Lifted/linked F-350

[Jeckler]

So I've had my Highlift for about 6 years now, and it's been bone stock. I decided I could either buy a re-re Bruiser, or do something with this. So, I whipped out the Visa and set to work. I wimped out and instead of making my own 4-link like I did with Gettin' There, I bought the Junfac kit instead. Of course, coming from overseas, I expect to see it sometime in the next couple weeks, but amazingly, RC4WD pulled through with wheels and tires in only 3 days. I got 1.9" Rough Riders, and a set of Irok's.
Holy crap, I thought assembling the beadlocks for my 5b were a bitch, but these are a close 2nd. They look awesome though. And the scale nuts finish them off. I really wish there were more options in flashy wheels, and they were offered 3-5mm wider, especially with the tires I got. I hate black and like Bling.
When it was new... it's now missing the front bumper and I think the mirrors are in my toolbox somewhere...

By jeckler at 2012-05-04

It's current state while waiting for parts... you can see I was running WWII wheels and tires in it's last assembled livery.

By jeckler at 2012-05-04

Chosen ones...

By jeckler at 2012-05-04

A test fit reveals these will hit the steering knuckle. I will either put Blackfoot axles on it, or I found that the tall hexes from a Stampede will work too, and will give me about 2.5mm clearance. I've read that these might hit the 4-link, so I'll wait to see if I need to get new axles until it's put back together.
Plans? Yea, right, I'm winging it.

 

[Desert Rc]

Clean combo

 

[Bulldog]

This should be a fun little mod. My Junfac setup isn't stock, but I like it. The tire and wheel combo looks nice."thumbsup"

 

[Jeckler]

Thanks. This isn't going to be anywhere near as involved as most of the amazing rigs I see in this sections, but it should at least look pretty cool.
I hate waiting for parts.
I'm contemplating a color change too. Dunno what to, just something different.

By jeckler at 2012-05-06
I even got the tires running the same way.
I got lucky on 3 out of 4 of them and didn't really know what I was doing. However, one of them I had to take apart and do again because I folded over par of both inside and outside beads. We'll assume that was the first one I did. I've never assembled beadlocks before, especially the RC4WD ones, which I've now read can be more of a pain than internal 'locks.

 

[CRAWLERHEAD]

Looks great but dam that thing is tall

Sent from my ADR6425LVW using Tapatalk

 

[Jeckler]

Tall is good.

Got my suspension and shocks today. Made some progress.
Here's the suspension all put together. It just made sense to assemble it like this, then bolt it to the chassis. It made it easy to reach all the screws.

By jeckler at 2012-05-10

Front. Since there are no instructions, you kinda have to figure it out on your own. Junfac has a picture tutorial you can reference, but there's some things that aren't obvious until you're in the middle of it. Like the fact that you need to convert to front of axle steering. This involves swapping the knuckles left-to-right. They can't simply be flipped over, as the axle isn't centered, but is ever so slightly off.

By jeckler at 2012-05-10

Rear lockouts. This is pretty straighforward. You remove the center link to make room for the 4-link. I had originally assembled the truck with the lockouts on the outer holes, but moved them in to clear the tires better later.

By jeckler at 2012-05-10

Rear upper link. This part bugged me a little, for the simple fact that the screw hits the pumpkin.

By jeckler at 2012-05-10

Turning clearance. I might still run the Traxxas deep hex, but it's good to know the tires clear the link at full lock.

By jeckler at 2012-05-10

Tie rod clearance. This is why I might switch to the Traxxas hex.

By jeckler at 2012-05-10

Drooped. A couple other things to keep in mind. You lose the stock steering servo location and battery mount because of the chassis plates and 4-link. Steering's fine since it came with the axle kit. Battery I'll have to figure out. I guess between the rails under the bed. Oh yea, I might do a simple body lift too by flipping the cab mounts and spacers for the bed.

By jeckler at 2012-05-10

Next up, shocks.

 

[tgh117]

Looks good. Mine is fairly similar to yours. I went ahead and raised and moved the trans to clear the windshield and get some more clearance. I also put my steering servo next to the shift servo and 3 linked the front. Aside from the lack of instruction, the junfac stuff is nice. Good luck.

 

[Bulldog]

Nothing custom is easy. Change one thing and BEEP yourself in ten other ways. At least you're rolling with the punches."thumbsup"

 

[Jeckler]

I never thought it'd go together with no fab, that's for sure.
Got the shocks mounted, they're the 94mm Gmade Zero's.
There was no way the body was going to sit at stock height, so I flipped the mounts on the deck to gain about 7mm, and also used the spacers from the stock shocks to gain another 14, for a 21mm lift all together. The back tires clear the fenders with 3-5mm to spare, but I'll need to cut the front bumper to avoid the tires rubbing flexed and turned.

By jeckler at 2012-05-16

By jeckler at 2012-05-16

I also swapped out the stock hexes for ones from an XL-5 Pede, for about a 5mm wider stance overall. I don't think I'll need SB axles.

By jeckler at 2012-05-16

Put back together.

By jeckler at 2012-05-16

I picked up an SV2 the other day as well, so I'll need to install that. I'm debating whether to use the servo-on-axle kit that came from Junfac, or put it next to the shift servo.

