Seems I haven't updated here for a time....so without further ado...
Trailer project is limping along, I've collected parts to build the frame/base, angle aluminum, springs, wheels and tires, hitch connector, etc. I just haven't been working on it since buying the new Axial Blazer. Yep...went over to the dark side. LOL I'll work on it when the weather cools - garage has been a hundred degrees, and wifey fusses about cluttering up the dining table.
However...I wanted something more 'scale' for my best comp chassis, the one this thread is based on - full length Ascender WB with all the good parts - cody axles, upgraded links and electronics. A ways up thread I put the Chevy MT body on, it's fine, runs great, but looks, well, plain, kind of cheap, and no scale bits. BORRRRINGGGG. LOL I think I got 9 scale points on the last meet. Wow. I can do better than that.
I've been looking for something that I don't mind beating in comps, and can give me good crawling performance. Picked up this Proline Silverado honcho body and re-purposed an extra Chevy K10 rear truggy cage I had on hand from previous builds. The new body is REALLY long. It has as much front overhang as the MT body, but the rear mounts were still at least an inch away from the stock mounting holes in the Ascender rear crossmember. Way long - much longer than the C10 RTR setup. Yeah, Proline says its for a Axial Honcho - their truggy cage must be really short. I don't have one to compare side by side.
Hmmm...what to do...I took a hard look at that cage and figured I could cut about a half inch off each longitudinal tube where they tie into the cab backplate. Out came the dremel, re-drilled the holes to mount them, and voile!! It's a half inch shorter. Now the rear mounts come in right at the back of the chassis crossmember - made a new mounting bracket out of 3/8 aluminum angle, shortened the pegs, and it all works. I also had to add spacers to the rear support tubes under the top rails as the whole thing sits about a half inch higher than the stock C10 cage. Everything lined up with a little luck.
Next remade the spare tire mount with another piece of bent aluminum to move it back since it now won't fit in the stock location, and to look the part.
I present to you Browneye's Silverado Honcho. LOL
Color will be silver with blacked out windows (I don't do interiors for comp) and dark granite gray hood panels. I think it needs some updated beadlock wheels...maybe black ones, or some bling, or something that looks like a modern offroad race wheel. (Vanquish Method 105 in gunmetal gray with black rings are on my shortlist)