My China made JK Build

[TriggerMan]

Well after seeing the thread below I knew I finally found the body I wanted to build around. A few weeks before seeing it I had ordered a Axial Dingo kit to tinker with so I will try to use as much of it on the build as I can. But I figured I would just place this in the 1.9 scale rig location because even though I will use the chassis from the Dingo there will be many changes along the way. But just to fair I want to tell you guys and gals (maybe) that this will be a slow build. I am an Army guy from TX stationed in Germany. As of yet I haven't had much luck finding a LHS for quick access to parts. Anything I figure out that I need I have to order online and play the waiting game for it to come in. That take a few weeks. So needless to say this will be a slow build process. But, since it's my first real build and how much I enjoy the forum I felt it proper to share this experience with you.

ebay jeep jk hardbody china wow


So skip over all the unboxing stuff even though I have to admit the seller rctoworld did one heck of a good job protecting the body and prep-ing it for shipping.

First I put together the axles just to see what it would look like:







Later today I want to assemble the chassis and put the shocks together for the front. Before I do that I need to go get some paint so I can start adding detail from the jump. So, now for a 5 hour round trip to bigger Post Exchange with hopefully a bigger selection. Maybe I will post up a little progress tomorrow.

[TriggerMan]

Ok, well with work and the family I haven't had much time to work on this. Then came along several 24 hour duties. While working through the night minding the phones and watching to make sure people could sleep through the night in the barracks (Army thing). I was able to work on trimming out the interior a little.







I guess that will do for now. I still haven't picked a driver for the Jeep yet, so once I make that choice I will probably work on it a little more.

Today I was able to trim off the bumper mount points and try to start setting the wheel base. Looks like it is going to be about 10 7/8 inch.





I also worked on putting those Dingo bumpers in place. Not sure if I like that yet though. I am going to trim the front corners. At full stuff with the wheel turned to one side or the other there will be some major contact. I might have to go for some Poison Spider type bumpers. They will help some in that aspect, but I don't like the way the RTR version of the Jeep SCX-10 drags so much in the rear. To my taste the departure angle is horrible.



Next thing I am going to do is start working on the rear suspension. I'm going to attempt to make a Evo style double throw-down. I have seen it done on here and it seemed to work really well.

I also have ordered the GCM Racing transmission mount with transfer case. Hopefully that will come in during the week at some point. But since I am in Germany it could take a while to come.

[Joe$]

Nice jeep. Where are you stationed at. I spent almost 6 years in wurzburg and schweinfurt.

[TriggerMan]

Thanks, I'm stationed at USAG Wiesbaden. About 30 miles from Frankfurt.

[seychelles]

The Gcm scx kit it is so nice... Chris made such a nice engeneerin work on this...
This is my result on a scx chassis...




Just be careful on the front mount screws.. Is better if you buy an allu scx front shock towers if you can afford!
Have a good job

[sgtbham]

Originally Posted by TriggerMan

Thanks, I'm stationed at USAG Wiesbaden. About 30 miles from Frankfurt.

Im jealous! I miss Germany, I was in Vilsek/Graff - Jeep is coming along great!

[Desert Rc]

Very interested in seeing how snug you can get the body down on the front mounted tranny. I love that set up I was just worried I couldn't get the body low enough for my taste.

[TriggerMan]

Originally Posted by seychelles

The Gcm scx kit it is so nice... Chris made such a nice engeneerin work on this...
This is my result on a scx chassis...



Just be careful on the front mount screws.. Is better if you buy an allu scx front shock towers if you can afford!
Have a good job

I am really looking forward to working with this kit. I got my confirmation for it yesterday and GCM customer support seems awesome so far. Can you give me more info on what to watch out for with the front mount screws? Once I receive it and start working with it I will post up how it goes for me.

Originally Posted by Desert Rc

Very interested in seeing how snug you can get the body down on the front mounted tranny. I love that set up I was just worried I couldn't get the body low enough for my taste.

I am too...
Once it comes in the mail I will post up some pics. I am hoping it will be here in a few days.

Originally Posted by sgtbham

Im jealous! I miss Germany, I was in Vilsek/Graff - Jeep is coming along great!

How long ago were you over there? That's a few hours from me, but one of the other forum members lives there now. From what I gather this use to be an awesome place to be stationed with time to places and do stuff while you were here. So far for me it basically sucks because I don't have time to go anywhere or do anything. But, I've always been one of those guys that says being somewhere is what you make of it and you get out what you put in... So, I'm gonna try to enjoy things while I'm here.

