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28yoKid

What Is It About The Clod Buster?

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Have to totally agree that there is something charming about the Tamiya Clodbuster and Super Clodbuster. I had a chevy grilled one many moons ago and sold it. But the odd occasion that I ran it, I ran it into the ground. Gee that 1200 pack got a hiding. So lately I had been thinking about getting a Super Clod or the chrome edition. Just yesterday I picked up the HPI Graverobber body with the intention of putting it on god knows what, but now it's destiny will be a Clod. My only planned mods will be bearings, oil shocks, esc, hi toque servo and a rear locker.

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My friend recently asked me to bid on an original Clod for him on ebay. Absolute minter!! I had never seen a Clod in the flesh before, and they are certainly impressive :D

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Was thinking about a Clod but was short on cash, then after a bit of overtime I now have a Clod ready to be built :D

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Hi steve r.

The mods are fairly easy. I'll list the steps with pics here.

First, I would like to apologize to 28yokid for swamping his thread. I hope this will just give some tips to new owners on how to slightly modify their stock clods.

It is easier if you have a clod ready in front of you. Cause, you will see how much "material" from the stock chassis you must take out with the use of dremel (it is easy if you have some rotary tool). NOTE: The front steering servo holder and linkage, plus the rear steering lock out are aftermarket parts. I bought them from Junfac (ebay). Take out the whole stock steering set-up and shocks. Let the chassis "sit" on the axles and from here, you can make out which parts are touching the chassis. It is obvious that you have to take out the plastic material to free up anything that will hinder the axle movement. Surprisingly, without the stock servo saver, you don't need to take out anything at the rear...just the front. As you can see from the pics, this much is needed to make room for the front axles to move.

Pic365.jpg

Pic366.jpg

Pic368.jpg

With the stock steering out of the way, you can now place everything inside the tub chassis, for a more lower CG.

Pic367.jpg

I tried using 2 oil dampers per side. It is way too stiff, since most of the weight are just on the axles. Having one per side is enough.

I hope this helps.

Sorry to butt in at this stage but am very interested in your mods to allow the clearance for the after market steering options etc. How much impact on the strength of the chassis do you think this much removal might have? I too want to add 4 wheel steering and the Junfac parts etc but also still want to be able to drive my Clod like I stole it without fear of it falling into bits!

Ta!

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It just a truck load of awesome!

From its bouncy and noisy stock undampened suspension, it's moreso trailing wheel steering, to it's huge detailed "look at me, Im a REAL monster truck" presence B)

I'm on my 4th, I bought a Clod and then shortly after a Bullhead back circa 1990,(edit: which I both sold) and now I have my 3rd and 4th, another vintage cloddy and bully because I missed them and I had to have the both again. Watching me and my mate both taking up the pavement with them when I was a kid was the epitome of awesomeness, we felt we were king's of the street B)

Now I get to be that kid again while my neighbours think "You're a bit old for that." :rolleyes:

Buy one, you know you want to :D

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:(:D:D:D:D CLODBUSTERS ARE THE BOMB!!!!!!!!!

I have 2 Clods, 2 Bullheads, Juggernaut and my Gravedigger shell on a Bullhead chassis. I'm still sitting with a couple of gearbox casings, another Bullhead body and spares to build more BTT's. It is the one Tamiya model that even if I had 100 I would still look for more. That is just the coolest looking truck out, just searching for a Bowtie grille and my life will be better.

Henk

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The Clod is the TRUE KING of Monsters. Other Monsters might handle better, but the Clod still RULES ALL!

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The CLOD is the original BIG truck as far as I'm concerned that actually had the presence to make everyone rush out to get one. Anyway here is a link to a video that once watched makes you want to RUN to the nearest hobby shop to purchase the Super Clod now (Tamiya Clod Promo):

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The CLOD is the original BIG truck as far as I'm concerned that actually had the presence to make everyone rush out to get one. Anyway here is a link to a video that once watched makes you want to RUN to the nearest hobby shop to purchase the Super Clod now (Tamiya Clod Promo):

It is also funny when you listen to the promo on your ipod, whilw your driving the clod :rolleyes::lol::)

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Haha that jingle is fantastic, everytime I've watched it I bop my head to it B) It's soooo 80's synth.

Got my bully running at 4am this morning, have been waiting on my LHS to get some motor leads with the bullet connectors in (got given the Novak plugs that were supposed to go with the Super Duty XR that it didn't come with, but really wanted the original bullet plugs for the MSC) so pinched them off some spare 17 turns I had so i could run it.

Wish I had two sets of hands so I could run my Clod AND Bully ;) Even stock they are still quite entertaining!

bullyncloddy004.jpg

Cant wait to have the vintage shells original and completed :D

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The CLOD is the original BIG truck as far as I'm concerned that actually had the presence to make everyone rush out to get one. Anyway here is a link to a video that once watched makes you want to RUN to the nearest hobby shop to purchase the Super Clod now (Tamiya Clod Promo):

Observations after watching the promo vid...

It's funny to see just how poor the suspension is, the truck pretty much just bounces around on the huge rubber.

I love the side by side Clod/Lunchbox shots. Really puts the size into perspective.

I completely forgot about the "power/economy" switch!!

The truck is still an icon of the R/C world to this day.

Years ago, my brother bought the Clod. Since I had to be different, I bought a High Roller. The High Roller was WAY cooler looking and much more detailed, but in the end, it couldn't come close to the bashing performance of the Clod.

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It's funny to see just how poor the suspension is, the truck pretty much just bounces around on the huge rubber.

I think that is one of the things that gives the Clod it's character,

If you watch Monster Truck vids on say youtube doing the whole car crush and jump thing, they bounce for ages with the tyres soaking up a lot of the impact. What makes the clod worse is Tamiya get's you to put in the 19mm rubber bumpstops so the chassis doesn't connect with the gearbox, so what suspension travel there is is minimal as well as being undampened.

