Tamiya Juggernaut 2 - Bigfoot 4
Purchased this Jugg 2 in a sad state about 10 years ago (could have been from TC, but can't remember). Came with no body, some other missing pieces, and not running. Soon after I got it running with some small repairs, a Tamiya ESC, and some stock silver can motors. Ran it a couple times, but it mostly just sat for a long time. It always had a lean to the left and never dug into it to figure out what the problem was...until now.
Decided that it was time to give the old Jugg the love it deserves and tore it down for yet another rebuild. I initially thought the springs were sagging, but turns out the E1 parts that hold the lower spring mounts were all broken. Got lucky and found these part reproduced in aluminum from a seller on Ebay, otherwise not sure what I would have done. With that sorted the truck sits pefectly level atop it's leaf springs as Tamiya intended. Added a Hobbywing 880 ESC and a pair of Torque Tuned motors with 17t pinions. Kept the stock 4WS system and made upgraded aluminum links for all steering components. The stock pieces work fine, but look a bit flimsy so this was mostly done for looks. Shocks are aluminum internal spring oil-filled units running soft springs in just the inner shock, outer shocks are oil only. Removed the broken stock electronics/battery tray and made my own. Battery is now mounted a bit lower in the rear of the chassis and accepts modern square pack Lipos with no issue.
For the body I went with the JConcepts 1989 Ford F-250 and modeled the truck after the final iteration of Bigfoot 4, arguably the best leaf sprung racing truck ever built. I was in love with this truck as a kid, looked so much faster than anything else at the time. Wheels are JConcepts Tribute with gold compound Golden Years tires.
This will be no shelf queen Jugg, I plan on racing it in Retro brackets for the indoor winter season. It's a lot heavier than the Clods I typically race, but the suspension works excellent. I'm not running any foams in the tires so they are helping quite a bit with the damping. With the tires being softer than stock Clod tires and the truck being so heavy, it really soaks up the jumps well and allows me to get back on throttle rather quickly after a landing. I'm not expecting it to be super competitive, but going to run it for the season and see how it does. Will defeinitely be the only Jugg out there, I can guarantee that.
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Comments
MAD-BEE
Another really awesome monster truck mate! How many have you got in your collection?
87lc2
Thanks BEE. They are starting to take over a bit...not sure how many to be honest. Hopefully next year when the weather is nice I can get them all outside for a nice goup shot. Maybe by then I'll realize that I have too many
MAD-BEE
Haha you can never have too many buddy!! Yeah a collection pic one day in the future would be cool! You have some amazing looking trucks mate!
mongoose1983
I love it, looks absolutely stunning!! Good job
You didn't tell us where did you get the decals for the body...
Wasnt Bigfoot IV the truck in the Police academy movie? I remember this was Rich Hoosier's truck. Well, I mean he was the driver.
On a side note, as much as I loved Bigfoot back then, I believe Dennis Anderson's Grave Digger and Everett Jasmer's USA-1 were better leafers. But still one FANTASTIC true monster truck!
Thanks for sharing the pictures with us here.
87lc2
Thanks guys. The decals are from JB Scale Graphics, they have a few different Bigfoot decal sets. Bigfoot III was in Police Academy with the '84 Bullnose body if I remember correctly. Bigfoot IV was the first Stage 2 Bigfoot truck in that it was not built from a stock truck, frame was completely custom and it was built for racing. It had long travel leafs and nitrogen shocks in it's final days before it was wrecked at Indy in 1990. It did come back in the Penda series as the original Snake Bite truck in the early 90s.
I did say it was arguably the best leafer, but I will maintain that it was the best. Digger 3 was a great truck as was the second version of USA-1 (the 88 Chevy), but before Bigfoot IV was wrecked in 90 it was pretty cominant. It was sidelined for a couple years after that just as Bigfoot VIII came on scene which pretty much changed everything with the cantilever suspension and nitro shocks. I still watch videos of 8/9/10 to this day and think that they're better trucks than even the modern day monsters. The Bigfoot shop was really innovative back in the day, pretty impressive. My next project is another Losi LMT that I'm building as a surprise gift to my dad, but after that I'm doing another SMT10 as Bigfoot 8, cant wait to do that. So many ideas, so little time...
Mad Ax
Another great truck as always, your collection must now be like a museum of classic monster trucks. So glad to hear you're going to race this, I have nothing against shelf cars or light runners but I love that there's a class where stuff like this is welcome and that you've put some thought into how it will race.
87lc2
Thanks Mad Ax. Yea, the classic monster collection is growing...recently just purchased another TXT-2 from our buddy Saito2, that will be a Sport Mod class racer project for the spring. I definitely have a few shelfers (original Clod, Bullhead, etc.), but I much prefer building vehicles to run them since a lot more thought goes into it. I'll most likely try to run this indoors over the winter and not run it in dirt much (would like to keep it clean-ish if possible), but can't wait to get it out there. My head tells me I will be severely outgunned by Retro Clod trucks, but something in my gut tells me it's got a shot. It drives and handles so much better than my retro Clods and just 'feels' better. due to the weight. I will have to swap in stock 27t motors to meet class regulations so that may put a bit of a damper on things in the speed department, but we'll see.
Mad Zero
Went too far with my old J2 & lost the realism - if I do another one it will stay leaf! This looks cracking I can’t wait for action shots
87lc2
No point in having a Jugg without leafs Mad Zero
I'm surprised at how well it handles with just a bit of suspension work. I'll definitely get some shots of her in action when the time comes.
J@mes
Bad Ass Truck
87lc2
Thanks J@mes!
scollins
Very cool Monster, as well as your other builds also. Nice job again, glad to see you are going to run this against the other non-Jugs!
JerseyRC
Great result!! Looks really good on a Jugg chassis. I'm a huge BF fan and currently working on my own so this serves as great motivation!!
87lc2
Be sure to post yours up when finished JerseyRC, would love to see it.
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