Ebay Optima find.

[CON2]

Nope, VERY well used, super sands....If you look very close in the right light you can see the odd bobble.......

Reason being if you look at the first pic, the right side wheel is of....
This being due to the drive hub missing, along with the front drive shafts, the rears got a lot of action!

[Coelacanth]

Wow, that's the first time I've seen a spiked tire that uniformly bald! Now they're perfect touring car tires!

[CON2]

Some better pics....

Awaiting delivery of chassis etc!

[CON2]

Well thanks to fleabay, I've got the chassis rails, front end plate, chassis under cover, and GOLD side bars, only one problem......

Answers on a post card!

[Hcp22]

Drive slowly so your tires don’t “balloon’s”

[j0pp3]

Well thanks to fleabay, I've got the chassis rails, front end plate, chassis under cover, and GOLD side bars, only one problem......

Answers on a post card!

Hmm.. as the rear arms and the wheels are different to the original car it must be because of that? Maybe 2.2 wheels can't be used together with those sidebars?

[Coelacanth]

Well thanks to fleabay, I've got the chassis rails, front end plate, chassis under cover, and GOLD side bars, only one problem......

Answers on a post card!

Hmm.. as the rear arms and the wheels are different to the original car it must be because of that? Maybe 2.2 wheels can't be used together with those sidebars?

Sure they can--where there's a will, there's a way! Sometimes all it requires is a 12mm hex drive that's a couple millimeters thicker than the stock ones, which are quite thin. You should still have enough threads on the ends of the axles to secure lock-nuts. Second option is to choose some 2.2" wheels that have more negative offset.

EDIT: If I'm not mistaken, the yellow wheels CON2 has mounted look to be like positive offset Losi's...which I don't like because all the wheel width goes inwards, instead of outwards--making them unsuitable for an Optima. Wheels with too much positive offset will cause rubbing issues both with the shock springs & sideguards. Look for wheels that are zero to negative offset; i.e. ones that have a more "deep dish" look. Those will widen your track and improve stability, anyway.

[CON2]

Wheels are zxs.
Did have zxr arms with zxs hubs but they made the wheelbase too short.
Tried the zxr arms upside down but that gave toe out.........

Put the optima hubs and arms back on now.
Steering lock is better!

Got zxr uj's front and rear, which is a plus.
Might take the zxs shockers of tomorrow kind of like the old style.

Keeping the 2.2's for modern tyres.
Got some hpi's seem to be the same offset.

I'll get some pics up tomorrow. On phone at moment......
Might get the electrics in for a run, not sure how long it will last one too many loose balljoints need replacing....... Lol

[CON2]

ZXR arms, on top of Optima arms SWB....

[Coelacanth]

Thanks for the comparison, CON2. At a glance, I wonder if the rear arms mess with the original setup's positioning for rear toe-in, though...I think with the Lazer, this can be easily changed just by changing the metal piece on the end that the suspension shafts slide into.

So, the Lazer arms are the same width where they mount to the frame as the Optima arms? It looks like they will swap in for the Optima arms with no modding. The outer ends where the hubs & carriers mount are another story, of course...

[GotXjaG]

I started doing what you have there. The c hubs sit a lot further back in the suspension arm on the lazer. I did have to get arms, knuckles, and c hubs from the lazer. I was going this route because I was having trouble getting parts for my turbo optima, but Coelacanth came through with original turbo optima parts. Interested in seeing you finish it incase parts get broken. Would be a great option!

[CON2]

I started doing what you have there. The c hubs sit a lot further back in the suspension arm on the lazer. I did have to get arms, knuckles, and c hubs from the lazer. I was going this route because I was having trouble getting parts for my turbo optima, but Coelacanth came through with original turbo optima parts. Interested in seeing you finish it incase parts get broken. Would be a great option!

Have a look at the top of this page, with the black carbon chassis, full ZXR arms ZXS hubs!!
All fit straight on!

[Coelacanth]

That's great to know, CON2. My reason for asking is I have yet to source front, offroad-length arms that will fit an Optima series car that are made of aluminum. GPM makes some rear aluminum arms that fit with only a little modification:

-Need some 3mm spacers on either side of the rear hubs when installing the hinge pins to eliminate play;

-Need to use the Kyosho 68mm Laser CVD's as the arms are approx. 5mm longer than stock Optima arms;

-Need to drill & tap a hole at the rear of each arm if you wish to install the rear stabilizer.



Maybe I can find a company that makes alloy front Lazer arms that might work to replace the fronts, too.

EDIT: After re-reading the posts at the top of this page, it appears that although the Lazer ZXR rear arms technically will fit, they shorten the wheelbase and possibly affect the rear suspension geometry accordingly. That doesn't really matter to me because the GPM arms work great. I'd like to try a set of Lazer front arms, though.

[Coelacanth]

Unfortunately, it appears that no alloy arms exist for the Lazer.

[EvolutionRevolution]

They do exist, but are really rare and the design sucks. IIRC the hinge pins are held in with screws and washers.

On the other hand, seeing the Kyosho arms are fiber-reinforced and really hard, alloy arms are a bit useless.