Newbie's Injora Chassis

[OGTrout]

Slight introduction from myself: I've wanted to get into RC scale crawlers for a long time, probably going back 10+ years. I guess the SCX10 and possibly the TRX4 were new. They looked awesome, but high school student couldn't afford one of those. Then ever couple of years I'd find myself looking at them again but never biting the bullet.

That all changed a couple of months ago, funnily enough I started looking at cheap RC cars to annoy the cat with. And I ended up looking at cheap crawlers, and ended up buying one of the WPL C34KM 1/12 FJ40 kit. The instructions were pretty crap and the fasteners all felt like they'd melt if you looked at them funny. But I really enjoyed building the thing, then taking it apart and painting it.
This was my first time doing this sort of stuff. I used a Tamiya Primer and paint and semi-gloss clearI was pretty pleased with how it came out and I think I got the bug. I've also enjoyed driving the thing.

The next step was obviously to go bigger, go for the scale that stuff is actually made in. I spent a good few weeks looking at and researching all of the builders kits, I came very close to getting the Element or SCX10.2 raw kit, but the price was still quite hard to justify. That's when I came across the Injora/Austar 313mm chassis being sold on ebay and amazon. This price was easily justified and I'd more happily tell my partner how much I spent on my toy truck

Enough waffle, a few days later I had a parcel waiting for me. I opened it up and there it was, the chassis, some wheels and a front bumper. I'd bought the version that came with wheels and tyres; "Rocks Tyre Super Swampers". I would've preferred to have a complete in pieces kit to build and you would've thought possibly cheaper. But then I guess the cost of actually producing and making intelligible instructions would cost more than just paying some guys to assemble it.

Here he is assembled next to the WPL FJ40:


Seeing as this is my first 1/10 I won't be able to give any meaningful insights or comparisons. It feels fairly sturdy, although the front wheels have a bit of slop in them.

First job is sourcing electronics, I already have a transmitter and receiver so I could reuse those. For ESC I went with a Hobbywing 1060, the 1080 would've been nice but I'm trying to get this running on a budget. For the servo I've gone with a DS3225, again I know budget servos are to be avoided but if I get a few months use out of it I'll be happy. I don't plan on doing anything too hardcore. I had a panic with the battery, and ended getting a massive 5200 2s lipo, I feel a couple of 2200mah might have been better I suspect the cheap charger will bite me on the arse when I have to wait 5 hours for a full charge.

Electronics fitted; the receiver is stuffed into a little box on the rock slider and the ESC is super velcroed™ (3m dual lock)


Now at this point I have a shameful confession, my friend came round and convinced me to take the chassis out for a spin. And worse he convinced me to make a temporary body out of cardboard. I don't have any pictures of this. But we did take it for a spin, we took it on a fairly walk. And that's when trail driving really clicked, the truck was able to go where we go and handled pretty much everything we tried to put it through.


Next job is sorting a body. I wasn't sure what I wanted to go for, but I knew I didn't want to spend a fortune. I went for a Hilux like body. It was being sold as an Absima CB006, it appears to be the same model as the Proline Hilux SR5 but cost half as much and doesn't have any of the Toyota licencing. Even more confusingly the packaging when I arrived was branded as Team-C. I don't really know what any of this means.

But it looks like this:

Wait, I think something is off here.

That's better


This is just after cutting, I wasn't looking forward to this. I don't have the steadiest hands in the world, and I'm not even that good at cutting paper with scissors. Luckily, it came out looking okay.

A quick note for anyone planning on using one of these chassis, if you've watching Dezfan's Lo-do thread you might have seen. The body mounting points have flat sides, I used OG SCX10 body posts Axial part AX80031. It's sheer dumb luck that I bought those posts rather than any other ones, it didn't even occur to me there would be much difference between posts.


No more pics right now, this afternoon I plan getting it masked up and sprayed. I'm feeling a bit apprehensive about painting as I've never painted lexan before. For colour I'm going for a very original black, mostly because in my mind this will be an easier job. I'd like to get this body done so I have something to play with while I have a longer term plan for something nicer.

I'm thinking about some different tyres, something a bit less aggressive, a bit more road like. Happy to hear any suggestions

Oh and with a bit of luck I'll remember to charge my camera so the pics won't have to look so crappy

[BerticusPryme]

Looks good so far. Nice catch on that body. What all decals\stickers did it come with?

[OGTrout]

Originally Posted by BerticusPryme

Looks good so far. Nice catch on that body. What all decals\stickers did it come with?

