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Vrooom666

grasshopper with monster tyres

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Can the grasshoper chassis cope with big tyres i.e from lunchbox with madbull rear end gearbox ?    or am i better off seeking other chassis.  

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I can't see why not. The Lunch Box and Grasshopper/Hornet share the same gearbox, same materials, same design approach, and several people have made "monster Hornets" with big wheels.

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I would beef up the steering links from 2mm to 3mm (like the re-re Lunchbox), but other than that, sure. If you switch to a 540-size motor, you may want to use a Lunchbox motor adapter and 10 tooth pinion as well; a standard Hornet-size 18 tooth pinion would be mighty tall gears with the big tires.

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I use stock 18T pinion and LB wheels with no ill effects on my Monster Hornets. In fact the handling is way better, it can handle rough terrain, the balloon fronts make up for the poor front shocks and the wider track makes it far more resistant to roll overs. The larger wheels give a better top speed and the acceleration is nearly as quick. Running a waterproof lipo compatible quickrun 1060 esc and core rc 2S lipo is the icing on the cake, has to be the lightest car in my fleet and one of the most enjoyable, it is one of my go to cars and I must have over 40!

I have also used a Mad Bull gearbox on my Hornet but there's really no point, the Hornet box is plenty tough and the suspension mounting points are completely different. I made it work successfully on the Hornet tub but the new mounting points I used on the chassis became a weak point.

The steering tie rods could do with beefing up however the stock just bend in an impact but they bend straight back so i've not changed them as haven't had the need and I like that they act in a sacrificial manner. Despite the flimsy tie rods it steers, handles and goes better than a Mad Bull.

Gratuitous Monster Hornet shot...

gallery_28308_3741_64453.jpg

gallery_28308_3741_305424.jpg

And in full battle damaged trim...(you can expect the spoiler to come off a bashed Hornet...)

large.image.jpeg.851ba5cdbcf50c67d5c38b0

and finally with a Mad Bull gbox...

large.image.jpg.bc0fe5455a5cfeae71e453fe

And a video of it running brushless, it's now back on a silver can with lipo as BL is too much for it but the video gives an idea of handling, bear in mind that the handling is way better with a silvercan as it has a tendency to flip on BL power!! On 2S it does 39kmh on a silver can on tarmac which is over 24mph!

 

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1 hour ago, Nitomor said:

I use stock 18T pinion and LB wheels with no ill effects on my Monster Hornets. In fact the handling is way better, it can handle rough terrain, the balloon fronts make up for the poor front shocks and the wider track makes it far more resistant to roll overs. The larger wheels give a better top speed and the acceleration is nearly as quick. Running a waterproof lipo compatible quickrun 1060 esc and core rc 2S lipo is the icing on the cake, has to be the lightest car in my fleet and one of the most enjoyable, it is one of my go to cars and I must have over 40!

I have also used a Mad Bull gearbox on my Hornet but there's really no point, the Hornet box is plenty tough and the suspension mounting points are completely different. I made it work successfully on the Hornet tub but the new mounting points I used on the chassis became a weak point.

The steering tie rods could do with beefing up however the stock just bend in an impact but they bend straight back so i've not changed them as haven't had the need and I like that they act in a sacrificial manner. Despite the flimsy tie rods it steers, handles and goes better than a Mad Bull.

Gratuitous Monster Hornet shot...

gallery_28308_3741_64453.jpg

gallery_28308_3741_305424.jpg

And in full battle damaged trim...(you can expect the spoiler to come off a bashed Hornet...)

large.image.jpeg.851ba5cdbcf50c67d5c38b0

and finally with a Mad Bull gbox...

large.image.jpg.bc0fe5455a5cfeae71e453fe

And a video of it running brushless, it's now back on a silver can with lipo as BL is too much for it but the video gives an idea of handling, bear in mind that the handling is way better with a silvercan as it has a tendency to flip on BL power!! On 2S it does 39kmh on a silver can on tarmac which is over 24mph!

 

Is that 2 different sized rc airwolf helis I spy? 

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@Nitomor, nice collection!  You don't see many people storing RC's in glass cases in my part of the world. Mine are subject to a life of closet fodder. I only see them when I'm out driving one. Maybe I can convince "the boss" to shelf them in the living room?

Yeah no, she won't go for that....  -LOL!

 

@Vrooom666 Yeah buggies with big tires makes them more fun. They tend to float over terrain which make them more fun to drive. Once you try it you won't go back. At least that's my opinion.

