GF-01 Dump Truck

[Nikko85 3450]

I've decided it might be time to get a real Tamiya. I want to keep with the 1/14 scale, and I was considering getting the Beetle Monster Trail with an idea of putting a QD Pumpkin body on, However I don't really need portal axles and it's quite expensive.

I realised that the GF-01 was a very similar chassis for less money - does anyone know if a QD body might also fit on the GF-01 chassis? I assume it's the same size as the GF-01TR which fits the 1/14 MB body. The Dump Truck look is cool too I guess, so it would be nice to swap around.

Anyone with experience of the GF-01 feel free to chip in too with pros and cons. I want something fun to drive, with a tight turning circle, pretty tough and will fit next to my collection of 1/14 monster trucks. I would probably just be NiMH with a 27 turn motor (or maybe a torque tuned at most).

Any upgrades needed? 

Thanks in advance

[Willy iine 18805]

I have both GF01 and the GF01TR (Monster Beetle Trail).   Basically the 2 chassis are identical except for the wheels/tires and reduction gears with its axles and hubs.  Wheel base is the same, width is a tad wider on the GF01TR but that can be adjusted using different hex hubs.

If the body fits a GF01, it can fit the GF01TR, just need to use different body posts/positions included in the kit.  Heck, I can fit a WR02 body on the GF01 with a little body post adjustment.  I suggest you compare how the body mounts are positioned with the different bodies used to make certain before you buy.

You can run it with no hopups, but on mine I run the CVA short oil dampers, bearings, Tamiya's high torque servo saver, and HobbyWing 1060 ESC.

If you are going for speed I suggest going with the GF01.. if going more for a crawler kind of scale driving on bumpy roads, go with the GF01TR.  The GF01TR is considerably slower than the GF01 due to the reduction gears.  Still an exciting car to drive though.

If you want to check out my GF01TR, click my signature picture or go to my profile page "about me' and it has pictures of my one-off Monster Beetle Trail I recently finished a few days ago.  GL with your choice. 

 

 

[Nikko85 3450]

Many thanks

Both cars look great. I've already got some very low geared trucks in the toy grade stuff I've got, so I think the GF-01 sounds like it suits. The dump truck body is growing on me too.

I was planning bearings and a better servo at minimum, there are a lot of bearings!

[Willy iine 18805]

You are very welcome, Nikko85.   Yes, there are many bearings on the GF01.   If you change your mind and get the GF01TR and if you decide to buy the Tamiya bearing hopup set, you will need to buy 2 packets for the reduction gears.  I found out after receiving my package that I was short by a pair..  Not very convenient, Tamiya... should  include enough for the entire car!  

For servo I am using a cheapo 20kg $15 digital servo from Amazon.  It's in a no-brand violet colored housing and you can buy them individually or in a 4pack at a super deal ($45 shipped in the USA).   It has A LOT of torque, consistent re-centering which I like, not the fastest but you don't need so much speed on these short wheelbase chassis.  I have like 15 or so of these servo's on my various short wheelbase comical cars including my expensive classic M38's and they work perfectly.   You'd think one would use some fancy expensive servo for vanity purposes especially on a fully restored or new build M38, but I have to say these work better than much more expensive servo's sold by major brands so I decided these are my go-to servo's for all comical chassis/one-off builds.

[Dakratfink 967]

11 hours ago, Nikko85 said:

Many thanks

Both cars look great. I've already got some very low geared trucks in the toy grade stuff I've got, so I think the GF-01 sounds like it suits. The dump truck body is growing on me too.

I was planning bearings and a better servo at minimum, there are a lot of bearings!

They might be harder to find ( secondary market ) but they also have a “Metal” edition GF 01 dump truck. 
 Re: the bearings. Yeah, it has a lot. The G6 has even more . Lol 

[J@mes 2326]

Dump Truck is a good choice. Hard body detail and surprisingly resilient thanks to the design. The GF01 is a great platform. Bearings & Torque Tuned will be good hop ups. I put a cheap servo on & it works well, doesn’t need more. The screws on the upper links tend to back out which caused me to lose dog bones & drive cups so they can be replaced with machine screws & a nyloc - if you are going to run it a lot.

