Prescient

Articulation So I thought I would test out the articulation without a body shell on. It can do about 70 degrees rotation, i.e. it can sit on a full sized Bosch electric drill. I was very happy with this as it not only moves well, but it’s a very fluid well damped motion. Unfortunately with the Dodge Ram body mounted on it the articulation was far too excessive. To limit the movement I reduced the throw of the shock units by adding 20mm of rubber shim to each shaft. I used rubber fuel line as this restricts the shock travel by approximately 50% but still allows for further motion under firmer compression giving 75% travel.

Adding the Wheels Final chassis shots show the wheels attached. These are Wild Willy II wheels and tyres (2 rear sets). The overall size is that of a Blackfoot Extreme. Adding the Body For the body, I chose a Dodge Ram Cab and went for the Tamiya metallic red paint. The body is attached using Heavy Duty Velcro. This is sufficient to hold it firmly in place and removes the need for body holes.

Putting It All Together The following photos show how easily it all goes together. Building the Battery Compartment To accommodate the battery within the chassis lowering the centre of gravity, I replaced the TLT battery holder with some L-Section 2mm plastic cut to take the length of the battery. This means that the battery can is loaded from the rear.

Building the 1/10 Custom TLT Dodge Ram Pickup I set out to build a custom 1/10 scale TLT Dodge Ram Pickup using a Pro-line body shell and Tamiya Max Climber TLT kit. I wanted to build a truck capable of going over some pretty rough terrain but carry some decent speed, pop a few wheelies and generally entertain all down the local park. I also had one big factor overriding the whole design and construction of this. I have no workshop as I live in top floor of a house flat. Whilst I have a part converted loft where I would normally do painting and keep my models, it isn’t insulated properly and is freezing at this time of year. So all I had was my lounge floor, bolt cutter, pipe cutter, electric drill and an assortment of normal tools. I didn’t even have my workbench or vice available to use. So it really was that simple, to make this kit. It had to be……. Adapting the Chassis I wanted to retain the stock TLT chassis as much as possible but increase the flexibility of the chassis and give me a way to mount the body shell without needing the mounting pegs protruding from it. It also allowed me to experiment with the positioning of the suspension and ways to mount all the linkage. It is possible to mount the suspension horizontally along the rail and use a linkage system similar to the TXT. The centre differential is locked using a circular piece of cardboard in place of the ball bearings. This is a really simple method that does not damage or interfere with the diff. The axle diffs are not fully locked but stiffened through being filled with a low viscosity grease. I made the chassis rails out of aluminium L section. I cut the length and clamped it in position on the side chassis plate so that I could drill the holes in the exact place. Once that was done, I clamped the newly drilled L section to another piece of L section to make a mirror image. The results are shown in the pictures. These have been sprayed in satin black using Halfords car paint. 2 coats of primer and 3 coats of paint. Making the Link Arms The next stage in this build was to make the link arms for the suspension the following was used: M4 zinced steel threaded rod M3 zinced steel threaded rod 6mm Aluminium Tubing with a 4mm internal diameter 4.5mm Aluminium Tubing with a 3mm internal diameter M4 Nuts (x16) M4 Rod Ball End (x16) Rod End Ball (x16) Tamiya TLT kit supplied M3 Rod Ball End (x8) Following TWINSETS guide linked here I set about making the suspension links. TWINSETS guide is great….. The only difference was that I did not use a tap to tap the ball ends first but instead, just used the threaded rod to tap them. 1) The key point of this design was to retain the majority of the TLT chassis, axles and suspension set up, including link arm mounting points, firstly because the fluidity of the standard set up as dampening is excellent and secondly it was the cheapest way to create a custom 1/10 TLT Truck. 