Thanks! I don't have the sheet to hand and I can't find a picture online. But I can take the Proline stickers and cross out what it doesn't have



It's basically the same minus the Proline branded bits, the grill doesn't say Toyota on it. The light stickers are exactly the same graphics.

I think the Proline body is in two parts (cab and bed) while this is one piece

[BerticusPryme]

Awesome thanks for that. That is a really good find. I picked up the Proline version a few months back and didn't even use the Proline branded ones lol. Can't wait to see a coat of paint on this.

[robbark34]

Would loved to have seen cardboard body!

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[LincolnofDeath]

+2 for cardboard body. And this is a delightful thread.

[TheLetterJ]

If I remember correctly, Team C makes bootleg bodies by vacuum forming over (or was it inside?) other brands' popular bodies, so the dimensions are off just a couple mm's. 1/10 Crawler Body-Team C Racing

Then again, I could be totally wrong and just confusing Team C with Kamtec or something Body Shells | RC Car Accessories | UK | Kamtec Models

Either way, the knock-off brands really have improved their quality in just the last year it seems. Your's looks good so far.

Did that body come with window masks too?

[dezfan]

Great to see. 👍🏼

I’ll be keeping an eye on your progress.

[braytonia]

Can't wait to see some crawling pics!

[JatoTheRipper]

That FJ is cool. Do you have a thread on that?

[OGTrout]

Originally Posted by robbark34

Would loved to have seen cardboard body!

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6003 using Tapatalk

Originally Posted by LincolnofDeath

+2 for cardboard body. And this is a delightful thread.

I might still have it kicking about in the back of my car...

Originally Posted by TheLetterJ

If I remember correctly, Team C makes bootleg bodies by vacuum forming over (or was it inside?) other brands' popular bodies, so the dimensions are off just a couple mm's. 1/10 Crawler Body-Team C Racing

Then again, I could be totally wrong and just confusing Team C with Kamtec or something Body Shells | RC Car Accessories | UK | Kamtec Models

Either way, the knock-off brands really have improved their quality in just the last year it seems. Your's looks good so far.

Did that body come with window masks too?

That makes sense. I thought it was interesting, whether it was a partnership, shared factories, stolen tooling etc

The body did come with window masks

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

That FJ is cool. Do you have a thread on that?

I don't have a thread on it. It's a completeley stock WPL C34KM (aside from a couple of pen springs in the front shocks). Primed with Tamiya primer, Tamiya field grey paint, top coat of Tamiya semi-gloss clear and then given grubby details with Humbrol. It's a nice little kit, the body is nicely modeled. The motor is a small 370 linked to a reduction gearbox, so it's slow as hell but surprisingly capable.



Thanks for everyone's nice words. It's encouraging.
I forgot to say before, I'm running with 40wt oil in the shocks. I think this might be about right for the front with the heavy battery, but I think the rear could do with a lighter oil or maybe a lower fill. I don't really know what I'm trying to achieve with the suspension yet (or if I've even filled them correctly). My knowledge of suspension tuning only really goes as far as messing about with video game race cars.


I managed to leave work early yesterday and get a nice early start with painting

Washed and masked up. The masks were just as hard I thought they'd be, the windscreen and side windows look okay, but I wouldn't look too closely to the rear window.
Don't ask me why I put tape over the mounting holes, it made sense when I did it.



For paint I'm using black Tamiya PS-5. I swear I don't work for Tamiya's paint department, it's just what my local shop had when I did the FJ and if something works for me I normally stick with it.

This stuff went on quite easily as well, started with a very light layer and slowly build them up.

I'm not sure how many coats I did overall, it was more than I expected. Something I hadn't thought about before I started was the amount of light the paint lets through until it's had a good number of layers. I used about 1 and a quarter cans.

I probably spent just under two hours while painting.

And here she is:



I think there might be a couple of points where the paint has bled under the masks but it's not too bad. I'm looking forward to getting the overspray film off

[mv1985]

I just ordered the same Injora chassis, looking forward to seeing your progress. Looks good so far!

[OGTrout]

A couple of updates today, I went for cruise/crawl after work yesterday with my bud. I only got a few crappy shots before it all got muddy







The amount of mud on the inside of the windows prompted my first mod; some milk bottle wheel arches



I'll have to drink more milk before I can get a full set.
I'm not entirely sure on the mounting of this body, I think I should've mounted it a bit further forward. I'd like to mount the body lower at the rear, it's as low as it will go with out cutting the body or moving the shocks.



