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Clodzilla IV

Clodzilla IV Electric RC Truck

This is Amy's electric RC truck. It started life as a Tamiya Clodbuster, coupled with an ESP Clodzilla IV kit.

History:

A number of years ago we decided to fire up my Tamiya Grasshopper found in a box from my childhood. We had a lot of fun with it, but assumed that 20 years of technology probably had led to a more interesting RC experience. Of course we immediately headed for the pinnacle with a 1/8 Nitro 4wd buggy. This was a blast, when we could get it to run, but the noise and the extreme speed led to a need for space and many spare parts.

We then noticed a Clodzilla IV in a listing on eBay while perusing for parts to repair our nitro buggy, and fell in love. 4wd, 4ws, moderately big, and pretty. Unfortunately someone bought it by the time we decided to get it. The cost of a new kit (Clodbuster, Clodzilla IV kit, ESC, etc) was a bit much, but then a few months later the same truck showed up on eBay again without any further wear, and at a much lower price.

It had clearly just been a show-truck, as there were no scratches or dirt on it, and all the components were top-of-the-line. Unfortunately there were a few flaws in the ESP Clodzilla kit that led me to purchase a milling machine and get to making our own parts. The shock linkage triangles were thin aluminum plate with a single bearing that would pop off under side-loading stress at high articulation, the bumpers were held on with plastic supports that soon broke, etc.

With the machined aluminum replacements for the suspension linkage pivots (use 2 bearings for stability), and aluminum bumper mounts the truck has held up to a tremendous amount of abuse over the past 8 or so years. It is quite quick with the 18turn motors, and the only real part missing are limited slip differentials (the Clodbuster axles use open diffs)

Specs:

  • Tamiya Clodbuster kit (just the axles)
  • ESP Clodzilla IV kit
  • 2 18 turn 540 brushed motors
  • Novak ESC
  • Hitec metal geared servos w servo-savers
  • Home-made shock linkages
  • Home-made bumper frames
  • HPI F150 Lexan body

Clodzilla IV