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Monster Beetle re-release #58618

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I'm convinced there is no making the monster beetle better  handling wise lol

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True....I kinda like the way it handles....the front end push can be a little annoying though and might try front swaybar setup.

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Does anyone know of a currently produced lexan body that will fit the MB with minimal modification aside from a Kamtec? 

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Given this rerelease has been available for a while now, how much longer can I expect it to be around? RCMart have them heavily discounted, USD $245 down to USD$145. My son wants one for Christmas, is it worth grabbing now and resisting the urge to build it for 6 months, or will it be around for a while yet?

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13 hours ago, Jonathon Gillham said:

Given this rerelease has been available for a while now, how much longer can I expect it to be around? RCMart have them heavily discounted, USD $245 down to USD$145. My son wants one for Christmas, is it worth grabbing now and resisting the urge to build it for 6 months, or will it be around for a while yet?

 

$145 is a really good deal. I would think this would be around for a few more years at least. It was just re-released in 2015. I would worry more about the MIP diff not being available before the Monster Beetle went away.

I'd get it now at a low price though if it were me. No one in my family ever knows what they want for Christmas this early.  Every time Christmas rolls around, I wished I had bought presents earlier in the year.

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Very good price on the Monster Beetle over at tamico right now on their offer of the week... if you're after one this is a very good deal at 119 euros. 

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Happy xmas all! 

I'm thinking of buying a MB or Blackfoot to run stock with a torque tuned and nimh. 

How do they run in this set up? I see a lot of discussions about fixing the gearbox but is this needed with a 25 turn motor? 

 

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2 hours ago, Rich1978 said:

Happy xmas all! 

I'm thinking of buying a MB or Blackfoot to run stock with a torque tuned and nimh. 

How do they run in this set up? I see a lot of discussions about fixing the gearbox but is this needed with a 25 turn motor? 

 

Rich, that is the setup I have in my Blackfoot, and it had to have a gearbox fix. I got some of Mheald's braces because it was before the MIP ball diff, but I would recommend something.Mine was a vintage chassis, the re-re hadn't been released, so it may have been worse than normal from previous use.

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So is the mip a recommendation or a must have done u think? 

Also seen the issues with flexing trailing arms popping out the dog bones. Seems like quite a design flaw from Tamiya. 

Thanks for the responses btw

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12 hours ago, Rich1978 said:

So is the mip a recommendation or a must have done u think? 

Also seen the issues with flexing trailing arms popping out the dog bones. Seems like quite a design flaw from Tamiya. 

Thanks for the responses btw

IMHO it is not needed. I just shimmed the diff inside the case between the ball bearings and the outdrives about 1.0mm (0.5mm each side) and the clicking was gone. I use a Sport Tuned with 2S LiPo and drive the stock spiked tires on grass (i.e. high grip)...

I used this: https://www.amainhobbies.com/xray-shim-5x7x0.5mm-nt1-10-xra338586/p13887

My 0.2c.

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22 hours ago, hpergm said:

IMHO it is not needed. I just shimmed the diff inside the case between the ball bearings and the outdrives about 1.0mm (0.5mm each side) and the clicking was gone. I use a Sport Tuned with 2S LiPo and drive the stock spiked tires on grass (i.e. high grip)...

I used this: https://www.amainhobbies.com/xray-shim-5x7x0.5mm-nt1-10-xra338586/p13887

My 0.2c.

Good to know. My son is running a stock Monster Beetle, other than bearings, and I have been wondering about this. He is only 4 and I set EPA to 60% throttle, and even with friends driving its just a silvercan and NiMH so should,be fine...but good to know about shims 

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Hi guys,

Lucky me, I recieved a Monster Beetle for Christmas, and I'm now in the process of building it.  But there area couple of things that are concerning me.

I mostly collect and build buggies, so this archaic space frame chassis is all new to me and it's making me question my building skills.

Firstly; the front end is so loose! the whole thing wobbles at the moment.  Parts J11 and G9 (connected together) are very loose.  Screws BA11 go through part J11, through the arm carriers (BA26) and upper arms, but don't grip anything.  BA11 are bolted to lock nuts(BA17)  which were very hard to tighten with the chassis and steering arms in the way.  Long nose pliers to the rescue.  I'm hoping that part J11 sits still once the front bumper is bolted on.

I know it's a fun vehicle, but is all this slop and play in the front arms normal?  Was the Frog like this?  How could that have been a serious racing vehicle back in the day?  Were other cars of the time (1983?) just as sloppy?  I thought those torsion bars might have tightened things up or allowed some adjustment of the front suspension, especially considering the Frog only had a transverse to keep the car's nose off the ground.

Secondly, and in stark contrast to the front end, the rear end is so stiff.  The trailing arms do not fall under their own weight.  I know things were a little experimental back then, but seriously?  i'm hoping that after a few runs, or at least with dampers fitted and pushing on them, the trailing arms will eventually move freely.

