Desert Gator

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Visit the full Tamiya Desert Gator DT-02 gallery for more photos.

Video

JANG's Impressions

The Desert Gator was a very quick build, taking just over 2 hours to complete the chassis, but 3 1/2 hours for the body. The end result, though, really surprised me in a good way, given how inexpensive and simple the kit is. It has the look and feel of an economical version of a racing buggy. The proportions are very modern, the car is low-slung, and the wheels & tires are of standard size. The shocks are oil-filled, and the kit-recommended suspension setup even feels like it's in the right ballpark, if not just slightly underdampened at the rear. The a-arms are rather beefy and made of a durable, slightly flexible nylon blend, not the harder, more brittle, but cheaper ABS.

For what it is, an entry-level offroad car, the Tamiya Desert Gator is an excellent car. On the track, the suspension settings do work, though as expected, the rear could use thicker oil. The kit stock silver-can motor is very weak for offroad use, but the chassis is light and efficient enough to be propelled at a respectable putt-putt speed. Handling seems fairly neutral (though it's hard to tell at such low speeds), but the front tires are the stars of the show, with a decent rubber compound and wide 4-rib design. The rear tires are a little comical, with tall pyramid-shaped spikes that look like they'd only be ideal on damp, compressed peat moss or perhaps a mix of red clay and medium-fine sand, again very damp. There aren't even any foam inserts in them, but, again, with the fairly soft compound and motivation from a very modest powerplant, it had no traction issues on a hard, dry track surface, whether on the "blue groove" or out in the loose zones.

I feel like this is the type of vehicle that 10 or 20 years from now, people will look back upon with the same fondness that the likes of the Grasshopper and Hornet command today. It's the perfect first hobby-level kit for a child to build with a parent's help and to have a blast driving around. The biggest drawbacks are the limitation to just two pinion sizes (17 & 19 tooth, restricted by the motor mount), and that it uses an odd, exclusive input gear style with no slipper clutch. This means you have to pick a motor to go with your gearing options, rather than the other way around, and you can't put a crazy powerful brushless system in the car. Use it for it's intended purpose as a low-end off-road runner, and you have a winner.

Building Tips

See the overview of the build process in the Tamiya DT02 Desert Gator build thread on the forums.

• At step 2, put a little thread locking compound on the ends of the 18mm screws to hold the ball studs securely.
• At step 5, be careful with the 2.6mm screws. There's not a lot of material for their threads to bite, so don't overtighten them. For a little more security, you might want to use 3mm screws instead if you have extras with low-profile heads.
• A more experienced modeller may want to use a different grease to lubrigate the gears in the transmission (but not inside the diff). White lithium grease or Tamiya's "ceramic grease" will drag less on the drivetrain. Even a petroleum gel-based lube like Traxxas or Associated black grease would be better.
• At step 9, be sure to luse a little locking compound on the set screw.
• In steps 10 & 12, again use threadlock to secure the ball studs.
• In step 25, don't remove the stock little plate on the top of the on/off switch, as this will result in a clearance issue for the rubber boot. You can reuse the stock screws, though.
• When you attach the rear end, decide whether you want to run the ESC to receiver wires under the horizontal plate of the shock tower, or over it. If you go under, it'll look neater, but you'll have to do a little disassembly if you want to change out your electronics later.
• In step 32, be gentle when tightening the front body mount stub into place -- it's soft & fragile.

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