This awesome Desert Patrol Vehicle is based on Tamiya’s Fast Attack Vehicle and it’s the custom creation of James Knight. James used a combination of custom 3D printed parts that he designed and some off the shelf scale parts to make it happen. All of James’ custom 3D printed parts are available through Shapeways Knight Customs and James tells us that parts like the front bumper, side racks, rear gunners cage, and the roof mounted weapons were all designed to look like the ones used on a full-size Desert Patrol Vehicle. You can’t have an open cockpit vehicle without having a driver and James did a great job of taking care of that. His driver was created by modifying a McFarlane 7” action figure to accept the legs of the original FAV driver and Tamiya acrylic paints were used to match them up. Other details of this awesome buggy include RC4WD shocks, grenade launcher, a seat from Axial Racing, scale engine and a Tamiya light kit. That’s one awesome buggy James!

Want to see your machine here?Send photos and a description to readersrides@airage.com. Be sure to send the full-size photos. If that bogs your email, use WeTransfer–it’s easy and free.

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We first featured James’ work in our April issue with his Tamiya SRB-based Beach Buggy–click the pics to enlarge!

RC Car Action -

Over the many years that Radio Control Car Action Magazine has been around we have featured some awesome monster truck projects. I’ve been inspired by many of those projects and have been lucky enough to build some of my own. This week I wanted to share my top 5 picks of the best monster truck projects of all time. It wasn’t easy to narrow them down to five but somehow I managed to do it.

Monster Mack
This truck was featured in the September 1989 issue and I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw it for the first time. I sat at the dinner table and couldn’t stop staring at it while my dinner was getting cold. It must have been really cool if it stopped me from eating. This was the first ever 6×6 Tamiya Clod Buster to be built and featured in the magazine and it featured a custom built aluminum plate chassis with an awesome Mack truck body topping it off. Three mechanical speed controls were used to power the three stock motors on the gearbox and they were all connected using a single servo with a custom made linkage. I built my own 6×6 truck using scrap metal and a Tamiya Bullhead but it wasn’t half as cool. I’m in the process of building a truck similar to this one with a bit of a modern twist and 6 wheel steering. The coolest part is that I was able to get my hands on that Mack truck body but unfortunately it’s too rusted to make anything happen with it so I am using the body dimensions and some ABS plastic sheet to make my own. I also plan on installing some lights and a custom made smoke system to bring it to life.

Project Big Truck 3
There were three versions of Project Big Truck and everyone was based on the Tamiya Clod Buster and all three versions were the main cover image for each of the issues that it was featured in. The July 1997 issue had the last and in my opinion the best version of the truck. It featured machined aluminum gearboxes, aluminum wheels, an ESP chassis and suspension kit and it had brushless motors. Having brushless motors isn’t that big of a deal now but when the truck was built it was a big deal because brushed motors still ruled the world of electric vehicles. It would take many years after this truck was built for brushless power to take over the world.

Firepower Monster Truck
A few years after the last Project Big Truck was featured I decide to build my own version but I took things to another level. My truck also featured aluminum gearboxes and wheels but my truck used a Bennett Equipment chassis and suspension kit for the Tamiya Clod Buster. To make it stand out I had the chassis custom anodized and I topped it off with a scale roll cage that I made out of Brass tubing. Other features included a custom painted Parma truck body, neon lighting, custom made brushed motors with rare earth magnets and progressive suspension shocks. My favorite feature of the truck was the flame throwing system that I designed and built. See those small flames? Well it was 10 degrees outside the day we shot it so that was all we were able to get out of it due to the lower pressure in the tank. That’s what happens when you have a deadline but I can tell you that on a warmer day I was able to get those flames to shoot at least a foot and a half in the air. It sure was an awesome site! I’m currently working on a new custom rig that will have a new and improved flame throwing system. You’ll just have to keep your eyes on the magazine and check it out when it’s done.

Dual Engine Kyosho Nitro USA-1
I love it when projects are taken to the extreme and this is one of those trucks. A Kyosho Nitro USA-1 was the base for the project and normally in a situation like this we would simply add a high end race engine to the mix and call it a day but this one had two race ready nitro mills stuffed into the chassis and each got their own fuel tank and tuned pipe. A custom throttle linkage had to be made to allow the servo to open each carb at the same time. It was covered by a trick custom painted Pro-Line Ford F-150 body has these crazy shocks that had clear plastic bodies so you could see the dyed shock oil and pistons inside. I was able to see this truck run and when fired up it sounded like a swarm of angry bees and it had some serious power. It sure would be cool to build another one of those trucks.

Project 4-Stroke Kyosho Nitro USA-1
Sure, from the outside this looks like your average project Nitro USA-1 but the stock nitro burning 2-stroke engine was thrown out and replaced by a 4-stroke engine. The engine used was designed for airplane use and required a custom flywheel and fan system to make it work in the truck. It also featured a custom made dual rear exhaust system that blew the exhaust smoke out the back of the truck. The owner of this truck had all of the aluminum parts custom anodized red and had a custom painted Parma Bigfoot body on top. After this project was featured in the magazine we started to see car specific 4-stroke engines popping up and Kyosho released an on-road car with a 4-stroke engine to power it. We also built two more projects that used 4-stroke engines a few years later.

There you have it; these are my top 5 pics for the best monster truck projects of all time. What were some of your favorite monster truck projects? Send an email to kevinh@airage.com and let me know.

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Novak is a company that for years has been well known for producing some of the most advanced speed controls. In fact Novak was one of the first companies to actually produce an electronic speed control so they know what they are doing. With advances in technology Novak has found ways to pack speed controls full of various options that allow the user to fine tune it to their liking. The Crusher speed control is one of the latest in the company’s lineup and this one is not only packed full of those great tuning features but it’s also designed for use in different types of vehicles. It has three different profiles for you to choose from and they include bashing, racing and rock crawling. Let’s get this system installed in my Axial Yeti and see what it can do.

Features
Like I mentioned I am testing the Crusher speed control with 4PDH motor but you can also pick it up with a Ballistic 550 motor or a 17.5 540size motor. Of course the speed control and motors are also sold separately if you choose to buy one or the other. The Crusher is a sensor based speed control that is designed to give the motor good torque and great low-end drivability. Operating temperature is kept to a minimum thanks to its large multi fin heat sink and included cooling fan. Novak has a 5amp BEC built in to the speed control to help handle the loads of today’s powerful servos but if you plan on running a 3S battery it’s suggested that you pick up an external BEC. The motor and battery wires are soldered directly to the circuit board so if you decide that you want to replace them or swap them out all you need to do is heat the wire from underneath with a soldering iron and its out; installing wire is just as easy. All programming of the speed control is done through an easy to access button on the top of the speed control.

