TLT Franken Bronco Truggy

[joe.bielski]

Thanks Natedog. I wish I was able to find the delrin housing for the rear as well. It's getting harder to find TLT parts. I did notice that my "locked" diffs seem to loosen up after long trail rides and comps. There's always a bit of slop. Was thinking of swapping in a set of SCX10 axles but that comes with it's own set of issues for this chassis and setup. I'll post a video a bit later. Be warned... it's not so good :P

[joe.bielski]

As promised a short video from the RC4WD Canadian Challenge... I managed to get more footage of the ground than the truck :P

[joe.bielski]

Here is a video I made about a year ago. The truck was still running with an RC4WD R2 Tranny and on regular Proline TSL SX tires (the smaller ones). Oh and this is before I put MIP CVD's in the front. It's got quite a bit more throw now

[joe.bielski]

I have finally mirrored my tranny and put a Holmes Hobby 20T Crawlmaster Pro in there. Man this motor is SMOOTH!!! Normally I'd set my throttle expo to like 50%-60% to get smooth control at very low speeds. Now I am able to get the same control with the throttle expo curve set to 10%. I also finally switched over to 3S power and geared LOW. Now I'm using smaller 2700mah batteries for weight savings.







I'm also thinking it's about time to switch to SCX10 Axles. I love my TLT's but I've noticed after every comp, my diffs always loosen up. I always have to open everything up and make sure the spider gears haven't moved around too much. I've pretty muched upgraded them as much as possible but I don't want to destroy them on the 3S batteries. Plus it will be nice to have the option to run under and overdrive and have spare parts readily available.

[joe.bielski]

So I managed to strip the spur gear last night. Got a bit jammed up and tried to push through but alas, I heard the tell tale whine of a stripped gear. This is the first time this has happened to this rig in 2 years of running it. Yes they were 48P gears but I'm starting ti question if the "performance" gains of running 3S batteries are worth it.

[amorton94]

What a coincidence, I also ride a sv650 haha. And am also considering scx axles for my tlt bronco. I think I might as well just start a scratch build if I'm gonna start changing large components. I would love to try my hand and a tuber or truggy, but can't find any aluminum rod in 3/16 around here.

Still love your truck btw.

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[joe.bielski]

Yeah, I love the SV650, Such an under rated bike!!! I was just playing around with a set of SCX10 axles but I don't like how much wider they are than the TLT axles. Plus the shock mounting points are more narrow than than on the TLT's so that will be an issue as well.

For my cage, I used 3/16 (I think) steel brake line tubing. Easier to work with than aluminum. There are some great tutorials on brazing on the site here.

[amorton94]

I'll see if I can get some bulk tubing through work at cost. That'd be awesome.

What's your setup for all the rc stuff on the bike?

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[joe.bielski]

For travelling with my scale truck, I just take the wheels off and toss the rig and radio in my backpack. I take 2x 2700Mah 3S batteries with me and a little box of spares and a little tool kit. In Comps with 3 gated trails with a 10 minute limit and a TTC run after, I've never had to use more than the 2 batteries. Back when I was using a 2S 5000Mah battery, I could run all day on 1 battery and still I'd only have used like 3000mah or so tops!!!

When I get to the events, I just toss my mesh Dainese jacket in the backpack once I've removed the truck, and lock the helmet to the bike and I'm set. My rig is also pretty light. With a battery in it, It's only 6.4Lbs!!! So I'm not killing myself with a heavy backpack riding to the comps.

The only expensive part of making the cage was the 45% silver solder stuff. Cost me like $65 CAD for a small roll (but that's like $2.00 US dollars at the current exchange rate :P ). The stuff is incredibly strong for brazing the steel brake line. The brake line will actually bend before one of the joints breaks!!!

[joe.bielski]

So, this is kind of a big update!!! I have swapped the axles to a set of SCX10 axles. These axles are really hopped up and still need a bit of tuning. I think I can still get a bit more steering throw. The front has Beef tubes, Axial CVD's, Axial High Steer Knuckles, SSD Titanium Steering Links, HD Gear set, Gripfab SS Locker and STRC aluminum CHUBS. The rear has the Axial HD underdrive gear set, GripFab SS locker and STRC lockouts. The swap did come with it's problems though. The shock mounting points are a bit more narrow than the TLT's were and the TCS X-trail chassis is wider at the shock mounting points than the stock SCX10 chassis is. Therefore I'm getting a bit of binding in the shocks at the front. I worked it out in the back so far though. I also had to adjust all my links to be a bit longer so I can keep my wheelbase the same. The link mounting points are also different so the geometry is a bit different but I think I have most of it worked out.

I noticed that I have almost NO torque twist and the chassis is stays low when climbing. The front right doesn't lift at all anymore. BUT.... there's always a but. All the changes raised my COG ever so slightly. Just a touch but I do notice it. The truck has lost weight, but all the weight savings are in the axles therefore raising the COG. Plus the Jevne battery plate is aluminum and sits a touch higher than my previous carbon fiber one.

I also had to install the Jevne battery plate so that the axle mounted steering servo can clear the battery plate. The servo mounting point is about 6mm taller than on the TLT axles. Damn, maybe I have to change the title of this thread to "TCS X-trail SCX10 Bronco Truggy"........ So much for keeping it Non-Axial :P

Still not stoked at how much wider the stance is now. Might have to get some 0-offset wheels. Well enough chit chat, here's some pics.

[joe.bielski]

Just had a chance to take the rig outside. Nothing special, just a parking lot run. Seems to have a tighter turning radius than before... Still getting some binding in the front shocks. The shocks hit the chassis as you move one side or the other of the axle up. The back is fine, so I'll just copy that over to the front.

Oh hey, does anyone know how to change the title of this thread? I tried editing it but it always just stays the same.... Kinda not a TLT truck anymore. I'm a bit sad not using those axles anymore. This was originally gonna be a "budget" build, but I kinda wanted to also show people that you could have a competitive truck that wasn't an Axial....

[Di_Spencer]

I think it is time for a new build with those axles ;)


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[joe.bielski]

Well, I promised myself that I'd only have one RC at a time... I took a long break from any RC stuff and before that I had WAAAAAAY too many. It was more of an addiction than a hobby :P But hey, if anyone ever needs any TLT axles, I have the ones off this truck plus like another 5 complete sets!!!!

[joe.bielski]

Small update. I fixed the shock binding issue in the front by putting in a stock SCX10 Servo plate and stock 4-link on the front axle. Worked like a charm. I had to move the body up 2 holes on the posts as I now have more up travel!!! Flexes well but not too much which is how I like em'.





Funny how in about a year the truck has changed sooooo much!!! Used to have this weird HR chassis :P

[joe.bielski]

The Bronco has been running great with the SCX10 axles!!! Turns on a freakin' dime with the under gearing in the rear. Finally destroyed a plastic idler gear on a beach in Dominican so it was time for an UPGRADE!!! Got a complete metal gear HR tranny off of SimpsonC1. I did keep the plastic 48-pitch spur gear. I figured with a pretty bullet proof drive train, I'd like to keep a weak spot on purpose. And it's an easy part to replace. Truck is still VERY light!!

Oh and I put some dual stage lil' Nova foams so the tires don't "deflate" so much.

[joe.bielski]

Sooooooo I guess in the long run, I spent all this time and money building a truck out of NOT axial parts and ended up with an Axial SCX10..........