Gavin's Class 2 SORRCA Toyota Truggy reborn - the 3rd & 4th time now

[Nova's Ark]

It turns out this little truggy has quite a history here on RCC. It was first built by Going Up and his build thread is here:

http://www.rccrawler.com/forum/showthread.php?t=182552


Then Szczerba bought it and he had his way with it. His build thread for this truck is here:

Second Chance Dove-nose Yota


I bought the truck through the classifieds here on RCC from Szczerba as a chassis. No axles, trans, electronics, etc. I had owned the truck for 7 months before I ever did anything with it. As my son's birthday approached last year, I got it running and gave it to him for his 9th birthday.

Here's what it looked like when I bought it from Szczerba:

[Nova's Ark]

So it took me 7 months to finally get this crawler running. When I finally got it running it I installed:

Frame:
Axial SCX-10

Axial axles:
Front:
SDS Customz 300M Axial CVD's & Locker
HD axial Over drive gears
At the time it had some generic aluminum knuckles and C's
The steering servo was also mounted on the front axle

Rear:
Axial HD under drive gears
Axial steel locker
Axial straight axles

Axial Trans with:
Axial Slipper clutch
BWD Axial HD Motor Plate
Hot Racing Gears
MIP driveshafts
BOWTIE Steel Lockers
(when I first built it had a DNA dig in it)

Tires-n-Foams:
Mayhem Engineering 1.9 bead locks
"Cut N Shut" Pro-Line M2 compound M2K Mashers, they finish at 4.50" tall and work awesome.
Crawler Innovations 4.25" - 4.50" Lil' Nova Dual Stage 1.9 foams


Electronics (at the time):
Hitec 6545 steering servo
Castle Creation Mamba Max
Holmes Hobbies Crawl Master Pro brushless outrunner
Spektrum DX3R & RX
3S Lipo 1050mah Rhino 40C

This was the first time we took it out to run it. It's a place called Eagle's Nest about a mile from house. I love this place. You have to hike in and out. It's a great way to have about 3 hours of fun if you follow the entire trail and take your time.

[Nova's Ark]

OK, those pictures were taken in December of 2010 on my cell phone. I had never planned to do a build thread or anything like that. The idea was to have a simple scale truck that was decent to play with. But just like every crawler, I can't leave anything alone. This truck quickly became a test mule for new parts.

On our first run back in December when those pictures were taken, this little truggy broke on the trail. It broke the front steel transmission output. Plus it was geared 87 spur 15 pinion and with the outrunner motor it was not smooth for start up. I was also not impressed with the MIP drive shafts.

So I went to the machinist with a few ideas and we began designing the Crawler Innovations Traxxas Maxx shaft transmission outputs and adapters. The first proto's took a while to get done and this truck sat until they were ready. Once they were ready, the dig came out, the proto outputs went in, a 93 tooth spur gear, 18 tooth pinion, and Maxx shafts went in. Gavin hit the trail and zero issues drive train wise.

Somewhere along the line, I bought a Hands Brother SCX-10 steering kit for it from The Crawler Store. It made a big difference in the front.

When I first built the truck, the battery was mounted under the rear styrene bed area above the frame. It was a pain in the @$$ to get the battery in and out. I got the idea to use the Tractor Supply mini tool box as a battery holder. I drilled the box, added a rubber grommet, and wired in an extension to connect the battery and ESC. I also removed the rear bed and sunk the battery box into the styrene.

About this time I was also really tired of the lower links. Crawler Innovations makes links, so it was a no brainer what the truck needed LOL. I installed the Low Clearance links in the front. I installed the High Clearance links in the back.

About this time the RC4WD 4.75" tires were out and we needed a test mule to test new foams. So this truck was used for that. You can also see some of the improvements made on the truck from December 2010 to March 2011.

