The Mustard Brat...

[theslowguy]

Well. Please be easy on me guys! This is not only my first attempt at styrene work, but its also my first time doing tube work also. I built this rig to be an all around trail truck/ basher. Been workin on it for about 3 weeks on and off now and its almost done. Heres the specs

Body: Tamiya Brat hard body
Chassis: TCS X-trail
Axles: Axial
Suspension: 4 traxxas slash big bore front w/ stock progressive rate springs
motor: Soon to be Novak 13.5 sensored brushless
ESC: VXL-3s
Wheels scx10 w/ pyro62 rings
Tires: 1.9 Rok Lox

Well, as you can probly see I chopped and sectioned the front end to narrow it by almost 1 inch. I also cut the box off and closed off the rear window and sun roof. I built a propane tank for the truck out of the same styrene sheet I filled the body in with.

I made the exo cage with 3/16 brake line that I brazed with 45%ag flux coated rod, and a map/pro hand torch. Seemings as it was my first attempt at tube work, I didnt really do any drawings or blueprints. I just looked at the truck and put peices in where it looked like it needed it.

I took it out for its maiden voyage today. The outrunner I have in it for the time being isnt the best for crawling. Its a bit too fast. But overall the truck did well. I has great flex and the tires worked great. The subie took a few spills and cracked the roof filler a bit and cracked the bumper too, but hey, I built the truck to get beaten so by golly thats what Im gonna do.


Bent the front of the exo some time in the night. Gonna have to bend that back


The required poser shots



This is a good pic of the rear cage


This is how the front exo and body come off.







And some carnage from tonights thrashing. Considering what I dealt this truck it did really well. Im still waiting on my vxl esc, 13.5 motor, and a 3racing winch so I can braze up a front bumper and stinger.

Some other plans for the future are to close off the interior and paint up and install the original driver figure that came with the body. Beyond that? Whos knows what I got comin! Thanks for lookin!

[slither302]

nice work, good to see something different

[kasper]

Got to see it perform last night at the lower level rock lounge the frame work is dam nice and it crawls really good very nice work josh very nice

[N.C. Scorpion]

WOW that thing is really cool!!!!! Great work

[INFERNAL]

Really nice

[theslowguy]

Thanks for the kind words guys! I got a sway bar kit for a jato today and Im gonna see what I can do to retro fit that to stabilize the rear. The articulation is great but for the all around bashing the angled shocks arent ideal.

[ColquittCustom405]

Very nice, I love it when people think outside of the box.

[chicostaxxs007]

wow best brat i've seen great job

[theslowguy]

A little update today.

I got my 3racing winch today! But found out it doesnt come with a control unit. I sat and looked at it and thunk for a while and looked at the control units online and figured they cant be much different from a servo motor. I proceeded to tear apart a micro servo from my old MLST and believe it or not, the motors are almost the same exact size. I tore the board and wiring out of it and donated a small pot switch from a hitec agressor I had laying around to replace the potetiometer that was originally in the servo. I also soldered a female servo harness connector to the vacant motor wires.



I also soldered in the small capacitor, or whatever it is, off of the back of the servo motor into the wires going to the servo harness. I figured it couldnt hurt anything.:-P

Then I connected it all up and adjusted the pot switch untill the winch stayed still and didnt spool out or spool in, and I ca glued it into place. Once the glue was dry I shrink tubed it all together and sealed it up!


Almost looks like the one you buy huh I wanted to post up some vid of it working but apparently Im too stupid to figure out how to take it with my digi cam So you guys will just have to take my word that it works perfect!

More to come in the next few days!

[FodigoDave]

Dude - That's brilliant!! Why in the world didn't I think of that before DOH!

Why did you have to use a different pot? Didn't it have one prior for adjusting?

And the idea of the capacitor was a crack up.
Right... Why not! LOL It works.

I have a new 3racing winch coming for a new rig I'm building soon. If it doesn't have something like that - I'm totally going to do it like you did. Thanks for the insight.

Originally Posted by theslowguy

A little update today.

I got my 3racing winch today! But found out it doesnt come with a control unit. I sat and looked at it and thunk for a while and looked at the control units online and figured they cant be much different from a servo motor...

...and donated a small pot switch from a hitec agressor I had laying around to replace the potetiometer that was originally in the servo.

...I also soldered in the small capacitor, or whatever it is, off of the back of the servo motor into the wires going to the servo harness. I figured it couldnt hurt anything.:-P

Once the glue was dry I shrink tubed it all together and sealed it up! !

[theslowguy]

Originally Posted by FodigoDave

Why did you have to use a different pot? Didn't it have one prior for adjusting?

I replaced it with the pot switch because it was easier to adjust and it was smaller. Since the board is so small I didnt want to bulk it up too much with the stock potentiometer.

[1BadJeepBruiser]

No reason for anyone to beat up on this, this is a very cool rig. Nice to see something different

[bmuzz1]

Really nice to see something other then the usual Jeep, Toyota or Fj even though I have them all myself.

Great job on the body and tube work, the rig looks sweet!

[R/CMaxximus5.0]

Great work Josh! Makes me want to take a poop on my junk
nice winch mod too. I cant wait for spring so we can go bash @ 1000 islands or where ever...

[scalecrazy]

Did u get the winch used?i got mine new and it came with the controler unit,but the unit fried the third day lol

[theslowguy]

:scalecrazy: No it got the winch new. but ti was only $13 so that would probly explain why it didnt come with the controler.

Update!
So I been slacking as of late on this truck. I have done a fair amount of work on it and it performs very well!

The motor and esc in it now are a havoc3s and a 13.5 w/ the sintered rotor for the time being, but will be receiving a slower motor and mamba pro coming up soon.



I ran the truck and got a little trigger happy and "lawn darted" the truck into a snowbank before the finished bumper was installed so I had to cut out and replace a good chunk of the front bumper and some of the grille.

also cracked the crap out of the passenger side door.

front bumper repair looks good tho in my opinion!



Heres the finished front bumper. Nothing special, just a reworked savage unit off the old head honch project. I opted for plastic so it is more durable and will slide on the rocks easier. The slippery bumper is paired with a stainless steel servo cover/skid plate. I also learned from the head honcho build to make a nice hefty front bumper mount.


I gotta replace those treaded rod links. They are soooo ugly!


And lastly I made a "whip" antenna ti help hide the long antenna, and I also made windows out of lexan sheet I painted black and put those in.



Cant forget the flex shot!

Thats all for now! more updates to come!

[T I N Y]

Kind of makes me want to build a Brat......LOL

[PANDAbox]

Looks really good. Reminds me of a, "full bodied KOH rig". Would also look awesome will some paddle tires doing some hill climbs.

Keep up the great work man

[neoakaj]

I like it

[rcjeepbuilder]

Great looking rig.. Very refreshing to see something new!