SYSTEM BLOODCLOD - Radio Controlled Monster Trucks (RCMTs)

The CRAZY world of TNT Electric Trucks
In the year 2002 a few of the truck enthusiasts started meeting at a local BMX track located in an area called "Tampines". It was just a fun-loving bunch of guys who met to bash trucks and trade insults. Pretty soon we informally called ourselves "TNT" which stood for "Tampines Nitro Trucks" primarily because that's what we were bashing then. The group has since evolved to running a bunch of different trucks and some of the projects are really interesting - some cool, some whacky... This section's here to showcase some of the custom project rides that show up in different forms - sometimes wierd, sometimes wonderful. lol!

Hope you enjoy these and perhaps they should give you some inspiration about the may possibilities available to you regardless of the complexity of tools you may or may not have... it all begins with a twisted mind. :)

Ken's Stampede (aka "rc1q2w3e4r")

Ken started out with a Traxxas Stampede and then got bitten by the project bug real bad. He showed up one week with this cool rig and surprised us all. It all starts with a wild idea (and of course a healthy dose of aluminum!)

In Ken's own words:

"The reason to built this 2 WD stampede originates from thebasic objectives of making it faster, a better jumper and able to pull wheelies on demand. The original stampede is short for most truck shells meant for MAXXs. The new fabricated chasis is a full 1.5 inches longer to provide a longer wheel base to fit MAXX shells better. Is it more stable on long high speed runs too.

To make it wheelie better, the battery slots have be designed to be as far back as possible, in a transverse orientation. Only the steering servo is mounted in front now. This truck will see a stage 2 built. Objectives? Lighten things up for more pickup and speed.

I'm currently running on Proline Masher 2k's over original rims. Full bearings including 850's for the wheel hubs."

And don't ask me about Ken's handle/nick... he's just wierd like that.

Stage II

In Ken's own words:

"The Stage 2 buildup for my Stampede. The objectives - Lower CG and intensive weight lightening.

After dismantling the car, the chasis went onto the target board of a machine gun range. It came out with tons of bullet holes! Basically, holes have been drilled wherever possible without the risk of weakening the structure in an attempt to reduce weight. The shocks have been adjusted to suit the new weight distribution. 25 wt oil in the front shocks with enlarged 2 holes pistons and 50 wt shock oil in the rears with 2 holes pistons and a pair of harder springs.

A new skid plate which doubles as a wheelie bar has been fabricated too to stop the truck from flipping over. It is now a blast to drive with a P2K2 motor in and a tiny 13 tooth pinion. It wheelies on demand!"

And as you can see, since Stage I, all our ribbing has led to Ken buying a much needed metal file. :)

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Ken's TTT
I told you Ken got bitten by the bug bad... just a week after the Stampede above showed up at the track he came up with this cute little contraption! Check out these pics of his truck he calles the "TTT"!

"TTT - stands for TT-Truck because it is a conversion from the TAMIYA TT-01.

The reason the TT-01 was selected as the customising platform is mainly due to it's popularity and affordability. It is relatively cheap and is going to replace the TL-01 for the Tamiya Series races. This translates to an abundanct of easily available cheap parts.

The original TT-01 was hacked up into pieces and after taking measurements of a drive shaft I found sitting in my parts bin, a customed chassis was designed and hacked.

I've made the chasis out of a 2mm Aluminium sheet. With this setup, to maintain the strength and rigidity, an upper deck was fashion to also house the battery.

TLT wheels were sought for this project and their diameter is just a touch too big for the final gear ratio of 8.53 in the TT-01. After running it, the motor feels hot to the touch and the motor is not reaching it's maximum RPM, so sourcing for smaller diameter wheels and tyres is in process.

Acceleration was snappy despite the slight overgearing. On the straights, it can be twitching due to its short wheel base. With a low stance, it will be my dedicated road racer. It does hug the ground pretty well due to its overall low CG.

Overall, a pretty good runner and a worthwhile project.

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Zonerx's Electric Mad Force

Not too many pics of this one yet but check out this conversion of the Kyosho Mad Force from nitro powered to electric. The dude just had to do it after seeing the cool Twin Force's running around. Since I put one together, we've seen a flurry of TFs showing up each week - they are great trucks!

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Night_Owl's Goof!

Looky what showed up this week! Many weeks ago my friend night_owl asked if he could take some measurements from Hoof for a custom project truck and here's the final result - aptly named "Goof!"

In night-owl's own words:

"Bought a used stock clod but I heard that stock chassis just wasn't up to spec so naturally I looked around for an aftermarket chassis. TTR and Gecko made some real nice ones but sadly, I couldn't afford those setups. So Bloodclod suggested that I hack one up for myself. I said "OK, but you have to let me copy HOOF". So GOOF is thus born.

GOOF is largely a knock-off of Bloodclod's HOOF. I used HOOF's chassis dimension as a template. Main chassis frame is fabricated using 2mm G10 fibreglass boards braced with 6mm aluminum cross members. The radio tray is made out of 1mm thick aluminum plate while the battery tray is 2mm thick.

Front and rear upper link mounts are made out of 10mm diameter aluminum rod. The rear upper link mount also incorporates the rear lock-out mechanism. These are a real pain to make as I don't have the proper tools to make them and needs extensive hand fitting.

Shocks are 4" Kyosho option house shocks mounted on custom shock mounts machined by Bloodclod.

GOOF is powered by 7 cells and twin silver can 540 (wired in paralle) at the moment. I might swap them for some 550s later though. For speed control, I am using a LRP F1 pro reverse.

So, I made my first MT. Thanks to Bloodclod for letting me copy HOOF and also for helping me machine those very nice shock mounts. Also thanks to my friend Don for helping me drill the perfect holes in the links.

Now, I only hope that GOOF don't fall apart on the first run!!!"

For the record, it didn't fall apart but handled spectacularly! Nice work dude!

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