I've always wanted a beetle, and this is my first ORV, so I'm very surprised at the build quality so far, compared to Tamiya's other buggies which, despite a bit of play here and there, are comparatively well engineered and soon tighten up with a few shims.  I don't see a washer saving the day with this chassis.

Is what I've mentioned normal, or am I really crap at building space frames?

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1 hour ago, Fruitfly01 said:

Hi guys,

Lucky me, I recieved a Monster Beetle for Christmas, and I'm now in the process of building it.  But there area couple of things that are concerning me.

 

 

Hahaha...  Those "couple of things" are part of the charm of the ORV...  And the reason there were a zillion Hop-Ups back in the day...

Here's a list of 95% of all the things I've done to my Jumper:  

 

Terry

 

 

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7 hours ago, Fruitfly01 said:

Is what I've mentioned normal, or am I really crap at building space frames?

 

I have re-released Blackfoot, which should be identical.  

The parts you are talking about is tight.  The right side has a tiny bit of play like 0.2mm or something, but nothing noticeable.  No play on the left side at all.  You can use the Tamiya wrench (the smaller end) to hold onto the nut and a screwdriver from the front.  I suppose you can put in a washer if it's still loose.  

3qfkClE.jpg

bW6AIH6.jpg

 

As for the rear, they bind a bit, if you screw K3 and K7 tightly.  Backing the screws out 1/4 turn solved the problem for me.  But I suspect that the red circle is too tall.  Rounding the edge of that red ring with sandpaper could possibly ease the problem.  And/or you could possibly sand that red part down, like 0.2mm, if that's the binding part.   

If you look at it from the plastic-molding perspective, neither K3, K7 nor the swing arms could be fixed.  The circular groove in K3, K7 cannot be made deeper, because that will require putting stuff onto the mold, which is not possible.  If the red part is too deep in the mold, the mold cannot be made shallower.  They can only make it deeper.  So, it falls onto you and me to sand it.   

5MZvMaB.jpg

 

Or, you could get the K7 equivalent in the Frog (MD12).  It's made out of aluminum and it's open.  I don't know why Tamiya didn't keep using the aluminum parts (probably it was a few cents more expensive).  I bought some extra to install onto my Blackfoot, but backing out the screws just a bit solved the problem, I'm keeping them just in case I lose K3 or K7 part.  (Backing out might not work for you, if the screws were put in tightly already--in which case you could put a business card between K3 and the frame).  

This (and steering servo not being in the center) are rather well-known minor problems.  

JwR8X8X.jpg

A new problem for re-re is that the shock piston is such that the shocks become rock-hard.  I don't have a drill press to make clean holes. (and this is hard steel)  So I put in little notches with a file, and that solved the problem.  The rear suspensions work as smooth as butter! 

Sometimes Tamiya kits give you a bit of a problem.  But you end up loving it--perhaps because of the IKEA-effect of having solved the problem with your own hands.  Good luck with your MB.  

scLE7Md.jpg?2

 

 

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15 hours ago, Fruitfly01 said:

Hi guys,

Lucky me, I recieved a Monster Beetle for Christmas, and I'm now in the process of building it.  But there area couple of things that are concerning me.

I mostly collect and build buggies, so this archaic space frame chassis is all new to me and it's making me question my building skills.

Firstly; the front end is so loose! the whole thing wobbles at the moment.  Parts J11 and G9 (connected together) are very loose.  Screws BA11 go through part J11, through the arm carriers (BA26) and upper arms, but don't grip anything.  BA11 are bolted to lock nuts(BA17)  which were very hard to tighten with the chassis and steering arms in the way.  Long nose pliers to the rescue.  I'm hoping that part J11 sits still once the front bumper is bolted on.

I know it's a fun vehicle, but is all this slop and play in the front arms normal?  Was the Frog like this?  How could that have been a serious racing vehicle back in the day?  Were other cars of the time (1983?) just as sloppy?  I thought those torsion bars might have tightened things up or allowed some adjustment of the front suspension, especially considering the Frog only had a transverse to keep the car's nose off the ground.

Secondly, and in stark contrast to the front end, the rear end is so stiff.  The trailing arms do not fall under their own weight.  I know things were a little experimental back then, but seriously?  i'm hoping that after a few runs, or at least with dampers fitted and pushing on them, the trailing arms will eventually move freely.

I've always wanted a beetle, and this is my first ORV, so I'm very surprised at the build quality so far, compared to Tamiya's other buggies which, despite a bit of play here and there, are comparatively well engineered and soon tighten up with a few shims.  I don't see a washer saving the day with this chassis.

Is what I've mentioned normal, or am I really crap at building space frames?

