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Hi folks,

New member here, I'm a sort of casual Tamiya fan. I suspect like a lot of people I used to lust after things I couldn't afford in Beatties during the '80s, and I finally bought a buggy (Blazing Star) in the late '90s after doing the whole life/marriage thing.

Since then I've acquired a CR-01 Landcruiser, a Scooby DF-03Ra, and a nice M-chassis Beetle my wife gave me for Christmas. So not a huge collection but quite a nice one. It's generally stock except the rally car has a slightly hotter motor and a slipper clutch.

What I'm finding at the moment is that when I want to go and play (usually with my 7yo daughter, who is getting interested in driving too) then the DF-03 is super fast but really not that great off-road since the surfaces near us are generally too coarse and too hilly. And it grips too well to be really fun on tarmac. Whereas the CR-01 is great off-road but a bit slow - it'd be nice to do the odd jump with it. (The buggy is in bits at the moment and tends to be fragile as a basher...)

I find myself thinking that mebbe a monster truck would be a good mix between the two extremes, and be fun on our local bike track, grass surfaces, and gravel. I've been looking at the TXT-2 and the various re-released Clods. From what I can see the TXT-2 is more capable, and the Clodbuster or Bullhead has more style. Plus the TXT-2 has slightly silly wheels :) The clods are cheaper but I'd probably want to replace some things and add ball bearings. The TXT-2 is dearer and would only get more so if I found a better body for it.

I'd be keen to hear of any suggestions either way, or ideas about totally different directions too. I'd like to stick with Tamiya because the whole Tamiya experience makes me ludicrously happy :)

Thanks in advance!

Will

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Clods are fun runners, the tyres do most of the bump absorption - they tend to be better in stock motor form, anything faster sees issues with roll overs in the turns unless you are careful.

TXT-2 is a better options, but its unproven as a park basher, especially when it comes to jumps etc

In Tamiya, you might want to consider the Twin Detonator / Dual Hunter - robust drivetrain, twin motor, big tyres and a little more truggy like so better in the turns. this showroom entry will give you a feel for it alongside a Df-03 buggy..

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=113178&id=38247

Outside Tamiya what about a Axial Exo Buggy, or Vaterra Trim Hammer ? - both can be quite scale looking, but good performers in the park environment

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I would second the suggestion of a WR-01 or WT-01 as a fun basher. Clods and TXTs make great project vehicles, but if you are looking for something tough and capable on rough terrain, and that can jump well, these trucks are hard to beat. They are also very good value.

I have had excellent service from my WR-01 that has been seeing regular use for years without a single breakage. I enjoy it so much that I will be adding a WT-01 (the 2WD variant) to my collection soon!

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A TXT-1 (and presumably TXT-2) is a good fun basher, capable on pretty much any surface and a fair bit faster than a CR01. But they're quite heavy beasts and upgrading power can get expensive.

Tamiya don't really make a big, fast monster truck. If that's what you want, a Traxxas E Maxx or E Revo are worth a look. We've got both, they're big, fast and tough.

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Thanks for all the suggestions, lots of food for thought and things I hadn't considered!

In Tamiya, you might want to consider the Twin Detonator / Dual Hunter - robust drivetrain, twin motor, big tyres and a little more truggy like so better in the turns. this showroom entry will give you a feel for it alongside a Df-03 buggy..

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=113178&id=38247

The Dualhunter and friends are an interesting idea. I'd not looked at them too hard when they were in the shops because I'm not a fan of the wide-and-low truck look. I can see it's going to perform better, but it's not as cute/scale as some of the other options. But I enjoyed the thread about upgrading one in this forum, and they look much better with the longer shocks and perhaps a car body on top?

(What I'd really like is a Monster Beetle, so maybe WR/WT-01 plus Sand Scorcher body plus some work to mount it would be good?)

Outside Tamiya what about a Axial Exo Buggy, or Vaterra Trim Hammer ? - both can be quite scale looking, but good performers in the park environment

Those both look legitimately awesome - scale and potent - although most of the videos I've seen show them on sand or dirt tracks. Our nearest bashing spots have more grass and the dirt (bike track) has plenty of rocks in it. Still cool though, particularly the Axial Exo.

I have had excellent service from my WR-01 that has been seeing regular use for years without a single breakage. I enjoy it so much that I will be adding a WT-01 (the 2WD variant) to my collection soon!

