Project 10.2ish Deadbolt

[Ascender'nMN84]

So for Christmas this year (2017) the girlfriend is getting her own trail truck. Her 7 y/o son and I are totally into the hobby, but she only kinda dabbles here and there with us. She keeps asking when I'm going to spray up a body to her style for "the green truck" aka MY Deadbolt. Now my user name will tell you where my loyalties lay for the most part, but I am not afraid to admit how much fun I have driving my axial trucks around. The "mysterious" parts availability problem that started about a year ago soured me until recently with new releases and available parts again. The sale on Deadbolts ($230 USD) was just too good to pass up so I scooped up 2. One went to a buddy and the other is for the lady.

Knowing how she drives these tiny trucks, obviously there are a few things that I need to tend to before handing her the truck. I also wanted to try a few new things with this build I hadn't done with my first Deadbolt. First thing I knew I'd need was a clear Deadbolt shell. Should be here tomorrow(12-14-17). Diff and transmission gears and steering and suspension links all need to be swapped out immediately. This was going to be the biggest change between the 2 trucks. Sick of waiting for the Honcho and Deadbolt 2.0 to be released, I decided to put 10.2 axles with SSD's PRO44 CMS and link conversion kit (SSD00208) on this build. I already had 10.2 chubs, knuckles and weights by SSD on a custom Ascender axle but had issues and have gone to a standard Ascender setup.

As we sit currently, I'm still 2 shipments short of having all my parts but here's a rundown of what I will be using:

Axial SCX10 Deadbolt RTR AX90044

SCX10.II AR44 axle housing (x2) ax13401

Axial AR44 Diff cover & link mounts (x2) ax31437

VP AR44 axle gear set (x2) VPS08330

VP AR44 spool (x2) VPS08070

VP Lower link/shock mount blk VPS04466

Incision SCX10-II Universals IRC00180

SSD Pro rear lockouts for AR44 SSD00146

SSD PRO44 CMS & Titanium link set/V2 Conversion for SCX10 (SSD00208)

SSD PRO44 Steering Link Kit (SSD00212)

Team KNK stainless 10.2 kit KNKSCX200

Hobbywing WP 1080 ESC HWA30112750

Holmes Hobbies 27T Trailmaster Sport TRMSP

Howler Customs forward battery tray

Still waiting on the clear Deadbolt shell as mentioned and some VP rear axle shafts. Hopefully all will be here by Saturday (12-16-17) so I can get some work done Sunday. Also, I will update the parts list with part numbers as I receive them.

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[Ascender'nMN84]

Some pics of progress thus far..

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[Crawler Cads]

Some pics of progress thus far..

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Nice upgrade list, will you be changing out the wheels and tires? Found that was one of the best upgrades for my SCX10..

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[Ascender'nMN84]

Nice upgrade list, will you be changing out the wheels and tires? Found that was one of the best upgrades for my SCX10..

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Yeah the wheels and tires will be swapped out. Probably go with my go-to SSD beadlocks and either Pitbull Growlers or Pro Line Hyrax's. Had great success with both.

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[Ascender'nMN84]

Nice build...I will be watching as always.

Thanks!



Mini update: I'm still waiting on my rear axle shafts and metal trans gears, but they should be at the house when I get home tonight. Minus the axle shafts, the rear housing is assembled but no pics at this time. "The Great Deadbolt tear-down of 2017*" will commence tomorrow night (12/19/17) hopefully. I'm trying to get an overhead camera mount built for my DSLR so I can get the whole thing on video as well as pics of the process.

I've also updated the parts listing in the first post as I've made additions off the record since then.

Thanks for checking out this build. I'll have more eye candy soon. I promise.





* In my town, on my street, at my house.

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[Ascender'nMN84]

So I said I would post pics of the assembled rear axle, so here they are. Nothing fancy or special but it's a rear axle that's complete. I was also able to the the stock axles and links stripped off the truck last night. I shot video of the process, but it's unedited and will have to be set to music as I had some audio issues. Gonna try to get some new links assembled before I head to work today. Only 5 days to get this rig finished and two (2) 10 hour days at work the next 2 days, so it's getting tight, but I have confidence. Painting the new shell is the biggest obstical I'll need to overcome. I'll be taking it to work to start laying down tape and lines

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[Ascender'nMN84]

So here it is... Just the tear down, but I'm heading to the cave shortly to film more. TIA! "thumbsup"

https://youtu.be/5bLB3Kl5l4U

 

[Ascender'nMN84]

So last night was a rough one for me. I was able to get all the links built but not sure if/how the video came out. I didn't start working until after midnight after a 10 hour day so, needless to say, I was a bit tired... I also realized I forgot to order steering linkage for the truck. I had a standard SCX10 steering upgrade kit in my parts bin but even with a spacer I'm still toed in quite a bit. Not going to be able to get parts here before Monday, so I'll have to dig a bit deeper and see if I have more spacers in the bin. LHS tomorrow worst case. I'll be bringing my computer to work to check footage but no promises.

