El Gecko

I just realized I didn't put a direction arrow on it... are we running it clockwise or reverse? (fwiw I believe I had anti-clockwise in mind for the original)

Something like this then?

One of my previous suggestions looks pretty similar (just rotated 1/4 turn and a few markers are offset from the centerlines) Maybe too small though? (5x3 instead of 5x6)

Yep, should work. You'll probably have to get creative with the body mounts, and the fender arches might have to be expanded to fit the larger wheels. The Blitzer chassis is a few mm longer than the ORV that the Brat originally came on, but the wheelbases should work out fine if you line everything up with the rear wheels.

This is not meant to sway your decision, but I can tell you that, at least in my opinion, the Grasshopper is just as "exciting" to drive nowadays as it was back then, especially when you've upgraded it to modern electronics. Obviously it's not going to win any races on handling, especially over rough stuff, but it's still a fun car to bash around with. The broken used cars on Ebay are probably "originals" and likely command a higher value to certain collectors than the new cars in boxes, which are probably re-releases. The reres are still available from many places online, so they're not considered as "desirable" as the originals. (But they're still just as much fun!)

Nothing official yet, but last night I got some encouraging results, testing a GPS speedometer app on an old phone. Over 23mph in the Grasshopper with the "slow" battery

There are lots of horror stories on other hobby forums because they paid F&F and the "seller" took the money and ran... one guy got a box full of packing material instead of what he bought, with no recourse because it wasn't officially recorded with PayPal as a "this for that" transaction. These were longtime members in some cases, too. I've only ever used "goods and services" when doing any business online (buying/selling individual items) and have never had any issues. I thought it was weird when I joined this forum that everyone asked for payment F&F.

Not sure about the Ampro unit (seems WAY overpriced for a little piece of plastic!) but if you have a scrap piece of steel wire you can copy what I did for free It's not the prettiest solution but it's still holding strong after months of hard driving. It's so nice to have a rear suspension that works properly! Planning to do the same to Grasshopper #2 when I finish upgrading it to full Hornet spec

Totally agree with all of that ^^^^ sound advice! I will just add another vote for ditching the old MSC/resistor setup. When new, they were simply acceptable in a Clod, and the one in this truck looks a bit burnt out, so it's the perfect time to update to an ESC!

Somehow I managed to actually participate this time (which meets my personal challenge, just barely), except with a Traxxas and on bumpy grass instead of smooth, predictable tarmac... I won't go into the racer's excuses, but for many reasons the Hawk buggy was the only car I was able to drive this round (not that that's a bad thing) It's wearing the same tires that were on the Blackfoot when we last did this course in Round 6, but due to the better chassis layout and more confident handling, it managed to nearly match the Blackfoot's tarmac result! It's so much fun to slide this car around, and the "fast" battery makes a big difference... never seen wheelies from it before! (the far pic is a jump due to an "abrupt" tuft of grass)

The S3001 is a good solid budget servo, but the S3004 doesn't cost much more and uses a ball bearing instead of a bushing. They both have plastic gears, which should be fine for turning a TT-02.

A scrap of composite latticework from when my parents reworked their front porch It's actually too soft and will get replaced when it eventually fails again. You can see how much the screw heads sunk in, even with washers behind them to spread the load

Bush Mechanics 101

If the sticks are basically the same on both sides, you should be able to swap the self-centering stuff over from the other stick. I did that swap and just left the steering stick vertical axis un-centered, which works fine for me. Mine is an FS-I4 though, pretty simple and only has trims adjustment, but it was stupid cheap. Got the Tx with a 6chan fs-a6 Rx for $40, and another 8 (yes, EIGHT!) 3chan fs-gr3e receivers for $60, so I was able to re-radio 9 cars for around $100. And they're all bound to the same Tx, so I just have to install a battery, adjust trims, and go. Call me old-fashioned, but model memory doesn't matter for me because I always adjust trims before driving anyway.

Well that was unexpected

You're not the only one in an electric comfort zone! I don't know anything about the Vanning, but I would have a similar dilemma as you. Would I sell it on and use the funds to upgrade one of my electric cars? Or would I claim it as my own and attempt an electric conversion?

I think that's an R5 astromech

Same same. Hoping to get some results, but life (and weather) keep getting in the way!

Snapped a turnbuckle end the other day, so I decided to just replace all 4 of the ball ends on the front turnbuckles at once. The black ones on the inside allow more off-axis movement, so the front suspension gained about 1/2" of articulation on both wheels! It's no wonder the old ones snapped... they were taking the full impact of the biggest hits, as if they were bumpstops. The new ones allow the shocks to bottom out before anything else, hopefully improving the reliability and taking some strain off some of the weaker parts.

Finally had some time to look into some things... - Fix the hex driveshaft on the B-Rat and set up the electronics with the new receiver (no pics but the test drive was a success!) - rough sand the Grasshopper body and clean it up ready for glue and final sanding - re-space the wheels on the Hawk for a wider track (actually just returning it to normal by installing bigger hexes for the TRX wheels) - fabricate new shocks for the front of the Blackfoot and get the electronics ready for the new ESC Also went for a bash with my cousin, wrecked the Sledgehammer upside down into a giant muddy ditch at my uncle's house but luckily the damage was only cosmetic

I think I've finally figured out what to do with these things...

Not sure how long it will last, but I just flipped the offending hex shaft the opposite direction, and now both sides engage and propel the wheels. I test drove it outside today... it's still pretty darn slow with the 380 boat motor, but being able to actually drive it is a big improvement!

I didn't want to permanently alter the outer ring gear or the diff side plates yet--maybe in the future if I truly run out of options--so I refocused on the original outdrives. After drilling out the old shafts even further, and then grinding them down to fit in the 4628R yoke (and then shaving a bit from the bottom of the yoke), I finally have some good solid outdrives that work with the original diff setup and aren't completely off center or loose And I can use the same technique for the Hawks too!

The saga continues... Been doing some experimentation with stronger diff outdrives, as much for this truck as for the two Hawks I have with the same transmissions. I should have counted the teeth in the Amazon picture. Even though the 2382 sun gears/output shafts are listed as a direct fit for this model, and they do indeed fit inside the diff no problem, they do NOT engage with the teeth on the planet gears

Took a chance on a cheap motor... not sure if it will be better or worse than the old Twisters/Yokomo? At the very least it appears to have dual ball bearings