Tamiya Hilux Pickup Build

[morrisey0]

Going to throw together a little build thread for my Hilux. I went looking through my emails, and I purchased this rig around July 2006. I ended up buying two Hiluxes, and putting the better parts into one build, and selling it off for close to what I had in the pair. From that point on, the rig (in a couple of parts), has just sat around for 17 years. So, it called to me a couple of months ago and it was time to build this thing.

Thought that in that time period, they had rere'd the Bruiser so parts must be out there, and since then I have learned that the Hilux and Bruiser have about 3-5% of parts in common, so wrong here. I also figured that I had 80-90% of the vehicle, and it should be easy and cheap to finish it up, and I was wrong about that also.

This is what I started with.

This is the mechanicals broken down. Ignore the Bruiser axle and bagged parts. This is when it kinda hit me that not only is what I got not near a complete vehicle, what I have is not all that great. This was going to be a bigger challenge than I thought.

Decided to tackle the "3 speed" transmission first. If you are unfamiliar, it really isn't a 3 speed, it is selectable H and L 2wd, and L 4wd. This is how it started. It is the one on the left; right is Bruiser. For reference, I believe the two center sections of the casings (which are factory sealed together), are the same on both transmissions. I think those are the only interchangeable parts on these units, but I am no expert of course.

Breakdown and clean up:

Reassembly. I did have to print what I would call the spur gear. Mine was stripped and individual trans parts are very hard to find. I also didn't have the 10t press-on pinion gear that is required, as there is no room for a set screw. I ended up soldering a deep 11t I had sitting around on there, so I reduced the number of spur cogs by a few. It works well enough. I did install bearings throughout most of it. I didn't slather silicone all over it, like a six year old, like everyone seemed to do back in the day. This thing isn't going to see water while I own it, so no need to be watertight. If you are unfamiliar, these transmissions came complete in the box, and you just added the sealant. The speed controller box was the same way.

[morrisey0]

Got into the chassis and axles next. Most of the chassis parts were fine and just needed cleaning. The leaf packs on my truck had been cut, to basically removed two of the three leaves. This would be because the packs are incredibly stiff, so people would modify them. I had Bruiser packs sitting around I thought I would use, but they used four leaves, so tracked down some original Hilux packs. Got into the axles, and found the ring gear in the rear toast, and the axle shaft bent. This is also not surprising as these don't use differentials, so yea, that ring gear is going to see abuse. Had to track down another axle. Then both were built with bearings, and the outer hubs the same way. Although the rear hubs look like they have the same locking mech as the fronts, they don't actually lock and unlock like the fronts. Another printed part alert! I did not have a nice full set of hub outer covers (they kinda get hit a lot since they stick out), so I made some. Prettied up the wheels a little bit also. I do believe the cross members shown in these pics are the same as the Bruiser, but literally nothing else is.

My truck did not have shocks on it, as these were actually optional back in the day. They had pretty unique shocks with brass ends on them, and I couldn't find any for a Hilux. But I did find some repops for a Sand Scorcher, and their lengths ended up just about dead on. I also found repop tires, which are nicely done also.

Finishing up the front of chassis. More printing unfortunately. The old rubber motor covers / protectors that came on these just kinda fall apart over the years, so made up a new one of those. The front body mount bracket also didn't exist, so made up one of those. That would have been zinc steel originally.

Next moved on to the speed controller. I didn't have one of these at all originally, but ended up finding a couple on FBMP from a seller. This deal got bigger and bigger as the seller found more stuff, so many things like the needed axle and leaf springs came out of the same deal. I was lucky to find these, as they are specific to this one vehicle (the Blazer and Bruiser did not use it). I cleaned up the SC and rewired it. It does vary motor speed, but I have no idea if the "transistorized" PCB portion of it works or not. And although I had a SC, and did not have a SC mount. I originally made a nice one out of aluminum tubing, but it was too big when it got time to put the cab on, so yep, one was printed.

