Tamiya Bruiser Clone Build Part 3.

Tamiya Bruiser Clone Build Part 3.

12mm Hex hub conversion.

If you have not read Part 1, you can read it here.

and

Part 2 is here.

Hello again and thanks for joining me in Part 3.

 As I stated in Part 2, I am adding the modification parts in stages as the post would be too long and boring. 

As it happens, this modification is quite a detailed operation and takes a while to complete. 

The operation I am detailing today is the rear axle and front drive cups modification.  This mod allows me to fit 12 mm hex wheels to the truck, as the standard hubs have a limited choice of wheels sets available. Whereas, the 12 mm hex fittings have an almost unlimited choice. Also the wheels must be of the era      (circa 1985).

The Parts.

The parts come in a kit, supplied by RCBitz and retail for £42.49. and is called a Z-S0107. It is available here .Yes it's quite expensive, but so are most of the scaler parts on the market.

The kit was intended for use in an original Tamiya Bruiser or a RC4WD Z5. However, with a little fettling, they will fit. I will explain the modifications I need to make as I go.

Ok, lets get started.

After removing the rear axle from the truck,

it was time to remove the old hubs.

With the old hubs removed, it was time to open up the axle to reveal the differential and drive shafts.

With the differential and drive shafts exposed, I removed the longest shaft by slightly raising it up, then slide it out. If you are trying this remember the layout of parts, as they need to go back in the way they came out.

The picture above shows the HG-P407 drive shaft on the right with the flat profile and the kit drive shaft on the left. As you can see, I need to remove some material from the kit drive shaft to make it identical to the HG-P407 shaft. Notice the orientation of the hole corresponding to the flat profile, not that this matters, I just kept it as identical as I could.to the original part.

The above picture shows the kit drive shaft on the left with the offending material removed. For accuracy I used a vernier gauge to measure. I simply repeated this exercise for the left hand drive shaft.

With and the washers, spacers and bearings swapped onto the new and modified shafts, it was time to fasten up the rear differential, carefully.

With the diff fastened up, it was a simple operation to replace the original hub bearings, then an drive shaft pin and slide the adapter over the pin and bearing. There is also a tiny grub screw through the hex to secure it. The above picture show the modified rear differential, with the old drive shafts at the front.

After refitting the rear axle (see above), it was time to fit some wheels. However, I am waiting for the intended tires to be delivered (already have the new wheels), so the only set of wheels and tires I have are my Kyosho Optima spares, so.......

Yes, they do look silly but they are just temporary.

With the rear axle complete and the hardest parts of the modification done, it was time to convert the front differential.

As I said this is the easy part, as there is no need to remove the front differential. We are simply replacing the front outer drive cups.

Remove the nut, original hub and bearing.

Now remove the bolts, one on the top and one below.

Pull back the steering ball end to reveal the half shaft and bearing. Remove the original half shaft and bearing. Take the original bearing and place it on the new half shaft.

The picture above shows the new shaft fitted with the original bearing. The old shaft sits to the left. Take the half shaft and refit it into the steering ball and replace the upper and lower bolts.

With the steering joint fastened up and the bearing refitted, it was a simple job of fitting the pin and placing the 12 mm hex hub to the drive shaft. Then simply fit the grub screw to secure the new hub.

The above picture shows the position of the grub screw. This is true of all four adaptors. 

Now to fit more silly wheels.

With that modification installed, I am super happy. Cannot wait to get the new tires. 

The above and below pictures show the wheel design I have chosen, just waiting for tires.

The wheels are available here, however I found then on Ebay for £19.50, so a big saving to be had. These wheels are weighted to keep the wheels of the truck grounded. 

And that, is that mod done.  

There is still quite a bit of work to be done to this truck, so please join me in Part 4.

I hope you have found my words and pictures useful.

Thank you for reading my humble blog.

Take care and stay safe.

Catxls

29/7/2020