Chilihook

So I got the parts last week and got the BB back together - there's good news and bad news. Good news, the 16 tooth pinion solved the locking up issue with the transmission . It now works exactly as it should. Also, brand new old stock gear case and motor mount installed too. Shiny! The front axle adapters work perfectly. Bad news, the rear wheel hub adapters do not work on this Big Bear. I'm not sure if the axles on other models are a shorter length than mine or what. In order to fit over the brass hex nut on the axle, the adapter has to be pushed down, past the threads where the wheel lock nut fixes to the axle. When the wheel is on the axle, it too slides to far down, not allowing the nut to tighten the wheel to the hub so the wheel just spins freely. It's been a long day, and I'm pretty tired, so there's a good chance that I mucked it up someplace... I'll look at it again tomorrow to see if it's me or the parts.

1. Sand Scorcher - I'd buy one this time 2. SuperShot 3. NovaFox 4. The Frog 5. Wild One 3 and 5 are almost solely for the parts.

Well, primarily archery and photography. I own about 10 bows, from your average run of the mill compound, a couple of lever compounds to a primitive bamboo Asiatic and classic 1960s Damon Howatt recurve. The bow pictured is a customized Oneida Black Eagle built for me by Joe Ciampa of American Eagle Bows out of Maine. It is an absolute dream to shoot. For cameras, until recently I used to shoot a Nikon D700. Had a ton of glass for it as well - but Canon, my first photo equipment love, called me back to it and I switched back to a Canon R mirrorless. Am now working on collecting lenses. Currently I have the kit lens, a 24-105mm and the big honker in the pic below, a 100-400mm. Still need a wide angle and a portrait lens. Had fun with some astrophotography this summer. :-)

This is a great topic OP! I bought my first Traxxas truck about a month ago. I always poo-pooed the idea of an RTR vehicle, but I wanted something to race around the yard with my 8 year old that I wouldn't have a panic attack over if it hit the trash can. I bought a $195 Slash. It handles just like an old American muscle car - fast as all get out in a straight line, but wallows in the corners. All of this is adjustable, of course, but I have no real interest in that with this truck - it's a toy. A tough toy, but a toy nonetheless. It's a toy because it was instantly gratifying - there were no hours of poring over instructions, digging through the carpet looking for the miniscule e-clip you dropped, or choosing your custom color scheme. There was zero time invested other than waiting for the battery to charge. And that is exactly what I wanted with this vehicle. Is it fun? You bet it is. Is it fast? Way faster than anything Tamiya ever offered/s. Does it handle? Not a lick at speed, but it is fantastic over rough terrain. Is it tough?* Yep. Is it easy to fix? Yep. Easy to get parts? Like a Kyosho guy could only wish for. Are they rare? Not in the least. Do they have a wow factor to them like a Super Shot? Lol. Does the average Joe fix it when it breaks? Maaaayyybbbeee....? So that asterisk up there. I smacked the front end of the truck into my daughter's go cart at near full speed because I didn't know it was there. Hit it at JUST the right angle to miss the bumper and hit the a-arm square on. Broke the upright shock mount and the main (for lack of a better term) front clip mount. That's it. If that was my Boomerang that I bought in 1987, it would have looked like a yard sale. Would've destroyed it. Instead it was a $14 fix from the local store - out the door - and it was stupid easy to repair. That speaks wonders to parts availability, Traxxas' marketing and distribution, and their online presence and also really, really good customer service. Something that Tamiya used to have, as pointed out by many others, and that Kyosho still needs to work on. And their plastic/polymer/whatever they build their vehicles out of is really strong stuff. Traxxas, Arrma, Laegendary, Red Cat are all appealing to folks who just want to drive and not build. They have their place in the hobby, but it's not the same place that is occupied by Tamiya, Kyosho, Associated, etc. Just another old guy's 2 cents.

Hey there, long time no see! Resurrecting a near-dead thread... I found some very interesting parts on Shapeways for the axel hubs: might solve a lot of people's trouble with finding tires - direct fit hub adapters to take Tamiya Lunchbox/Monster Beetle wheels! I ordered a set, likely won't have them for a month, but will report back about their fitment etc. :-) https://www.shapeways.com/product/DXA8QLTUR/tamiya-adapter-set-for-marui-big-bear?optionId=64872180&li=ostatus

A new gear case and 16t pinion for my slow-going Big Bear resto project.

Thank you @Juggular!

An absolutely stupid question, and I apologize for it. How do I change my profile picture? I did a pretty good search on the site and couldn't find an answer. I tried to link to an image on an image hosting site and I would get an error saying that my image exceeded the size allotment of 1.024kb, It's a link to an image that's maybe 20 characters long - I also tried to drag and drop an image and was told that the image exceeded the allowable size of 0.00097MB. These are both CRAZY small sizes... what am I missing? Thanks for the help and sorry to bother with such an idiot question.

Hi Everyone - as we all know Photobucket's free image sharing has gone down the drain and with it, all of the links to our images of our cars, our builds, etc. It really annoyed me that I went through all that time and effort (and dealt with all their horrible advertising) to get images up onto their site that I had thought out onto this site and others. Well, problem solved. I updated all my images. For those of you that fancy a look at my ANCIENT posts, feel free, for those who don't no biggie. I just feel better knowing that they're fixed. :-) Cheers!

Have been in a bit of a holding pattern with this for a bit as there are still questions to be answered about the transmission as well as trying to locate a decent windshield/glass for the 3B. Additionally, the more I think about it, the staggering of the front and rear wheels (which are now narrower) will likely be a problem stability-wise; I'm pretty sure it will make a tall vehicle more tippy than it already is. I have seen some "axle lengtheners" on cheesebay but they don't look like they'd do the trick. Anyone have knowledge about these? So that's where this project is at the moment, not going any place, but not going forward either. :-\

I really enjoyed this thread and seeing your progress. Looks like you're having great fun with your Monster Beetle! Looking forward to seeing your finished color scheme and new decals/look!

47. Getting harder and harder to justify buying kits to the wife every year... that's why I do my best not to tell her! I no longer have the first car I ever owned, but i have the 2nd - a very well worn Grasshopper from 1985!

Thanks for this Macinnis, I will give the axles a look over the weekend!

I'm a graphic designer/design manager at an audiobook publisher in southern New England.

Thanks @waterbok, even with the cool link, I'm not sure what you mean. Would a 16 tooth pinion gear solve the problem or is it something that has more to do with the size of the teeth on the gear?