Let's Talk Lunchboxes

[skip665]

Been mulling this over for a day or two...

I race 1/10 scale buggies on astro-turf during the summer at Boughton Raceway in the UK (I have a Durango DEX410) - they also run a vintage series for which last season I used my old Tamiya Thunder Dragon (which was totally outclassed by a Yokomo Dog Fighter and a Marui Ninja ) Seeing as the Boomerang I have acquired for this year is likely to be no faster than the Thunder Dragon I wondered rather than look for something competitive why not go mad and try and make a Lunchbox work for the occasion! A friend did try a re-re Lunchbox the first race last year and the biggest problem was wheelying - it does cornering no favours at all! My day-to-day basher Lunchbox has most of the common modifications but I was wondering what I could do the chassis to at least enable it to complete the 5 minute race without too many rollovers and without breaking too many parts. Hey I might even beat someone!

Rules are pretty basic - silver can 540 and anything else goes...!

Initial thoughts are - get the COG down - so a Parma body and a change of wheels and tyres I will investigate first. Also to stop all the wheelying - lots of weight on the front end or is there some other dark magic of suspension tuning that could limit this?

Any other ideas?

Here is where I race...

Skip

[kontemax]

Ok, these are my ideas.

1) Lexan body.

2) Oil shocks all around.

3) CPR front double wishbone suspension set up.

4) Shorter shocks low ride mode.

5) 2.2 wheels + street low profile tires.

6) Front and rear anti sway bars.

I'm sure the model will do no more roll overs.

Max

[wolfdogstinkus]

Bigger wheelie bar, or a sprung wheelie bar, adjustable so if you set it low down it wont wheelie as much.

Just my 2p.

[skip665]

I would like to ditch the wheelie bar altogether as I think it might hinder the jumps. What I really need to do is order a new kit and try all this out on it.. Just to convince the Mrs we need yet another RC car in the house!

Anyone got a Lunchbox chassis for sale?!

[30YrsL8r]

Anyone got a Lunchbox chassis for sale?!

I have a brand new Midnight Pumpkin chassis for sale, minus wheels, tyres and shell. PM me if you are interested.

[TA-Mark]

Those buggys were bouncing when they did the jumps and landing onto the flat. The Lunchbox, no matter what you do, will bounce even more so if you try to do the same. It's a case of approach the jumps carefully, try not to get too much air, keep it pointed the right direction (and the right way up) on the way down the jumps. Concentrate the 'speed' efforts on the flat sections of track.

The wheelie bar doesn't get in the way on jumps. It does stop the van sitting on the back doors though. I'd leave it on there. With smaller diameter wheels it will be just the right height for it to not be almost on the balance point for doing show-off wheelies like it was designed for.

[skip665]

Cheers Mark - good tips and a lot of that is what I had to do with my old Thunder Dragon as it wasn't the most stable on the track.

Just an aside - the "triple" has been modified since that video with gently sloped landing areas making it nicer for the buggies to land.

[SteveU30]

Foam tyre inserts.

Large capacity NiMh batteries are heavy and keep the CoG low.

[skip665]

Well today was the first test day for the Race-box - I havent posted up my build of it yet as I was rushing to get it finished for today - managed it though and although proper timed racing didnt happen due to things outside my control a great time was had which proved that the Lunchbox IS capable of racing against other buggies given the right tools - cornering was easily as good with my modified 'Box as a friends Hotshot and it was only the lack of top end speed that left me beaten in a straight line I have a Hornet pinion which I may try which I am concerned may overgear it too much - but as the rules say silver can only - I have little choice...

Was huge fun though and everyone was surprised how well it cornered considering most peoples opinions of them!

[s howell]

Quite a few pages back a shared some pictures of my dukes of hazzard finished lunchbox, but after a slight mishap i decided to go for a total change

Will add a few more pictures showing better detail on the body and also the new wing mirrors

Went for a ropy builders van look so it does not matter if a scrape the body as i can just make it look like it should be there.

Added lights to everything and also a slight sting in the tail.

[skip665]

I like it! Need to paint the inside of your wheels though

[s howell]

It is something i still need to do its just one of those things that at the time i sprayed the outsides of the weels and thought nothing more of it. I have a few more little bits to do to this to make it perfect.

[mastino]

Here's my contribution on this crazy... funny... topic.

The weather forecast announces snow on north Italy now is the time to prepare my VLB.

It's just a matter of aesthetics and fashion and a little bit of performance, owever it's my Lunchbox and I'm in love with my car! (thank you very much, Mr. Bad Guy).

