BlueBronco budget build
 

My GF's Bronco continues to blow me away every time I see it do somethin it should NEVER have been able to do.

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The fun factor is over 100% with this little rig and I quickly got the itch. Unfortunately the paint didnt hold up in a couple places and I knew that I would have to strip it completely down to make it "pretty" enough to make Kathleen happy. After some careful and rather easy negotiation, I had a new Tamiya Bronco body and some paint on order and the rough old blue body was mine. I took apart the now dusty TrailCourier and donated the rolling chassis to the new budget minded build, BlueBronco.

I dont have any pics of the teardown or initial build up but I decided to keep it as simple and strong as possible so that I could have fun, bash it and not worry bout tearin stuff up all the time. On Kathleen's chassis I kept the front links stock length and shortened up the back of the chassis and rear links. I didnt like it much and said I would change it but the danged thing crawls so well I decided not to touch in...would hate to loose whatever magic its got goin on lol.

On mine I wanted to keep the links as even all around as possible, maybe a tad shorter in the front. I did this by moving the skid forward and redrilling the chassis.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...coChassis5.jpg

Now the skid is essentially in the very center of the chassis. I brought the steering servo in towards the center of the chassis enough to allow for a winch mounted to the frame. This will allow the body to sit nearly perfectly centered on the frame and not have to cut as much off the back.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...coChassis8.jpg

I had some nice 1.55 wheels on the TrailCourier but the Irons I had on them were way too tall. I dont wanna hack the fenders on this rig so smaller tires were needed. I took the opportunity to put together some 3.8" TSLs for it. This way me and Kathleen can both run smaller tires and have fun. I think they look great and add up to about a 38" tire on this rig.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...coChassis6.jpg

I still have to fab up a battery plate/esc mount, winch plate and bumper, trim the rear chassis and mount the body. Im currently stripping the old paint off and then I can get to work on layin a couple new coats down and see where it sits.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...coChassis1.jpg

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So far I have only had to buy a pack of Revo rod ends for my custom links, the rest I have either had layin around or snagged from a buddy. Technically $$$ wise I have about $50 spent on the new body and paint for Kathleen. I love spare part builds and cant wait to see this one hit the trails!

Matt

Lookin' good. Keep up the good work!

This paint stripping takes forever but I should have it decent enough to paint today or tomorrow. Itll look the same outside as Kathleen's pics but with different bumpers and wheels. Im pretty much just gonna make it look how I picture my future Bronco to look like lol. Ill hopefully have some updates tonight.
Matt

I finally got the body stripped to the point that I was happy and got it prepped for paint. I drilled holes for mounts and cut the chassis where needed so its ready to go! Heres a couple really cruddy shots of the progress.

Mounting the body

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Rear frame cut and drilled for mounts

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...int6/041-3.jpg

Ready for paint

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...int6/042-5.jpg

Couldnt get all of the old paint off so I went with the same color. Was gonna try to go with somethin different but Ive always wanted a dark blue Bronco so here it is! I backed it with a bit of silver and it turned out a
little more shiney than last time but itll work for now.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...int6/048-8.jpg

I now need to finish up mounting the electronics, fab up a front winch bumper and a rear tire carrier/bumper. I may try to get it runnin as it sits for the big trail ride in Alabama this weekend.
Matt

Looks killer"thumbsup" I think I'm goin with a SCX10 chassis on my "Bandwagon Bronco"

Its a great chassis and super easy to work with. Ive had to do alot of drilling, repossitioning and cutting and the chassis still looks like it was meant for this rig lol. Ide like to lower it down a bit, and may mess with the shocks to do so, but the tires already rub the fender flares and I dont wanna do anymore cutting at the moment. Once I get the bumpers and sliders together Ill be able to better tell if I like the stance or not. Im lovin this truck already, just wanna get it out and try it out!
Matt

i agree with you, dail it in a lil lower and it would look great! cant wait till i get to where i have enough spare parts to do a build with them! good job.

