Soze rejoices the Traxxas TRX4 Sport Kit

[DukeMinnix]

My FJ40 body is ready to go, needs paint. Rear bumper is stock, flipped the mount, and front too with a SSD straight bumper.
The rear in particular hangs low. So yeah, I think that hitch needs to go.

https://s16.photobucket.com/user/cjdirtbiker/media/RC Cars/IMG_1905.jpg.html

I think what I ended up doing was using the front bumper mount that goes into the frame mount, if that makes sense, on the rear, and then cut the hitch off the rear bumper mount and flipped it and ran it up front. Worked out well, I am also running both front and rear frame mounts upside down for more clearance.

 

[soze]

My TRX4 Sport is so neglected in drive time it's not even funny. In hopes of getting this to a point where I'll feel like I'll enjoy wheeling it more, I got some parts off of ebay to help lower the center of gravity.

I got the C-Hubs and Rear hubs with the adjustable shock mounting holes along with metal inside knuckles.

Adjustable Shock Mount C-Hubs
Adjustable Shock Mount Rear Hubs
Metal Inner Portal Knuckles


Here are the parts I got.

Here is the funny thing about the C-Hubs I got. If you take a close look they incorrectly labeled the Right C-Hub as the Left, and the Left C-Hub as the Right. The rear hubs and inner portal knuckles were fine, but the C-Hubs were reversed.

"Right" c-Hub and stock left c-hub

This is what I got these parts for.

Everything fit perfectly with the inner portal knuckles.

Here we go with a perfect matching pair of stock left C-Hub and the "Left" but marked "R" aftermarket C-Hub

Mounted and used the lowest mounting hole with 2 spacers that were provided with the parts.

Other side

The front all done.

On the the rear hubs. No left/right labeling issues here.

Rears all finished up

The chassis is now sitting lower

I'll likely have to trim the fenders, but I'll run it first and see how much it bothers me.

 

[Browneye]

Looks good. How do these compare to just the big SSD covers for weight? I only put them on the front of mine, wheel hub weights on the back.
I really like my sport - hasn't been run much either, but sure crawls well.

 

[soze]

Looks good. How do these compare to just the big SSD covers for weight? I only put them on the front of mine, wheel hub weights on the back.
I really like my sport - hasn't been run much either, but sure crawls well.

These don't weigh very much, and aren't intended to. They just give you the option of mounting the lower shock position lower than the stock location at the link mounts in order to lower the chassis down to improve COG.

I have SSD covers that I'm going to try later on and see how they fit on these parts.

 

[soze]

I may have to do several things to this truck. I took it out to CDM today, and it was a frustrating experience after driving my BOM and Enduro.

1. COG... I really need to take care of this. Body probably needs to go unfortunately, and probably put on the SSD weights in the front.
2. Bumpers. Depending on body, I'll get something more appropriate. If I stick with the stock body, then that tow hitch has to be sawed off.
3. Raise the sliders. I didn't think it'd be that much of an issue... apparently it is.

The thing was just losing it's balance and tipping at all the places where my BOM and Enduro just don't give a second thought. All the difficult sections at CDM, I couldn't really do. Maybe it's just my driving style and I need to learn how to drive portal axled rigs.

 

[B-MOW71]

Man, that is a bummer!

I would say lose the bed rack or at least chop off the top part and leave the bed rails and head ache rack like Harley did to his. It looks like it would be top heavy. I'm running the Sport body on mine, but I have lowered it down as low as I could get it without chopping it up too bad. I'm not running anything on it that sits high and heavy except for the Dixieland R/C roll bar. It stays planted really good for having portals.

Also, yes raise them sliders up even with the side plates and trim the body off. I did that too mine it helped it tremendously with clearance.

I know each of my rigs has their on personality and react a little different out on the rocks. It can be frustrating when one does one thing and the other just won't keep up. It's taking me awhile and numerous test sessions, but I was able to make all of them fairly competitive and fun to drive without the frustration.

Looking forward to seeing the changes you make!

 

[soze]

Finally got around to working on this truck again.

I've had the SSD Brass portal weights (eBay) sitting around for a while now, and I just never got around to putting them on because of other projects.

As usual the SSD stuff looks fantastic

Fit tolerances are perfect

Finally on the truck

 

[soze]

Not being happy with the stock bumpers and sliders of the TRX4, I had bought the ScalerFab Trail Armor set late last year. I didn't have a chance to install them and try them out until now. This set is probably geared towards a more trail oriented rig given their weight, but they really do give the TRX4 Sport body a really nice finished look.

ScalerFab Comp Style Front Bumper with Bull Bar for TRX4 Sport
ScalerFab Rock Sliders for TRX4 Sport
ScalerFab Pre-Runner Rear Bumper for TRX4 Sport

I really like the look of this rear bumper on the sport body.

The rock sliders, while they look great... sit just as low as the stock sliders. They look great with the whole set of trail armor, but didn't give me the clearance I was looking for. I wish they would've angled these up so that they were like boat-sides to give you higher clearance on the sides. You'd have to trim the body of course, but I'd be ok with that.

