Grasshoppers

[BigSteve 149]

Hi all, firstly I'd just like to say what a brilliant website and forum this is. Now can anyone tell me what the differences are between the vintage grasshopper, the grasshopper II and the re release grasshopper. I bought what I thought was a vintage grasshopper off ebay only to realise it is actually a grasshopper 2. It's a mad world though, two weeks ago I didn't have any R/C's and now I own a vintage Hornet, a Grasshopper II, a Bear Hawk and a partially built Falcon. Not bad lol.

[pizzachaude 130]

Hornet is basically an upgraded Grasshopper, you get rear oil filled shocks instead of friction shocks, and the swing axle instead of fixed, and a 540 motor instead of the Grasshopper's 380. The re-release Grasshopper is the same as the original except for the electronic speed control included with the kit, the original has a mechanical one. I'm not sure about the Grasshopper 2 cause I've never seen one up close, but from what I've read its the same as the original except it has the Hornet's swing axle, a different body and better tires. But one thing is for sure, the falcon and Bearhawk are higher performance cars because of their better suspension.

4 cars in 2 weeks, at that rate you better start making a lot of room!!

[GregM 1109]

Welcome to the club! This may be a helpful resource for you regarding the chassis differences:

http://www.blackholesun.fr/RC_Tamiya_OffRoad_Chassis_US.php

[OldSchoolRunner 116]

1. It gets adictive!
   
2. Be careful!
   
3. Have fun!
   
4. Welcome to the forum!
   

[BigSteve 149]

Is it possible to fit Horned oil filled dampers to Grasshopper. I'm thinking of changing the motor and fitting a bulk standard etc as well.

[mr crispy 2293]

Yes. It's best to fit the shock mount extensions as well, they're on the Hornet D parts sprue. They change the shock angle to allow them to work better. If your getting the D parts you might as well fit the slotted gearbox mount too, that'll allow the rear end to roll side to side and handle bumps better.

The Hornet shocks and D parts were available as an HP Suspension hop up pack for the Grasshopper from Tamiya.

[GregM 1109]

Funny enough, somebody else went through the same process of hopping up his vintage Grasshopper to Hornet specs:

http://www.tamiyaclu...showtopic=68395

But in your case, you have a Grasshopper II, that can be turned into a Super Hornet with oil shocks both front and rear. I don't know if the GHII can be modified using the parts from the 1st Hornet, as both chassis tubs are different from each other. So be sure to take a look at the manuals to compare the cars. They're available for download at TamiyaUSA:

Grasshopper chassis tub

Grasshopper (re-release): http://www.tamiyausa...roduct-id=58346

Hornet (re-release): https://www.tamiyaus...roduct-id=58336

Grasshopper II chassis tub

Grasshopper II: http://www.tamiyausa...roduct-id=58074

Super Hornet: http://www.tamiyausa...roduct-id=58124

Rising Fighter: https://www.tamiyaus...roduct-id=58416

Keep in mind that the Rising Fighter has a slightly different gearbox design which has been carried over from Tamiya's DT-01 chassis. But it is missing the DT-01's central pivot when being connected to the GHII tub.

[BigSteve 149]

False alarm it is an original grasshopper with mk2 stickers/decals on it. It doesn't have the same moving rear trailing arm as my hornet does.

[DCLXVI 3]

There are small mechanical differences between the old and the new 'hoppers also, but they are quite insignificant, for example: the rear wheel struts (or whatever it's called) are reinforced better on the newer gearboxes (I think this is a mod that came along with the original Hornet and only early release GH's had the weakly/non-reinforced struts...

[BigSteve 149]

Ordered a new shell for my grasshopper, seller tolde it would fit vintage, mk2 and re release. Guess what it doesn't line up/fit the chassis, don't know version chassis I've got lol. Any clues anyone. Also new chassis for sale lol.

[GregM 1109]

That sounds strange. Would you mind putting up some photos of your shell and chassis you want to mate?

[BigSteve 149]

I've tried to post pictures using my phone but the forum tells me the file size is too big.

[mr crispy 2293]

Upload to photobucket and link from there.

[pizzachaude 130]

Or go to 'my settings', then 'attachments' and delete some pics if you have any, then post your pics but they have to be pretty small, 500k is the max size, you can use any photo editing software to shrink your original pics.

[BigSteve 149]

My grasshopper is defiantly a mk1 as the rear suspension arm doesn't have the same travel ability as the ghost mk2 and hormet. After looking at all the manuals I noticed that the mk 2 shell isn't secured to chassis using split pins. The other point is that the nose of the chassis doesn't line up with nose of the shell and they're a slightly different shape. Looks like I'm going to have to sand down the chassis and re spray it.

[pizzachaude 130]

Pics would definately help here, when you are replying, just click on 'more reply options' and you'll be able to add pics (500k is the max size for all the pics, so u can put one pic of 500k, or smaller pics which will total 500k max). You can use options from your camera to take the smallest pics possible or use a phone camera if you ont have photo editing software on your computer. Grasshoppers had many clones from other companies, maybe you have one of those.

[BigSteve 149]

The shell that came with it is sprayed poorly in black. I guess I'll sand it down and spray it white as the vintage, the only problem I've got is I need to find a set of stickers/decals as the buggy came with GH stickers.

[BigSteve 149]

I meant Grasshopper II stickers.

[BigSteve 149]

Mystery solved, my grasshopper consists of an original MKI chassis and a GHII shell. The reason for this is the previous owner upgraded the motor from the standard 380 to a 540. By fitting the larger motor the standard rear shock set up doesn't work as the springs are in contact with motor. The hornets rear shock mount extensions have been fitted to the chassis of the grasshopper to increase the space between the motor and shocks. The only problem now is that due to the increase in shock angle the MKI's shell no longer fits hence the reason for the GHII shell. I want the original shell on the car, anybody out there with any suggestions.

[beefmuffin 1156]

it sounds to me like your rear shocks aren't the original GH shocks. they are either hornet or GH2 shocks. the original GH shocks are pretty small and wouldn't have a problem with the 540 motor. i've done both motors with my GH1's and never needed to add the hornet extensions. here are a few alternatives for you...

1) buy a rising fighter chassis (cheap) and make this into a GH2. gear box is essentially the same. the axles are slightly different to allow for the GH2 rear wheel adapters...but you can always run GH1 wheels. the rising fighter chassis is identical to the GH2 chassis. keep the GH1 chassis to build a GH1 with, or sell it.

2) buy a cheap hornet body and decals and turn it into a hornet. all that you'd need to do is slide the lower shock mounts from a hornet onto the arms of your gearbox to attach the bottoms of your rear shocks to. this is how the hornet was designed to accommodate bigger shocks and a 540 motor. the parts you'd need are on the hornet D tree...which is easy to find and cheap on ebay. then you can keep your GH2 shell and decals for a GH2 build, or sell them on ebay. the GH2 stickers are rare and would sell for $40.

3) pull off the big rear shocks and replace with the original grasshopper shocks. if you go to tamyiausa.com and search for grasshopper you can download the manual which will show you what the original setup should be. then, you can save or sell your GH2 decals, etc. your GH1 body will fit and so will your 540 motor.

4) send me your GH2 decals in exchange for any of the above sets of parts...since i have spares of them all and would be happy to trade for the GH2 decals.

ben