Lunchbox Hop... essential upgrades

[Hypoxic]

10 hours ago, skom25 said:

Hi,

My RC journey is weird and probably went in bit wrong direction. I started with "I want everything which is the best" and now I am somewhere "I just want to run RC for 15 minutes and forget about this".

Few months ago I asked about Lunchbox/Midnight Pumpkin. Now I came back to this idea.

What are the essentail Lunchbox upgrades?

1. CVAs

2. Ball Bearings

3. High Torque servo saver

Have I missed something? Pinion? Is it steel or aluminium in kit?

Which High Torque servo saver should be used? I see that horn from kit is bit different than that added to HT version.

For me; bearings, aluminium body mounts, Torque Tuned motor with steel pinion, CVA shocks with CVA 5th shock mod. I don’t think you really need much more. I hammer mine and it holds up great, minus the servo saver. Just avoid hard hits on curbs, walls and power poles. I’m using the Tamiya 51000 high torque servo saver and keep a few in reserve.

[skom25]

48 minutes ago, urban warrior said:

You're right. But I also made the discovery that a static model can be extremely pricey too. And today, if you totally loose it, you can additionally spend more than the price of a model kit for etched, resin casted or 3D printed upgrade parts. So you can loose yourself in static modelling as well. 🤪 But yes, when I add up all the money I've spent for RC modelling and static modelling the ratio is around 4:1 ... 🤦🏼‍♂️

I think the main difference is time necessary to build both.

RC? If you care about each detail, solder wires etc it is week or two, if you work on it for hour or two each day.

Static model, especially something like ship in 1/350, probably will take around few months.

[urban warrior]

10 hours ago, skom25 said:

RC? If you care about each detail, solder wires etc it is week or two, if you work on it for hour or two each day.

Sounds as if I have to work on my discipline quite seriously ... even RC's can take me months or even years.

[wolfdogstinkus]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned fitting a boxing glove on the front bumper.

https://imgur.com/gallery/comical-ways-to-kill-coronavirus-9M380mF#fGJAR2R

Or springs on the roof yet??. 

https://imgur.com/gallery/tamiya-lunchbox-monster-beetle-wheels-paint-by-6year-old-boy-GgohK0Q#lNeGAeN

 

Fed up of running to flip your lunchbox back on it's wheels, fit a bumper on springs on the roof and  then just wait as your lunchbox bounces around eventually returning to you because it can't stop bouncing without an external force correcting it's unpredictable nature.

[skom25]

How crucial is to have spare axle springs?

I saw somewhere that they are weak point of chassis. Unfortunately, I also found that they just do not exist in my area...

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, skom25 said:

How crucial is to have spare axle springs?

I saw somewhere that they are weak point of chassis. Unfortunately, I also found that they just do not exist in my area...

They're very brittle.I would make sure you have plenty spares if you run it often. They are pretty hard to find here in the UK.  I bought some aftermarket aluminium parts and they include the axle springs.

 

 https://chepestdiscount.ru/product/404229954564

[TurnipJF]

20 minutes ago, skom25 said:

How crucial is to have spare axle springs?

I saw somewhere that they are weak point of chassis. Unfortunately, I also found that they just do not exist in my area...

You can do away with them entirely if you fit a clickety-clack delete brace. It keeps the front centre of the gearbox halfway up the slots while still allowing it to pivot, much like the brace that the DT-01 comes with as standard. Many on eBay these days. Here is an example:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/146428865478

[Twinfan]

1 hour ago, skom25 said:

How crucial is to have spare axle springs?

I saw somewhere that they are weak point of chassis. Unfortunately, I also found that they just do not exist in my area...

They should be super easy to get hold of, part number 9808008.

TTP will post to you:  https://ttpmodels.com/products/tamiya-lunch-box-midnight-pumpkin-montero-cw01-9808008-19808008-axle-springs

[Nikko85]

3 hours ago, TurnipJF said:

You can do away with them entirely if you fit a clickety-clack delete brace. It keeps the front centre of the gearbox halfway up the slots while still allowing it to pivot, much like the brace that the DT-01 comes with as standard. Many on eBay these days. Here is an example:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/146428865478

I printed something like that and never bothered with the springs. It works  great.

[JimBear]

Tamico has them too -> TA-19808008

I guess one could bend something similar out of piano wire. 

[Nikko85]

Quick free upgrade, the wheel hub is often tight on the axle and I find that wheels can wobble a lot.

If you get a 5mm drill piece you can clean out the wheel hub and then they might stop wobbling. I have also found that rotation the wheel around the hub until you get the least wobble combo works well.

So, 3D axle brace, less wobble and rubber bands to stop wheel spin are there great almost free upgrades.

I've totally upgraded mine, but I am now tempted to make the best CW01 I can with zero spend.

[Shergar]

Just a counterpoint to ‘essential’ spare parts, I built my (then) 8 year old niece a Midnight Pumpkin almost 3 years ago, box stock bar a set of metal Jazrider body mounts.

Its well loved and well used by her and her friends, its worn smooth on all edges, and underneath, but nothings broke - only the batteries going flat stops it!

[urban warrior]

On 6/14/2025 at 2:29 PM, skom25 said:

How crucial is to have spare axle springs?

I saw somewhere that they are weak point of chassis. Unfortunately, I also found that they just do not exist in my area...

I just replaced them with springs found in ball pens, an placed them inside D7 and D8 where the shaft is moving, secured with cable ties ... 🤪 ... those last longer.

[skom25]

I read that they break, when screws which hold them are tightened. It is not mentioned in manual, that they should move freely on screw.

I have no idea if it is solution or just luck of particular users.

[Twinfan]

13 minutes ago, skom25 said:

I read that they break, when screws which hold them are tightened. It is not mentioned in manual, that they should move freely on screw.

I have no idea if it is solution or just luck of particular users.

They sit around a plastic post, you can't overtighten them.

As I said earlier, some grease on them lengthens their life massively as it means the coiled part can move freely.  They snap when this clogs up and the straight part is just bending up and down, leading to metal fatigue and breakage.  Again as I said earlier, replacing them when they break is part of the fun of Lunch Box ownership!  

I do think alvinlwh may have a point here:

On 6/13/2025 at 10:04 AM, alvinlwh said:

To be honest, given what I know about your expectations, I think you will be really disappointed with the Lunchbox.

The Lunch Box is best when it gets bashed up, used in rough environments, rolled over backwards, modified, broken and fixed etc.  Because of that, it doesn't stay immaculate.  That doesn't really sound like your kind of car!