2) I laid out the axles and the main chassis to get an idea of the length I wanted to make the truck. I used the standard 1/10 scale Tamiya TL01 (Baja King in this case) wheelbase and matched up the axles. I the extended the rear axle out 10mm further taking the total wheelbase at the centre point of the axles to 270mm. 130mm from the centre point on the chassis front and 140mm for the rear. Link Arms 3) Before starting with the link arms, I re-shaped the existing mounts to take the ball end as these were wider than the standard TLT ones. Front Lower Link Arms 4a) To start making the front lower link arms the right length, I measured the distance from the mounting points and cut 2 lengths of M4 threaded rod to 100mm each (allowing the extra distance between points which would be made up by ball ends). I then threaded the ball ends onto the rod and checked that the length was correct and the geometry was precise. The total length of the link arm, measured at the centre point of the ball ends is 115mm. Again I have sprayed the links black. 4b) Once the link arms were the right length, I cut the aluminium tubing to length allowing for the M4 nut at each end (as shown in the pictures and from TWINSETS design). I allowed 10mm at each end of the threaded rod to screw the ball end onto. Each M4 nut that I was using measured 3mm in depth/height (depending how you look at it) so making the tubing the right length was simply done by the following: 100mm (thread rod length) – 20mm (10mm each end for ball end) – 6mm (2xM4 nut) = 74mm Rear Lower Link Arms 5) I repeated the process 4a/4b above to make the rear link arms. The M4 threaded rod length is 110mm allowing for the extra 10mm rear wheelbase. The total length of the link arm, measured at the centre point of the ball ends is 125 mm. The same formula applied for cutting the aluminium tube. Front Upper Link Arms 6a) The same process was used to make the front upper link arms which are offset at an angle. This shape (triangle) eliminates the horizontal movement of the axels and flex in the system except on the suspension axis. The total length of the link arm at the centre point of the ball ends is 102mm. Length of threaded rod is 88mm. Length of the aluminium tube is 62mm. 6b) To mount the upper link arms to the chassis I used the same approach as with the standard TLT but had to make up a new mounting bar to hold the ball ends. To do this I used some M3 threaded rod and some 4.5mm aluminium tubing (3mm internal diameter) to make the shim (13mm in length). A M3 nut was used to secure the ball ends against the shim. Rear Upper Link Arms 7) The total length of the link arm at the centre point of the ball ends is 114mm. Length of threaded rod is 98mm. Length of the aluminium tube is 72mm. Front Suspension-Axle Link Arm 8) To link the axle to the suspension leaver pivot (as with the TLT design) the existing ball ends were used. The existing TLT M3 rod (threaded end) used in the original design is also used. The very short rod is replaced with the longest rod. The link is then set to 70mm (ball end centre to centre). Rear Suspension-Axle Link Arm 9) Because the rear axle is further back, the supplied TLT rods used in the front are too short. M3 threaded rod is used and cut to size. The centre to centre ball end measurement is 75mm. The M3 thread length is 65mm. The aluminium tubing used to cover the threaded rod is 4.5mm with 3mm internal diameter. The length of the tubing is 45mm (no nuts are used) Drive Shafts So that’s the links done and next is the drive shafts. Traxxas universal joints were used to attach the driveshaft to the axle. The TLT driveshaft are too short, so ones from my TL01 B (Baja king) kit were used. I cut the driveshaft to remove one dogbone and then filled the end down so one face was flat. The shafts can be adjusted for length using the grub screws in the universal joint.

