Restoring Vintage 90s Traxxas Hawk 2

[ballasout]

Hello all! I am new to this hobby and recently saved a very old 1990s Traxxas Rustler from going in the trash. Everything works, however the tires are shot and rotted out. I understand this is a very old model and uses different components now. I am looking for a new set of wheels. I think I have found a set of rears, but need to find a set for the front. The front tires are bearing style. The rims are in great shape. Does anyone have a lead on some old parts or have anything for sale?

 

[Chubaka]

Those were not from a rusler. Maybe the sledge hammer.

These were the factory rustler wheels.
https://offerup.com/item/detail/115177753

Jconcepts still has 2.2 items.

Maybe try these?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/276084212197?hash=item4047e6c1e5:g:Sz4AAOSwqN5lHtxG&amdata=enc:AQAIAAAA8CQkoSQ0oIGTvj4oVpcLjcItK5Sd56/TcUhtVc3bgLguHWuy4gETGj0b3yOmezZYXyoQ3llx6xbYmStJF+b0+sgF2Fpcv7SCrZwl7NU4Fb7VLaCj5SYfHYLMQat1n8dwItDMlmr7RzQ1kcfNLYtPnDvEPCNno5VCoDzi0Qe0/dVSGEwroeQi5yKdJUWbBcmTxpQeN4IMdYf8Mxze9m1OU90ibgiacCkut1+afIdSvj/b9vZ0XRuucvk8IvtAVZhEvGQxmwbxEIsurQF6+qdM8z7hD0o1Occ7R0umu+zmY5mp7ObvFvOI5vTUDfO4Nph2Ww==|tkp:BFBM7PzIrPti

All the factory traxxas parts are interchangeable.

 

[ballasout]

Those were not from a rusler. Maybe the sledge hammer.

These were the factory rustler wheels.
https://offerup.com/item/detail/115177753

Jconcepts still has 2.2 items.

Maybe try these?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/276084212197?hash=item4047e6c1e5:g:Sz4AAOSwqN5lHtxG&amdata=enc:AQAIAAAA8CQkoSQ0oIGTvj4oVpcLjcItK5Sd56/TcUhtVc3bgLguHWuy4gETGj0b3yOmezZYXyoQ3llx6xbYmStJF+b0+sgF2Fpcv7SCrZwl7NU4Fb7VLaCj5SYfHYLMQat1n8dwItDMlmr7RzQ1kcfNLYtPnDvEPCNno5VCoDzi0Qe0/dVSGEwroeQi5yKdJUWbBcmTxpQeN4IMdYf8Mxze9m1OU90ibgiacCkut1+afIdSvj/b9vZ0XRuucvk8IvtAVZhEvGQxmwbxEIsurQF6+qdM8z7hD0o1Occ7R0umu+zmY5mp7ObvFvOI5vTUDfO4Nph2Ww==|tkp:BFBM7PzIrPti

All the factory traxxas parts are interchangeable.

Aww thank you for the info! Here is a pic of the body. Maybe you can tell what mode?

 

[Chubaka]

That's no rustler, this was way before the Rustler- it probably replaced this. That has hard to replace parts and the white plastic is brittle. Rusler or bandit arms and drive shafts should work as well as the body mounts and shock towers.

That appears to be a Traxxas Hawk. I would clean it up and put it in a safe shelf. They may have reproduced bodies in clear on ebay too.

Aww thank you for the info! Here is a pic of the body. Maybe you can tell what mode?

View attachment 175023

 

[ballasout]

That's no rustler, this was way before the Rustler- it probably replaced this. That has hard to replace parts and the white plastic is brittle. Rusler or bandit arms and drive shafts should work as well as the body mounts and shock towers.

That appears to be a Traxxas Hawk. I would clean it up and put it in a safe shelf. They may have reproduced bodies in clear on ebay too.

Yes Traxxas Hawk it is! Saw some YouTube videos of some old ones. Going to order those tires and see if I can get them on the rims. Also need a new battery. I have the original body that went with it, looks very vintage and pretty beat up but it will work. Hoping there isn’t anything wrong with the motor and electric components. Not expecting much out of speed or performance but hoping to get some fun out of it!

 

[Greywolf74]

Nice piece of history!

 

[Lukedavis]

Yes Traxxas Hawk it is! Saw some YouTube videos of some old ones. Going to order those tires and see if I can get them on the rims. Also need a new battery. I have the original body that went with it, looks very vintage and pretty beat up but it will work. Hoping there isn’t anything wrong with the motor and electric components. Not expecting much out of speed or performance but hoping to get some fun out of it!

DO NOT order lipos to run on the stock electronics. It will burn up even on 2s. Trust me, I have had it happen before. Look at your battery and see what voltage and what type of battery and get the same voltage one and same type. The old stuff wasn't designed with lipos coming into play so it will put too much power through the old electronics and fry them.
Sorry to sound like a Key Board pirate but that is a very rare piece of traxxas history.