That's really impressive - no breakages at all! Thanks for the recommendation.

Tamiya don't really make a big, fast monster truck. If that's what you want, a Traxxas E Maxx or E Revo are worth a look. We've got both, they're big, fast and tough.

Thanks for the suggestion, the videos of those trucks are also very impressive. I've never been able to love the Traxxas looks though. I can see that I don't *have* to stick with anything stock, but it does tend to help with the initial purchasing decision.

While I've been musing about all this I've also been thinking about getting a car for my daughter for Christmas. She loves driving mine although she's a bit nervous with it (because it's mine) and wants something that "goes in mud so you have to clean it, Dad". That led me to some other threads on here and I'm seriously considering a Mad Bull or Holiday Buggy. And then I started considering a Mad Bull for myself :) I'm sure I'd have to tweak it a bit but it's a really fun design looks-wise and people say very robust.

One other option might be a CC-01 - I love the looks and I know they aren't fast or jumpy, but they seem like great value.

Choices choices. Will keep dithering and looking at project threads for a bit longer. Thanks again for all the help!

Cheers,

Will

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If you fancy the idea of a modernised Monster Beetle, the RWD WT-01 chassis might make an interesting starting point. It is rather long in the wheelbase, but then many fulsize Baja Bugs have extended wheelbases, so maybe this isn't a bad thing. You could perhaps try it with an affordable Lexan shell from Kamtec, and see how it looks before investing in a Tamiya hardbody.

The Mad Bull is also an interesting option if you are widening your scope beyond monster trucks. I have one of those too, and it is also extremely tough. Most of the chassis is made from a rubbery plastic that springs back to shape after an impact, making it very well-suited to kids and novice drivers. The big tyres and good ground clearance give it good offroad ability, while the low centre of gravity and wide stance give it great stability - it is a lot more stable than most monster trucks. In stock form the handling is very rudimentary, but this can be improved considerably with the addition of some basic oil shocks.

The CC-01 is quite diffferent in character to the other vehicles you have mentioned. It comes into its own when driven slowly and in a realistic manner. A lot of time can be spent on the scale detailing of CC-01 based models, and if your daughter is into dolls' houses and that sort of thing, maybe this might appeal?

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To be honest she's more into Nerf guns and dragons and vampires and such than doll's houses, but she does like making stuff and I can see detailing a scale truck would catch her attention (and mine - I do quite a bit of plastic modelling already).

Hmm, I've now ended up with about four things I'd really like after starting with one or two - this is hard!

Will

PS: Not an RC car, but here's a model bike I built this year: Would be awesome if you could get scale RC bikes that look as good as scale trucks!

8615822856_f5d017412f_c.jpg
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I was working out what it would cost to add Clod wheels to a TXT-2 and (with the ESC and all) it's tempting to buy a 2012 Bullhead, play with it, and then consider the TXT-2 later using the Bullhead parts. Man this is complicated!

Also keen to see how Matteomeier's dual brushless TXT-2 turns out. His videos are great sales tools :)

Will

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Thanks for all the suggestions, lots of food for thought and things I hadn't considered!

The Dualhunter and friends are an interesting idea. I'd not looked at them too hard when they were in the shops because I'm not a fan of the wide-and-low truck look. I can see it's going to perform better, but it's not as cute/scale as some of the other options. But I enjoyed the thread about upgrading one in this forum, and they look much better with the longer shocks and perhaps a car body on top?

(What I'd really like is a Monster Beetle, so maybe WR/WT-01 plus Sand Scorcher body plus some work to mount it would be good?)

Those both look legitimately awesome - scale and potent - although most of the videos I've seen show them on sand or dirt tracks. Our nearest bashing spots have more grass and the dirt (bike track) has plenty of rocks in it. Still cool though, particularly the Axial Exo.

That's really impressive - no breakages at all! Thanks for the recommendation.

Thanks for the suggestion, the videos of those trucks are also very impressive. I've never been able to love the Traxxas looks though. I can see that I don't *have* to stick with anything stock, but it does tend to help with the initial purchasing decision.

While I've been musing about all this I've also been thinking about getting a car for my daughter for Christmas. She loves driving mine although she's a bit nervous with it (because it's mine) and wants something that "goes in mud so you have to clean it, Dad". That led me to some other threads on here and I'm seriously considering a Mad Bull or Holiday Buggy. And then I started considering a Mad Bull for myself :) I'm sure I'd have to tweak it a bit but it's a really fun design looks-wise and people say very robust.