I lowered the body a bit more in the front to even it out, but I cant go any lower cause the tires hit the fender flares as it sits and limits flex. I kinda like the way it sits now tho so it might stay this way.

Out for a shakedown run.

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Im actually quite pleased first time out. Obviously its no surprise itll crawl well cause the suspension is nothin new, but the wheelbase, skid location and links really were the biggest question in whether or not it would be stable, sidehill well and climb at all. It did everything I wanted it to with ease. The 3.8" TSLs were wonderful and she climbed really well thanks to an underdrive rear/stock front gear setup and good weight distribution. My battery and electronics are all super low on the chassis.

After the shakedown I got to work on some detail work and mounting the winch. Heres a terrible pic of what I did

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...int6/018-5.jpg

I took the factory end-cap (thanks Jmel!) and cut it down a bit. I then screwed some servo mounts to it and drilled them for the winch mounting plate. All I need to do now is make a simple stinger bumper to protect it!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...int6/020-6.jpg

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I still need to finish up some fine detailing and put together some bumpers and sliders but its done enough to take to Alabama for an STR Trail Ride so Im happy. Cant wait to see how it does!
Matt

Man I like that truck "thumbsup" Wish it could of made the trip to Alabama but I will get to see it soon. I really like the CompCourier bumpers I'm curious to see what you come up with for this one.

Man, it actually DID make the trip but we were so exhausted that we didnt bring it out after the first big run lol. Im plannin on doin a really simply bumper thats tucks right up against the winch to protect it while not taking away any more approach angle if possible. I will hopefully get to play with it here soon.
Matt

Here a couple shots from the nastiest shake down run Ive ever put a rig thru. Jmel helped me put together a bumper to protect the winch and off we went to beat the piss out of it. Ive never been so pleased with a rig on its first big run!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...kedownrun2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...kedownrun4.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...kedownrun8.jpg

Wish I woulda got more pics but I forgot my camera and got these on my phone. This thing went just about everywhere I wanted it and then went a couple places I woulda never figured. With the shorter tires I had to watch out a bit more for punkin grabbers and had to really mess with how I approached certain obstacles but if I got my tires on it, she went over it!!! LOVE this rig. Now I gotta clean it and get started makin some inner fenders.

Matt

i have to say, that tire rim combo looks pretty good on tht body, i jus think u need to lower the body a lil bit so they sit higher in the wells

The body is as low as Ill be able to get it at the moment, it already sits at the bottom edge of the chassis front and back. The tires hit the fender flares which I will eventually figure out a way to fix and then I might try to lower it by drooping the shocks some. I wish someone made some flares that fit this body but Ill come up with somethin. I love these wheels/tires. They work like a charm too and other than havin to watch out for axle grabbers they will go anywhere and everywhere!

On a side note, she's packed up and ready for a 12 hour drive down to Florida. Gonna take a week and visit family and relax a bit, couldnt help but bring it along and crawl some lol

Matt

i have the same problem with the tire rub on the fenders but it doesnt seem to do much damage so im just gona leave it

I trimmed the fenders in the rear and hope to figure somethin out when I get back from Florida. The tires were ribbon the paint off and limited flex by almost an inch but I don't mind.
Matt

The reduced TSLs are awesome!

They work wonderfully and look awesome at this size on these wheels.

I forgot to mention that the all-thread front links didn't survive the shakedown run so I put together some solid steel links to finish it off. Much stronger now and the wheelbase should stay put lol. I've crawled it some here in Florida and will do more shortly and post up some pics if I can.

Matt

Just got back from visiting family in Florida and thankfully decided to drag the BlueBronco along to crawl during any downtime I might have. I didnt have much, but just about every evening I got to crawl for a couple minutes while dinner was bein put together.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ida2011033.jpg

There is a small dock on the property thats got a line of Mangroves on one side and a long row of corral rocks on the other. It isnt the best for scale crawling, made up of rip rap thats very sharp and abusive but I made the entire row without touching except to winch in a couple spots.

