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Saito2

The Big Boss that isn't (WR01).

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Though I greatly enjoy the looks of the old Kyosho Car Crusher series, their age and finite spares mean I don't drive them in anger. I have a Big Boss runner and will be adding a Double Dare runner to it over the winter, but again, both will be driven with care. Enter the Tamiya WR01. The WR01, despite looking completely different, is somewhat of a spiritual successor to the old Kyosho trucks. The concept of making a 4wd out of a 2wd (WR01/WT01) by slinging another gearbox up front was pioneered by Kyosho. I have an on again off again relationship with the WR01/WT01 chassis. It was my first "modern" Tamiya after the early 90's in the form of a Twin Detonator. Judging on the wear it sports, I must have driven it alot but I do remember it becoming boring. I felt there was potential for great fun in it and would frequently rebuild in in various configurations. This was before I came to the self-discovery that I guess I only care for vintage RC in the end or rather, I just refined my personal taste. My Twin Det has been everything from a trail truck to a twin 550, twin battery powered E-maxx wannabe. The best configuration was twin 15T HPI Firebolts on a single battery but even that proved to wear out components. Internet lore will speak of the WR01's bombproof gearboxes (which is fairly true) but not mention the molded-in outriggers that hold the gearbox to the chassis are vulnerable. All of mine are split or snapped off. When it came to making a "tribute" to the Kyosho trucks, the WR01 came down off my shelf for an inspection.

I see plenty off vehicles done in tribute to older ones. Many sport similar bodies/livery and possibly wheels/tires on more modern chassis but that never looks quite right to my eye with the exception of things like the Astute-Gator. I'm fussy I guess. The first part of pulling off the trickery is the footprint. The wheels/tires must not only be similar in size but also must be in the same spots as the original. Fortunately the same issue that makes the Blackfoot body look awkward on the WR01/WT01 is a benefit here :the longer wheelbase is the same as the Kyosho trucks. Now to width. Honestly, this idea has be in my head for a decade but the stock WR01 is too wide. Replacing the suspension with WW2 WR02 parts makes it too narrow and only supplies driveshafts for the rear as its 2wd. Then a series was born which I had no interest in but proved to be the solution: the Comical Buggies. Tamiya produced slightly longer arms and driveshafts with these than the WR02 perfect. The icing on the cake was the Hotshot variant also provided correct-length driveshafts for the front.

One of these is a Big Boss and one isn't, but to my bad eyesight at a distance, maybe I'll be fooled. lol

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Its not complete yet. I still have to get the body mounted just-right, but its close.

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I'll have to work out some details but its mostly there in mocked-up form. The Axial BKTs are close to the Kyosho's in size and sit in the same spot as the originals but one more thing bothered me, the shock placement. Yes my fussiness extends to where the shocks are mounted. While the WR01 mounts its shocks on the lower arms as most vehicles do nowadays, their look ruined the tribute in my eyes. I mocked up some shock towers and mounted the shocks to the upper arms like Kyoshos, bringing the shock up into the wheelwell.

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The taller towers also gave substance to the area between the body and the chassis. Even in the old days, my group of would mock efforts like the Royal Crusher, which had a truck body floating in the breeze high above their converted Ripper buggy chassis. Since then, I don't like to see a ton of daylight between the body and chassis on a monster truck. 

So that's it. I still have to pick powerplants, fashion body mounts and come up with a front bumper (and something to put in the engine hole in the hood). I'm fairly happy finally. We'll see how it performs in the spring. 

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Looks great. Vintage monster trucks are the best looking kind, and this looks brilliant.

 

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I have a Wild Dagger in the basement... it's one I made long time ago and 'sold' to my son at a super bargain price.  It's still in new condition.  Not sure if he even remembers he has it.  I'll give it a couple more years and hope he forgets completely.  :ph34r:   :lol:

 

Nice truck, @Saito2!

 

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9 minutes ago, Mr. Horsepower said:

 

Awesome trucks! Do you know what year were these released?

I don't know Saito2's trucks, but the Wild Dagger was released in 1999, as far as I know.  The issue with this dual motor chassis is I can't really run anything besides a silver can due to rotation on the front gear box running in reverse.

At one point I was thinking about doing something similar with my M01 to make it 4WD, but the motor issue made it a bit unattractive to me and so I just stuck with belt/shaft drive 4WD platforms.   (well these days, gear based 4WD per GF01 too.. :lol:)

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@Mr. Horsepower The original Kysho Car Crusher line started in the late 80"s with the Big Brute reviewed in RCCA in Dec '87. It was followed in later years by the Hi-Rider Vette, Double Dare, Big Boss and the original USA-1 (not related to the old nitro variant or new version out today). They did do an actual gas version of the chassis called the Nitro Brute. All of them share roughly the same architecture, the USA-1 arguably being the most unique as it was a direct challenge to the Clod Buster at the time.

 

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30 minutes ago, Willy iine said:

The issue with this dual motor chassis is I can't really run anything besides a silver can due to rotation on the front gear box running in reverse.

You can run 0 timed brushed motors like the HPI 15T Firebolts or anything else that would suit a Clod Buster. Twin brushless systems are also a possibility but that's way over the top in this case.

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This looks great.  I couldn't tell which was original in the first image since I know nothing about the original Big Boss, so you fooled me :)  I actually think yours looks better, wheels & tires look great on there.  I did always like the Big Boss's black body and decals, I remember seeing the 1:1 version years back.  

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@Saito2 Thanks for the history- I love that kind of stuff. 

Looking again at the pic of your one shock tower, does it seem like the piston is slightly canted in relation to the damper reservoir? 

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On 1/16/2022 at 1:13 AM, Mr. Horsepower said:

@Saito2 Thanks for the history- I love that kind of stuff. 

Looking again at the pic of your one shock tower, does it seem like the piston is slightly canted in relation to the damper reservoir? 

Yeah just thinking that. The piston rod will be putting the o rings under pressure meaning they will fail prematurely and get messy with damper oil. If you could make the top mount a floating one, a bit like Tamiya ball connectors that allow slight play in all 360 degrees, it will take the stress off the rod and allow the damper to sit perfectly straight in relation to it's piston rod.

James.

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Yeah, I regret jumping the gun and posting pics of the shock in mocked-up form. The front driveshafts haven't even been installed (still in the mail) yet. Its not quite a dramatic as the pic makes it look. The coil spring is messing with the optics somewhat, but either way I should have come up with a more appropriate upper shock mounting method, even during the mock-up stage, because that looks like slap-dash garbage in the pic. Not only does it look like crap, but those are flattened TP cardboard rolls mocking up the body height for clearance adjustment purposes. So crap all the way around.

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Now now don't be so harsh on yourself. There is loads of us to do that for you 😉👍😋

James.

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This is a cool build! I remember getting a Big Boss kit from my LHS as a teenager as an open box deal. The Kyosho crushers from that era were wonky and awkward in comparison to anything Tamiya. I may have ran that truck 2-3 times around the local park and then it was sold to a childhood friend who wanted a proper R/C to run with us in the neighborhood. He made a couple small mods to the steering and outdrives as needed and bashed that truck nearly every day with us. I can't recall it's fate, but I know it took some punishment and even the stock MSC worked for quite sometime. The stock tires on those with the wheels being primitive beadlocks made up for the harsh suspension and it was amusing to watch as it bounced around the rough stuff.      

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I agree with previous comments. Such a great looking truck (perfect proportions I think) and a great resto project. Lovely work!

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