Badmuthatrucker
Quarry Creeper
I am not going to lie to you all, I was more than a little bit happy when I was given the opportunity to build and review this little fourbie.
If you haven't checked out the specs yet, you can right here: Gelande II Truck Kit w/Defender D90 Body Set
The obvious place to start is packaging and presentation. Presentation is brilliant. Apart from the glossy photos on the box, there is all the specs and factual information an experienced customer would need to know, printed right on the box.
The Ge2 is packed in the same way that the Trail Finder 2 is, in short, well. The metal parts, and there are more of them this time around, are separated in two tiers of foam trays, the hardware bags are contained in one large baggy and the smaller parts (still mostly metal) in another, along with the wheels and tyres below. Right in the bottom of the box is the D90 body set, within a box of it's own. Also there is a bag of decals. One large sheet with general logos and stuff and a smaller one with stripes to replicate the box art if you wish to do so.
The hardware is all bagged individually by size, thread type and head style. Be aware that the manual will state whether any given screw is a pan head or countersunk, as there a numerous screws the same size but the head differs for different applications.
Yes, MOAR METAL... Always a good thing. Particularly when it's bumpers and body mounts.
Now, the contents of the body box. Contents... there is a lot. Full depth interior, clear molded plastic windows (not vacuum formed lexan), chrome bits, the body is molded in a neutral white, a bag of fasteners and hardware.
Assembly is straight forward, with the instructions advising you on what size hex drivers are required and any other tools, which are a bare minimum compared some things I have built recently (yes, the hardware is all metric, so no need for a mix of different drivers). I do recommend picking up a set of hex drivers if you don't have them already. You will get sore fingers fiddling with Allen keys, and the general $2 bin at the hardware store Allen keys round off easily and will ruin the kit hardware.
I won't bore you with a step by step analysis, because if you follow the manual and take care on part location, the correct screw for the step and a little common sense, the assemble is relatively quick and painless. Assembling the chassis reminded me of one of those balsa dinosaur kits, every relief is milled to perfection and it just falls together. I do recommend using blue grade thread lock on all metal to metal joining screws.
I will point out a few little things, though:
Be careful when fixing the transfer case to the cross member. Because it sits slightly clocked, there is an optical illusion to what angle the screws go in. Also, do note that one screw is shorter than the other. Messing either up will result in a stripped thread. Not good.
There is a left and right rear shock hoop. Obvious when you see it!
Don't miss the insert diagram when fixing the top of the shock, you need to place the wee spacer in there or you get bindage.
You may want to consider opening the axles, transfer box and transmission to add extra grease, and/or just to have a sticky beak. The single speed R3 is full of metal gears, as too the Hammer transfer box and the Yota 2 axles (Look down for what you will find in there) I used Tamiya HG Ceramic grease in the transmission and Tamiya Moly in the axles (ring/pinion in both, and front joints). The ceramic grease has less sticktion than moly, so it is better suited to fast spinning gears, where the moly is at better use on the ring and pinions that are not turning as fast but are under more pressure. Note: Molybdenum grease that you buy from the autoparts store for 1:1 applications is much thicker than the Tamiya stuff, so go easy on it if you go that way, it puts more load on the motor and drive line.
That really is the only additional advise I need to share, it was a very enjoyable, dare say it, easy build. With the main transmission components, shocks, beadlocks & tyres and driveshafts pre assembled, you are done before you know it. Well, actually, you are fully aware when you have a complete chassis. That's a rather stupid saying.
Once assembled, the main chassis will hit you with two realisations: 1, it's extremely rigid. None of that twisty-springy malarkey that you get with stamped steel C channel. If you managed to get enough speed up to do damage to this thing, I bet you'd pop screw heads before you warped those rails. Secondly, it's weighty. Which is a good thing. Good for reclaiming the center of gravity from that big SUV body and for making the suspension work.
Now, I'll comment on some of the notable components in this kit.
Firstly, the Yota 2 axles.
Conventional banjo style assembly, and all metal of varying types. Apart from looking really good, having some heft to them, and keeping the included wheel/tyre combo under the guards, there is one really neat feature that the Yota 2's have. Inclined king pins. I tend to build more with the performance aspect in mind, over true to scale, but this feature fills both requirements. Basically, inclined king pins move the pivot point of the steering to under (or closer to) the tyre's foot print. Meaning, when you steer, the tyre pivots on the spot, it's not dragged through a massive arc like straight up and down king pins do.