The Crusher has a small footprint so it should easily fit into just about any RC vehicle.

The 4600kv 4-pole 4PHD motor’s internal components are protected by a large metal housing that has multiple ribs machined into it to increase its surface area and aid in cooling. The large 5mm motor shaft is supported by oversized bearings and unlike other Novak motors this one comes with wires already soldered to it. This motor is designed for vehicles such as 4×4 short course trucks and of course the Yeti rock racer that I am testing it in because of their size and weight.

Unlike most Novak motors the 4PHD doesn’t come with solder tabs. Instead, Novak provides it with wires already  installed.

Installation
When you open the Crusher box you will be happy to see that Novak helps you with the installation process by including heat shrink, wire ties and double sided tape. I cleaned the bottom of the Crusher and applied the included double sided tape and used it to mount it on the ESC plate in my Yeti chassis. The switch has a large foot print which allows you to use a good size piece of double sided tape to attach it to the location of your choice. Since my truck is going to be bouncing around more than your average truck I decided to hard mount it using one of the screws that secure the mounting plate to the chassis. The hole in the switch is a little too small for the 3mm screw that I was using so I solved that problem by opening it up a bit with a body ream. I installed the 4PHD motor and found that the end of the motor is just about touching the battery tray which means that I had to cut a little to make room for the sensor wire. After talking to one of Novak’s tech guys I found that I could have simply removed the front end cap and rotated the motor and used one of other multiple mounting holes in the end cap to get the sensor wire output on the bottom which would have cleared the battery tray. One thing that I have gotten used to when installing a Novak system is cutting the speed control wires to the correct length and soldering them directly to the motor for the cleanest install with the least resistance but that isn’t easily done with the 4PHD motor. Since wires are already installed on the motor I decided to figure out length needed for the wires on the motor and speed control and I cut them down before installing bullet connectors to connect the two. You can remove the wires from the speed control and solder the motor wires directly to it if you are looking for that factory look and less resistance. The good news is that there is plenty of wire already installed onto the motor and speed control so you will have no problem getting the wires to reach each other no matter how far apart they are in your vehicle. The system also comes with a very long sensor wire but I wish Novak would also include a shorter one for close speed control to motor installs.

Installing the Novak Crusher speed control into my Yeti was a simple process thanks to Novak and the double sided tape, heat shrink and wire ties that are provided. The 4PHD motor was a tight fit but it’s in there and looks right at home.

Testing
Getting the speed control setup to work properly with the radio couldn’t be any easier. You simply push and hold the easy to get to button on top of the ESC while turning it on and do what the LEDs on the speed control tell you to do. It lights up red and you let go of the setup button and pull the trigger, then it changes to green and you push on the brake and your speed control is set. Basher mode is the default for the Crusher so that’s what I used for my first time out. The speed control felt very smooth while playing around the yard and reverse came in handy a few times. Changing modes was very easy to do; I simply pushed and held down the button until the blue, red and white LEDS were blinking and tapped the button to get it to the next mode. In Racer mode the feel was the same but reverse was now inactive. I wanted to get the speed control into crawler mode and if you aren’t running a crawler motor the speed controls senses this and won’t allow you to choose it. With the stock motor in place and a 2S battery in my Yeti I was able to get it up to 16MPH but with the Novak system installed with a 2S battery its top speed jumped to 23MPH. That’s a pretty good jump but keep in mind that your results will vary due battery type, tires and so on. I wanted to check the temp sensor so I drove the truck around for a little while and hit the button and the Blue LED was blinking to show me that the temp was in the 136-147 deg area. With the speed control shut off for a while I plugged in the battery and hit the button to see that the White LED was blinking to let me know that the temp was under 135 deg. I went into some of the different modes available and made adjustments through my testing day and found that not only were the settings easy to get to and change but they also made a noticeable difference in the feel of the speed control.

I had fun testing the Novak Crusher and 4PHD motor in my Axial Yeti. The speed control is super smooth and the motor had plenty of torque to move that big truck around.

The Verdict
I’m a fan of the Novak Crusher. The modes available are great to have and I really like how easy the speed control is to tune. I used the field guide at first to help me know where my settings were but after you use it and make adjustments a few times you’ll know what you are looking for. The motor was right at home in my Yeti but I wish it has solder tabs instead of coming out of the box wired. There’s nothing wrong with how it comes; I guess that’s just the old school RC guy in me. This isn’t going to be the first vehicle of mine to see a Crusher; I have a drag truck waiting for it and a scaler too.

Specs

Item no./price*: 1834 (speed control only); $150 (varies with dealer)
3087 (speed control with 4PHD motor); $240
3510 (4PHD motor only); $140
Motor compatibility: Sensored brushless (540, 550, 4-Pole, Novak Crawling)
Maximum input voltage: 16.8V (4-cell LiPo/14-cell NiMH)
Size (in/mm): 1.16 in. x 1.47 in. x 0.96 in. (29.5 x 37.3 x 24.4mm)
Weight (oz./g): 1.42oz. (40.4g)
On-resistance (ohms): 0.00040 ohms @ 25°C trans. temp.
BEC (volts / amps): 6.0 volts DC / 5.0 amps
Wire size (GA): 14G Super-Flex Copper-Strand Silicone Wire
Adjustable/selectable features
Drag brake: 0-50% (Sport mode); 0-95% (Crawling mode)
Hill brake: 5 settings available, 1 least brake hold, 5 maximum brake hold
Minimum brake %: 0-15%
Brake frequency: 1.5, 2, 2.2, 2.5, 3, 3.5, 4.5, 6, 7, 8KHz
Boost timing: On/off
Drive mode: Crawler; Sport
Drive frequency: 8, 10, 12,14, 16, 21,23, 26, 32, 36KHz
Dead band %: 2, 3, 4, 5, 8
Minimum drive %: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15
Motor rotation: Clockwise / counterclockwise
Voltage cut-off: On / off
Hall sensor test: Diagnostic feature, confirms Hall sensor operation

4PHD Brushless motor
Motor Weight (oz/g): 8.6 oz. (245g) with 6″ 12AWG power wire
Input Voltage: 2S LiPo (8.4 VDC)
Kv (Unloaded): 4,600 RPM/Volt
Max RPM: 50,000
Motor Diameter: 1.41″ / 35.9mm
Motor Length: 2.62″ / 66.5mm
Shaft Diameter: 5mm
Shaft Length: 0.59″ / 15mm
Mounting: 25mm ø (M3x0.5; M4x0.7)
Sensored/sensorless: Sensored
Magnet: 4-pole Sintered Neodymium
Stator: 12-slot

The Crusher was also tested back in our March issue with Crawler and Ballistic motors; click the images to enlarge.