The Super Clod Clodbuster is a fantastic off road vehicle. Its not that fast in standard form, it doesn't have huge suspension travel like the modern articulated link arm trucks. It does have loads of torque and because of the sheer size of it and ground clearance its will go over things which most of the tamiya range just can't. Because of this it can go faster over most really heavy off road than the rest of the range making it more flexible. It will go through really long grass, bomb it around in the sea and on the beach, crawl over all sorts of obstacles. And it is, appart from the TXT as far as I know, the only realistic scale monster truck available to buy (albeit it's an old design). All these nitro monster trucks and the E-Maxx etc may look cool, but there not the same sort of scale model the clod offers. There are pleanty of truck vehicles to get your speed fix from, but nothing as impressive as the clod. It helps to use a High Torque Servo for the steering, I use a Futaba S3010 with 6.5kg-cm. And to get more movement out of the steering I swapped the standard servo horn for the futaba 4 way arm horn which came with the servo, increasing the leaverage significantly. I also fully ball raced mine. The Clod is also a great kit to build and pretty much indestructable. I run a blackfoot extreme which is the 2wd version of the Twin D. The reason I chose the BE over the TD is so I can run a fast single motor set up with ESC. It handles well and is blummin fast. It goes over off road (gravel, grass, mud) well and is good for jumps. With the extra motor and gear box, the Twin D really does go everywhere and is hard as nails. At the end of the day, the Twin D and Clod are 2 totally different types of truck. The clod for scale speed, crawling and looks and the Twin D for blatting about.

I find either Canford Heath, St Catherines Hill or Hengistbury Head pretty good. I used to run a T Maxx and take it out to the new forest but looking after the nitro engine was a pain. I have the choice of a few on road or off road vehicles so doesn't bother me.

Bournemouth.... Actually the sandbanks - shore road end is pretty decent as you have the paved area depending on the beach surface. I always find the beach is a lot of effort (cleaning) for the fun. Have you been up canford heath much, some nice jumps and drops up there. Bit off topic but which local model shop do you use by the way, I need to buy some new kits to build (any local offers about?). I sold my lunchbox reissue (was going to make it) to a mate of mine who went all nostalgic when he saw the box in my hobby room. It upsets me as he hasn't made any real effrot to paint it (quick one coat of Halfords rover yellow) and last time he used it the back wheel came off and he hasn't repaired it. Back on topic, lol..the baja king runs well with the Wild Willy 2 wheels and tyres iirc..

I have been browsing these forums for ages but never realised any of you lot were local to bournemouth. I could be up for a local meet []

Hi Mike You must live pretty close to me..[] I find the beach at Sandbanks a bit useless to run on unless the tide is way out. I tend to run down at Southborne/Hengistbury Head as the higher composition of stones gives a bit more grip. Anyway I run my clodbuster and moded TLT down on the beach and haven't had any problems. The only thing is its a heck of an effort to strip and clean them afterwards as the sand really does go everywhere. The cars I run on the beach are fully ballraced. I mean it takes a full stip right down to the internals of the differentials. Infact its fun seeing peoples faces as the clod blasts out of the sea at unsespecting tourists. Just cause it looks like one of the cheapy giant RC monstertrucks tescos sells doesn't mean it it. Anyway, I tried a Baja King on the beaches and its pretty uninspiring and doesn't really go anywhere very fast and gets stuck frequently. You really need twin detonator size upwards.

I am looking at my TL-01 and M-03L at the moment and there are quite a few differences. The M-03L had an extension block which gives it the extra length to fit the BMW Mini shell and that can be left out so it converts easily into a regular M-03 version. However the main differences between the M and TL are: 1) The drivetrain between the two is totally different with the TL being shaft 4WD.. 2) The motor is mounted at the front on the M-03 and the rear on the TL. 3) The mounting for the receiver, speed controller + servo or ESC are totally different. You could use the suspension arms to make a wide body kit though otherwise its a lot simpler to get a M chasis straight off.

If you want a really bomb proof tamiya I would suggest a TL01 off road variant like a Baja King. I have mine runing a 19T Reedy motor and its quick and totally undestroyable. I set up a ramp in my inlaws street and was jumping it till it stopped running (I was trying to break it to justify buying a new one). Big jumps (3-4 foot drops) onto concrete and all I bent was a pin on the rear suspension arm. Simplicity at its finest with this chasis.

