• Welcome to RCCrawler Forums.

    It looks like you're enjoying RCCrawler's Forums but haven't created an account yet. Why not take a minute to register for your own free account now? As a member you get free access to all of our forums and posts plus the ability to post your own messages, communicate directly with other members, and much more. Register now!

    Already a member? Login at the top of this page to stop seeing this message.

H2Micr0's SCX10 FJ40 Trayback

Very cool. That rig has some serious flex. I think the tube in the front looks good but seems a little big. Overall very cool looking rig, nice clean work on the body too.
 
I thought I had better get the thread up to date.

I have made a couple of changes in the past few weeks.

The first was to redesign the body mount system. My original design had the tray bolted to the chassis, and the cab was separate and was attached with screws through the sides and the front.

The bolt holes in the lexan suffered just a bit, to the point they were no longer useable. I bolted the tray and the cab together, hinged the whole assembly at the back of the tray, and fabricated a mount with velcro at the front. This has worked quite well so far.



Then I had a couple of mechanical failures. I broke a front Junfac CVD, which has now been replaced, and then I snapped a rear portal gear shaft.



Luckily I had spares, and new parts are on the way so I have more spares on hand. When I was swapping out the snapped axle, I found a couple of the small bearings in the portals had collapsed. Again I replaced them with some spares I had to hand.

At the comp last weekend the front wheel arch flares copped quite a beating. And then more after, as can be seen in the video.



This one had broken at the back.



And I appear to have completely lost this one.



In order to comply with the local CANZ regs for Scale 2, the inside wall of the tire needs to be covered by body work/flare/bar work when viewed from above. Seeing as the stock shaped front guards were just a bit on the well used side, a new approach was required.



While I had the front bar off, it too received a bit of attention and I trimmed the square corners off.



Some rubber sheet was cut to the desired size and attached, and the finished result is better than expected.



I have also removed the rear alloy wheel arches. During the last comp, they proved to be quite a hindrance and considering how beat up they were, deleting them seemed like a good idea.





I have also been playing with different spring rates. The previous combo was made up of 110mm Topcad shocks with SCX10 dual rate springs. I am testing a new combo of SCX10 lower and Topcad upper, with stiffer upper springs in the front.

Rear



Front



The slightly firmer setup is working well so far.

I am attending another comp this coming weekend, so will see how it goes then.

Cheers
H2Micr0
 
I'm interested to know how you find the firmer setup. I'm running the same shocks on a 2.2 Honcho - I run them with a lowering kit and considerable preload on soft full length springs and they work well
 
Holdencars said:
I'm interested to know how you find the firmer setup. I'm running the same shocks on a 2.2 Honcho - I run them with a lowering kit and considerable preload on soft full length springs and they work well
Click to expand...

I am running semi droop. These springs are firmer than I had, but are still quite soft, so very little preload if any. I will report back on their performance after this coming weekend.

gbean said:
Who makes that land cruiser body?
Click to expand...

The body is a cut and shut FJ40 Tamiya shell.

Cheers
H2Micr0
 
Well it has been a while.

And a few things have changed.

While I really liked the look and visual impact of the FJ40 Ute, as a Scale 2 comp truck it had quite a few drawbacks.

Firstly was that it tended to want to roll backward on a steep climb, and when it did roll over, it stayed on it's side or back due to the slab sided design of the body.

So a bit decision was made and the FJ body was removed and was turned into a Scale 1 body for which it is really well suited.

Then I pulled out the original Honcho shell and installed it. The shape of the Honcho helps it keep rolling over onto it's wheels and there is very little weight in the back helping reduce any tendencies to flip over backward.

Other recent changes include relocating the steering servo from the Chassis to the axle. This has improved the steering and helped with the COG. I also moved the batter to behind the front wheels across the chassis. I recently acquired a Honcho roller which came with some HR 120mm piggyback shocks, and these have found there way on the Comp rig. To keep the COG low I fabbed up some shock mount brackets. I have installed some LED rock lights for some night running too. I am yet to take it for a good test, but will report back when I do.

I swapped out the Pit Bull Rock Beasts for some Proline TSL XL Super Swampers. These work as well as the Rock Beasts, but are taller. The RBs were getting quite worn so it was near time for a change anyway. I will however need to clearance the front guards just a bit.

Some pics of the rig as it is now.









Cheers
H2Micr0
 
Update time again.

A couple of weeks ago I went to the first CANZ comp for 2014, and managed to place 2nd for the day.

This was despite the fact that I didn't finish the last course due to a front CVD failure, and 3 wheel drive just wasn't enough to get those last 3 gates.

I had a spare Junfac CVD for the R1 Portals, so the Honcho was back up and running again quickly.

Once again one of the small bearings in the portals had collapsed. I also have spares of these.

A pic of the damage.



Then I was offered a deal with a mate to buy a known rig together and split the spoils.

Out of this I picked up two SCX10 diffs with OD and UD and CVDs. However there were stock CHubs and Knuckles fitted.

I decided remove the R1 Portals.

