That guy did it, why can't I? (old Tonka, less old RC content)

Started to clutter the confession thread with rambling, so I'm starting this:

So I went on the internet and I saw this after spending entirely too much time watching this guy.

Then I did a bit of googling, that googling led to ebay. Then I bought this.

Because this guy seems to have found something that works, and he shared his notes with the rest of us, I think it makes sense to use the same ideas.

I saw in multiple build threads that he used axles from an A-tech Leo X 1/20 scale monster truck. That truck seems to be out of production. These trucks are smaller than normal 1/10 crawlers so those axles won't work. I suspect some of the micro kits like the ECX Barrage 1/24 or an RC4WD Gelande II 1/18 might work but  I need to wait until my truck gets here to measure it to find out exactly what I'm working with. I'm going to try to get away with using normal RC truck wheels and tires but if that doesn't work I'll figure something out. 

Very cool.

I think I still have one these from my childhood, and a r/c car from my early adulthood. Now, I am getting evil ideas.

I think I found my axle. Turns out a kit exist to narrow Axial SCX10 axles. They end up being 5.6" wide. I think the truck is 6". Normal sized scale crawler wheels or semi wheels should make up the width. I've got an SCX axle right here.  So that's one problem solved.

I've convinced myself that this truck will be 2wd because of simplicity and cost. Front axle will be a Tamiya semi steer axle because narrowing it (if it even needs it) is even simpler than the SCX axle. 

Daylan C said:

I think I found my axle. Turns out a kit exist to narrow Axial SCX10 axles. They end up being 5.6" wide. I think the truck is 6". Normal sized scale crawler wheels or semi wheels should make up the width. I've got an SCX axle right here.  So that's one problem solved.

I've convinced myself that this truck will be 2wd because of simplicity and cost. Front axle will be a Tamiya semi steer axle because narrowing it (if it even needs it) is even simpler than the SCX axle. 

 

I was going to mention axial. With the scale crawler market being a little nuts right now, axial and their contemporaries have piles of cool E36 M3 out there for scalers. I've been noodling the idea of building a true tube chassis rc truck for a number of years now- I keep getting distracting by making piles of wrecked traxxas do 80mph. 

I miss my old 2wd Slash. It was ony a brushed 12t but enough to make me want more of that. With how cheap those are now I might get another and cram some power into it eventually. 

Look at exceed and there max stone line. The 10th scale axles have been modified with axial parts for years and the buy in is alot cheaper. They also have a 1/16 scale crawler. The 1/24 scale stuff would be way too small, I currently own 3 of them and can get you measurements if you want. I also still have one of my cheaper 1/10 scale crawlers if you need measurements there.

In reply to dropstep :

If you could measure the axles on one of the 1/24s from outside edge to outside edge of the tire and also from hub to hub without wheels that would be great. Thanks.

I hate you. Now I need to make one. I've been eyeing this as a basis for a toy conversion for a while:

https://us.gearbest.com/rc-cars/pp_1489163.html



Sure the electronics are junk, but the parts are mostly right for a full frame toy swap.

I always wanted to get an old Barbie corvette, keep the crappy plastic wheels, and put a high powered RC unit under it. Powerslides and drifting on command! If I did it right, could even keep Barbie as the "driver"

On my 1/24 The outside of tire to outside is 3 5/8 inch. Hub to hub is 3 inches exactly. I've debated turning this metal Tonka into a body for my 10th scale but I actually crawl it and it would be way too heavy lol

mad_machine said:

I always wanted to get an old Barbie corvette, keep the crappy plastic wheels, and put a high powered RC unit under it. Powerslides and drifting on command! If I did it right, could even keep Barbie as the "driver"

I wand the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles van or the ECTO-1 on a pan car chassis. 

I really should start printing the 1:10 truck I have plans for. Only been sitting on the files since January

In reply to dropstep :

Thanks. looks like my first thought was right and the 1/24 Is way too small. 