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Artie Fie is a fan of old school monster trucks and the Tamiya Clod Buster so he took his two passions and combined them to build a replica of the Awesome Kong 2 monster truck. It uses a stock Clod Buster chassis but the stock steering has been replaced with a Crawford Performance Enginneering 4WS kit. The body is custom painted and in the bed is a Allison V12 engine that was made using laser cut parts and custom pipes and carburetors complete it. A front visor and wheel centers were also added to bring this truck closer to the real deal. Artie wants to thank his buddy Wally for helping him with the build. These guys are a great team and built a great truck.

Want to see your machine here? Send photos and a description to readersrides@airage.com. Be sure to send the full-size photos. If that bogs your email, use WeTransfer–it’s easy and free.  

For tips on photographing your car, read this!

Click the pics to enlarge

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One of the cool things about living in Southern California is that there is a lot to do year round. What I like most are all of the different motorsports events that are going on at any given time. This weekend I attended the Sand Sports Super Show in Costa Mesa, CA. This show is packed full of various trucks, sand rails, side-by-sides and anything else you would see in the dunes. I bought my trusty camera along to get some pics so I could show you some of the action. There were a lot of vehicles at the show that inspired me to build tricked out RC projects. Here are some of the highlights.

While walking along I saw this truck off in the distance. From the front it looks like a scale rig with Pro-Line’s Ford F-250 Super Duty cab. The bumper even looks similar to the Pro-Line’s Ridge-Line bumper. In the back of the truck is a unique roll bar that connects to a roof rack. I might have to build something like this for my 32 Ford pickup rock crawler project.

The Stadium Super Truck series was at the show and running on a course in the parking lot at the show. The Stadium Super Truck series is sponsored by Traxxas so it was no surprise to see Traxxas showing off all of its vehicles. There was a lot of high flying action all weekend long in the Traxxas demo area.

Here are just a few of the Stadium Super Trucks ready to hit the track. Look how small they are. I guess that’s how they are able to get them to fit inside the stadiums and parking lots that they are racing in these days.

Those of you who attended RCX may remember this guy. Nick Ashby from Rockstar Performance Garage was at the show giving away RC cars from Horizon Hobby and showing off what the Vaterra RC rock crawlers can do on his custom made trail course. The course was made up of various items such as Rockstar Energy cans, old air filters and so on. Yep, that’s a Vaterra Ascender on the trail course.

I don’t know about you but to me this looks just like the Dune Buggy body that Parma makes for short course trucks. After seeing this old school buggy I feel the need to get my hands on a Parma body and build a trick looking dune buggy.

How cool would it be to build something like this off-road Beetle using a Tamiya Sand Scorcher as a base.

Who doesn’t love old school Ford Broncos. This was a clean example of what used to rule the dirt back in the day.

Check out this awesome sand dragster. There’s next to nothing on it and I’m willing to be that it’s very fast.

Of course there were trophy trucks at the show. Grab an RC short course truck, bolt on some RPM and Pro-Line accessories and you’ll have an RC version of this.

I had a great time at the show and I am  looking forward to the Off-Road Expo and the world famous SEMA show. I’ll be posting pictures from  there too.

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I’ve been up to my eyeballs with projects, review builds and article writing but I somehow managed to find time to work on my 32 Ford rock crawler project and I wanted to share some of the progress with you. Before I could start building the body I had to assemble my Axial SCX10 G6 so that I could see how big the body needed to be and to see if any parts were going to interfere with the body. I didn’t spend a lot of time on the build, right now I just need to see where things are. I’ll go back later and make my tweaks and add the option parts that I have lined up. Some of the parts have already arrived for the truck and it’s given me some motivation to get my butt moving; I can’t wait to see the finished truck.

Axial has a lot of sweet option parts like a machined motor plate, aluminum knuckles and heavy duty diff gears for the SCX10. Since they add strength and enhance the look of the truck, they are going on.

For traction and more of a realistic look I’m going with Pro-Line Super Swamper tires. I mounted them on the stock wheels for now.

This truck will be under water and I don’t want to deal with rusted screws so I picked up a stainless steel screw kit from RC Screwz. You get all the screws you need for the truck in a nice storage container.

With the size of the body figured out I was able to make a buck to build off of. After shrinking the dimensions of the body by .080 all around to account for the thickness of the sheet plastic I’m using to construct the body, I cut a piece of basswood into the shape of the body and glued it to a base so I can line up my .080 plastic panels and glue them together easily.

My machinist buddy Ed Cable has been working hard on my custom wheels. I designed them on a CAD program and he is using his master machining skills to make them a reality. The wheels are made of brass which will help lower the truck’s center of gravity and keep it from tipping on those tough sections of the trail. I was going to use these wheels on another project but I felt that they would look better on my SCX10.

I’m excited to see the truck coming together and I am looking forward to giving you another update soon.

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The Axial Yeti was introduced only a few months ago and we were impressed with the new rock racer platform. Normally, when a completely new vehicle like the Yeti is released we don’t see another new release from the company for a while; but that’s not the case this time. Axial surprised all of us by introducing a new vehicle only months after the release of the Yeti and this one is completely new and much larger than anything ever made by Axial. It’s called the Yeti XL Monster Buggy and according to Axial it’s a 1/8-scale vehicle. When you size it up, it looks more like a 1/6-scale vehicle when compared to other 1/8-scale vehicles that are on the market today. Like the Yeti, the Yeti XL features an independent front suspension, 4-link solid axle rear suspension, metal gear transmission with slipper clutch but that’s where the similarities end. To make that happen at a much larger size all new parts had to be designed and a new truck had to be built. Let’s take a look at the parts that make the Yeti XL so special.

How big is the Yeti XL? Axial says that it’s 1/8-scale but when compared to other cars in the RC world it’s more like 1/6-scale. Here the Yeti XL (left) is sitting next to the 1/10-scale Yeti (middle) and a 1/10-scale SCX10 (right). The Yeti is slightly larger than the SCX10 and the Yeti XL is considerably larger than the Yeti.

The chassis layout on the Yeti XL is completely new and unlike the Yeti there’s plenty of room for all of the electronics; they are mounted close to the buggy’s center line. The tubular structure to the rear is pretty trick and looks like what you would find on a full-size rock racer. A pair of compartments on the chassis’ sides hold two batteries, and the Yeti XL can handle 6S LiPo power.

