Tamiya M-05 Pro Build-up
12 Jan 2010
This is the Pro version of the M-05, the successor to the M-03 platform which has been one of Tamiya's hottest sellers over the past decade.
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The box was small.
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The difference between the M05 Pro and a regular M-05 kit:
Pro has full ball bearings, 1.5 degree toe-in rear hubs with adjustable rear camber links, see-through shocks, a set of springs,
anodized blue hardware here and there, no body shell and no ESC.
Regular kit has a shell, an ESC but no bearings and no frills.
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I opted for the aluminium motor mount (54184), so in it goes.
Also, I'm using 20mm screws instead of 15mm to mount the battery holder parts (C14 and C17).
Some friends said they didn't bother installing that top part that looks like a handle as it does nothing (D2 and D3).
I'm leaving mine in for now.
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The gear arrangement is identical to the M-03 so no hassles here. Remember to push in the 850 bearing so it sits deep inside the spur gear.
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I also got these. They give a choice of three holes for Ackermann adjustments.
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They weighed this much.
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The kit knuckles weighed this much.
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So kit knuckles it is for now. I also had a set of the 5mm clamping wheel hubs laying around (53823), no more lost pins (hopefully).
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These are the two step screws that go into the steering rack. They are 1mm narrower than the four (kingpin) ones that go into the steering knuckles.
I mixed them up and couldn't figure out why I had so much slop in the knuckles.
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As always, I like to replace the steering ball studs with a ball nut (53640), attached with a screw from the bottom.
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Four 850 ball bearings go into the steering bellcrank (which is uncharacteristically generous of Tamiya).
I degreased all the other bearings except for these four.
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I didn't like the screw style hingepins from the kit, so I used TL-01 hingepins (53301)
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The rear uprights give 1.5 degrees of toe-in (came with the Pro, otherwise part 54178).
2 degree plastic knuckles are also included in the kit (part F2 and F3).
You can also buy 0 degrees (50965).
I'm running the TRF M-chassis shock set (54000) with no internal spacers.
The red springs that come with this set are softer than the white springs with red dot from the Pro kit.
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There's quite a big gap between the battery and the battery slot. The M-05 battery retainers don't jive with my Team Orion packs
(they get in the way of the Corally plugs), so I'll either have find some M-03 ones or make my own.
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Front shocks are laid down quite a bit, but otherwise suspension geometry remains the same as M-03.
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Rear suspension geometry is identical to the proven M-03.
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The chassis is pretty much done. Needs some body posts, a shell, and some electronics.
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Upgrades I'm eyeing:
Tamiya M-05 Ball diff set (54194)
Tamiya M03 Assembly Universal Shaft Set (53597)
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