Another TRX4, this time a KIT !

[ScoJac]

Well I finally pulled the trigger and purchased the KIT. I have been going back and forth on wether to buy the Kit or the RTR with red stripes. I forgot I had an Amazon gift crd for a $100 so I picked up the Kit and it only ran $269 out of pocket.

(parts links below for those that are interested or new ?)

I decided I wanted to keep this one basic and simple, so I ditched all the stock electronics. I picked up a Tactic TTX300 radio and receiver, Savox SA-1230SG servo, Samix Servo horn, Hobbywing 1080 esc, Traxxas #8296 single speed transmission conversion, and finally 2 Traxxas #8297 Diff locker spools.

Other than the parts listed above, the only other things I added was a XT90 connector and a 6" pigtail with a XT30 connector for later use for lights or a winch or whatever.

And of course the diff spools are on back order everywhere, my LHS called their Rep and he thinks they should be back in stock in a little over a week. Thats ok, it'll be a while yet before I can get out and for the trails to dry out.....besides I have the new Ascender F-100 that still has yet to have her maiden run yet.

As far as the build, AMAZING...Absolutely AMAZING "thumbsup"
I knew the TRX was built like a beast, but while assembling the kit I took the time to actually give all the pieces a good look over and I am blown away on the quality and engineering on this chassis.....Traxxas hit a Grand Slam on this one "thumbsup"
I am impressed with my Defender always have been, but since building the Kit I am even more impressed.

When it came time to add oil to the shocks I first lubed up the X-Rings with some Associated Green Slime lube and for the oil I went with some Losi 20wt. Oh man they feel nice, silky smooth and the damping feels great. "thumbsup"

Since they have been just sitting on a shelf waiting for another rig to come home I bolted up the SSD Assassin wheels with the SSD brake rotor hubs.
These are wrapped in some Proline Hyrax tires and stuffed with Proline Dual-Stage-Foams

The only hiccup I ran into was that one gear (24t output gear) that was machined to the wrong I.D. tolerance as the bearing would not fit into it...Thats ok, that gear is not used when doing the single speed conversion anyway. I will contact Traxxas for a replacement anyways.

I do like the forward battery tray, I stuck one of my 1300 3s packs from my plane up there and there is room to go to a higher mAh pack. I will prolly take the chassis down to the LHS and test fit some batteries and see what will fill that cavity up.

As for a body for it......been thinking of picking up the Bronco body and everything need to complete it but in clear so I can choose my own color. BUT that will run about $120.00 :shock:

I did pick up the 1973 Bronco body from Proline, but it's only 7.1" wide and the wheelwells and rock slider channels are currently at 8".

SO, Do I pull off the wheel wells and run them down to the belt sander and narrow them or just bite the bullet and drop the cash on Traxxas's Bronco body and goods ?

GRRRRRRR :roll:
Maybe I should have just bought the RTR ?

Anyways, here are some pics.

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[Schs2013]

Nice build. I'm thinking of getting a kit to build something similar. I bought the RTR tactical it's pretty good. But taking out some of the features out for me is a possibility but I like having them makes it feel different from the other trail trucks out there.

Sent from my FRD-L14 using Tapatalk

 

[tcanin00]

Make sure to contact Traxxas for a replacement gear. I shattered mine trying to press the bearing. $14 lesson.

Sent from my HTC Desire 626 using Tapatalk

 

[ScoJac]

Make sure to contact Traxxas for a replacement gear. I shattered mine trying to press the bearing. $14 lesson.

Sent from my HTC Desire 626 using Tapatalk

For sure, I'll be calling then Monday. Although that gear is not being used due to the single speed conversion, when I buy something I expect it to be in working order.

 

[BCCrawlerZ]

Does the kit give you the option of locked diffs full time?

 

[OldNASCARCrawler]

The one we have does not

YRMV

 

[ScoJac]

Does the kit give you the option of locked diffs full time?

Traxxas part # 8297 is needed, they run $10 each.

 

[Schs2013]

Does the kit give you the option of locked diffs full time?

You can just leave the diffs in locked position. Or replacement with a spool personal preference thing.

Sent from my FRD-L14 using Tapatalk

 

[ScoJac]

Make sure to contact Traxxas for a replacement gear. I shattered mine trying to press the bearing. $14 lesson.

Sent from my HTC Desire 626 using Tapatalk

I called Traxxas Support and they are sending out a new 24t input gear "thumbsup"



Now something I noticed on the left side of the kit manual pages were footnotes listing optional parts and accessories...
Here is a Link to the KIT MANUAL

here are just a few of them that are listed in the manual

8249 Slipper eliminator plates
8140 and 8140X lift kits
8060 and 8061 HD Axles
8279r standard machined ring and pinion just like the over/under drive gear sets 8287 and 8288
8063 HD Portal Stub Axles
8060 and 8061 HD Diff Axles
8247x Steel servo arm
8065 Machined Input Portal Gears
8280x Chrome Diff Cover
8297 Diff Spools
8296 Single Speed Conversion

Other parts listed, but w/o part #'s
aluminum portal housings
aluminum portal housing axle adaptors
aluminum wheel hexes
aluminum link mounts
Aluminum caster blocks (c-hubs)

 

[tcanin00]

Glad they're sending you a new gear. I was too impatient to wait, broke it, paid for a new one, and still had to wait.

