[Info on TNX truck needed]

On 7/31/2019 at 4:44 PM, Juggular said:

I knew @acprc would answer.  He's the nitro guy.   

TNX is a good truck.  

It all started with TGM-01 Terra Crusher, circa 2001?  

It was Tamiya's attempt to break the T-Maxx's dominance of nitro monster market at the time.

 

It was RTR with 2 speed, forward/reverse transmission, Tamiya .18 engine, with a starter motor attached to it.  (I've heard a speculation that it was OS engineered? Just that it's probably made with lesser quality than OS would have liked, hence the Tamiya brand?)   

But the transmission was revolutionary.  The throttle controls 2 speed forward, brake, reverse and 2nd gear in reverse without a problem.  Once you start messing with it, it takes some finesse to adjust it right. 

What was odd was that they tried to make a real monster truck out of a truggy.  When T-Maxx was called "monster truck," that was just a figure of speech.  T-maxx tires were light and fluffy like sponge cake (relatively speaking).  Terra Crusher tires were as heavy as steel-toed boots.  

In my opinion, somebody in Tamiya didn't do the math. (Or somebody just bulldozed the concerns of engineers and went with "real monster truck going crazy fast" concept)  

Out of 5.7kg weight, about 2.3kg is the weight of the tires.  The entire weight of the Hornet is 0.9kg.  So... imagine the weight of 2 Hornets strapped to 4 tires.  

As soon as Terra Crusher hit the market, Tamiya realized the error.  In just few months (if my memory serves right), they came out with Wild Commando. (TGM-02)  We talk about how Tamiya takes 30 years to issue new drivers and new tires.  But when they have to, they can make a new body, new wheels and new tires in just a few months.  

The smaller tires had very shallow tread to save weight.  4.8kg was the weight, so about 1kg was shaved off.  However, all the negative publicity from Terra Crusher owners wasn't going away simply because Tamiya issued Wild Commando.  

(If you can find lighter tires, Terra Crusher can fly around with the stock .18 engine.  I did get a stronger .18 engine that was supposed to make Terra Crusher go a lot faster--according to RC Car Action.  But with lighter tires, I didn't even need to install that.)  

The next one was GTM-03 TNX. 

TNX was how Terra Crusher should have been. 

The weight was further reduced to 4.4kg.  Tires were given a bit more aggressive tread.  The gear ratio was adjusted to fit smaller tires (unlike Wild Commando).  

TNX dropped the reverse gear.  I was sad to hear that news.  I thought it was an amazing invention!  You don't have to drive it like a nitro, you can drive it like an electric.  If Terra Crusher didn't come with lead tires, the transmission might have survived.  Who knows.  I wish Tamiya could bring it back.    

You can see where TXT-2 Agrios got the tires from.  Massive as it is, Agrios is only 4kg.  TNX was heavier.   

The rest is already covered by @acprc.  

As a side note, there was XBG Nitrage 5.2.  It was like a cousin to the TNX family.  

 

 

So I'm brand new to this site.. first post right now.. I'm also an owner of a tnx 5.2r.. except mine has a different engine it is made by axial.. not sure how big it is but if I had to guess it's at least a .28, but it could be a .32.... it's very fast.. it is said that the fr32-fx is designed by OS. I actually jst read this on the tamiya site.. it is OS blue!! The tnx 3.0 looks like a force engine with the flat paint scheme..  I'm convinced lol..  I literally jst read it on there site to..