Saito2

Avante or Egress for me. The TXT-1 is nice. I kept the bed of mine clear so I could watch the rear cantilevers work. The metal-heavy designs and realism of the SRBs and Bruiser trucks are certainly appealing.

Doubtful. The 1/12 scale Lunch Box body has a much shorter wheelbase than the 1/10 scale Blackfoot series.

The Agrios shell is truly huge, dwarfing even the TXT-1 shell. I have both trucks but my TXT-1 is retired for the moment. The brushless system in my TXT-2 makes for a fun truck though. The weight and size of the truck barreling along is impressive.

As far as I know, the two chassis interchange. The TXT-1 chassis gives the option of cantilever or vertical shocks while the TXT-2 only handles vertical shocks, I believe. The two main tubes of the TXT-2 chassis are actually metal. The main benefit of the TXT-2 chassis is scale realism, right down to those plates with the sponsor on them. The TXT-2 chassis is actually heavier but can be lightened if you replace those heavy plates with something a bit lighter. I don't recommend eliminating them all together as they provide support for the suspension link mounting points.

Totally off topic, but I always wondered if your name came about from Ford Pintos. I built a 302 powered one for my ex-wife years ago. I have to admit, I preferred the several V8 Chevy Vegas I built a whole lot more though.

Upon tearing down my TXT-1's axles, I found a good bit of slop in the gears. Twin 550, 14.4v power will do that over time I suppose. Does anybody know where I can find replacement axle gears? They seem a bit scarce. I figure Agrios gears are the same as well.

I don't mean to start anything, but literally EVERY time a re-re comes out we all bemoan the fake sponsor decals. I know it's not cool, but I think we can just stop hoping at this point. We're not going to get real sponsor decals on most (if not all) re-res. Period. Some random observations on another note : the grill oddly happens to be the same as the one found on the 1/32 Blackfoot Jr. Granted, the Jr did have a little Ford oval in the center. Also, hasn't the Ford logo been missing from Blackfoots since the "Super" version came out? Purely speculating here, but do you think some manufacturers are less willing to give out licensing to non-current vehicles? When the Clod Buster lost its Chevy badge, I think Chevy had moved to the new body style like the USA-1 (something Kyosho did get licensed). The F-350 High Lift was the current bodystyle when it came out, fully licensed. Just a random theory.

That's great! Thanks for the link.

Some really good ideas to try here. Thanks!

I recently picked up a used RC. I was happy with the price, so I tossed it in the trunk of my car and headed home. When I got home and opened the trunk, it smelled like 5 people were smoking in there! I've sprayed it down several times with odor eliminator-type products but to no avail. I think this thing spent its life in a bar. Any ideas on getting rid of the cigarette smoke smell? The tires are the worst, but the plastics in the chassis are pretty potent too. I won't even bring it into my hobby room for a tear down at this point for fear of making the room smell.

I'm very fortunate my wife is ok with my hobby/madness. Before our daughter came along, she even went bashing with me. As long I keep it in my hobby room (more or less) she's happy. We do playfully go back and forth on the "toys" issue. I say they're models and she says toys. Of course that brings up the joke that they're toys for adults or "adult toys". I always bring out the first page of the RC Guidebook the says "Toys they're not". My wife allows me my collection because it keeps my 1:1 cars in check. I used to have full size cars in the double digits but have brought it down to 5 and kept it there. She even went along on an 1.5 hour drive to get a used Bullhead last week.

Also interested. Any idea what to use for dogbones as well?

Sorry...I still like my MSCs (as I've said before, it's crazy, I know)

Oh, I get what you mean. I just meant that (the cars getting better) is why so many of these aftermarket companies dried up. I still wish they hadn't. Looking around it seems ESP Clod parts may be gone as well now.

I guess the cars have gotten so much better that alot of the aftermarket "fixes" aren't needed anymore...except for Tamiya re-releases. And BTW, I still stubbornly refuse to use Lipo. It's all Nicad and (begrudgingly) Nimh for me.

I know what you mean! As good as brushless motors are, open endbell brushed motors just looked awesome. I had a much better idea or "feel" of what those motors would be like by reading the specs over brushless motor ratings. Plus there was all the neat tweaking and tricks you could apply to brushed motors.

