Soze rejoices the Traxxas TRX4 Sport Kit

[soze]

Yours were probably pre-scratched as well. Horrible packaging on the frame rails. That and the lack of extra hardware are really my only major gripes about this otherwise awesome kit.

Does Traxxas offer the slipper pads separately or are you using another brand for the 45T spurt?

Anti-seize is messy stuff. It's not something I ever want on my RC bench. :lmao: I'm still wondering how it looks after mud and water. You'll have to keep us posted. But I think somewhere else you said you stick to the dry.

Unfortunately you need the whole rebuild kit to get the slipper pad. $11.99

I'm wondering if we can just find the correct material and cut out our own slipper pads. Food for thought.

Yes, I do stick to dry, so wet isn't an issue. I especially stay out of mud. LOL It's bad enough when my son's cleats are caked with mud from a soggy field.... if my RC was caked with mud....

The anti-seize I try to put little on and then spread it. I just need to remember to keep my hands away from the cv joints when handling the truck. Otherwise, so far it hasn't been too messy.

Nice build thread! Very detailed and informative. Who needs a manual when you have Soze!

It's great to see all the Sport Kit builds going on at the same time. Kinda makes me want to buy another and join in.

I really enjoy watching your build on YouTube. Looking forward to the next.

Thanks! I do it just as a way for me to remember what I did and what I was doing. It's nice too that if I come across something to watch out for I can document it so that I can reference later on. If it helps other people, then great! Or it can just be entertainment if I leave the parts where e-clips go flying in all directions... LOL (honestly though e-clips were OK on this kit. not having to build the shocks probably helps too. Some other kits have e-clips in nasty places that are hard to clip on)

 

[JatoTheRipper]

Unfortunately you need the whole rebuild kit to get the slipper pad. $11.99

I'm wondering if we can just find the correct material and cut out our own slipper pads. Food for thought.

Yes, I do stick to dry, so wet isn't an issue. I especially stay out of mud. LOL It's bad enough when my son's cleats are caked with mud from a soggy field.... if my RC was caked with mud....

The anti-seize I try to put little on and then spread it. I just need to remember to keep my hands away from the cv joints when handling the truck. Otherwise, so far it hasn't been too messy.

That's the only thing I found. A slipper pad from something else has to fit - at least you would think. The slipper delete plate is only $12 and I lock mine down tight so maybe that's what I'll do.

You can also go on eBay and get takeoff parts that include the spur with installed slipper pad, etc for less than $12.

About a year and a half later, way overdue for a rebuild, but these have seen plenty of mud/water/sand/saltwater...

It looks like there's a lot of grit in there though.

 

[JSterrett]

Anti-seize is messy stuff. It's not something I ever want on my RC bench. :lmao: I'm still wondering how it looks after mud and water. You'll have to keep us posted. But I think somewhere else you said you stick to the dry.

About a year and a half later, way overdue for a rebuild, but these have seen plenty of mud/water/sand/saltwater...

 

[JSterrett]

It looks like there's a lot of grit in there though.

Not really, especially considering what it's been driven through in that time. It's hard to get a good photo of it though. New Sport kit will be here in a few days, all the fancy parts are getting switched from this truck to the new one, I'll get better pics when I disassemble it...

Also, sorry about the mini- thread jack Soze, lol

 

[soze]

Not really, especially considering what it's been driven through in that time. It's hard to get a good photo of it though. New Sport kit will be here in a few days, all the fancy parts are getting switched from this truck to the new one, I'll get better pics when I disassemble it...

Also, sorry about the mini- thread jack Soze, lol

Nah man it's still relevant! Since I am using anti-seize on my CVDs and driveshafts.

 

[DukeMinnix]

in a bind a friend of mine used like cabinet anti slip padding stuff in place of a slipper pad in a brushless 3s powered yeti and its holding really well and is quite impressive haha

 

[B-MOW71]

Thanks! I do it just as a way for me to remember what I did and what I was doing. It's nice too that if I come across something to watch out for I can document it so that I can reference later on. If it helps other people, then great! Or it can just be entertainment if I leave the parts where e-clips go flying in all directions... LOL (honestly though e-clips were OK on this kit. not having to build the shocks probably helps too. Some other kits have e-clips in nasty places that are hard to clip on)

Oh yeah, the dreaded e-clips! I remember building my first Team Associated RC-10 back in the late 80's. That kit is full of them. Surprisingly I did not lose too many.

 

[soze]

Section F: Suspension & Driveline

It's continuing to come together!


This part of the build requires these bags.

Step F1 uses these pre-built shocks. {commercial voice}Just add oil!{/commercial voice}

The only thing you need to assemble in this step is the oil nozzle for the shock oil bottle.

Getting ready to do some oil filling with my trusty ProTek RC Shock Pliers...

Step F1 complete....Doh! I forgot to take finished shock pictures... It's ok, you'll get to see them later.


Time to move onto the links with this bag... with the pre-assembled links...

Step F2 Parts

F2 complete

Step F3 parts...

Step F3 complete

Lining up the proper links for step F4

Also need these screws

Step F4 Complete

Step F5 parts

F5 complete

What we need for step F6

F6 complete.

Screws needed for Step F7

F7 complete

Final bag we need for this section

Step F8 parts

RED ALERT! One of the output drives is defective with the slots cut at an angle instead of straight up and down. This caused the driveshaft to bind.