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This pic was taken with my phone, but the second evening I crawled a nasty storm was blowing in off the bay and the wind was unbelievable...I couldnt help but try to get a couple minutes in but had to run for cover when the lightning started flashing

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...-00-37_995.jpg

Continued...

On Fri night, second to last evening I spent out there, I took the GF out for dinner just the two of us. She really wanted to see the sunset over the beach but thanks to the danged weather we hadnt had the chance so we went to a beachside restaraunt for some food. While we were there I discovered an amazing pile of rocks sticking up outta the sand right on the beach and quickly started putting together a scheme to try and crawl it. Wasnt that hard, she said if she could lay out I could do whatever the heck I wanted...YES!!! Next mornin we hit the spot and I went to town on the beach rocks.

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Sand makes even the easiest lines nearly impossible but made for alot of fun.

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My fun in the sun was cut short thanks to poppin a driveshaft loose from the yoke and not havin any tools around, but I still had a really good time.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ida2011129.jpg

Now that Im back Im gonna tear it down and clean it up a little better then get to work on more detail work along with a little more tubework.
Matt

Had to shake out the FL sand and replace it with some TN creek mud today lol. Did really well as usual until the servo went on the fritze. Its since dried out and is actin right but itll be taken apart to be waterproofed soon. Heres a couple pics

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...nt6/007-11.jpg

Whoops...

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The puddle that killed the servo and ended the Bronco's day

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I got some parts ordered up to try out some leafs in the back. Not sure if Ill like it but its worth a shot!

Matt

That last spout you crawled in florida looked like a sick spot "thumbsup" like the build. Maybe I missed, but what did you use to safely strip the lexan body?

Mike

The last spot in Florida was amazing but I found it on the last day I was there and it happened to be a Sat so it was busy as crap. Some lady came out and sat down right where I was crawlin and was listenin to her Ipod and readin a book :evil: so I couldnt go as far down the beach as I wanted and it looked amazing where she was. I was gonna wait till she moved on but the driveshaft gave up while I was messin around in the sand. I plan on goin again next year and hittin it up a couple times!

I used Dot4 brake fluid and alot of patience and it came right off. The paint was comin apart thanks to me puttin too many layers on the shell so strippin it was a bit slow but it worked really really well! I will use this method until someone comes out with soemthin better tho thats for sure!
Matt

Heres a couple shots of the new rear suspension thanks to RCBros and Tamiya. Shes still dirty from the beating she went thru earlier in the day but I couldnt wait to attack the swap.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...nt6/004-14.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...nt6/003-12.jpg

Here it is all mounted up. Not the best pics but you get the gist.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...nt6/006-11.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...nt6/008-14.jpg

Im only running a single leaf at the moment, got an assortment of smaller helper leafs on the way as we speak but I wanted to see what she could do. I did the "Chino" mod and to tell the truth, this thing flexes really well. Once I add the helpers it will take a while to break in but should be alot stronger and hopefully reliable.

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Hopefully the other springs will make it here before the weekend and I can really test it out. I was able to clear all the same sections that I used to and I noticed it seem to handle steep inclines better which would be awesome!

Matt

I did a little more work on the leaf setup this past week, moved the rear shackle forward a bit, cut the rear of the frame off to allow the shackle to move correctly, added some additional springs to the mix to strengthen them up and put together a new body mount setup for the rear.

I wheeled it with some buddies and was not entirely pleased with the way it handled. At first I swapped my reduced TSLs to MrEd and ran his tires. I missed my TSLs to say the least but these looked kinda nice at least!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...6/100_1690.jpg

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It was very wet and muddy so these tires made gettin up slick rocks interesting. With some work they would finally hook up and go

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We eventually swapped back and I was better able to see the difference between the old 4 link setup and the leafs. Heres a pitiful flex shot on the new Tamiya springs.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...6/100_1752.jpg

After that we hit up some really nasty mud and water sections that I basically killed my electronics in...again. I was smart and shut down shortly after it took a big fall into a pool but she was dead non the less. I took it apart at home, put the esc and servo parts in some alcohol then baked em for 40 minutes on low low low heat and now they both work perfectly thank God!!! This particular creek bed has already claimed a servo and an ESC from the Bronco just last week, didnt wanna do it again!

