What did you do to your TRX-4 today?

[smog]

Today, I decided I should put lights on my TRX-4 Sport Kit. I had looked at the Traxxas light kit but was horrified at the price, especially as the Sport Kit comes with all the light buckets. However, I wanted working brake light and the ability to turn off the headlights. So I had a dig about in my Arduino bits box and pulled out an Arduino Pro Mini, some LEDs and some wire. The result is working headlights and side lights, rear lights and brake lights.

Basicly, I have hooked channel 3 (direct) and channel 2 (with a Y cable) on my FS-GT3C up to the Arduino. The Arduino reads the pulse width on the channels and the code turns on the lights when Channel 3 is activated. It also monitors the Channel 2 and puts on the brake lights (increases the intensity of the LEDs used for the rear lights) when the pulse width is between 1450us and 1550us.

All in all I am pretty happy.

The Traxxas light kit is really nicely done, but yeah hard to justify the price. What you did is perfect really. Going to get crazy and throw on a light bar?

I got my crawl on with "Dirty Steve" on my backyard course between coats of bed-liner, so all in all it's been a damn fine day!

The bed-liner is sprayed and I had virtually zero bleed through, so that makes me happy as well. It's a subtle difference since everything I shot with bed-liner was already black, but something about the actual bed-liner just oozes 1:1. Not to mention, it holds up super well. I also shot the inner fender area and inner body sides. Once it was dry, I slipped the body back on to get a looksee. Lovin it. (The magnet mounts are just freak'n awesome as well. You just get the body over the chassis and it snaps right in to place. I can't believe this is the first body I've done this on. Definitely will not be the last!)

Up front, I didn't care for the gap from the underside of the grill to the topside of the bumper. I kicked around a few ideas and ended up trimming up and making a small valence piece as a filler out of ABS I had laying around. I then used some 1.5mm cap heads to secure it to the body. Liking it much better now. Honestly, I could probably even bring it a bit lower, but don't want to get too crazy until I get a winch mounted up there and can check all my clearances.

The bedlined fender detail is a sweet touch, nice job. you just mask that off with painters tape?

nice steel!

 

[mewalsh100]

The Traxxas light kit is really nicely done, but yeah hard to justify the price. What you did is perfect really. Going to get crazy and throw on a light bar?

The bedlined fender detail is a sweet touch, nice job. you just mask that off with painters tape?

nice steel!

Yes sir - blue painters tape, the “orange” grade stuff. Sticks well but pulls up easy. It’s been my go-to for painting for a while now. I did use some 1/8” Tamiya masking tape in a couple of the tighter areas as well.

 

[smog]

Yes sir - blue painters tape, the “orange” grade stuff. Sticks well but pulls up easy. It’s been my go-to for painting for a while now. I did use some 1/8” Tamiya masking tape in a couple of the tighter areas as well.

ah! I use both blue and green, all green lately. Is the blue thicker? the green I am using seems thinner. Anyway, your masking job looks great, I was not really pleased with my last one. I should have taken my time to get it better. patience for me usually pays off

 

[mewalsh100]

ah! I use both blue and green, all green lately. Is the blue thicker? the green I am using seems thinner. Anyway, your masking job looks great, I was not really pleased with my last one. I should have taken my time to get it better. patience for me usually pays off

I’ve used the green as well, but the adhesive did not seem to work as well imo. I also make sure I go back and burnish the taped edges real well with something smooth and plastic. A rounded end pen cap works well in corners and tight spots, and I have a little plastic spatula looking thing I use on straight, open areas.

 

[high plains drifter]

Buddy put new Thornbirds and bead-lock steelies on his d110 so had to try 'em out. By the end of the day a couple of his tires were wrinkling pretty bad. Looked like he didn't get 'em mounted correctly and they were slipping on the wheel but idk.

 

[durok]

Buddy put new Thornbirds and bead-lock steelies on his d110 so had to try 'em out. By the end of the day a couple of his tires were wrinkling pretty bad. Looked like he didn't get 'em mounted correctly and they were slipping on the wheel but idk.

I've found that if that happens, a bit of throttle in reverse and forward again will sometimes undo the sidewall wrinkle.

