1970 Ford F100 Mud Truck

[nascarkeith]

My local crawling buddy decided to build a mud rig.

Its a SCX10 with 2.2's and waterproof electronics with a 27turn motor and a 3s lipo. It also has the lift kit from CKRC. He let me drive it the other day and it is a blast. I have become board with my FJ so I decided to part it out and use the chassis to build a mud truck.
I'm going with a Proline 1970 Ford F100.

I picked that body because that style just screams redneck mud truck to me.


I picked up a set of used Axial 2.2 Rocksters with Imex Swamp Dawgs and a Traxxas XL-5 for a good price. I ordered a Traxxas water proof RX box and I plan on using grease to seal up the servo. I think all that should have me in business for a pretty sweet mud truck.:nice:
This is how the chassis sits as of now. Those are 2.2 short course tires just to give me an idea of how it will look. It has a 11.5 wheelbase. I believe the Ford body has a 11.2 wheelbase but that should be close enough. I hope I can make it work without extreme cutting or lowering the shock mounts. If anything I hope I can let it ride a little high on the body posts like a body lift.

[ecoli]

Looks like a good start. Definitely keep the body up, all the mudding trucks seem to have a body lift on them. Are you planning on narrowing the tires? Lot of the mud trucks run the narrow tall tractor tires. Helps to cut through the thick stuff.

[nascarkeith]

Probably not. I know a lot of guys do that and it looks good. This is just an on the cheap conversion for fun. Not going for a super scale look or anything. Just trying to make an old rig fun again. The creek I will be running in is petty sandy so there isn't much thick stuff. Maybe the wider tires will keep it on top of the sand. Thanks for commenting.

[nascarkeith]

Wheels, Tires, and ESC came in so I threw it together an took it for a spin.



I love it already. On 3s its a blast That made me want to spend money on it so I came home and ordered some parts.

Axle housings to get the servo back on the axle to help turn the big wheels.
mthead beadlock rings
TCS bent links that are on sale for $3.99 a set
Traxxas waterproof RX box. Forgot the bottom is molded into the chassis. D'oh!

Since its I'm going for the kind ridiculous redneck mudder look I think I may paint the chassis and axles.

[nascarkeith]

Progress is kinda slow right now. I have the chassis stripped down cleaning it up an getting it ready to paint. My mthead rings came in so I snapped a shot of them mounted up. mthead rings look great and are hard to beat for the price. They really spruced up the look of these used rocksters.

[nascarkeith]

Had some time to work on the truck tonight. Chassis will be finished up and ready for paint and soon as I fab up some brackets to lower my upper shock mounts creating a suspension lift. The body is trimmed, masked, and ready for paint.

[I.D.10.T]

I had a set of those SWAMP DAWGS and they screamed for a truck to push through the mud too. I like the direction of the truck.

[nascarkeith]

Originally Posted by I.D.10.T

I had a set of those SWAMP DAWGS and they screamed for a truck to push through the mud too. I like the direction of the truck.

Thanks! Good post to start out with. Most newbs just put "nice truck "

They are hard so I doubt they crawl good but they look like they will dig and clean out good in the sandy dirt I run in.

Still making progress on the chassis and finished painting the body.

[nascarkeith]

Originally Posted by highlift4x4

nice

Thanks! Here is the first mock up pic. Rear axle is mounted. Gotta link up the front.

[nascarkeith]

Finished it up. Had a blast until the ESC went up in smoke. Don't know why that happened. I thought they were waterproof.

[mgputer]

Originally Posted by nascarkeith

Finished it up. Had a blast until the ESC went up in smoke. Don't know why that happened. I thought they were waterproof.

They are supposed to be. I have had one burn up as well and I took it in to my LHS where I got it and he replaced it free of charge.

[Rjohn929]

XL-5 + 3s = smoke. Gonna have to step it up if you want to run higher then 2s.

[mgputer]

ah yah I didnt notice the 3s part in your post. Yah xl5 can only do up to a 2s lipo or the go poof!

[nascarkeith]

Thanks for the info. Got the ESC stuff figured out. Now, converting it into more of a crawler.

This will be my first 2.2 crawler in years since back when 2.2 was all there was. This is what I ran back then. The big bad Dodge that got me hooked on the crawling bug.



The rebuild/conversion started tonight by working on the rear suspension. Mr. Ed noticed at Moss Rock that the lower bent links were rubbing the upper links so I shortened and moved the upper links. I am using AX10 red springs that I cut to length and I left them long for the lift on the mud truck so tonight I cut a few coils to get the shocks a little shorter and softer. This gives me about a 1/4 of droop similar to what I run on the Samurai. I also went back to the stock shock mounting location. You can see the difference compared to the front.



Since the AX10 springs are a little bigger in diameter I drilled the shock cups and hold them on with zip ties. I messed up and bought the wrong springs when TCS had these really cheap so I made it work.



I have read before on RCC the pros and cons of link lengths and stuff but can't remember. You guys think this set up will work ok?

[nascarkeith]

Messed with the front today. With it being 3 linked and with so much other stuff in the way I couldn't get the bent links to work without rubbing and limiting flex. This is what I ended up with. 1.9's are just for mock up. Waiting on 2.2's.

[nascarkeith]

Here is an update on how the truck sits as of now. I guess this is version. 3.0

Specs/Parts:
Axial SCX10
Aluminum knuckles
Brass plumbing fitting in front axle for weight / DIY beef tube
Under drive rear axle gear
4 linked in rear
TCS Bent links upper and lower on rear
Red springs on the front
Green springs on the rear
Mirrored transmission
Junfac driveshafts
Custom built bumpers
Proline F-100 body
Axial 2.2 Rocksters with mthead rings
Proline TSL tires
Hobbywing 35 amp esc
Hobbywing ubec 6v 3a
Tacon brushless motor
Savox servo
Long aluminum servo horn form lhs
L.E.D.'s in bumpers
L.E.D. strips on frame rails



Creek pics were taken before the L.E.D.'s were installed.

[







This is what I used for the axle weight / beef tube. Got them at Home Depot for $2.67 each. You will need two.


Its a direct drop in length and diameter wise. All you have to do is drill and tap the holes. I used a 3/32 drill bit and a 3mm screw to drill and tap the hole. I dremeled the threads a little to get a flat area for the drill bit to bite into.