Late to the party. New Twin Hammers owner.

[Sydwaiz]

Been on a bit of a hiatus for a few years. Amassed a few kits that are still in boxes but just bought a new RTR Twin Hammers since Horizon is selling them for $250 right now. Mainly got it to muck around in the back yard and terrorize my dog!

What are some must have upgrades for this thing? I plan on getting the GCM upright shock mounts while it's still in stock. I just like the way it looks. Is the bell crank conversion from Scorched necessary? Like I said it's mainly a backyard toy. Thanks!

[xv-townboy]

The scorched bellcrank is a must have on the TWH IMO!..

[jgrim]

You will find that the Twin Hammers is pretty durable right out of the box. The Scorched Parts bellcrank conversion that xv-townboy recommended is a very good upgrade. I also found the steering links to be a little wimpy, so I replaced them with stronger Traxxas links. I don't recall for sure, but I think that the RTR came with plastic 12mm wheel hexes. I replaced them with aluminum clamping Hexes (LOSA3186). The RTR comes with an open front diff. To improve climbing, I packed the front diff with Mack's Pillow Soft Silicone Putty Earplugs (available at most drug stores). This provides a near-locked front diff, while allowing some slippage, which prevents axle shaft breakage common with a fully locked front diff.

[smog]

From a performance standpoint, I would put the bellcrank steering as a higher priority than the upright shock mod.

If you want weight up front for crawling, the GCM front shock tower plate is golden. Especially if you do what jgrim suggested and thicken your front diff lube as well. If what you are after from your TH is speed and rig balance for being airborne you might look at the Scorched parts front Shock mount system. It is also a really well thought out and designed piece you can couple with their bell crank.

The TH is an awesome, under appreciated rig.

[Sydwaiz]

Thanks! I ordered the GCM tower last night and just ordered the Scorched bell crank and rear truss from Shapeways. My rig will definitely be on the slower/crawler side but with the occasional burst of speed.
Now to think about power option for when I tire of the stock set up.

[M1tch]

The Scorched parts are great quality. I have the shock mount set up and it works good and uses the same system for steering as the bell cranks set up.

[Sydwaiz]

I think I got a lemon. Okay, maybe not that bad but whoever assembled this thing wasn't paying attention. As soon as I opened the box, a little metal pin fell out of the box and onto my table. Come to find out after the first run and trying to figure out why the front wheel was so loose, that it was one of the king pins through the knuckle. ALL of them were loose and about to fall out! Good thing I didn't throw it out. The battery strap was ran through the tray front to back instead of through the slots on the side of the tray (NBD). And my transmission won't shift one way. I'll figure the trans out when I tear it down to install all the parts I bought.
Here's the list of what I have so far:

GCM shock towers
Gmade diaphragm shocks
Scorched bell crank for GCM
Scorched 4 link bracket
Vanquish rear upper links
Vanquish trailing arms
Vanquish caster blocks
Vanquish steering knuckles

Going to be ordering up some aluminum body panels soon.
What else should I be upgrading before vendors start discontinuing parts for this thing? It seems some already have.

[Skybluefrog]

I'm late as well...I haven't heard anything about Irie Products on this thread. Is he out of the Twin Hammers game? I can't get a PM to go through.

[Toyotarc]

Originally Posted by Skybluefrog

I'm late as well...I haven't heard anything about Irie Products on this thread. Is he out of the Twin Hammers game? I can't get a PM to go through.

He looks to be long gone now... last activity was 05-18-2017

GCM Racing still offers parts for the twin hammers and so does scorched parts on shapeways. RPP hobby has some leftover parts too.

[Kemora]

I’m even later. Lol. Bought a kit 5-6 years ago. Been building it finally. Why so many small screws?

[meatmonkey]

You gotta think about it from a racecar perspective. Smaller scres=less weight.

I made sure to use a cap head bolt for the initial tapping of all plastic parts. It's easy to strip some of the longer buttonheads when trying to cut threads with them. The vaterra plastic is rugged and does a good job retaining threads, the downside is the difficulty cutting the threads.

[Kemora]

Originally Posted by meatmonkey

You gotta think about it from a racecar perspective. Smaller scres=less weight.

I made sure to use a cap head bolt for the initial tapping of all plastic parts. It's easy to strip some of the longer buttonheads when trying to cut threads with them. The vaterra plastic is rugged and does a good job retaining threads, the downside is the difficulty cutting the threads.

I know it's a little small for 1/10, but it would better to have been all M3 and some M2. There's some tiny fasteners in this thing. What seems to be really adding to the weight though is that 2 speed transmission. I've locked mine in low. Eventually I might try to put an Axial SCX10 in there.

[meatmonkey]

I will agree that the 2 speed is a bit hefty, especially with the kit metal gears. At least its sitting as low in the chassis as possible. That's the price you pay for having a crawl gear and a haul gear. I personally like the gearing options, allowing me to creep across rocks, then blast up hill climbs and do some jumping.

If your just crawling, then the 2speed isnt really needed. I've seen a couple people make adapter plates to fit the Axial 3 gear trans.

[kodakjack]

I'm new here and I just got a Twin Hammers from a pawn shop in Texas. I'm not sure exactly what it is as compared to the kit you build. It has a blue one-piece body. There is a spot to mount a transmission servo, but no servo or links. It has a Spektrum 3 channel receiver, but only a 2 channel transmitter. It appears to be totally stock, but don't know if it a less costly version or what it is.
I didn't want to put up with the zillion screws holding the cage/ body on, so, I took out what I needed to remove it completely. Then, I hinged it on the front most 2 screws. For now, I have the back secured with the 2 screws that go through the roof and into the top of the rear shock towers. I'd like to do that with magnets soon.
I'd like to have better steering, but most bell crank steering mod parts have dried up, except for what I see on Shapeways. The parts seem a little pricey for what they are and then you have to add S&H from England. All of the stuff that used to be available from GCM are gone. They advise they don't do any Twin Hammers anymore.
If I want to get the transmission shifting, I think I need the Shift linkage set (VTR232007). The typical servo has a 25 spline output shaft. Getting a servo with 25 splines is not a problem. If it is a different spline, that's different. What do those parts need for the spline?
I like the body the truck came with. One problem I see with some steering mods is that the vertical shocks and whatever they mount to will stick up out of the hood. The hood bracing would also need to be modified/ cut up. I'd prefer not to cut the body up too much if I don't have to.

Thanks.

[kodakjack]

[IMG][/IMG]Let's try some pics.


[img]https://i.postimg.cc/8ffcq3Sc/Twin-Hammers-4.jpg[img]