74 bronco build

[Ditchrat]

So a scx10 kit and rtr just didn't do it for me. I enjoyed mod'n both so much I decided to do a ground up build.

When I was just out of the Coast Guard I picked up a 71 bronco, so this 74 is close enough.
Started with a Jconcepts body. Man its big, it sits completely on top of my dingo.

Painted it up like my old bronco, except mine was originally white and red, so it had a white interior. That wasn't going to cut it.

With the muse in place she needed a chassis. I was torn between going with a scx10 chassis or not. Or not won, I figured I might end up with some different options. Its really not that far of a departure.

After a little time in the shop it got a nice powder coat in flat black.

So that's where I am at so far. TKO-10 axles with the rear truss showed up today. I am waiting on a VP panhard mount before I can move forward.

The plan for this will be a forward mounted motor giving me room for a full interior. I have a rc4wd R3 single speed transmission and transfer case on the way.

I'm setting it up for coil overs, but something keeps pulling me toward rear leafs. May someone will talk me into them.

 

[Zukiiholic]

Good looking chassis..
I like your Idea..
Coils and leafs would be a nice scale touch..

 

[Bmxreeves]

Subbed'


1.9 Ibex tuber

 

[WesTX]

Good looking chassis..
I like your Idea..
Coils and leafs would be a nice scale touch..

Some fabricated radius arms would make it even cooler!

Interested to see where this one goes.

Wes

 

[Bmxreeves]

Some fabricated radius arms would make it even cooler!

Interested to see where this one goes.

Wes

Radius arms would be cool just making them and mounting them would be an issue

 

[steven318is]

isnt gcm working on radius arms for the ascender i saw it on facebook a few weeks ago

 

[new2rocks]

Nice start. Yes to rear leafs. My Ascender Bronco is running great with them. And yes to GCM radius arms coming soon. I can't wait to get my hands on them once they come out.

 

[Ditchrat]

Parts are starting to trickle in, but I am avoiding the urge to start slapping thing on just to do some work, knowing I might end up having to move or redo fitment as new parts show up.

To satiate my need to tinker, I started working on some lighting. I went a different route so far. Normally I just break out the LED,s resistors and wires and go at it. This time I happened across some ridiculously bright LED's flash lights that run off of 4.5v which is close enough to the 5v out put on my receiver.

So for a buck I got a lens, bucket, 3 LED's, and a on off switch.
The light ran off a common positive and separate grounds to the casing. I soldered in a jumper and ran two leads to solve that issue. I didn't use the lens as I have masked the head lights, which made gluing the buckets in easy. A thin coat of flexible uv cement(used on cell phone screens) a minute worth of light and I got a nice clear bond between the plastic and lexan.

 

[Ditchrat]

Got a little work done on the drive train this week. Everything is still in mock up until I get the rest of the parts in. Right now I have it set for 90mm shocks, which I think are going to be just a little short. I have decided on the rear leafs, however I currently have the 4 link truss attached. Since leafs are going to be new to me, and its a little fun too, I am considering running the truss and a 2 link on uppers until I start running it and sort things out.

I got the trans and transfer case st. It's kind of funny the fine line between free turning and binding. I had it all spinning nice until I did the final bolt down, then noticed a little resistance. I was off just a CH, but was able to fix it with a 1/16 plate under the transfer case.

So the next mess was getting a drive shaft in there. You can see that the trans and transfer case are off set. I was thinking that I could use the input shaft to drive the front wheels to give me an over/under drive effect while using the same gears in the axle. The drive shaft was pretty simple to work out, sorry for the lack of pictures. Basically I took a piece of steel, cut down a pair of +'s to match the axial ends, then ran a 3mm rod(threaded) down the center(tapped) to give it lateral tension. Unfortunately I had to cut the collars that hold the pins in to reinstall everything. So I just JB wielded them in place and put shrink wrap over them for a little extra.

Over all I think I can live with the angle, and I had little vibration coming out of it when I tested it.

So the motor position..... Well I just don't know. In order to get the trans in during full compression this is where is needs to be. I clears the lowest I can get the body on by 1/16". I don't really have any adjustment, but it is as simple as making another set of mounting plates. I still have a little wiggle room in clocking the motor, which might get it a little lower.

So far there is a lot of weight up front, and I think by the time I'm done this won't be a light weight. But I'll just have to see and adjust.

Other than that I made up some links(f'ed up the front an need to make new one), saddle mounted battery brackets, and got the pan hard mount in. I'm sure that the frame mount is moving, but I wanted to get the chassis good and locked in for mounting the trans/transfer case. As you can see stock axial links are good for something. Waiting on a bumper servo mount before I go ahead and finish the axles and steering.

Well that's about it for now. I am open to any suggestions, particularly on the rear leaf set up.

 

[suttons10]

I like those rims where did ya snag them at


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Ditchrat]

I like those rims where did ya snag them at


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Chicom imports:lmao:

4 for $40 on sale on ebay, normally 45-50. Can't beat it.

 

[Ditchrat]

Tko10 axle housing with beeftubes, axial HD gears, and I'm giving these gmade shocks a try.

Right now there is axial 27t motor out of a deadbolt. I'm in the process of building a motor for it. I have some magnets out at a friend's being zapped, after that I'll see if I can get a matched pair, wind up a arm then get balancing.

So I went with a transmission and transfer case. I read about switching the input/output to give it a od/ud affect. The motor sits a little high, but for now I'll deal.

Tapatalk is giving me picture sizing grief, Im going to take a break and see if I can change the settings. More tomorrow.

 

[Ditchrat]

So the 74 bronco is now a 73 bronco. The Jconcepts body was too wide and just didnt work for me.

I stayed with the same black and red color scheme.


Until my polystyrene skills develop, I took the easier way out and went with the pro-line interior.


I also did some internal rearrangements. The servo winch got moved to a plate above the sliders, which in turn meant that I needed to move the battery aft. I needed a little weight back there anyway so it worked out.
It also gave me a chance to clean up the wiring. The biggest change was that after some running with shocks, I got the truck settled down enough to install the read leaf springs. The rear shocks do not have the internal springs installed, and I am looking for something that works a little better. The shock body on the gmades are way to long.


I needed some lights, still might do the reverse, brake, headlight thing, but for now I installed a roof rack with bar, 12v volt bumper and rock lights.



All that is left is to drive the snot out of it."thumbsup"