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DK308

Info on TNX truck needed

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Hi guys

Found a TNX new in box locally, Is it any good? I won't pay more than new so that's fine. I don't have a specific wish or need for yet another nitro monster truck, so if it's no good, why bother right? But if it's a decent and fun rig, sure why not add it to the ever so growing collection.

What engine is in it? I'm aware that it's a .32 of some kind, but got no clue as to what it actually is.

Any and all info is much appreciated. :)

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Which TNX?  I'm currently working on a TNX 5.2R (43530) I picked up used and can't wait to get it fired up.  Sourcing parts has been a bit of a treasure hunt.  There's also a TNX 3.0.  Haven't seen a NIB example in a long time so congratulations!

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13 hours ago, Juggernut said:

Which TNX?  I'm currently working on a TNX 5.2R (43530) I picked up used and can't wait to get it fired up.  Sourcing parts has been a bit of a treasure hunt.  There's also a TNX 3.0.  Haven't seen a NIB example in a long time so congratulations!

Thanks :)

TNX 5.2R. Did not know there was a 3.0. What were the production years for those anyway? Do you happen to know who made the engine?

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7 hours ago, DK308 said:

Thanks :)

TNX 5.2R. Did not know there was a 3.0. What were the production years for those anyway? Do you happen to know who made the engine?

Pretty sure it’s a Force .32 in the TNX 5.2R

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Force 32 Engine in the TNX 5.2R. Pretty similar but Tamiya version has a different head and the carb and engine body have Tamiya not Force decals.

Kits as follows

43508 TGM-03 TNX Released 03/06/2004 with FS-18SR Engine

43508X TGM-03 TNX Pro Racing Edition released by TamiyaUSA after some initial success in racing in the USA. (this truck pushed the design for the 5.2)

43530 TGM-04 TNX 5.2R Released 06/12/2006 Powered by the FR-32X

49460 TGM-04 TNX 5.2R Champagne Gold Edition released 20/11/2007 again powered by the FR-32FX

 

 

Adam

 

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I knew @acprc would answer.  He's the nitro guy.   

TNX is a good truck.  

It all started with TGM-01 Terra Crusher, circa 2001?  

It was Tamiya's attempt to break the T-Maxx's dominance of nitro monster market at the time.

 

Q9B9SnL.jpg

It was RTR with 2 speed, forward/reverse transmission, Tamiya .18 engine, with a starter motor attached to it.  (I've heard a speculation that it was OS engineered? Just that it's probably made with lesser quality than OS would have liked, hence the Tamiya brand?)   

liES7SU.jpg

But the transmission was revolutionary.  The throttle controls 2 speed forward, brake, reverse and 2nd gear in reverse without a problem.  Once you start messing with it, it takes some finesse to adjust it right. 

What was odd was that they tried to make a real monster truck out of a truggy.  When T-Maxx was called "monster truck," that was just a figure of speech.  T-maxx tires were light and fluffy like sponge cake (relatively speaking).  Terra Crusher tires were as heavy as steel-toed boots.  

In my opinion, somebody in Tamiya didn't do the math. (Or somebody just bulldozed the concerns of engineers and went with "real monster truck going crazy fast" concept)  

Out of 5.7kg weight, about 2.3kg is the weight of the tires.  The entire weight of the Hornet is 0.9kg.  So... imagine the weight of 2 Hornets strapped to 4 tires.  

As soon as Terra Crusher hit the market, Tamiya realized the error.  In just few months (if my memory serves right), they came out with Wild Commando. (TGM-02)  We talk about how Tamiya takes 30 years to issue new drivers and new tires.  But when they have to, they can make a new body, new wheels and new tires in just a few months.  

p4LfvqO.jpg

The smaller tires had very shallow tread to save weight.  4.8kg was the weight, so about 1kg was shaved off.  However, all the negative publicity from Terra Crusher owners wasn't going away simply because Tamiya issued Wild Commando.  

(If you can find lighter tires, Terra Crusher can fly around with the stock .18 engine.  I did get a stronger .18 engine that was supposed to make Terra Crusher go a lot faster--according to RC Car Action.  But with lighter tires, I didn't even need to install that.)  

NLfkHtR.jpg

BdnV4Sz.jpg

The next one was GTM-03 TNX

TNX was how Terra Crusher should have been. 