They're also really heavy... so it'll hinder performance somewhat for strict rock duty. These, however, would be great for trail duty.

With the sliders being so heavy, I didn't want to commit to ripping off my electronics from the stock sliders and putting them onto these. So I noticed that you can wedge the ScalerFab sliders in-between the frame and the stock sliders. It's just a temporary thing until I figure out what I want to do, plus the stock sliders are integrated with the inner fenders I have on it. Most likely these are all going to go eventually, as I start gearing this rig more towards performance. For now, I'll keep running the Sport setup.

I got sliders under my sliders yo!

I forgot to take these pictures earlier, so here they are after getting battle scars from CDM.

Here's a shot from the side of the improved approach angle of the front bumper.

Here's a shot from the front.

And just complete shot of the truck with the bumpers on.

 

[20vmki]

Fantastic build!

 

[Benp]

Great work!

I love your channel!

 

[johnnyluv]

I've got plenty of trucks, including my TRX-4, that have parts waiting to be installed. A year goes by...and then another.

 

[soze]

Fantastic build!

Thanks!

Great work!

I love your channel!

Thanks man, I appreciate that.

I've got plenty of trucks, including my TRX-4, that have parts waiting to be installed. A year goes by...and then another.

Yeah... I've got too many projects. I just ended up selling the HPI Venture SBK that I was going to do a build on (regrettably, because I love building). I've got to focus and finish my projects so that I can at least decide what I want to keep around after running them.

 

[soze]

Here's another upgrade that I've been holding on for a little over a year.

Traxxas 8288 Underdrive Gear Set (eBay)

Opening up the axles...

Another look at the underdrive ring and pinion gears.

Axle back together. Pretty simple job.

Here's another thing I updated. I found a LCG battery tray off of Thingiverse. Now that I have a 3D printer, I decided to give it a shot.

Here's the stock setup.

Here's the LCG battery tray.

Comparison of the two battery trays

LCG battery tray fitted and installed.

 

[soze]

Finally took the TRX4 Sport out to CDM again. I had lowered the truck a little bit, added SSD brass weights in the front, and added ScalerFab bumpers and sliders.

I knew the ScalerFab setup wasn't ideal for this type of terrain, but it still did alright. There were a few lines I couldn't do that I could usually do in my Enduro with ease.

I also apologize for the body rattling in the beginning of the video. I didn't realize it started rubbing after I lowered the body. I proceeded to cut the offending edge off in the middle of the session as well as slicing open the top of my thumb... idiot move....

The truck was also LOUD! I've been spoiled by the quietness of the Enduro. I don't know what changed since last time. I checked the gear mesh after I got home, and it was perfectly fine. My only guess is that the Robinson Racing 32p pinion doesn't exactly mesh perfectly with the Traxxas mod .08 spur gear which is supposedly compatible with 32p gears. I've since ordered a Traxxas mod .08 pinion gear to see if that helps any.

As I want to see how far I can push this rig as far as performance... I will probably be switching the entire body setup as well as the bumpers and sliders. Too many projects!

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zDOW5LmJbrc" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[20vmki]

Have fun with the printer! I printed the same LCG tray and found that it hit the rear links at full compression, so I made a few tweaks in TinkerCAD and came up with this:

There is also a pretty slick HW1080 mount on Thingiverse as well, if you're looking for more things to print

 

[soze]

Have fun with the printer! I printed the same LCG tray and found that it hit the rear links at full compression, so I made a few tweaks in TinkerCAD and came up with this:

There is also a pretty slick HW1080 mount on Thingiverse as well, if you're looking for more things to print

Nice!

I wonder if yours was hitting the rear links because of your shock mounts. I'm using the inner fender kit as the shock mounts, and I seem to be ok as far as clearance goes. I wonder if that will change if I go back to the stock shock hoops like I may be planning to do.

 

[Benp]

The truck was also LOUD! I've been spoiled by the quietness of the Enduro. I don't know what changed since last time. I checked the gear mesh after I got home, and it was perfectly fine. My only guess is that the Robinson Racing 32p pinion doesn't exactly mesh perfectly with the Traxxas mod .08 spur gear which is supposedly compatible with 32p gears. I've since ordered a Traxxas mod .08 pinion gear to see if that helps any.

Soze,

I saw you mention In your video about it being loud and the RR pinion possibly being the cause.

I also ran a 9t RR pinion and a Hot Racing steel 45t spur. The pitch was correct, mesh was good but it was pretty loud.

I switched to Traxxas 9t pinion and Traxxas 45t factory spur. Quieted it down quite a bit.

I don’t know if that is from better mesh like you said or no longer a steel spur. Anyways it’s quieter.

Thanks for mentioning that.

Also regarding the low cg battery tray. I have the Bowhouse and had to cut it due to upper links contacting it. But I am also running the IERC rear shock towers like you are on the Enduro. Your video is where I got that idea.

I put the bowhouse in right away and don’t recall if there was contact before the new shock towers. But definitely once I tilted the shocks forward.

I run smaller battery packs (2200/1500) so I trimmed the tray to the end of the 2200 and it works better.

Thanks again for the great channel!