Re:Thornbirds -

My crawlin' buddy has a set on his Bronco, and I have a set that haven't touched dirt yet - I keep moving them from vehicle to vehicle, trying to decide where I want to run them!

 

[smog]

I’ve used the green as well, but the adhesive did not seem to work as well imo. I also make sure I go back and burnish the taped edges real well with something smooth and plastic. A rounded end pen cap works well in corners and tight spots, and I have a little plastic spatula looking thing I use on straight, open areas.

The green is indeed less sticky. I have noticed that. I am pretty anal about burnishing. Though, when I am not dialed in and rushing, it seems I lay the mask in such a way so that the x-acto trimming isn't as smooth. Usually as a result of thickness variance due to overlapping tape. (at least this is what I observed from doing the fenders on my x4). For me how I lay masking is a detail I need to really need to be on top of when I am prepping.

 

[high plains drifter]

I've found that if that happens, a bit of throttle in reverse and forward again will sometimes undo the sidewall wrinkle.

Re:Thornbirds -

My crawlin' buddy has a set on his Bronco, and I have a set that haven't touched dirt yet - I keep moving them from vehicle to vehicle, trying to decide where I want to run them!

Thanks. I'll have to share that with him. I was thinking that maybe the tire bead wasn't clamped down as tightly as it needed to be on a couple of his. We did wind up spinning our wheels a great deal as we encountered a lot of very loose and slippery uphill terrain.

I think that he was disappointed overall because he thought that the Thornbirds were going to just hook up and walk over everything but that just wasn't the case. I suggested that next time when we hit up some different terrain... maybe some mud or larger rock, that they'd probably have better results. He's also got so much weight on that rig ( a lot of it up high) and I think that's causing some performance issues as well. There were a couple places that my lighter d110 on cut-boggers just clawed and bounced right up with hardly an issue.

I don't want him to be discouraged so I try not to say too much lol.

 

[durok]

Thanks. I'll have to share that with him. I was thinking that maybe the tire bead wasn't clamped down as tightly as it needed to be on a couple of his. We did wind up spinning our wheels a great deal as we encountered a lot of very loose and slippery uphill terrain.

I think that he was disappointed overall because he thought that the Thornbirds were going to just hook up and walk over everything but that just wasn't the case. I suggested that next time when we hit up some different terrain... maybe some mud or larger rock, that they'd probably have better results. He's also got so much weight on that rig ( a lot of it up high) and I think that's causing some performance issues as well. There were a couple places that my lighter d110 on cut-boggers just clawed and bounced right up with hardly an issue.

I don't want him to be discouraged so I try not to say too much lol.

As far as general traction goes, the Thornbirds aren't going to be that great because most of the lugs are oriented lengthwise to the direction of travel.

I think they will work a little better than many tires in certain situations where the tire has dug down a bit into soft stuff - then the very toothy corner and sidewall lugs will come into play.

I just got them because I like the look, to be perfectly honest!

Not going to enter any competitions with them... "thumbsup"

 

[mewalsh100]

The green is indeed less sticky. I have noticed that. I am pretty anal about burnishing. Though, when I am not dialed in and rushing, it seems I lay the mask in such a way so that the x-acto trimming isn't as smooth. Usually as a result of thickness variance due to overlapping tape. (at least this is what I observed from doing the fenders on my x4). For me how I lay masking is a detail I need to really need to be on top of when I am prepping.

I totally agree smog. With prepping and painting, you've just gotta be in the zone and not be rushed. So much of the devil is in the details with it if you want a nice finished project. It's taken years, but I've finally learned to just walk away and leave it for later if I start getting frustrated. In the past, I'd always plow on and end up regretting it.

 

[high plains drifter]

As far as general traction goes, the Thornbirds aren't going to be that great because most of the lugs are oriented lengthwise to the direction of travel.

I think they will work a little better than many tires in certain situations where the tire has dug down a bit into soft stuff - then the very toothy corner and sidewall lugs will come into play.

I just got them because I like the look, to be perfectly honest!

Not going to enter any competitions with them... "thumbsup"

Yep... the look of the Thornbirds was indeed why he got them too. His brothers truck had 'em years ago so his fondness is certainly understandable. And like you said, on certain types of terrain I'd expect them to perform much better where the side lugs have something to dig into. But yeah... the inner lug pattern is really long without much horizontal bite across the face of the tire.

