ThomasI

This is a new general housing for the display computer for non-King Cab cars. Box Size: 78mm x 46mm x 20mm - with screw mounts 57mm x 34mm

Ok... got you... So check out this: I designed a general housing for my display unit - asside from the front section of a King Cab. Now in principle any car that can find a place to screw or glue this box in place, could have a digital dashboard in the Tamiya Cockpit. The Box is 78mm x 46mm x 20mm - with screw mounts 57mm x 34mm ... ok... any car is a stretch... I only have electronic components for 3 or 4 more units. So this will be a rare item in any case. Anybody interested check the "for sale section"

My second King Cab equipped with the parts.

It is done: The two brothers “The King” and “Mad King” are now both equipped with all my 3D printed parts like dirt cover and cockpit mounts. And both feature a fully operational digital dashboard. Can you tell them apart without the body? Only “The King” is equipped with a GPS for real speed display, an articulated driver head, engine sound, light kit, Ampro parts and a Traxxas gearbox (for now) If you are interested in the printed Parts for your King Cab/Monster Racer check out my video above or the "for sale" section in this forum: https://www.tamiyaclub.com/forum/index.php?/topic/105833-3d-printed-upgrade-parts-for-the-tamiya-king-cab/

A video vor all Tamiya King Cab (and Hilux Monster Racer) fans! If you are interested in some of this parts, check out the sales section in this forum

I have designed a bunch of 3D printed upgrade parts for the Tamiya King Cab. As they might be useful for other retro King Cab fans as well, I offer them here. Some will also fit the Hilux Monster Racer. These are not mass produced parts. I will print them on demand and prepare them individually. Send me a PM. Video will come soon! 1. Dirt cover set - €80.- Fits King Cab and Hilux Monster Racer. Will NOT work with classic mechanical speed controller (redesign possible if there is demand for this) 2. Cockpit stand set - €70.- untested for the Hilux Monster Racer. 3. Light Buckets set - €45.- King Cab only 4. Roll cage and roof rack set - €120.- King Cab only 5. Digital Dashboard set - including Arduino compatible microcontroller board, screen, custom made PCB and cable tree. These are unique hand made pieces with custom written software. Only a very limited number of units is possible. Some basic electronic understanding is helpful, as these are not foolproof and can be destroyed by not installing them correctly. Send me PM for pricing if interested. The dashboard unit is also available with a general housing for non-King Cab use. Case size: 78mm x 46mm x 20mm - with screw mounts 57mm x 34mm - see images below. (prices Feb. 2024) Check out the video: P.S.: Please understand that I am not Amazon! This is not my main business - just from a fan for other fans. Maybe an answer will take a while.

My restored Tamiya King Cab is heading for a new adventure. This time it´s near Vienna: The Vienna Quest

Some nice shots from the beach photoshoot. I could not go further, because of heavy rain coming in. But I did some more shots on the next day - see video

I think if they ever re-release it, they cant do it without redesigning the front bumper section and the gearbox. Otherwise new buyers will drive them like modern RC and complaints and warranty issues will pile up. I love this/my truck and how it looks. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1gV_n1XbyQ But I treat it with caution and changed the gearbox. This can not be expected from a casual buyer. My guess would be, that Tamiya is well aware of weaknesses of its design. This adds risks and/or costs to any re-release.

Names! That is a great idea! No they dont have any by now. (beside the drivers name is kinda set by the King Cab Sticker ... hmmmm) This is the first video I gave them a little story... so never thought about it before. Yes, check out the other videos. I have a series what shows how the car works: Driver head goes with steering. And yes, this is a fully working digital console in the car with GPS and lots of other stuff. It can even play PONG on the little screen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JswIZk_Kg9k And yes: the dashboard actually failed just during filming (only trickery: it did not break in that very moment - the magic of editing ) Yes. It is some 80% actual sound... with some sound editing where it did not work out (stupid human with remote control talking... )

Just a fun post this time: "The King" is out for new adventures! And it is getting wild! Enjoy!!!

I made a new action Video. You can see a big blob of black paint coming clean off the lexan at 2:04 - look at the left side of the rear bumper. The paint is still hanging there, but with a big bubble under it. That is a great point! I will try that! For now it is still only the black paint.

I sprayed it outside in late summer. So maybe some 20° Celsius. No rain. I sprayed all colors on the same day. Did they peel on TBG bodies? Or on original Tamiya? Could it be that there is a difference in the type of lexan? Could this maybe add tho the peeling effect? I had another run today with my King Cab... Afterwards I saw a new section start to peel - again it is black and only black. It comes right off... like a thin foil that leaves no trace on the lexan. For now I am closing the holes with a brush.