I've also received the first of many poorly thought out purchases; some Gmade steelies along with some dirt cheap grabbers. The Gmade wheels are really nice and fairly cheap, but they are HEAVY. I'm not sure how much stress this is going to put on the questionable drivetrain. I'm not sure if I'll use them. The tyres are very cheap, I guess dirt grabber copies. The rubber feels sticky and quite plush, but cheap and after mounting I was left with sticky fingers and black bits on the table. They might grip, but I imagine they'll wear quickly.

I'm also thinking this tyre size is a bit too small for this setup, but I think they'll do nicely for something I'm wanting to do long term*




*the long term project arrived. Here's a teaser. Luxembourg eh?

[OGTrout]

I wasn't planning on working on this, but it arrived earlier than I expected and my girlfriend was away for the weekend.

It's the JS Scale Range Rover! This is secretly the kit the kit that made want to get a full size 313mm chassis. Obviously I wasn't thinking this through, I think this heavy body will want a tough setup.
It's a lovely kit, all of the plastics feel strong, it slots together quite nicely. It's not that enjoyable to build, it all screws together which is nice, but those screws are all tiny and hateful and they've all got nuts to go on the ends which are even tinier and even more hatefulier.

This took me about 5 hours to get this far with it, I reckon if you're nimble or have another pair of hands it would take half the time as I spent most of my time dropping and picking up nuts. This is pretty much fully assembled, except for the door and hood hinges. They use small m1.5x4 hardware that strips easily, I managed to strip two of these (I can't remember the last time I stripped a screw, then two come along at once) before I thought I'd leave them for now. I think I'll have to pre-tap some of those holes or something.
There's a couple places towards the end of the build where I've clearly picked up and used screws that are too long so I'll have to go back and change those. I have loctited anything and I haven't used any plastic cement so this should disassemble quite easily.








The mounting solution for the SCX10 is a bit weak, it's just these two tabs on each side of the rock sliders where it attaches. There's a massive amount of flex in the rear one to the point where the body bounces separately of the chassis.
I think the solution is an extension to the chassis and some sort of attachment near the rear bumper.



Next steps I suppose are to decide how I'm going to paint it. I haven't decided what colour to go for yet or whether I'm going to paint assembled or in parts. I've got a busy few weeks ahead so I probably won't be able to do much with it for a while. Maybe if I get a chance I'll prime it. This is meant to be a long term project so I'll probably take my time working out what I want to do with it.

That said, the Hilux hasn't been parked and that too is an ongoing project. Which reminds me, I picked up a cheapie metal bumper.

I wasn't going to install the lights as I think they're too bright and I'm not so keen on bumper lights but it's nice to know at a glance whether the truck has been left running



I don't like the way the back of the truck is so high above the chassis

[OGTrout]

Some news!

I had to go away for work so had to park these projects for a little while. I came back and finally made a start on painting the Rangie.

I decided to go with Tamiya Chrome Yellow although I am somewhat regretting this decision

All primed up, this was actually about a week and a half ago.


Where we are with painting so far:



I took this photo this morning. It's still got some way to go, which is why I'm regretting my choice of paint. The Tamiya cans really aren't made for spraying something this big, I've used two cans already. The shop only had 1 in stock when I got the first and when I ordered another two, I only received one. I was refunded the difference but it's still a pain. I'm also finding it quite hard to get as a nice even coverage with the yellow paint. I feel it'll take another few cans to get it where I want.
I'm going away again on Monday for work for 10 days, so I'm probably not going to be able to do much until I'm back. And then it's my gf's birthday

I was actually hoping to have this finished by the 23rd of Nov, as I'm seeing my folks and my dad will want to see it in action.


As for the chassis, it's still getting used and abused. And nothing has broken yet, the play across the front wheels is significant though

Minor changes, I've installed the Xtraspeed cantilever shock set. This is so that I can remove the shock hoops for the new body, they're still on at the moment as I haven't bothered to work out new rear mount for the Toyota body. I'm not fully sold on this kit, it feels fairly sturdy which I didn't think it would be from the photos, but I think the shocks themselves aren't so hot. They don't seem to dampen much. Although this doesn't seem to be problem in actual use, so does it really matter much? idk

And I've added a lexan interior to the Toyota body, held on by velcro.

