I'll start with the pictures.
Following the manual, the first thing are the axles.
I got these 1.55 RC4WD black wheel. They are basic, but they still feel very strong (metal aluminum it seems).
I'm paring these wheel with the new Proline TSL SX, they are amazing.
It's working. Need to figure where to locate the battery. I don't like having the battery in the backtray adding weight on the back, I will try to use the right side side plate for battery and the left for electronics.
I can probably do a better work with the wiring, but it's getting there ...
Firs I will check how the body fits. I had a New Bright Ford F150 Raptor body from a previous build waiting for this kit. The length and width fits perfectly with the frame and wheelbase (12.3in). To mount the body I custom build plastic parts to screw the bottom sides of the body to the side plates.
Works. Need to go back to get the wiring done properly, install the engine cover and some bumpers.
I had an old XJ fromt bumper (from Axial SCX10-II) and a rear JK bumper (also Axial I think) that fits perfectly with the shape of the body. But, the front XJ bumper is really long and has mounting space for a winch that I don't want - I want the bumper to stay as close as possible to the body to keep a scale look and also avoid hitting everything when crawling.. so I did some major trimming.
Since the XJ bumper still has a gap where the winch was supposed to be, I decided to trim a bit the body to fit the shape of the bumper to get a perfect fit. Is hard to see, but in the center the body is a bit longer than the sides to fit that gap in the bumper.
Perfect fit.
The rear bumper was straight forward, no real trimming required beyond removing the original body bumper.
And this is how it looks from the bottom at this point.
Put together the engine and installed it.
Added a strong 3m velcro for the battery and spend time hiding the wires as much as possible. Also added some strong plastic sheet (forgot the name, but it's commonly use to build knife bags) to fill the gap between the transfer case and the battery mount to add more support to the battery and isolation from the elements.
Loved the result so far.
Tested the rig on the backyard, I have some good challenges, climbs, side paths, etc.. and I'm impressed with the performance at this point. This is the 6th crawler I have built and I'm amazed by how well it performs out of the box. The weight is perfectly up front, climbing very hard hills and rocks. The TSL tires do a great work even with the standard foam. The rig is still very light weight tho, and that's helping the performance. Next I will add a full interior, clear windows and a servo winch - and with the added weight with the scale accesorios I'll probably need to upgrade the foams and add some weight to the front wheels, we'll see...
Following the manual, the first thing are the axles.
I got these 1.55 RC4WD black wheel. They are basic, but they still feel very strong (metal aluminum it seems).
I'm paring these wheel with the new Proline TSL SX, they are amazing.
It's working. Need to figure where to locate the battery. I don't like having the battery in the backtray adding weight on the back, I will try to use the right side side plate for battery and the left for electronics.
I can probably do a better work with the wiring, but it's getting there ...
Firs I will check how the body fits. I had a New Bright Ford F150 Raptor body from a previous build waiting for this kit. The length and width fits perfectly with the frame and wheelbase (12.3in). To mount the body I custom build plastic parts to screw the bottom sides of the body to the side plates.
Works. Need to go back to get the wiring done properly, install the engine cover and some bumpers.
I had an old XJ fromt bumper (from Axial SCX10-II) and a rear JK bumper (also Axial I think) that fits perfectly with the shape of the body. But, the front XJ bumper is really long and has mounting space for a winch that I don't want - I want the bumper to stay as close as possible to the body to keep a scale look and also avoid hitting everything when crawling.. so I did some major trimming.
Since the XJ bumper still has a gap where the winch was supposed to be, I decided to trim a bit the body to fit the shape of the bumper to get a perfect fit. Is hard to see, but in the center the body is a bit longer than the sides to fit that gap in the bumper.
Perfect fit.
The rear bumper was straight forward, no real trimming required beyond removing the original body bumper.
And this is how it looks from the bottom at this point.
Put together the engine and installed it.
Added a strong 3m velcro for the battery and spend time hiding the wires as much as possible. Also added some strong plastic sheet (forgot the name, but it's commonly use to build knife bags) to fill the gap between the transfer case and the battery mount to add more support to the battery and isolation from the elements.
Loved the result so far.
Tested the rig on the backyard, I have some good challenges, climbs, side paths, etc.. and I'm impressed with the performance at this point. This is the 6th crawler I have built and I'm amazed by how well it performs out of the box. The weight is perfectly up front, climbing very hard hills and rocks. The TSL tires do a great work even with the standard foam. The rig is still very light weight tho, and that's helping the performance. Next I will add a full interior, clear windows and a servo winch - and with the added weight with the scale accesorios I'll probably need to upgrade the foams and add some weight to the front wheels, we'll see...
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