Adventures with Associated's CR-12...

[high plains drifter]

Thanks for the great review and cool pics, these trucks are a nice smaller scale without being too small (little smaller than TF2) and look like a ton of fun! Really like the LandCruiser pickup version, but the classic 80s Ford is sweet too, looking forward to your updates!

Thank you, Nate! Hopefully I'll have a Marlin Crawler here next week but I'm not 100% sure since it's a belated birthday gift from my wife and she hasn't said for sure whether that's what I'm getting or not. Fingers crossed!

So decided to get going on the new tie-rod. Started going thru all my RC10GT and T-Maxx stuff and couldn't find any threaded links even close to the right size... everything too long/ too short. Then I looked thru my TRX4 and Stampede stuff and found a 78.13mm turnbuckle. Problem was that it was a tad too short to securely accommodate the approx 18mm rod ends that I wanted to use. I wouldn't have been able to fully thread the ends on and that bugged me.

So I took at look at my Exceed MaxStone 1/16 and there it was. I felt bad but since I'm not currently using the EMS, it had "DONER" written all over it. I removed one of the lower control-arms and it was a PERFECT fit!. Went ahead and unscrewed the plastic ends, removed the green anodizing, threaded the new beefy rod ends on, and popped in a pair of pivot-balls. The balls are a bit more robust than the ones that come with the CR12 which is obviously a good thing. Only issue that I had to remedy at that point, was a little play due to the [also] larger ID of the balls. So I found some brass inserts in my bin of servo horns/ linkages that wound up being exactly what I needed. They had to be shortened by a few millimeters in order to sit flush with the top and bottom of the pivot-balls but otherwise they were perfect. Hopefully I explained that sufficiently.

Pic of original plastic tie-rod next to the new aluminum one. Note the screw with the brass inserts that will "capture" the pivot-ball and subsequently allow the screw to fit snugly so that there will be no play in this part of the steering.







And a pic of the tie-rod when it was still a lower control arm on the EMS lol...

 

[wacmartin]

Mine arrived today, woke up to the dog freaking out and a pounding on the door. At this point I wasn't a happy camper, nothing ever arrives early and my tracking had a delivery day of tomorrow on it. Add to the fact that Canada post was on strike for a while and all packages are supposed to be delayed. I work in healthcare on the evening shift and didn't get in last night until 2 hours after my shift should've finished, and all I had in my mind was sleeping in this morning, and some banking I need to complete for my dad. Alright maybe a little Fallout 76 later this afternoon.

My glare turned to a smile when I saw that surly bastard of a delivery driver, he said something about not being allowed to leave it on the porch, I told him it was about time they learned I paid extra for them not to leave it on the porch. I prefer the lady driver, she's pretty rough around the edges but she does her job properly and that goes a long way in my books.

Anyways that was my morning rant. My truck is going to have to wait until the weekend like I had planned based on the delivery date and I'm dealing with this mess.

The boat just needs a motor I already have, installed in it, the Savage Flux had a bearing self destruct and it's pretty much fused in the axle/bearing carrier. So that's going to require some work.

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[wacmartin]

When I sold my SCX10 all my suspension links went with it, so I'm going to have buy new or fab my own. What is the length of that link without the rod end on?

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[Natedog]

Nice job on the new tie-rod, but I'd pickup some brass tubing at the LHS to have on hand for any future sleeve needs.

Oooh, Marlin Crawler....hoping for you that's what you're getting, since that seems like what you want and they are tons of fun!

 

[high plains drifter]

When I sold my SCX10 all my suspension links went with it, so I'm going to have buy new or fab my own. What is the length of that link without the rod end on?

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80.38 mm

Nice job on the new tie-rod, but I'd pickup some brass tubing at the LHS to have on hand for any future sleeve needs.

Oooh, Marlin Crawler....hoping for you that's what you're getting, since that seems like what you want and they are tons of fun!

You mean so it doesn't wind up looking like a ghetto rig lol? Or do you foresee something else that I'm maybe overlooking?

Lol... yea I guess I've mentioned it a couple times. Just very hopeful to add a leaf-sprung vehicle to the fleet. I told her about it but never mentioned the price so we'll see. If not, then tax-refund time is coming lol!