Called up Traxxas.
me - "Hey, um... I just bought a TRX4 Sport kit, and one of the parts is defective."
Traxxas - "what part is it, and what's the part number?"
me - "It's the output drive that you can find in part# 8295"
Traxxas - "what's your name and address?"
me - "My name is #####, and my address is #####..."
Traxxas - "ok we'll send one out to you right away"
me - "That's it?"
Traxxas - "That's it!"


Few days later this showed up in the mailbox. Back in business!

Old on left, new on the right.

Due to technical difficulties... Step F8 took the longest, but it's now complete.

Parts for Step F9

Step F9 complete.

And with that we are complete with "Section F: Suspension & Driveline"

 

[M1tch]

That's great support from Traxxas!! I don't know if the same would happen in the UK though.

Also bummed as I missed out on a used Sport on ebay last Sunday. They are rare in the UK though.

 

[JatoTheRipper]

It's a bummer the driveshaft was defective, but at least Traxxas was quick to respond.

 

[mattbhm]

This is like seriously a professional level build log/tutorial/walkthrough/etc! Awesome build!

 

[smog]

Such a nice looking kit. Thanks for posting up your build in such detail. You are giving Jato a run for his money in that department.

 

[soze]

This build is still alive!

 

[soze]

Section G: Final Chassis Assembly

Coming to the home stretch of this build!


These are the parts for Step G1.

Pay attention to the rotation direction for the tires as they are directional. I will not be gluing on the tires and using the wheels even though I think they look decent, because I much prefer using beadlock wheels. I'm going to give these tires a shot first stock, and modded with siping/cutting.

For the rest of this section you will need the "Body Mounting Bag"

These are the parts for step G2

Step G2 complete. Crossmembers mounted on.

You need these parts for step G3

Make sure you pay attention to the direction of the posts.

Step G3 complete

These are the parts you need for step G4

So, I encountered my second issue with this kit. I was missing a 3x10 screw. At this point of the build, I should have 12 total 3x10mm BCS screws. I had 11. This is where Traxxas probably should give some extra hardware in case they miscount.

Putting together the front bumper assembly requires 2 3x10mm and 1 2.6x8mm. Luckily, I had an extra 3x10mm screw that I poached from my GMADE GOM box of parts.


Step G4 Complete.

You need these parts for step G5

Step G5 complete. Eagle eyes will notice that I have the sliders on the wrong sides. Not to worry, they have since been correctly put on the correct sides (left --> right & right --> left).

This completes "Section G: Final Chassis Assembly"!

 

[soze]

Section H: Body Assembly

Let's wrap this build up in stock form and get this thread ready for upgrade and crawling updates.


So, the weather finally warmed up, and I got around to painting the body. I used the following for getting this body done.

Paint:
Tamiya PS-5 Black
Tamiya PS-30 Brilliant Blue
Tamiya PS-23 Gunmetal
Tamiya PS-55 Flat Clear
Plasti-Dip

Masking:
Tamiya 5mm Masking tape for Curves
Frog Tape (for general masking)


Here's the end result for the body.

Here's the Tamiya 5mm Masking tape for Curves that I used.

Frog Tape for general masking duties.

You'll need these parts for Section H

These are the parts for Step H1

Step H1 complete

These are the parts for step H2.

I encountered my 3rd Issue with the kit. You'll notice that one 2.5x8mm screw is missing. I should have a total of 10, but I only had 9 left during this stage of the build. Again, wish there was some extra hardware to cover. Luckily, I was able to snag yet another screw from my parts for other trucks.


Step H2 complete

Here are the parts for Step H3

Eagle eyes will see in that picture above that I used the wrong 3x8mm FCS screws. There are actually 2 styles of 3x8mm screws with that big flat FCS head. One uses 2mm hex driver, the other uses 2.5mm. I will show the differences further below.


I also took this opportunity to add a little sharpie + paint marker detailing to the scale parts. Not a perfect job by any means, but good enough to not look like 1 color plastic bits.

Step H3 complete

Again, I used the wrong screws on these rotopacks

These are the parts you need for Step H4

Step H4 complete

You need these parts for Step H5

Step H5 complete (still the wrong screws on the rotopacks)

So getting the final step H6.... I discovered I used the wrong 3x8mm FCS screws for the rotopacks. There are two types of 3x8mm FCS screws included in the kit. One type uses 2mm hex drivers and the other 2.5mm hex drivers. The one with the bigger flat head and 2mm fitting is used for the rotopacks. The rest are for mounting the Expedition cage onto the body.

The top FCS screw is for the rotopacks.

The right screw is the correct one.

You'll need these parts for step H6

Step H6 complete

And that completes "Section H: Body assembly"!


The build in stock form is now complete!

 

[soze]

You didn't think I forgot to give you guys the complete finished look did you?

I'll try to get some better pictures with better lighting up soon, but for now these will do.

Here's some pictures of it all finished up.

 

[sm77]

Great job Soze , very clear detailed pictures and instructions, thankyou "thumbsup" what colour blue is that looked slightly purple in some of the pics?

 

[soze]

Great job Soze , very clear detailed pictures and instructions, thankyou "thumbsup" what colour blue is that looked slightly purple in some of the pics?

Tamiya PS30 Brilliant Blue. The purple hue in some of the pictures is from the extreme "white" light from my LED lamp.

 

[durok]

Really nice job, my man!

 

[soze]

Really nice job, my man!

Thanks, a little messing around with the tires, slap them on some wheels, and I'm ready to take it out for its maiden run!