OK, no more tears boys, here are the latest changes to my iperequipped VLB.

New plastic part from the Hornet "Jun Watanabe" kit

Finally a new motor from Banzai Hobby during break in operation ( no time to use soapy water)

True colors

and if it will really snow, sand paw on rear axle

ciao!

[ChrisRx718]

Argh, reading through this thread has made me realise just hoe much I need a lunchbox or pumpkin

Wonder how much I could get for a couple of my TT01s on eBay...

[Quandry]

They both got naked in the garden just now:

Can you train the chicken to ride them around??

[bromvw]

Andy just a tip . With these styrene body's I've found its best to give them a light coat of Halfords Hard Plastic Primer as the base coat . Somehow it seals the surface and seems to speed up the following coats ' gas off ' time . If you see any defects then apply the high build primer . It might be overkill but that seems to fill any pin holes . Once wet sanded it makes a really smooth surface for the top coats .

The Squadron filler is good quality BUT needs to be applied in very thin layers other wise it will soften the styrene and never fully harden . Just build up the layers slowly making sure each is fully cured before applying the next coat . I would say that 2mm is the absolute max you can do in one layer

[theboomfish]

Hi There. I just want to thank you guys for the inspiration and great ideas that have not only helped me realise me 23 year long dream of Lunchbox ownership, but told me how I could upgrade that dream to a modern reality.

It was buying a small RTR car for my kid that brought back the memories. After searching for Lunchbox and finding out that there was a re-issue of the old girl, I also found out that RC has moved on a little bit since 1988! Lipo batteries and brushless motors were not around back then I guess and not on my radar when they did appear.

Anyway, got a black edition, built it with bearings and CVAs. Ran it and grinned like a maniac for several weeks. Then I wanted to build more and went for the following: FX10 front end with custom upper arm mount, centered servo, shock brace, 5th shock, 2.2 blackfoot wheels, proline road tyres, upside down wheelie bar, locked differential, 8.5T EZRun motor and 60 amp ESC.

[SteveU30]

Jaysus, that is one quick Lunchbox, have you got the punch turned down as it just takes off instead of wheelieing?

[wood5tock]

Nice 'Lunchie' and nice mods

[theboomfish]

I do have the punch turned down which I am assuming is making a small difference. The main thing is the wheelie bar. Upside down (and now with a piece of the tamiya rubber tubing, sliced and placed between it and the gearbox) turned out to behave in a excellent but unexpected way.

When I hit the gas, the 5th shock compresses which then, not too violently!, moves the wheelie bar down to the ground forcing the rear tyres to grip the ground and keeping the chassis horizontal. After it has accelerated a bit the 5th shock decompresses bringing the wheelie bar up from the ground and out of the way. A bit like a wheelie bar on a drag car I guess, designed not to allow any wheelies.

I am the first to admit that this is not a "proper" lunchie, however the challenge for me after reading so much from peeps on forums like this one, was to try and make it fast and "handle" which it really does. I just need to wait for the Finnish winter to end so I can get some grip from those tyres. There is also an indoor circuit that I am taking it to shortly to see what happens. I suspect hefty repair work may feature in my future though.

That video was shot before I locked the diff and before I got my LiPo charger. I ran it on lipo two nights ago for a quick test in another underground carpark and I think I might have to adjust the timing down from 15 to 0. Either that or just keep using NiMh! It was a bit, er, wild

[HereBeMonsters]

Of course the skill is to keep the punch turned up, but modulate it with your right thumb. Perfect wheelies for hundreds of metres across the fields and carparks...

[Tamiya1/10]

Lunchie is the least of my favorite for the original 3 of the wheelie family. But after seeing the extras that have been put onto it ..is actually quite nice. I am a sucker for any works that have extra effort put in whether is detailing or functional.

[theboomfish]

Of course the skill is to keep the punch turned up, but modulate it with your right thumb. Perfect wheelies for hundreds of metres across the fields and carparks...

There is something to what you say. But my one isn't designed wheelie. Also my thumb is modulating enough already! I will turn the punch up to max on the next run though to see what happens. But already the back end breaks away if the throttle it blipped and I like that it can unleash the power without lifting the front. It really does shift and watching it disappear flat and planted into the distance and then drift in a wide arc when I change direction and give the left stick a flick really puts a smile on my face!

I am in the process of building a hopped up, blitzer wheeled, brushless Super Fighter GR which is going to be treated with a bit more disrespect. But I love my LB and don't want to damage it too much

[zeniitti]

Can someone provide link for those cool low profile tires?

[wolfdogstinkus]

@Zenitti, they look like "proline road rage".