Contributed by: Larry Eddy | Published: February 2005 | Views: 72588 |  Email this Article
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Distributed
Exclusively in the U.S.A. and Canada by:
Great Planes Model Distr.
P.O. Box 9021
Champaign, IL 61826-9021
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- Pretty
Quick Build
- Huge
FUN FACTOR!!
- Takes
a lickin' and keeps on tickin'
- Hop-ups
available
- Wheelies,
Wheelies & more WHEELIES!
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-
Center
of gravity, tips over pretty easily at 3/4 throttle or higher.
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Parts
aren't always in the bag you would expect. You have to do some
digging to find them sometimes.
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"Bigger
isn't always better", what a myth!
The
Kyosho Twin Force is a 1/8 scale bundle of torque and all out
fun. What RC'er in their right mind wouldn't want
to have a wheelie poppin', mud slingin', rock climin', chain drivin',
flippin' and flyin' monster truck in their garage? The Twin Force
(TF) is all that and more. Did I mention the TF is 4-Wheel Drive!
Read
on and I'll attempt to tell and show you why!
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Specifications
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Manufacturer: Kyosho
Kit Name: Twin
Force
Stock Number: KYOC0103
Length: 21.6 in (550mm)
Width: 16.5 in (420mm)
Height: 10 in (260mm)
Wheelbase: 12.4 in (315mm)
Front/Rear Track: 12 in (310mm)
Weight: 9.9 lb (4.5kg)
Includes: two 550 motors
Requires: 2-channel radio w/high-torque steering servo,
ESC w/BEC (14.4V 160A min), two 7.2V battery packs, charger
Additional Components Used:
Radio: Futuba Mangum 2PL
ESC: Traxxas
EVX 14.4V model 3014 (manufactured by Novak)
Steering Servo: Hobbico Command CS-70MG
Batteries Used: 2- Team
Orion Super Duty plus 3000mAh Ni-MH
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My
Twin Force with it's RCU paint scheme
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The
Twin Force comes with a clear Lexan body, the same one that
they supply with the TF's brother, the nitro-powered Mad Force.
(Read
the RCU Review of the Mad Force) Kyosho includes
a flashy updated graphics sheet and window masks for easy painting.
I decided to paint mine in an RCU green color scheme. I used
some of the included decals, a couple from RC
Driver and printed a couple of my own and applied them to
the inside of the body with some XXX
Main Lexan Picture Glue. I was impressed with my first attempt.
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Contents
of the box
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Accessories
& Hardware
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Instructions
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The
Twin Force showed up at my door and within minutes I was tearing
it open to see all the goodies inside. To be honest, it didn't look
that exciting at first. It was just a big box of about 10 bags of
plastic parts and nuts and bolts. As I started to remove the parts
bags from the box, it didn't take my imagination long to picture
what fun this kit was going to be to build and then take out to
back yard and thrash on.
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6.5”
x 4.3” real rubber tires with directional V-tread
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Size
Comparison to my
Team Losi Truck
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Twin
550 X Speed Motors
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One
of the first things I noticed was the size of the rubber tires.
There were four 6.5" x 4.3" real rubber tires with a directional
V-tread traction pattern. According to the instructions, you are
supposed to assemble the tires last, but I couldn't help myself
and did it first. I wrapped the foam inserts around the molded,
chromed centerline rims and applied some rubber cement to the
ends. After I allowed them to dry, I installed the rubber tires
over the rims and glued them into place.
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Included
4-way Cross Wrench
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Included
Hex Wrenches
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Oil
Shocks and Accessories
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As
I kept digging through all the parts, I realized that Kyosho did
a great job of including almost everything you would need for assemble.
The 4-way Cross Wrench and assorted hex wrenches were a nice touch.
I don't know about you, but I can never seem to find the appropriate
size hex wrench in my shop when I need it.
