FJ40 on TLT's

[OSRC]

I wanted a short WB chassis that I could use with Tamiya CC01 bodies...While I have an STRC kit on another rig (it does pretty good) and a second on the radar, they do have some shortcomings. The fun in this hobby is building stuff...so I built one instead.....and had a blast doing it.

Pics are a little out of order, been working on this on and off for a few months.

Used 2mm 6061 and fabbed up some chassis rails. Found some leftover F350 shock mounts on clearance...snatched them up and bolted them on.


Had some beefy TLT's i picked up a while ago looking for a home. MIP's, and aluminum C's, knuckles and lockouts. Added new diffs and outputs from the CR01 so I could use pin shafts, and did the 6 gear diff lock mod with JB weld. Super solid. Nice to keep it all in the Tamiya family too.


3 link/panhard up front. Tight, but it all works out.


Standard 4 link out back. Fabbed a truss for the axle out of some leftover 6061


Divorced motor and t-case set-up. I had originally planned to use my homebrew t-case, but due to gear ratio issues, I had to swap in a modded Axial trans.




Mocked up with a few bodies...I still use body posts..... Drilled out the Axial wheels to 6mm to fit over the MIP's...whatever body ends up here, the Axials are staying. Finally found a good home for these Outcropper tires I've been sitting on for years....good size for this chassis.




Once I was happy with the mockup, tore it all down to finish up it. Not looking for super scale here, just a fun rig. Normally I'd spray the chassis black anyway, but my paint booth it outside, and it's snowing... so decided to leave this one natural for now. Hit it with some Mothers for kicks. GRU polishes up well too.




Front links looked a little too thick to my eyes...dug around and found some old leftover TLT links. Swapped everything around and it looks much better to me. Geometry up front is perfect...zero bump steer. Looks off, but the panhard is angled a bit to duck under the motor. Cheated and set it up for an Axial bumper setup. Aluminum brace from HR helps stiffen the chassis. Chassis overall is rock solid.


Full roller, set up with a 35t motor for now. FDR is about 54:1 so it's slow and torquey. PERFECT! Shocks are 80mm RC4WD up front with an o-ring removed so they somewhat work smoothly, and Axials out back with a soft ProLine spring. Stock Axials were way too hard. Battery is out back to keep it balanced, currently weighs in at a nice 57/43 weight balance.



Tooled around the basement a bit ... love that first drive of something that you built up from scratch!

Planning to use the LC body for now...it's well used, so don't mind beating it up a bit while getting the feel for the chassis. Plan to add a few small details and finish it up here shortly.

[old man 52]

So what kind of wheel speed do you get with this setup , Is there enough to bump up over a ledge or clean mud off the tires , but still have torque.

[OSRC]

As it stands, it's a little faster than walking pace, with a ton of torque. It's a little bit slower than I'd like honestly, but for noodling around, it's perfect. I tend to drive slow and methodic, so it works out for me.

This set-up doesn't give the ability to change gearing, so you either have to change motor winds or go with larger tires to alter the overall FDR. I imagine with 35t/3S it would have a lot more wheelspeed, but I'm not sure that little HPI unit would hold up. The counter shaft is not bearing supported...it might, I'm not sure.

[badhoopty]

very cool.

[OSRC]

Moving right along....

Bumpers mounted, lights run, and winch mounted as well. Front is a leftover Jeep bumper that I had in the parts box - seems to fit this body well.


I cut off the lights that hang down off the rear, they seem to catch on everything when I run my CC01 FJ...I mounted them up a little higher for a nice flat bottom. A leftover Sawback bumper was trimmed, flipped and mounted. Had plans to braze on some D rings but turned on the torch and I'm out of gas. DOH!


Need a bit of tuning, but got through a 2200 pack on my test course with nothing falling off. That's a bit of a win anyway.



So far, I've spent $60 on axles. Everything else was purchased a long time ago, or came on another rig.....good to use up some leftovers!

[1BadJeepBruiser]

Looks good dude, just goes to show TLT axles are still cool

[K_Willis]

Originally Posted by OSRC

As it stands, it's a little faster than walking pace, with a ton of torque. It's a little bit slower than I'd like honestly, but for noodling around, it's perfect. I tend to drive slow and methodic, so it works out for me.

This set-up doesn't give the ability to change gearing, so you either have to change motor winds or go with larger tires to alter the overall FDR. I imagine with 35t/3S it would have a lot more wheelspeed, but I'm not sure that little HPI unit would hold up. The counter shaft is not bearing supported...it might, I'm not sure.

I've been running that HPI GRU exactly the same way you are for the last year or so with an old Wheely King transmission as the transfer case. Has held up great with a 27T on 3s.

[OSRC]

I love TLT's, have a few more sets laying around.

Good to know on the GRU! Going to most likely have to bump up to a 27t for more wheelspeed.