Bullhead bodied Deuce and a Third

[tcanin00]

This hare brained contraption was called into existence almost two years ago, and has been on-again/off-again like everything else I've started. With that being said, please don't expect completion or closure.
The intent was to build something that was pieced together out of surplus Deuce and a Half parts. Here is the beginning of the end, with a dremel (haggard)cut frame out 3/4" square tube steel, RC4WD transmission, and an unknown turn 12V drill 550 motor :

Convenient use of a TX as a ride height gauge:

This project was originally going to use a Pro Line 1956 Ford truck body, so the wheel base was set off of it:



Once that was figured out, leaf springs made from stainless steel radiator hose clamps:


Magnets holding the crudely fabricated shackles in place:


And that was as far I made it since I was building this while at a six week school. Boxed up and sent home until it was time to revisit it.

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[tcanin00]

Phase two began with finishing the chassis with stock TF II springs upfront, and taking my time to make better looking shackles:

Decent amount of flex, although some of it from the lack of cross members. The decision was made to steal the Bullhead cab from it's intended purpose:


Now for a test run in my mother in law's landscaping:








The test run was awesome. I decided the cab will stay with this frame, then moved on to something else.

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[Brake Weight]

Looks good. What axles are those?

[tcanin00]

Phase three was more recent. After being sidetracked by 1/6th scalers and buying another Wraith, I needed something with leaf springs. Actually, it was SGT Slaughter who suggested it:
The body had gone through a round of plastic surgery to make it more proportioned, had exhaust stacks made of 3/8" stainless steel tube, and had a few details added. But for some reason, the wheel base didn't look right. Time for some weldering and drillering to move the rear axle back about an inch.
Current electronic set up:

AE-2 (Castle)ESC, classified drill motor, big 3S battery, and a noisy Savox servo. Plus I used an old locker hinge for the cab. I also decided to use a set of Mud Slinger XL's instead of the Rock Crushers, I think they suit this build. Enough discussion, on to the action shots on my super secret proving grounds:







As with anything, the list of what I want to do is longer than what is done. At least it's operational and shouldn't be cannabolized for something else.

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[tcanin00]

Originally Posted by Brake Weight

Looks good. What axles are those?

Thanks Brake Weight, they're RC4WD Blackwells that I bought several years ago.

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[Itali83]

I gotta say I don't like bullhead builds because the body bothers me. Too small just generic enough between Kenworth and peterbilt too. But, I can't put my finger on it yet, but I like this truck. It's simple, you took good pictures of it, and it looks good with the stacks. I like the single axle and single tires. I'd almost leave it like this and send it. Good work.
Ben

[tcanin00]

Originally Posted by Itali83

I gotta say I don't like bullhead builds because the body bothers me. Too small just generic enough between Kenworth and peterbilt too. But, I can't put my finger on it yet, but I like this truck. It's simple, you took good pictures of it, and it looks good with the stacks. I like the single axle and single tires. I'd almost leave it like this and send it. Good work.
Ben

Yes Itali83, the Bullhead is very disproportionate and nowhere near scale. I added a 1/2" of height and 3/4" of length to the hood, added a 1/4" to both fenders, and widened the body a 1/4". The next round of plastic surgery will be to widen the body more, and try to make it look more like a Kenworth.
Otherwise, the frame and basic set up staying as is. I'm sort of back and forth as to if I should put a flat bed on it. Who knows...

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[hillbillyrc]

A simple flat bed might just set it off nicely. Looks great. Are you still running the r2 trans if so how is it treating you?

[tcanin00]

Originally Posted by hillbillyrc

A simple flat bed might just set it off nicely. Looks great. Are you still running the r2 trans if so how is it treating you?

Thanks hillbillyrc, I have some "seasoned" pallet wood strips that I could use but that will be after I get the cab situated.
I'm still running the R2 and it's working out perfectly. They tend to be on the noisy side since they use straight cut steel gears. It sort of adds to the effect of this truck, like it has a Detroit Diesel in low range.

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[Itali83]

Originally Posted by tcanin00

Yes Itali83, the Bullhead is very disproportionate and nowhere near scale. I added a 1/2" of height and 3/4" of length to the hood, added a 1/4" to both fenders, and widened the body a 1/4". The next round of plastic surgery will be to widen the body more, and try to make it look more like a Kenworth.
Otherwise, the frame and basic set up staying as is. I'm sort of back and forth as to if I should put a flat bed on it. Who knows...