This means two things: 1, the wheel stays more centered when turning, not swinging out and hitting the body, reducing the need for over size wheel openings, and 2: it reduces the amount of tyre scrub when turning, so there is less load on the servo and mechanicals and results in better steering with less grip lost whilst the steering is in progress.
I have used my o for orsum Paint skillz to demonstrate this. The purple line is theoretically the middle of the tyre. The red line is the Yota 2's steering axis point. The blue line is where your conventional steering axis would be if the pins were perpendicular to the ground.
I think I have turned into James May.
The R3 single speed transmission
If you have seen the R3 two speed, it's just much the same but smaller. Katan has mentioned that he had to make it this way because of the shorter wheelbase of the Ge2 and the full depth interior. The ratio is similar to the 2 speed's 2nd gear.
The Hammer transfer case:
Similar to the TF2's tf box, it was wide 32dp gears and a quad bearing supported output shaft. I like over kill.
The linkages
Being a scale Defender 90, it's only right to have 4 link rear, 3 link + panhard rod front. The links have all been very subtly marked with their length for ease of assembly. The links are made of aluminum, and are tapped for M3 studs which are used to hold new plastic rod ends. These are much tighter in the rose joint than previous rod ends from RC4WD and appear to be made from a different plastic. It has a slightly grittier look, rather similar to a popular brand of plastic rod ends that have been holding our axles on for the last 10 years...
Also, this can not pass without mention, the drag link. The Ge2 has a BTA set up, and the drag link has to pass over the front diff pinion, so this little gem of scaledom has arisen....
That is just brilliant.... dare I say cute? I know Wifey went "Awww" when I showed her.
Wheels and Tyres
Pre-assembled in the bottom of the box are four black steel wagon wheels, 5 lug, of course, wrapped in the new sticky X3 compound Dirt Grabber tyres. These really suit the look for a slightly modded from stock 4x4. I'm looking forward to seeing how these grip up, as I was most impressed with the MT MTZs in X3 I tested a couple of years back.
The Roller
This is the final stage in chassis assembly. From fiddling around, it seems that the link geometry is fairly neutral, meaning that when I try to manually rotate the axles there does not appear to be any noticeable jacking or squat. At the factory ride height (there is a lower set of holes pre drilled in the shock hoops) the front axle does not migrate sideways any mentionable amount, as with some panhard set ups and (with a servo installed) minimal bump steer.
Next is to get the electronics mounted and wired, and paint that body.
If you haven't checked out the specs yet, you can right here: Gelande II Truck Kit w/Defender D90 Body Set
The obvious place to start is packaging and presentation. Presentation is brilliant. Apart from the glossy photos on the box, there is all the specs and factual information an experienced customer would need to know, printed right on the box.
The Ge2 is packed in the same way that the Trail Finder 2 is, in short, well. The metal parts, and there are more of them this time around, are separated in two tiers of foam trays, the hardware bags are contained in one large baggy and the smaller parts (still mostly metal) in another, along with the wheels and tyres below. Right in the bottom of the box is the D90 body set, within a box of it's own. Also there is a bag of decals. One large sheet with general logos and stuff and a smaller one with stripes to replicate the box art if you wish to do so.
The hardware is all bagged individually by size, thread type and head style. Be aware that the manual will state whether any given screw is a pan head or countersunk, as there a numerous screws the same size but the head differs for different applications.
Yes, MOAR METAL... Always a good thing. Particularly when it's bumpers and body mounts.
Now, the contents of the body box. Contents... there is a lot. Full depth interior, clear molded plastic windows (not vacuum formed lexan), chrome bits, the body is molded in a neutral white, a bag of fasteners and hardware.
Assembly is straight forward, with the instructions advising you on what size hex drivers are required and any other tools, which are a bare minimum compared some things I have built recently (yes, the hardware is all metric, so no need for a mix of different drivers). I do recommend picking up a set of hex drivers if you don't have them already. You will get sore fingers fiddling with Allen keys, and the general $2 bin at the hardware store Allen keys round off easily and will ruin the kit hardware.
I won't bore you with a step by step analysis, because if you follow the manual and take care on part location, the correct screw for the step and a little common sense, the assemble is relatively quick and painless. Assembling the chassis reminded me of one of those balsa dinosaur kits, every relief is milled to perfection and it just falls together. I do recommend using blue grade thread lock on all metal to metal joining screws.
I will point out a few little things, though:
Be careful when fixing the transfer case to the cross member. Because it sits slightly clocked, there is an optical illusion to what angle the screws go in. Also, do note that one screw is shorter than the other. Messing either up will result in a stripped thread. Not good.
There is a left and right rear shock hoop. Obvious when you see it!