 

[Natedog]

I've got a 1' piece of several sizes and they've come in handy for just such a use, sure that too lol. Magic 8-ball says outlook favorable. :ror:

"thumbsup"

 

[high plains drifter]

Got the tie-rod installed along with the DS3218 and aluminum servo arm. Problem I've run into now is that with this stronger torque servo, the linkage is hyper-extending when full lock drivers side. When turning the wheels back the other way, it's unfortunately staying locked up. When trying to turn the wheels in the opposite direction, the servo torque is getting absorbed into the soft shock-springs and [torque twisting] frame rails. It's as if the shock springs and flexing chassis are acting as a sort of servo saver lol. I guess this is a good and bad thing as it's keeping stress off the servo gears but obviously bad since I cannot turn the wheel back the other way.

I'm guessing that if I move the servo back a bit, it will remedy this as it will get the steering geometry more where it needs to be... subsequently allowing the servo arm to push the linkage more towards the side/ less towards the back. But in order to do this I believe the drag-link would have to be shortened ( replaced with a shorter drag-link). Hopefully I'll come up with a solution before long as I really want to get this rig back up and running asap.

 

[wacmartin]

I've read about the bad steering geometry in Extreme RC 4X4's thread, but these pictures show just how bad it really is. I'll add that to the list of what needs to be done. Now I just need to find the time to take the truck out of the box!

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[wacmartin]

Posting this in both threads, did anyone have trouble connecting the battery to the esc?
I can not get them connected, I mean I could probably do it, but it just should not take that much force. I'm afraid if I do get them connected I won't be able to get them disconnected, then the battery drains to a dangerous level and that's my fault. All I use is Dean's connectors and I've never had this problem before, it's definitely the battery to, I was able to connect one of 5000mah packs no problem.

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[high plains drifter]

Posting this in both threads, did anyone have trouble connecting the battery to the esc?
I can not get them connected, I mean I could probably do it, but it just should not take that much force. I'm afraid if I do get them connected I won't be able to get them disconnected, then the battery drains to a dangerous level and that's my fault. All I use is Dean's connectors and I've never had this problem before, it's definitely the battery to, I was able to connect one of 5000mah packs no problem.

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Did you try to squeeze the tabs a bit with some pliers? Someone else had this issue with their cr12 battery as well. Mine fits but I have to wiggle it some to get it connected. Doesn't take an undue amount of force though.Seems like I have to just line the two up perfectly or they wont connect.

 

[wacmartin]

That's what I did except I used my fingers to push them together, they fit in my charge leads perfectly.

 

[high plains drifter]

I used the supplied servo arm that comes with the DS3218 servo. When I initially installed it, I mounted the drag-link at the outer most hole ( 23mm from center). But I decided to move the drag-link to the inside hole ( 19mm from center). This seems to help the geometry somewhat and when I ran the cr12 fairly hard today, the linkage only got locked up once or twice. Made for a pretty enjoyable day although I still need to get the servo moved back a touch in order to hopefully eliminate any and all binding. Making progress!

This was the first time running the CR12 FJ45 on the hardcore rocks and she did quite well! I switched out to a much softer RC4WD Rock Creeper tire X3 compound ( 1.9 x 3.76") while my buddy ran his OEM tires/ wheels on his CR12 F150. Both trucks maintained most of the same lines throughout the day although there were obviously quite a few places that his struggled. He also still has the OEM servo and servo-saver which [even with the small stock tires] caused some headaches. Overall, a really fun day with these little rigs. Anyway... Onto some pics...































After running the CR12's on the rocks, we decided to do a little trailing with the TRX4's. Although overnight lows have been down into the 40's lately, the daytime highs have been in the low 70's and with the abundant sunshine, this [approx 3 1/2'] water-snake decided to come check out the fun! More accurately, I think he was a bit ticked off that we were stirring up all the leaves that he was hiding underneath of lol. Probably since the water was a tad chilly, he opted to just warm himself on the bank of the lake as we went about our fun. Always love seeing wildlife when out and about!

 

[durok]

Fantastic quality photographs!

Whereabouts in Austin were you guys?

