TRF420 Aluminum Chassis Details

With the release of the TRF420, Tamiya wisely offered an aluminium lower deck at about the same time as the actual TRF420 Chassis Kit. I received this about 1 week ago, while I was away on holiday, so now let’s take a closer look.

42350 TRF420 Aluminum Lower Deck

The alu chassis  is made from 2.0mm aluminium, and is heavily cut out in the middle section, while the cutouts under the front and rear axles, as well as the spur gear, are exactly the same as on the standard carbon chassis.

The chassis is 85mm wide, just like the carbon chassis, with the outer shape also very close. The alu chassis weighs in at 83.5g, which makes it 14 grams heavier compared to the carbon chassis.

From the bottom you can see that the outer edges of the chassis have been chamfered. The alu lower deck is also obviously black anodised for a clean look.

The TRF420 Aluminum Lower Deck is not super stiff, as due to the extensive cutouts Tamiya have managed to add a decent amount of flex to it.

You can further tune the flex with the optionally available 42349 TRF420 Carbon Upper Deck (1.75mm Thick) as well.

Will do a back-to-back test (on carpet) with the standard carbon chassis soon, and report back.