The bottom of the Yeti XL chassis is not as smooth as expected, and the battery door hinges are exposed to damage. Only time will tell if the sections that protrude will hold up to the abuse that the ground and rocks will dish out on this buggy. This shot also shows off the thick rear trailing arms and the aluminum front skid plate that supports the front suspension.

The batteries are housed in compartments that have been molded into the left and right side of the chassis. Two body clips keep the doors closed and the boxes are designed to hold 2 and 3S battery packs. There’s plenty of room for you to shift the battery weight towards the front or rear of the buggy and vents on the battery doors allow cool air to enter and hot air to escape.

Very large 20mm diameter shocks damp the ride and they feature threaded aluminum bodies for easy ride height adjustment. Sorry, the external reservoirs are for style only and are not functional. Multiple mounting positions are available on the shock tower and suspension arms for the front shocks. The rear shocks only get one mounting position.

The rear axle is an impressive piece. Ribbing was molded into the housing to increase strength and the straight tubes on each side screw on just like the axles used on the Yeti and Wraith. Does this mean that there may be a steerable axle of this size in the near future? I’m willing to bet that there will be a monster-sized Wraith and or a solid axle monster truck with these axles on it coming soon.

A slick gear cover is used on the rear axle to gain access to the 1/8-scale bevel gear rear diff for gear inspection and maintenance. The diff features steel CNC cut ring and pinion gears and they are sealed units which means that you can tune them with silicone fluid. They come stock with 20,000 wt. as you can see, Axial didn’t spare any grease.

The Yeti’s speed control is sourced from Castle Creations and waterproof, so it should be a stout unit. Deans plugs are standard. A fan keeps it cool and large 6mm connectors are used to connect it to the motor.

A 1/8-scale 22ooKv brushless motor provides a lot of RPM and torque to the Yeti XL. It’s ribbed case adds surface area and therefore enhances its cooling ability.

This is a big buggy with a lot of weight and power, so I’m are surprised to see a standard-size servo being used to control the steering. The steering servo produces 151 oz. in. or torque and time will tell if that is enough to get the job done.

With 6S power on tap I’m happy to see that the Yeti XL comes with a metal spur gear and it also includes an adjustable slipper clutch. The transmission housing is packed full of metal gears and ball bearings, so it should be long lasting.

Unlike the 1/10 Yeti, the Yeti XL’s receiver is accessed from the top side of the chassis and a few silicone seals help keep out dirt, debris and water.

The body tilts up to give you access to the battery compartment and components inside the chassis. Body mounts and body clips are used to secure the front end but the rear uses screws to attach it to the pivot so the body isn’t as easy to removed as the one on the Yeti.

I’m still testing the Yeti XL, but I do have a good handle on how it runs based on the driving I did for its photo shoot. Putting the 3S LiPo  packs in the buggy was a bit of a hassle; the body kept falling down as I struggled to push the battery door closed and get the body clip in to hold it in place. There is some ribbing to strengthen the body clip area and the hole for the body clip is very close to it. The side of the battery pack and wires were pushing on the battery door once it was closed so it required some strength to compress all that and get the door tight to the chassis so I could get the clip in. After a pop from the second Deans connector the buggy was plugged in and ready to go. I barely touched the throttle and the Yeti XL’s chassis twisted causing the right side front tire to come off the ground and immediately diff out causing the tire to turn into a pizza cutter. After seeing that I was surprised that the Yeti XL doesn’t come with a rear sway bar to help tone the chassis twist down. I would also like to see front and rear spools standard from the factory to eliminate the diffing out issue. Thicker oil may help, and I’ll experiment with it, but based on my experience with 6S power it felt like spools are a must-have. If you ease on the throttle the chassis twist isn’t so bad and the buggy is a little more controllable and fun–I bet 4S is the sweet spot for the Yeti XL. Clearing large jumps was easy thanks to all the power on tap. I slowly drove up to the big dirt piles in our photo shoot area and with a quick pull of the throttle the Yeti XL easily launched into the sky and that same power made in-air adjustments very easy. The shocks and suspension did a great job of soaking up the jumps and smaller bumps in the area but when driving over a short whoop section the rear end bounced around making the buggy a bit of a handful in this area.

I’m working on the review of the Yeti XL Monster Buggy and will have more performance notes soon. My next driving session will be on 4S which should make the Yeti XL more controllable and therefore more fun to drive. Stay tuned!

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I think it’s safe to say that most people love full-size monster trucks; they are larger than life and are full of destruction and who doesn’t like destruction. For me it’s all about the look of the truck and how it works; watching the suspension links moving, the shocks compressing, hearing that engine roar and looking at that intricate roll cage is just awesome to me. We have the Tamiya Clod Buster to thank for bringing the world of full-size monster trucks to RC and for making solid axle monster trucks somewhat popular. Sure, there were others out there when the Clod arrived on the scene in 1987 but they didn’t have the awesome scale look that the Clod had or the power. With that and the tons of aftermarket support over the years, the Tamiya Clod Buster (now called the Super Clod Buster) is still here today. Over that time there hasn’t been much competition for Tamiya in that category; the only real contender has been Kyosho. The Double Dare and USA-1 and more recent Madforce have the only trucks to really step up to the plate but they still haven’t come close in popularity.

Seriously, how cool is that truck.

The Tamiya Clod Buster was the truck that brought me and may others into the solid axle monster truck scene.

Let’s face it, if it wasn’t for aftermarket support and home built parts the Clod wouldn’t be around today. The truck in stock form is cool but it’s far from a performer; it’s slow, has stiff suspension and it tips over easily. That’s why just about everyone who owns one has modified it to have a 4-link suspension, longer wheelbase, lightweight chassis and a lot more power. There are a lot of guys who are racing their modified trucks in groups like the NR/CTPA , No Limit RC and RC Monster Truck Challenge, so this to me means that people are in love with solid axle RC monster trucks. They wouldn’t go through the trouble or spend the money on highly modded Clod if they weren’t. Now, we even have guys who are building custom solid axle monster truck using Axial Wraith parts.

Highly modified RC monster truck are being raced and bashed everywhere.