 

[high plains drifter]

Thank you, durok! This was over at Lake Bastrop off of 95. Pics of CR12's were taken at the North Shore area of the park. The TRX'4 pics in the other thread were taken at the South Shore area. Really great place to crawl rocks as well as trail. Usually not very crowded in the winter months.

I hopefully will be getting a new camera before too long as this one is really lacking in many regards. Fortunately, every once in a while I'm able to get a couple decent shots. Best thing about this camera is the flip-out rotating LCD screen. Without it, my already battered body would be just about incapacitated from laying on rocks after sessions like these lmao.

 

[wacmartin]

Took my CR12 out in the backyard this afternoon I'm having some fun with it. I noticed that rear driver's side wheel pop up when coming off throttle, kind of funny looking. Has anyone figured out how to remedy this issue?
The throttle needs to be turned down as well. I was going full throttle and went to brake but it went straight to reverse and did a reverse wheelie. Of course I did that a few more times, because it was pretty funny but thought I might strip a gear so I cut that out. I'm going to have to sit down with the manual and see if there's any way to reprogram the ESC.

I think I'd have more fun if the weather was nice. It was -3°celius so 28° farenheit without the wind chill and the wind did pick up, plus I was out behind the garage so there was no sun what so ever.

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[high plains drifter]

Took my CR12 out in the backyard this afternoon I'm having some fun with it. I noticed that rear driver's side wheel pop up when coming off throttle, kind of funny looking. Has anyone figured out how to remedy this issue?
The throttle needs to be turned down as well. I was going full throttle and went to brake but it went straight to reverse and did a reverse wheelie. Of course I did that a few more times, because it was pretty funny but thought I might strip a gear so I cut that out. I'm going to have to sit down with the manual and see if there's any way to reprogram the ESC.

I think I'd have more fun if the weather was nice. It was -3°celius so 28° farenheit without the wind chill and the wind did pick up, plus I was out behind the garage so there was no sun what so ever.

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Since this rig is still very new to me, I'm not sure but the wheel coming up was what I was referring to when I said that it looks like a dog hiking it's leg. There is apparently no way to regulate the braking momentum... at least not through the transmitter. I am still running the ESC in "normal" mode. Whether setting it to "crawler" mode would remedy this I don't know. Haven't tried that yet. The very soft springs and easily torque-twisting frame are only exacerbating the behavior. There sure doesn't seem to be much info in the manuals that are provided with the CR12. The breakdown diagrams look good but there certainly isn't much in the way of useful text.

 

[high plains drifter]

I still haven't installed the new servo/ battery plate but my buddy is moving full speed ahead on his rig. Ran both trucks fairly hard over the past week and only damage were two broken side-view mirrors on my buddy's rig and one broken side-view mirror on mine. These are proving to be pretty tough little trucks.

Mods that he's done so far:

Alum sideways mounted battery tray
Alum rear chassis plate ( for mounting ESC and RX)
High-clearance transmission case
Custom fabricated alum front bumper with Warn knockoff winch
Custom fabricated plastic rear bumper
Floureon 11.1v 20c 1000mAh battery with JST plug
DS 3218 steering servo
OEM servo-saver grub-screw lockout mod
Deans to JST adapter
1.55" Ram #18008 CNC billet bead-lock wheels
Front Warn scale hubs
Rear SSD hubs














I haven't done any additional mods to mine besides what I already listed previously in this thread. I will be upgrading to a 1000mAh 20c 3S lipo soon since my run time and wheel speed are no longer on par with his. I've got some vintage Yota steel wheels and IROK ND 1.55" tires on the way. Looking forward to trying these out. My buds truck is really sagging due to the additional weight that he's added. Mine isn't as bad but shocks/ springs on both trucks need to be addressed. Both of us will be trying out some soft yellow TRX4 springs soon. We'll also look at going to a bit heavier shock oil ( 25-30wt) and see how that goes. Shock body diameter on the CR12 and TRX4 are almost identical fwiw. Stay tuned.

