I Won A Set of Frame Rails! Now I've Got to Build Something!

[joe122]

This will be my winter build. Thanks to Ben and the TCS Crawler Team, I won a set of L-Trail frame rails. Now I've wanted a "small" crawler so when I was alerted to the giveaway I thought - cool - my wife will really kill me now! Thanks Ben!

Any way I have a doner Losi MRC and a eBay Jeep TJ body that I found for $13.00, thought it was a deal until it came in pieces due to a very poor packaging job.

So here is the motivation: The L-Trail frame rail set.


Here's my inspiration:


Here is my "eBay" deal body, the way it should have came...


Here's how I received it.....now it's a FREE eBay Jeep TJ body!



Now - the repair and surgery work;





Now off to the body shop! and where's the mail man with the doner MRC!

[joe122]

Note to self, next time you shop for a body that "currently" fits a Losi / Vaterra MRC/Slickrock and you are building a scale variant using the a fore mentioned combo, watch that the new frame is 1.5" LONGER!

Oh well - as it turns out the eBay special was free, BUT I have had an Epiphany! More surgery, cut the bed off and - hummmmm, mini truggy??? Maybe a custom bed....not sure.

Please excuse the pizza boxes and 12 pack of bud Light, it was a long night!

Good news, we have a roller, lots to work out yet, servo mount, drives hafts, but its rolling!



After more surgery....

Wheel behind the cab is just for support;

[Loehdingc]

What did you make the chassis rail braces out of?

[joe122]

Originally Posted by Loehdingc

What did you make the chassis rail braces out of?

3/16 aluminum tube, drilled and tapped.

[joe122]

Well, thought about it, and went forward with the "Mini Truggy" idea. Fab'd the cage, figured out the front body support, now to the rear of the cab. Think it needs a fuel cell or something to help fill the void behind the cab.

[joe122]

I love having time off between the holidays, my addiction takes over......went the "blue" route. Now I can take my time with the remaining details.

[joe122]

A little progress on the interior today, dash and fab'd a steering wheel, not the best but it will work. Added the headlights. Waiting for more silver solder so I can finish the rock sliders, cage details and bumpers.

Not sure if this thread is placed in the correct category as my original intent was to use a 1.55 wheel/tire combo but the 1.9 Losi wheels were more appropriate scale wise. Anyone know if I should move this thread or not?

[joe122]

Made a mistake with the body mounting, posts through the hood did look like crap. Now Velcro for the front, hidden posts for the back. Also some fuel cell/receiver box detail work completed.




Top placed for mock up purposes.

[joe122]

Small cab is a little challenging, as this is either a 1/16 or 1/18 scale body, but it still needed seats.

"Gett'n over the hump"


Seats....

[joe122]

Fab'd up front and rear bumpers tonight, had to include a picture of it's big brother just for scale, keep forgetting how small this L-Trail, MRC combo is. Waiting for the ESC, looking forward to its first test drive.

[Hittman]

Wow! Awesome build! I love how small this thing is. Seems like it would be a blast to drive. Looking forward to more updates

[joe122]

Just waiting for the servo and ESC, wrap up LED's, wiring, fuel line filler cap etc. Truck is very light, even with 3oz. of wheel weight in each wheel, ProLine Chisel's all around. Yes, definitely looking forward to see how something this small performs. Mounted fuel cell, cage and bumpers tonight.

[joe122]

Well nothing worse than being this close and not receiving that last piece necessary to fire this up - the ESC! Thought it would be here today...oh well had to finalize a few other issues first. Had issues with the front tires hitting the frame at full lock, resolved this by adding 12mm wheel wideners in front. Also found a way to mount the servo, wire up the rear tail lights, a couple of rock lights and found that the Vaterra Slickrock LED light bar fit this perfectly from a scale perspective. Clean up some wiring, add the ESC and see how the little truck performs.

Tire rub - before

After adding the 12mm wideners


Servo mount

[LoneRanger]

looks awesome, my suggestions:

Lower that tire on your cage, COG is a killer with that tire WAY up there.

the dash you made looks EPIC!

Get some smaller tires and lower the ride height. its in the 1.55 section for a reason! lol



that is all-

L.R.

[joe122]

Thanks for the comments, the tire isn't fastened yet, waiting for the ESC. It will live just above the tailights. I have tried to have my thread moved to the 1.9 section but I haven't heard back yet as to my request. I have a set of 1.5 pit bull Growlers but they are to tall for this, makes it look out of proportion. I think I will post a photo of it with the Pits and see what kind of feedback I get.

[joe122]

The longest wait for an ESC EVER! Finally its alive! A little testing on the rocks....uh....cushions! Gotta get it outside for real test, but imagine it will perform much like a Losi MRC. Thanks again to TCS Crawlers for the L-Trail frame rail kit!