 

[tgh117]

It's coming together well. My servo is on the frame and I like it there sometimes. It works good just wish I had some more throw sometimes.

. That's what mine is looking like at the minute. It keeps changing. Keep up the good work.

 

[Postclanker]

I never thought it'd go together with no fab, that's for sure.
Got the shocks mounted, they're the 94mm Gmade Zero's.
There was no way the body was going to sit at stock height, so I flipped the mounts on the deck to gain about 7mm, and also used the spacers from the stock shocks to gain another 14, for a 21mm lift all together. The back tires clear the fenders with 3-5mm to spare, but I'll need to cut the front bumper to avoid the tires rubbing flexed and turned.

By jeckler at 2012-05-16

By jeckler at 2012-05-16

I also swapped out the stock hexes for ones from an XL-5 Pede, for about a 5mm wider stance overall. I don't think I'll need SB axles.

By jeckler at 2012-05-16

Put back together.

By jeckler at 2012-05-16

I picked up an SV2 the other day as well, so I'll need to install that. I'm debating whether to use the servo-on-axle kit that came from Junfac, or put it next to the shift servo.

Sweet looking ride....sure like those tires and wheels

 

[Jeckler]

Thanks!
I got the radio gear installed. I bought a DX3C and an SV2 for it. And, 8.5 years ago, before they were cool, I bought a 6v 5amp (IIRC) voltage regulator off eBay that went into my TXT-1. I dug it out of the toolbox and installed it too, after removing its switch. I also bought a 6" servo extension and removed the red wire from it rather than from the ESC plug, as I'll need it for programming, and it IS going to break after a while. I first left the regulator (sorry, BEC) out for binding, then switched it all over.
It actually does pretty good. Torque twist is a lot less than I was expecting, and it climbs the 5" curb in the garage straight on.
I need to now figure out how to secure the battery, re-attach the bed, and possibly replace the steering servo for one with a lot more torque.

By jeckler at 2012-05-18

 

[Jeckler]

I am such a cheap bastard, or... taking ghetto fab to the extreme.
This is what I came up with; more shock mounts, a ball connector and a 2mm thick spacer, attached with a 3x30 machine screw.
Voila!
Apparently my camera thought I was trying to take a picture of the taillight housing.

By jeckler at 2012-05-18

 

[Jeckler]

Pretty much done for this round. I went and got a Hitec HS-5645MG steering servo. I'm running the metal arm 1/2" from center, so it's got good torque.

By jeckler at 2012-05-19

I wasn't paying attention when I drilled the hole in the servo arm, and at 1/2", the rod would hit the case, so it's on the outside.

By jeckler at 2012-05-19

For the battery I simply moved the top brace to the bottom, and a re-usable zip tie holds the pack in.

By jeckler at 2012-05-19

Here's the cut front bumper.

By jeckler at 2012-05-19

And finally, some pics outside.

By jeckler at 2012-05-19

By jeckler at 2012-05-19

By jeckler at 2012-05-19

By jeckler at 2012-05-19

Lots of axle steer. And the back of the bed looks like it needs to come up another mm or 2. The mirrors have been modded and the super glue is drying.
The wheel nuts keep loosening themselves up. Blue loctite? Rubber washer?
Next project after I drive it for awhile is to raise the trans and I'll probably replace the sloppy driveshafts.

 

[tgh117]

Came out good. I had the axle steer and ended up running a bar all the way across to in board the lowers as mich as possible. The trans lift will help a bit. Looks like its ready to run.

 

[Bulldog]

Best trick I have on the mirrors is make them break away...drill a hole in the body and mount an elastic hair band to the mirror. Then stretch the hair band into the body and make some mounts with styrene to hold the knotted hair band. The mirrors can flop and get knocked over....Never break one again. "thumbsup"

 

[JHTreyIII]

Best trick I have on the mirrors is make them break away...drill a hole in the body and mount an elastic hair band to the mirror. Then stretch the hair band into the body and make some mounts with styrene to hold the knotted hair band. The mirrors can flop and get knocked over....Never break one again. "thumbsup"

I have a buddy that did this with magnets. His just snap on. You hit something they just pop right off. He's got the same truck. If he's running a really difficult course and is worried about losing them, he just takes them off.

Cool rig man, it's a monster! "thumbsup"

 

[wmartinlsmith]

looks good, i missed what shocks you are using.. I want to link my hi-lift too. I'm contemplating doing the junfac driveshafts too.

 

[Jeckler]

Thanks guys. Trey, the mirrors didn't come out as good as they should've the first time. Who knew CA doesn't stick to silicone. I used cloth covered 3mm rubber fuel line from my VW the 2nd time. I'm interested in hearing more about the magnets though. Can you or him post pics? I'm mainly interested in thickness and how they're attached to the mirror itself. I'm guessing the mirror side is the thin, flexible magnet with sticky backing (like a flexible refrigerator magnet) and the body side is inside?
wmartinlsmith, post 9. "thumbsup"

 

[JHTreyIII]

Yeah, I just sent badhoopty a PM about it. He'll probably be able to find you some photos of what he did. It's really slick.