Thats a pretty good UK price even compared to online. I popped into a LHS I hadn't been to in ages yesterday and I was sufficiently refreshed by the service and stock ~15 Tamiya kits, three XB RTRs plus 3RTR Tamiya Fuel Cars + loads of other stuff like helis, planes, spares, tools, paint etc etc the usual. I was having a chat with the owner and his comments were that "he always liked tamiya and that they were quality, plus you can get the parts for years afterwards". Made me happy. What made me more happy was that 70% of the Tamiya stock was cheaper than online. Even a coupple of the new releases like the Red Bull Audi Touring TT01 were cheaper. They even had a fair few of the dicast and static kits. Its given me some hope

I would say it is a good deal if you 1) can't get it elsewhere, 2) can't get it elsewhere at a lower price or 3) you really want it and thus points 1 & 2 are somewhat superseeded. It does seem to be fairly reasonable considering what they cost to get in the UK as and when they popped up.

In the <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />UK it would appear Tamiya is a diminishing brand in the LHS. I live in an area where there is a fair concentration of hobby shops every few miles. There has definitely been a shift from Tamiya to the RTRs from the likes of HPI, Traxxas, Losi etc and there are justifiable resons for this. Coupled with the ever increasing advent of affordable nitro buggies, cars and truck the sole days of cutting the parts off the sprees seems eons ago. At the end of the day its all down the to businesses needing to make a profit and unfortunately Tamiya doesn’t have the same demand it used to. This is easily demonstrateable by the stock held by the majority of the LHS I have been to recently. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> For example, I found a King Blackfoot and a few other kits in one shop the other day. The giveaway, all the kits were mechanical speed controller ones, the dust on the boxes and the fact they were so high up on the shelves a mountaineering expedition was needed to reach them. The rest of the store was taken up with Losi, AE, HPI electric and nitro offerings + a few choice helis and planes. Course I did buy the Blackfoot though. Customer service was good although there was like a wave of silence through the shop when it was apparent I was buying Tamiya. There was not one visible Tamiya spare in the shop, that I could see either. None of the LHS I have bought Tamiya kits from in the last couple of years hold many spares. This is ultimately down to the fact there is a huge list of spares and catering for all the kits and customers as and when parts are needed does not make economic sense given the range of kits they stocked and sold, some of them don't deal with the spares at all. Equally the Tamiya kits are pretty robust for park bashing given the speeds they do (based on the kits sold in my area) so the need to carry the spares is limited, compared to a nitro truck which was doing 40 mph when it hit the jump badly. My very local shop (30 yards down the road) holds four Tamiya Kits, three TT01s and a Lunchbox Reissue. The rest of the stock are spares, tools and other brand kits. Customer service is excellent but getting parts is an issue. Considering the above, the biggest underlying problem is that none of the LHS to me stock the performance Tamiya kits but instead stock the TL01s and TT01s at prices (of Tamiya old) which when compared to RTR offerings from HPI, Losi etc just does not make consumer sense for fun or racing. Not only does this make it difficult for staff to recommend the Tamiya kits over the competition but considering what prices they are available for mail order or in the right stores in the UK its crazy. I draw the line at £140 for a TT01 kit only or £160 for a Black foot extreme kit only from one local store. Customer service can be bad in any industry though. Taking a large PC chain store as an example. I am yet to meet a member of staff there that actually knows what the are talking about, seem interested or actually want to help.

How much?

What wheels have you got on the truck with the twin detonator body

Ok Some Pics as Promised. The last one is how much over extened the standard suspension links are without the dogbones falling out. However the photos with my MC crushing an Integra is not extended at the moment.