[berman 5315]

The heavy dump truck is a lot of fun.

It looks cool, goes surprisingly well, and handles and jumps good being 4wd but still pulls those addictive wheelies.

They don't need much, bearings, steel pinion, and if like mentioned by @J@mes, the step screws back out, 3racing make a 18mm step screw for the tt01/2 that you can replace them with, and buy a packet of nyloc nuts for the back.

 

[Nikko85 3450]

Many thanks.

Does anyone know if a standard pumpkin tyre would fit these? I've got quite a few monster trucks in the 1/14 scale with those tires, so if I could mix and match that would be amazing.

 

 

[J@mes 2326]

Yes the LB / MP tires are interchangeable with these wheels. Don’t forget to keep us posted 

[Nikko85 3450]

Thanks @J@mes that's great news. It means not only can I buy LB tires for it, but I can also mix and match from my QD Monster Truck and Radio Shack Hot Machine trucks too, including the rather strange wheels from the Radio Shack that would work really nicely with the Dump Truck for on-road use.

All in all I'm really excited by this already, need to buy some bearings asap.

Now another question, is the TBLE-02 that comes with it any good? I was thinking of just using the Torque Tuned that comes with it, but having an option for brushless is quite nice - nothing too extreme however.

[J@mes 2326]

TBLE02 is amazing for the money… no lipo alarm though.

[Nikko85 3450]

6 minutes ago, J@mes said:

TBLE02 is amazing for the money… no lipo alarm though.

no worries, I'm on NiMH!

[Dakratfink 967]

7 hours ago, Nikko85 said:

All in all I'm really excited by this already, need to buy some bearings asap.

The good news is the only size bearings are 

• (2)     5x8x2.5
• (24)     5x11x4 
• while 26 is a lot of overall bearings the 5x11x4 are a very common size and can be purchased in bulk cheaply.  And the 8x2.5 included in the kit are brass , not plastic and are in the steering bellcrank, not in gears/rolling stock. So, IMHO you can skip those two and not really lose any performance ( if you were inclined to source bearings from a non set source.  on the other side , a Fast Eddy bearings set is o key about $26 USD so , not much more expensive than buying 5x11x4 though. 
  Just some thoughts 

[Nikko85 3450]

Many thanks, I've ordered some more 5x11x4 bearings. I'm happy with the steering bellcrank being brass.

I will now need to find some black spray paint, I hadn't realised it needed any painting - although some have suggested a brush?

The truck arrived yesterday - so I'll start slowly putting it together, I plan to make a build thread of the process, even though it's just going to be stock for now - although in the long term I want to add a mechanism to make the dump truck tip (even better if it can roll the truck back on it's feet if it tips over) and I'll look into putting a Pumpkin Body on it.

 

 

 

 

 

[J@mes 2326]

Pumpkin GF-01 sounds cool, for that the yellow chassis would be better in black I think 🤔 

[Nikko85 3450]

You're right, but I wanted the normal dump as an option. I may spray some parts black, or get a few black parts trees.

[Nikko85 3450]

Well, I took it out for a first run today!

First thoughts are that it is  a lot of fun. Als driving whilst taking pictures is hard.

On loose surfaces it doesn't flip or wheelie too much. Faster than I thought it might be, and handles pretty nicely too. I took it onsome dirt and grass and it behaved pretty well. Almost all my trucks are 1/14 scale monster trucks (Tamiya QD etc) which are a similar scale, speed and top heavy, so I'm used to having to steer carefully I guess.

Lots of fun on the loose surface, it would spin out if I slammed full steering lock, but mainly I could get a nice steering slide. Acceleration was good, and the very small turning circle meant it was great threading through bushes.

It also looked great - when I bought it I was interested in throwing a 1/14 QD Monster Truck body on, but now way I am changing this now. I also really impressed a two year old who wanted it see it drive around.

Suspension, even just as stock seemed pretty good to me. It absorbed the bumps pretty well too.

I might want a touch more speed - so I've asked for some BL advice on the electronics page. 

[Big Jon 684]

What tires are those? They really suit the dump.

[Nikko85 3450]

They are Radio Shack Intruder tyres. Perfect fit!