I took her out again yesterday afternoon and she's did ALOT better. These springs still dont flex as well as I know they eventually will but they are breaking in nicely. MUCH better time, crawled all over everything I wanted to and I didnt kill any electronics so I was happy. Ill post pics from that adventure later tonight as well as some shots of my new rear body mount setup and some fender flares Im workin on!
Matt

Be patient with the springs and allow them to break in fully as you have been. You'll be happy with the results. Keep up the great work!

Love the kit, great stuff and stupid easy to install! Your right tho, I read about having patience and letting them break in but I must say my patience was pushed the first couple runs I put on em but this last day of running really seemed to come together. Either the springs are breaking in or Im learning to drive around them...or both lol but I had a BLAST yesterday.

We explored this little spot next to the river for a couple hours. It was wet, muddy, with some rocks here and there. Unlike the creek which is more obstacles than anything, this was more like an adventure/trail ride and the Bronco ate it up. I didnt take many pics unfortunately, but here are the two I got.

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I think if these springs break in just a tad more Ill be back to where I was with the 4 link rear. Im working on a shock setup to get rid of some bounce while tryin to climb steep inclines but otherwise its starting to come together. I stumbled across an idea a couple Jeep guys put together for an "anti-wrap" setup called the "BamBar". I adapted the idea using what I had layin around and heres what I got so far. I used two 3 link trusses mounted together to eliminate any up and down travel and mounted the 3 link to it. It still allows articulation but wont allow the pinion to go up or down without hampering flex in any way so far as I can tell.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...6/100_1775.jpg

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Heres a shot of the new rear body post setup. I used some rod ends and the body post mounts that came with the spare parts tree. I ran a screw and a washer into the post mount and used the screws holding the "gas tank" in to mount the setup. The posts you see are temperary but will do till I find some actual mounts. The body is a bit higher now in the rear so I can put together a rear bumper/tire carrier.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...6/100_1774.jpg

Im almost done addind the new fender flares, once I get em finished I will post pics then I can move on to the rest of the tube work.
Matt

nice rig man...how's the Leaf spring kit? doing well than shocks set up??

I actually now am starting the love the leaf setup. The performed AMAZING with the shock/3 link setup so it was tuff at first to swap to the stiff leafs but now they are starting to break in and the flex is almost back to where it was. A couple advantages are better uphill climb thanks to the rear being a bit stiffer. I get some bouncing that hurts a bit but I think some shocks will help that. Another thing is wide open throttle I can actually turn now without flipping over lol, not that it matters while crawling but it is fun. I plan on stickin with it for a while tho, so long as I dont have to replace leafs all that often. I have some Chino Military wrapped springs comin from RPP so I have some options and spares.

On a side not, I just finished up the fender flares but left the camera at home. I will post up some pics when I get off work!
Matt

This rig is soooo cool! I am in love with the scaleness. I have always liked the 1.55 RC4WD TSL's for their scale look, but I gotta admit your SX 2's are right up there. "thumbsup"

Keep this bad ass rig going.

Thanks Grizz...its an honor comin from you! Ive been ALL over your build lookin for ideas when I was putting together the CompCourier! This truck is so much fun to run...I think its safe to say its not goin anwhere that Im not controlling it lol. I LOVE the short TSLs!!! I was afraid they would be too wide but they ended up bein spot on for a scale 38" tire. Im gonna keep goin in the scale department...but I dont wanna ruin how fun it is to wheel so performance will not be sacrificed if possible. Im gonna rework the front inner fenders, put together some for the rear and get goin on the rear bumper/slider here shortly. Lights are in the future as well I hope.
Matt

Here are a couple shots of the newly finished fender flares. I hated having to cut the stock ones off, but the tires were rubbing like crazy so off they came. Keeping with the streetable trail rig look I did a ton of research to find a flare that looked as much like an aftermarket Bronco flare as possible...and couldnt find anything so it was back to the drawing board for me. And this is what I came up with...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...6/100_1777.jpg