One other option might be a CC-01 - I love the looks and I know they aren't fast or jumpy, but they seem like great value.

Choices choices. Will keep dithering and looking at project threads for a bit longer. Thanks again for all the help!

Cheers,

Will

The Dual Hunter / Wild Dagger makes a passable Monster truck if you fit longer shocks and suitable wheels . I have clod wheels on mine fitted with hex adapters and 22mm hex extenders . Its no speed machine but looks and drives very scale with a Blackfoot shell fitted .

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Ok, you like the big wheels.

First question: how much big?

Because there are two sizes of Monster Tucks, the little size (WR01) and the big size (Clod size).

Bigger the wheel bigger the problems bigger the cost to solve the problem. Bigger the fun? Don't know, it depends from you.

Little size.

WR-01 Chassis is very common and reliable and you can find it in two configurations: one motor rear wheel drive, two motors four wheel drive. In any case you must upgrade them to have a decent level of fun.
You must replace the bushings with ball bearings, add longer oil dampers and daper mounts, one or two decent fast motors, a Hi Torque fast servo and a capable esc. If you have two motors you spent double for the second motor obviously.

2WD advanteges: lighter, simpler, faster, cheaper, more able on jumps.

2WD disavantages: less traction, less ability to climb and to run on rough surfaces, it can stop on obstacles easier.

4WD advantages: more traction, unstoppable, hi climbing action, more stable.

4WD disavantages: heavier, more expensive, a little bit slower and a little bit less capable on jumps (it dives a bit). The last two problems can be solved with two faster motors.

Let me explain: what you do with a single motor chassis concerning speed and jumps you can do with a double motor chassis. But is not enough have the same 2wd motor x 2 to have the same 2WD performances, you must have a powerfull motor x 2. Example: if you have a brushed 14Turns on the 2wd chassis you must have two 12Turns on the 4wd chassis to obtain the same speed and jump abilities. But you will have the double of fun (and the double of current drain). It's a choice.

Big Size

Clod wheels size is the second choose you have.

These trucks are bigger and heavier and weight double than the WR01 4WD, they weight 5Kg circa.

This means bigger steering servo, bigger esc, separate batteries for the servo (or servos) an so on. In other words more money.

These trucks are also more realistic because (like real trucks) they are rigid axle trucks (WR01 are indipendent axles).

You can choose between two king of big size monster truck. The dual motor on axles (Clod Buster/Bull Head) and dual motor shafted transmission (Juggernaut 1, Juggernaut 2, TXT-1, TXT-2).

The Clod Bullhead motors are one on each axle. The two axler are separeta each self and from the chassis. This is a older design but has its advantages. It is simpler, is faster, is more efficient, it has less torque twist. Disavantage is that you cannot use a single motor.

The TXT motors had a separate transmission and they both use a common spur gear. Then the movement is drived to the axles via two drive shafts. This desing is more realistic and have advantages and disavantages too.

Avantages are same torque on both axles, if you have a very torquey motor you can use only one, the truck as I said is more realistic.

Disavantages are the torque twist af the front axles, less efficiency, more parts in movement with more wearing and power drain.

You choose what you like.

Another problem: if you choose the Clod/Bullhead you will have an old design truck so you must modify it more than a TXT.

For example you will haven't the four link suspension, you will haven't a decent metal chassis, the truck lenght and width should be inprooved. Anyway every choose you will do you will have advantages and disavantages.

Lunchbox chassis

Somebody spoke about these kind of chassis. They are wheelie trucks.

They are very basic and the wheel size is similar to the WR01. They are not really monster truck but stunt funny machines. They are fast and 2wd and a lot cheaper than the other two solution but I think this is not what are you searching for.

Max

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Max that's why I went with the Wild Dagger - cost and weight . A Wild Dagger can be bought cheaply on ebay . I found one already converted to 4x4x4 for under £120 . I then added a second hand Blackfoot Extreme body ( once re painted ) , alloy shock mounts and 100mm oil filled dampers . The wheels where also cheap thanks to TC member from the USA .

The end result is a scale looking Monster at a very reasonable price that's not too heavy . It can be done if you think outside the box .