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[mhowzit]

It's looking like a solid build.

 

[Ascender'nMN84]

It's looking like a solid build.

Thanks! It's going much slower than I had hoped but that happens. We're hosting my family for Christmas eve tomorrow night so I'm not sure how much bench time I'll be able to get today. I was able to get a few small things done last night before I passed out. Receiver box and ESC were removed to make room for a Howler Customs forward battery tray. I was turned on to them when Harley used one in his Deadbolt budget build series (highly recommended). At $20, it's one of the cheapest on the market and I've had no issues with the one I installed on my original Deadbolt 2 years ago. To complete the install, you'll need 2 spacers between the tray and the holes the receiver box used to screw in to. If you have an RTR Axial, the perfect sized spacer is included with your parts bag you recieved with your truck. I'll try to get measurements on the spacers and screws I used later today.

I was also going to mount the CMS brackets, but it was well past midnight and I was nodding off sitting at the bench. If using the SSD pro44 conversion kit, you'll need to cut the plastic cross member that the front left (drivers side) shock hoop attaches to. This is the point when I tapped out for the night.

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[mhowzit]

Yeah, that howler tray is sweet. I put on on my budget loner rig. Once you take the stock battery tray off, you can mount the radio box there.

 

[mhowzit]

I'm about to start my own 10.2ish build. I've been thinking of it as a 10.1.5 lol. It's all just a box of parts right now.

 

[Ascender'nMN84]

I'm about to start my own 10.2ish build. I've been thinking of it as a 10.1.5 lol. It's all just a box of parts right now.

Very nice! I was really happy with the Howler tray in my other Deadbolt, and since I'm pretty sure this rig will see limited trailing, it doesn't need anything too expensive. When I ordered them, my only Axial product was the Deadbolt but I know myself well enough that i knew it was wise to just get 2 since the price was right. This one has just been in the parts bin for almost 2 years.

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[Ascender'nMN84]

Got the cross member cut this morning and the CMS brackets installed. The passenger side small bracket needed just a touch of material removed as when mounted snug, it was angled towards the front of the truck. Nothing a few swipes of a file couldn't fix though. The "plan" is to get the gears in the transmission swapped and maybe even links and axles installed tonight. I've got a turkey to cook tonight so I'll have some time to kill.

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[Inurhead]

Keeping the stock servo?

 

[Ascender'nMN84]

Keeping the stock servo?

Long-term, no. To complete this thing to be opened Monday morning, yes. Not sure exactly what I'll be putting in it for her yet tho.

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[Ascender'nMN84]

I got the trans gears swapped (sorry no pics) and the links and axles installed. Just a little note for anyone who wants to try this SSD conversion link set: when installing the rear links, you need to move the rear shock hoops back to the 12.3" WB slots. When you do this it WILL move the body mounting points further back as well, thus meaning your stock Deadbolt body will no longer fit without adding 2 holes further back on the "fuel cell". Luckily this truck is getting a custom painted shell for the lady, but I figured I would share my (possibly obvious) findings. Another 2:30 am night apparently so it's time to call it for this evening. Thanks for checking out the build thus far. I'll see if I can get a video posted soon.

Edit: upon further review, yes the panhard bar is upside down in the pics. It's been changed since posting.

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[Inurhead]

Very nice!

 

[Ascender'nMN84]

So an update since it's been a while: Since it wouldn't fit on her finger, I got the impression this would not go over very well as her Christmas gift. So the race to finish has been scratched. The build has not, but the late nights and early mornings won't be as frequent. In other bad news, I misplaced (lost) the memory card that had the link assembly and install. Rookie mistake, I know. I have the trans build on the computer but to be honest I've been socked with the plague the past week so that too has slowed my progress significantly.

I did get the SSD PRO44 Steering Link set (SSD00212) in the mail and installed. Much cleaner look than the Frankenlinks I had put together from the parts bin. Also got a TrackPower TK-950 soldering station with my Tower Bucks so electronics will be going in soon.

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