I hadn't had the OD/UD option with the R1 Portals, so this was a new experience for me. Even with the stock steering, the Honcho turned better than it ever had with the Portals.

A comparison pic with the portals in front the SCX10 diffs shows the track difference.



I really wasn't feeling the narrower track and the tires rubbed on the shocks and body.

Then I had a brilliant idea. Imagine how well it would turn if it had really good steering too!!!!!!!

After some research I had two options.

The first was to fit highsteer SXC10 knuckles and CHubs, either of the Vanquish variety or other brand equivalents.

I however chose the 2nd option.



Bring on the XR10 mod.

I ordered in RCBros Alloy Splined Burley Tubes, XR10 Front Uni Axles, and some Topcad Wraith Alloy CHubs and Knuckles.

There are videos available on how to install these so I won't go over it again. Interestingly the track with the XR10 mod is the same as the R1 Portals were. I deliberately decided to leave the rear track narrow to help avoid those nasty gate markers.

But here are some pics of the Honcho out in it's natural habitat showing off the new parts.







I attended a WESROC comp today, and I am REALLY happy with how the Honcho performed. I am running no wheel weights at the moment and have the body set as low as I can, along with a low stance. I was able to drive lines that well sorted rigs could, which considering this is the first outing in this guise is quite satisfying. I will add in a small amount of weight for the next comp on the 9th Feb with TCP at Terrigal.

I am off to the USA again in 9 days, but will be back in time for the CANZ Nats in March.

Cheers
H2Micr0
 
Last edited:
That FJ40 tray back you built looks great! Love the effort you have out into it! I've just recently gotten into crawling (another addition to the ever growing list of RC hobbies)

I'll have to make my way to a competition one of these days as it looks like great fun
 
Last edited:
Hi Main_Event

Thanks for the comments.

I will be more than happy to take you along to an event. There is a social outing on the 9th out near Grose Vale if you are interested.

I am currently in the USA but will be back in Aus on Monday 3 March.

Cheers
H2Micr0
 
Got back from the USA on Monday, and have been busy prepping and upgrading the Honcho ready for the Australian CANZ Nats to be held on 15 March.

While in the USA I picked up a few goodies for the my rigs, the Class 2 Honcho included.

First up is the FI Spool from Locked Up RC. This is a bolt in replacement for the stock Axial locked centre. It is made from hardened steel and weigh 1oz. The axles are a nice tight fit and reduce unwanted movement.

This is what you get in the package.



I disassembled my rear differential first and installed the FI Spool to the crown wheel. The supplied screws were installed using blue locktite.



I also picked up a set of the new Locked Up RC OT Shafts, which are a direct replacement for the stock rear axles. These are approx 33% stronger than the stock items.

The new ones are silver in the below photo.



I bolted the diff back together with marine grease and moved on to the front diff.

FI Spool installed on the front crown wheel.



Seeing as I had the front diff apart, I wanted to do a small mod to the Burly Tubes. During the first comp, the tubes had a bit of movement in them and rotated causing the caster to change.

In the below pic you can see the recess that is machined for the screw to locate the tube in place. In this state, the screws would not seat all the way home and the opposite side didn't have a machined recess.





You can see how the locating screws wouldn't seat all the way home.



I remedy this and to provide a much stronger solution, I drilled out the recess and tapped a thread for the M3 screw. I repeated this on the opposite side so that now two screws would lock the Burly Tube into place.



I then started the reassembly.





The Burly Tubes are held in place with an Alloy Collar. The collar uses the stock CHub screw holes and my new holes are directly underneath.



Locating screws fully seated and locking the Burly Tube in place.



I also checked the screws didn't protrude into the centre of the Tube and interfere with the axle.



This pic shows the finished assembly with the wraith CHub and Knuckles with the XR10 Axles.



Plenty of steering available.





The differentials should now be pretty much bullet proof.

I still need to build new bent links to replace the Axial Alloy links and will hopefully get time before the NATS.

I hope to get out and get a bit of wheel time in this weekend.

Cheers
H2Micr0
 
Hey All.

I am delighted to report that I placed 5th in the Australian CANZ National Championships with the Honcho.

The rig performed flawlessly with no breakages.

Leading up to the comp I built new bent links using 4mm allthread, M4 Traxxas rod ends and a stainless sleeve. This allowed me to lift the pinion angles slightly and shorten the wheelbase a touch.

I only grabbed one pic before the comp, as I was rather busy scoring and driving in two classes.



Cheers
H2Micr0
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Fricker08
Fricker08’s Optic collection
Replies
15
Views
549
89Industries
8
E
_e_w_'s FMS FCX18 LC80
Replies
2
Views
443
_e_w_
E
OSRC
Ringing in 2025 with a........... TLT build?
Replies
11
Views
781
Speedy-Triple
Speedy-Triple
OSRC
OS's Random Projects
Replies
15
Views
589
OSRC
OSRC
C
AX10 Scorpion RTR turned NMRCC Trail Class Build
2 3
Replies
46
Views
759
Chingon
C
Back
Top