grungerockjeepe
02-26-2008, 05:01 AM
So you guys have seen those, right? Blazer and chevy stepside bodies mounted to a US-1 chassis with big tires. And they sell for boku bucks on EvilBay. Well Ive always been a 4x4 enthusiast, specifically a Jeep nut. So naturally when I got into slots, I started hunting the Jeeps and was never fully satisfied with anything that was released. The tires were too small in relation to the bodies; any jeeper worth his salt knows a jeep just doesnt look right unless it sits up on top of some fat tires. Slot Jeeps are no different so Ive tried doing big tire chassis since day one with mixed levels of success. So far, creating my own version of tycos stomper chassis using hopper/quad tires was my first workable jeep chassis, more recently Ive discovered how versatile Matchbox's slot chassis are. But a true working 4x4 chassis is something Ive always wanted to do, and then an idea hit me based on my homemade stomper so I started tearing down the clone I made a few years ago in order to bring you this one...
The heart of this beast is the tyco TCR armature that just barely has the right length to reach both axles. The worm gears were liberated from a couple of Ideal TCR jam cars. The motor can and magnets come from an Ideal TCR race car since the magnets are just about as strong as tyco 440 pieces, and the same motor is used in Ideal slotted race cars as well as the later model tyco HP-2s. The front part of the chassis was hogged out with my dremel to make room for the front spur gear, and the guide pin is a nail that was heavily dremeled to snap into the chassis, but fit the slot while extending far enough into the track since the bigger tires made the stock pin nowhere near adequate. The pickups were way off the track, so I had to straighten the little hook at the top of the front ones and re-bend them so that they drop down enough to reach the track. the goo up above the body mounts is just hot glue beaded on to grip the body, since it has to sit up higher to clear the tires.
The body is a tyco Jeep CJ with the top lopped off, the interior is from a matchbox diecast '98 Wrangler and the rollcage is from a Marchon Jeep CJ. The factory paint was stripped and then I repainted it in model masters guards red. Video game fans will notice a striking resemblance to Hammerhead from the Twisted Metal playstation game, and that was no accident at all.
This baby is still in the developmental stage of course. It drives and handles like you'd expect it to: its slow, the worm gears and vinyl treaded tires make an awful racket, the tail slides all over the place, and it needs a ton of grease and oil to keep the driveline from destroying itself but damn is it ever a blast! Im planning on doing away with the stock pickups and using a braided wire setup as well as relocating the guide pin. And Ive always got my eyes peeled for better tires. If only I knew where to find some NOS tires from tyco's stompers. Its just too bad they didnt sell more of those, and continue to develop them or parts would readily be available and I wouldnt have had to go and build my own--it was fun and satisfying, but Id love to have a whole fleet of these for all my tyco jeeps and I can think of at least a dozen other lwb tyco bodies that would look awesome mounted up to this.
The heart of this beast is the tyco TCR armature that just barely has the right length to reach both axles. The worm gears were liberated from a couple of Ideal TCR jam cars. The motor can and magnets come from an Ideal TCR race car since the magnets are just about as strong as tyco 440 pieces, and the same motor is used in Ideal slotted race cars as well as the later model tyco HP-2s. The front part of the chassis was hogged out with my dremel to make room for the front spur gear, and the guide pin is a nail that was heavily dremeled to snap into the chassis, but fit the slot while extending far enough into the track since the bigger tires made the stock pin nowhere near adequate. The pickups were way off the track, so I had to straighten the little hook at the top of the front ones and re-bend them so that they drop down enough to reach the track. the goo up above the body mounts is just hot glue beaded on to grip the body, since it has to sit up higher to clear the tires.
The body is a tyco Jeep CJ with the top lopped off, the interior is from a matchbox diecast '98 Wrangler and the rollcage is from a Marchon Jeep CJ. The factory paint was stripped and then I repainted it in model masters guards red. Video game fans will notice a striking resemblance to Hammerhead from the Twisted Metal playstation game, and that was no accident at all.
This baby is still in the developmental stage of course. It drives and handles like you'd expect it to: its slow, the worm gears and vinyl treaded tires make an awful racket, the tail slides all over the place, and it needs a ton of grease and oil to keep the driveline from destroying itself but damn is it ever a blast! Im planning on doing away with the stock pickups and using a braided wire setup as well as relocating the guide pin. And Ive always got my eyes peeled for better tires. If only I knew where to find some NOS tires from tyco's stompers. Its just too bad they didnt sell more of those, and continue to develop them or parts would readily be available and I wouldnt have had to go and build my own--it was fun and satisfying, but Id love to have a whole fleet of these for all my tyco jeeps and I can think of at least a dozen other lwb tyco bodies that would look awesome mounted up to this.