Tonka Truck RC Conversion - Turning a Rusty Tonka Into an RC Rock Crawler

This rusty Tonka has been given a new lease on life with a restoration and R/C conversion! Scroll down to see all of the parts and tools used in this restoration.
Tools used in this video:
Vampliers: amzn.to/2Zx46Fo
Dremell Rotary Tool: amzn.to/32oJpNU
Dremell Wand: amzn.to/2FuXoJ5
Rotary Bits: amzn.to/2FuVisG
Angle Grinder: amzn.to/2ZAJr3f
Grinder Cutting Wheel: amzn.to/35xhfCd
Sand Blast Cabinet: amzn.to/3bROmSs
Aluminum Oxide Blast Media: amzn.to/3bTXk1v
Mini Chop-Saw: amzn.to/3iqZUyA
Drill Press: amzn.to/3hscuMD
Powder Coat System: amzn.to/3iyEDmI
Powder Coat Oven: amzn.to/2FuZ1GH
Citristrip: amzn.to/3bWrRMk
Hobby Hex Drivers: amzn.to/3mqIswD
Remote Control Parts:
Battery: amzn.to/32rbGmZ
Charger: amzn.to/3ke2TL1
Charging Adapter: amzn.to/2FD8MSU
Servo Extensions: amzn.to/2ZBtYQF
Control Switch: amzn.to/2ZAxtqu
Transmitter/Receiver: amzn.to/3mqIswD
Adjustable Linkage: amzn.to/32oNscS
Battery Adapter: amzn.to/32oNscS
Hobby-Wing ESC: amzn.to/32rhInt
R/C Rolling Chassis: amzn.to/3hnHqNT
Servo: amzn.to/3hsyc2X
R/C Lights: amzn.to/3bRQSbm
Disclosure: The products listed above are listed using affiliate links. As an associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Affiliate link purchases help fund projects on this channel. Thank you!

[@SqueekyBums]

Had one of these as a kid. I'd sit on it and scoot down the driveway. Such a strong toy.

[@TRGRESTORATIONS]

Thanks for watching! 🤘🏼🤘🏼🤘🏼

[@noladol]

That's one of the coolest videos I've ever seen.

[@brandonkrystynak1969]

That fractured blue was awesome

[@bradleyj.fortner2203]

I really like your choice of interior color. I would have gone the easy route and blacked it out. But, you picked a great color. It's really close. Love the build.

[@AlanG58]

I loved this! I had this same one as a kid. Last week when we were cleaning out my mom's house I spotted it in the dumpster I had rented, my soulless sister had tossed it out! Needless to say I rescued it. :)

[@Rainbow__cookie]

Thats awesome

[@remkojerphanion4686]

I should have kept the Tonka dump truck I had as a kid! This RC conversion is cool!

[@StonegaardForge]

Sand blasting the hood was incredibly satisfying.

[@GatchamanG4]

Lol, I was going to say the same thing. 🖖🏻

[@g2rc]

Yep, I gotta agree; satisfying.

[@matchboxcustomsandrestos]

Coolest refurb ever. Looks alot better lifted up. Had a little bit of a gangster lean to the right.

[@jerryjohnsonii4181]

Awesome !!!!!!!!!!!!!! I absolutely love that New color you choose !!!!!!!!!!!!

[@larannar123]

Fantastic job!! Great to see you take a different strategy!! 💯👍👍

[@mohsinaslam6958]

One of the best job of yours work. Amazing restoration and good RC conversion.

[@tommyherbert3931]

Great work on this reservation. It turned out great. Put it on a mantle.

[@crazyivan030983]

Modern painting techniqes are awesome :) greetings from Poland :)

[@chubbyschoices9701]

Far and away my favorite piece of your work. This is nothing short of awesome. And by the way, get a chuckle out of the kids cheering for the sandblaster every time. Great work dude

[@TheBatman-1989]

Great to see Duke again!

