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CEN F450 KG1 - ROCK CRAWLER MOD - 1/8 EMO X4 Chassis?

WRXronald

WRXronald

Rock Crawler
Joined
Jan 15, 2006
Messages
618
Location
Nebiru, OuterSpace
Ok, not sure if this should be a large scale rig candidate or not!? But maybe - its 1/8 scale so getting up there at least.

Its just an idea so far but as I got to looking around I just so happened to wander onto the perfect two used items to make it happen!!!!!!! So I'm taking a shot......

I noticed the CEN F450 KG1 has a wheelbase that is only 9mm different (longer) than the Cross RC EMO X4 Jeep Gladiator...... I don't like the CEN chassis and dually setup much just based on being not a particularly sturdy or capable crawling setup -- I get it, just a hauler, and its AWESOME, but I don't want to go the direction everyone else does with it - chassis lift, etc.

But how bout as a dedicated ROCK CRAWLER / OFF ROADER instead?????? 😜

With minor tweaking -- strip the body from the EMO X4, extend the wheelbase a hair, and voila, mount the F450 and you've got an instanta-conversion.

It has to have 2.2 Rock Crushers of course --- and the 1/8th scale should make the F450 1/10 scale body look very scale MEGA-TRUCK like, which is always the look i'm going for if you don't know my threads by now.....

So I started searching and bam a used F450 were right there on the bay, and even a used EMO X4 with freaking ROCK CRUSHERS upgrade -- I was like whaaa??? This can't be.

SO ya know I did it ---- XMAS early baby!! LOL. We'll see if it can work out.... otherwise the EMO X4 Gladiator alone looks cool for some easy no hassle thrashin!!

I plan to add brass/gold colored 2.2 race inspired wheels with the blue body should like real nice...... and of course going right to BIG BLOCK BRUSHLESS 4250 Outrunner sized motor and 80amp Sinewave ESC up to 6s lipo for BIG POWA and BIG TORQUE and SLOW CRAWL!!!!!!


 
UNREAL my bad luck..... EMO X4 shows up and...... NOPE.

Both driver's side wheels/shafts are sheared right off and snapped --- probably happened in shipping --- dude did a SH_T job packaging and left the wheels on for shipping -- what an idiot.

Cost me $500 + $100 for the F450 CEN body and its a STRAIGHT UP loss ----- i've been ALL OVER the internet and does not look like Cross RC manufacturers replacement portal axle output shafts.

I found the half-shafts (part that goes inside the axle tube) on Cross RC U.S. website but no portal outputs. :( WTF.

Does anyone know where/how to get Cross RC replacement parts besides what's on their U.S. website? YIKES.

I sent them an email too --- absent the actual part or my ability to manufacture one in hardened steel ---- I'd be out $154 to buy an all new front portal axle (which appears to come with portal outputs shafts).


PRETTY UNREAL BAD LUCK RIGHT HERE. All dude had to do was take an extra 30 seconds and take the wheels off before shipping --- or actually package it decently.

What the F_CK is wrong with the world these days
 
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That really sucks, I guess it was too good to be true!

Sorry, but I don't have any advice on where to find replacements.
I hope you can get it sorted out well because I am excited to see how this ends up!
 
and heres more stuff shafts too


$30.18 | Crossrc Emo X4 Metal Upgrade Accessories, Front Crossbeam Armor Counterweight Block, Output Shaft Coupler, Etc

looks like they have had this problem before they have shafts with 7mm section were the wheel hex sits with all new stuff to fit the larger size
 
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Thank you itsoobright i'll get it on the road one way or another lol!! Appreciate the kind words for sure!!

Ferp man, you're always coming thru!!

Why is ALI so dang hard to search. Couldn't find any of that searching cross rc or emo x4. Weird.

I got the upgraded wider shafts... agree snapped in shipping is a concern - bad sign - box was not crushed that much. Not going bigger tires and truck will lighten up with the CEN body but we need BEEF for thrashing.. 7mm outputs it is!!!