Don't miss the insert diagram when fixing the top of the shock, you need to place the wee spacer in there or you get bindage.
You may want to consider opening the axles, transfer box and transmission to add extra grease, and/or just to have a sticky beak. The single speed R3 is full of metal gears, as too the Hammer transfer box and the Yota 2 axles (Look down for what you will find in there) I used Tamiya HG Ceramic grease in the transmission and Tamiya Moly in the axles (ring/pinion in both, and front joints). The ceramic grease has less sticktion than moly, so it is better suited to fast spinning gears, where the moly is at better use on the ring and pinions that are not turning as fast but are under more pressure. Note: Molybdenum grease that you buy from the autoparts store for 1:1 applications is much thicker than the Tamiya stuff, so go easy on it if you go that way, it puts more load on the motor and drive line.
That really is the only additional advise I need to share, it was a very enjoyable, dare say it, easy build. With the main transmission components, shocks, beadlocks & tyres and driveshafts pre assembled, you are done before you know it. Well, actually, you are fully aware when you have a complete chassis. That's a rather stupid saying.
Once assembled, the main chassis will hit you with two realisations: 1, it's extremely rigid. None of that twisty-springy malarkey that you get with stamped steel C channel. If you managed to get enough speed up to do damage to this thing, I bet you'd pop screw heads before you warped those rails. Secondly, it's weighty. Which is a good thing. Good for reclaiming the center of gravity from that big SUV body and for making the suspension work.
Now, I'll comment on some of the notable components in this kit.
Firstly, the Yota 2 axles.
Conventional banjo style assembly, and all metal of varying types. Apart from looking really good, having some heft to them, and keeping the included wheel/tyre combo under the guards, there is one really neat feature that the Yota 2's have. Inclined king pins. I tend to build more with the performance aspect in mind, over true to scale, but this feature fills both requirements. Basically, inclined king pins move the pivot point of the steering to under (or closer to) the tyre's foot print. Meaning, when you steer, the tyre pivots on the spot, it's not dragged through a massive arc like straight up and down king pins do.
This means two things: 1, the wheel stays more centered when turning, not swinging out and hitting the body, reducing the need for over size wheel openings, and 2: it reduces the amount of tyre scrub when turning, so there is less load on the servo and mechanicals and results in better steering with less grip lost whilst the steering is in progress.
I have used my o for orsum Paint skillz to demonstrate this. The purple line is theoretically the middle of the tyre. The red line is the Yota 2's steering axis point. The blue line is where your conventional steering axis would be if the pins were perpendicular to the ground.
I think I have turned into James May.
The R3 single speed transmission
If you have seen the R3 two speed, it's just much the same but smaller. Katan has mentioned that he had to make it this way because of the shorter wheelbase of the Ge2 and the full depth interior. The ratio is similar to the 2 speed's 2nd gear.
The Hammer transfer case:
Similar to the TF2's tf box, it was wide 32dp gears and a quad bearing supported output shaft. I like over kill.
The linkages
Being a scale Defender 90, it's only right to have 4 link rear, 3 link + panhard rod front. The links have all been very subtly marked with their length for ease of assembly. The links are made of aluminum, and are tapped for M3 studs which are used to hold new plastic rod ends. These are much tighter in the rose joint than previous rod ends from RC4WD and appear to be made from a different plastic. It has a slightly grittier look, rather similar to a popular brand of plastic rod ends that have been holding our axles on for the last 10 years...
Also, this can not pass without mention, the drag link. The Ge2 has a BTA set up, and the drag link has to pass over the front diff pinion, so this little gem of scaledom has arisen....
That is just brilliant.... dare I say cute? I know Wifey went "Awww" when I showed her.
Wheels and Tyres
Pre-assembled in the bottom of the box are four black steel wagon wheels, 5 lug, of course, wrapped in the new sticky X3 compound Dirt Grabber tyres. These really suit the look for a slightly modded from stock 4x4. I'm looking forward to seeing how these grip up, as I was most impressed with the MT MTZs in X3 I tested a couple of years back.
The Roller
This is the final stage in chassis assembly. From fiddling around, it seems that the link geometry is fairly neutral, meaning that when I try to manually rotate the axles there does not appear to be any noticeable jacking or squat. At the factory ride height (there is a lower set of holes pre drilled in the shock hoops) the front axle does not migrate sideways any mentionable amount, as with some panhard set ups and (with a servo installed) minimal bump steer.
Next is to get the electronics mounted and wired, and paint that body.
Last edited:
I am currently watching paint dry and the soldering iron warm up so there will be an update on the way.
