TOPIC:

Just got a new re-re grasshopper, i know they are base level and handle rubbish so thought id try a few mods on front and rear suspension for starters and see how it goes.
Any suggestions on mods would be gratefully received.
Many thanks GF999

Welcome on board goldfish999. I think that edou made a custom grasshopper.

Welcome to TamiyaBase, goldfish999.
I have not modified a Grasshopper, but I think you are on the right track when looking on the suspension fist. Some decent oil-filled dampers should make an improvement.
-Lars

Welcome on board

There's a (very long) thread on Grasshopper upgrades here .

Hi! Welcome!

I’ve got a dt01 wich is similar to the hopper chassis and CVA’s made all the difference. It handles wonderfully compared to stock with no bounce.

Do the bearings too!

A basic sport tuned motor will also give loads of speed for bashing on the beach or similar.

Just have fun with it.


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Thanks for the comments stingray-63, larbut, Jonny Retro and HugoBiermann.

After doing a lot of reading up on this and other forums and watching a lot of utube videos, i have come to the conclusion that i have bought a car that is crying out for a lot of modification to make it handle respectfully.
Seeing as it is my first attempt at this, im going to build it as standard first then strip it back down for the mods, this is partly due to some of the mod parts that ive ordered are from america, tiawan and hong hong, im in UK so upto 30 day wait
The front end needs scrapping and full independent suspension incorporating oil shocks needs fitting, i was gunna go for the FX10 futaba mod originally, but i it takes away from the hopper look too much for my liking, so gone for the complete ampro 20 mm offset bottom arm and upright set.
The back end needs equally as much if not more work, Tamiya in the wisdom have solved the tilting floating rear axle "bunny hop torque slap" problem (suffered by the original grasshopper and hornet and usually sorted by a third shock mod) by making it a fixed rear axle on the re-re hopper i have.
Unfortunately this causes as many problems as it has solved, it now only has straight up n down suspension and no tilt ability at all.
To solve this im hoping to put it back to the original grasshopper/hornet style floating axle fitment but instead of using a third shock mod use a center pivot mod ive come across, and then incorporate the hornet rear shock mount assembly to be able to fit oil shocks, tho this will inevitably be upgraded later
And for good measure the 380 motor will be upgraded to a 540 running a 18T pinion and also a full bearing kit.
A lot of my inspiration came from watching Ampro Engineering's videos on utube, that man has designed some brilliant original hopper n hornet mods that will fit my re-re hopper, well worth a watch, and some of his other RC model mods are pretty cool.

Oh and before any one says its not worth doing, i know

Man, you have here a nice project. The grasshopper 1 has a fix lower fixation. Not floating like the hornet or the (different)lunchbox. I hope to see your mods soon.

You are serious about the mods! Good luck with the build. I hope you’ll share the pics with us!

I was contemplating doing a proper front arm mod on the dt01 but it’s too much of a hassle for me.

The manual hop ups on my dt01 is perfect for me now. I also find the rear pivot to work awesomely compared to grasshoppers and lunchbox’s.

Either way, would like to see this buggy’s transformation.


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stingray-63 wrote:

Man, you have here a nice project. The grasshopper 1 has a fix lower fixation. Not floating like the hornet or the (different)lunchbox. I hope to see your mods soon.

Your right of course about the original hopper being fixed, it was the grasshopper II that had a floater like the hornet
As for the project, needed something to keep me occupied over the festive period, and its too miserable to do anything to my 1:1 scale track day car. Im looking forward to breaking off work and cracking on with the standard build (to get my eye in, so to speak, im a newbie to the hobby after all). Then on to the enjoyable part, tinkering n modding for no reason at all
I will do a brief bit on the standard build on this post the the mod side of the project i will post in the "Modern Tamiya Custom Builds" section

HugoBiermann wrote:

You are serious about the mods! Good luck with the build. I hope you’ll share the pics with us!

I was contemplating doing a proper front arm mod on the dt01 but it’s too much of a hassle for me.

The manual hop ups on my dt01 is perfect for me now. I also find the rear pivot to work awesomely compared to grasshoppers and lunchbox’s.

Either way, would like to see this buggy’s transformation.

I am a firm believer of a good handling car, real or 1:10 can make a shite driver look good, so seemed like the logical thing for me to do to it haha:lol:
i will defo do a thread on the mod re- build in "Modern Tamiya Custom Builds"