Bodies
The BODY list….
This list covers the currently known bodies that will help you build your General Lee. They are all different shapes and sizes, with each one listed, I give the available specs and any opinion or experience that might help.
If anyone has any experience in their builds and would like to add what fits with what or what worked for them, contact me and I’ll add the info.
The first body in the list is injection molded plastic, known as the “hardbody.” It is molded in the color orange and is pretty strong. The rest of the bodies listed are made of vacuum-formed lexan, which are clear and you have to paint and sticker.
Malibu International or “Walmart body”
Specs:
wheelbase is roughly 270mm
front width measured from the middle of the wheel wells is 173mm, rear width measured the same is 180mm
It is also heavy, injection molded plastic….which gives it some durability over lexan. It weighs about 420 grams, for example…a typical 1/10 scale lexan body weighs about half that.
The weight should be taken into consideration more so if you are using a chassis that is smaller than 1/10 scale….like I did with a Duratrax vendetta, which uses a 380 size motor and esc….even with low gearing, your motor and speed control may run hot, adding fans would be a good idea.
I first bought this car from a Walmart around 2006 or 2007, but soon after, I could only find them on Ebay, maybe even Craigslist. I’ve seen them for $35, and up to $200.
In my opinion, it is the best looking body, but it’s typically the most expensive and hardest to find. Typical 1/10 scale rc car bodes are not true 1/10 scale, they are much wider which may upset how sexy the car looks. I think this is a major reason Gen Lee builds based on the hardbody just have “that look.”
Potential Chassis:
HPI cup racer
Duratrax Vendetta ( buggy or short course truck ) are the correct widths
Tamiya TA02 chassis
Others may work, but these are the chassis that are known to fit
Kyosho 1970 Dodge Charger 1/10 Lexan
This is a 1970 so the nose is a little different, but I think it is the best option if you can’t get a Malibu body. It is standard touring car width (200mm) so it will fit a TT01 style chassis (and others) a lot easier! Here is a link to check it out on Kyosho’s website. They offer painted (black/blue) versions if you don’t want to do a General Lee theme but still want a bad-ass Charger.
LINK
HPI 1969 Dodge Charger Monster Truck
Specs:
Material: Lexan
Wheelbase: approx. 305mm ( very big wheel openings, seen as seen in above pic)
Front Width: 180mm Rear Width: 185mm
In many ways, HPI’s body is really good, but the monster wheel openings do hurt it’s overall look, and having to cut out the engine blower in the hood kinda’ sucks, but in the end still looks pretty good ( like the pic above.) Many thanks to lawdog185 on rcuniverse.com, he did a great looking build!
Potential Chassis:
Tamiya M04L
HPI Cup Racer
If you use a 190mm touring car chassis, it can work, but the wheels/tires will stick out a bit on the sides.
Bolink / rccarkings.com / rjspeed 69 Charger
Specs:
Material: Lexan
Width : front 8.4″, rear 8.6″
Wheelbase: 10″ or 11″
Part # BOL2257
I have not used this body, but from the pic’s, it looks pretty good. It is wide enough to fit on a 190mm or 200mm wide touring car chassis, or perhaps a Tamiya DF03RA rally chassis.
Protoform 2005 Dodge Charger
First off, this body is no longer made, which sucks because DragonCustoms on drccentral.com is an awesome build. It is based on a 2005 Dodge Charger, so obviously right car, wrong year, but with this build, it doesn’t matter.
The little I do know about this body is that it’s sized for a typical touring car. I’ve looked on Ebay and Craiglslist trying to find one, but no luck so far.
Kamtec 69 Charger ( kamtecmodels on ebay )
Specs:
460 mm long x 195mm wide
wheelbase of around 260mm
These guys are located in the UK, south of England.