FJ40 rollin on some big ol' Boggers

[venomous98]

My Raptor build is pretty much done for now, on to the next one. I decided on the FJ cause i've always liked these. I had a chance to buy a 1978, years and years ago. The body was in ruff shape but the chassis, engine, and running gear were all perfect. The guy selling it had 6 of them, one for every occasion. Show truck to daily driver to built rock crawler. Unfortunately i had to pass on it. I didn't really have the place or time to work on it. I'm still kicking myself for that cause now the prices are going up. Anyways, i picked up the RC4WD body and Gelande chassis really cheap on ebay. The axles and trans were taken from a JK Jeep that was parted out and sold. The rest will be custom pieces to make it all work. I'm going with a big tire just for a different look. Nothing wrong with other small tire builds. Plus i really like the look of these tires. Now for some pics.

I started with dressing up the rear with a tow shackle, just in case i get stuck.

Next thing i did was make the rock rails. These bolt right to the frame rails. The small bolt holes are for the bolts and the bigger ones are for the rods to slide into.

And fully welded

Working on the wheelbase and suspension now. More pics soon.

 

[rs10man]

keep it up, waiting for your next installment

 

[JatoTheRipper]

Nice start. Should be a cool build!

 

[JohnnyAnguish]

This should be fun.

 

[DukeMinnix]

subscribed to this one too

 

[venomous98]

Started working on the wheelbase and suspension, looks like something is off! Just kidding. I new from the start i would have to cut up the body a bit due to the large tires. I decided to not touch the front portion of the rear wheelwell but just the rear, pushing the axle back. Masked it off and chopped away. Came out pretty nice. Has just enough clearance. The front of the truck has tons of room for those giant tires. Pics.

No good.

This is how much i had to cut away.

And cut away, much better.

Well thats it for now. Going to figure out the placement of the Axial trans and the electronics this weekend. More soon.

 

[venomous98]

Alright, got the trans figured out. That took a bit to get everything just right. I made a plate that holds the trans and bolts to the chassis. I had to make sure it didn't hit the firewall on the body, clear the hood with the motor installed, the right angle for driveshaft, and clear the front axle under full compression. Long list of issues that i kept running into. But i think overall it turned out really nice. Pics.

Bolted on.

View from other side.

View from under side. Nice and smooth curve for just using hand tools.

More soon.

 

[Zukiiholic]

Good looking motor plate
Wheelwell cut out is nice and clean, almost a factory look.
And.
Sharp looking sliders.

 

[Saitov]

A great start to the project! With pleasure I will observe)

On my previous FJ I also wanted to put 1.9 Boggers, but was afraid of the large size and opted for the 1.7. It will be interesting to see how you will succeed and maybe my next FJ will also build on 1.9 boggers)

What axles are planned to be installed?

 

[Saitov]

It would be great to see a General view of the body on the chassis with these wheels!)

 

[venomous98]

I'm using Axial scx10 axles with a four link front and rear. That may change if I have a lot of bump steer. I'll try to get an overall view of the truck sitting on it's own as soon as I finish the suspension.

 

[Guambom]

"thumbsup""thumbsup""thumbsup"

 

[SIK_BOY]

WoW! Nice start on this rig Venom!"thumbsup""thumbsup"

 

[venomous98]

More progress. Started with a plate to hold the esc. Same as the trans it had to clear the firewall, hood, and axle under compression.

Bolted on the chassis.

Under side of the chassis, nice and smooth.

The next thing on the list was to change the shocks. I really liked the ride height the original shocks gave me but i underestimated the weight of this truck. I could've snapped some spring spacers on them but that would just make the truck really stiff. So i did the shock cap mod to give me some height. Its nice the Traxxas caps have a tiny dimple to help start/center the drill bit. I drilled and tapped the cap for a m3 screw and used an axial rod end.

Stock vs modded

Pic with the body on. Its a bit taller than i would like but maybe once all the scale bits are on the height will change. Also you can see the chop on the rear wheelwells and the completed rock rails.

Better shot of the rear chop.

Rock rails. Nice and simple.

Last pic for today shows the combo of the Axial axles with Gmade wheels is almost the perfect width. I also added two little holes in the rear bumper for what i'm working on next, should be pretty cool. And lastly i didn't have any red paint for the tail lights so i tried a trick i saw on youtube. I took a red sharpie and colored them. It took about six light coats going different directions each time and letting them dry between coats. I think they turned out amazing.

 

[Saitov]

"thumbsup""thumbsup""thumbsup""thumbsup""thumbsup"Ideal!

 

[Saitov]

If I were you, I would change the axle cases of the scx10 to the ssd D60 axle case. The view would be just awesome!

 

[venomous98]

Built a rack to hold some scale goodies. Sorry no step by step on this one, just knocked it out and forgot to take pics.

That's all for now.

 

[RCAddiction]

That is a great looking body, cant wait to see the finished product.

 

[venomous98]

Decided to give the front bumper a makeover by adding some shackles, fog lights, and a winch. I know its not much but its more off the check list. It took forever to tap the holes i drilled for the shackles. Normally i would just add a lock nut on the backside but you'll see there wasn't any room. Even with plenty of cutting oil the m2 tap just kept gumming up and trying to break, so nice and slow i went. Also had to drill the holes for the lights, took a bit to ensure they were both nice and symmetrical. I'm kind of OCD about things being perfect. Then i painted the bumper an aluminum color. Some pics.

Here you can see the 4 holes i drilled and tapped for the shackle. Sorry for the blurry pic

This is a bit clearer and it shows the through hole to tighten the fog light.

More to come.

 

[venomous98]

It's almost there! So i don't know where you guys hide all your electronics and other stuff, but this is what i came up with. Just a simple box to put the receiver, winch controller, and light controller. Don't mind the tape, just mock up.

Next was this rack to hold scale stuff.

With the body on the box gets covered up some.

At this point it is a running and driving truck. Everything is finished except paint on the body and to tune the suspension. The chassis and all wiring is 100% done! Now i'm just waiting for the weather to warm up so i can start painting. A couple last pics for now.

Next post will hopefully be a painted truck and some good outside shots.