[@michaelgayandproud6466]

Awsome job love the RC effect the possibilities with this was endless

[@TRGRESTORATIONS]

Thanks for watching! 🤘🏼🤘🏼🤘🏼

[@michaelgayandproud6466]

@@TRGRESTORATIONS your so welcome

[@paulhammerich9244]

Fantastic engineering. As usual a top notch job.

[@vernabink2865]

Absolutely delightful. Super job.

[@TRGRESTORATIONS]

Thank you very much!

[@richardkinkead7823]

Only half way done with this video, but man you got perfection stills doing this.

[@shpigenzig]

This is what all i wants and dreamed about to do with toy cars when i was a kid. Tune them so you can drive them like this😻😻.

[@fransnyder6592]

Beautiful job !!! I had one years ago

[@ralphyetmore]

Love the Star Wars swipes. You should put the Tonka logo on the tires. Thanks for showing off such a great idea.

[@batterymakermarkii2654]

Some kid’s gonna be awfully excited to try that out!

[@mikerobbins5049]

Excellent job

[@pablozapata7401]

Extraordinario felicitaciones 👏👏👏👏👌👍💪

[@Milvert08]

Additional suggestion, it would look nicer if the roof were lowered. What do you think?

[@howardnielsen6220]

Very clever Thank You

[@gilbertnatonabah1650]

Wow you did an awesome job! Keep it up

[@jrxa2771]

I had one of those when I was a kid, use to ride on it thats how great of toy tonks trucks are brings memories, I wish he would've left the car the way it was.

[@amilcarmoncada1801]

Excelente transformación de un simple carro de hierro a un Crawler a RC, la pintura quedo excelente con ese efecto de grietas, mis felicitaciones y saludos mi amigo desde Venezuela.

[@999benhonda]

I built a larger crawler with a hard body...I found that a droop suspension setup worked best...it gave plenty of travel while keeping the CG and ride height low and more scale looking.

[@TheBadJuJu666]

This was one of the coolest things I've ever seen! Awesome work!

[@TRGRESTORATIONS]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@keepontrucking7180]

cool video! Bigger wider rims would look nice as well.

[@annettemalaski1967]

Duke wants some details on his new sweet ride. Nothing garish, just some outdoorsy looking stripes.

[@mikespring2243]

Great job!! Need a little tennis ball on your antenna.

[@dancrim8460]

Terrific build. Always love your work.

[@StoriesbyIrish]

Sand blasting is as relaxing as power washing 😶

[@sallytucker2354]

This rebuild is awesome!

[@timwegman5776]

I absolutely Pho`king love that color (fractured blue?) It's beautiful.

[@MarkMeadows90]

Hey man, that thing looks sweet! The RC conversion turned out looking like it came from the factory like that. Nicely done! But, I can’t get over the fact of a blue interior though. I’m simple minded when it comes to that. A simple black interior would’ve worked for me, but it’s YOUR build, not mine. And if you want a more chrome like appearance for smaller details, next time consider using a Molotow chrome paint marker. You can get them at Hobby Lobby. They aren’t the cheapest paint pens you can buy. But the chrome like finish is one of the best in chrome paint markers out there.

[@wilfredomendez3450]

I think I had one of those including the Big Jim doll.

[@theawesomer]

Amazing work! Sharing on The Awesomer.

[@jacobpastoret426]

Holy crap I'm older than dirt yet I remember having a tonka truck( jeep) just like that when I was young I somewhat recall pushing it and pretending I was actually driving the thing was huge

[@paulwilson2118]

Absolutly brilliant the lot. The paint was amazing fantastic work

[@victorpike8918]

Woooow!! I had this one when I was a kid😎

[@nickelbackfan83]

Love your vids but have a request please clean the oven door I like to see the powder paint change

[@vortecmacs]

Very cool. Even cooler you have an H3!

[@TRGRESTORATIONS]

lol it';s going to be featured in an upcoming video. stay tuned!

[@vortecmacs]

TRG RESTORATION dude, for real? I love the H3. The Hummer line doesn’t get enough love.

