Saito2

Not fully. I'm not neurotypical so its probably not the best of examples. My "special interest" of 1:1 cars really jacked up the paths I took in life. When it dropped away after a full 38 years of obsession, I was somewhat terrified. After all, I had built my life around them and now the "light" was burnt out. I was lost...except for Tamiya. The problem is, I see the end of my collection coming relatively soon, which means other than dusting the shelfers, and maintaining the runners , I'll be out of things to do. Several hard hits this holiday season including, no Christmas bonus, significant raises in the company's health insurance (passed onto the workers, plus raising the ceiling for any possible quarterly bonuses, we have over an $8500 deductible BTW before it covers ANYTHING outside of a yearly physical), the slow deterioration and eventual death on Christmas day of my grandmother have led to some long hard depressive periods. There was no Christmas for my wife and I and I know we're not alone. Still, I have RC to fall back on. I've been aimless of late with three projects unfinished on the bench, a Team Car resto, an IRS Lunch Box project and a Stealth conversion for my Monster Racer. Gotta get some focus. Its killing me waiting for spring to paint the billion bodies I need to polish off the collection, lol. BTW, I've noted how the Tamiyaclub kinda feeds on itself in some cases. Being with like-minded people on here leads to shared enthusiasm and greater excitement. If one takes a break from it, some of that may fade.

20200114_161532 by Scott Weiland, on Flickr Here it is in King Cab guise at the moment. Not much to look at now. It's currently running an old RC10 six gear transmission that I'd rather put in a vintage RC10 project. I'm guessing the 10T's ratio will be more in line with what the Hilux will need too. Basically, I can use the 10T in 3 other projects since it was cheap. If I kept it whole, it could use a new rear wheel, which necessitates a hex drive conversion, appropriate wheels and new tires. Gradually, the investment creeps up. Its a rock-solid piece of engineering for sure but I'm on the fence on whether to invest in it or use it to give life to 3 other projects. I don't race only bash.

I recently purchased an RC10T4 from a forum member (thanks guggles!) with some loose ideas and plans circulating in my brain-box. On one hand, I could use the shocks on one project, the steering bellcranks on another and the transmission in my Hilux Monster Racer. On the other hand, I could fix it up a bit with new wheels and tires. Its the older pin-drive, so right off the bat, I need to convert it to hex drive (and possibly front) hex as well. So, do I cannibalize it or invest money into it and fix it up? We newer vehicles aren't my thing, but it is an impressive piece of engineering.

Presumably. After all, only the mighty Clod Buster could harness the unimaginable power of not only one, but two Conrads.

I would guess it would be still bronze bushings like the original and other re-res. Tamiya generally doesn't use the term bushing in this case. What we would normally call plastic bushings or bronze bushings, Tamiya usually refers to as "plastic bearings" or "metal bearings". To Tamiya, only the term "ball bearings" means ball bearings.

The Clod is big enough to alter the rotation of the earth depending on the direction its pointed in when you nail the throttle. Seriously, its about as wide as the Frog or Grasshopper is long. The original Tamiya promo video can be found on Youtube. Somewhere in the first half, it shows the Clod rolling along the beach with the Lunch Box. The size difference is pretty impressive.

As others have said the Bruiser/Mountain Rider/Mountaineer. The transmissions are reasonably intricate. They are a unique chassis build experience among Tamiya as they are mostly metal. Like the SRBs, it provides a break from screwing tapping screws into ABS plastic. The High Lift series of trucks as well as the rigs are probably considered long builds. While not as complicated as the previously mention vehicles, the TXT-2 Agrios followed by the Super Clod have a good number of parts. Buggy-wise, the Hot Shot would be one of the longer builds. The newer 4wds are much more streamlined in their build process with lower parts count. The Avante series is fairly complex, the Avante being the most so (probably more so than the Hot Shot). The key thing to remember is, they are all Tamiya. This means, all but flawless instructions, that if carefully followed, will lead you to a properly assembled vehicle by the end of the manual. I'd hate to assemble an Avante with the original RC10's two instruction book approach. I assemble some complex stuff for a living so I am a little biased. Honestly, the Bruiser transmission was the only thing I felt I had to carefully concentrate on while assembling. Everything else Tamiya makes just flies together in my hands.

Wild Willy. They were getting thin on the ground when I was able to save up for my first couple Tamiyas. There was one at the MARC show in MD for $90 (they usually ran $120 or so when they were last seen in the magazines) but my father didn't like the looks of it and told (made) me to pass on it. It became my white whale. Later my grandfather graciously took me to every hobby shop within reasonable driving distance attempting to track one down but to no avail. I collected every image I could get my hands on and drew pictures of it alot (well, I drew Tamiyas constantly so...). The closest I got was a Marui Land Cruiser "Super Willy" but I still lusted after the little Tamiya Jeep. Today, I happily own two.