So why don’t we have more solid axle monster trucks available to us? There are lots of mod Clods racing and bashing across the country, Kyosho is still selling the Madforce platform (the newest is called the FO-XX) and people are building monster trucks using axles from other trucks such as the Wraith. I believe that if a company puts some time and development in, we can have a truck that will perform as good or better than the custom trucks that are being built using old technology. Today we have better shocks, improved tire compounds and better manufacturing so there’s no doubt that an awesome truck that outperforms the rest can be made. This in turn will bring more people to the solid axle monster truck side of RC and therefore we will have more trucks to choose from. Remember what happened when Traxxas built a nitro powered monster truck the “right” way? When the T-Maxx was introduced the nitro powered monster truck scene blew up. So come on Axial, Kyosho, RC4WD, Tamiya and Vaterra give us the solid axle monster truck that we all deserve. Who’s with me? Solid axle monster truck forever!

How cool would it be to pull a truck like this out of a box and go play with it? A lot of time and effort went into making this truck what it is. It’s more work and time than most people want to put in.

What do you think? Send an email to kevinh@airage.com and let me know.

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Check out this video of NASCAR racer Brad Keselowski and his race-hauler driver “Bama” as they go toe to toe with a couple of Tamiya Freightliner Cascadia Evolution tractor trucks. The racing action is obviously staged for the “Hauler Challenge” promo that the clip is supporting, but it’s still pretty cool to see the Tamiya rigs getting a workout. Must be nice to be a NASCAR driver!

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The Ascender is the latest vehicle to come out of the Vaterra Garage and like others before it’s very well detailed and is a performer. This scale truck is the only Vaterra model to be released exclusively as a kit. I just finished putting together my Ascender and am working on a review for the February 2015 issue of Radio Control Car Action Magazine. Here’s a sneak peak of the truck and some first impressions.

The stamped steel ladder frame chassis and suspension are unique. They are designed to allow for major wheelbase changes that will let you put just about any body that is available on it and it will change how the truck performs. The frame members are channeled and the thickness of the front rails are slightly smaller than the ones used in the rear and this allows the front to slide into the rear. All the hex screws that are used to assemble the chassis pass through the rails and thread into plastic cross members.

Check out those tires! They are scale replicas of Interco Super Swampers and come with foam inserts to support the rubber. They sure do look good and I am sure that they will find their way onto custom projects everywhere. The included 1.9 inch wheels are chrome plated and the tires are glued to them. Chrome plating can be found in the bead area and I recommend that you remove it before gluing for a better bond between the tire and rim.

The rear suspension is your typical 4-link deal. See the spacers on the links? That is part of the changeable wheelbase. The drive hexes are standard-size at 12mm, so there are endless wheel options for the Ascender. Inside the axle you will find a one piece spool/gear that is unlike other trucks where the gear is screwed onto the spool. The rear axle use a straight shaft to get the power to the wheels while the front has universals to do the job.

The front end suspension features a 3-link setup with a panhard bar. The shocks are molded out of plastic and smoother than some aluminum shocks that I have run in the past. The shocks are 108mm long (from mounting screw to mounting screw), have a body diameter of 11mm and 3mm diameter shafts for scale appearance. Having the servo mounted in the chassis gets it out of harm’s way but having it there does move the tires slightly through the linkage when the suspension is compressed and extended.

The transmission is packed full of metal gears and it can be modified to become a 2-speed. There’s even room and mounting holes on top of the housing for a shifting servo. The transmission was easy to assemble and felt very smooth once complete. A slipper clutch is used to protect the gears and driveshafts when put into high stress situations and needs to be set at 6 turns out instead of the kit recommended 5. Out of the box the single-speed transmission is geared for torque and delivers a top speed of about 3MPH with the 35 turn motor that I installed.

The battery is securely fastened to a floating battery tray. The rear of the tray pivots on bushings (circled) while the front is attached to the front axle and moves with it (as arrowed). This allows the tray to be mounted as low as possible and it puts more weight on the front axle which will increase the traction of the front tires.

Look at how much steering you get out of the hubs on the front axle. This truck easily has the most steering throw available in the 1/10-scale trail truck class. Yes, all that travel can be used. The servo is mounted on the left side of the chassis and the right side is left open for anyone who wants to build and use their own winch servo.

Vaterra includes a very well detailed 1986 Chevy Blazer body with the truck. Great stickers and an injection molded grill really add to the look. The body is however about an inch or more wider than your average scale crawler. Combine that extra Lexan and the injection molded grill and you have a pretty heavy body.

For the full review and to see how the truck performs you’ll have to wait for the Febuary 2015 issue of Radio Control Car Action Magazine to hit the news stands. So far, the Vaterra Ascender does not disappoint.

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I have built a lot of modded Tamiya Clod Busters over my lifetime and one of the trucks that I have held on to is my trusty Thunder Tech Ripper. I built and reviewed the Ripper in the October 2001 issue of Radio Control Car Action Magazine and since then I’ve made a few tweaks to improve looks, performance and durablity. The last time I raced it was about 5 years ago at the No Limit RC World Finals at Digger’s Dungeon. I was recently invited to race RC monster trucks at an event that is a few months away so I decided to dust off the old beast and get it running again. While at the last event I saw a few areas where I could improve its performance so I have a few mods that I’m going to make to solve that. Technology has also come a long way so I am going to add some new electronic goodies to make the truck easier to drive.

Here’s the truck as it came off the track 5 years ago. It has a Ripper Pro chassis, CVDs, wheel wideners and steering kit from Thunder Tech racing. Other mods include ball bearings, Team Associated shocks, Trinity D6 brushed motors, A Novak GT7 speed control and a KoPropo PDS-2363 steering servo.

They may have rusty cans but they’re still good and very powerful so I’m going to stick with the Trinity D6 brushed motors. There are two reasons for this. The motors have only been run a few times and for very short runs so they are like new. The brushes are just about broken in. By using brushed motors I only have to have one speed control to power both. If I switched to brushless motors I would have to use two speed controls, have two sets of wires and sensor wires and both speed controls would have to share the power of a single battery.

For a speed control I’m going with a Tekin FX-Pro. This speed control can handle 3S LiPo power, is very tunable and can easily handle the motors that I have bolted to the transmissions.

The shocks on my truck are Team Associated’s second gen units and although they have done a good job there are newer and better shocks now available. I’m ditching the old shocks and putting a set of Team Associated 12mm Big Bore shocks and a soft spring set.

Steering the truck is going to be a Futaba BLS371SV servo. Since this servo has so much power (152 oz. in. more than what I had) and a metal drivetrain I’m going to ditch the servo saver. This is good because I was never able to find a servo mounted saver that was strong enough to keep the front tires in check. So now I have more power and a lot better control over the truck’s steering.

A problem I had with the truck the last time it was out was that the front end would lift slightly when launching and that would cause it to diff out in the front. That ended up making my truck hook pretty hard off the start. I’m going to fix that by installing an aluminum diff spool. Now, I can’t honestly remember where I got this one but they are available from companies such as Hot-Racing and Integy.