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Yup, see the body work now. Also, straight frame. It drives me nuts seeing the crazy curved and bent frames of a crawler under a truck cab. I'm a heavy duty diesel mechanic for a living and antique big rig collector by heart so I'm very criticle of the "big rig" builds.

I'm almost done an ascender build them I'm going to set out to build a true 1:10 scale big rig crawler. Just gotta decide which cab I'm going to try and custom fab. I'm an old autocar man and my father and I both have real ones. So my ideal would be to build one but the cabs are pretty curved and such. I'm also a big fan of the GMC Generals and they're very square to I may wimp out and try to build one of those. Who knows. Keep up the good work.
Ben

[tcanin00]

Originally Posted by Itali83

Yup, see the body work now. Also, straight frame. It drives me nuts seeing the crazy curved and bent frames of a crawler under a truck cab. I'm a heavy duty diesel mechanic for a living and antique big rig collector by heart so I'm very criticle of the "big rig" builds.

I'm almost done an ascender build them I'm going to set out to build a true 1:10 scale big rig crawler. Just gotta decide which cab I'm going to try and custom fab. I'm an old autocar man and my father and I both have real ones. So my ideal would be to build one but the cabs are pretty curved and such. I'm also a big fan of the GMC Generals and they're very square to I may wimp out and try to build one of those. Who knows. Keep up the good work.
Ben

That is my biggest criticism of builds, seeing a "pick-up truck" frame under a big rig cab. Or the use of links and coil springs when the real thing would have leaf springs.
I am by no means a "master fabricator" like some of the people on this forum, but the more I experimented with different techniques the more confident I become. That's why I tend to jump around with projects. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. At least that's what I tell myself.
An old Auto Car would be a really cool project. There is something about heavy duty trucks from the 1950's through the 1970's. I thought about modifying an Ascender Blazer body into a Brigadier for this, since I have one on an SCX 10.
Either way, start a build thread on it. I would like to see it.


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[Itali83]

I will start a thread once I get started on it. Need to finish my blazer build first. Check it out in the ascender section. "My little Jimmy lol" is the thread. I'd like to see you make a brigadier from an ascender body!

I'm going leaf spring too, going to make my own Hendrickson walking beam rear suspension too. Only thing is axles. I want to stick with ascender axles because I already know how to widen them, the tricks to building them etc etc and have plenty of spare parts. Like to keep my trucks with same components for ease of maintenance. But after seeing the top loader axles you're running, they make a huge difference in appearance. But the price tag on them is very steep and still only wide enough for a bullhead body or 1:10 pickup. I'm going to run legit 1:10 width big rig axles, 10 tires straight frame, the whole deal. But make it set up for trailing/rock climbing. Not like a road tractor.

Ben

[Brake Weight]

What about an old International like Killdozer?

https://youtu.be/dmbWBdBd95Q

[tcanin00]

I'll have to check out your build. To get a Brigadier out of a Blazer would be a lot of work. My plan was to to make mold of the Blazer and cast it in resin, so I would have hard plastic to work with. But that may or may not happen. I'm trying to convince my better half that we need a 3D printer so I'm not in the basement hours on end scratch building things.
Yes, the Blackwells are not cheap but they are functional double planetaries like real Rockwells and they're geared much better at 3.75:1. And they're wider than 1/10th axles, 7.56" hex to hex compared to 7.19" pin to pin.

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[tcanin00]

Originally Posted by Brake Weight

What about an old International like Killdozer?

https://youtu.be/dmbWBdBd95Q

That would be an awesome build.

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[Rickleo]

Just stumbled upon this thread. Glad to see the good ole Bullhead back again. One of these days you're gonna finish this build lol. Looks great as always.

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[tcanin00]

Originally Posted by Rickleo

Just stumbled upon this thread. Glad to see the good ole Bullhead back again. One of these days you're gonna finish this build lol. Looks great as always.

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One of these days is right, Rickleo. It's on a temporary hold until I get another project sort of finished, or at least a stopping point.

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