Hi! I am facing a strange problem. About half a year ago I have painted a TBG King Cab replacement body with Tamiya PS Colors - black, white and red. Before spraying I washed it with some sope water, and rinsed it off (maybe not enough???) Now suddenly black is pealing of the body, like usual plastic colours would. For now it is black and only black. I wonder what I did wrong. And I am puzzled why it only affects the black paint. Is there anything more than "get PS Colors -> clean body -> spray"? Am I missing anything?

I added some onboard entertainment to the Dashboard for my scale driver. So he can play some Pong while the batteries are loading

So here comes the latest upgrade: Speed display connected to the GPS unit for real time - real speed display for my drivers! hahah!

Update: I have upgraded my dashboard computer to a custom PCB. I did not like all the wires in GEN 2/3. So I learned how to design a PCB. Looks way better (even nobody sees it, I know it!) And it works! And it is ready to accept extensions! Buiding a GPS unit now...

Ohhh... That is unfortunate: I have startet to implement GPS handling (to display ACTUAL speed!) but I am running out on code memory by ALOT on the microcontroller board. That is a tough call: I can kick out some nice functionality or skip GPS... Or check out more capable microcontroller boards... It runs so nicely: handles loss of signal. displays nice animated graphs. has a setup mode for various options when connected via USB - like 3 or 4 channel Remote, Button modes... has a low voltage alert and even should be able to stop the car on low voltage (untested) ohhh... so nice code... what to kick out?!?!?! Question: is anybody here interested in the code? Maybe want to go into "digital dashboard" by himself? If so, where to post it for people to experiment with? I am not a professinal coder. Anybody here? Is Github the place for this? (It is normal Arduino IDE C++ code)

Part 3 is out:

Oh! Wow! I have missed that one! That would have been a great option as well... hmmm... I still have that one second chassis

Believe me, I was struggling with this point by myself. Should I or should I not. In the end the major point was for me, to seeing it drive gain. But seeing it drive like my teenage-self imagined it drive some 30 years ago. I mean, I always “saw” these drivers sit inside. In my imagination, I was looking out the windscreen, seeing the gauges moving and having this powerful engine in my back. In a way I am just finishing what I have started (or better: wasn’t capable of doing) as a boy. So the slippery original diff wasn’t an option and I looked out for an RC10+conversion kit for a while. But they are simply out of reach. I was as careful as possible in the process. I did not dare to lay the first cut on my original chassis, before I tested the full procedure with an old cracked chassis. And – as a sidenote – I am in the lucky position to have found another chassis-tub in great condition. This second one will not be touched! Would it have been more sensible to place a King Cab Body on an Traxxas Stampede chassis? Yes, absolutely! Would it be the car, that started to build in my youth and that I am just finishing 30 years later. No! And if I break the chassis when driving into a rock – so be it! I will know, this King Cab crashed because it was, what it was supposed to be all the time: the powerful machine of my teenage dreams. (and I have spare parts!)

Actually the it is just a general brushed motor from a cheap RTR buggy. I bought this buggy in the beginning of my restoration to gut it for parts. The motor is one of them. you can still see the rear wing of this buggy and some upper arms holding up the rear end of the drivers mount. However, this motor is WAY TO POWERFULL AND FAST for my taste and I am looking for a more sensible solution. For now it is limitted to 70% power output. May sound strange... but I dont care to much about the motor

I was already asked to provide a list of parts. I also share it here if anybody wants to do the same conversion: Traxxas Parts: Gearbox TRX3695 Motor Spacer TRX3790 Drive axle connection TRX4628R Drive axle TRX1951 Lower arms TRX2555 Suspension pins TRX3640 Uprights/Wheelhub TRX3752 Wheel axle TRX2753X Hex+Pins TRX1654 (Info: if you drive original rims, they need slightly wider/longer Hex adapters – if you drive other rims, they might fit just fine) Spacer TRX1985 Non Traxxas: P48 Pinion gear for your motor M3 Screws, Nuts, spacers M4 threaded rod for lengthen the upper arm. One thing to keep in mind: The transmission is insainly powerfull compared to the original. All my mods add about 0.85 kg to the car. While a portion of this is the transmission itself, I also have a lot of extra wight in the front. But even with all the extra load I need to be very carefull on the throttle. You might need to add some weight in the forward section to keep the front end down.

Here we go: Part 2 - How to convert a Tamiya King Cab for a Traxxas Slash transmission.

I made a video introducing my crazy King Cab. Part one is about my solution on the drivers, the digital dashboard and all the other add-ons. Part two will focus on the Traxxas Slash Gearbox conversion. I hope you like it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gbm1FKHeaz4