Cross RC is junk? Was thinking that when I saw Tomleys YouTube of his $5000 12x12 and the trans pin kept snapping. Hmmm......

Oh well will upgrade and replace parts as necessary thanks for the AWESOME link and part numbers my man!!!!

Worst case for $70 will slap a set of widened metal capra axles under it, 4 link it, and be done.

Sure hope the trans holds up!!! 💛

Sticking with 2.2's on this build for sure!
 
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Quicki teaser of the two body shells one on the other --- I did have the 2.2 Rock Crushers up against the F250 earlier before I shot the vid --- it looks AAA-MAzingly good!!

Prolly gonna have to make a set of rear links to stretch the wheelbase about a 1/2 inch -- meanwhile not sure how to work ride height, might have to jack it up and put taller shocks or lower the shock upper mount point down onto the chassis rails. But then I have to adjust front linkages as well.

Hmm, I kinda want to keep the chassis lower to the ground as stock -- it will crawl better this way, and then maybe have the body "high" mounted on the chassis, but what to fill in the space with, not sure it will even look right like that. One of the largest differences in body size is really just the height from bottom of door panel to top of roof, the Gladiator is a good bit taller, so if I mount the F250 down to ride flush on chassis, the fenders are WAYY too close to tires. Mostly like its going to take the most work to make it right - a bit of body lift and a bit of chassis lift as well - meet in the middle. I do want it to look like a jacked up truck, but if you notice the CEN's the center chassis usually rides pretty low - - same if I just plopped the shell on this chassis -- alot of center chassis hanging down and out is visible from the sides. I may actually be able to tuck it all in, get the body flush to base of chassis, and make up all the difference I need with a substantial suspension lift, I do have some bigger shocks, and M3 Steel heim joints / M6 steel tube/rod etc can make linkage sets. 🤔

 
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Bahhh to hosting images! These are on rc groups -- clicking the link does actually work so go for it just a couple pics of near finished product!


It was SO simple. Here I thought I'd have to make my own links.. nope.

Lengthened all links 6ish turns, gave me 10mm in front and out rear and I used half that to get 20mm of suspension lift by lowering the shocks in the mounts.

I took the rock sliders and flipped them upside down and mounted inward of the lexan shell

I shaved a small portion off the front fender well to match the contour of the F450 fender... wow

It fit great!!! Kept both front and rear inner fenders I'm 😲 shocked!

Thinking it looks hot!!!! Some.minor tweaking here and there and need to miunt the body and see where it rubs. But we're on our way!!

Oh also installed upgraded axle shafts beefie 7mm hardened steel with 5mm wider footprint and all brass portals housings -- went together REAL and FEELS nice!!! ❤️

Of course added 70kg torque brushless all metal hosting and IP68 waterproof servo!!!!

This is total off-road and rock crawler CEN edition!!! The shell IS WAAYYY lighter than the EMO Gladiator and less rear-

Anyone who thought the X4 was good stock it should be amazing with this shell a d brass portals, metal wheels, and Rock Crushers!!!
 
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Sorry no vids yet, but i been driving it just a tad, thrashed in the mud a bit today after got the setup all done... it goes and looks quite AWESOME!!

Wheelbase and ride height worked out just perfect.

its BLAZINGLY FAST!!! I mean FASST!! Like approaching 20mph fast, idk maybe faster even I should have gps'd it... nutso for a rock truck!!! 560 brushed 25 turn on 4s 100C lipo 3000mah and its got a 20t pinion in it! YIKES.

ANNOYED to find a plastic spur gear in there --- anyone know if they make a metal upgrade? Or is it compatible with a TRX4 spur, etc ?

The low gear is actually quite good considering top speed gearing but not as AWESOME super slow crawl as I have come to expect in my crawlers ---- so I geared it down --- 11t pinion, something like a 40% reduction. WAYY closer to crawler goodness at this gearing!! Might have to put one of my 570's in there -- which are more like 55-75t lathe winds -- much slower and better torque profiles.

