Tamiya MF-01x Revision

[BJoe]

After digging my Jimny out after discussing the ability to put the gear reduction hubs from the Monster Beetle TR and Dynahead to fit the MC-01x chassis and decided to start revising it and plan to eventually buy one of those Monster Beetle TR kits to kitbash it’s hubs from.

When I first built it, the truck put silly putty in the diffs and put a 55t closed end bell motor from my Night Crawler BND (put a Traxxas Titan 21t in that) with the smallest Tamiya pinion while using a XL-5 ESC, basic Traxxas 2.4 radio and Savox waterproof servo and Duratrax 3000mAh 7.2v pack.I also used Tamiya’s red anodized aluminum sedan shocks and eventually Associated brown buggy springs, then RC4wd’s 1.55” Landry’s and Mickey-T Baja MTZ tires that are a good bit taller than the 1.9” Rally Block tires on the wheels from the Golf GTI kit that these come with.

Problems I’ve run into is that when it comes to torque, that motor is gutless, especially when you factor in the NiMH pack, taller gearing via too big of a pinion and those big Mickey-T’s and had no holding capability of even the Integy 55t that is still in my crawler Wheely King has. Other issue is it spiting out the dogbones that was fixed by installing the Tamiya Double Cardan CVDs, then tire clearance without jacking the body to the moon, I did trim the openings and front bumper for now that will help with body clearance, at least.

Here’s a few pics starting with before setting it aside out of frustration.





And a couple after dragging it out with bowed rear body posts




Plus an under the shell pic


Then the mod for more droop on the right rear since things get tight in that spot.


Here’s the double cardan CVDs I put in to combat it spitting out the dogbones.



Also decided to clean up the wiring for now too, may have to rework things a bit if I swap out to a decent motor in the future, what ever that might be.



Routed the battery lead to avoid dragging it on the ground.


And no, the wires and/or plugs to not drag on the prop shaft either!



Here’s how I trimmed the bumper to clear the front tires at lock, though new posts should help there too.


Here’s how it looked after finishing today’s work on it.........while watching Wheeler Dealer.

[OSRC]

I like it! Those portals completely change the gearing, should make a nice difference!

[Kage]

I'm waiting patiently for the escort.

[BJoe]

Originally Posted by OSRC

I like it! Those portals completely change the gearing, should make a nice difference!

Thanks! I’m almost wondering if I could get away with the kit Torque Tuned motor or if I should look for a good brushed crawler or trail motor........though I’ve though one of the HH Revolver/SW4 combos would work well too.

Oh, I just tried to join TamiyaClub and saw you had a thread on there for your Optimus Prime Dynahead on there too!

[BJoe]

Originally Posted by Kage

I'm waiting patiently for the escort.

This seems to be a pretty good chassis, I do recommend Tamiya’s Double Cardan CVDs for it, they may not be cheap, but they do work good

[OSRC]

I post here and Tamyia club (when appropriate) - sadly these are the only 2 forums I go to anymore -all the others died off. Quite sad, I can't stand the FB groups - way too many jerks.

On my TL, I use a Tamiya Mini motor and a 3:1 reduction. It's just slightly longer than a 540 can and really brings down the gearing. I thought I might be stressing the motor, but it seems to do well as it's within it's RPM range. Great combo, I run these in my CC01's as well, and they barely get warm even over long trail runs. The motors are quite rare though, I managed to snag a few on Ebay - they come up, but not often.


On my old Konghead, I used the same reduction unit with a first gen Holmes outrunner. It worked quite well, though it had gobs of torque, it didn't have much wheelspeed.

The Dynahead is running a Holmes Crawlmaster 5 slot. One of the higher turns should do pretty good - they run at a bit lower RPM than a regular 3 slot, are super smooth and the torque curve works well with the gearing. Might be a good solution for your build. Can't go wrong for $20!

[BJoe]

Thanks again
Sounds like that Torque Master might be the winner then! May even try one for my Telluride trail truck too! After seeming your Dynahead, I kinda want to get one now too, in all seriousness.

