GI Joe Jeep RC Conversion
 

I know this isn't a tank, but I think you guy's will enjoy this. I took a GI Joe jeep and put a Crawler King drive train under it with leaf springs to give it a more scale ride. It was an involved project, but I think it turned out well.

RE: GI Joe Jeep RC Conversion
 

More picks of the driver and General Omar Bradley. Also the trailer hitch detail with safety chains.

RE: GI Joe Jeep RC Conversion
 

Some shots of the drivetrain.

RE: GI Joe Jeep RC Conversion
 

Two shots of the trailer. One topside, one undercarriage.

RE: GI Joe Jeep RC Conversion
 

The last two. One off road (the lawn). One under the hood.

RE: GI Joe Jeep RC Conversion
 

A video of the jeep doing an inspection tour of some of the rc aircraft at our flying field. This is all slow speed stuff. It will go pretty fast wide open. At some point I'll try to get some video of hills and rough terrain. It has lots of torque. You may need to click on it and pause or rerun it so it isn't jerky. http://youtu.be/pHpCjk1VVsQ

RE: GI Joe Jeep RC Conversion
 

Hello

That is Really nice work and Thanks for Posting the pictures.

George

RE: GI Joe Jeep RC Conversion
 

That is a nice jeep indeed .

Very nice job !!!;)

What was the total cost of doing something like this ?

Congrats.

RE: GI Joe Jeep RC Conversion
 

looks cool just give it some weathering

RE: GI Joe Jeep RC Conversion
 

Great conversion.

I had a similar Jeep when I was a kid. If it was RC'd like that I probably would have kept it:D

It also had a recoilless rifle mounted behind the front seats. As I remember, the fake shells would have been close to the diameter of a paint ball..........

RE: GI Joe Jeep RC Conversion
 

Beautiful work on the suspension.

RE: GI Joe Jeep RC Conversion
 

[quote]ORIGINAL: ksoc

Great conversion.

I had a similar Jeep when I was a kid. If it was RC'd like that I probably would have kept it:D

~~~~~

Similar Jeep? Was it one of those old Cox gas powered jobs that ran uncontrolled all over the place at warp speed?

RE: GI Joe Jeep RC Conversion
 

SWEET! And heavy duty drive train too. :D



~ Jeff

RE: GI Joe Jeep RC Conversion
 

No, not the Cox model, but the GI JOE. The Recoilless had a spring mechanism, but a plastic stop had been installed. A very crude mods removed the stop, and it could actually launch those silver shells about 10 ft.

RE: GI Joe Jeep RC Conversion
 

Thanks for the kind words. It did turn out nice. As far as the cost I'll say this. Just go to E-Bay and find a mint Hasbro 2002 issue Jeep, some good military GI Joes, a 1960's good condition trailer (they didn't reissue the trailer, which reminds me you also need a "parts" 2002 Jeep for the trailer axel, wheels, and tires, the 60's ones are junk), get 3 sets of leaf springs, some extra drive shafts and assorted stuff, go to Tower Hobbies and get a Crawler King and probably a pile of stuff I'm forgetting. You should be able to do it for under $50.00. (My wife looks at this once in a while so if you think I'm going to tell you how much it really costs you're crazier than I am.) Even if you asked me about 600 times (hint hint). LOL
It was quite a job, but you guys know how it is. It just kind of keeps evolving.

RE: GI Joe Jeep RC Conversion
 

Thank you for the ideas

How much are those King Crawlers ?

I wonder if I can do this to a Dragon 6 scale Kubelwagen ?

would it work ?

wives dont get these things better to keep them out of it ha ha !!

RE: GI Joe Jeep RC Conversion
 

WOW Love it...I see you skipped the 4 wheel steering.

RE: GI Joe Jeep RC Conversion
 

Crawler King rock crawlers are about $230.00 from Tower but if you buy much from them you can get it for around $200.00 using discount codes. I chose this for the slow speed availability, 4 wheel drive, torque, and reverse. I think it might work well on a Kubelwagen, though I have not tried it (yet). Now keep in mind I only used the moter/differential assembly, driveshafts, axels, center of the wheels (to mate with the outer part of the scale wheels), speed controler, receiver and transmitter, and probably some misc stuff I have forgotten. I actually swapped out the receiver and transmitter for a Futaba 2.4 set up. You will have a left over body, chassis, shocks, coils, tires, and a bunch of other car guy stuff. I got about $75.00 bucks back for that stuff at a swap meet. So my cost was around $130.00 plus receiver and trans. If you start looking for individual parts to do this from a Crawler King on E-Bay you will quickly see it's better to do as I did and get the whole thing.

RE: GI Joe Jeep RC Conversion
 

Thank you ,

That will be my winter project .

I ll get one of those crawlers for sure

;)

Hey rzingsheim, beautiful job on that jeep. Love the scale look of it instead of oversized wheels and lift kit. Is there any chance I could get you to build me one or sell that one to me? I would dearly love to use one to tow my 1/6 scale Yellow Aircraft P-38 to the flying field since it and the jeep are the same scale. I could rig up a tow bar like they did in the war on forward bases. Hell, I might even come up with some marsdon matting in one area of the pits just for looks. I have zero time and no real experience with rc cars. Just rc WWII scale fighter planes. Please let me know, Thanks, Brad

this post is from 2013...lol

Wow! That is awesome, great work!

Still looking for a response from anyone here about details for doing the same conversion as rzingsheim or sellling me one that's already done.

Nice! I had the exact same Jeep & trailer back in '66. Brings back fond memories!

I'm sure I could build you one, but it will be rather expensive, even if I do all the labor for free. If you're prepared to spend six or $800 on this project you should be able to get one made, either by me or someone else here. Personally, if it was me, I'd be talking to Rex Ross to see if he wants to try one. Rex is one of the best Builders I've ever seen.