What I ended up doin is grabbing a Proline Bronco and cut the flares off of it. I then gave the body to my buddy whos doin a bigger tire build and didnt want the flares lol. They look like some Bushwackers or Guerrilla Warflares and the tires only barely rub.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...6/100_1781.jpg

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I then painted them and slightly detailed them. They are held on with ShoeGoo which was a farely clean procedure altho I do have a couple goobers but nothin worth bothering with.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...6/100_1784.jpg

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No the tires dont tuck, but they look awesome and Im beyond happy!!! Gonna take it out Sat on a really long and nasty hiking trail so we will see how well these things take the abuse lol
Matt

Flares look great. From the first picture it appears your rear is a tad higher then the front, I'd suggest de-arching the springs a bit more to reduce the height, but will also give you better performance.

Good eye!!! The front springs are super soft and the shocks need to be rebuilt. They tend to sag under the weight of all the electronics, battery, servo and winch so Im gonna tear them down and refill them with oil and see if I either need to put a little heavier spring in or preload em a bit more. Either way, if I pull the front up and release the pressure on the suspension then put it down the rear will sit just a tad lower than the front which works for me. Ive also noticed that the more it breaks in, the less arch the leafs have so maybe itll lower itself a bit more before its truely broken in.

Matt

Those look just like the 1:1 Warflares. Nice job! "thumbsup"

Thanks! I think I nailed what I was wanting to do and the fact that the Bronco body I stole em from is bein used by a good friend just makes it even better :lmao: After seein that pic Im thinkin Ill go ahead and add some little bars to the front bumper to complete it.

Another thing Im thinkin bout tryin to do (pic reminded me) is seperate the spring from the shock up front like most 1:1 Bronco's have it. Ive found plenty of coil over swap pics but this is more of a street/trail style rig so I might give it a shot. I have some MRC shocks at my disposal which I might use in the rear, but up front Ide like to find some skinny shocks and run the springs seperate...dang, now I cant wait to get home and get back to work lol
Matt

That looks great. !..

Did you just leaf the rear? I need to do that to mine. Just a little more scale then.

Great job on the truck. "thumbsup"

Yep! Broncos are only leafed in the rear and have coils up front. Right now mine looks like an EB with a custom coilover job up front and it might have to stay that way unless I do away with my panhard bar, its in the way of runnin a spring by itself to the axle and a shock behind it. Meh...might figure another way around it, or Ill just call it good enough lol
Matt

nice information :mrgreen: well, I got Tamiya leaf spring, are they same or different?:shock:

Im also running the Tamiya leafs. I have some Chino's from RPP waiting for these to bust but for now Ill stick with these.

The Bronco def. held its own with the taller tire guys at Hidden Springs trail yesterday. Was afraid that I had made a poor decision in bringing it over the CompCourier but Ive been havin way too much fun with it lately and really wanted to wheel it again. It went just about everywhere I wanted it too despite the nasty wet conditions!

Couple shots I liked from the ride

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Thomas took this awesome shot!

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IronWorks for the WIN! Only one scaler out didnt have IronWorks tires/foams.

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I realized that I had been taking pics of everyone else's rigs as they were hittin some of the spots to get cool action shots but hadnt gotten any of the Bronco. I snapped this picture, set the camera down and heard another snap followed by no front wheel drive.

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At first it was just the driveshaft comin loose from the yoke but then when I was tryin to put it back on the tranny I noticed it was really hard and at a goofy angle. This is the first tranny Ive broken, the CompCourier is still on its stock shafts and tranny and has been thru so much worse...crazy! Time to beef this one up I guess lol.

The leafs are def. broken in about as much as they will and altho still a little stiff for my liking, they still performed very well. I think some weight over the back end will help a bit and Im still not running any weight in the wheels. Im very happy to say that the fender flares are still attached and I showed them no mercy!
Matt

This thing is an awesome performer! I was surprised a couple of times... Matt is a good driver though.