Oh man, don't I know it! When I got back into RC 15 years ago, it was tough seeing all those aftermarket companies dried up and gone. All that cool stuff just gone. Sees wheels. Thorp. CRP. Twister motors. Maricle Speedway. The list goes on. I guess you don't know how good it is until it's gone. The tough part is I could make alot of that stuff with my current skillset but simply don't have the time. Such is adulthood.

This is a big, in-depth topic that one could probably write a book about. Tamiya does indeed have a magic "spark" about them. Even if I get temporarily discouraged by the acres of shiny black plastic that make up so many of today's Tamiya kits all I have to do is look at a vehicle from another manufacturer to see what's missing. Soul. Tamiyas have soul. It's also important to remember that not only has Tamiya been doing RC for a LONG time, but they've been doing it right from the get-go. The parts always fit together. They rarely leave parts out of the kit. The instructions have always been top-notch. It's easy to forget that in the 80's heyday, not many manufacturers could do all those things plus have decent quality as well. As great as the RC10 was, it really needed to be hand fitted, especially the 6-gear transmission. Some Kyosho parts were just faulty. Double Dare steering knuckles come to mind. Some cars were just junk (i.e. Royal). Some tried to mimic Tamiya but just couldn't quite do it, like Marui. Tamiya had it all. With a foundation like that, it's easy to see where all the good memories come from.

There are some homemade upgrades you can try. I've taken some hollow aluminum tubing of proper size and carefully squeezed and flattened the tips in a vise. The flattened tips fit into the slotted outdrives. If you have access to a mill, you can take solid aluminum rod and machine flats into the ends to mate with the outdrives. It's a bit more precise this way.

How far can one go with a restoration before you lose the essence of the original vehicle? For example : I was looking at my tired, original '87 Lunch Box and debating about how (or if) to restore it. It's my first new Tamiya kit so it holds alot of value to me personally. The problem is a combination of worn parts and questionable "modifications". The chrome bumpers are scratched. The chrome is rubbed off the shock bodies. The body has been repainted numerous times. Then there's the "mods". When you're a kid with time and energy but little money, you do dumb things. I couldn't afford cool alloy wheels, but I could afford spray paint. Remember when Custom Chrome in the US offered just about every part for a Tamiya monster truck in chrome? Well, out came the spray paint again and instant "chrome" chassis. Later I sprayed it black again. Then there's holes in the chassis for light switches, body mounts and who knows what else. Basically, my youthful enthusiasm really messed up the truck. So, let's assume I could get original Tamiya spares (or even the cheap re-re spares). With a new chassis, new shocks, new chrome, new wheels, new window glass (the original is cracked) and new tires (to replace my nearly bald originals) just how much of the truck is my original truck anymore? I can strip the shell and try to strip original chassis and wheels but the chassis still has holes in it. I could have the original plastics re-chromed (probably not cheap) I guess. At what point, does one stop and admit it can't be both original and perfectly restored at the same time?

I agree the Swift looks a bit odd with the wheels so far inboard. So the regular Mini shell without the add-on plastic grill fits with the rally tires. Great! Thanks guys.

These were my two favorite monster trucks when I was young. What Darat76 said holds true. The Lunch Box is very basic but very tough. Other than a body mount or two, I never broke a part on mine and I've run it since '87 or so. The suspension is crude with a solid axle (very durable, though) out back and simple swing/A-arms up front. They are mostly plastic and don't have oil filled shocks. The Lunchie is wheelie prone which is fun, but not a precise handler by any means. The Monster Beetle based off the earlier Frog/ORV platform. It's reasonably tough in it's own right but the gearbox is nowhere near as bulletproof as the Lunch Box's There's more of a combination of plastic and pressed metal parts in the kit and it comes with 4 wheel independent suspension with oil filled shocks. As such, it handles much better than the Lunch Box. If you're in to hopping up your vehicles, the Beetle has far more potential. If you just want a simple kit that's durable and will require minimal maintenance, the Lunch Box fits the bill.

I love those old catalogs and guidebooks. I spend hours with a magnifying glass as a kid studying the mechanicals of the various cars and seeing which parts interchanged. I also always had one open at night before bed, diligently trying to reproduce the tiny boxart images in my sketchpad. Those books always seemed so grown-up and professional-looking to me (still do, actually).

I came across an M05RA Alpine chassis set up for "off road" use. Which bodies will fit with the rally block tires? It seems most of the Tamiya shells are discontinued on their site and from what I've read, the Mini body might not clear the tires.

Thank you! I have ALOT of RCCA's in my collection but never laid eyes on the first issue. Its great! Thanks again!