Now that I have more tuning options with my Tekin speed control and more power for steering I’m going to step it up in the radio department too. For this round of my Thunder Tech Ripper I’m going to use a Futaba 4PX to control it. It has so many tuning options and its fast which is perfect for this truck.

For traction I’m going with a set of RC4WD Rumble tires and I’m going to mount them to RC4WD Universal Monster Truck Beadlock Wheel to enhance the truck’s look.

Other plans for the truck include a custom roll cage and custom painted monster truck body. I know I’m a little early on this project but I am trying to get it built as quickly as possible so I can spend plenty of time driving it and tweaking it before the event which is something that I am never able to do. I usually don’t get to try things out until I get on the track. This truck is going to be pretty sick.

Here’s the review I did on the first gen Ripper back in October 2001

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The SEMA show in Las Vegas is the place to see the latest trends, parts and builds in the full-size car world and every year thousands of people in the automotive industry make their way to this iconic show. The show is only happening for four days and you need all of that and more to be able to see everything that it has to offer. I do my best to attend the SEMA show every year and you may be asking yourself why would a RC guy want to go to a full-size show such as this? For me the show is a way to get ideas for project builds and articles that I can share with all of you. I brought my camera with me and shot hundreds of photos of awesome cars and trucks and my list of ideas has grown a lot. Here are just a few of the highlights from the show.

There’s so much going on at the SEMA show. It will take you a good part of the day just to check out the stuff going on in the parking lot.

Traxxas has a big booth at the show every year and it’s always full of people. Besides all the cool RC cars and the full-size SST truck they even have the occasional autograph session. The entire John Force racing crew was on hand to sign autographs for the long line of fans that went all the way around the booth.

Axial Racing had vehicles all over the show in various booths and finding all of them was like playing Where’s Waldo. Sometimes you are surprised by what you find like this new set of Falken 2.2-inch tires on an Axial Yeti.

Check out this trick mud truck called Huckzilla. This is a truck that you can totally build an RC version of. With some tubing you can easily have a chassis then all you have to add are axles, tires, rims and transmission from RC4WD and you can top it off with a HPI’s 1979 Ford pickup body.

HPI spent the entire week outside in the Ford Out Front section of the show showing off its Ford bodied sedans and trucks. They even let the crowd get in on the fun by giving them a car and a radio and letting them get a few laps in on the try me track. While in the booth we found this awesome HPI Vaughn Gittin Jr. Spec 5 Concept Mustang RTR. You never know what you’re going to see.

The guys at Rockstar Garage built this trick old school Ford Bronco. They are sponsored by Horizon Hobby and we hope that this project inspires the gang over there to release a vehicle like this.

How awesome is this Jeep FC170? It’s been made even cooler with the addition of those awesome tracks. Someone needs to build an RC version of this truck and submit it to Readers’ Rides. RC4WD has the tracks and the chassis and drivetrain is easy to find. The body however, would have to be custom made. That’s easy!

RC4WD even had a few trucks at the show. These two Trailfinder 2 trucks grabbed a lot of attention all week long. They have the perfect scale look for the SEMA show.

Here are a few more photos for you. Why? I say why not.

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I’ve been spending as much time as possible on my 32 Ford rock crawler project and I have been making good progress. This is the first time that I am making a complete body from scratch and I have really enjoyed the process of making it happen. I made a small buck out of wood that had been cut to the correct shape of the cab and glued my pieces of styrene plastic around that. Styrene tubing was sectioned and used on the rear corners to give the cab a rounded look without having to build up a lot of plastic in the area so it could be sanded without sanding through or making weak spots. This also made the inside of the cab more realistic which will help when I add the interior. To make the angled roof I glued up three .080 sheets of styrene and once the laminate was dry I put the part in my milling machined and cut the angle. The most challenging parts so far have been the cowl and hood. They both have a curve to them and the width changes from one end to the other. It took me a little while to figure out how to make those pieces. At first I was going to sculpt them out of balsa wood then coat the parts in epoxy and fiberglass to add strength but I wanted this body to be made completely out of plastic.

A wood buck, some milling machine clamps and glue formed the main section of the cab.

I started with the cowl and made the side panels and glued them into place at the angle that I thought was appropriate. Once the glue was dry on the plastic I filled the area with pieces balsa wood that I glued, cut and sanded to the shape that I wanted for the cowl. With the wood buck removed I took thin .020 and glued it to the buck with CA to help it hold its shape; then I glued two more layers of styrene over that using styrene specific glue. With the glue dry I was able to cut out the balsa wood and cut the cowl to the size that I needed for the body and glued it in place. I followed the same procedure to make the hood. Before making the grill I had to place the body on the chassis so I could make cutouts in the shock tower and chassis areas so that the body can sit properly. Once the grill is finished, fenders are on and the windows are cut out I can start the detail work.   I have also been able to add a few new parts to the chassis. Pro-Line PowerStroke Scaler shocks are now suspending the chassis and I mounted them without oil for now so I can finish mocking up the truck and figure out what ride height and oil it needs. Also on the chassis are my new custom made shock towers that I design and my buddy Ed Cable made using his CNC  milling machine and Acer Racing 3mm carbon fiber sheet. They are a direct replacement part and have a few extra mounting holes for shock tuning if necessary.

After gluing a few .080 sheets of styrene together I put it into my milling machine and used it to cut the angle on the roof.

A balsa wood buck was used to form the cowl. I made it slightly undersized so when I added the layers of plastic the cowl would line up with the sides.

I used CA to glue the first piece of .020 sytrene to the wood buck. Layers of plastic were added after that.

Here is the finished cowl section. It lined up perfectly with no need for sanding.

The same technique was used to form the hood. This was a little more complex due to the sharp curve on the sides.

I even added some hardware this week. Pro-Line PowerSroke Scaler shocks support the chassis and they are attached to my custom carbon fiber shock towers.

My project is coming along well. I will be setting this aside for a few weeks so I can complete some new projects and of course I will share them here. Stay tuned!

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Back in the early 2000s, monster truck racing with independent suspension trucks on local tracks was very popular. People were converting trucks like the Traxxas T-Maxx, Team Associated MGT and Tamiya TNX into full-blown race machines. There were also big races held around the country like the Pro-Line Maxx challenge and Monster Madness that drew hundreds of racers from around the country. You would even see pro drivers show up with their factory rides; Tamiya and Traxxas were sending factory race teams to all the major events. Did you know that the monster truck class gave birth to today’s truggy? So after all that popularity, race setups and money spent, where are all the monster truck drivers that used to race around the country?

