King Cab / Hilux Monster Racer upgrades

[Baja1000 0]

I’ve just bought a Hilux Monster Racer in need of renovation. I’m looking at building a good reliable runner and wanted to know what the most worthwhile upgrades with regards to steering / suspension are? I just want everything to work really well initially, not too fussed about speed but a minor motor / esc upgrade is planned.

I know there are a few King Cab / Hilux Monster Racer die hards out there, what would you guys suggest?

PS, How do you get pictures from your iPhone on here? Wouldn’t accept them from my album...

[frozenFire 5]

Hilux Monster and reliable runner are very seldom in the same sentence. I wouldn't inverst in a faster motor, the gearbox can barely endure a standard silver can. You should disassemble you diff and check it's condition before investing in othere upgrades. Plastic gear has a tendency to melt in the ball pits area.

[t3garett 267]

Try to find a ttc gearbox (from super astute) that will fix all gear /diff/clutch problems. Then get orb racing front bulkhead (3D printed) then use a mix match of madcap /super astute suspension parts. Sorry but as previously stated king cab and reliable are antonyms. 

[Baja1000 0]

Thanks for the responses. I had heard the diffs are a weak point, I’ll have a look and see what condition mine is in. 

[Pauli330 60]

Take a look at the HMR facebook group. There you can get a tranny swap kit for the Team Associated stealth transmission. But these got rare too.  The SC10 RS should also fit with some rework. Didn't have the time so far to finish my tranny swap project. The standard tranny only made it for 5min with the Tamiya super stock motor. 

[Ann3x 220]

Dynastorm trannie also fits with a little cutting if you want to keep it tamiya. 

[t3garett 267]

Good propositions here, but the ttc gearbox is the least work it s just plug and play. Seems a shame to cut into the original chassis plate. 

[Pauli330 60]

4 hours ago, t3garett said:

Good propositions here, but the ttc gearbox is the least work it s just plug and play. Seems a shame to cut into the original chassis plate. 

You are right. But it's always a question of the usage of the car. If you want a nearly original car you have to get the ttc which is really hard to find and normally very expensive. If you want to drive the HMR sometimes you need something with a higher availability. I think for the SC10 transmission you need two small extra holes in the chassis what is a smaller problem than the weakness of the front of the chassis. 

But there are several threads according this topic so maybe you can find some satisfying solution.

[Baja1000 0]

Thanks for the feedback. Sounds like a gearbox swap is high priority. I was looking at running a Super stock motor as well Paul, not looking at investing hundreds into it, so the stealth unit looks like a good option. I’ll search for the threads and start looking for one , thanks.

[ThunderDragonCy 7285]

There is an A &  L Lethal Weapon transmission option too. Over 100 quid, but strong for hot motors.

[Flerbizky 225]

1 hour ago, Baja1000 said:

Thanks for the feedback. Sounds like a gearbox swap is high priority. I was looking at running a Super stock motor as well Paul, not looking at investing hundreds into it, so the stealth unit looks like a good option. I’ll search for the threads and start looking for one , thanks.

 

22 minutes ago, ThunderDragonCy said:

There is an A &  L Lethal Weapon transmission option too. Over 100 quid, but strong for hot motors.

While I agree the LW is a nice option, it's far too rare for a runner/basher (IMHO of course).

SC10 tranny swap is super easy, plenty of pictures around (some by me even) and makes the truck tranny bulletproof.

 

[chickenman242tk 266]

If the stock diff is setup properly it handles a stock motor fine.

The diff casings need a bit of light sanding to true them up a bit and polishing the ball plates helps too , make sure proper ball diff grease is used, mine went from slipping like crazy to wheelie with 10 min work

[ThunderDragonCy 7285]

Search on TC Designs for the @Ann3x thread on the Astute diff casing. He's developing a 3D printed Astute/Madcap (and therefore King Cab) gear casing that take Schumacher gearsets and diff. Not sure on testing and timelines, but might be a cool option and not too pricey, plus plug and play?

[Pauli330 60]

5 hours ago, chickenman242tk said:

If the stock diff is setup properly it handles a stock motor fine.

The diff casings need a bit of light sanding to true them up a bit and polishing the ball plates helps too , make sure proper ball diff grease is used, mine went from slipping like crazy to wheelie with 10 min work

Do you mean the stock silver can or the super stock BZ/RZ? 

I sanded the casings, polished the plates and used the TA black diff grease. But after a few runs with the super stock BZ the casings were bent. So I don't think it's a sanding or grease problem when you use a hotter motor. 

The 3D printed alternative sounds interesting. 

[chickenman242tk 266]

I'm running a super stock rz , the casings seem to be the main problem , maybe a new set and the set that up will help

[Pauli330 60]

Hmm. The casings were used so maybe they were stressed too much during the last years. But the parts for the HMR are hard to find and I don't want to trash a new pair. For me the next step will be the SC10 RS. I already have two of them sitting on my desk waiting for installation. But other projects are more interesting at the moment. Not sure what material I should use for the bottom plate. Don't want to mess around with carbon fibre. 

[Baja1000 0]

It sounds like I have a few options, although parts maybe rare/expensive. I’m going to build it with a stock motor and gearbox initially and get some use out of it. If (when!) the diff fails I think I’ll be heading the SC10 route as well. Any chance of you selling one of those SC10 RS transmissions Paul!? 😉

[Pauli330 60]

Sorry have a second chassis waiting to be restored and if the first one works, I will do the second one the same way. But in the bay you can sometimes find a treasure. 

[Baja1000 0]

Thanks Paul, I’ll keep an eye out. 🧐

[Flerbizky 225]

On 3/13/2018 at 6:59 PM, Pauli330 said:

Hmm. The casings were used so maybe they were stressed too much during the last years. But the parts for the HMR are hard to find and I don't want to trash a new pair. For me the next step will be the SC10 RS. I already have two of them sitting on my desk waiting for installation. But other projects are more interesting at the moment. Not sure what material I should use for the bottom plate. Don't want to mess around with carbon fibre. 

2.5mm fibreglass.

I'm going all out with carbon on my next sandwich chassis project (Blitzer Beetle)

[Pauli330 60]

What do you use to protect yourself against the dust of carbon and fibre? Just a filter? Do you wet everything while grinding and cutting? 

I started to glue a 1mm and a 1.5mm ABS plate, but I think it bends too much. I am also thinking about an aluminium plate. 

[Ann3x 220]

IPersonally I use a mask and an extractor (a vacuum cleaner will do).

Wetting would be good but i find it burns off fast under the dremel.

[Flerbizky 225]

On 3/16/2018 at 6:14 PM, Pauli330 said:

What do you use to protect yourself against the dust of carbon and fibre? Just a filter? Do you wet everything while grinding and cutting? 

I started to glue a 1mm and a 1.5mm ABS plate, but I think it bends too much. I am also thinking about an aluminium plate. 

I don't really. Well ventilated area. It's not something I do every day, or even every month, so whatever little dust I accidentally inhale - so be it. If I was really concerned about this, I should really give up smoking as well and move out of the city.

Someone at Reddit was ready to give up on a make of RC cars because the clutch plate in the slipper contained asbestos, and he probably inhales more of that in 2 days just by living in the city.