WxLqWQs.jpg

The weight was further reduced to 4.4kg.  Tires were given a bit more aggressive tread.  The gear ratio was adjusted to fit smaller tires (unlike Wild Commando).  

TNX dropped the reverse gear.  I was sad to hear that news.  I thought it was an amazing invention!  You don't have to drive it like a nitro, you can drive it like an electric.  If Terra Crusher didn't come with lead tires, the transmission might have survived.  Who knows.  I wish Tamiya could bring it back.    

You can see where TXT-2 Agrios got the tires from.  Massive as it is, Agrios is only 4kg.  TNX was heavier.   

XAUnC7N.jpg

The rest is already covered by @acprc.  

As a side note, there was XBG Nitrage 5.2.  It was like a cousin to the TNX family.  

 

4LhigpI.jpg

 

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All good.

TGM-01 was the Mad Bison, Terra Crusher range was TGM-02.

Tyre weight is indeed bonkers!

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9 hours ago, acprc said:

TGM-01 was the Mad Bison, Terra Crusher range was TGM-02.

Indeed!  Wow.  That was strange.  Terra Crusher doesn't say what it is.  Wild Commando is TGM-02.  I assumed it was TGM-01, but Mad Bison is TGM-01.  So either Terra Crusher never had a designation, or was retrospectively given with Wild Commando, which is basically the same chassis.  That was interesting.  

For those who do not know what it is, TGM-01 Mad Bison was released in 1999.  It's a bit of a hodge-podge kit.  Using on-road TG-10 nitro chassis, Double Dagger/Dual Hunter body, + Monster Beetle tires.  I like how they made a nitro truggy out of all those.  

9bDHRn8.jpg

YSXpiw0.jpg

I love how compact everything fits on the chassis. (Even though the holster muffler is terrible; efficiency-wise. No tuning the pipe there)   

But Tamiya put the counter gear at the bottom.  There is plenty of room above!  Why put it here where it'd be all banged up?  Well, Tamiya would've had to mold a few plastic pieces. I've been waiting for a day when somebody comes up with 3D printed parts to move the counter gear up.  But not many bought Mad Bison, perhaps due to this flaw.  I was really excited to get my hands on a Tamiya Nitro!!  I couldn't get my hands on TR-15T, which was from the 90s.  The counter gear cover bottoms out all the time.  It's heavy and fast.  You can imagine the damage if there wasn't a ghetto deflector.  So be warned if you ever find an old stock somewhere.  (But there wouldn't be.  Because @acprc already bought all of them! :o;))   

YAg3vfv.jpg

For posterity, below was the first Tamiya's off-roader, TR-15T. 

I wish Tamiya re-releases it with a reversible transmission! (which wouldn't be easy)

7GtC2lv.jpg

Street Rover uses the same wheels and tires from TR-15T.  

QkjgwJM.jpg

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5 minutes ago, Juggular said:

(But there wouldn't be.  Because @acprc already bought all of them! :o;))   

 

Yep, I think I have 10 plus a NIB

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1 hour ago, Juggular said:

Street Rover uses the same wheels and tires from TR-15T. 

Dyna blaster uses the same wheel rims but different tyres as the TR15T , it's cousin

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5 hours ago, scoobybooster said:

Not quite - Street Rover rims are shiny chrome while the ones from Dyna Blaster and TR15T are matte silver painted. 

Quite right , I forgot to add that 

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On 7/31/2019 at 4:44 PM, Juggular said:

I knew @acprc would answer.  He's the nitro guy.   

TNX is a good truck.  

It all started with TGM-01 Terra Crusher, circa 2001?  

It was Tamiya's attempt to break the T-Maxx's dominance of nitro monster market at the time.

 

Q9B9SnL.jpg

It was RTR with 2 speed, forward/reverse transmission, Tamiya .18 engine, with a starter motor attached to it.  (I've heard a speculation that it was OS engineered? Just that it's probably made with lesser quality than OS would have liked, hence the Tamiya brand?)   

liES7SU.jpg

But the transmission was revolutionary.  The throttle controls 2 speed forward, brake, reverse and 2nd gear in reverse without a problem.  Once you start messing with it, it takes some finesse to adjust it right. 

What was odd was that they tried to make a real monster truck out of a truggy.  When T-Maxx was called "monster truck," that was just a figure of speech.  T-maxx tires were light and fluffy like sponge cake (relatively speaking).  Terra Crusher tires were as heavy as steel-toed boots.  