I usually cant wait to get home from work and use what little daylight there is to have a quick bash around the garden, i never get bored with a stock Clod :lol:

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I should have not entered this thread...

The Clod is one of those trucks that's missing from my collection. They handle horribly, are kinda slow, but man...there is something about them!

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I should have not entered this thread...

The Clod is one of those trucks that's missing from my collection. They handle horribly, are kinda slow, but man...there is something about them!

Me too... lol...

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I think that is one of the things that gives the Clod it's character,

If you watch Monster Truck vids on say youtube doing the whole car crush and jump thing, they bounce for ages with the tyres soaking up a lot of the impact. What makes the clod worse is Tamiya get's you to put in the 19mm rubber bumpstops so the chassis doesn't connect with the gearbox, so what suspension travel there is is minimal as well as being undampened.

I usually cant wait to get home from work and use what little daylight there is to have a quick bash around the garden, i never get bored with a stock Clod :)

I've had my superclod for a few months now after yearning for one since I first saw one. I have to 100% agree with the statement above, as I recently got a MonsterJam dvd with a car mag, and seeing how the likes of the Grave Digger, Medusa, USA 1 and others all bounce around, I think its incredible just how accurate the suspension and the movement on the Clod are to a real-life monster truck! Even my son's QD Clod bounces around and wheelies like a proper monster truck!

******, wish I wasn't stuck at work now!

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I can't stop thinking about the Clod.

Why????

It is slow, but I want one! This is completely irrational. Does anyone else have these attacks of "Clod lust" ;)

I think it will be my next buy....

...just gotta sell something first...!

I'm off to lie down, and think about the Clodbuster!

Is it slow then? (I never owned one) :P Ah well, look at it like this: Whereas other cars need to run around obstacles to get from point A to B, the Clod just goes straight over the obstacles :)

I want one too, but there's a small problem. Yes, it should be relatively easy to drive. Yes, it should be durable enough. Therefor, my friends can have a go with such a car, too. But I live in a small town and all my friends at least 10 kilometres away, near a city. They don't come visit me since there's nothing to do here, so I come to them instead. But how on earth am I going to transport a Clod Buster 10 kilometres on a bicycle!? :)

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^^ use the Clod's torque to have it tow you and your bike to your destination. Just bring a few batteries.

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Ooooh-kay. I'm breaking lurker cover here. I'm interested... :)

A couple of questions then. I'd like to go the crazy balls out mod chassis route rather than a stock chassis or a crawler.

1. What is the cheapest way to get a standard Clod? eBay or one of the kits from a shop?

2. What is best aftermarket chassis on the market? I'm after low slung and cool. Would a crawler chassis actually do the job here? Am I looking at a Clodzilla IV or one of the Junfac chassis:

http://www.junfac.com/shop/index.php?main_...dex&cPath=2

The stealth chassis looks good but is out of stocks. The other chassis seem to do much the same thing but which is the best. Or is the 'Zilla a better option?

Thanks for your advice.

Elliott.

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A couple of questions then. I'd like to go the crazy balls out mod chassis route rather than a stock chassis or a crawler.

1. What is the cheapest way to get a standard Clod? eBay or one of the kits from a shop?

2. What is best aftermarket chassis on the market? I'm after low slung and cool. Would a crawler chassis actually do the job here? Am I looking at a Clodzilla IV or one of the Junfac chassis:

http://www.junfac.com/shop/index.php?main_...dex&cPath=2

The stealth chassis looks good but is out of stocks. The other chassis seem to do much the same thing but which is the best. Or is the 'Zilla a better option?

Thanks for your advice.

Elliott.

I've had the Junfac Dragoon conversion it was fun. ALso had the Thundertech "Rage" conversion it was more fun but not as pretty. Check my showroom for both (2nd page under "extra" as both now sold). Anyway the Clodzilla packages are seriously dated and probably not nearly as refined as todays kits. Standard clod ? Grab a used one off ebay but if you only need the gearboxes you can buy those separately as kits too. There is a big difference bewtween crawling & bashing kits in general but some can be both. I'd go with any of these:

http://www.thundertechracing.com/rage.htm

http://www.junfac.com/shop/index.php?main_...9964e6999a34305

More chassis' exist - I Think one by Defiance but you'll need to research:

http://www.rcmt.biz/bd/forumdisplay.php?f=16

Let us know what you choose :).

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1. What is the cheapest way to get a standard Clod? eBay or one of the kits from a shop?
If you are looking at using an aftermarket chassis then the cheapest way by far of acquiring a pair of axles (everything else will be thrown away!) is to find a used Clod on ebay as you won't be using any of the parts that get damaged.
2. What is best aftermarket chassis on the market? I'm after low slung and cool. Would a crawler chassis actually do the job here?
There's no definite 'best' chassis, each chassis has it's good and bad points and there are dozens of chassis to choose from.

To see what's available have a look here http://www.clodparts.com/catagories/chassis.html There are many others available, but Clodparts covers most of the non specialist ones. Others can be found here and here

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The Clod Buster is the quintessential classic monster truck. Its tall with no nonsense styling, has 165mm tyres, looks like the real thing unlike so many newer glorified buggy "monster trucks", it has withstood the test of time and so many hard bashing RC days, its popular enough to necessitate a return in the Super guise, its basic but fun and has numerous hop-ups, it was the height of monster truck technology in its day with 2 motors, 4WD and 4WS and is a huge attention getter and well its a Tamiya :P Cant wait for mine to arrive !

Listen to this guy ,he knows what he's talking about.

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I think the best aftermarket chassis for the clodbuster is the ripper-pro, And then of course go brushless. see my showroom for an example.

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