Thanks for the comments and compliments. I may get a chance to work on this Thurs night or Fri. I have another 24hr duty with the day off for recovery. I actually have the weekend off as of right now and I am going to try to get out and see something this weekend. So I don't expect to work on it Sat or Sun.

[Joe$]

If you get a chance to travel and like beer I highly recomend going to the Kruezburg monastery. its very good and probably about a 3 hour drive from where your at maybe a little more. also if you like driving/ racing and have a good enough car i would say you have to drive the nuerburg ring. Nordschleife*- Nürburgring . Its an awesome once in a lifetime experience. i did 2 laps on it while i was there. so very worth it. also try and get some friends and pick a nice city and take the train and just explore. i had lots of fun doing this too. i know how the time to do things goes. but theres bound to be a 3day or 4day that would work. and if you can afford the leave and the money try the edelweiss in garmish over the winter and do some skiing or snowboarding. or hiking mountain biking in the summer. i hope you get a chance to have some fun there. i know i did.

[sgtbham]

Originally Posted by TriggerMan

How long ago were you over there?

I was there in 05-06 - I was there the first time in 01 in hohenfels as OPPFOR...it was fun! looking forward to seeing the tranny go in!

[kincer]

Is that the dingo wheelbase?

[Joe$]

Originally Posted by kincer

Is that the dingo wheelbase?

It should be at least very close to the dingo wheelbase.

[seychelles]

Originally Posted by TriggerMan

I am really looking forward to working with this kit. I got my confirmation for it yesterday and GCM customer support seems awesome so far. Can you give me more info on what to watch out for with the front mount screws? Once I receive it and start working with it I will post up how it goes for me.





I am too...
Once it comes in the mail I will post up some pics. I am hoping it will be here in a few days.



How long ago were you over there? That's a few hours from me, but one of the other forum members lives there now. From what I gather this use to be an awesome place to be stationed with time to places and do stuff while you were here. So far for me it basically sucks because I don't have time to go anywhere or do anything. But, I've always been one of those guys that says being somewhere is what you make of it and you get out what you put in... So, I'm gonna try to enjoy things while I'm here.

Thanks for the comments and compliments. I may get a chance to work on this Thurs night or Fri. I have another 24hr duty with the day off for recovery. I actually have the weekend off as of right now and I am going to try to get out and see something this weekend. So I don't expect to work on it Sat or Sun.

Just be' careful and look up the instructions via youtube Gcm channel

[TriggerMan]

Originally Posted by Joe$

It should be at least very close to the dingo wheelbase.

I started with the Dingo wheel base, and shortened it to about 10 7/8, maybe a tad shorter.

Right now I only have all-thread in for the rear links. I still have to figure out the rear suspension. After the 1st I will order some parts and start mocking it up.

[TriggerMan]

Oh, and for the frame rails, so far I have shaved about 1/4 inch off the front and 1/2 in the rear.

[TriggerMan]

Ok, so I was able to work with build for a little bit again. I received my parts from GCM. Here is what I ordered, the kit was a little pricey for my taste. But the quality of the parts is pretty awesome. Everything fit just the way it is advertised.

GCM SCX Mounts Combo Kit

Using this video is important. There are no printed instructions with the kit.

But here some shots:











The only "issues" I have now, my drive shafts were a little too long for going from the transmission up front to the transfer case in the middle. So, I just broke out the trusty razor and chopped it down and I also chopped down another drive shaft for the rear. If you look at the pic of the transfer case the mounting method is different from the Axial points. So I need to order some grub screws for those.

With this body I am trying to mount it as low as possible so there is some rubbing of the floor pan on the passenger side. I will chop it up and figure out some scale goodies to pile up and cover it. Now check out how low that transfer case is... It still made contact with the floor pan directly above it, but the way the console is designed you can remove it, chop the floor a bit and put the console back in, so no issue there. And I will do away with the wire holders on the frame rail.

Just to see how it will look I started trying to figure out how or if it would work to use the Dingo roll cage on the body.









I think that will work until I can build a metal one and will give me something to base the build off of. But you can see the sides do not look straight because of the way I have the front wedged in the dash. I was able to use existing hole in the body for the screws to hold the cage in place.

Let me know what you think so far...

[LetsGoMuddin]

Looks great, I'm going to be using one of these China JK bodies for my next build! Any updates on yours?

[TriggerMan]

No updates for now. I had to go out of town for training and still getting caught up around the house. Got to love that stuff. I did get some parts in while I was out of town though. So maybe I will get to work on it soon.

[Qcustomz]

Can't wait to see it finished. Guess I'll be ordering up one soon

[MIKO]

How much room do you have between the interior and transfer case? The body looks to have tons of potential!