JHTreyIII's Bruiser Build
 

I got a new toy in the mail today! Pretty excited! There aren't too many Bruiser builds here on RCC so I figured I'd do one. I probably won't deviate too much from stock for now but hey that's okay! This is my first Tamiya kit ever. She's not going to be a shelf queen either!

Just arrived:
http://i1153.photobucket.com/albums/...3ECA574480.jpg

Re: JHTreyIII's Bruiser Build
 

Hell Yeah! "thumbsup"

JHTreyIII's Bruiser Build
 

Well I should have taken a photo of the box before I pulled it apart, but I just couldn't resist diving in! I'm used to axial kits where it's a pile of plastic parts trees. There are like 5 plastic pieces in this entire box if you don't count the body! Somewhat exaggerated of course. Everything in here is metal! How cool.

http://i1153.photobucket.com/albums/...6C9736EFAE.jpg

Re: JHTreyIII's Bruiser Build
 

So I got a little bit done last night. I'm trying to take my time a little on this build because I don't want it to be done in a day or two. I put together the differentials, those little guys are smaller than an axial locker and have EIGHT gears inside them! I've never seen a locker like that. There is a lot of stuff going on inside that tiny guy! I was going to take a picture but you couldn't really see much with all the grease on them.

What do you guys think about locking them? Should I leave them open or should I lock them up? I don't expect this guy to do any serious crawling. I have other rigs for that. But I'm not just going to be cruising around in the back yard either. I'm leaning toward locking them. I don't see any real benefit to leaving them unlocked. I can always change it later if need be.

Re: JHTreyIII's Bruiser Build
 

lock the rear and leave the front open. "thumbsup"

Re: JHTreyIII's Bruiser Build
 

Really? Why do you say that?

Re: JHTreyIII's Bruiser Build
 

Then you get some of the benefits of a locked diff set up but can still turn and handle 3rd gear speed without rolling over.

Re: JHTreyIII's Bruiser Build
 

LOL. I have read that the locker in the rear is the more important of the two because it will have the most weight on it in an incline and that's when the locker is important. You might just be onto something there! Of course I'm reading this from referrences to 1:1's. I think I'll try that!

Re: JHTreyIII's Bruiser Build
 

Lookin good.
There better be a lot of metal in that box for the money it costs

You gonna stay with the Toyota body or get creative?

Re: JHTreyIII's Bruiser Build
 

so... fun to put together so far? "thumbsup"

i would just lock them both... the second you want to try to drive over a broom handle and the front diff unloads you will wish you had.

Re: JHTreyIII's Bruiser Build
 

Yeah I'm going to stick with the stock body. I've got other rigs to get creative with. For now at least, I want this one to be a real Bruiser.

Yeah it's fun! I haven't gotten very far, maybe page 3 in the manual. Pretty much just the front and rear leaf shackles and then started the diffs. You were right about it being a slower, more complicated build than an Axial.

Re: JHTreyIII's Bruiser Build
 

Okay so interesting fact here. I was reading through the Bruiser 101 section again and I got to the part about the differentials. It would appear that this is one of the features that was changed from the original Bruiser. The original didn't have differentials, it had a ring and pinion and then one way bearings which also caused the four wheel drive to only work while moving forward. I'm glad they worked that out!

Re: JHTreyIII's Bruiser Build
 

Cool.. I vote lock them both as well. One day, you'll wish you had. For as much hard use it'll see, locked is the way I'd go. You'll never say "man, I'm glad I have open diffs!"
Might as well make it as capable as it can be within its own limits.

You dont want somebody else coming along with a box stock bruiser that is more capable than yours!

Oh.. And more pics! I wanna see what up with this thing. Encourage others to buy this! Haha

Yeah I think you guys are right. Locked it is. The nice thing is that it's just a screw in pin that I can remove if I want to. There's also a removable access screw so I can lock and unlock them without pulling the housing apart! Pretty slick.

http://i1153.photobucket.com/albums/...7E6DE8B63C.jpg

http://i1153.photobucket.com/albums/...7E7452F3ED.jpg

So just to point this out for anyone else with an older Bruiser, it looks like they upgraded the known problem at the knuckle connection.

http://i1153.photobucket.com/albums/...8153526E33.jpg

JHTreyIII's Bruiser Build
 

Well made a little progress tonight...

Here's the inside of the rear axle.

http://i1153.photobucket.com/albums/...7E71B29DB6.jpg

And here's where I am now. Because I know you're all wondering!

http://i1153.photobucket.com/albums/...89DAB9FE27.jpg

http://i1153.photobucket.com/albums/...89DDD5B236.jpg

Diggin' the track bars!

http://i1153.photobucket.com/albums/...89E06C0A0C.jpg

I'll probably chino the springs eventually but because they've got bushings inside the eyelets I decided to leave them alone for now and see how it does. I'm not sure how important extreme articulation is on this rig right now.

Re: JHTreyIII's Bruiser Build
 

I love how much like areal truck it is

Only tiny

Re: JHTreyIII's Bruiser Build
 

LOL, yeah it's pretty cool!

Well got the front axle mounted up this evening! Also got the shocks done. I really like the upper shock mounts, they're super scale!

http://i1153.photobucket.com/albums/...B3C7239C16.jpg

Nice solid skid plate. More for looks than anything...there are a few too many screws and nuts down there for it to function well. I see why people do the u-bolt flip.

http://i1153.photobucket.com/albums/...B3CA2B5A8A.jpg

It's coming along! Time to stop for the night, I need to slow down here! The uber complicated transmission is next.

http://i1153.photobucket.com/albums/...B3C3ABE8E8.jpg

Re: JHTreyIII's Bruiser Build
 

I like that thing!