Anyone else besides me notice that with those big ass rear tires and little bitty fronts that Strongarm kinda looks like a crane knocked up a Craftsman riding lawnmower? Stupid idea, using mismatched wheels on this guy. But I found a way to fix that.

 

Using a big pair of pliers, I carefully ripped off the wheels, so as not to damage anything else. Then, using the smaller tires off of a Hotwheels Mechanix Rally car (use the wheels from the Rally, the Jeep, or the ATV. These are bigger than the others, have an off-road tread and cool torque thrust looking mags). I saved the smaller axles to mount them to. Dont bother with the monster tires, it dont work. Unless you want to remove the rear tires every time you transform him. Believe me, I tried.

 

First the front wheels. Take one Mechanix axle, and cut out the center differential, leaving the threaded stud and a little of the center on it to locate the thing. About 1/8 inch on each side of the brake-disc looking thing will do it. You'll need both to roughly match. Cut off whats left of the 'axle' in strongarms front fenderwell, then drill out just a bit so the non-threaded side of teh axle fits in snugly. Make sure none of it comes out the other side, thats where his thigh goes in Jeep mode. Repeat for the other side, then super glue them in there real good, screw on the wheels and your done.

 

The rear is a lot trickier. The molded, inner part of the rear tires will have to be dremeled flat on the bottom of the tire, so the new one will touch the ground; theyre bigger. Its gonna take some more shaping and grinding on the inside of this thing, too. Take the other Mechanix axle and chop the threaded studs off flush behind the brake discs. You should end up with 2 discs with just the threaded end, and a flat back. You'll have to grind this a bit thinner first, so that the wheels will clear the fenders when transforming. I missed this the first time, so my choices were eiter remove the rear tires when changing it to robot and back, or break the pieces off, fix them and re-glue. I took the latter. Then, slot the back of it to clear the mounting pins. It should go right thru the center of the face of the disk, and about 3/4 of the thickness. You want the back of the disk to sit flush on the inside of the molded wheel, so you'll have plenty to glue to. When you think you've got it right, screw the wheels to the disks, test fit and transform. If you think its gonna work, dab just enough glue in to hold it real temporary and make sure. Check for straightness and fender clearance. Check for ground clearance of the molded tires. If its cool, pry it off, and glob that super glue in tehre good to re-mount it. Better yet, use that plastic welder or even epoxy once your absolutely SURE it fits right. Repeat other side and you've got it.

 

Enjoy your nice new correctly sized tires! Now I need to work on fixing the incomplete look of the rear of the Jeep....

paragraphs are your friend. I read about half of that before I gave up.

 

Honestly, I love strongarm and see nothing worth changing on him.

Could you please edit your post so there is actual paragraphs. I am sure what you have to say is interesting but no paragraphs means that few people will actually read it. Sorry, but thats the way it is.

Pics would be nice. :) I like Strongarm just fine the way he is though. I'm hopin the repaint will use the Takara noggin.

I re-read the post, so he didn't use paragraphs; big deal.

 

You can actully go back into your post and re-edit it into paragraphs.

 

Not everyone is like me; I actually read the thing. It sounds cool even though I don't plan to get the bot. If I did I would find your post very helpfull and would be looking for it again.

Pics would be nice. :) I like Strongarm just fine the way he is though. I'm hopin the repaint will use the Takara noggin.

One last thing to add I agree; we need pictures of the finished job.

 

Again hit that edit button!

paragraphs are your friend. I read about half of that before I gave up.

 

Honestly, I love strongarm and see nothing worth changing on him.

Heh, I agree. (With both things.)

I like Strongarm the way he is.

Ok, I fixed it. Didnt read it before posting it, you guys were right. And I have a B.S. in journalism, no less! As for pics, I dont have a digicam yet. Its too bad because even those who like him as is would absolutely LOVE the new look. Im really surprised more people didnt find the big and little tires bothersome. But then, how many of you are offroad enthusiasts? Im guessing not too many due to the tuner/exotic fans out there. But hey, to each his own. The idea here is to give any others who hate those tires help in fixing it.

Ok, I fixed it. Didnt read it before posting it, you guys were right. And I have a B.S. in journalism, no less! As for pics, I dont have a digicam yet. Its too bad because even those who like him as is would absolutely LOVE the new look. Im really surprised more people didnt find the big and little tires bothersome. But then, how many of you are offroad enthusiasts? Im guessing not too many due to the tuner/exotic fans out there. But hey, to each his own. The idea here is to give any others who hate those tires help in fixing it.

thanks for the fix, much easier to read now :thumb

 

I would love to see pics, Im not that much of an off road enthusiest (unless you count WRC) and didnt have that much of a problem with the different sized tires, but pics might change my mind.