It jumps great for sure. But at that speed its not long for me to rip a hard mounted side-view mirror off the CEN body and I just don't want to trash it (yet at least) --- seems a bit like stiff lexan could break but if I go slow I don't mind scratches and scuffs from crawling duty. I do still need to figure out how mod the mirrors for flex-bend... I wondered about hacking them in half in the middle and using small stretch of fuel tube coating black with a sharpie to bring it back together --- then it could bend in half at the fuel tubing when hitting objects. That might just work but need some tiny diameter stuff I think I have some for my weed eater actually.

Vids soon, I need to get a new camera tri-pod might have gotten broken something about a fit of rage annoying little things they are :rolleyes:
 
Mods can this be moved to the 2.2 class forum? Not really thinking its a big rig being a 1/10 body shell riding on 2.2 tires/wheels.

Thank you my bad for putting it here in the first place!!
 
On the table - walk around - completed rig (for now at least) also check out some KNARLY KNOBBIES with custom SNOW CHAINS at the end......

Hope to have a vid out tomorrow - Friday at the latest of 'er RIPPIN with IMPUNITY thru some deep snow!!! ❄️☃️⛄

Finally a CEN F450 with some actual ground clearance lol jk!! Pokin a tad bit of fun since I'm gonna likely get razed and roasted by any serious dually ethusiasts out there. But don't fret i have big tire dually plans for the future!!

I watched Ebay for a bit and everybody with a cool CEN all jacked up wants $800+++ for the dam rig... they look AMAZING but have just about NO GROUND CLEARANCE to speak of, and from the vids i've seen not that impressed with its power, durability or capability of the chassis setup. SUPER SCALE yes for sure but I wanted rock crawler functionality out the box.

This should Rock Crawl better or up there with best of any CEN chassis'd F450/250 out there.... and better than any EMO X4 Gladiator too for that matter (shell is A LOT LOT lighter than the EMO Gladiator shell, causing tippage situation with the Jeep)

I'm not sure sure how it could have turned out better for what I was going for!! Hoping to add solid front/rear CEN bumpers soon but not sure why it seemed to crawl on the rocks just fine in initially testing, body rub minimal and non-intrusive. With the chains i'm not so sure --- may have to be much more careful not to shred the lexan!

 
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Nice looking truck. I think this thread would get more activity if you embed or attach photos. The link below will show you how to embed using Imgur.

I can still move to 2.2 if you'd like?

JatoTheRipper

Thread 'Imgur - Embedding and Posting Photos'

Image hosts are going paid left and right so a lot of people have been moving to Imgur. It's not the most intuitive site and organizing albums isn't the easiest, but it is completely free.

There have been lots of issues and questions on this forum about posting and embedding images from Imgur so hopefully this quick, little guide helps.

You can upload photos to Imgur and share them without registering. But if you want to organize or keep track of your photos you will have to register on their website.

Please DO NOT test in this thread. That will just clutter this thread and...
  • Like
 
Yeah just in that 2 2 is the correct location for it thank you!!

And I do need to get on the imgur bandwagon already. . I'm a slacker!

Then I could actually shoot pics as a build novel concept... well I just nabbed a proper tri-pod so nows as good a time as any I suppose!

Thanks Jato!
 
WRXronald said:
Yeah just in that 2 2 is the correct location for it thank you!!

And I do need to get on the imgur bandwagon already. . I'm a slacker!

Then I could actually shoot pics as a build novel concept... well I just nabbed a proper tri-pod so nows as good a time as any I suppose!

Thanks Jato!
Click to expand...
Done! (y)
 
Yea it was incredibly close fit, mostly intentionally --- I did a handful of research looking for a decent crawler chassis that was *close to the CEN F450 or F250 and could fit underneath with some mild hacking.

Ultimately settled on the F450 for the long wheelbase -- I like longer bed trucks for the look better just a thing! And the EMO X4 just about made me fall over when I saw them within 9mm on specs.

I figured from there I like MEGA truck builds so no issue if the EMO was a fair amount wider/bigger than the 1/10 CEN.

