I stayed up pretty late last night trying to get the chassis, wheels, and suspension put together.
The two stage foams looked huge to me. I was not sure if I could get them to fit at first.
The foams went in really easy to my surprise but getting the beadlocks on was pretty tough.
One of the vendors on RCC, Mountain Storm, makes an acrylic tire press that would probably make the job a bit easier.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIgNMEILsdM&list=UUz7Ppp0a2MpW93run0j_3LA
Building the YTC Double Agent chassis went smoothly even without instructions. Luckily there are a number of other DA/B2 builds on RCC that have good pictures to use as guides!
The build quality is excellent. Feels very rigid but still light weight.
The SMW skid plate and YTC tongue came with the chassis as part of a special Krawlfreak was running when I got them.
I think they work really well with the overall design.
I especially liked the engraved YTC logo on the electronics plate, Very classy.
I spent the next hour or so getting the links setup.
The ride height was a little more than I expected. It looked more like an AT/ST than a crawler to me, but what do I know.
Maybe I can peak over rocks like this but not so sure about crawling over any...
I was worried the DLux standard front lower links were not going to be ideal for clearing the motor or allowing for good articulation. As I suspected, I will need to make custom FL links to achieve the proper clearance.
As it sits right now the FL links are out boarded with little movement in the ball joints. I suspect two bends will be needed to allow clearance and proper movement.
I have about 12' of 3/16" Grade 5 Ti Rod from McMaster-Carr to use as needed.
Picked up some tools to thread the rod, but I will have to visit my friend's shop to use his hydraulic press to bend the rods. He has various size mandrels that can be used to make different bends.
Had some RC4WD Spark Ti 4" shocks sitting out that I tried on Hammond to see how the ride height would look. The DA is designed for 3.5" shocks so I was not surprised that it was sitting too high.
Compressed to where I would like it to sit the shocks measured 3.5" almost exactly. The Velvet shocks should be a good fit.
I threw on the wheels just to see it rolling.
It had no problem doing a hand stand so that is good.
The last thing I wanted to finish tonight was getting the RC4WD brass knuckle weights bolted on.
I am very impressed with the B2 axles precise tolerances. The knuckle weights were equally well made!
The weights went on without issue. Took about 5min.
They look pretty good IMO. Might pick up another set and mod them to add on to the lower front half. I could then put the remaining weights on the lower back half as well.
I was pretty tired at this point so I called it a night.
Let me know what you think of the build so far. Maybe somebody has some ideas for the front lower links.
