Just ordered my Bruiser!!!
 

I'm so excited. I've waited 32 years to own one of these. I'm 39 now if that says anything. Anyway, I didn't realize that Tamiya had re-released the Bruiser back in 2012 until yesterday. I was perusing Tamiya's website for some nostalgic reason (had a Blackfoot, Hotshot, and Grasshoper back in the day) when I saw the Bruiser. :shock:

Then and there, I knew I had to have it. So... did a bit of reading and whipped out the credit card 30 minutes ago. Now just waiting for Tower Hobbies to ship.

Apart from the Bruiser kit, I ordered the RC4WD beadlock wheels and the Tamiya slipper gearset for the transmission.

Right now I only have a 3 channel Spektrum that I use for Losi 5ive-T and my Redcat XB. Can I use the 2 position 3rd channel for the transmission and set it to only shift from 1st to 2nd? I will eventually get another multi-channel radio down the road but was wondering if I can use 3 channels for now?

Re: Just ordered my Bruiser!!!
 

Congrats (felt the same way when I got mine) and yes a 2 position switch means only using 2 gears.

Re: Just ordered my Bruiser!!!
 

Great. I will go that route until I get another radio that has 4 or more channels. I do have an Aurora 9 for my helicopters, but don't want to mess with the left gimbal's spring tension adjustments.

Also, it's been so long since I've painted a hard shelled body like what the Bruiser has. Are all of you guys/gals using air brush guns or can i get away with some high quality Tamiya spray paint?

Re: Just ordered my Bruiser!!!
 

Just out of curiosity, but what's the difference between the Mountain Rider and the Bruiser to justify the Bruiser's higher price tag?

Re: Just ordered my Bruiser!!!
 

Last question for the night... manual says not to use anything except the included Mabuchi can. If I recall, that's a 27T motor, so basically a good compromise between speed and torque. I do have a Novak Rooster Crawler and Novak 55T brushed motor sitting in one of my parts boxes. Anyone run a 55T in their Bruiser, and if so, was it too slow even in the higher gears? I'm thinking that since the Bruiser is quite heavy for 1/10 model, the 55T motor should be OK to use. I'm not planning on speeding with the truck anyway. Thoughts?

Re: Just ordered my Bruiser!!!
 

Bruiser is Blue with rear cab
Mountaineer is red with rear roll bar
same everything else
do the servo relocation mod and it will be sweet

Re: Just ordered my Bruiser!!!
 

I paint my shells with Krylon Fusion paint for durability and cost. Tamiya paints are probably a little better finish-wise since they are made for models.

A 55t would be fine. Tamiya recommends a 27t as the max motor for the transmission, though I suspect it can take more power. Any turns higher then 27 would be fine though. A 55T would give much more scale speeds - might be a little too slow. All depends on how you want to drive it.

Re: Just ordered my Bruiser!!!
 

Congrats on the Bruiser! I'm jealous. I've always wanted one.

Re: Just ordered my Bruiser!!!
 

Thanks for the info. I was worried that perhaps the 55t would be too torquey for the plastic transmission gears, but since I've ordered a slipper clutch, it's probably a moot point.

Now if I can only find a set of Nick Rummy modded axles for 1.9 wheels, I'll be set. There's no way I'm going to hack up my new axles... for now at least.

It's too bad RC4WD doesn't make 1.9 scale Bruiser wheels with the correct offset.

Re: Just ordered my Bruiser!!!
 

Thanks, that's what I thought. I did a comparison between the Bruiser and Mountaineer on Tamiya's website, and it said the Mountaineer didn't come with bearings, just bushings. That's why I thought the Bruiser had a justifiably higher price.

I ordered my Bruiser through Tower yesterday and used a $75 dollar coupon which brought the kit price down to $704.99. The Mountaineer on the other hand was $699.00 without the coupon. Could've saved more money and just bought the half cab down the road. Oh well.

Re: Just ordered my Bruiser!!!
 

Thanks! I'm looking forward to the build.

BTW, what part of PA are you in? I've got a house up in NEPA with several acres, but spend most of my time in NYC because of work. Suffice it to say, I do most of my RC stuff at the house.

Re: Just ordered my Bruiser!!!
 

I'm in SEPA. About an hour northwest of Philly.

Re: Just ordered my Bruiser!!!
 

I didnt want to hack up my axles either so I used gearhead beadlocks. They are adjustable offset and I got the tires to ne up perfectly on the stock axles.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...b1ee644994.jpg

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Re: Just ordered my Bruiser!!!
 

Here is another viewhttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...88f6e0effe.jpg

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Re: Just ordered my Bruiser!!!
 

Those wheels look great! I didn't know wheels with adjustable offset was available for these trucks. Those are still 2.2 sized right? Can you provide me with a link to them? I'm looking at Gear Head's website and can't find the ones with adjustable offset to fit the Bruiser.

Are you using the stock Bruiser hubs or did you convert to 12mm hex?

Re: Just ordered my Bruiser!!!
 

Oh sorry I converting to 12mm with the kit from rc4wd. The beadlocks have several adjustments internally and with different hub sizes you can match the front and rear perfectly. The wheels are 2.2 CAC EZ-loc delrin.

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Re: Just ordered my Bruiser!!!
 

Here are a few pics of the wheel, hubs and the lineup. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...f42278cad9.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...e53c901f20.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...a128edad36.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...4cee1e4140.jpg

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Re: Just ordered my Bruiser!!!
 

I have a running video on youtube. Check out "old west bruiser." https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...d0070d05cd.jpg

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Re: Just ordered my Bruiser!!!
 

My Bruiser kit was delivered today along with some Proline Flatirons and a set of RC4WD Truescale beadlocks for the Bruiser. Question is - how do the RC4WD Bruiser wheels attach to the stock hubs? The original wheels are secured by 3 screws. I don't see how that would work with the RC4WD wheels???

These are the wheels in question: Truescale Series Bruiser Beadlock Wheels

BTW, my kit came with the bonus Tamiya blue/red brush. I thought those were only packed in the first year re-release boxes?

Re: Just ordered my Bruiser!!!
 

It's been a few weeks since I ordered my Bruiser, and between kids and work haven't had much time to assemble the kit except for a few hours here and there at night. Well, I finally finished the mechanical portion and am now waiting for the weekend to tackle the body.

I was intending to use my Rooster Crawler ESC and Novak 55t motor but didn't have enough 14awg wire for an extension. So in the meantime, I used an old Axial ESC and the stock motor with supplied extension leads.

As for the battery switch, none of the two ESCs had a Tamiya style switch that would screw into the electronics box top. So, I ended up stuffing a 5 cell receiver battery pack into the box and used a spare RC switch I had laying around.

Btw, is it just me or did the instructions for the slipper clutch seem confusing? It took me an hour to figure out how that thing went into the gearbox.

Some pics:
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...2f289bb9c6.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...e9482ffa3c.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...95a81ad9a0.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...22846db440.jpg

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