Welcome to the forum. That Fox is a wonderful piece of ingenuity! I love seeing creations like this. This kind of creativity is a perfect time capsule to how it was done back in the day. Thanks for all the pics!

20200107_160233 by Scott Weiland, on Flickr 20200107_160448 by Scott Weiland, on Flickr Now sure if this helps as these aren't all 2.2s, but here's a comparison shot of most of the monster trucks tires I have in stock. From right to left, the smallest is just a Sand Viper buggy tire for reference. Then a Blitzer rear tire. Next is a worn out King Cab tire which is a bit taller than the Blitzer tire. The Lunch Box tire is next followed by the Monster Beetle tire. Then its a Proline Masher 2000, HPI Wheely King tire, Kyosho Big Boss/Double Dare/Hi-Rider Corvette tire, TXT-2 Agrios tire, and finally a Clod Buster tire. Its impressive how much larger the Big Boss tire is over its main competitor's, Monster Beetle/Blackfoot. I'm hunting for something close to the Kyosho tire in size but on a 2.2 rim for a project. I'm hoping the JConcepts Rangers might be close but I need a comparison shot of one minimally with a Blackfoot tire for reference before I pull the trigger. As a kid, I was all about adapting Clod tires or running those Imex Jumbo Dawgs with the Imex dually rim on smaller trucks like the Blackfoot or Lunch Box. After developing a sense of engineering, I realized all the issues running tires that massive entails. One look at how much beefier the Clod is built to manage those tires was enough for me to think twice about adapting them to mere mortal trucks. Gearing, of course, is likely another factor.

Yeah, you're right. All things considered, it was a pretty dumb idea.

I dawned on me while going through the thread on the expensiveness of the the Bruiser that one of the key things that let me down (from a driving standpoint) are the axles. They look great but their durability leaves something to be desired. The front axle, in particular, is slop-ridden. Neither seems strong enough for anything one sees in the promos. Bent axle housings are not uncommon on abused Bruisers. With all that in mind, are there other more durable alternatives that will fit the Bruiser? Will TLT-1 axles fit? While I'm not trying to drive the truck completely outside its means, part of me wants to experiencing what the old promo photos and videos promised. Heck, even the original manual shows the Bruiser coming off a sweet jump on the cover. Or perhaps its all a fool's errand.

I have a ton of these things in both black and poo brown. When I was a lad, I'd save up for the kits and then while building the kits, save up for radio gear. Guess what the absolute cheapest radio available locally was? Yep, the ol' Aristocraft Challenger 260. I was so focused on the cars, radio gear was almost just a necessary evil for me. I slowed down in the hobby in the college years. When I ramped up again after college, every single one of those radios had quit working. My one Futaba Attack was still functional and I use it to this day with my stock Clod Buster. After that, Futaba got all my business and has never let me down. My very first radio was a Airtronics Vector however. It lasted for about a year after getting back into it before giving up the ghost. I did spring for an MRC Top Gun for my Vanquish (as I felt the car was special and deserved a bit better than a 260). It lasted a good bit before dying in the mid 2000s. Edit: An apology to any Aristocraft/Hitec fans I may have offended. These were merely my personal experiences with the brand and just one of their products at that, the Challenger 260. Other's experiences with the brand may vary.

No worries. Saito's my original name anyway. Honestly, @Mad Ax summed it up beautifully. The diff is the main weakness on the Blackfoot and there are many threads chronicling both the experiences and numerous fixes available for it, from the home made and inexpensive to the store-bought yet pricier. Aside from that, there aren't any other glaring durability weakness in stock condition. Blackfoots have a long and rich history. I'm particularly fond of it beautiful hard body. From a driving standpoint, even with a stock 540, the truck is a blast to romp around with. The Amarok does indeed sit on a pretty durable chassis from the outset. In stock form, I've never been enthused by the platform. It seems slower and just trundles about going where you point it without much drama. If you have dreams of high speed brushless fun, the Amarok will likely cope better than the Blackfoot once the longer suspension arms are fitted. The wide arms make the truck very stable (which, without speed behind it, makes it more boring to me, just my opinion) Not that the Blackfoot can't be made quick. They were the go-to race vehicle for most in the monster truck class here in the States before conversion trucks took over.

Blackfoot without a doubt.