[@airsoftoutback3174]

Put your battery up front, will help on steep inclines

[@Primus54]

Great project! You did excellent all around, especially the detail work on the interior. Cheers.

[@TRGRESTORATIONS]

Thanks a bunch!

[@angusmclaren6257]

Awesome. Colour is amazing! Looks like it needs some weights within the body a bit. Would love to see a mod that shows the steering wheel being turned and also Tonka on the wheels.

[@graffixx8088]

very nice

[@greg0063]

Very nice conversion! Looks great, fun project. I would like to see it lower but I understand it's not easy to do without excessively cutting out the floor, then finding smaller wheels and tires to fit might be a challenge. My friend is collecting and restoring a couple of the Tonkas and I keep trying to convince him to do something similar. I know he can do it hes a talented guy he just seems to have a rc aversion for whatever reason.

[@arturdemin2755]

this. Is. AWESOME!!!😳😳😳 now i want one 🤤🤤🤤

[@FerretHead]

Awesome

[@shirleyannconfer9651]

You would have so much fun with this at the Cabin Fever miniatures show!

[@rckingmaruf7268]

You are great 👍

[@kilogram064]

You should do that with a dump truck.

[@ShashMasuta]

Looks great! The only thing i didnt like, was spray painting the plastic. Just scratches off too easily. I would have preferred the hair bleach + UV lamp (or sunlight) for 72 hours to whiten after cleaning. For the tan parts- it would have brighten them significantly. Then just detailed. For the black, definitely spray is the only option- but i would have chosen that bumper black auto paint since its made for plastic and doesnt scratch off very easily. But... this still looks super great! So cant complain too much!

[@savio-gonzaga0825]

I like very best channel 👍👍

[@tylerkutcher]

My dad had his since he was a kid and it is not in bad shape. He has it sitting on the shelf now.

[@bgdavenport]

Suggestion: since your restorations are likely valuable, you may wish to consider using an HDPE washer between the moving parts to prevent wear/scuffing to the powder coated finishes. I often cut up plastic milk containers to source HDPE for this purpose on my projects. But, I just found it on Ebay 3/32 sheet idea for this purpose!

[@bharatshah5862]

WOWWWWWWW EXELENT

[@Bryanleakey]

extend the frame about 1 inch. tune suspension.

[@reidhall1910]

Thanks for sharing this cool idea,l think l might have one some where that l could fix up.

[@ply61]

Give him enought resources and he could fix that 57' Plymouth of Tulsa!

[@dylstype3917]

If you have the time you should design a new roof and 3-D print so it doesn’t look so weird

[@TRGRESTORATIONS]

lol maybe next time

[@stevewandel9317]

Or just ditch the roof completely. Redo the windscreen to be shorter and cover over the RC components in the back with some fake cargo

[@alanr4263]

I wonder why it leans to one side? Great job on the interior.

[@lolcec81]

Комментарий в поддержку канала и ролика, а также труда мастера.

[@Imagezone61]

Nice work. I'd like to do this with nitro engine.

[@nanuq83]

Why's it riding heavy to one side? It's a beauty though!!

[@member57]

I had one of these...

[@sprintmademe]

What was the reason for the quick disconnect wheels? Where there other wheels available to swap?

[@adenk.1704]

How do the wheels even stay on with those clip things? Wouldn't they fall off when rotated?

[@r.c.demonz5445]

what you do is awesome I've just bought an old winebego which I intend to convert to rc I'd love for us to get to know a bit about what you do and if you've got any good tips. I would like for us to be friends

[@Leowolf27]

I could watch an hour of unedited sandblasting.

[@jasoncdebussy]

Clear coat activates the blue - what kind of alchemy is that? 🤔

[@knightedwolf]

got a question about bead blasting, how often do you have to clean the bits of rust and paint out of the machine, and how is it done? thank you

[@freedoomed]

No servo saver on the steering servo or a buffer on the servo arm? i'd hate to see the steering servo get stripped out after all the work that got put into this. or is that a servo saver? i've been out of the hobby for a few decades so i don't know about all the parts available today.

