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After 25 years, my bruiser is getting rebuilt.

my94lightning

Newbie
Joined
Nov 19, 2011
Messages
3
Location
Federal Way
The story,
My Dad got me into RC very early on,(age 5? @ 1979) seems he would get a new kit to build, and I would inherit or earn his old car to carefully use.
If you don't think it was long ago, how many of you have ever heard of the Tamiya Cheetah. His/our first car, featuring 4 torsion bar suspension and a Heath-kit single joystick transmitter that he built. LOL.

Next up came the sand scorcher (new at the time), rough rider, Subaru brat, wild-willys, kyosho front end loader (truly bad azz). Somewhere early on he got a bruiser, it was just awesome, of course he kept ownership of that one:roll:, I worked a paper route and saved and got to buy a used bruiser at a rc swap meet years later, was fun, but sadly my bruiser let me down after only a year or two. it started having popping noises in third, then also second, then first till it would barely move. :cry:
trans was completely shot, (so I thought).
We had other cars to run so not the end of the world, couldn't afford the high dollar new trans replacement ( when they were available on my paper money.):cry: so it sat on the shelf.

A year later I actually kid rigged the sand scorcher's gearbox into it for a month just to drive it again, obviously that didn't work well, and think it was 2wd only.
so back on the shelf it went.:cry:
Dad's bruiser suffered the same trans failure a year after mine died, so we had 2 dead bruisers with shot transmissions.

I tried to take my trans apart a time or two when I was young, and really never could figure out how, and gave up. I allway's assumed from the noises that the brass gears were ground up.
I never knew about the slipper mechanism and didn't "see" it when I had partially taken it apart, none of the cars we owned had slipper clutch set ups till many years later,

I have had a kit honcho last 2 years, the kid has the RTR version, with all the stuff made now, I decided to retrofit the bruiser and get it running again, after reading stuff here, and the trans info links, I ran upstairs grabbed the trans and said, I cant believe that could be all that is broken.
took the motor out, saw the snap ring, and said, you lil bastard,
if only I had caught that 20 years ago.

It was only the "slipper mechanism that striped out"

So now I will be using the trans again, as far as I can tell so far.
Dad, also finally gave me his old bruiser 10 years ago when he moved.
it needs a front axle housing, (got dropped from a high shelf) and will get it running next.

I am so dam excited, to get it up again, out of the 30+ RC boats, heli's ,cars etc. The bruiser(s) was allways my childhood favorite.
 
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Can't wait to see pics!! That is a great story!! :)

I have a 2012 Bruiser and am trying to get upgrade parts before I build it. :) I have had the kit for over a year now and not opened any parts bags yet.
 
Awesome story. I remember the Tamiya Cheeta and my first radio was a heathkit. The days of charge for an hour and drive for 6 minutes lol. Thanks for sharing
 
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