First thing I did was to add some Wild Willy 2 Wheels. 2 sets of rears will do it. This gives it a huge increase in off road ability as the wheels extend well past the bumpers etc. Plus they look real trick. I locked the center diff up with a cardboard spacer ring I made myself. Does the job and is easily reversable. I also extended the chasis suspaension bars from stock and spaced out the dogbones using rubber tubing to stop them falling out. Give me a few mins to post some pics

100 HKD (Hong Kong Dollars) = £7.50 or $12.90

OK, I have now built and run the TLT-1 and the Losi. Running the losi with a peak performance 13x3T modified and it is fast as expected. I have tried several configuations with the TLT 1) I built it up, setting the stock linkage arms at a longer length than the stock dimensions. Basically by not screwing them up so tight. I used 15mm (instead of 7mm vertical arms), 35mm (instead of 28mm inside horizontal arms) and 46mm (instead of 40mm outside horizontal arms). I then padded out the driveshafts with rubber tubing to stop the dogbones falling out. I also added the wheels off my Blackfoot Extreme. Built up with a Reedy Spec 19 motor it was pretty good but a bit overpowered. By extending the stock linkages and padding out the driveshafts I got a few mm extra length and hight and a bit more movement. With the BFE wheels on I added a coupple of cm extra cround clearance + front clearance which made it possible to go up higher objects like a low pavement front on. 2) Yesterday I reset the linkage arms back to the stock lengths and added a set of Wild Willy 2 chrome wheels and tires(Had to get 2 rear sets cause of the hex nut). I also reverted to the Mabuchi 540 motor included with the kit as this performed well for the chasis. Finally I locked the centre differential. I did this by removing the ball berings and placing a ring/washer (Cut out of cardboard, yes cardboard as it is much cheaper than slipper pegs as well as easily reversable)the size of the internal differential diameter on both sides of the diferential. I then put the differential back together and tightened it up to the maximum, No slippage at all even under hard conditions. Not only does my Max Climber look nice with the Wild Willy wheels on, the extra width and profile gives much better ground clearance and handing over the stock ones without looking oversized for the 1/18th, and with a bigger shell could pass for 1/16 or 1/14 scale. The locked centre diff makes a huge difference even by using the cardbard washers and it now climbs like a mofo[]

Wild Willy 2 ones will fit although the profile of the tyres on these rims is not the same a the standard Dets spikes. Just get two sets of rear WW2 wheels as these have the hex nut mounts.

Took the wife with me today and boought a Midnight Pumpkin, a TLT-1 Max Climber and a Losi XXX-S. [] She didn't kill, heck she bought them for me. [8D]

Thanks for the replies guys.

Thanks for your reply, I forgot to add I am from the uK. I guess $75/£38 (probably more like £55 in the uK at a guess) + 2 motors may push outside my budget .

Hi, I am new to the forum but not to Tamiya or RC cars. I bought a Blackfoot extreme the other day as I fancied a Kit to make up. After building it and browsing online, I discovered this site and a whole heap of tamiya goodies which I thought were long gone[]. I had a Traxxas T-max last year and found it too much hassle with the nitro, mess, cleaning, servicing etc so I sold it and stuck with my Baja King until I got the BFE. I would like to stick with the Tamiya kits and have been sorely tempted by the Midnight Pumpkin reissue as the QD MP was my first proper RC in the 80s. However I have also been swayed by the Super Clodbuster. I don't fancy other manufactures and I know things like the E-max are technically superior but I like the detail and fun of building the Tamiya kits. I have a coupple of questions which I haven't been able to answer through the Search option. 1) How long would the run time be with the Super Clodbuster (I have 3000mh packs) and does it require 1 or 2 battery packs. 2) How hard are they to set up with the dual motors as the design is pretty old now I guess? 3) What turn motors could I use with the standard speed controller? 4) Has the chassis been improved much on the Midnight Pumpkin reissue i.e. with the struts been strengthened much etc? 5) Is there another truck I should consider for the retro fun factor. I will probably pre-order the Lunchbox as well The way I figure it is I can either buy one S Clodbuster or a coupple of pumpkins and upgrades. My wife will have something to say either way. Buy first worry about the pain later I say[] Thanks for you help on this one it will be much appreciated.