sickpuppys TRX-4's life up north..

[HTFU Defender]

Now that is some good scenery. Would love to do some tiny trucking there.

And as usual.. After a run there is photos..
So here we go

Strike a pose..

I even got company

 

[sickpuppy]

Awesome build bro! Jealous of those axles. They're sweet! Did you do your paint job on the outside? If yes, how's it holding up to the scratches? My trx-4 is red & I'm not big on the color & would like to paint it without buying a new body. Have a great day!

Thank you very much.
Yes it's painted on the outside, my body was original grey.
I think it's holding up pretty good, I've had some rolls and a lot of wear and tear on it and it sticks like paint should stick
I actually think it looks better with paint on the outside, it gives more realistic wearmarks than if you just scratch the lexan with paint on the inside..
Well, I'm gonna paint another one on the inside soon, I may change my mind then..

 

[sickpuppy]

Now that is some good scenery. Would love to do some tiny trucking there.

Yeah, that was a nice spot. Glad I found that one
You're welcome to join, I'll even pick you up at the airport!
It's just a 10-12hrs flight I guess..

 

[AnimalHippie]

That's awesome! Going to do the truck bed mod this weekend. Thinking about painting mine on the outside. Just don't want that red to show through. What paint did you use? How many coats? Primer? I'm kinda rough on the rocks so I'm still questioning if I should paint the outside. Thanks for the info!

 

[sickpuppy]

Just clean the body and make sure there is no trace of soap or anything on the lexan, and use lexan paint, no primer needed. I think I used two coats, seems to me enough so far, and I've given it some beating too.
I was just on my local rc-pusher and bought some new beadlocks today, and a new battery with higher C-numbers and some other "nippets"..
Looking forward to try out a bit more energetic battery

 

[sickpuppy]

So, lets talk about the Toyota Hilux..
Even if the Defender is my absolute favorite, I still have made the Hilux and I’m pretty pleased with ith thinking it’s my first ever Lexan-body painted by my self.
But the bumpers that fit perfectly for the Defender isn’t really the best match for the Hilux, so yesterday I was planning on doing something with that issue, maybe I’ll get a better fit and maybe I’ll use the Hilus out in the field more often?
Well, here’s what happened yesterday..

First I’ll show how I cut out the bed when I made the Hilux, I’ve gotten a couple questions about that, so here you how I cut it to fit with the rear mounting.

Not a surgical cut, but it wont be visible while used anyway..

‘coz I got this box 3D-printed to fit around the mount and to keep the bed in place

I might do a new one with a closed front-wall also, but I didn’t have the time to measure and draw that when I was at it at the first run, but it works for now

Here’s the rear mount on the chassis, not sure if that’s the original rear mount, maybe someone can tell me? I’m pretty sure it’s heavily modified tho’..

 

[sickpuppy]

So this is what it looks like when I just swap the body after running with the Defender, you can see that the bumpers are sticking out..

This is how it was in the back

And the front was just.. LMAO

Even if I tuck the bumpers as close to the chassis as possible they still dont match the way I want..

The front bumper just doesnt want to play with the yota..

 

[sickpuppy]

So I found these bumpers lying in a drawer, it still doesn’t fit properly, but this I think I can work with..

The rear one wasnt that bad actually, but I wanted to tuck them in place properly..

So I made a cutting line as a guide and went for the Dremel..

I did it the safe way and made a couple cuts to make sure I didn’t remove too much.
But this is how it ended up, pretty pleased with it actually.. I’ll cut off some lexan to drop the bed closer to the mount in the rear tho’.

Even the front I think got pretty good

 

[sickpuppy]

And here’s some aftermath of the job

I forgot to mention, I got an extra set of beadlocks yesterday, not sure how I like they on the truck, but I’ll give them a shot..

Dat ass..

Yeah, now I can drive it without beeing too embarrassed 

 

[o0wiz0o]

Looks great. Those bumper look much better with that body I agree.

 

[sickpuppy]

Nothing new just now, we're selebrating the 17th of May here today, but I just put together a picture to show the difference between before and after modifying the bumper..

 

[sickpuppy]

Long time no see PPL!
There have been a lot of familyfriendly activities and birthdays the last weeks, so I haven't gotten to play as much as I want with the TRX.
But the beadlocks on the last picture wasn't at all my taste, so I'm putting them in the bin and will try to forget ever buying them..
Instead I found a set of rims that fits the HiLux very good. Now I just need some good tires to mount on them, for now I'm using the tires that was mounted on the uglybugly-rims just to have something to roll with other than the Hyrax.
Any suggestions on what tires to buy?
BTW: I finally got the opportunity to take a ride with it today, I tried to film a bit but it doesnt seem like there's gonna be a film from it, so here's a few pix of the car on the top of the route, what do you think of the wheels?

 

[sickpuppy]

The last ones..

 

[sickpuppy]

So.. I found an interesting webpage.. It said to me..: Thanks for shopping with us!
2 x PRO1197-03 Pro-Line Interco TSL SX Super Swamper XL 1.9" Rock Crawler Tires (2) (Predator)
2 x PBTPB9014AK Pit Bull Tires Rock Beast XOR 1.9 Crawler Tires w/Foam (Alien)

 

[sickpuppy]

Oh man..
I just ordered the sickest body I've ever seen on these chassis..
It's crazy expensive, but I just need it, just as I need everything else for this truck..
But now I need to chill down a bit, maybe, I think..

 

[high plains drifter]

What bugged me most about the other set of wheels was the black ring with only 6 silver screws. Something tells me that if the ring was silver or if the socket heads were black that it would've looked better idk. No matter though as the white stamped steelies look awesome... significantly better! I actually like those Trepadors on that rig but I absolutely love me some Hilux so I'm not sure that there are too many tires that wouldn't look killer on that rig lol. Great job on the bumpers btw and what gorgeous scenery... Jealous!