Short story here regarding my buddy's strange-looking front bumper: When he was in high school, his brother had an '85-'86 F150 step-side in blue/ silver two-tone... just like the Associated CR12 version. He and his brother fabricated a one of a kind hardcore front bumper for it with insane brush-guard rails that ran down the sides of the front quarter panels. So that's where the inspiration came from regarding this unique custom F-150 bumper that you see on his CR12. Not necessarily my cup of tea but I think it's quite cool that he's been able to find someone to duplicate it for his 1/12th scale rig. And yes... his brother thinks this is pretty darn cool too!

 

[high plains drifter]

Went ahead and installed the new battery tray/ servo relocation plate and it's completely cured the issue of the drag-link hyper-extension. No longer is the servo fighting to unlock and turn back the other way. Full movement drive/ pass lock. Awesome!

I also installed some 1.55 steel d-window bead-locks from RC4WD onto some super soft and grippy RC4WD IROK ND Swampers. They seem to do fantastic on the rocks although I haven't run them much at all on the trail yet. Added a pair of SSD rear hubs and RC4WD Warn lock-outs on the front and completed the look with some TINY acorn lugs from LURC. No more embarrassing 1.9 wheels ever going on this little rig lol.

Another thing that's been bugging me is the white backing on the inside of this rig so I went ahead and covered it in satin black. I also sprayed the bed for a bed-liner effect. Came out great and the truck now looks SO much better! I was going to originally tint the windows but I think they're fine as is on this particular vehicle. Next for the body will be more realistic-looking reflective marker lights, a fuel filler neck, door handles, and a coat of flat white on the roof.

I also went ahead and gave the front bumper a bit of character by adding some D-rings. Had to drill the holes for the D-ring mounts and had to remove a bit of material on the backside in order for it to bolt up flush/ tight but easy job for sure and definitely looking a little more trail-worthy now imo.

My buddy tried the TRX4 .22 yellow springs on his rig with fairly negative results. His Ford F-150 CR12 is quite a bit heavier than my FJ40 but not heavy enough with the .22's to be able to keep all 4 sides on the ground when fully articulating. They eliminated the sag that was very prevalent on his rig but it came at too high of a price. We threw in some 30wt Associated shock oil and a good deal of stick-on weights to the rear chassis plate, as well as making some preload adjustment to the collars so we'll see how it does next time out.

Few pics of our latest run before we ran out of daylight.

 

[high plains drifter]

Talking to myself but it's cool. I know these trucks aren't very popular. Still... It's such a fun rig! This weekend we took a total of 6 rigs out to play. It was amazing to see what my buddy's TRX4 struggled with... that the CR12 just bounced and clawed it's way right through! I will say that he has a LOT of weight on the top of his rig and it's really starting to hinder performance but regardless... even locked f/r, he wasn't able to do a lot of what my CR12 did. This was on very loose silica based dirt with tons of loose rock... no grip.

Anyway... the best mods that I've made to this CR12 I would say are: the shocks, the tires, and the 3S lipo. I highly recommend these ( or similar) mods to anyone wanting to get this little rig.

> Team Associated #41020 threaded aluminum shocks
> RC4WD Interco IROK ND 1.55" X2-S3 compound tires
> Floureon 11.1v 20C 1000mAh lipo battery


This is the connector/ adapter that I got in order to keep using the stock ESC with lipo. Keep that in mind if wanting to go this route.




Bumper mods... I went ahead and removed 13mm off each end of the front bumper, and removed 5mm from the mounting posts in order to tuck it in closer to the chassis. It came out really nice and because I cut right up flush with the reinforcing ribs on the back side of the bumper, it now looks solid or boxed rather than c-channel... more stout. I also did this on the rear, removing 3.5mm on either end. Final step after sanding was to paint it and rather than silver, why not white? I think it came out great!







These upgraded shocks are simply fantastic compared to the almost all-plastic components of the originals. I'm running 30wt oil in them and the stock springs fwiw.




I also did a satin white spray on the exterior roof as it just looked too translucent with the factory white [lightly] painted on the inside. I plan to fabricate some inner fenders in the front and maaaybe in the back, as well as a faux firewall to continue making this look more and more scale. Real reflectors front and back are also coming... as well as some more details that I've previously mentioned.

Okay... more trail pics!

 

[Brake Weight]

I read and gawk.