ROAR Nationals I have been to in a long time.

TLR Results after Qualifying:

2wd Mod Buggy

3. Dustin Evans

5. Dakotah Phend

9. Matt Castellano

13. Mike Truhe

 18. Jr Mitch

4wd Mod Buggy

4. Dakotah Phend

5. Dustin Evans

13. Mike Truhe

Racing Truck Modified

4. Dustin Evans

6. Dakotah Phend

8. Matt Castellano

11. Matt Chambers

13. Mike Truhe

14. Billy Fischer

20. Jr Mitch