Tamiya FF-03 Project

Page 1: FF-03 Standard, PRO, and R

While documenting this build project, I am going to compare the basic FF-03 chassis, FF-03 PRO, and the more upgraded FF-03 R. All share a great deal in common. I probably had the parts available to build each separately in sequence, but it made more sense just to compare them as I went along.

The basic FF-03 and PRO both came with a ball differential using the white gear set 51416 from the TRF 201. The black gear set is a glass reinforced upgrade (54262) that came with my upgraded model purchase.

The FF-03 R uses a sealed gear differential from the TA-06 instead of the ball differential discussed above. The width of the gear differential is greater than that of the ball differential so a wider gearbox housing is required. The original housing (9005979) is shown below the wider R housing (9008152), each of which comprise a different A parts tree. Look in particular at the large opening for the drive cups and see how the upper housings have a deeper boss. Almost all of the plastics on the R are carbon reinforced including the gearbox housing.

Here an original ball differential is being installed into the 3 gear transmission housing. The input counter gear is metal. All versions of the FF-03 use full ball bearings.

The standard FF-03 uses a simple stamped metal motor mount while the PRO and the R use a more complex machined aluminum mount with heat sink slots milled into it. Since I don't have a standard FF-03 I can't take a photo for comparison.
The motor sits ahead of the front axle on the FF-03.

The plastic dual bellcrank steering is the same on all 3 chassis variants and all use metal bushings rather than bearings on the pivots. The blue aluminum pivot balls are from the R. The stainless hex hardware shown is an upgrade that came with my model purchase. The kits came with JIS screws.

Here the steering is installed into the chassis. The plastic bathtub chassis is common to all 3 variants. Although the R uses a lot of carbon reinforced plastics, the deck is not among them probably because it would be too brittle. The standard FF-03 used steel turnbuckles. The blue aluminum versions shown came with the PRO and R.

Now to build the inboard front suspension system. The bridge parts (K parts tree) are carbon reinforced on the R. The blue pivot balls are also from the R. The layout is the same on all 3 variants.

Now the suspension bridge can be attached to the chassis. This step covers and retains the steering posts as well. The lower suspension arms (D parts tree) are carbon reinforced on the R. The standard FF-03 and the PRO use plastic suspension blocks while the R uses machined aluminum versions. The plastic versions are shown here. This system of mix-and-match suspension blocks to control toe angle originally came from the TRF 415. The reversible suspension arms originally came from the TRF 417.

Now the front bumper support and the spur gear have been installed. All 3 variants use the same 68T spur gear. The blue aluminum spur gear mount shown is only used on the R. The carbon reinforced C-hubs and knuckles (C and F parts trees) are also unique to the R. The R uses the clamping aluminum hexes shown while the standard FF-03 and the PRO use plastic parts. The knuckles and uprights originally came from the TRF 416. The standard FF-03 and PRO use dog bone axles while the R uses CVD type axles from the TRF 417.

The standard FF-03 uses plastic CVA shocks, but both the PRO and the R use aluminum TRF shocks as shown. I never get tired of building TRF shocks.

Now we can start on the rear suspension which looks very odd with no gearbox. The rear suspension mount can be built 3 different ways to support different wheelbases (233mm, 245mm, 257mm).

The shock tower, bulkhead, and supports (M parts tree) and rear uprights (E parts tree) are carbon reinforced on the R. The front and rear shocks use different springs (yellow band medium rate on rear, blue band hard rate on front). The rear suspension is built up as a complete module as shown.

The finishing touches are the servo mount and battery stay. The battery stay doubles as an upper deck and stiffens the chassis. It is plastic (as shown) on the standard FF-03 and PRO, but carbon on the R.

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