Inspire me. Grand Hauler rigid builds.

[Mad Ax]

So I've got this NIB Grand Hauler, and I can't decide what to do with it.  My first plan was to build it stock and paint it matt black, before the Tamiya matt black edition came out (plus there's already a few matt black rigs at my local meets).  I was going to build it as a towing rig, I've even got a pole trailer to go with it, but my local venues are quite small and the Grand drivers struggle for space.  So, I've kind of decided to buy a Globe Liner for towing duties and build the Grand as a rigid rig.

So I'm looking for all kinds of ideas and thoughts on what would make a good rigid project.

Someone at the local club has built a ramp truck using a King Hauler day cab, which looks awesome, although I can't find any good photos online of a full-size ramp truck to base my build on.

I love the idea of a full-function wrecker, but in honesty a self-build is probably beyond my skills and the cost of all the actuators (whether hydro or screw-driven) would likely stall the project before I get it functional.  I'm not totally against the idea but I think I need to see some build threads (there's a lot of completed truck builds on youtube but can't see many ground-up build threads to get ideas from).  There's a guy at the local club who's been building one for a few years using winch servos for power but he has loads of trouble with the cables getting tangled up in things.

I'm sure a day cab would look fantastic with a tipper bed on the back, and our local clubs usually have a construction crew on site who need tipper rigs to deliver gravel and dirt, but I can't help the feeling that it would be a sorry fate for a Grand Hauler to end up tipping dirt.

I can't think of any motorsport-related units I could build into a rigid truck, unless I build a roller ramp with a shorty drag truck on it (possibly a King Hauler day cab over a modded CC01 chassis...   Ooooooh, now there's an idea...)

Any other ideas for a rigid rig (either with the stock cab or with a cut-down day cab) will be gratefully received.  Don't hold back - go totally crazy.  My sci-fi obsessed brain is even considering a rig converted for carrying top-secret experimental hardware, nuclear fusion reactors or parts of crashed alien spacecraft.

[topforcein]

this one is a nice build.

i really like the sound of a sci-fi theme. i have thought of trying to get thr space shuttle on the back but i think it would be undoable as to scale.

what about the space ship from the flight of the navigator when it been transported on the back of a truck.

[Backlash]

I think that if you are going to make a rigid, then a Day cab would be more prototypical..

Some ideas of what you could do with it.. (in addition to your ideas)..
*Make a Flat Bed..
*Use it to haul a 20ft Container..
*Fit a Cargo Box..
*Build a Motor Home..
*Build a Tanker.. (Fuel, Beer, Milk, Water or waste water (sewerage))
*Build a Log/timber rig..
 
You could also get clever, and make many of the things above so that they are easily removable, and can be switched out for something else...

Also, why can't you shorten the Grand Hauler's chassis to the length of a King Hauler, (or even shorter if you make it a Day Cab) and use it as a regular truck and trailer..?

[StrokerBoy]

On 5/4/2018 at 10:14 AM, Mad Ax said:

I love the idea of a full-function wrecker, but in honesty a self-build is probably beyond my skills and the cost of all the actuators (whether hydro or screw-driven) would likely stall the project before I get it functional.  I'm not totally against the idea but I think I need to see some build threads (there's a lot of completed truck builds on youtube but can't see many ground-up build threads to get ideas from).  There's a guy at the local club who's been building one for a few years using winch servos for power but he has loads of trouble with the cables getting tangled up in things.

You could build a non-functioning wrecker to start with, that looks the part but doesn't actually do anything.  Then you could automate it later if you still like it.

Or something like this :

[Mad Ax]

Some neat ideas there, thanks for the input  I especially love the Flight of the Navigator idea - I used to love that film!!

The Hahn Racing MAN rig is cool too - I used that as an inspiration when I built my TGX / TGS race combo.  Tamiya MAN TGX 6x4 up front, Tamiya MAN TGS race truck out back.  It needs some more work but right now it's my only useable rig, so I'm planning to keep it useable until I've got at least one more rig ready for the layout.

Anyway, I did have a totally awesome idea (thanks to the replies here and some soul-searching) - could take me a while to do which is why I'm going to start slow, and in the mean time, get a Globe Liner up and ready for weekend layout duties while I get all the parts and plans ready for my big project...