Crawler Innovations '34 Ford 4x4 Truggy build

[Nova's Ark]

I picked up this chassis through the RCC classifieds in late 2015. PIMPNROCKS made the chassis, but I acquired the metal tube chassis, body, interior, and a few scale items from a different RCC member.

The chassis and items sat around the shop for several months waiting for inspiration, parts and time. September 2016 it all came together and I finally built it. The overall truck has stayed the same for the last five months.

Surprisingly I enjoyed driving the truck the first time out on the rocks. I was skeptical because of the front four link and front shock angles, not to mention the large wraith skid, but it's fun to drive. Initially this truck was built with a combo of all new axle parts, used electronics, used plastic driveshafts, pieced together trans, but once I liked this little crawler, the upgrades began.

It's time for a facelift on the 34 Ford and having owned this truck this long, I wanted to share it with the RCC community. Here are the specs as pictured:

Chassis by PIMPNROCKS

Axial Racing AX10 Axles w/ Beef Tubes F/R; Super Shafty Spools F/R; HD Standard gears / front, HD UD gears / rear, Vanquish Product Stage 1 Kit, Vanquish Products VVD's, Vanquish Products 8* Knuckle Weights.

Vanquish Products front upper four link mount & RC Bros Servo Mount, these two items were a huge help and made the front four link and servo install possible without major fabrication. The front suspension cycles and performs consistently.

Lunsford Titanium Upper, Lower, and Steering Links

Proline Shocks front and rear

MIP drive shafts

Axial Racing Trans, Vanquish Products case, Axial Racing Gear Set, Crawler Innovations transmission outputs, standard slipper

Hitec 7954SH steering servo
HH BRXL
HH 40T
Castle Creation BEC
Axial Racing light kit

Parma '34 Ford lexan body
Tractor Supply store box
PL fuel cell
Vaterra Twin Hammers interior

Vanquish Products KMC Enduro XD222 1.9 bead locks; with wide cans; and the KMC Enduro Bead Lock Rings
Crawler Innovations 4.50" Lil Nova Competition Cut Dual Stage Foams;
CWR-2025 front
CWR-2026 rear
RC4WD Mickey Thompson Baja Claw TTC Tires. I cut a new pattern into the tire by removing lugs first. I drove it like that for a while, they worked very well. I decided to narrow the tires to experience the difference in track width. I cut n shut the tire to remove one section of tread to narrow the over all width.

Weight: 7 pounds 10 ounces RTR as pictured

[Nova's Ark]

More pictures:

[Nova's Ark]

and some more pictures...







I guess I should mention that I run this on a 4S 1300mah lipo battery that fits in the tool box:


I suppose it's somewhat of a 60/40 link configuration and it does help this truck to climb:

[Nova's Ark]

A few more pics...





As you can tell by the pictures, the truck gets driven and the lexan cab is showing its wear. I have a new cab, in a new color, along with a new set of Vanquish Products bead locks to install. I'm also planning the swap to sensored brushless. More updates to come.

[4X4 Freak]

Awesome rig man

[rngrchad]

Looks awesome. The CI Compound should release a video of that beast when it goes sensored brushless. CI foams forever man. Thanks for all the great work you do supplying us with incredible tire inserts.

[Nova's Ark]

Originally Posted by 4X4 Freak

Awesome rig man

Thank you.

Originally Posted by rngrchad

Looks awesome. The CI Compound should release a video of that beast when it goes sensored brushless. CI foams forever man. Thanks for all the great work you do supplying us with incredible tire inserts.

Thank you. I finished editing a video this evening of the '34 Ford as pictured above that I'll upload tomorrow. I will make a new video with the brushless system and face lift. As for the quality foams, you are welcome. But as always, without loyal customers, it wouldn't even be possible. I'm grateful to be a part of the hobby

[Badd]

Is it done yet ?

[War Pig]

It's alright.....


🐷

[Nova's Ark]

Originally Posted by Badd

Is it done yet ?

It runs... does yours?

Originally Posted by War Pig

It's alright.....


🐷

Agreed, especially when compared to the OG builder of '34 Fords. I wish I still owned the wrecker / farm truck . You are a true craftsman Tim. A classic build thread here:
http://www.rccrawler.com/forum/2-2-scale-rigs/50066-war-pigs-scale-tow-truck.html

[Nova's Ark]

A short video featuring the Crawler Innovations 1934 Ford 4x4 Truggy and the new Axial Racing SCX10-2 Jeep Cherokee XJ. The Ford is a custom built remote control rock crawler while the Cherokee is the kit version sold by Axial.

Build thread link for the '34 Ford:
Crawler Innovations '34 Ford 4x4 Truggy build

I have not created a build thread for the Cherokee yet.