The TF comes with the gear differential, front axle, front suspension
arm, and rear axle already assembled for you. This cuts the build
time down considerably. Well now that I've gone through all the
parts and even built the big tires, it's time to get started on
the actual assembly.
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Assembling
the shocks
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Dremeling
the burrs
off the shocks
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Filling
the shocks with included oil
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Building
starts off with the assemble of the shocks. The only issue I had
here was having to de-burr the shock (this is common in any car
kit you build) after I removed them from the plastic sheets. My
handy dandy Dremel did the job for me.
The oil filled shocks are angle-mounted to provide progressive dampening.
All you have to do is insert the 1-piece piston into the already
assembled seals and fill with the included oil. Quick and simple.
The TF comes with a two-link suspension system. It is as effective
as multi-link designs, but has fewer parts that can wear out. Less
parts to break is a very good thing in my book.
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Servo
Saver
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Center
differential
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Assembled
Gearbox
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Gearbox
mounted to plate
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Another
view of Gearbox and chain
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Twin
550 motors mounted
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The
Servo Saver consists of a set of pretty rigid ball connectors
and a shaft connects them from the ball crank to the servo output
arm. It has a knurled wheel on the pivot shaft allowing for tension
adjustments to be made at the servo saver. The steering servo
will mount upside down in the front half of the frame.
For
the steering servo, I would have to recommend you drop the bucks
and pickup a digital with a ton of torque. The Futaba
S9351 Digital High Torque Servo with 192 oz-in of torque would
be a great choice and is decency priced at around $109. I skimped
a little (OK, a lot) and used the Hobbico
Command CS-70MG. While it provided me with adequate steering
control (133 oz-in of torque), it just wasn't quite enough. Spend
the cash, your TF will thank you for it.
Next
comes the assembly of the Gearbox. This is a very straight forward
step. Just be sure to take your time and follow the instructions.
I got sloppy here and didn't add any screw cement/Locktite to
the set screw in the joint cup. Let's just say that I regret that
now. After a few battery packs were run through it, the set screw
worked its way loose and I had to disassemble and reassemble.
So trust me, if it shows to Locktite, LOCKTITE!
The drive train is powered by a pair of Kyosho 550 canned motors.
These motors are enclosed in metal shields to concentrate the
magnetic field and improve power. In English that means MORE POWER
for you. The twin motors spin a pair of 18T pinions gears that
spin a smaller slipper dampened, spur gear. Then the spur gear
spins the chain pulley that that spins the long dog-bones that
then spin the front and rear differentials. To put all that into
English, this setup provides plenty of low end torque for wheelies,
rock climbing and free flight.
Most
of the rest of the assembly of the TF is straight forward, so
I'm just going to touch on some of it and attempt to highlight
the features.
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Steering
Servo mounted
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Battery
Tray and Radio
box mounted
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Wheelie
bar installed
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A
Sealed Radio/Rx Box helps to protects electronics against dust,
dirt and water damage when you are bouncing through mud pits or
rock climbing.
After doing some research, my choice for electronics in the sealed
radio box was the Traxxas
EVX 14.4V model 3014 (manufactured by Novak) electronic speed
control. A good fit for the Twin Force to optimize the twin motors
and 14.4V dual batteries. The EVX was designed for the E-maxx, but
fit perfectly into the radio box. The EVX has easy One-Touch Set-Up™
and a new feature they call Novak Electronics Smart Braking™
technology. You hit the reverse on your transmitter and the EVX
applies powerful brakes to stop the truck before switching to full
proportional reverse.
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The
Chassis design is simple and not very pretty to look at, but definitely
get the job done. The chassis consist of 2 2.3mm aluminum, ladder-frame
chassis plates. These are stronger than plastic ones and lighter
than flat-pan styles. It includes a pair of molded aluminum cross
braces for added stability and support.
The 2 battery trays are attached to the sides of the aluminum
chassis. One tray on each size to help maintain the balance. The
batteries are held in place by a plastic bar and a Carter-key
style clip. This makes for convenient and easy battery changes.
