Full Bodied Silverado SS with drop bed, 4-wheeler, and interior

[nascarkeith]

Nodnarb81 picked up some Intimidator SS bodies at a local clearance store and talked me into building a hard bodied scaler. The plan for this one is to take parts I had laying around the garage and a few scale accessories to build a Silverado like you would see driving around any small town on a Saturday afternoon.

Specs:
Chassis - K2-4 clone with Chino style skidplate
Body - Intimidator SS Silverado with interior
Wheels/Tires - HPI SPlit 5 Spoke with Mudslingers
Axles - TLT
Tranny - Pede
ESC - Novak XRS
Servo - Futaba S3305
TX/RX - Traxxas 2 Channel

Now, on to the pics!

This is what I've got to get started with.


This is a mock up of what I'm going for. The ride height will probably be a little higher than the mock up.

[luis]

looks good now get building!

[AeroSynch]

Originally Posted by luis

looks good now get building!

X2.
Can't wait to see more progress.

[tanner]

cant wait to see it done. good start to

[nascarkeith]

I got some work done on the drop bed last night. I am making it out of a rubber maid container, a 3 inch pvc coupler, and a for sale sign. The for sale sign was the cheapest easiest way for me to get some quick styrene.

The rubbermaid container was the right width but it needed to be shortened. I found out why they say measure twice and cut once. I cut on the wrong side of the line and had to piece it back together so it looks a little rough but it should look ok after paint. Then I cut the pvc to size and made the wheel hump.

This is what I ended up with. It just needs a coat of black paint.

If you are going to be hauling a 4-wheeler you need some ramps to get it out of the truck with right?

I know the tailgate doesn't open but they will look good strapped in the bed.

[STANG KILLA SS]

very cool build

[nascarkeith]

I got the chassis done today but I will probably redo it because it sits too high. I was hoping to hide the top of the tranny under the back seat but that makes the skid plate have to hang down too far.

I will probably take the back seat out so the tranny can go farther up inside the body and make some shock mounts to get a more scale looking shock angle. Just for fun here is the mandatory flex shot the way it sits now.

[Lankenstein]

Looks good.

I was thinking the same thing with the back seats on mine, I would like to try and use them. But thats most likely where the tranny will have to go

[nodnarb81]

good start. are you going to have any clearance issues with the drop bed when you try to lower the body? how are you planning on running the shocks? (full droop, half, etc.) i think it will look very good once you get the body down. i like the black on black body/wheels.

[constantmotion]

Holy Sky Scrapper Batman..........

Looks Good

[nascarkeith]

With the drop bed and interior that is as low as the body can go. I was thinking that if I cut the back seats out so the transmission could stick up in there I could make the skid plate flush with the bottom of the frame. I plan on making inner fenders for the front and tucking the wheels a little better. Maybe something like this.

The shocks are going to be full droop and I need to make some mounts so I can tuck the wheels better.
I have lots of scale accessories planned for the drop bed so I want to keep it and the interior but I want it to look right so I am open to suggestions. This was basically a weekend shot at setting things up to see what kind of problems I would run into. Now that I know I look forward to rebuilding and getting it right.

[nascarkeith]

Baseball practice for our middle school team that I help coach got cancelled today because of rain so I had a little spare time to work on the crawler and thanks to a very helpful store manager at my local Ace Hardware I got a 9" x 27" piece of scrap lexan for free. I used it to make my own floor board to help lower the body.

I also did a tummy tuck by changing the skid plate and link mounts. I cut the floor board to allow the top of the tranny to stick through it. I was able to add a couple of spacers to the rear seat and have it sit on top of the tranny.

I know the console is backwards but that is the only way it would fit since I cut about 1/4 of an inch off of the bottom of the dash to help lower the body. The dash is attached to the body. I also trimmed the drop bed for clearance and made some inner fenders/shock mounts for the front so I could get the shocks and a better angle.

This is the new and improved stance.

And the mandatory flex shots.


I think it looks better but I still have a lot of work to do. I need to work on the wheelbase and rear shock angle. I need to sleeve the links, add all the electronics, clean up the body work in the bed, make drive shafts, paint the chassis, and add some scale stuff but I think eventually it will be a decent scale rig. If you got any suggestions let's hear them.

[Jaynen]

make an "inner fender" type deal in the rear and use black hardware or paint the screws. Looks like a fantastic start to me. I am thinking the shocks should be outside the chassis however while the inner fender should be between the shock and the chassis? So you can see the shock but not into the rest of the truck. It looks a bit weird having the shock blocked from view. At least in the front the dampeners are very prevalently seen in the fenderwells of late model trucks.

[nodnarb81]

much better!! looks like you are getting alot of flex out of that setup. this thing might give the scout a run for it's money keep up the good work.

[z50_Jumper]

That looks awesome, you should build some dual fake mini shocks to fit inside the fenders.

[nascarkeith]

I got some work done today. I narrowed the frame a little so I could get the front shocks on the outside of the inner fender. I am leaving the rear shocks mounted to the inside of the frame to keep them kind of hidden since a 1:1 Silverado would have leaf springs on the back.

The shocks are angled a little because the movement was awkward with them straight up and down. I still have to shorten the links a little to get the wheelbase right and I am going to make a better skidplate.

I did a little work with some styrene and body filler on the front bumper to make it look more like a 4X4 bumper and not an SS one. The bumper still needs a little more sanding and a coat of gloss black. I also added a little paint to the grill.

[nodnarb81]

looks good man. i really like what you did with the bumper. you should get one of those aluminum fairleads from the scale shop and put on it. so where are the updated flex shots ?

[nascarkeith]

I got the new skidplate made and the links shortened to fix the wheelbase. I also moved the top link mounts up onto the frame.

I also sprayed the gloss on the bumper so it matches the body better.

I got the interior finished and the electronics mounted. The dash and door panels are attached tothe body and I am still trying to figure out how to run the antannae. Any suggestions?

Here is a pic of the rear suspensiona and tranny.

[Jaynen]

I love the progress. Moving the shock to the outside of the inner fender and the stuff you did with the bumper really improved it. I like where you hide the battery also.

[nodnarb81]

WOW! looks really good. I like the hooks you put on the front bumper. Not sure about your antenna situation. looks pretty tight under the hood. i guess you won't be putting a winch on this one, there isn't any room! get this thing running so we can put some scratches on that nice hard body.