[morrisey0]

Next would be the electronics box. This would be crucial as once covered, it covers half of the upper chassis. Problem was, mine was in junk shape. The "transparent" plastic is/was a lot like old record player covers, it is clear, but darkened. Well, mine had multiple spider cracks coming from 3 of 4 body mount holes, a front tab missing to align the cab, and a melted spot where something went wrong at some point in time. I don't have any close up pics of the damage, but you can kinda see it in the original pic of the rig. The melted spot is just behind the left front body mount. So, I could find a better one, which the last one I saw on ebay was $300, or I could print one (which the file is readily available), or I could try to save what I had. I went with the latter, and opened and filled as many cracks as I could with CA, filled in the melted spot (plus other f-ups) with plastic filler, and printed and CA'd a new cab tab to the front. And then when done, just painted the thing flat black. It is not original, but it came out great, especially for the cost. The two halves of the electronics box are clamped together by steel clamps, so I left those portions unpainted, because well, the clamps would just screw up the paint.

Then to fill in the electronics box. First was the servo savers. My truck came with mostly broken servo savers, which on this rig are three-piece plastic, spring loaded units, that transfer the action from inside the box to under the box through tubes in the box. I designed and printed perfectly good units, but happy to say that as of just today, I have NIP savers on their way, so the printed units will be replaced. So, this is the current set up, but will be updated. The Rx is just sitting there and the battery not mounted below. For the battery, there were 2-3 different options back in the day. I ended up finding a decent deal on a 7.2v "hump back" pack, so picked it up. I ended up rebuilding it with 3000mah NiMH cells to replace the shorted 1200mah NICD cells.

Then the part I was (am?) dreading the most, and that is the body. The old body was missing clips, scratched all over the place, and just looked like garbage. But, with Easy Off, brake fluid, printed and glued clips, filler, primer, and lots of sanding, it is getting close at this point. And of course, printed parts!!! I did not have a rear light bar for this rig at all, and it was hard to determine real scale and measurements with nothing to start with. I ended up finding simensays on Shapeways (who I randomly conversed with previously on TC), who had a design out there, but it was not available at the time. I made contact with him through TC, and he unlocked the design long enough for me to make an order, and that was now on the way. I also did not have side rails for the bed (why would anyone remove these????), and it wasn't until later that I realized simensays had these also on shapeways, but it was easier to just design and print myself. So that is where it stands today, still priming and filling and priming and filling and priming and filling. I am hoping to start actually laying some base coats in the next week or so.

[Dadio]

Good save with the radio box , it's coming up really nice , good luck with the paint .

[XLR8]

What a fascinating build, thank you so much for taking time to document it here.
I really appreciate how you've found work-arounds and innovative solutions for broken, missing or damaged parts.
Of course, your time and effort will not go unrewarded. This model brings crazy money these days. There's a NIB on ebay at the moment that I'm watching.

Thanks again for posting your project here. You do quality work so I know the finished truck will be phenomenal.

[morrisey0]

What a fascinating build, thank you so much for taking time to document it here.
I really appreciate how you've found work-arounds and innovative solutions for broken, missing or damaged parts.
Of course, your time and effort will not go unrewarded. This model brings crazy money these days. There's a NIB on ebay at the moment that I'm watching.

Thanks again for posting your project here. You do quality work so I know the finished truck will be phenomenal.

Doug, I thank you so much for your kind words!!! I am doing what I can with parts that are too hard to find, or more money than I feel like paying, just to be able to complete the rig. I will hopefully keep my eye out for the original stuff (the servo savers for example) and replace with original when I can. But at least with the printed stuff, the rig can get to a completed point, even if that isn't all original. I am all about "the next guy" making it 100% pure if they want. I just want a rig on the shelf that makes me smile.