Just pull the pin, unplug the battery packs. The trays can hold
either 6 or 7 cell battery packs.
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enough about the construction. If you followed the instructions,
you should be done in 3 to 4 hours. Let's see what the Twin Force
can do! |
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Now
that the Twin Force is ready to go, I slapped a couple pairs
of Team
Orion Super Duty plus 3000mAh Ni-MH batteries on my
charger and then header for the front driveway. It was time
to put the TF through the paces.
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Wheelie,
Wheelie, Wheelie:
How could I not. The TF comes standard with a built in wheelie
bar, I had to use it. On a fully charged pack, it was hard
to keep the front wheels on the ground, no matter what terrain
it was on. With just a flick of the throttle, the font wheels
are off the ground. I found that at about 1/4 throttle, if
I went from 1/4 to Full throttle it would still pop a wheelie.
You just gotta love it.
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Playing
in the Flower Beds:
Thought I'd see what kind of traction I could get and how
the suspension would handle the rocks in the flower bed. The
big tires of the TF threw mulch and dirt all over the place
while tacking pretty well. I just had to remember that the
EVX speed controller is proportional and that I didn't have
to try to handle it at full throttle.
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Making
a Turn
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Speeding
away
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Attempting
to roll
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Playing
on Pavement:
The TF is extremely quick off the line and has good acceleration,
especially on a pair of freshly charged batteries. For a Monster
Truck it tracks very well and the suspension floats decently
well.
The only thing I didn't like was the Center of Gravity. I
know it's a monster truck and you aren't supposed to try to
corner it at full throttle, but let be realistic! The TF is
a little top heavy and if you aren't careful, it will roll
if you cut the wheels too sharp. So you just have to back
off the throttle a little when turning and you should be fine.
With out a radar gun, I can only estimate, but the Twin Force
on pavement appears to do about 22-25 MPH. Not bad for a electric
powered monster truck.
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Playin'
in the grass
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Cruisin'
the woods
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Tearin'
up the yard
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UP!
UP! and AWAY!:
As you can see by the numbers of pictures I've posted here,
my TF likes to catch some air. IT has no problem getting
up enough speed to leap from the ground. Here in Ohio we
had so much rain, I couldn't take it to the local track
to run, so we grabbed some plywood and used that for a ramp.
Once we got the truck trimmer out, it was a breeze to hit
the ramp straight on. The TF glided through the air pretty
well and responded to throttle adjustments to bring the
nose up or to level off the truck.
Always
greasing the landings was a little tough to do. The big
bouncy tires made it a challenge. I just had to make sure
the back tires touched down first. If the front tires landed
first, over on it's top it would go.
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I
think the Twin Force can be summed up as a HUGE FUN FACTOR! It
isn't going to be a speedster at the track and you aren't going
to be able to compete in the stadium truck A-main, but for a good
time in mud, dirt of the grass it is definitely a winner.
So
if you are in the need for a wheelie poppin', mud slingin', rock
climin', chain drivin', flippin' and flyin' monster truck in your
garage, the Kyosho Twin Force should be the Monster Truck for
you.
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Distributed
Exclusively in the U.S.A. and Canada by:
Great Planes Model Distr.
P.O. Box 9021
Champaign, IL 61826-9021
Futaba Corporation
of America
Distributed Exclusively in the U.S.A., Canada and Mexico by:
Great Planes Model Distributors
P.O. Box 9021; Champaign, IL 61826-9021
Website: www.futaba-rc.com
Traxxas
1100 Klein Road
Plano, Texas 75074
Website: www.traxxas.com/index.htm
email: support@Traxxas.com
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The comments, observations and conclusions made in this review are solely with respect to the particular item the editor reviewed and may not apply generally to similar products by the manufacturer. We cannot be responsible for any manufacturer defects in workmanship or other deficiencies in products like the one featured in the review. |
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