The terrible jeep

[terrible]

Originally Posted by addiemonster

Looking awesome so far. Someday I hope to leave my comfort zone and try welding/brazing for RC.

Anxiously watching this, as I'm converting my Trailwalker to use the same body. Is there any way I could trouble you for some shots of the cuts you had to make to clear the transmission and rear shock hoops?

I plan on 3D printing a floor for the rear but the front I'm not sure. The motor can ended up right in the drivers foot well. I had to remove part of the seats and floor on both sides. When I started mounting the body I wasn't sure if I could even keep the transmission centrally mounted or not. I just kept lowering it down and cutting a little bit here and there. And using putty on top of the trans to see where the body was making contact helped too. I would like to at least get something covering the motor and trans but it will have to be formed with something or I'll maybe raise the center console and try to use it again. But as it sits the rocker is flush with the stock enduro side skirts or whatever you call them. The things that the receiver and esc sit on from the factory.

The body sits about as low as possible and in a some what scale position versus the frame rails.

[terrible]

Thinned out my fat nose, still need to paint but to cold in the garage for that right now.





Next, metal fenders!

[Phildirt]

This thing is going to be heavy.

[terrible]

Originally Posted by Phildirt

This thing is going to be heavy.

7# 14.1 oz right now with a large 3s 5000ma pack.

[addiemonster]

Thanks for the super clear shots, this will be super useful when my body comes in. Trimmed down bumper looks legit!

[terrible]

Originally Posted by addiemonster

Thanks for the super clear shots, this will be super useful when my body comes in. Trimmed down bumper looks legit!

Gracias.

You wont have to cut as much as I did. I wasn't sure about positioning and I think I started mounting the body before I cut and raised the nose of the frame.

[addiemonster]

So I've got the Element shorter link set, and my wheelbase still isn't inline with the 275mm/10.8in... It looks like you've got some custom link work going on. Did you have to change the front as well? Or just the back?

[terrible]

Originally Posted by addiemonster

So I've got the Element shorter link set, and my wheelbase still isn't inline with the 275mm/10.8in... It looks like you've got some custom link work going on. Did you have to change the front as well? Or just the back?

I shortened the front and rear. The front maybe 3-4mm but the rear was a big chop. I cut the factory links in half, cut the distance I needed out of the middle then sleeved the two halves with a piece of brake line and brazed them back together. I thought about putting a bend in them and making highs clearance links but so far they haven't been an issue.

[addiemonster]

Originally Posted by terrible

I shortened the front and rear. The front maybe 3-4mm but the rear was a big chop. I cut the factory links in half, cut the distance I needed out of the middle then sleeved the two halves with a piece of brake line and brazed them back together. I thought about putting a bend in them and making highs clearance links but so far they haven't been an issue.

Oooh, that sounds simple enough. Thanks!

[terrible]

Anyone have ideas to trim the fender flares? I'd love to cut them all the way off and make some nice metal ones with proper tree slider edges but once the flares are cut off the only thing left is the edge of the hood. I may just trim them to look like a shortened stock flare but would rather have some metal out there to preserve the body.

[Phildirt]

I'd leave them if they aren't hindering performance, they look good on that body. Granted I'm not a jeep guy but never did get the need to make even smaller fenders on a truck that has such massive clearance from the factory. I think what will happen if you try to trim them is there's no going back, they will get smaller and smaller then eventually disappear and you will end up having to build a tube frame haha.

If you do decide to trim them use a dremel with a cutoff wheel (tape them off and cut along the tape) and then sand them down, tape up the body, and paint them flat black. Would look decent I think. If nothing else skip the first steps and at least paint them black to break up all that yellow.

[terrible]

So I'm trying my hand at the styrene thing. Never played with it before but so far has been a pleasure! I'm used to working with metal so cutting, grinding and sanding on this plastic is a treat compared to stainless or galvanized!

Should I build a box over each shock tower? It shouldn't be that hard. Figured I could tie it into the wall on the side of the body and just make three sides and a cover over the top. Might print/buy a cooler to stick between the towers for a scale touch and take up the empty bed space.

[Phildirt]

Personally I like the look of the shock towers coming through, gives it a performance/rock crawler look. Sorry I 've taken over your thread with random opinions lol. Styrene is a hoot - one day I'll make a thread of all the things I built with it whilst making 1:24 and 1:25 scale model semi trucks, that used to be my hobby but I got tired of it and built every kit ever made haha.

[terrible]

Doing some more work on my one day a week off. Tire carrier has been a project I've wanted to tackle for a while. I feel it adds to the scale appearance (even if the tires are huge in relation to the scale size). Had to clearance my bumper a bit to get the tire as low as possible. The finish on the bumper isn't done. I'll do some more fill-in welding and put a more scale edge on things. Not sure how I'll make a latch but I'd venture to say that will be the hardest part to keep scale-ish.













Also a good shot of the tail light lenses I 3D printed in their too. I wish I could dim the bulbs a bit but 2 150ohm resistors in series didn't seem to do much.

[terrible]

It functions! A little more finish work to do but it's on there. May add a few braces to the stem that holds the wheel on as well. Also need to figure out what to do with the mast. Thought about making another brake light to put on top but we'll see.

[terrible]

Tire swap and some pics of the newly trimmed flares.







My weld-on track bar mount still going strong!