[Nova's Ark]

Not much was done to the truck from March through mid May. On May 14th, 2011 ETXRCC & Crawler Innovations held our season ending BBQ, 2.2 & 1.9 comp and we held our first G6 event at the C.I. compound. This truck performed very well. Here are a few pics from that day:

[Nova's Ark]

More pics from the G6 and of this little truggy:

[Nova's Ark]

After the G6 event I was so excited to do anything with scale rigs. All I wanted to do was to make each one of my scalers better. The problem I have is time. I don't have hardly any time to do things for myself anymore. I am a big Toyota fan. I use to own an '81 4x4 yota. So I seem to always collect cool Toyota scalers. So consequently, I stock pile parts for them here and there. I had a clear windshield, interior and lights sitting around and I wanted to really begin scaling this rig out.

My kids finished the school year just before Memorial Day weekend. Unfortunately, Gavin got sick for a week. So while he was down and out of the shop area, I got to work on his truggy. I started by fixing the back of the cab with new styrene because Szcerba had cut it out to clear the dig he had in it at one point. I then added a Bruiser interior I had removed out of another Toyota I own that is being built into a TTC truck now. I added the clear windshield, re-mounted all the electronics to clear the interior and then kinda got stalled. I wanted to do the lights, but I was having issues with the cab not wanting to stay centered in the exo cage. About this time my good friend and machinist, Clay, of Carter Fab & Machine came over and we got to talking...

[Nova's Ark]

Again, these are not the greatest pictures, but this truck was never intended to be used for a build thread. So now Clay has the truck. All he was suppose to do was weld in a tab on each side to center the body inside the exo-cage and well...

...these pictures start appearing on my iphone.

By the way, these are the reduced 2.2 to 1.9 RC4WD Spooky Crawler Tires I made for Clay with C.I. foams of course.

[CarterFab]

And then.

[Nova's Ark]

The boat sides had to go in order to get the cab out to weld the new rear cage on. The cage had some issues, but rather than start over we decided to roll with things as they were. It was Clay's idea to make sure everything fit the nearly 5 inch tall reduced Spooky tires in the back. That way the new rear cage could handle a tire that tall since the SORCCA rules allow 4.75" Tall in class 2. I am waiting for the new 1.9 Pit Bulls for this build. I think this truck performs best with 4.50" tall tires on it.

No more plastic shock hoops in the rear

[Nova's Ark]

I just had to throw this in here; These are the Naked Lady Bead Lock Rings made by MTHead here on RCC. They are Clay's favorite bead lock ring ever

More progress on the rear cage:

[Nova's Ark]

So with all this rear cage work going on, the boat sides removed (which use to hold in the cab in the cage), and we still don't have a way to center the cab in the cage. The question from me to Clay is, "how we gonna hold the cab?" My suggestion to him was, "why don't you just run a bar across the doors and call it good?" Not for Clay. Here was his picture reply:

[CarterFab]

[QUOTE=Nova's Ark;3132741]I just had to throw this in here; These are the Naked Lady Bead Lock Rings made by MTHead here on RCC. They are Clay's favorite bead lock ring ever

Two of my favorite things in one package.

[txcrawl]

Looks good so far. diggin the rear cage I still need to find someone to do some tube work for me after your g6 and seeing all the cool 1.9s I got the bug and started a build

[66sprint6]

Looks awesome and the fact that its a Father/Son adventure makes it even better man...keep it up and keep us updated!!!
Matt

[CarterFab]

Gonna look good when it's all done. Wait a minute.... I thought it was?
Come on Eddie, did you glue your fingers to a tire carcass?

[dubAron]

Bad Yota! Sick Build Eddie seeing this I'm gonna have to Exo my Truggy

[rcscaler]

looks so good man...nice cage work

[Nova's Ark]

As usual for me, I am late to finishing up the build thread. I definitely owe an apology to Carter Fab & Machine for taking so long to finish this up. Sorry about that Clay.

Here we go:









Fresh Red Paint Job:


Some of the Carter Fab & Machine attention to detail:

[Nova's Ark]

Tail Lights:


Rock Lights:

[Szczerba]

Lookin' good. Glad to see this truck is still alive!