What the.... Why on earth...!

[XLR8]

I'm building a set of the yellow CVA shocks for the first time and I've stumbled upon something I have never seen before.
Although they look similar, the front and rear shocks share almost no parts. Not only are the fronts shorter, they are also slightly smaller diameter - so, nearly all parts are unique.
This is just bizarre!

Has anyone noticed this before in other Tamiya kits??

[silvertriple]

well, it's the case for almost all the Tamiya kits I mounted. Very often, the packaging is different from the front and rear parts to make it obvious...

[GoMachV]

Which kit? I don’t recall the monster beetle or fox having different diameter cylinders.

[XLR8]

Yeah, parts for the front shocks are packaged in blue bags to distinguish them from the rears.

It's the Neo Scorcher buggy Jeff, so I'm guessing the same oddity applies to the entire TT-02B family of vehicles (i.e. Plasma Edge, etc.).

Maybe the fronts were lifted from one of Tamiya's on-road vehicles and they were made to be more compact - I don't know.

Anyway, it's no big deal but I've just never seen it before in any of the 100+ RC's I have owned over the past 42 years.

For reference, the OD for the rear shock body is 13.5mm while the fronts are 12.7mm. Caps (top and bottom), springs and retainers and preload clips, pistons, diaphragms are smaller for the front and even the shock ends are different front to rear. Thankfully, the shaft diameters are the same so o-rings are standard.

WEIRD!!!

[juicedcoupe]

The Blitzer family uses two different diameter bodies as well. And those red diaphragms can be hard to find.

Regular AE springs will fit the fronts. The slightly larger Losi springs will fit the rears or Traxxas Ultra springs can be adapted.

[XLR8]

Hmm, well I bet it didn't make the bean counters happy. If they had their way, front and rear wheels and tires would also be the same.
Speaking of tires, I was very pleased to discover that Tamiya has gone old school on this kit; tires are friction fit - no glue needed.
... and, they don't require inserts either. This one will only be ran with the kit 540 motor so I reckon the tires will be fine without glue.

Thanks for the info on the springs. The buggy is very light and the supplied springs are a bit stiff so I was wondering if other manufacturer's springs would work.
Tamiya vehicles always seem to be over sprung and over dampened. Why equip the car with suspension if it isn't allowed to work.

[silvertriple]

Hmm, well I bet it didn't make the bean counters happy. If they had their way, front and rear wheels and tires would also be the same.
Speaking of tires, I was very pleased to discover that Tamiya has gone old school on this kit; tires are friction fit - no glue needed.
... and, they don't require inserts either. This one will only be ran with the kit 540 motor so I reckon the tires will be fine without glue.

Well, it really depends a lot of things... Motor in particular. At first, I had the same thinking with the DT03 and the Lunchbox : tires did not seem to move. In both case, I had to glue them, and that even on the front, as using them on various terrains made them moving or detaching. On the Super Hotshot, I did not glue them, but generally, I run the car with other wheels, as the gold plated wheels are known to get their finish damaged quickly...