Sent from my HTC Desire 626 using Tapatalk

 

[JatoTheRipper]

The TRX-4 is impressive.

Instead of grinding down the wheels can you just get narrower drive hexes?

 

[ScoJac]

Glad they're sending you a new gear. I was too impatient to wait, broke it, paid for a new one, and still had to wait.

Sent from my HTC Desire 626 using Tapatalk

My replacement gear showed up today. The guy I spoke to at Traxxas was cool about it and shipped it out no problem. This one is machined in the recess to accept the bearing....stuff happens and gets missed by QC from time to time. I just tossed it in the ziplock bag with the rest of the unused 2 speed gears.

I picked up a Proline 1973 Bronco body. I'm unsure what body color it will be but I have decided that the roof, hood and grille will be black and then flat cleared. As for the body, I'm considering white, silver, metallic orange, metallic blue, copper, camel yellow, champaign gold, or mustard yellow. My gut is telling me to just stay simple and go with white.

Will go simple and pick up the basic flat bumpers from SSD or just make my own out of some flat stock steel to mimic those SSD bumpers ?

I did try a 3s 2200mAh in the front battery tray and it fits.

I'm still waiting on the back-ordered diff spools to get back in stock.

 

[ScoJac]

This weekend I picked up the Samix TRX4 Servo Horn, the fit and clearance is pretty good and the horn is beefy as all get out too. Oh ya, it is 22mm hole to hole !

But today the Traxxas 8247X metal horn (25t) showed up on my doorstep. Looks almost exactly as the plastic one and is almost the same profile. I might swap this with the Samix horn and see if the fit and clearances are even better.

I was originally going to pick up the same horn from Hot Racing that is on my Defender (thats 20mm & 22mm also) but it was on back order and the Traxxas and Samix horns were available.

Anyways, just wanted you all to know that the Traxxas metal horn is now available.


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[ScoJac]

Nothing new to report here, the rig is just sitting unable to move. WAITING on Traxxas to restock the diff spools. I did manage to cut out the Proline '73 Bronco body and ordered up some Axial Dingo fender flares. Hopefully get some time to get working on the body soon. I ran the inner fender wells through the band saw and cleaned them up on on the sanding disc, the body will fit great as far as width but the TRX4 frame is quite long and its going to be close but the body JUST fits lengthwise.

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[ScoJac]

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR, Come on Traxxas....your diff spools have been back ordered long enough. This rig has been sitting collecting dust for almost a month and a half :x
I even thought about ordering up the much more expensive ones from Leading Edge, but his are out of stock as well.

I hope to get some work done to the '73 Bronco body today. Plan is to paint the roof and the cowl on the hood black (maybe the grill too?) and then the body in either white or silver, I picked up all three colors just need to decide on the body color. Then I'll mask the windows and flat clear the entire exterior.

Also been toying with the idea of ordering up a Mamba X esc and a Holmes Hobbies 1400kv Revolver outrunner motor...that sound of the motor is soooo cool "thumbsup"

 

[o0wiz0o]

Why don’t you just use the stock diffs and lock them for now. Just fill the spider gear area with something unmovable.

 

[ScoJac]

Why don’t you just use the stock diffs and lock them for now. Just fill the spider gear area with something unmovable.

Been thinking about doing that... If the spools don’t come in soon I’ll probably toss in the gear sets and lock them with a couple washers. I do have 3 other rigs I can run, it’s just frustrating that I have a new toy and can’t even play with it


Have managed to get some paint on the body, 3rd coat of white drying now. I’ll post up some pics when I finish it.

 

[ScoJac]

I went super simple.
I still have 2 coats of black to throw down, add a couple stickers, mask the windows and then flat clear the exterior. Then I can mount up the Axial Dingo fender flares.

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[ScoJac]

The 60 hour work week is over...finally, I should be able to get some flat clear on the body today. still deciding on if I should flatten the whole thing or just the roof, hood cowl and grill and keep the white glossy ?

Also thinking about picking up the Traxxas '79 Bronco body and trim parts as well. Then add my own color and de-chrome the chrome trim.

I'll throw up some pics of it after I finish throwing down some flat clear.

Here is a pic of it all shiny and on the chassis so I could set the body post height and trim where necessary.

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[durok]

Flat clear on everything except the windows, the white will look great matte'd out...

I did my K10 RTR body - AFTER it was beat to crap, still was miles better looking when done.

And I even got lazy when spraying the inside of the body black (I dislike "translucent" painted Lexan bodies - especially without inner fenders to hide the body color)....

As you can see, since I had no window masks (it being an pre-painted RTR body) I just said eff' it and went "limo tint".

I also failed to mask the side windows when spraying the matte clear, but they were quite scratched up so it didn't come out too bad.

I now have a clear K10 cab to do up right - and I'll do the color from the inside first - likely a Tamiya "Blue Anodized Aluminum" which turns out to be a vintage metallic blue with a slight silver hue.

Then, back the inside w/black (masking all windows) and matte clear the exterior (after masking ALL windows from the exterior).

Should look excellent, my only indecisive thought is whether to do a two-tone with pearl white roof, or pearl white sides in-between the trim lines as well.

Current basher body shot: