Retired USDA truck turned crawler (TF2 MC Edition)

[addiemonster]

I've always loved old Yotas, and have been in love with the USDA Forest Service green since I first saw it back in the 90s. Paint is the actual paint used by the USDA back when they used to paint their forest service fleet this color. I got it in a spray can from LVP Paints, code is "Federal Standard 34350 Forest Service", in case you've been spending as much time tracking it down as I did. It's a really difficult color to photograph correctly but I promise it's spot on to the real vehicles that used to wear it.

The theme I went for was someone picked this truck up for cheap at a government auction and it sat around for a couple decades until they sold it to some kid who wanted to go rock crawling. The yellow accents all spawned from wanting to use the Marlin Crawler windscreen banner and not have it stick out like it didn't fit the look. At first I thought this color combo was fugly but it very quickly grew on me. My buddy says it reminds him of the Mystery Machine from Scooby Doo.

Anyway here's a rundown of the build:

RC4WD Marlin Crawler Edition Trailfinder 2
RC4WD full TF2 interior
Bowhouse RC aluminum rear shackle mounts
Bowhouse RC low profile transfer case skid
RC4WD 80mm ARB Old Man Emu shocks
RC4WD Warn winch with a WooW BooB to run off my DX5 Rugged
eBay head and taillight kit
RC4WD 1.55 wagon wheels
RC4WD Interco Irok ND tires
RC4WD Aisin front locking hubs
Axial SCX10II Wildboar driveshafts
All the usual TF2 leaf spring/shock mods
Homemade dollar store food container inner fenders
Replaced rear body posts with magnets
TOYOTA lettering for the tailgate from eBay seller wesellsmiles
Cut the (in my opinion) fugly jungle gym front bumper into a simple winch plate
Cut a battery access door into the bed so I never have to remove the body (have some scale bits on order to hide it better)
SRD LV custom aluminum plates (Oregon: G3T L05T)
A million stickers because teenager logic means MORE HERRSPERRS and TWERKS
Reign RC 90 degree CB antenna
Screwed the mirrors into the body
Spare tire donated from my Element Trailwalker
Matchbox Jeep CJ as a "scale scale crawler" :ror:
3D printed chainsaw from eBay
RC4WD ARB recovery ropes
Driver figure: Fraulein Revoltech Yoko Littner
Copilot: a goat
Holmes Hobbies Crawlmaster Sport 550 15T
Hobbywing 1080 because duh
Hitec 7950TH servo
Spektrum SR515 rx
Waterproofed everything
And a bunch more scale items on the way...

Runs on Helios RC 3S 3700mah shorty packs. We crawled a lot today, probably about six hours in the mid 80s farenheit, motor never even got a little warm. Did all that on one pack (I had two with me). Made the jump to 3S and I think I'll never look back!

Anyway, enjoy these shots from Black Creek Preserve, our favorite local spot.

 

[Timmahh]

Looks Great. Love Green myself. Even the Color is really cool. lol It does have a certain Scooby Doo look to it lol

Nice Job.

 

[addiemonster]

Thanks! I'm looking forward to finishing it up with some light rust effects and scale bits before I start on my next TF2.

 

[twade984]

Hell yeah, looks good! I’ve always kind of wanted an ex forest service truck.

I met Marlin once. Wrenched with him technically.. sold him a 3rz and auto trans, and we separated the two In the circus circus parking lot. He’s a good dude.

 

[addiemonster]

That's nuts! I'm hoping to meet the man someday, myself. I hear nothing but good. Wholesome guy from the sounds of it. Back in the 90s you'd see the occasional XJ in my area runnning this paint code and I always thought it looked awesome. Didn't know until the early 00s that they were old government fleet vehicles! Wondered why I never saw it as a dealer option during early research! :lmao:

 

[Dirt Runner]

Nice truck! I like the color scheme. It's different for sure. That looks like a nice spot. Seems about an hour from me.

 

[addiemonster]

Nice truck! I like the color scheme. It's different for sure. That looks like a nice spot. Seems about an hour from me.

Awesome! Maybe we'll cross paths one weekend, haha

 

[addiemonster]

Woke up to find that Hitec featured my truck on their Instagram page. I'm pretty much a celebrity now. 8)

https://www.instagram.com/p/CFFNXYzA_KW/

 

[addiemonster]

Reviving this thread because I felt it needed some more detailed shots of how it sits currently. It's been reliable and seen many many miles of use, being my main trail rig. It does everything the linked boys can do and then some, even having the smallest tires of any rig in our group. The shocks have bled all of their oil out and the leaf springs are well-worn and the whole thing creaks and groans like an old 'Yota should. I'm completely in love with it, and it is by far my favorite "completed" project so far. The only change on the horizon is the +4mm A&M Garage shackle reverse that's currently en route to me.

It's eaten two rear diffs, but I've since shimmed the front and rear pinions with no further problems for many many outings. Long travel suspension is trick and cool, sure, but it just can't compete for my heart when put up against the driving experience of a creaky old Hilux on leafs.

The weathering was an attempt at making it look closer to a truck that sat tucked up next to a barn or something for a couple decades. I was going for rust and mildew, with that mossy look you see in abandoned pacific northwest vehicles. You can be the judge of whether I pulled it off or not, but I'm neither here nor there on how realistic it looks. I think it looks tough and traveled either way, so I'm happy.

 

[meatmonkey]

This looks straight out of a Dirt Every Day episode. Spot on. The beds got everything needed for a northwestern offroad adventure.

Could we get close up side profile shots of the A&M front hanger? I know its 4mm stretched, but I'm curious as to the height of the spring eye.

 

[addiemonster]

This looks straight out of a Dirt Every Day episode. Spot on. The beds got everything needed for a northwestern offroad adventure.

Could we get close up side profile shots of the A&M front hanger? I know its 4mm stretched, but I'm curious as to the height of the spring eye.

Thanks for the praise! I don't have the A&M parts installed on this Hilux yet, but the unpainted 4Runner next to it has the standard position shackle reverse from A&M installed. Would that help you? I can snap some shots for you for sure. "thumbsup"

 

[SurlyBurly]

A Dirt Heads sticker would fit in.

 

[addiemonster]

I've been meaning to ask if there's a service or something where I can order custom sticker sheets. A Dirt Heads sticker would be perfect!

 

[addiemonster]

Could we get close up side profile shots of the A&M front hanger? I know its 4mm stretched, but I'm curious as to the height of the spring eye.

Sorry for the delay, I took some shots of the non-offset ones installed on my 4Runner but the pictures weren't clear enough. The +4mm ones came in today, so before painting I snapped some simple shots for you, in both metric and imperial. Hope this helps!

Remember, these are +4mm forward of where they would regularly hang.

<------ Front of truck

 

[addiemonster]

Just finished the install of the A&M Garage +4mm shackle reversal. When I was uploading photos, I thought it would be cool to share how this rig has evolved since I bought it back in 2019. What a wild ride it's been, and I'm looking forward to even more years of enjoyment. I can happily say this project is finished. Nothing left but to put more miles on it. "thumbsup"

It was of course a standard red Marlin Crawler edition TF2. The same day it arrived, I sprayed it flat black and threw on some 1.9 Gmade steelies and 4.19 Proline Swampers. I quickly discovered the steering was now limited by the tires biting the leaf springs, and this didn't last more than two outings before I got sick of it.

I was stubborn and wanted to use the 4.19 Swampers and keep it leaf sprung, so I got some wagon wheels and wide hubs. I was also sick of the same old flat black everyone paints their trucks in, so the Forest Service look started coming together.

This was kind of a cool look, which I then ruined by painting everything white to match the wheels. I immediately hated this, and the yellow windshield banner planted the seed for the look it has now. :???:

I started by hacking up the MC front bumper to make a minimalist winch plate. I like the challenge of having something sticking off the front of the truck, but I also wanted the front of it to be so open-wheeled that it was essentially a lifted F1 car.

I was also sick of having to take the body off to install and remove the battery, so I cut an access door into the bed which I covered with scale accessories and keep in place with magnets.

I never took pictures of the old interior setup, but it got a makeover including a new driver and co-pilot.

Sprayed the barwork and new 1.55 wheels yellow, then wrapped them in Irok ND tires.

Then I just drove the hell out of it.

And now, here we are. Amazon snorkel and +4mm shackle reverse installed, marking the end of the build. Here's to many more years of creaky knees and squeaky leafs!

 

[Levi]

Looks like a good project you got going. The Forrest service them reminds me of my first set of wheels. It was a old Forrest service blazer that was green. Later down the road I got it painted a necessary green. Some years later ended up selling it for my truck.

 

[ion]

After putting on the front shackle reverse kit hoe do you like the suspension now?

I picked up a used tf2 a few months ago. I just started ordering parts for it and one of the first things was the rc4wd shackle reverse i ordered this morning. I got the chassis all put together and absolutely hated how stiff the suspension was as it compressed so i'm hoping that the suspension softens up a bit once i put that on and maybe take a leaf or two out. I know i can get the red super soft leafs from rc4wd but i'm skeptical of their longevity in hard use areas.

 

[addiemonster]

The shackle reverse won't make the suspension any more plush, it mostly just aesthetically corrects the layout of the front suspension. The +4mm version pushes your axle forward, giving you a better approach angle, and the shackle reverse in general alters the compression angle so your axle goes up and back under compression instead of just up, which reduces hop when cresting an obstacle with any kind of wheelspeed.

You're correct that the suspension will wear in and soften up. I've got two years of hard use on my leafs, and they're still the box-stock Marlin leafs. Trail Finders will always, as I've heard them described, "flex like a cinder block", but you can do a lot of free mods to improve your stability and overall crawling capability without converting to links.

Remove the internal springs from your shocks. Drain all the oil leaving just enough to lubricate the shafts inside the shock body, or replace it with a light grease. Remove the smallest leaf from each corner. Look up the "Chino Mod" on YouTube. Then drive, drive, drive!

If you still want more flex and don't mind spending money, there's the Z-Box shackle extensions, though I've never used them, myself.

My Marlin is well worn-in, and can hang with my buddies in their TRX4s and SCX10s easily. Trail Finders start off really stiff, but do the free mods and put some wear on the suspension and she'll get much better. The rigid driving characteristics is part of the charm and challenge of the chassis, and is one of the main reasons its my favorite rig.

 

[addiemonster]

First crawl of the year, of course the Marlin was the first rig I took out. Never missed a beat, even with a blown-out bearing in the passenger front wheel that I forgot to change over the winter. "thumbsup"

 

[benster]

Nice rig dude, waiting on axle parts myself to try an array of A&M garage parts, front bumper and shackle reverse, their t-case skid and the anti-wrap bar. My main reason for the shackle reverse is that when the suspension flexes, it moves back instead of being pushed forward and pushing the truck off the obstacle. It makes driving a bit smoother over obstacles as has been said higher. The anti-wrap bar though, very much worth it, the pinion can't move anymore and it doesn't limit travel so I can use only the main leaf out back for more flex.

Love your paint scheme, very different but well executed on the weathering IMO.