[BJoe]

Was able to order the Monster Beetle TR direct from Tamiya USA for just under $180 (IL sales tax, free shipping!) Once it arrives, the kit bashing can begin

[BJoe]

Ok folks, the Monster Beetle TR and new M Chassis Bones are in and the kit bashing has begun!



To start, Input an oooollldd Integy 55t from the Wheely King that is getting one of the Holmes 45t motors I got earlier this week and tested it, did much better with the Integy 55t vs that Losi 55t I had in it.







Once I got off work I started digging in��

Assembly was pretty much straight forward and simple, I did reuse some of the wheel bearings I put in it 5 years ago






Did find some “Hidden Mickeys” in the gearboxes too��


Here’s how the Right Rear looked once installed with some butchery of the upright extension and adding a spacer between the wheel hub and locknut since the axles it a lot longer!







I then got the Right Front corner on, the wheels just barely clear the screw heads.



And finally, with the body on it for a comparison







Then finally, how it looked completed and with a little test driving around the living room!

[BJoe]

Ok, here’s a few pics showing the clearance it has now.














And finally, a pic with my Wheely King that is on the docket for a resurrection as well as was the donor for the Integy 55t and a recipient of one of the Holmes Hobbies 45t 550 motors that came in Tuesday.

[OSRC]

Looks great! Adds a lot of clearance and helps with the gear ratio too I'm sure.

[BJoe]

Originally Posted by OSRC

Looks great! Adds a lot of clearance and helps with the gear ratio too I'm sure.

Yup, still runs about walking speed with that 55t in it too!

Thanks, BTW!

[BJoe]

Ran into a small problem when I took a closer look today, the 1.55 wheels drag on then cases and top screws to the point the paint was getting scraped off while driving it once done.




Same thing up front





I tried both a set of HPI Vintage NASCAR wheels that I had put the trucks original tires on as well as an old set of Axial 8 hole beadlocks, turns out the HPI’s just clear and the the Axials do Not due to the design for the beadlock ring attachment on the back sides of the wheels.

[ URL=https://app.photobucket.com/u/bjoehandley/a/819a4f60-d36e-4e7b-a6c8-a84a8502a153/p/f43c7609-8fc8-4bc3-a99d-a25b90b5e25a][/URL]

here’s what the final clearance on the HPI wheels are like, they also narrow the track nicely too!



So..... as of right now, it has a slight.....”skipped leg day” look going until I can get new rolling stock.*



I wouldn’t mind keeping these wheels if I can get the tires off (any advise for how would be appreciated!) and get Proline’s 3.85” tall 1.9 BFG Crawler tires since I would have the tire to fender clearance for those now.

[BJoe]

I ordered one of the custom 1.9 wheels from Boom Racing to test fit on the truck, should hopefully see it in a couple weeks!

Here’s what I went with

[OSRC]

Those are some seriously nice wheels!

[BJoe]

I know, price is decent and I don’t need spend the extra money to get a pair to test out and see if they’ll even on my truck too!

[BJoe]

Ok, I finally for the Boom Racing wheel in and it clears these Tamiya portals nicely! There’s plenty of clearance with the wheel face flipped for maximum positive offset with the thinnest hex hub installed and it looks like the tires will stay within the trimmed stock flares too. I’ll get the other 3 wheels and a full set of tires on order soon as I can afford to (just got home a weeklong hospital stay and now will be on a picc line for another 5 weeks that my insurance has already refused to cover).

On to the pics, starting with the wheel!



Then how it fits the front,









And then on to the rear!

[MattTheGenus]

Looks great! I was debating doing this same project, very cool that it actually works.

[BJoe]

Originally Posted by MattTheGenus

Looks great! I was debating doing this same project, very cool that it actually works.

It looks like it should be great, just make sure you’re using 1.9’s that will clear the portals!

[txbart]

Maybe I missed it, but did you get the DCJs work with the portals?