TOPIC:

I need a bit of help, last year my brother and I built the re released midnight pumpkin black edition, he always said he wanted it to be fast and to be used on the road rather than off road, shortly after we built it my brother passed away from cancer, and I've always had the car as a moments of my brother,
Now I'd like to make it how he wanted so I got it off the shelf last week and noticed the 2 small springs had snapped and in looking on here and YouTube that people have fitted a 5th shock to fix this issue,
My question is what size shock would people recommend for using the truck on road?
Also the standard shocks are crap let's be honest so i want to upgrade to a much stiffer set but don't want the silly camber on the front..... So want it to sit a little lower and stiffer, why do you reccomed ?

And lastly I'd like to fit road tired but can only seem to find them in Japan? Does anyone have road tires fitted or know where to source them in the uk?

I appreciate I've asked a lot but really want to get this truck looking how my brother wanted it

These are the tires I have found

Welcome on board. Sorry to hear about your brother.
I'm not too familiar with the Pumpkin myself but some of the guys here definitely are...
Maybe you could add a link to the tyres or their dimensions?

Hi & Welcome Yip Cancer is a bummer I have never had a Pumpkin either but as it shares that same chassis as the Lunch Box I'm sure there is someone here that can help you with the information

I like those slicks for the road

Welcome on board. Sorry for your brother, that sucks. I have several lunchies/midnights but I never put a fifth shock. I have a cheaper solution and especially easier to do. You just need to buy 4 CVAs shocks, put them on the chassis. On the rear, you can put them more in back of the chassis=> they are more vertical and the wheelings are limted. Put a ball bearings set in your midnight. For the tires, originals are enough but a set of slicks could be fun. (be carefull of the internal diameter of the tires to feet on the rims). My first lunchy is 29 years old, and had a lot of running hours on all terrains and tires are always mint.
I found several years ago lunch slicks balloon tires but never seen other since.
These ones look very fine

Welcome on board chap, sounds like a great way to pay tribute to your brother


The slicks look good, but unless you have a warm, dry, perfectly level fresh bit of tarmac I suspect they'd be like driving on ice, so I'd suggest the lightly treaded tyres are a better option.

If you don't already have metal ballraces I think those are a must, you need 1x 850 bearing and 9x 1150, or you can get a kit from rcbearings.co.uk.

The small springs usually break due to builders forgetting to take the outer screw out, but they are pretty useless anyway, I don't think I'd bother replacing them. Tamiya suggest their CVA Short Shock II set(s) for the Lunchbox (e.g. www.modellbau-s...best=50520), they come in pairs so to to the 5th shock mod you need 3 sets, plus three pairs of the shock brackets (9805082). Not cheap but any decent brand won't be, I've bought cheap shocks that have fallen apart in seconds :s:

I see the lightly treaded tires have an OD of 111mm, vs 115 for the kit tyres, it's not really enough to change the overall gearing. This might be an issue because you said you wanted it to go fast ... As the Lunchbox chassis has only the one pinion gear option you are limited in how fast a motor you can put in - anything too hot will get bogged down, never reach its ideal rev range, overheat & have disappointing performance.

Which speed control you have in the kit will determine whether you can use a brushed or brushless motor, for earlier models (like the TEU101-BK which have just two motor wires - usually blue and yellow) you're limited to brushed motors in which case I'd suggest the Tamiya "Sport Tuned" motor (about a 30% apparent increase in speed/power over the kit motor). For later models (like the TBLE-02S - three wires - blue, yellow and orange) you could use the Sport Tuned again, or go brushless & fit something like the Turnigy Trackstar 13.5T motor (hobbyking.co.uk...tar%2013.5).

This is what it will look like with the wheels and tires

Do you have a picture of what you mean about the shocks, only without the 5th shock the motor hits the shocks every time you accelerate

Do you have a picture of the set up your talking about please

stingray-63 wrote:

Welcome on board. Sorry for your brother, that sucks. I have several lunchies/midnights but I never put a fifth shock. I have a cheaper solution and especially easier to do. You just need to buy 4 CVAs shocks, put them on the chassis. On the rear, you can put them more in back of the chassis=> they are more vertical and the wheelings are limted. Put a ball bearings set in your midnight. For the tires, originals are enough but a set of slicks could be fun. (be carefull of the internal diameter of the tires to feet on the rims). My first lunchy is 29 years old, and had a lot of running hours on all terrains and tires are always mint.
I found several years ago lunch slicks balloon tires but never seen other since.
These ones look very fine

Do you have a picture of what you mean please and are these the shocks you are talking about