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Max, thanks so much for the awesome breakdown, I think I have a pretty good handle on the pros and cons now and it's just a matter of making a choice. Nothing's perfect but I suspect that I'll enjoy what I choose.

Mechanics

TXT-2 - more realistic chassis, looks to handle quite well but big and heavy and doesn't have classic monster truck wheels. Big and heavy.

Clod - less realistic chassis, slightly camp stance, bouncy as anything but has lots of old school Tamiya fun factor. Especially Bullhead :) Big and heavy.

WR/WT - smaller, lighter, faster, more stable, would look good under a beetle body. Not very scale with the independent suspension.

Costs

TXT-2 - expensive, has ball bearings but needs ESC. Replacing the wheels with Clod wheels would cost something approaching the price of a new Clod kit if I wanted to do it with new parts. It doesn't help that we're far away and the 2nd hand market is less busy than in the UK or US or Europe.

Clod - less expensive, but I'd want bearings, probably oil dampers, and that's before thinking about new chassis.

WR/WT - much less expensive, would like a new body.

I saw a pair of what I thought were Clod tyres in my local shop and they turned out to be 120mm Monster Pin Spikes. So the WR/WT option would be more impressive in size than I first thought.

Bromvw, how did you get on with the clod wheels on the Wild Dagger? Did they cause any problems for the drive train/steering servo etc.?

I did make one decision at least - I ordered a Mad Bull for my daughter for Christmas, plus some bearings and dampers. She likes the look of it and I think it'll be fun for her (and me!) to play with. Let's hope it turns out to be in stock now...

Thanks!

Will

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The only issues I had Will was the end of steering arms 'just' touching the rim's . ( Easy to sort out with a file ) and the dogbones being thrown out of the drive cups now and again . I packed the cups with extra O rings and that cured it . You can find the old thread and images by doing a search for 4X4X4 Blackfoot or its more recent incarnation Quadzilla 4x4x4

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Read your threads, thanks for the links. It looks awesome in MT form with the red and blue body - really nice work. The quad bike shell is fun as well.

Interesting, I've found somewhere which can sell me four TXT-1 wheels (though not as cheap as they were at JR-RC) and *also* found a nearly-new Dual Hunter on Trademe (our local eBay clone) which is dead cheap at the moment, but has some time to run. Will keep an eye on it.

Will

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I'd add a +1 for looking for a TXT-1, even second hand, rather than a TXT-2. In the long run they're tamiya's top flight monster truck, and if find you like monster trucks, you'll want one in the long run anyway. :)

Comes with realistic looking tyres and bodyshell, and also has a good metal chassis. Doesn't have to be expensive to go quick either. Here is my TXT-1 running on 19 turn motors and an 8.4V battery, and my Jugg2 (Grave digger shell) running standard silver cans and a 10.8V battery (which will give slightly inferior performance to a 3S LiPo.) The performance is near identical, and having tried the Jugg2 with a 3LiPo, it's definetly a bit quikcer than the TXT-1.

I'd look for a TXT-1, ballrace it, and drop a 3S LiPo in it. It will all the speed you need from it I think.


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I don't have any experience with the TXT-1 or TXT-2, but I just purchased a Clod and I love it. It's not fast enough in stock conditions to really jump, but it's a blast to drive.

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I'm a great Wild Dagger lover, I own 3 of them, one 4x4 built for speed with carbon chassis, one converted in a 4x4x4 crawler and the last one as shelf queen.

Max

Max that's why I went with the Wild Dagger - cost and weight . A Wild Dagger can be bought cheaply on ebay . I found one already converted to 4x4x4 for under £120 . I then added a second hand Blackfoot Extreme body ( once re painted ) , alloy shock mounts and 100mm oil filled dampers . The wheels where also cheap thanks to TC member from the USA .

The end result is a scale looking Monster at a very reasonable price that's not too heavy . It can be done if you think outside the box .

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This is for a young daughter? I'd go for a Lunchbox or Midnight Pumpkin, cheap and super tough, and come with a ESC..

or a DT-02 buggy - they're tons of fun as well!

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Thanks again for the opinions and suggestions. The TXT-1 and Juggernaught look like a lot of fun in the video above! I think Tamiya missed a trick naming the TXT-2 Agrios - something like Jotun/Jotnar would have kept the lineage and still referred to a cool giant.