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Brilliant!      monster hornet look kinda wrong but it look fun !  

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So cool that this is still happening. When I purchased my 1st Tamiya is was a Hornet back in 1984 I was only 11/12 years old. Then the LunchBox came out and everything looked the same and loved the balloon tires and monster wheels!

So I built myself a Monster Hornet in 1985'ish. I forget what I used for the steering, but entered my 1st race in 1985/1986 in the on-road Monster Truck class :) I was out-gunned but I had a blast.

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I finally got around to converting my son's Grasshopper into a MONSTER GRASSHOPPER. 

I put the project off for ages due to the cost of a full set of wheels and front axles - it just wasn't worth the $$$ to buy them individually.

Well I had the chance to pick up a Midnight Pumpkin - Black Edition recently for a bargain so I grabbed the kit with the intention of stealing parts for this project. And it was a SUCCESS!

Parts borrowed: 

  • Wheels & tyres
  • Front axle
  • Front bumper 

We had already upgraded the motor to the 540 with 18t pinion. I also noticed the ball ends on the grasshopper are smaller than the ones in the Pumpkin but I didn't change the steering rods so I moved the Grasshopper's ball ends over to the new ones from the Pumpkin. So far so good. I can confirm it is a hoot to drive and clears thicker grass and sand with easy and there is less "diff'ing out" with those big rear tyres. The front wheels are a bit gangly but lots of fun. 

Monster Grasshopper

 

Monster Grasshopper

 

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6 hours ago, MikeLouieTKD said:

So cool that this is still happening. When I purchased my 1st Tamiya is was a Hornet back in 1984 I was only 11/12 years old. Then the LunchBox came out and everything looked the same and loved the balloon tires and monster wheels!

So I built myself a Monster Hornet in 1985'ish. I forget what I used for the steering, but entered my 1st race in 1985/1986 in the on-road Monster Truck class :) I was out-gunned but I had a blast.

Oddly enough, I went the other way.  My main car (which was my only childhood NIB) was a Mud Blaster, but at some point a friend of the family gave me a box full of bits including a vintage Grasshopper and the remains of a racing Hotshot.  There was also a set of Brat wheels and tyres.

I discovered that with the smaller Brat wheels on the front of my Mud Blaster, the steering servo didn't have to work so hard.  As my solitary NiCd was suffering from years of use and fast-charging, anything that would ease the load on the battery was a Good Thing.  It gave my truck a new lease of life, even if it looked a bit odd with massive back wheels and little front ones.

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On 6/5/2020 at 6:23 PM, Mad Ax said:

Oddly enough, I went the other way.  My main car (which was my only childhood NIB) was a Mud Blaster, but at some point a friend of the family gave me a box full of bits including a vintage Grasshopper and the remains of a racing Hotshot.  There was also a set of Brat wheels and tyres.

I discovered that with the smaller Brat wheels on the front of my Mud Blaster, the steering servo didn't have to work so hard.  As my solitary NiCd was suffering from years of use and fast-charging, anything that would ease the load on the battery was a Good Thing.  It gave my truck a new lease of life, even if it looked a bit odd with massive back wheels and little front ones.

Very cool :)Mismatched front and rear tyres brings images of Mad Max 2 (aka Road Warrior) rigs.

When the kids and I get all our Tamiya's out it starts to look a bit like the Mad Max film set ;)

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7 hours ago, rc_ox said:

Very cool :)Mismatched front and rear tyres brings images of Mad Max 2 (aka Road Warrior) rigs.

When the kids and I get all our Tamiya's out it starts to look a bit like the Mad Max film set ;)

Oddly enough, before I got back into RC, I was an absolute Mad Max fanatic.  I had a couple of Mad Max-inspired motorcycles that I built myself, as well as an old Ford Granada that I'd planned to spray matt black and convert into a low-budget Interceptor.  But since I've been back into RC, I've actually built very few actual Mad Max inspired cars.  I've got my Wasteman truck, which was mostly inspired by Max's truck from Thunderdome, but I could never bring myself to do a proper Mad Max build.  I guess I worry I'd never do it justice.

https://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=100463

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I was looking into using Comical wheels on my Hopper but LB wheels seem much more straightforward. The cost of buying all the Comical bits scared me off! I guess could buy a kit and sell the parts but just can't bring myself to do it for some reason :unsure:

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