Already some good answers to you, and everything said. Will just add my view:

Do not care too much about front Play on this construction, Frog was not any better. You can adjust slightly with the trailing arm self locking not, but just to the Level of minimal play and not binding the axle movement. The shock Setup on the rere is a bit strange. I would swap to proper Piston rods with plastic Pistons and Change Arrangement of internal and external spacers. Rear springs of the original Monster beetle were way to hard, no real damping there, just hopping around. The rere has to long springs, anyway. In my Brushless MB, I use top force rear springs, which are quite soft, and get a Little droop for the rear axle. The hard rear springs are also a reason, why the trailing arms flex before they can move, causing the dogbones to pop out in beginning of the bump movement. Another reason is the diif being a Little assymetric relative to the gear box, so one side is more prone to Pop out. MIP diff is nice, but not really needed. Shimming and oldfrogshot mod with a screw through the outdrives is enough to adress the clicking. Otherwise center mount the servo, put a proper High torque servo saver or something similar on, and use a servo, which is not blocking mechanically. I mean, if RC is out, you should be able to turn the servo easily with your hands. This helps in impacts on the wheels during crashes and so on. I use a Savöx 1251 from an old race car, which does the Job flawless. I tested it also on the MB I built for my nephew, which is my worst case test driver. No breaks this year on the knuckles and so on. the bump steer is also eliminated to nearly zero, which also helps reduce loads on the steering System during jumps, which cannot by compensated by the servo saver (symmetric loads), but affect the knuckle fixings.  

Oh god, seems I cannot stop.:lol:

I always wanted to make a "How to" of my mods, seems I have to do it one day, as there are some more I did not mention yet...

But to give you some hope: I came very late to the MB, although ever admired it. Only had a Subaru Brat with a lexan beetle Shell but no Monster wheels. With some flaws adressed, it is a cool Looking car and driving really well, no real understeer, good handling even on tarmac (given the production date) and just a real fun machine, that can go traces, were the Frog has to stop.;)

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Thanks guys.

I sat down last night and rechecked everything, pulling most of the front end apart and making sure everything was in the right place, and tightening things up as best I could.  It only improved things slightly and I'm trying to accept it the way it is.  Remember when you were younger, and more ignorant, and slop was something pigs fed on?  This chassis is shockingly bad.  And what's up with putting one 8mm screw through the same hole in the bumper from both top and bottom?  Only one screw fits (the top one), which, as my hopes proved a bit, tightened up J11 and made things less wobbly.

I don't intend to improve the car with mods, apart from bearings.  Despite its flaws, I still want to run it, warts and all.  We all say that we love Tamiya kits because they have character or soul compared to finely tuned racing machines, so this Beetle will retain it's character and soul.  It's just been a bit of an eye opener, after building things like the Avante and Egress, seeing how tight a Dyna Storm is, even shimming everything on my Madcap to up it's performance and make it predictable to drive.

I'm looking forward to seeing just how clumsy this car is out in the open.

 

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1 hour ago, Fruitfly01 said:

I'm looking forward to seeing just how clumsy this car is out in the open.

And to think, this was the chassis that dominated truck racing in the US until the conversion trucks began taking over.

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Centralized servo bracket, Traxxas spring loaded servo saver, 3mm tie rods, King Blackfoot servo cover/chassis brace, AmPro bump steer eliminator knuckles, takes out 90% of the steering slop. Pretty much invisible at first glance, too. 

DSC_2221.JPG

DSC_2223.JPG

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These are all bolt-on mods with no cutting or drilling involved. Frog bash plate for good measure, bolts right in too, and center bumper bolt bolt-thru mod, visible in first pic. Can't say improvements from those last two were noticeable, but at least the Frog underguard looks cool. 

DSC_2224.JPG

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28 minutes ago, S-PCS said:

Centralized servo bracket, Traxxas spring loaded servo saver, 3mm tie rods, King Blackfoot servo cover/chassis brace, AmPro bump steer eliminator knuckles, takes out 90% of the steering slop. Pretty much invisible at first glance, too. 

DSC_2221.JPG

DSC_2223.JPG

Geometrywise, that is the same setup I use. Just put 3mm spacers and a long metric screw hrough the original knuckles. But if you can get reinforced ones by AMPRO, just perfect! King Blackfoot brace and cover is also very neat, fixes the front shock Tower wobble as there are no zip ties needed anymore!:)

Really very well thought out improvements, without giving up too much MB character! Love it!

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Not sure why there is a thing for placing the servo centrally, you lose the Akerman principle and it was one thing the Frog was great at was the way it turned. I raced a brand new Frog back in 1984/5 and it was brilliant compared to the opposition. You have to remember what was around at the time, SRB's holiday buggy grasshopper Brat. It was only Tamiya at the time. I only remember seeing one Kyosho later on. Tamiya was king back then. I did really well racing that Frog. Its only in 12 months from then that more and more stuff started to come out and compete. I never really liked the monster beetle or blackfoot but have had them in the past. And own a few now. In the day you used to be able to buy shims to reduce the slop as it does get worse with use due to the plastics rubbing against the ally. But so what its a fun vehicle and needs to be treated as such... cracking design and the orv chassis was way ahead of its time when it came out... just a classic vintage model that has stood the test of time.

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