 

[WickedFog]

You'll be very lucky if you find parts for that because that is a rarety right there. I would go on ebay and search for that RC. After you do, save the search and set a notification so you will be notified anytime anybody lists a part for it, or a complete RC.

Another tip - if you see anybody selling any part for it, contact them and see if they have anything else for it. Maybe somebody will have some tires or something else they were on the fence about selling.

But finding good tires that old are going to be like finding the holy grail. Most will have long since dryrotted. Every once in awhile though, ebay turns up some goodies.

Great find you have there. That thing is in excellent shape! @STONER RC restored an RC10 gold pan with white plastic arms and such, and he managed to get them looking damn near new. Maybe he can give you some pointers.

Some may disagree with me here, but once you get everything clean, I'd give the plastic a WD40 bath. It can often times refresh old plastic

More info on your RC
https://www.rcscrapyard.net/traxxas-hawk.htm

 

[ballasout]

DO NOT order lipos to run on the stock electronics. It will burn up even on 2s. Trust me, I have had it happen before. Look at your battery and see what voltage and what type of battery and get the same voltage one and same type. The old stuff wasn't designed with lipos coming into play so it will put too much power through the old electronics and fry them.
Sorry to sound like a Key Board pirate but that is a very rare piece of traxxas history.

No worries thank you for the info! The old ass battery it came with is only 1300MAH and I’m assuming it’s shot. About to order a new one and charge. Would it be safe to run a little higher MAH? Also not sure if you saw the original post but I also need tires. Don’t know if it will be pretty easy to mount the newer modern ones on to the original wheels?

You'll be very lucky if you find parts for that because that is a rarety right there. I would go on ebay and search for that RC. After you do, save the search and set a notification so you will be notified anytime anybody lists a part for it, or a complete RC.

Another tip - if you see anybody selling any part for it, contact them and see if they have anything else for it. Maybe somebody will have some tires or something else they were on the fence about selling.

But finding good tires that old are going to be like finding the holy grail. Most will have long since dryrotted. Every once in awhile though, ebay turns up some goodies.

Great find you have there. That thing is in excellent shape! @STONER RC restored an RC10 gold pan with white plastic arms and such, and he managed to get them looking damn near new. Maybe he can give you some pointers.

Some may disagree with me here, but once you get everything clean, I'd give the plastic a WD40 bath. It can often times refresh old plastic

More info on your RC
https://www.rcscrapyard.net/traxxas-hawk.htm

Found these on eBay. Don’t think they will mount easily to the original wheels? https://www.ebay.com/itm/2760842121...kB1jglNSTK&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

 

[Lukedavis]

No worries thank you for the info! The old ass battery it came with is only 1300MAH and I’m assuming it’s shot. About to order a new one and charge. Would it be safe to run a little higher MAH? Also not sure if you saw the original post but I also need tires. Don’t know if it will be pretty easy to mount the newer modern ones on to the original wheels?

Found these on eBay. Don’t think they will mount easily to the original wheels? https://www.ebay.com/itm/2760842121...kB1jglNSTK&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

lol okay. The mAh rating will not affect voltage. It just means run time. Those tires look bad ass!

 

[WickedFog]

No worries thank you for the info! The old ass battery it came with is only 1300MAH and I’m assuming it’s shot. About to order a new one and charge. Would it be safe to run a little higher MAH? Also not sure if you saw the original post but I also need tires. Don’t know if it will be pretty easy to mount the newer modern ones on to the original wheels?

Found these on eBay. Don’t think they will mount easily to the original wheels? https://www.ebay.com/itm/2760842121...kB1jglNSTK&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Do you have calipers? Remove your tires and measure your wheel to see what size tires it uses. The car being that old (1989), it will likely use a 1.9" tire, or possibly even something not a standard size.

 

[Greywolf74]

No worries thank you for the info! The old ass battery it came with is only 1300MAH and I’m assuming it’s shot. About to order a new one and charge. Would it be safe to run a little higher MAH? Also not sure if you saw the original post but I also need tires. Don’t know if it will be pretty easy to mount the newer modern ones on to the original wheels?

Found these on eBay. Don’t think they will mount easily to the original wheels? https://www.ebay.com/itm/2760842121...kB1jglNSTK&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Battery capacity doesn't matter as long as the voltage is correct and the battery's physical size fits in the rig.

As for the wheels and tires. As far as I can tell from looking at the various manuals and exploded views it looks like all of the modern day nitro Rustler and Jato wheels and tires are still basically the same, right down to the bearing size for the front wheels. The modern front tires are ribbed instead of spiked and the rears are more block style nubs instead of spikes. There are also a lot of optional tires available. You could always just buy a set of new modern wheels and buy two sets of modern rear tires to put on the wheels. Or, if your wanting to reuse the original wheels the tires should still work.