And a couple of pics from this weekend just gone, I finally remembered to bring a camera. We got very muddy

[OGTrout]

I'm back. It's been a hectic few weeks.
I think my last post was just before (or even while) I was away on a 10 day work trip. After getting home and having some kip I went straight to the hobby shop and bought a couple more cans of chrome yellow for the Rangie. The trouble is we're deep into winter now and the days are too short and too cold to do much more painting, I used one more final can and I've decided to call it done for now otherwise I'd never get a chance to use it.

Luckily I managed to get this done before seeing the family, so did get a chance to let my dad see it while he showed me his 3d printed jeep (ossum jeep, it's pretty neat). I think he liked it. Oh and he gave me a pretty cheap 3d printer! This was the weekend before the one just gone. The weekend just gone I've embarked on another 10 day work trip, I should be grateful for the oppurtunity but I'd rather be at home playing toy trucks.

Aside from the paint there've been a few new bits stuck to it.

I picked up a set of 1.9" Rostyle alu wheels and some of those chinese KLR voodoos. The wheels are very nice, although the offset is a bit wide for my liking and I'm not a huge fan of the red caps (easily remedied). I don't know what the terms are for all of these things are but I think the offset could be helped if rather than using a hub that goes over the hex, the hub had a built in axle pin hole to replace the hex. I don't know if such a thing exists.

I spent most of lasts weeks evenings setting up the printer and learning to use it and fusion 360. I've designed and printed a few bits; some inside wheel arches for the rear and a single prototypical inner fender for the front. I only had time to print the one and i'll need to make some changes before I print another. I also managed to make a rough interior sheet from styrene so help seal the inside of truck.

And on saturday I finally got a chance to actually go out and play!

I was actually pleasantly surprised by performance, I expected that the reduction in wheelsize and width, combined with the now heavy body with long rear overhange would leave the cheap chassis completely neutered but it didn't have many problems at all and I think in some aspects such as climbing it performed better than before. I actually think the biggest hindrance is the big goofy front bumper I have mounted on it. It doesn't really fit properly with the body.

There's still work to be done: the rear lights need painting, the front indicators could do with another coat, I need to paint the grill above the bonnet, I never painted the roof (although I quite like how it looks) and I want to finish the inside.

[Voodoobrew]

Learning fusion 360 and 3d printing is probably great for the winter then. May even save you you toes! No idea really, doesn't snow here.

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[clockwork]

"That all changed a couple of months ago, funnily enough I started looking at cheap RC cars to annoy the cat with." Haha I got back into rc cars after a 20 year break to annoy my dog! Nice build thread. I like the wheels on the Range Rover.

[jayser37]

Hi! Congratulations for such a nice work.
I was wondering if you could tell me where do you buy this car body?
And another two questions:
Is the speed of the car enough slowly to use as a crawler? I have readed that It is a little bit fast.
And, do you install a link from one front wheel to the tower shock in order yo avoid the chassis flexion and the correct performance of the servo?

Thanks in advance.

[OGTrout]

Originally Posted by jayser37

Hi! Congratulations for such a nice work.
I was wondering if you could tell me where do you buy this car body?
And another two questions:
Is the speed of the car enough slowly to use as a crawler? I have readed that It is a little bit fast.
And, do you install a link from one front wheel to the tower shock in order yo avoid the chassis flexion and the correct performance of the servo?

Thanks in advance.

Thanks!

The body was from JS-Scale and I bought it directly through their website.

The truck is a little fast, I used it as a fairly light crawler and was happy with it. But I didn't realise how fast it was until I bought another much lower geared crawler (SSD Trail King).

The stock gearing uses a (32 pitch) 17t on the pinion, so it should be fairly trivial to change this out for a smaller one.

Another point worth noting is the axle gears in mine (atleast in the front) are 15/38, which I think is higher than what was offered in the original SCX10.

I myself haven't added a panhard link to stop bump steer, but Jakezilla did in his build and he shows how he did it here: Jakezilla’s Junkyard fakeCX10 build. Injora / Austar 313mm Frame

The bump steer is pretty significant, but it never stopped me having fun.

That said, I had most recently been running my chassis as a light basher. Switched back to a lexan body, removed the front drive, fiddled with the suspension a bit and added a small amount of advance to the motor. It's fun to tear about with, I wouldn't say it handled well but it was fun.


My chassis is mostly in bits at the moment. I thought after several months of being run hard through mud and water I should probably give it a little check up. It had also been left sitting for a good month or so covered in mud which obviously doesn't help things.

Aside from the rusted bearings, everything important looks to be doing well.