RC Collection, Showcase & Builds

[Krakentuned RC]

Here we go again! I'm sorry for inundating you guys with all the Traxxas content. I promise I'm not a fan boy. I just have this weird character flaw where I get interested in something and get hyperfocused until I know everything about it. I'm actually just about "done" since most of Traxxas' designs are reused amongst their line-up. This particular build was my first step into the TRX4 platform. I knew I needed to do the builders kit because that's just how I am.

The build was very fun, and the instructions made the process really easy. I had the truck done in about three days, working about an hour a day. Initially I didn't have a clear direction for the build. I have always been a fan of the Axial Honcho, so I decided I'd attempt something similar. Pro-Line offers a backhalf kit, but the hefty price tag had me reeling. I was lucky enough to find a cheaper alternative on Amazon.

For the body, I went with a Carisma Ford F150. I had intended to keep the fender wells, but the body required a lot more trimming to reduce tire rub. The backhalf had some weird angles after the initial install, that was because of me trying to utilize the stock body mounts which added a ton of height. I didn't like the look overall and kept working to find a suitable workaround.

Seeing the body complete really had me falling in love. It was almost a perfect fit. The TRX4 frame is just huge. Traxxas has this weird tendency to understate their vehicles scale when they're technically overscaled. Dimensionally they're all 10th scale but their bodies are much larger.

At this point I started focusing on the innards. I swapped out the brushed setup for an all-in-one Fusion SE 1200kv system from Hobbywing. I absolutely love this motor combo, the torque is amazing, even while moving at a snails pace. It just keeps going and smoothly. I installed a few Bowhouse accessories to help get the weight as low as possible in the chassis. The Crawler Innovations battery and reciever box mount helped me eliminate the stock rock sliders, as they didn't fit anymore with the back-half. After cutting the body up some more for clearance I added a set of Defender flares, along with some trim pieces off the Traxxas Ford F150. I tried to use the bumper as well off the Traxxas Ford, but the size made the trick look comically small.

The stock wheels and tires didn't lend well to the overall look I was going for. So I bought a set of wheels from off the Traxxas Blazer, and glued on a set of Pro-Line Hyrax tires. These tires are bonkers! They conform so well, and really made the truck a joy to rock crawl. I also adapted the Carisma bumper that came with the body to work with the stock mounts. I'm not exactly 100% happy with it, and have considered getting a ScalerFab custom bumper for it. Maybe soon!

I've done a few things to help keep things working smoothly, and also made a few other things stronger. Starting with the Vitavon axle housings. These axle housings are masterpieces. They've helped bring a ton of weight down low. Along with the housings I also upgraded the axles to the chromoly versions from Traxxas. This made the setup that much stronger. I've also relocated the shifter servo to a more central location using an adapter I bought from Shapeways. I obviously love ProModeler servos, and a DS930BLHV was a perfect fit to the setup. Its a very powerful servo, even at 6V, but also very quick.

The build didn't come without challenges, but overall has been an incredibly fulfilling project. The truck performs really well over any terrain, but shines brightest amongst the rocks. I will be posting more pictures from its adventures in follow-up posts.

PARTS BREAKDOWN
Hobbywing Fusion SE (1200kv)
ProModeler DS930BLHV Servo
YEAH Racing metal servo arm
TRA8061 heavy duty rear axle shaft w/ input gear
TRA8062 heavy duty front axle shaft w/ input gear
TRA8042 GTS shock springs rear (0.22 rate)
TRA8043 GTS shock springs front (0.30 rate)
TRA8297 12/33 overdrive gears (front)
TRA8073X Bronco mirror set
TRA8076 Bronco side trim set
TRA8075 Bronco door handles & windshield wipers
TRA8017 Land Rover Defender flare set
TRA8165 Ford Bronco wheel set with center cap
TRA8255A extended portal drive stub axle set
TRA8298 stainless steel hardware
Pro-Line body mount thumbwasher Kit
Pro-Line Hyrax 1.9" tires
Bowhouse high clearance skid
ScalerFab custom rock sliders
Vitavon front & rear axle housing set
Crawler Innovations front electronics tray
RCLions aluminum shock tower set
INJORA RC back half cage
Carisma SCA-1E 1976 Ford F150 body

 

[9x19]

Nice rig!

I assembled my one and only crawler from a kit as well. The HPI Venture.

 

[Krakentuned RC]

I forget when I actually started this build. I have some pictures of it before I ever had a TRX4, so I'm almost sure it was done right after I finished up the two drag Slash builds. This build in particular is my 4x4 Slash build. I don't have a lot of progress photos, but that's because I had already built up my Rustler and the two chassis are very much alike. The bulkheads are slightly different and the rustler doesn't have the side-bumpers (smooth chassis) but they're just about identical.

This build started its life out as a Rally 4x4. My brother-in-law sent the Rally to my wife as a gift to try and get her interested in the hobby. But instead it ended up in my collection. The Rally was used when he sent it and I always intended to do a full rebuild. So instead I bought a new 4WD LCG chassis and built a Rally from scratch. The existing "rally" frame got a few upgrades and was converted into a Slash 4x4. The upgrades are the extreme heavy duty kit, heavy duty a-arms, adjustable turnbuckles, aluminum center driveshaft, GTR shocks, TQi reciever, and a VXL6S system out of a Revo 2.0. I mostly run it on 4S, and thats more than enough. It's probably capable of 60mph with its 21/50 . Never tried to GNSS it.

 

[Krakentuned RC]

Boom! Another post and you can't stop me!