[@bassbull1]

He gave it the Sasquatch package.

[@deividguandavid1139]

Vivo en Colombia y me gustaría saber cómo consigo los repuestos eléctricos y de control remoto?

[@bradleydenhartog7297]

"On the next episode of pimp my ride"lol

[@chadsmith7604]

Why is it leaning more towards the one side

[@JC-ns4pc]

It's cool and a very good job of making it an RC. But I would have done it back to the original style, I have one of these but mine is in much better shape than this one I would say it's 80% original with no major scratches.

[@TheDarthvalen]

Omg i gad this toy when i was i child oh the memories

[@leonserya720]

Would've been cool if you could of kept the wing nut type wheel retainers design.

[@ThePhuku]

Shaluoman 35T Tonka Restomod wins best in show

[@quartzlierquartzlier]

👌👍

[@jasonking9548]

😩 I had just given one of those away recently

[@jamescanaday3427]

Shocks are too soft!! But great job

[@alleng27]

STICKERS! DECALS! WHY?!? Why did you skip that part?😭

[@rczar-citi-il9123]

Слишком высоко сидит, надо было занижать, да и крышу кабины надо тоже ниже опускать, будет лучше сметреться, ну и правую сторону надо регулировать, крутящий момент на карданах даёт крен, избавиться от него можно регулировкой амортизаторов, или на правую сторону пружины по жёстче

[@kikthatazz01cliff16]

Nice paint job and stuff but you got a little bit of a lien going on

[@pepemomax]

👏👏👏👍

[@charlenedement5885]

Discount Rescue & Restore

[@ramarwriking82]

You sir are a BAD MAN. This was like watching the 1st episode of Pimp My Tonka. Supreme work this episode. 💪🏾💯

[@TRGRESTORATIONS]

Thank you! 🤘🏼🤘🏼🤘🏼

[@kilogram064]

Maybe someone should start a channel just for that. I'd subscribe.

[@allianceofsteel]

I had this exact car as a kid.. the kittens hated me.. cause they were 'race car drivers'.. lol.

[@beezertwelvewashingbeard8703]

I had one too. Lol at the kitties!

[@comawhite5913]

Mine were test dummies and stunt kitties. Yes............I had issues as a kid, but am an animal lover to the core.

[@nodak81]

I had one too. Brings back some memories of scooting around sitting on it. Makes me miss the 80's even more. :(

[@shanerountree3623]

My brother and I each had one, I loved 'working' on it changing the tires. Now I do the same thing on my Jeep every weekend (although not quite for the same reason!)

[@allianceofsteel]

@@shanerountree3623 let's just hope you're not letting the kittens drive as I did ... lol.

[@PabloGonzalez-hv3td]

Tune the suspension and she'll ride perfect.

[@mahler2112]

I used to roll my GI Joe down a really steep hill in one of these. His head came off once lol.

[@timehunter9467]

I’ll never understand why they paint the inside of sand blasters...

[@quantumstudios7944]

probably rust protection during shipping maybe

[@quantumstudios7944]

@@Thelegend-gt5lb oh were talking about sandblaster how it is painted inside

[@timehunter9467]

@The legend 27 I know it’s powder coat, good thick coat on it. But the thing is designed to remove things like paint.

[@mikep8182]

That’s so it looks nice when you’re buying one

[@RestorationAustralia]

Sales gimmick

[@bevodee2078]

Awesome paint job. Is it just me or is the finished product sitting on a tilt/angle?

[@AngryTurds]

"Nah, it's just cos you're only wearing one shoe". ~ Happy Gilmore

[@broncochick4x4]

Yeah, seems to list to the right.

[@n.m.s7552]

@@AngryTurds haha, good one!

[@joseflindbom7680]

He need a 3 link setup or a "twist bar" don't remember the eng word for it. All regular cars have it. This is a normal behavior of heavy rc cars but are easy to get rid of

[@snehmistry8860]

@@joseflindbom7680 I think you mean a torsion bar