I was looking at a DT-02 for my daughter but went with the Mad Bull (we have a lot of grass around where we are) as mentioned above. Still waiting to hear from Banzai Hobby that it has actually shipped tho'.

The monster truck is for me :D :D

Will

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To be honest she's more into Nerf guns and dragons and vampires and such than doll's houses, but she does like making stuff and I can see detailing a scale truck would catch her attention (and mine - I do quite a bit of plastic modelling already).

Hmm, I've now ended up with about four things I'd really like after starting with one or two - this is hard!

Will

PS: Not an RC car, but here's a model bike I built this year: Would be awesome if you could get scale RC bikes that look as good as scale trucks!

8615822856_f5d017412f_c.jpg

TY 175? Wow, is that a model?

E2A: I saw the build photo's in the album, it's a YZ250, 1/6 scale

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Yes, built from a Tamiya kit first released in the 1970s and recently re-released. Photoshopped in front of my 1:1 garage. Lots of fun! Doesn't go though :(

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Solved half of my problem - the Mad Bull arrived today. Quick service from Banzai Hobby, and quite cool to get e.g. the extra stickers I ordered packed in a Tamiya carrier bag. I couldn't resist having a poke around inside, it looks like a lot of fun and it's nice that it has the "proper" Tamiya packaging with divider, parts boxes etc.

My cunning plan is to paint and decorate the shell before Xmas so she can run it immediately after building, but leave the driver for her to do herself if she wants to. I'm thinking about a blue/white shell to complement the yellow wheels, possibly also because I had a Mini 4WD Bigwig as a kid :)

We also had some fun after tea on Friday - I now have a 4 channel radio so I was able to give my CR-01 4WS after cobbling together a temporary servo saver from bits of left-over servo saver sprues. Crab steering is weird but cool, and the wheel radio is easier/nicer than I expected. Really like being able to drive one handed while walking along.



I've not attempted to video before, so please excuse the cameraphone quality, shakey hands etc. Shortly after this we drove through some big puddles and then went and found some mud :)

Cheers,

Will

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I made my mind up and ordered a TXT-2 kit, I'm pretty sure that's going to give me what I want (build pleasure, scaleness, bigness, somewhat better performance than the CR-01). I figure that I might get to play with the Mad Bull sometimes and that will provide some wide/low buggy/truggy fun.

Thanks again for all the help with the decision making!

In the meantime, I trimmed and painted a Unimog body for my CR-01. I've wanted one of these since I first saw it, and I really like the look on the chassis despite the not very realistic stance. I think if I did another it'd be mustard yellow rather than orange, or at least I ought to back the orange with white to tone it down a bit.

10843757604_46887fb070_c_d.jpg

Cheers,

Will

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I find myself thinking that mebbe a monster truck would be a good mix between the two extremes, and be fun on our local bike track, grass surfaces, and gravel. I've been looking at the TXT-2 and the various re-released Clods. From what I can see the TXT-2 is more capable, and the Clodbuster or Bullhead has more style. Plus the TXT-2 has slightly silly wheels :) The clods are cheaper but I'd probably want to replace some things and add ball bearings. The TXT-2 is dearer and would only get more so if I found a better body for it.

I have just finished the build of a TXT-2 and I refuse to add up how much it has cost me, but to make it how I wanted it I have added a 6.5t brushless system, TXT-1 wheels and a Parma Grave Digger 1/8 scale body.

I am sure you wont be disappointed with it - the build is great fun and with the mods I have made its the truck I wanted it to be :)

Percymon suggested that it is unproven as a park basher - I have full intentions of proving that either way at our local BMX track! :D

2013-11-10%2022.25.56%20(Medium).jpg

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That looks great - I think I've seen it on another forum too? We also have a bike track (which is a bit wild and woolly) 5 mins walk away so I'll have to give mine a go there when I get it done. I'll build it stock first and play before doing anything too complicated - I ordered the 106 ESC and a couple of sport-tuned motors which should be enough to get it to go with the stock wheels.

Talking of the bike track, my daughter was a bit annoyed with me because we were supposed to go and play there with the Unimog and I insisted on messing around with my camera instead:

'scuse the wobbliness, I took almost all of this with the camera balanced on my knee, and either me or Laura driving - probably not ideal. But it was a lot of fun :)

Will

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