Part Numbers:
Rear tires: 4790 was the original part number but doesn't seem to be available anymore. 4790R (updated version) which are discontinued but still available in certain places like ebay or 5572R which is the current model of rear tire but its a different style.

Front tires: 4780 was the original part number but doesn't seem to be available anymore. 4780R (updated version) which are discontinued but still available in certain places like ebay or 5574R which is the current model. Both models are ribbed.

Rear wheels: The original wheels 1872 & 1874 do not seem to be available. The modern day equivalent would be 5572, 4172 opt, 5576 opt, 5573 opt.

Front Wheels: The original wheels 1873 & 1875 do not seem to be available. The modern day equivalent would be 5574, 4174 opt, 1974 opt, 5577 opt, 5577A opt.

Also, can you post more pics of the Hawk, especially the rear end. Multiple different sides and angles would be nice. I'm trying to determine if that is the original Hawk (1989) or the Hawk 2 (1992-1997).

 

[WickedFog]

If it were me, I would keep it as original as possible. I wouldn't change the wheels unless you absolutely had to. There will likely be tires that will fit it. Sometimes you can find some vintage Duratrax tires on ebay that will be close to the stock style. I would definitely put the same tires on the front and rear like the original, whatever you go with. That is unless you plan to run it

 

[Greywolf74]

If it were me, I would keep it as original as possible. I wouldn't change the wheels unless you absolutely had to. There will likely be tires that will fit it. Sometimes you can find some vintage Duratrax tires on ebay that will be close to the stock style. I would definitely put the same tires on the front and rear like the original, whatever you go with. That is unless you plan to run it

I agree. I would also keep it as original as possible. Just figured Id give the OP some options since I had all the part numbers in front of me anyway

 

[ballasout]

Do you have calipers? Remove your tires and measure your wheel to see what size tires it uses. The car being that old (1989), it will likely use a 1.9" tire, or possibly even something not a standard size.

I’ll measure and see. I did find these on eBay, looking for one more pair. New old stock.

 

[Greywolf74]

I’ll measure and see. I did find these on eBay, looking for one more pair. New old stock.

View attachment 175082

You can get the 4790Rs from Amain which are essentially the same tire except they say Pro-Trax on the side instead of Traxxas. LINK

 

[WickedFog]

You can get the 4790Rs from Amain which are essentially the same tire except they say Pro-Trax on the side instead of Traxxas. LINK

But are his wheels 2.2? In the 80's, 1.9 was a lot more common.

 

[Greywolf74]

They are 2.2s

 

[ballasout]

They are 2.2s

View attachment 175102

If it were me, I would keep it as original as possible. I wouldn't change the wheels unless you absolutely had to. There will likely be tires that will fit it. Sometimes you can find some vintage Duratrax tires on ebay that will be close to the stock style. I would definitely put the same tires on the front and rear like the original, whatever you go with. That is unless you plan to run it

Oh I was definitely planning on having some fun with this one, but not going to destroy it by any means. And now that I know more about, I want to find as many original parts as I can to keep it that way. Will definitely keep posting pics as I get it going.

Battery capacity doesn't matter as long as the voltage is correct and the battery's physical size fits in the rig.

As for the wheels and tires. As far as I can tell from looking at the various manuals and exploded views it looks like all of the modern day nitro Rustler and Jato wheels and tires are still basically the same, right down to the bearing size for the front wheels. The modern front tires are ribbed instead of spiked and the rears are more block style nubs instead of spikes. There are also a lot of optional tires available. You could always just buy a set of new modern wheels and buy two sets of modern rear tires to put on the wheels. Or, if your wanting to reuse the original wheels the tires should still work.

Part Numbers:
Rear tires: 4790 was the original part number but doesn't seem to be available anymore. 4790R (updated version) which are discontinued but still available in certain places like ebay or 5572R which is the current model of rear tire but its a different style.

Front tires: 4780 was the original part number but doesn't seem to be available anymore. 4780R (updated version) which are discontinued but still available in certain places like ebay or 5574R which is the current model. Both models are ribbed.

Rear wheels: The original wheels 1872 & 1874 do not seem to be available. The modern day equivalent would be 5572, 4172 opt, 5576 opt, 5573 opt.

Front Wheels: The original wheels 1873 & 1875 do not seem to be available. The modern day equivalent would be 5574, 4174 opt, 1974 opt, 5577 opt, 5577A opt.

Also, can you post more pics of the Hawk, especially the rear end. Multiple different sides and angles would be nice. I'm trying to determine if that is the original Hawk (1989) or the Hawk 2 (1992-1997).

Let me know if these help.

 

[WickedFog]

Dude. That thing is a museum piece. I would shelf that one and buy a new Rustler to play with if it were me. Did you get a body with it? If so, how is it?