This one started up right around when I finished my first TRX4. Yes, it's another TRX4. I had a bin full of parts and thought "why not." I picked up a chassis off eBay because that was the one part I didn't have and this is where we began.

I planned to make this one a sport with locked front and rear differentials but changed my mind. So it's got the two-speed and locking F&R differentials. It's running a short 12.3" wheelbase.

I'm going to skip through a lot, but everyone kind of knows what a stock TRX4 looks like. The build was straightforward. Most of it was factory until I started working on getting the body to fit.

The body is a RC4WD Toyota Tacoma. The body was intended for a RC4WD platform running much smaller wheels/tires. I've always been a fan of 1-ton axles on these truckd, so I thought I would try to emulate the look. I'm also a stickler for function over form, and in that state the vehicle had lost almost half of its articulation to body rub. That wasn't going to fly for me.

I chopped and chopped until I couldn't. After a lot of surgery the truck was finally flexing! I slapped on a set of Traxxas Bronco fender flares to help widen up the truck a little.

Slapped some paint on it and it was starting to look like a trail rig. To get the body lower on the chassis I bought and installed Rock Pirates RC shock towers in the front and rear. For some added body protection I also installed their rock sliders which I think fit really well. I had by this point installed a Hobbywing Fusion SE 1800kv, Crawler Innovations electronics tray, and Traxxas slipper eliminator.

Even after all that it just didn't feel complete. Something was missing. So I messaged ScalerFab RC for some advice and they suggested I get a...

Front Bumper! I have it set pretty far back for more approach angle, but it can be pushed out and a winch installed on if i ever feel the need. I've also removed the ProLine shocks and installed a set of GTS shocks off a High Trail. The additional length has helped add at least 15mm of travel. I still need to work out some minor binding happening from the tie-rod and panhard bar rod-ends/eyelets not having enough articulation. But so far that hasn't hindered the truck's ability to achieve full flex.

I've got a couple more cars to showcase and should start doing more in-depth builds as soon as the entire collection is posted. My first will probably be my "Traxxas should've built the Raptor R this way" build. So stay tuned! Thank you guys for all the likes and comments, I really appreciate it!

 

[luke66]

gosh darn these are some sweet rigs!

 

[DrFranz]

Wow, terrific photos and commentary, learning a lot from your efforts, thanks so much!

 

[Krakentuned RC]

Wow, terrific photos and commentary, learning a lot from your efforts, thanks so much!

Thank you!

 

[luke66]

you know waht? whateveryour going to do t the raptor R, traxxas should have made it that way.

 

[Krakentuned RC]

you know waht? whateveryour going to do t the raptor R, traxxas should have made it that way.

I hope that's how it will end up. Thank you!

 

[Krakentuned RC]

Time to post up another build! This is my ST Rustler 2WD project. My intentions were to give this build a lot of retro looks with all modern accoutrements. I have no intention to race this for points, I just wanted it to be a fun build to run at my local hobby shop's clay track.

I regrettably don't have a lot of pictures from during the build process.

The project started as a flat-bottom chassis Rustler. I had purchased the chassis from a chop-shop on eBay. It came with most of the accessories I needed to get a good start. To finish it off I ordered a Magnum 272R transmission, Rustler 4x4 axles, and a 2075R servo.

Reassembly was pretty straight-forward and didn't have any complications. I re-used a lot of components from my Drag Slash #2 build like the front bulkhead, tiitanium hinge pins, titanium camber/toe turnbuckles, aluminum caster & steering blocks, and Exotek titanium axles. The front shock tower was from my parts bin and is an Exotek full-size shock tower. The shocks are from off my Drag Slash #3 build. The spring rate isn't quite perfect, so I'll be tweaking that later on.

The wheels and tires set the build off in my opinion. The wheels are from JConcepts, they're the super dish 2.2" rears on all fours. I didn't want to run different offset wheels front and rear since I could tune that via the wheel hexes. At the moment it's running a pretty square setup with 10mm wheel hexes front and rear. I have plans to go with a narrower setup in the rear. The tires are ProLine HoleShots in the M3 compound. They have a great feel and should work well at my local track.

The body is a JConcepts 1993 Ford F-150 body. I've always been a fan of the RC10T and wanted to emulate the classic look with this build. That's why when I was choosing the paint scheme for the truck I wanted to keep it simple and crisp. To get the body to fit I did have to remove the Exotek carbon fiber rear shock tower as the extended body mounts were just too wide. I had a spare Drag Slash rear tower in my parts-bin and put that on instead. I also had to cut out a notch for the tower since the Slash uses two low-profile body posts in the rear, versus the one that's usually found center on the Rustler.

The paintjob did suffer from bleed-through in a few spots. Regardless I still feel like I've accomplished my goal of keeping it vintage centric. The paints were all Traxxas Prographixs. I love Traxxas' line up of paints and actually prefer them over the Tamiya paints. I went with a simple white, black, and race red color scheme. I tried to keep the lines crisp and uniform. This is definitely top-5 on my list of favorite builds.

There's something to be said about the aesthetics of vehicles from yesteryear. A certain spark that made them seem so alive. I'm sure there's a few manufacturers still passing that feeling on, but it unfortunately seems to be gone in so many others. I just hope I represented that well enough in my build to recapture some of that spark.

 

[luke66]

welp, now i know what i want my rusty MM to look like. super sick truck!

 

[turbo27]

You do good work.

 

[Krakentuned RC]

welp, now i know what i want my rusty MM to look like. super sick truck!

I can't wait to see that! Thank you!

You do good work.

Thank you!