Tamiya Renault Alpine Project
Page 2: Upgrades!
I was quite satisfied with this model overall, but the one thing I knew
it absolutely needed was oil shocks. This set of aluminum dampers
will be perfect (maybe). They are advertised for M-chassis, but
that encompasses many varieties so they may or may not be just right for
an M-06.
The image on the left shows a comparison of the front dampers, new and
old. The old friction damper is on the far left, and the newer
aluminum damper has a blue cap and a red spring. Three sets of
springs came with the damper set. The instructions suggested
certain springs for certain models, but the newest chassis listed was
the M-04. Since the M-06 is also rear wheel drive, I decided to
start with the springs suggested for the M-04. The right hand
image shows old and new dampers on the rear. Again I've used a
newer white spring. Things are not quite plug-and-play on the
rear. The new dampers and slightly longer and cannot attach in the
stock location so the lower outer hub pivot shaft has to be replaced
with a special version including an integral ball end. Sorry I did
not get a better picture to show the change.
After installing the new shocks and trying the car out, I found that the
springs recommended for the M-04 were much too stiff. The
suspension had no real compliance; instead it bounced around a
lot. I replaced the springs from the aluminum damper set with the
original springs from the kit and it works much better now.
©2018 Eric Albrecht