In my opinion, somebody in Tamiya didn't do the math. (Or somebody just bulldozed the concerns of engineers and went with "real monster truck going crazy fast" concept)  

Out of 5.7kg weight, about 2.3kg is the weight of the tires.  The entire weight of the Hornet is 0.9kg.  So... imagine the weight of 2 Hornets strapped to 4 tires.  

As soon as Terra Crusher hit the market, Tamiya realized the error.  In just few months (if my memory serves right), they came out with Wild Commando. (TGM-02)  We talk about how Tamiya takes 30 years to issue new drivers and new tires.  But when they have to, they can make a new body, new wheels and new tires in just a few months.  

p4LfvqO.jpg

The smaller tires had very shallow tread to save weight.  4.8kg was the weight, so about 1kg was shaved off.  However, all the negative publicity from Terra Crusher owners wasn't going away simply because Tamiya issued Wild Commando.  

(If you can find lighter tires, Terra Crusher can fly around with the stock .18 engine.  I did get a stronger .18 engine that was supposed to make Terra Crusher go a lot faster--according to RC Car Action.  But with lighter tires, I didn't even need to install that.)  

NLfkHtR.jpg

BdnV4Sz.jpg

The next one was GTM-03 TNX

TNX was how Terra Crusher should have been. 

WxLqWQs.jpg

The weight was further reduced to 4.4kg.  Tires were given a bit more aggressive tread.  The gear ratio was adjusted to fit smaller tires (unlike Wild Commando).  

TNX dropped the reverse gear.  I was sad to hear that news.  I thought it was an amazing invention!  You don't have to drive it like a nitro, you can drive it like an electric.  If Terra Crusher didn't come with lead tires, the transmission might have survived.  Who knows.  I wish Tamiya could bring it back.    

You can see where TXT-2 Agrios got the tires from.  Massive as it is, Agrios is only 4kg.  TNX was heavier.   

XAUnC7N.jpg

The rest is already covered by @acprc.  

As a side note, there was XBG Nitrage 5.2.  It was like a cousin to the TNX family.  

 

4LhigpI.jpg

 

So I'm brand new to this site.. first post right now.. I'm also an owner of a tnx 5.2r.. except mine has a different engine it is made by axial.. not sure how big it is but if I had to guess it's at least a .28, but it could be a .32.... it's very fast.. it is said that the fr32-fx is designed by OS. I actually jst read this on the tamiya site.. it is OS blue!! The tnx 3.0 looks like a force engine with the flat paint scheme..  I'm convinced lol..  I literally jst read it on there site to.. 

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Certainly Tamiya have started to put in their official kit listings that OS have designed (and probably produced) a lot of their nitro engines. Never seen a reference to OS on a FR-32FX engine though. Tamiya have a history of having other manufacturers engines in their kits. To name a few:

Toki

Novarossi

O.S

OPS

Don't forget that there are more than one FR-32FX issued by Tamiya. There is the original engine as fitted to the TNX 5.2r and the Nitrage which is part number 7684029 and 7684027.

spacer.png

 

This FR-32FX is a Force FE-3201 (32R) with a modified rear end for roto start and a slightly different head. Tamiya even kept the same black composite plastic carb and just added a Tamiya logo. 

Then there is the 41086 which has an OS hop up heatsink head fitted to the top. This was only issued a a hop up and never fitted to a kit. It was sold as a bare engine with no rotostart in the box. I guess designed as a replacement. The heatsink head was part number 41085 and was issued by TamiyaUSA. 41086 was probably designed for the US market.

spacer.png 

 

A couple of the Force FE-3201 (32R)

spacer.png

spacer.png

 

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Hey guys I have purchased a job lot of Tamiya spares from a closed down toyshop in Australia, there are a LOT of TGM chassis parts in this lot, mainly arms, clutch parts, bulkheads, gearcases etc etc. I have written down what is in the box, if you have any parts you're after then please send me the 7/8 digit Tamiya part number of what you're after and i'll see if I have it. Lots of stuff I have multiples of too BTW.

P1000516.JPG

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I could do with a few bits if you have the following:

9404456 Fuel Tank

51032 Clutch

Would also be interested in a full list if you have one.

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I have the fuel tank, I have some clutch parts but they are 7 digit numbers not 5 digit bags, I have very few of them.

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