 

[sickpuppy]

What bugged me most about the other set of wheels was the black ring with only 6 silver screws. Something tells me that if the ring was silver or if the socket heads were black that it would've looked better idk. No matter though as the white stamped steelies look awesome... significantly better! I actually like those Trepadors on that rig but I absolutely love me some Hilux so I'm not sure that there are too many tires that wouldn't look killer on that rig lol. Great job on the bumpers btw and what gorgeous scenery... Jealous!

I totally agree, also the mismatch in numbers of spokes on the rim and the cut-outs on the ring is what bothers me the most, and I was thinking of giving the ring a little grinding so I could make it silver. I may use the ring from the back instead, that ring doesnt have the cut-outs, but I have more rims coming in from around the world so no hurry here.. hehe
I also agree on the white steelies, I just love them! I also got my hands on a set of original wheels without tires some time ago and I've painted them white.. I think I actually liked that approach, but I dont know what tires to put on them.. Maybe the Hyrax, but they fit good on the current wheels and those rims is a TON of work to mount up..

So yeah, got some thinking to do while I watch 24h of LeMans

 

[sickpuppy]

Today it was a rainy day..
So I took the time to mount some of the wheels I have lying around here. I didn't care to mount all of them, because a couple of them is not going on the car again no matter what, so why show them..
But here's the showcase
Let me know what you think, personally I actually love the way the original wheels look after I painted them white.

I even tried to adjust the springs to the lowest adjustment.. I dont know what I think of that, it almost looks like a baby-hummer now..

 

[high plains drifter]

Tbh I don't think there's a bad combo of the bunch. Dunno if I have a valid opinion here but I'll give it a shot since you took the time to post.

1- A solid look on the Hilux as well as the Def PU. That wheel looks good under a lot of scale rigs imo.

2- Not really a fan of the Traxxas OEM black plastic wheels but the white letters on the Canyon Trail add a really unique look and raises the cool factor considerably. I personally don't really dig the Traxxas logo but it actually looks good on those tires alongside the OEM black wheels. I need to un-glue mine and switch out the foams cause they don't flex like that lol.

3- One of my favorites from this group. That wheel is a classic and although a bit of a hardcore look for the Defender, I think it works well since that particular body is a far cry from what grandma ever drove to church lol. Paired with the white Proline logo and the aggressive tread pattern, it's a winner in my book.

4- Idk what wheels those are but bronze and black is always a good look together. Seems a little tame paired with the more a/t looking CR's but it suits the rig quite well. Sophisticated look for sure.

5- Those look more silver in the pics but man!... looking really good in white along with tires other than the Canyon Trail. While not typically a fan of wheels that have that "feel", they look really at home under the black Defender! It doesn't hurt that those tires are pretty aggressive.

*** Btw I think that the sweet-spot for the ride height lies somewhere in between. I'd split the difference as close as you can. Something tells me that would be about right.

 

[sickpuppy]

Tbh I don't think there's a bad combo of the bunch. Dunno if I have a valid opinion here but I'll give it a shot since you took the time to post.

Thank you for your reply, I do really appreciate it.

1- A solid look on the Hilux as well as the Def PU. That wheel looks good under a lot of scale rigs imo.

Totally agree, I've even ordered a set that's similar to these but with not so many spokes. I am eager to check them out when they arrive..

2- Not really a fan of the Traxxas OEM black plastic wheels but the white letters on the Canyon Trail add a really unique look and raises the cool factor considerably. I personally don't really dig the Traxxas logo but it actually looks good on those tires alongside the OEM black wheels. I need to un-glue mine and switch out the foams cause they don't flex like that lol.

lol! My original inserts are totally RIP, so this is the flat-spots speaking.. hehe But I haven't taken the job to cook the tires off of the rims, so I guess these ones is dead to me.. Even if I like the looks of them..

3- One of my favorites from this group. That wheel is a classic and although a bit of a hardcore look for the Defender, I think it works well since that particular body is a far cry from what grandma ever drove to church lol. Paired with the white Proline logo and the aggressive tread pattern, it's a winner in my book.

Haha, love the way you're painting pictures inside my head with this..
This was the first thing I bought for the TRX-4, and no they didn't complement the original grey body as much, but after repainting and making this version of the body I also think they look good..

4- Idk what wheels those are but bronze and black is always a good look together. Seems a little tame paired with the more a/t looking CR's but it suits the rig quite well. Sophisticated look for sure.

I see what you mean, but I dont like these ones.. That may be because the tires really sucks, but even if I had high hopes for the black chrome that this is called I think these ones let me down.. Maybe I'll boil the rubber off of them and try them with a better tire, maybe they'll grow on me.. But as you say, it looks a tad sophisticated, and that's not what I'm going for..

5- Those look more silver in the pics but man!... looking really good in white along with tires other than the Canyon Trail. While not typically a fan of wheels that have that "feel", they look really at home under the black Defender! It doesn't hurt that those tires are pretty aggressive.

Haha, you and I doesn't get to an argument, at least not over this topic..
This was a thought I had some weeks ago and just by impulse I ordered a set of original rims and spraypainted them matte white. I also like the Hyrax on these wheels, it may be a permanent engagement.. Even if I hate the thought of gluing the tires, it gives me the chills..

*** Btw I think that the sweet-spot for the ride height lies somewhere in between. I'd split the difference as close as you can. Something tells me that would be about right.

This one I totally agree with you, I'm gonna try to find the sweetspot some other time. The reason I did this was just to check the worst case scenario..



Again, thank you for the reply, it was nice to see that I'm not way off track with the wheels on this ride..