This is awesome, especially the DRW setup.  I have one of those old Tonka dump trucks at my folks' house still.  You could probably rig a tmaxx 3 channel radio to operate the bed up/down via a small linear actuator.  

In reply to Daylan C :

I took a rustler, made it into an lcg slash, and stuffed it full of mamba and lipos. It's scary. Theres a build thread buried here somewhere. 

In reply to stylngle2003 :

Haven't fully decided if this is staying a dump truck or not. The bed on this truck appears to be badly bent and I don't much care for the look of the 70s dump bed (I do like the 70s cab though). So I'm probably replacing it but I haven't decided with what. 60s dump beds (See image of the other guy's truck) seem to be cheap and plentiful and I like the design of them more. Any other option is less common and collectors of these trucks seem to value them more. 

In reply to Daylan C :

You could ditch the dump bed and build a flatbed with lightweight wood. That would get your overall weight down but keep the cool look.

Maybe.

Might stretch the wheel base a bit and do a stake bed.

More frame might make it easier to find a place for a battery.

if you keep it a dump, you need to make the bed articulate. The other choice is to put in some fake "dirt" and use that to hide the battery

Check out rccrawler.com for ideas anytime your bored. Axle and tire size depends on the look you want. You could run the bigger 1/10th scale axles and 1.9 or 2.2 tires and build it as kind of post apocalyptic go anywere machine. For a more authentic look check out 1/16th scale axles and 1.5 tires.

In reply to dropstep :

Currently looking at a narrowed SCX axle, 1/14 semi front axle, and semi wheels/tires. I'm picturing this sort of look. 

Keep seeing this truck in my google image travels.

So I'm keeping the fleet side bed and fender flares on the table.

EDIT: I think I found my color if I decide to paint it.

I like the cut of your jib here man. So I took some pics which might be helpful.

I happened to have the same truck minus the dumper bed around my house, and some RC crawler parts. here's what I found.

The truck is definitely more 1/14th or 12th scale than 1/10th. Thought e body is close to 1/10th in size. Here it is up against a Tamiya 1/10th Nissan King Cab body.

The wheels and tires though. they aren't anywhere close to 1/10th sizes. Here's a 2.2 Axial, Unknown Duratrax, Tamiya S10, and the Tonka comparison.

Here's a 1/10th Touring Car Rally tire combo also.

The diameter of the Tonka tire is about 2.5 inches.

3.5 Inches hub to hub.

6 inches sidewall to sidewall

And finally here's a comparison against my Duratrax 1/18th crawler axle.

It'll be interesting to see what you come up with for all this. Also. the truck is freaking heavy, so you're gonna need some torque for sure and 4wd would help a lot in making it driveable.

Thanks for that info. I just noticed that I can get those WPL 1/16 scale crawler axles for less than $10 each shipped. For that price I might roll the dice on rather or not they'll be shredded by a 540 crawler motor under a heavy truck. Looks like metal replacement gears are available so maybe they'll live. The other downside is waiting close to a month for them to get here. 

EDIT: After some consideration and remembering how cheap those whole trucks are. I think I'm going to just buy a whole truck. Not sure which version, possibly the 6x6.

hmm....

HMMMM...

Daylan C said:

Thanks for that info. I just noticed that I can get those WPL 1/16 scale crawler axles for less than $10 each shipped. For that price I might roll the dice on rather or not they'll be shredded by a 540 crawler motor under a heavy truck. Looks like metal replacement gears are available so maybe they'll live. The other downside is waiting close to a month for them to get here. 

EDIT: After some consideration and remembering how cheap those whole trucks are. I think I'm going to just buy a whole truck. Not sure which version, possibly the 6x6.

hmm....

HMMMM...

Now I really hate you because I NEED A R/C 6X6! Holy crap that thing is cooler than penguin poop.

https://www.banggood.com/WPL-B-16-KIT-116-2_4G-6WD-Crawler-Off-Road-RC-Car-With-Light-p-1291093.html?cur_warehouse=CN

$50 shipped from the China warehoue, so it would be a few weeks. But dang, I want it.