zanthrax
Pebble Pounder
Hi,
I've been working on a Honcho, my first crawler, 3rd RC, for the past 3 months and thought I should show off what I've done so far since this board has been a lot of help.
Here it's is stock
After a few runs I started modding.
I didn't like the flexing in the plasic suspension links so I replaced those with DIY links made from Traxxas rod ends, M3 stainless rod and brass tubes. I covered that with black and white heat shrink tubing.
Since the RTR already includes the part needed to convert the front to 4 link suspension and I was making 6 new links, why not make 8? I didn't like to 3 link design and there was some play in the ball joint on the upper link at the side of the axle. I also figured out that using one of the metal balls that came with the Traxxas rod ends in that spot fixes that problem. But I wen't with 4 link anyway.
In hindsight I should have gotten the longer rod ends, just to be sure, and I should have used aluminum tubing painted flat black, I'm thinking that would look great when it gets scratched up.
I might try that some time, I'm thinking of making a second set of shorter links to mount a Dingo body. I've always liked that more than the Honcho and a shorter wheelbase means more ground clearance.
The skidplate looks cool but doesn't really work, the front axle doesn't get stuck that often anymore but it has lost a lot of ground clearance. I might make a smaller mounting bracket for it, I'll probably ditch it entirely.
The metal links improved the car a lot. But I wasn't happy about the axle mounted servo, it doesn't look right and it was rubbing on the frame. Because the front was now 4 linked, the servo also just had 2 mounting points on the axle left instead of 3.
I went with the Level3 CMS plate because I didn't see the need for a panhard bar.
I that picture you can also see a set of small plates I made to raise te front bumper a bit. In the stoch position it was getting caught on stuff way to much and I didn't like the idea of cutting it. The raised bumper does help but I'm currently figuring out how to braze or solder brass to make a custom front bumper.
The steering rod also Level3, the stock plastic one is way too bendy.
I added some accessories to the rear deck. The roofbars are M3 rod and brass tubing cover by heat shrink tubing, like the suspension links. I made them to fill up the holes left by a Proline roofrack that didn't look right, it was too large.
I also didn't like the speed, with the stock 27T motor it pops wheelies in reverse, not very scale. I switched to the 55T axial motor, it's cheap, gives scale speed with stock gearing and adds quite a bit of torque.
Todo:
- plasti dip the electronics, if I can find the stuff, so far I've only found the spraycans.
- get some beadlock wheels to try various tires.
- lift the truck a bit for more flex, might make some adapters, might just get longer shocks.
Some pictures from my last drive.
I've been working on a Honcho, my first crawler, 3rd RC, for the past 3 months and thought I should show off what I've done so far since this board has been a lot of help.
Here it's is stock
After a few runs I started modding.
I didn't like the flexing in the plasic suspension links so I replaced those with DIY links made from Traxxas rod ends, M3 stainless rod and brass tubes. I covered that with black and white heat shrink tubing.
Since the RTR already includes the part needed to convert the front to 4 link suspension and I was making 6 new links, why not make 8? I didn't like to 3 link design and there was some play in the ball joint on the upper link at the side of the axle. I also figured out that using one of the metal balls that came with the Traxxas rod ends in that spot fixes that problem. But I wen't with 4 link anyway.
In hindsight I should have gotten the longer rod ends, just to be sure, and I should have used aluminum tubing painted flat black, I'm thinking that would look great when it gets scratched up.
I might try that some time, I'm thinking of making a second set of shorter links to mount a Dingo body. I've always liked that more than the Honcho and a shorter wheelbase means more ground clearance.
The skidplate looks cool but doesn't really work, the front axle doesn't get stuck that often anymore but it has lost a lot of ground clearance. I might make a smaller mounting bracket for it, I'll probably ditch it entirely.
The metal links improved the car a lot. But I wasn't happy about the axle mounted servo, it doesn't look right and it was rubbing on the frame. Because the front was now 4 linked, the servo also just had 2 mounting points on the axle left instead of 3.
I went with the Level3 CMS plate because I didn't see the need for a panhard bar.
I that picture you can also see a set of small plates I made to raise te front bumper a bit. In the stoch position it was getting caught on stuff way to much and I didn't like the idea of cutting it. The raised bumper does help but I'm currently figuring out how to braze or solder brass to make a custom front bumper.
The steering rod also Level3, the stock plastic one is way too bendy.
I added some accessories to the rear deck. The roofbars are M3 rod and brass tubing cover by heat shrink tubing, like the suspension links. I made them to fill up the holes left by a Proline roofrack that didn't look right, it was too large.
I also didn't like the speed, with the stock 27T motor it pops wheelies in reverse, not very scale. I switched to the 55T axial motor, it's cheap, gives scale speed with stock gearing and adds quite a bit of torque.
Todo:
- plasti dip the electronics, if I can find the stuff, so far I've only found the spraycans.
- get some beadlock wheels to try various tires.
- lift the truck a bit for more flex, might make some adapters, might just get longer shocks.
Some pictures from my last drive.
