Timmy2Tracks goes long with a MAN Trial Truck

[Timmy2Wheels]

I have been wanting to build a Trial Truck for a while now. After watching YouTube videos of them, I just totally fell in love with their size and just outward craziness. So, back in 2011, I saw forum member EvoMike begin his Man truck with one of these MAN bodies, and wanted one for myself. After EvoMike led me to the website rb-modelle, Modelle, Zubehör für Rad- und Kettenfahrzeuge im Maßstab 1:16 - 1: 7, Modellbauzubehör allgemein I began emailing with the owner about acquiring one. Then, RC4WD suddenly started selling them here in the USA, so I got me one...





And a size comparison to he Tamiya Hilux. These bodies are quite big...



And it sat on the shelf. I initially wanted to purchase the "Beast" from RC4WD, but could never get the funds together. I really wanted to do an 8x8, and was looking to purchase the RC4WD "Hercules" chassis to have a chassis to begin acquiring parts on. Then, here in the classified section, I found a member selling this...







It's a chassis made by a German fella found here: http://www.Deserttruck-Carbon-Rallye.de

It's a very high quality chassis, CNC'd parts, and at 38 inches, it fits this large cab quite nicely me thinks.

You can see that the MAN body is slightly wider than the chassis, so I used some 3M spacers in the shock towers to allow the body to sit flat, and let it centered just for the time being.



Very nice, perfect fit.





Some time ago, I purchased 4 Mil Spec 2.2's tires and 4 HumVee 2.2 wheels (only 2 mounted in pics). So, here's the idea for what I hope to make happen...







Well, that's a start, more to come. Thanks for a-lookin'!

[rockhugger]

WOW... This is going to be fun to watch.
I'm jealous of a few things in your pictures...

[Timmy2Wheels]

Originally Posted by rockhugger

I'm jealous of a few things in your pictures...

It's the small bottles of 2-stroke oil, isn't it...? I know, i know, I didn't mean to brag. Remember, one bottle for one gallon of gas.

[Timmy2Wheels]

So, this arrived, in a box.

I knew I wanted to use Blackwell axles for this here MAN, as well as these wheels and tires. I started running the numbers, and it's cheaper just to save up and purchase the RC4WD "Beast" than building it piece by piece. Pretty much all the RC4WD vehicles are available as rollers, or for $100 more, ready-to-run's. Unfortunately, for some reason, this one is NOT available without electronics, so I had to buy $100 worth of electronics I will not be using. Oh well, so the savings, well, is still pretty good...





I figure I can use the axles, wheels, tires, rod ends, links, shift servo and transmission. The driveshafts are plastic, all plastic, unlike the ones you get on the TF2 or Gelande 2 which have metal ends. Wouldn't do much good, but I can use them on something else down the line perhaps. The shocks are the original dual spring design. Think "boiiiinnnggg!" and, they are only 80mm, so a bit short. I also figured out the chassis will be the perfect length for my Tonka-Winnebago build. Perfect.

Having two rear axles, for some reason, one is backwards, or flipped opposite the other. When these axles are assembled, there is a small pinion gear right under the top plate, which can be positioned in two different spots (front or rear side of the axle). This decides the direction of rotation of the axle. No big deal, since all the axles have to be disassembled, greased, and all bolts must be thread locked.



Disassembly. I never even plugged it in. Nope, not kidding.



Disassembled, and flipped the axle rotation direction while greasing and thread locking. Most of the bolts were loose, some were even on the bottom of the box. Glad I didn't get all fancy and attempt to run this before going thru it.



I was so jazzd-up I totally forgot to take me some pictures of the process, so, if you looking for a ti-tor-u-ioral on how to do this rotation change, look at RckCrwlr's thread here...

HOW TO: Reverse Direction in Blackwell Axles

Here's the start. I am still short an axle, and some other parts. Although, the "Beast" gave me a great start...



Here's a quick shot of the size comparison of the two chassis's's's...



That's it for now, let me know what ya think...!

[Sagemoen]

Wow, its going to be awsome! And so big!
I just bought the worminator using it as a platform. But arrrgh... the axles is just garbage. Should have put 200 bucks more in the Beast :(

[BoyFreakWonder]

Sweet baby Jesus thata bigun

[ROCKEDUP RICKY]

looks great

[rockhugger]

we should all have one of these

[Timmy2Wheels]

Originally Posted by Sagemoen

Wow, its going to be awsome! And so big!
I just bought the worminator using it as a platform. But arrrgh... the axles is just garbage. Should have put 200 bucks more in the Beast :(

This is just a chassis with axles suited more to 1:10 scale bodies. The Worminator is better for the 1:12 scale, or even the 1:14 tamiya semi-bodies.

I'm curious: why are the Worminator axles junk? I honestly haven't seen anyone using them on anything, so I haven't heard much about them...

[Timmy2Wheels]

Originally Posted by BoyFreakWonder

Sweet baby Jesus thata bigun

Might actually be longer than baby Jesus.

[Timmy2Wheels]

Originally Posted by rockhugger

we should all have one of these

I agree.

[Timmy2Wheels]

Originally Posted by ROCKEDUP RICKY

looks great

Thanks Ricky. It should be fun out on the trail. Or just plain interesting, with the same steering radius as an orbiting planet...

[ZippoMan]

Tim thanks for the link and now I can watch your magic happen!! That thing is going to be SWEET!! It sure is huge but super cool!!

It is another Blizzard day here so i am out the door in 5 minutes for some Kyosho action!!

I will be subscribing to this thread and sharing with Oilcanman.

[Timmy2Wheels]

Originally Posted by ZippoMan

Tim thanks for the link and now I can watch your magic happen!! That thing is going to be SWEET!! It sure is huge but super cool!!

It is another Blizzard day here so i am out the door in 5 minutes for some Kyosho action!!

I will be subscribing to this thread and sharing with Oilcanman.

Thanks Zippo. This will certainly he a longer-term build, seeing the sheer size and cost. I also will be selling many things to fund this along the way.

I have decided to try and return to a quality-over-quantity position in RC.

[cg78]

Man that thing is big. I too like the trial trucks.

[Timmy2Wheels]

So, I got 3 out of the 4 required axles mounted up. I wanted to get the links to mount on the inside of the frame, to allow for the steering wheels to have full lock left to right without the tires rubbing. So, I slid the link mounts all the way in, and they are at the perfect width. I had to use some spacers to push the shocks back out to be perfectly straight up and down...



Marked out them there shock towers...



And did some cutting.



Now they are inside the body a bit, but these fall inside the engine room, so they will be out of sight. I will still build a little styrene box over them to just block the light.



Still missing an axle, but I got the 100mm King Shocks mounted on the front and rear axles, so now I can at least see the general ride height. It's just nice to see it standing on it's own.





I am more than happy with the articulation. Also, the tires just barely begin to rub when the shocks bottom out. Everything articulates smoothly, without binding or anything hitting anything else. It's a damn miracle...





I have the 4th Blackwell axle on it's way, with some random links as well. I can't afford the other 2 King 100mm shocks yet.

More to come, kids.