First Scale Build

[ParacordPaul]

Hey Guys,

This is my first attempt at a scale truck build. I really liked the leaf spring trucks I've seen so it was an easy choice. I picked up a Trailfinder chassis, T-Rex 60 axles with leaf mounts and red leafs. For the most part it all seems pretty self explanatory but if anyone wants to jump in with suggestions I'm all ears.

I'm going to order some shocks and I'm wondering if anyone has had any experience with the G-Made TS02 shocks? I really like the look of them and searching didn't come up with anything about them in particular.

The total plan is to get close to a CUCV 80s Blazer for looks.

Thanks in advance for any help thrown my way.

Paul.

[ParacordPaul]

Hey Guys,

Started to put the suspension on the chassis and found I needed to mod a few of the parts. First thing I noticed was the spring eyes didn't fit into the shackles well. I guess from the bending of the eyes they weren't 100% parallel with the leaf itself and caused binding. I just touched them up with a small grinder until they fit with a bit of side clearance.

Next was the Shooter shackles. They came with a bolt and bushing that goes through the spring that I didn't care for so I drilled the bracket to accommodate the shoulder bolts that was used in the stock setup. There was plenty of meat on the shackle to enlarge the holes, it's a nicer setup I think.

This may be pretty routine for allot of you but I didn't find anything about these items searching so it may help other new guys like myself. So far I'm having fun figuring it out, I'm already planning my second build.

One question, would it be a good idea to run a helper spring with the red soft springs or just run the reds by themselves?

Axles next.

Paul.

[ScaleFreak93]

You NEED to run at least 2 helper leaves with the red leaves otherwise you'll find they bend rather easy, you may even order up 4 more reds and make the helpers from them, really it's up to you on which you use for the helpers but remember to run at least 2. Also if you want to run the shooter shackles the traditional way flip both the front and rear 180 degrees. Either way works but if you run them traditionally it'll be one less thing to get hung up on.

[ParacordPaul]

Hey ScaleFreak93,

Thanks for the tips. I had no clue how the Shooters were supposed to be installed, I just put them the way it seemed the movement worked best. The thought of getting them hung up on something never even occurred to me, lol. I'll switch them around.

Paul.

[ScaleFreak93]

No problem I just don't want you to learn the hard way and if you need anything else just ask

[ParacordPaul]

Hey Guys,

I had read enough on the T-Rex 60 axles to know they would need shimming. I found that the only shimming done was a washer behind the pinion. On the rear axle not only did the pinion depth need setting but the spool needed shimming as well. I used 2 shims on each side of the spool and 7 shims behind the pinion head and 2 shims external behind the C-clip. Lots of "take apart and put together" on the rear but it's perfect now. Very smooth and very quiet.

The front axle only needed the pinion depth adjusted, the spool was perfect.

I use stainless shims for adjusting rotors in BL motors, they are the same size as the inner bearing race. I can't imagine why they stuck those big washers behind the pinion. I packed the axles with white lithium grease, I figured it may cut down on some noise from the empty plastic housings.

Now on to installing the axles.

Paul.

[ParacordPaul]

Hey Guys,

I went to put the suspension together and realized I needed some way of holding the 3 leaf springs together. On most setups I've seen the leaves are bolted to the axle with 2 screws but I'm using the U-bolt mounts which don't use bolts. I noticed the parts of the mounts that capture the spring had cut outs right in the middle of them and the springs had 3 holes, one in the center. What I did was take some aluminum rivets and removed the rivet part. Then cut 3/16s off the end of the "nail" part to use as the rivet to hold the leaves together. I hammered the end down with a punch and had a spring package.

I got it all installed but I'm not to happy with the flex, it seems extremely stiff. I think it may be due to the fact the spring perches are quite long and act like a helper spring. I'll end up pulling the lower helper to see what happens or use the main stock leaf by itself.

Paul.

[justinart24]

Looking good, got to love leafs spring rigs.

[wmartinlsmith]

what kind of transmission are you going to be using? this is a good looking build so far. good luck.

[CharlieBwell]

Paul,
It's coming along nicely and looking very scale.
Keep the posts coming.

[ParacordPaul]

Thanks Guys but unfortunately this build has come to a grinding halt. Unfortunately I went to fit the body and the wheelbase was WAY off. I'll be starting my next one now, thought it would be a bit down the road but oh well.

Paul.

[ParacordPaul]

Hey Guys,

Ha, back from the dead. Well I had no bites on selling the roller or parts so I started building again, I'm glad I did. I put the chassis back together after breaking it down and made some changes to the suspension. I played with the leaf springs and shooters until the suspension started working nice. I'll bet I took it apart and made changes a dozen times. It now seems good with a solid 4 inches of articulation.

I had to space up the steering linkage to give it some room between it and the leafs, the stock way had it hitting the leafs when the suspension moved just a little. Is this going to be a problem or do you guys think it should be okay?

Body, I had picked up a Honcho body a while back which is what got me back on this chassis. I think it looks pretty good, what do you guys think? Oddly enough with the cage sitting on the rear shelf the stance looks about right.

Comments and suggestions are always welcome.

Paul.

[ParacordPaul]

Hey Guys,

Had some parts come in so I got more work done on the truck. Installed a set of G Transition shocks, I put 3 hole pistons and light oil in them. They are silky smooth and have just the right amount of control. I did have to make 10mm extensions for the front shocks to get the proper action.

Also added an Axial front bumper and hinged the body in the rear. Added a set of PL sliders as well.

Got a skid mounted under the trans and I'm waiting on some parts to fab the linkage on the 2 speed and dig unit. The plan is to use 1 servo to engage 2nd gear while putting the front axle in neutral. In my head it works great, in practice it may be a different story.

Pretty soon it will be time for paint and detail but so far so good.

Paul.

[CharlieBwell]

Paul,
Your flip-up body is really cool. Keep the pix coming Dude. Charlie..........

[ParacordPaul]

Hey Guys,

Well it took some doing but I worked out the problem of putting the 2 speed with dig into 2nd gear while putting the front axle in neutral. I made several different linkage setups but this on worked really well. I did put a shim in front of the drive dog that locks the front axle so that WOULD NOT happen under any circumstance, a bad thing.

Here's the shots in the frame with it in second gear with the front free wheeling.

Paul.

[Trail rate this]

Nice build. I'm going to be turning my dig unit around too. I like the realistic 2wd, 4wd idea.

[ParacordPaul]

Nice build. I'm going to be turning my dig unit around too. I like the realistic 2wd, 4wd idea.

Thanks, Why RC4WD didn't put the shafts on the same plane is beyond me. It would have made life easier and more guys might use the trans this way.

Paul.

[ParacordPaul]

Hey Guys,

Made some progress on putting an interior together. This started as an Axial C100 interior which I cut 60/40 and widened about 1 1/8th inch to fit the Honcho.

I made the counsel and misc. parts from Lexan and used business cards soaked with CA to fill the dash gaps. I know it may sound strange using business cards but it takes compound curves and works really well.

Paul.