CI products used in video;
'34 Ford - 4.50" Lil Nova Competition Cut Dual Stage Foams, medium outer front, firm outer rear, CWR-2025 front; CWR-2026 rear; RC4WD Mickey Thompson Baja Claw TTC 4.75" 1.9 Tire,
Vanquish Products KMC Enduro XD222 1.9 bead locks; with wide cans; and the KMC Enduro Bead Lock Rings

Jeep Cherokee - 4.25" Lil Nova Competition Cut Dual Stage Foams, medium outer front, firm outer rear, CWR-2015 front; CWR-2016 rear; RC4WD Fuel Gripper M/T 4.30" 1.9" tire,
Vanquish Products Method 101 1.9 bead locks.

webstore:
RC Crawler Foams, Rock Crawler Foams, Tires and More by Crawler Innovations

#1 source for RC Crawler info:
www.rccrawler.com/forum

[PIMPNROCKS]

Looking good bud!! Glad to see you are still beating on it

[War Pig]

Ha! Just giving you a little grief Eddie. You know I love it, one of the only times I like the stock front fenders. Good to see these old rigs still running around. Looks like it does pretty good too!

[allanon1965]

one of the few rigs I regret selling! Nice job so far Eddie! glad it went to someone who will make it great again!

[Nova's Ark]

Originally Posted by PIMPNROCKS

Looking good bud!! Glad to see you are still beating on it

Originally Posted by War Pig

Ha! Just giving you a little grief Eddie. You know I love it, one of the only times I like the stock front fenders. Good to see these old rigs still running around. Looks like it does pretty good too!

Originally Posted by allanon1965

one of the few rigs I regret selling! Nice job so far Eddie! glad it went to someone who will make it great again!

Thank you for all the kind words gentlemen.

[Nova's Ark]

As I mentioned in the first post, this truck was getting a facelift and upgrades since the blue cab is cracked and the brushed motor is in need of a rebuild.

Let's start with five "body off" pictures of this truck before the install of the new upgrades:









This Parma '34 Ford body was painted by a local artist for Crawler Innovations several years ago. It was for a drifter project that was never "gotten around to it".

[Nova's Ark]

The previous transmission used a delrin spur gear, axial slipper assembly, stock axial top gear, RRP idler gear, and RRP hardened complete output. The short output length made front driveshaft engagement a little sketchy due to limited engagement. I thought if I installed Crawler Innovations 5mm extended and lightened outputs on both sides it would help with engagement and I could gear down. I guess I should have known from the outset something was amiss, because it took about five times to final assemble this transmission.

I installed a full set of Hot Racing hardened steel gears, the CI outputs, new bearings, Robinson Racing 88T 48P HD Slipper assembly, and a HR hardened steel 12T pinion. The motor plate is a cut down BWD. The output ends needed to be sanded down to fit the MIP yokes. I attached the outptus to the final drive gear, then chucked one output into a cordless drill and spun it, while holding 120 grit sand paper on the opposite output until the clearance was correct. Simply and effective. That is why the black coating is missing from the ends.




This particular slipper assembly was not complete and was in the shop loose. The slipper was incorrect and would not stop slipping under load during the first test battery pack. It turned out that the aluminum backing plate, or more specifically the machined portion the bearing rides upon was too long. After removing 2mm from it, the slipper stopped slipping and began performing as it should.




Teking 13.5 Motor, Gen 3 design, 2 pole, sensored, and CI has been using the combo of Castle ESC's with Tekin Motors in our scale rigs for many years. Geared down at the trans and running on 4S lipo.






Tekin Motor, Castle ESC and Transmission installed.
I removed the black styrene panel that was used to enclose the back of the lexan cab. I replaced it with some scale diamond plate from RC4WD.





The Hitec servo wires were showing signs of wear from rubbing against the tube chassis, so I covered them in heat shrink. If you look closely at the servo mounts you will notice how thin the RC Bros design is and how helpful they are for situations where servo placement is critical for clearance.



For the final or currently installed transmission set up, I switched the transmission outputs to long and short Crawler Innovations 5mm extended and lightened outputs. The short side output is going to the rear axle, and I really didn't get the gear down I was hoping. The long output is going to the front axle and it helps clear the wraith skid, but it also made the front drive shaft angle steeper, which makes the car drive with a choppy feel instead of smooth. It's always something with any custom build Thankfully it does run and is usable. It can be tuned over time.

[Nova's Ark]

Let's face it, rims for some people are the 2nd most important part after the vehicle itself. Wanting only the best in quality, to Vanquish Products I went. Officially licensed Method Race Wheels 101 in orange. Wrapped in JConcepts 1.9 Scorpios. These tires have the outside lateral lug removed. The tires are filled with Crawler Innovations foams. 4.50" Lil Nova Competition Cut inner with Soft Outer, part # CWR-2024 for the front pair. The rear pair is filled with Deuce's Wild Single Stage 1.9 *XL Foams, part CWR-3005.





Close up of lugs removed:


Installed to the vehicle:


Example of the tire footprint with a Dual Stage Foam installed:


Example of the tire footprint with a Single Stage Foam installed:

[Nova's Ark]

The Crawler Innovations '34 Ford is ready for a new year of playful adventures

[Nova's Ark]

Mo' Pics';