RichieRich

I have both an F350 and a re-re Tamiya Bruiser. Both are fantastic. The F-350 has much more plastic than the Bruiser and it's geared really low. It's really awesome for tearing through the garden. The Bruiser has much more metal and is more scale and is literally a work of art. Seriously, you'll probably wind up with both at some point. Also, I did buy the knock-off Bruiser. Yeah, I went there. But in my defense, I did it because I could not imagine ruining the masterpiece that the Bruiser is by modifying it. Though, I did buy 3D printed wheel spacers to widen the front track so that it matches the rear.

Are you guys running with the servo mounted in the middle? I like to keep as much weight down low as possible. Like it matters with the motor that high.

Your truck looks fantastic! I love the color choice. Reminds me of the 70's MGB color called Harvest Gold.

It's been gross outside due to the fires so I haven't been able to do much driving. But, I did manage to install the shock hoops, an el-cheap-o high torque servo and some knock-off shocks. Gotta keep with the clone theme here. The shocks are made by someone called "rc lion". They seem to be well built but I did disassemble them, used some green slime on the seals and filled with some silicone oil. I also removed the internal springs. I had to tilt the front hoops slightly forward to the right shock would clear the steering crank. I think it came out pretty nice.

@Frog Jumper LOL, I did the same thing you mentioned. I rebuilt the OG Frog and put it on a shelf. Then I bought another beat up OG frog for peanuts and rebuilt that with period correct hop-ups. Then put it on a shelf. I finally got a re-release Frog and that's what I actually drive.

What you are describing is a common issue with the Frog gearbox. When under load, the transmission side plates tend to bow out which causes the diff to skip. Sometimes, it locks up too. The only way to really solve the problem is to put in a ball diff. Otherwise, I suggest installing a new set of gears, including a steel pinion gear and lightly lubricate with ceramic grease. I believe Tamiya recommends ceramic grease on gears unless they are diff gears, then they suggest using anti-wear grease.

I finally got the shock hoops. It looks like they will work. After some careful eyeballing...er...measuring, it looks like i need to source some 80mm shocks. I will post some pictures once I have something that looks presentable.

The Re-re Bruiser I purchased this past May came with the back glass. I think you should be fine.

I would guess that the adhesive may gum up the cutting surface. But that shouldn't be an issue as long as they are kept clean.

Very nice. I built a similar car but I retrofit a stealth transmission. Excellent color choice too.

I'm thinking of buying two sets of the RC4WD Gelande shock hoops. The mounting holes are 22mm apart which means I think they can be mounted with minimal disruption to the chassis and allow for shocks with ball ends.

They print it and send it to you. It's like ordering parts from any other online shop. I don't think the Bruiser and the HG P407 are really meant for tough crawling. But, yeah, an axle swap for strength is a good idea.

Yes, as I've fiddled around with the suspension, I've realized the shock solution is going to require some serious thinking as well as buying stuff and returning things that don't work. You're in the right place for the wheel spacers/track extenders. The ones that fit the re-release Bruiser are p/n 048006-01. The ones that fit the HG-P407 are p/n p40701-01.

While stuck at home during these tough times, I bought a Tamiya Bruiser re-release and an HG-P407 to mess around with. I was really wanting to have a couple of trucks that can bomb around the garden. I figured I could use the HG-P407 to modify rather than making changes to the classic Tamiya. I built the Bruiser first and as always with Tamiya kits, it went together smoothly. It's a completely stock build except I've added the Hot Racing ball bearing steering and AMPRO front wheel extenders. Everyone knows about the floppy steering with the Bruiser so most people move the steering servo to the front of the chassis. I kinda like the old school look of the "steering box" so that's why I added the Hot Racing steering. The AMPRO front wheel extenders extend the front track so that it matches the rear. I'm using a Tamiya Finespec TTU-09 4 channel radio to drive, steer and shift. Pretty much an all Tamiya build except for the Futaba servos. I bought the white pre-built version of the HG-P407. Out of the box, the first thing I did was clean all the shock oil which had leaked out of the shocks. This required removing the wheels and tires. Here is where I first noticed that the hardware was extremely soft. I stripped the heads of two of the wheel screws and had to use a screw extractor. Make sure you have quality tools and that they are fully seated before messing with the hardware. Everyone calls this truck the Bruiser clone. It's more of a fax of a Bruiser. It's easy to see the difference in quality between the Tamiya and the HG. As mentioned, the shocks are garbage. They look like the Tamiya versions but they only have one seal at the shock shaft and the top seal does not have a bleed screw. I basically emptied the shocks and removed the boots. At some point I will replace them with something that actually works. It may be a little difficult since any replacement will require a shock shaft with a longer threaded section. Or maybe replacing the shock towers with a taller version that can accept shocks with eyelets on both ends? I added the Hot Racing ball bearing steering and AMPRO front wheel extenders too. I also replaced the steering servo and radio with the FlySky i6. The steering servo saver is also junk, so that was replaced with a Tamiya heavy duty version. Finally, I replaced all the bearings with some AVID rubber seals. Whew! After all that was complete, I focused on the body. My intent was to decorate the body like the Tamiya Mountain Rider. After looking at vintage pictures of this Toyota body style, I started to like the 80s Toyota graphics. I painted the body Tamiya mica red, added the back panel to the truck and removed the chrome plating from all of the parts. The decals are a combination of Tamiya Mountain Rider and RC4WD Trail Finder sets. Lastly, I installed the Mountain Rider roll bar. When I mounted the body, I realized the truck looked crooked. I figured out that the leaf springs had massive slop at the ends of the A springs. They do not properly wrap around the brass spacers that attach to the hangers. I removed those and replaced the A and B springs with Tamiya versions. The pictures show where I'm at. Besides finding a suitable shock replacement, I have a small list of other modifications I’d like to add. Let me know if you guys have any other suggestions.

Also, they could create a crazy new body that fits the chassis like a glove that gives more protection from dirt. With the rear shocks and high motor, there's some opportunity there for some nutty 80s air scoops and wings/spoilers.