The new Spec-R R1 is the hottest topic among competition electric touring car enthusiasts this year. Don't be fooled by its low price tag, this is undoubtedly the best equipped touring car chassis under $300USD.  The kit comes with full carbon graphite chassis; complete set of ball-bearings; sturdy aluminum transmission mounts; fully adjustable alloy shocks; new gear differential, etc....  The Spec-R R1 has everything you'll find in any comparable competition Touring car kit costing 40% or more.

The R1 utilizes popular dual belt driven 4WD layout with ultra narrow transmission design. The narrow transmission allows the use of a variety of suspension mount angles and positions for fine tuning.
The motor mount is designed so that it does not rest against the upper deck, the flexing of the chassis is therefore not affected or limited since the motor mount and upper deck do not interfere with each other.

About the new R1 gear differential, it is a new design with inner ball bearings within the outdrivers.  This results in less play and a smoother drive train. While this increses the weight of the differential slightly, the performance and durability gain are still worth it. Other bonus items included are the kits are the motor fan mount and battery strap which are not commonly found in comparable TC kits.

 

 

The R1 assembles well together without any difficulty. Some of the plastic parts may require little trimming coming off the part's trees and some moving parts may require an extra shim or two. Besides the most common tools and lubricants, we recommend you have the following ready before assembly: Metric hex wrenches; 4mm/5mm shims of 0.1 - 0.3 thickness; #1000 fine sandpaper; Anti-Wear grease; Team Associated Green Slime; high quality CA glue, etc.....

Prep the chassis with CA glue on the graphite chassis edges. If you use strapping tape for securing the battery, file the edges as shown to minimize tape tearing.

Make sure all the major alloy chassis parts line up properly and face the correct way.

Trim the excess plastic from the differential gear with X-Acto knife.

When using certain brand of spur gear, you may have to remove the little plastic shown for proper fitment.

Make sure there is no excess wobbling when you are finished tightening the spur gear, . Tighten each screw incrementally as shown.

Use fine sandpaper to sand the surface and pre-thread the screw holes as shown.

Pay careful attention to this step. The X-ring is there to prevent fluid leak, if there were excessive play between the X-ring and shim there may be a chance of leakage. Make sure to shim the X-ring properly.

Use Team Associated Green Slime to seal the X-ring against the large metal shim to prevent fluid leak.

The same goes for the oil seal, trim with X-Acto knife and apply Team Associated Green Slime.

Make sure the oil seal is evenly seated on the diff half. Assemble the gear diff once without using diff fluid, check and make sure the internal diff gears can rotate smoothly.

Fill the diff with fluid up until it is leveled with the cross pin.

Most manufacturers make the bearing holder a little larger to prevent slop and movement. In case the gear does not rotate freely after assembly, trim and sand the plastic bearing holder shown until it is smooth.

Carefully tighten the bulkhead and shock tower; repeatedly test the drivetrain smoothness.

This shim on the outside is used to offset the slop in the spur gear assembly, make sure there is no play on this shaft.

After minimizing the free play on the shaft, add or remove shims to minimize slop.

Use a tiny amount of CA to secure these two small bearings. This will prevent the steering mechanism from wobbling.

Pay attention to the size of the red shim on the right, it is smaller than the one on the left. If not assembled correctly this will result in steering binding.

Add a shim here if there is any excess movement.

File the upper deck next to the spur gear. This will prevent unwanted rubbing when chassis is flexing.

Remove the upper deck screws; bend the chassis a little and observe any binding between spur gear plastic and upper deck.

Make sure the entire drivetrain is bind free.

Apply Anti-Wear grease on all A-Arm pins. Note the direction of the A-arms.

The suspension mounts are not symmetrical. Make sure they are facing the correct way otherwise the A-Arms will bind.

If the suspension is a little tight, use a screwdriver handle to lightly knock on the A-Arms for a perfect fit between the A-Arm pins and the suspension holders.

The universal joints come pre-assembled. For optimal performance, dis-assemble; clean and add Anti-Wear grease the universals before assembly.

Take it easy and slowly when tightening the KingPin screws, tighten the screws in alternate order.

We recommend tightening the two M3 set screws on the side before locking the center set screw.

When assembling the shocks; remove the excess plastic from the part's tree. The plastic washer is directional and the notches face the O-rings.

Coat the O-ring with Team Associated Green Slime. Same goes for the shock shaft's thread.

This is a tool that came with the kit. The purpose is for rebound adjustment.

Take your time when assembling the shocks.

Enjoy!