We have the Traxxas T-Maxx 2.5 to thank for giving monster truck racing a shot in the arm and making the monster truck class popular. This truck had so many options available and you were easily able to turn it from a basher into a fine race machine.

When we received the first sample of the Team Associated MGT I quickly got the photos done and brought it to the track. The only mod I made was to remove the stock tires and install a set of Pro-Line race treads. No one could touch me at the track that weekend.

Tamiya saw the popularity of monster truck racing and introduced the TNX which was a fast truck in stock form. Eventually Tamiya gave it more factory support and sent team drivers to a lot of the big races in the country.

Traxxas introduced the Revo and it was game over on the track. The truck was lightweight and nimble which allowed a lot of racers to make it to the podium. This truck even has a few ROAR National wins under its belt. The August ’05 issue featured  my race prepped Revo and it was one of the best-performing trucks that I put on the track.

In 2008, Traxxas acknowledged the Revo’s racing dominance and gave MT competitors a race-prepped version of the ground-breaking truck.

So why do you guys think monster truck racing has gone away? Have the hardcore racers switched to truggies and the guys just trying out racing gone back to bashing with their trucks? The monster truck class was so much fun just like the short course classes of today and I for one wish the class would come back. Email me at kevinh@airage.com and let me know what you think.

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When I last posted about my Thunder Tech Ripper, I was making plans to improve the old ride for enhanced performance and a return to solid-axle truck racing. Since then, parts have arrived and I’ve gone to work reviving the Ripper, and it’s ready for its debut as a refreshed rig.

Today’s servos are much more powerful than what I used back in the day, so I boosted the Ripper’s steering strength with a Hitec HS-7954SH.  I skipped the servo-saver in favor of a direct hookup to take full advantage of the servo’s power. I was able to do so because the Hitec servo has 403 oz. in. of torques and a durable metal gear drivetrain.  I also installed a spool in the front gearbox to replace the stock open diff which reduces steering but the power of the servo will make up for anything that I lost with the spool. The spool was used to keep the front gearbox from diffing out when I mash the throttle and causing the truck to hook when they come in contact with the land.

I ran Associated shocks on the Ripper back in 2001, and stuck with the A-Team for the Ripper’s new dampers. This time around, I’ve installed Associated’s super-smooth 12mm Big Bore shocks. In addition to their silky action and the more consistent feel that greater oil capacity provides, the T4.2 shocks that I am using have a lot more travel, and ride height adjustment is much easier thanks to the threaded bodies. I wrapped the shocks in Team Associated’s soft 1.9 rate springs for supple action.

The Trinity D6 motors that were in the truck were pretty fast back  in the day and only had a few runs on them, so I decided to stick with them. Running brushed motors makes for an easier and cleaner setup because I don’t need two speed controls, sensor wire and all the motor wires required to run brushless motors.  I decided to use a newer Tekin FX-R Pro speed control to spin the motors. The speed control is adjustable, smooth and unlike the speed control that I had in there originally, the FX-R has low voltage detection so I can run LiPo packs safely.

Solid-axle handling can be sketchy, with fast correcting required to keep them in a straight line. I solved that problem by installing Spektrum Active Vehicle Control  in my truck. Now, if I’m on a smooth surface I can shut the system off and if the track is bumpy I can turn it on and have more control over my truck. I paired it up with a Spektrum DX4R Pro radio, which lets me adjust the AVC’s level of throttle and steering intervention independently.

The hot tire for monster racing is RC4WD’s Rumble. It’s a tire that has great scale look and aggressive traction. Unlike most tires designed for the Tamiya Clod Buster, the Rumbles are molded in a soft compound and are supported by foam inserts.

No update would be complete without a new body, so I got my hands on a Pro-Line Ford F-250. I painted it using LRP paint and made the Banks Power and other logos using my vinyl cutter and Parma uncut mask. The LRP paint is good stuff, and comes in a large 5 oz. can, so it goes a long way.

Ripping It Up With The Ripper
I strapped in a battery and took my updated Ripper Pro for a blast around the yard to see how it drives and it’s much better than it was before. Tekin’s FX-R Pro speed control is very smooth and had no trouble handling the brushed motors on the gearboxes. The suspension is very smooth and the truck is more stable because of it. AVC is a great choice for the rough stuff; my truck tracked pretty straight with ever pass. With the Rumble tires mounted, I was able to shave just over a half pound of weight from the truck and that made the truck feel more nimble and traction is awesome. When you combine the scale look of the Rumble tires and that Pro-Line F-250 body you get one great looking truck. Steering has been pretty much unchanged due to the powerful Hitec servo and elimination of the servo saver. There’s no more diffing and hooking thanks to the spool. Although the truck is better than before I have a few tweaks to make to get it right before the event that I will be running it at. It’s going to be a real contender.

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The Trailfinder 2 from RC4WD is very popular with scaler fans and now it’s available in a short wheelbase (“SWB”) version. It’s only available as a kit at this time and we’re willing to be that there will be a RTR version soon. This is a great platform for those who like short wheelbase bodies like the 2-door Jeep from Tamiya (shown). The kit goes together quickly thanks to preambled items such as the transmission, transfer case and axles. Features of the TF2 SWB include a leaf spring suspension, single speed transmission, shaft driven 4WD and durable metal components. We can’t wait to see the cool projects that you guys build using this platform.

Specs:

Length: 15.35in / 390mm

Width: 8.46in /215mm

Height: 5.51in / 140mm

Wheelbase: 9.53in / 242mm

Weight: 62.08oz / 1.76kg

Part number: Z-K0045

MAP Price: $379.99

More photos and full details in our Hot News & New Stuff Forum

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The scale scene is big right now and there are no signs of it slowing down. Most of the scale vehicles out there are solid axle trucks that are designed to perform well on trail and rock courses. Although they rate high on the scale uh… scale, they lack the speed that most people in RC are looking for. Trucks like the Vaterra Twin Hammers and Axial Yeti and Yeti XL are breaking the mold and giving us scale looks and high speed performance at the same time. You can say the same for short course trucks but these new truck from Vaterra and Axial are giving us something that the current line of short course trucks aren’t: solid rear axles.

The Vaterra Ascender is an example of a well detailed scale truck that is very capable on the trails and rocks but it lacks the speed that many are after.