 

[CarlC]

The Traxxas light kit is really nicely done, but yeah hard to justify the price. What you did is perfect really. Going to get crazy and throw on a light bar?

Thanks Smog, I am considering a light bar but need to watch my current draw on the arduino

 

[mewalsh100]

I got the OD installed up front, new FJ body is mounted (although not done - need interior, lights, etc). Maiden voyage with the new Proline Krawler Predator compounds as well.

Anyhwooooo - I'm going to need to trim the fender wells a bit on the FJ if I want to run the Krawlers. Definitely get some rubbing during flex, especially while flexed and turning. I'm gonna have to think on it because I really didn't want to chop this body up at all, but rather keep it very scale. I can always run my Pitbulls or the Canyon Trails when I run this body I suppose.

Impressions on the Proline Krawlers. Hmmmmmm, a little underwhelmed maybe??? Stuff the rig makes it up with other tires was giving the Krawlers some grief. That said, I only got a 2000mah pack through them, so they're not even close to scrubbed in. Not to mention the brand new foams. I'm going to keep running them and see how they come on. They work well with the OE Sport body, no rubbing, so that's probably what I'll run most with them.

Overdrive - I couldn't get a real good read on this with the new tire situation. I'm going to try and get out tomorrow with some other tires to get a better sense of it. "thumbsup"

 

[Waterdog~]

4WS got a spektrum rugged so I had to try out the feature......now some tuning then I’ll put it to the test.....

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[SlowNOld]

New beadlock wheels! Much better than the black plastics. They are not vented, so debating on whether to vent the tires or not...

 

[RustyTaco]

Got a couple 2000mah batteries, moved the battery up front and velcroed it to the servo, zip tied the radio to the other side of the front mount to make room for the battery. removed old battery tray.

close up of battery and velcro

Cant really tell in the pic but extended the wheelbase from 312mm to 324mm and put in Pro-line dual stage foam in the rear tires

Crawled at a spot I was at the previous day to gauge the differences and was blown away at what a improvement these mods made...I like steep technical rock climbing and its amazing how capable this rig is, cleared a bunch of lines I couldnt get the day before! "thumbsup"

 

[mewalsh100]

Got a couple 2000mah batteries, moved the battery up front and velcroed it to the servo, zip tied the radio to the other side of the front mount to make room for the battery. removed old battery tray.

close up of battery and velcro

Cant really tell in the pic but extended the wheelbase from 312mm to 324mm and put in Pro-line dual stage foam in the rear tires

Crawled at a spot I was at the previous day to gauge the differences and was blown away at what a improvement these mods made...I like steep technical rock climbing and its amazing how capable this rig is, cleared a bunch of lines I couldnt get the day before! "thumbsup"

Pretty slick RustyTaco."thumbsup" Did the velcro hold for the whole crawl? I just added some stick on tire balancing weights to one of my other rigs. Same deal, just blown away by the lines it was walking that used to give it grief.

 

[RustyTaco]

Oh yeah, The velcro works great, no issues....even had a couple roll overs. I'm strictly crawling though, no bashing around.

But even bashing around i think the battery would be fine with the velcro...I really have to pry to remove the battery. Those little batteries are really light too.

Dont think id recommend velcro with bigger heavier batteries.

 

[aqualungs]

Finished painting the Comanche body for the rexy last night. Calling this one the Mustard Tiger (Trailer Park Boys homage, R.I.P. Philadelphia Collins)

Tamiya mustard yellow, tamiya white, rustoleoum bedliner as backer, bed, and fenders.

Next up is an interior of some sort, thinking either dinky or PL classic.

Loving these Comanches bodies. I’ve been using bedliner as a backer on my other bodies and have toyed with the idea of using it solely for hardtops and Fenders. Does it stick to the lexan ok?

 

[aqualungs]

BTW - anyone have any experience with the STRC brass? Considering ordering this set-up for the Sporto. I like the fact that it already comes in black!

I have them in my Stampede and current Slash build, and they seem pretty solid. Not sure about the bearings that come with them, but I use Bocas or Avids and problem solved. I’ve read that their tolerances aren’t as tight as Traxxas and that May be, but Traxxas is almost 2x the price.