Yea, valuing one of these seems to be all over the place these days. I see what I think are great original rigs for $800, and then mediocre rigs for $2000+. Then there are the Blazers, which are outrageous, whatever their condition. I really like the Blazers, but not so much that I would pay the premium for one over the Hilux.

Of course, I really wish Tamiya put a straight bed on the Hilux back in the day, but for some unknown reason, a step side came to be. It has taken A LOT for me not to straight bed this thing; A LOT!! Like I REALLY REALLY want to straight bed it ............. but that one bit of pureness is winning .............. so far.

[XLR8]

You are most welcome. You are conserving a little piece of RC history and I think that is super cool!

It seems like everyone from RC4WD to Thunder Tiger is making an early Hilux straight bed these days - they are everywhere. The stepside bed is part of what makes your truck special. However, since the bed is a separate part and relatively easy to swap, why not do both? You could display the truck with either bed depending on your mood on that day. -- like having two trucks in one.

As for the Blazing Blazer, I've often thought, with a little creativity, one could modify RC4WD's Blazer body to create a nice replica/tribute truck. I still have one remaining HG-P407 NIB and I might actually try that one day. Sure, it wouldn't be a genuine Tamiya BB, but I think it might be a fun project anyway.

[morrisey0]

So of course the Pickup has just been sitting around not getting finished. Typical me. I got into starting paint, and didn't like this color, and didn't like that color, so just put it on pause. I did end up finding a parts tree with the servo savers, so I can swap out the printed ones at this point.

But last week I noticed a Bruiser on the FBMP for what I thought was a great price, but me also being me, offered him less, and he accepted it! Then, while talking back and forth, he mentions he has an older Bruiser also. So, he sends a pic and I instantly think Pickup, and he throws a stupid stupid low price on it, and even less if I combo the two. So, I make a short road trip, and and end up with a roller, a slider, and bunches of parts for way less than value. The best part of this deal so far is the electronics box on the aluminum chassis is in decent condition, and may be able to be nicely restored. I kept the Bruiser out so I could evaluate what it needed, and just put the slider in storage. Then it clicked this morning, that I don't really know if that is a Pickup or a Blazer, so went and dug it out. Can't tell by the tires obviously, the ESC box is missing so could be either, but when I opened the electronics box, the third servo saver is missing (and just plugged on the bottom), and there is a MSC mount! It's a Blazer! This is all great and all, but if I ever found a body, it would probably cost more than I have in all three of these rigs together! But it is nice to have three out of the four chassis.

[morrisey0]

So, this little gem showed up today. Seems like just a little piece of bent zinc steel, but hard to come by, and super weird to find on its own. This is the rear hold down bracket for the "transistorized" ESC box. The boxes are few and far between, but for some reason, never have the mounts ......... or you only find the mounts attached to the overly expensive ESC. So, to find a mount by itself, at a logical price, was unexpected. This removes one printed part from the rig.

With the ESC mount addition, I decided to salvage whatever I could from the Blitzer chassis to help the Pickup. This should remove the printed front body mount bracket. I am also going to borrow the electronics box, and try to renew it just as I do with white nylon. I have read articles of this working, but I really don't know. Just going to hope for the best.

[Dadio]

So, this little gem showed up today. Seems like just a little piece of bent zinc steel, but hard to come by, and super weird to find on its own. This is the rear hold down bracket for the "transistorized" ESC box. The boxes are few and far between, but for some reason, never have the mounts ......... or you only find the mounts attached to the overly expensive ESC. So, to find a mount by itself, at a logical price, was unexpected. This removes one printed part from the rig.

NEW ESC HOLD DOWN 1.jpg


With the ESC mount addition, I decided to salvage whatever I could from the Blitzer chassis to help the Pickup. This should remove the printed front body mount bracket. I am also going to borrow the electronics box, and try to renew it just as I do with white nylon. I have read articles of this working, but I really don't know. Just going to hope for the best.

Its amazing the joy a small piece of bent steel can bring .