I have been told by many people that they will never perform as well as a truck with front and rear independent suspension and I agree with that. But, there are people out there who have been tuning and tweaking the Twin Hammers and Yeti trucks and are getting impressive handling and performance out of them. Now we are starting to see these trucks tearing up local tracks and beating their independent suspension brothers. So where will this lead us? I’m thinking that we are going to start seeing RC trophy trucks hitting the hobby shop shelves soon. Yes we have short course trucks which look similar to the trucks we see on TV and on tracks across America but they don’t have a 4-linked solid rear axle and the only real detail is in the body. Trophy trucks have a lot more to offer in the scale department; they have spare tires, lots of lights and parts bolted to them such as drive shafts, jacks and so on. You can’t tell me that a tricked out, well performing and scale trophy truck wouldn’t be cool to have. So who is going to get us that tricked out truck first? Vaterra? Axial? Or will it be a company like RC4WD or Tamiya? Only time will tell.

The Axial Yeti was designed with rock racing in mind but with some tweaks it can be setup to tear up any race track. Sure, a truck with a linked solid rear axle won’t perform as good as a truck with independent suspension but you sure can get it close.

Short course trucks are awesome but there isn’t much going on there. These guys need to keep the weight down and there’s no need to carry spare parts when racing on a short race course.

Trophy trucks have a lot of things going on and I think it would be awesome to have a RC version of these types of trucks.

Speaking of scale trucks…….

See if you can guess what I am building now. Email me at kevinh@airage.com and let me know.

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I love old school monster trucks. They were slow and didn’t handle very well but boy did they look cool. They were basically oversized show trucks and featured tilt noses and beds, had tons of lights and lots of chrome. This is part of the reason why I fell in love with the Tamiya Clod Buster when it was released in 1987. It closely resembled the trucks of the time. After completing my stock Clod build, I was inspired to build up another Clod but this time with mods that were used back when the truck was released. Before I could start the build I had plenty of other vehicles to build, review and so on so it had to wait. Well, when you have more time to think about a project you get into more trouble. So at this point I am still building an old school monster truck but now I’m pretty much building it from scratch using parts from companies such as RC4WD and Tamiya. All the parts have been gathered and the build is about to begin. I showed off a few parts last week and asked you guys to guess what I was building and if you guessed that it was a monster truck you were correct. Here are some of the highlights of the build.

Old school trucks has a heavy duty 18-wheeler type frame and my first thought was to modify a Tamiya High-Lift chassis and use that. I didn’t like the look of all the mounting holes in the chassis so I decided to go with a custom piece. I designed my chassis in CAD and my buddy Ed Cable machined it.

RC4WD introduced a trick scale V8 engine that houses an electric motor and has a transmission that looks real and actually works. Now how can you not use this in the ultimate scale monster truck! I am going to modify the engine slightly so it can accept a scale blower and scoop from Muscle Machines and it’s going to be coupled to an RC4WD transfer case.

Old school trucks had leaf spring suspension and a lot of shocks. RC4WD has some shocks that look like the real deal so I picked up a bunch of them for my build. Custom mounts are going to be used to mount them and the leaf springs to the axles.

Rockwell axles were used back in the day and my truck is going to use RC4WD Blackwell axles. These suckers are so awesome and look just like what a lot of trucks were using back in the day.

The Clod Buster tires are molded to look just like the tires used back in the day so they are going on my truck and they are going to be mounted on RC4WD wheels.

I have been working hard on the body while gathering all the parts for the build. At first I was going to give it a scale paint job and call it a day but now I have a tilt nose, tilt bed, tonneau cover and a lot of lights.

So there are a few highlights of my old school monster truck build. I now have all the parts to make it happen and once I complete a few other builds I’m going to get started on this beast. I’m struggling with the paint job a bit and you guys can help with that. If you were to build an old school truck what color would you paint it? Email me at kevinh@airage.com and let me know.

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There’s no doubt that injection molded bodies are the most detailed bodies available and that’s why we see them showing up on most scale trucks these days. The problem is that we don’t have enough bodies to choose from. We have the Toyota Hilux from Tamiya and RC4WD, the Toyota Tundra, Clod Buster Chevy and Ford F-350 from Tamiya and Defender D90 and D110 from RC4WD. Since that is all we have these bodies keep showing up over and over again. It’s time for some new plastic! I totally understand that injection molded bodies are expensive to produce but with the way they are selling these days I’m pretty sure they will more than pay for themselves. I would love to see a mid 60’s Chevy truck or a early 80’s Dodge truck. There are so many awesome trucks that have been produced through the years and they would be awesome to have on top of an RC chassis.

The Toyota Hulux is easily the most popular choice for scale trucks. This is the stock body for the Tamiya Bruiser and Mountain Rider but it can be found on many other scale rigs.

RC4WD’s D90 body is another awesome scale injection molded body that is popular with the masses. Looks like you can hop in and go for a ride.

How about a mid 60′s Chevy truck, like this 1965 Custom short-bed. This would be awesome on top of a truck like the Vaterra Ascender or Axial SCX10. It would also be a great scale old school monster truck. The undercuts on the sides of the body and the bulging rear fenders would be impossible to recreate in a vacu-formed Lexan body, but are no problem for an injection molded shell.

How about one for the Dodge boys out there. The 81-93 Dodge Ram has always been one of my favorite body styles. I would love to see this injection molded with the bed and cab as separate parts.

Are you guys with me? What bodies would you like to see? Email me at kevinh@airage.com and let me know.

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With the holidays and a magazine behind me I have finally been able to get a little work done on my old school monster truck project. I have a few suspension parts to design and make so I had to get the frame rails connected and Tamiya F-350 springs mounted in order to figure out what needs to be done. It doesn’t look like much right now but once my leaf spring mounts are made for the axles the project will start to come together pretty quick. I wanted to give you guys a quick look at the progress so far. Looks pretty old school to me.

My buddy Ed Cable machined the frame rails that I designed and now it’s time for me to start drilling holes in them so I can mount a few things. Right now, the only things I have in place are the leaf springs. Once the spring mounts on the axles are designed and made I can start to figure out where the transfer case, body and engine are going.

Tamiya Clod Buster tires are being used because they closely resemble the tires used on old school monster trucks. I have them mounted to RC4WD bead lock wheels. The scale planetary in the center really adds life to the wheel.

The rims are attached to the RC4WD Blackwell axle by way of a 12mm adapter from RC4WD and they give the rims the right amount of side to side spacing. I may give them a coating of semi gloss black paint to hide them a bit. That orangeish color really stands out and doesn’t look very scale.

With everything mocked in place my truck is looking pretty awesome. The chassis has to come up at least an inch or more before it starts looking right and that will be done soon.

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