Project Ruby, my C2 TJ build

[camaroguy327]

Well this build is going have a bunch of firsts for me. First scale build ( my other crawler is really a comp rig under that body), my first axial, my first hard body, and my first time going this in deep into a build.

The goals:

Have a cool scale trail rig that I can beat the snot out of. It will be fully water proofed, and if I ever decided to take it to a TTC, it needs score well in the scale department to make up for my awful driving.

The inspirations are the TJs and LJs built by ser3100, falcon and others.

So on to the build.
I'm starting out with a axial dingo builders kit.

One thing I've done is removed all dust seals from the new bearings and repacked them with marine grease. I'm using the kawasaki brand, I've used it for years in my dirtbikes that I trail ride and race in harescrambles. I've never ever had a bearing fail using it, so it should be fine in an R/C.




After fooling around trying to get the shocks built I figured out my philips head screwdriver can make it easier.

Just put the seals, scraper, and cap on the screwdriver. Thread onto the body and viola seals installed.





I wont bore you all with the build of the kit. I know most if not all of you have built or rebuilt it in some way.

So that brings me up to where it is today. I got it sitting under its own weight for the first time this afternoon and set the body on top to see what I'm going to working against.

Looks pretty good from this angle.




Well, not so much, just some trick photography.




Time for some head scratching, I may go with touring car shocks on the rear so I can tuck the body down. 4 link or 3 link rear? CMS with panhard setup on front, and some kind of divorce setup to hide the motor and trans under the hood. Once thats all figured out then it onto the cage and body work.

[ScaleDustin]

4 link the rear for sure! Grab a Gearhead rear shock relocation kit and use your existing shocks.. you'll be happy you did!

[camaroguy327]

Will do! Thanks for the heads up.

[hibbs]

Since you mentioned beating the truck, you may want to stay with the stock trans. Others can comment on the durability of T cases and such. I'll say that the axial trans, especially with robinson gears has a proven track record as a stout unit. That said, if you flip it around and run the spur gear toward the front, you can get the spur to sit just in front of the interior of that TJ body.

If you want to shorten up your drive shafts, try the mod that has become popular. JTHellfire wrote up a nice tutorial. Axial's blog on their site has the writeup as well. You use female shafts on every driveshaft end and use a short section of male driveshaft free floating inside the two female halves. You also have to cut a piece of metal to fill the male shaft to keep it from collapsing.

Check out my build for more info on the driveshafts, it's not top rate but I like it. It looks a good bit nicer now, I need to update pics. Hibbs' Jeep TJ Build

Finally, let me say this: A short wheelbase (~10") will NOT perform all that great. My Hilux at 11.4" would run circles around my TJ with 10" WB. Just FYI. You could consider comp cutting the fenders and stretching her out a bit.

All the best to you. I think TJ builds are my favorite to watch on here. They look scale with almost any wheel/tire/WB setup.

[rckjeep]

My TJ is roughly at 11 3/8" WB and it works well. Any longer and it doesn't look right to me. Good luck with your build they are a lot of fun

[camaroguy327]

Thanks for the info! It will be comp cut on the rear thats the kinda look I wanted. I'll also fab some fenders all the way around. Body armor, stinger, rear tire carrier, full cage with roof are also in the plans. The wheelbase will probably be as close to dingo length as possible and still look decent.

[Falon]

My TJ has a 10 3/4" wb and works awesome for what it is. I used a flipped axial tranny in mine as a transfer case and a front mounted motor with a hpi gru. Only thing I would change is the tcase placement my rear drive shaft is a little short and binds at full droop.

[camaroguy327]

I had an hour to kill this morning so I figured I'd start in on the body work. I comp cut the rear and made a big pile of stinky red dust on the floor of my garage. The dang dremel made a mess.





Dont mind the touring car shocks they are on there just so I have a complete chassis to use for figuring out my trans placement and how to mount the body.

[ser3100]

Hey i just noticed this thread. Im glad to know i was part of your inspiration for building this jeep. Anyway i can help, lemme know. Cant wait to see what you have in store.

[summitcrawler]

Originally Posted by camaroguy327

I had an hour to kill this morning so I figured I'd start in on the body work. I comp cut the rear and made a big pile of stinky red dust on the floor of my garage. The dang dremel made a mess.

when i cut my NB JK i just used body scissors.. zero mess and clean cut...

[BONDONUTZ]

Looking good so far Jason !

I just got my Ruby yesterday and will be starting a rebuild on it myself, lovin' these Jeep build !