Once it all showed up -- 8 basic steps later and here we are - -

1. Trickiest step to wash out ---- Flip the rear diff locker servo mount over backwards and upside down and mount it inboard (immediately behind the rear axle instead of all the way at the far rear of the chassis) because it stuck out a good bit behind the slightly shorter overall CEN shell; looked weird and dumb. Once I could see a flip was feasible -- used an oscillating saw to cut away all plastic no longer needed, and then incredibly easy and didn't have to do too much hacking cutting to get the mount to fit inbetween the rails upside and backwards. Locking servo angle/geometry wasn't changed a bit! Reason it had to go upside down is the mount has curviture to follow inbetween the chassis rails, and to match that equal/opposite curve when turned around in towards the rear axle it had to also flip upside down -- then it fit like a glove. I'll get some detailed pics posted to IMGUR this weekend on how it worked out. Less confusing once you see it.

2. Shock mount location lowered - drilled a couple new holes to get max chassis lift, it was too much in the end and went back to stock mounting holes but the tallest ones. AKA it can ride MEGA Truck height from where you see it in vid and pics now --- this is the lower side of ride height currently.

3. Drilled 4 holes for body mounts - M4's in the rear shock towers, M3's in front bumper bar.

4. Lengthen suspension links to gain 15-18mm overall stretch --- (10mm to make up for longer wheelbase of CEN, 5-8mm to make up for chassis/suspension lift which shortened the wheelbase a fair amount) --- to achieve ---it needed 7 complete rotational turns longer on each ball link upper/lower in the rear, links were really solid and had no trouble backing out a bit and staying rigid/inflexible. Then 3 complete rotations on front 3-link ball links. (very happy here, thought I would have to make my own longer links!).

5. Cut the front fenders narrower inward a 1/4inch to account for narrower CEN fender flares. Cut rear fenders (front of fender only) up 1/4inch to keep from protuding down below CEN body bed area, looked weird prior to.

6. Remove rock sliders from chassis tubs/tray/rails - cut away the back 1 - 1.5inches of plastic chassis tubs (nothing is mounted in this area, you no longer will need the body mount tabs/posts for the stock EMO shell that are in this area, and all radio/Rx/Esc etc is all mounted forward of the area to be cut away. This achieves nothing sticking out/hanging below the CEN bed area just behind the rear doors of cab -- which looked really weird! It had to go!

7. Flip the rock sliders over upside down and re-mount them inside the Lexan body with the 2 posts using M3 hardware. Now they actually are snug to the narrower CEN body (stuck out WAYY too far in stock positioning) and they also hide a bit of the chassis protuding down below the CEN body, and added benefit ----- don't they look JUST like Poison Spyder legit rock sliders? (absent logo of course)

8. I did lengthen panhard and steering bars 7 turns initially but had to come WAYY back in on them to the point where i'm not sure they took more than a couple of half turns to get back spot on with the lift and stretch.

and..... DONE. Thats it, easiest conversion EVER!

Those were REALLY easy steps and I was shocked how fast it went, kinda almost was disappointed how easy it was except for how the used EMO showed up with unexpected busted 5mm portal output shafts etc so I justed started modding immediatley
 
Snow Chain romp as promised!!

Really need to get the ESC programmed to put out 100% throttle in reverse -- had lots of trouble getting unstuck due to reverse direction 50% throttle limitation. I need to look up the ESC manual I guess.

Other than the reverse issue - - thought it eats in the snow pretty solid - - I am a bit spoiled by the depth of snow the big trucks go thru (3.8 / 40 series tires) but still -- this rig impressed me plenty, wasn't entirely mad at it lol -- thought it looked darn good doin it! These are just lightweight stock plastic wheels too --- am thinking some heavy wheels/weight at all 4 corners and maybe a brushless setup in there would track even better thru snow!!

When it gets high centered, freeing it is about those tire chains digging down deep enough to find grip --- more weight might = more grip.

Skip to 2:30mins in to go straight to snow wheelin'

 
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