DMG Thug Chassis based build....

[allanon1965]

I sold this rig shortly after this point and have regretted it ever since...I am ecstatic to finally get another one back in my collection! I have been told there were only 2 of these made. I have now owned both of them if that is true lol! The new one will be getting restored back to the way it was when Jerry at DMG built it, or as close as I can get lol.. and I will enjoy the crap out of it! Pics will follow as soon as i have it here so I can document the resto...

edit: after looking at the previous owners pics...this may be the one I sold. I cracked the hood on the left front corner when it rolled down an embankment on a trail run. This Thug has the same crack in the same place as my old one. I will have to pm the previous owner and ask if it was like that when he got it. If it was, then chances are this is the one I sold! Cool!

[allanon1965]

Well, after talking to the previous owner, GTSLOW.... this is indeed to one I sold off a couple years ago! This makes me even more thrilled to get it back! The new pitbull 2.2 wheels,foams and RBII tires will be going on this as soon as they get here...glad I bought them when I did lol

[allanon1965]

got notice the thug chassis will be here friday and the pitbull 2.2 wheels, foams and rbII's I ordered on the draintheswamp sale just got shipped out as well!

[allanon1965]

here is what it looked like when i had it before, not sure how I am going to outfit it now..got a few ideas floating around in my noggin..

[allanon1965]

You will notice in the first picture above, the right side of the hood, just past the center, is a white mark caused from a dent...then in the other photo you can see the cracked left front corner. The pictures below will still show those two things, so I know I got my original thug back...

Now I had to borrow the running gear and assorted parts from my latest DMG build...I am debating whether or not to keep the TH trailing arms on here or go back to a traditional link setup...

[allanon1965]

Now I got the pitbull wheels,foams, and rbII tires on and looking good...it came with a canvas top that wasnt attached yet and I am debating whether or not to use it..

I kinda am liking the look of it on there...mainly because there is a rear top header panel missing on it now and the canvas covers that up..

What do you all think??


well, I went ahead and glued it on with E6000...turned out just like the pics below....I like the look!

[GTSLOW]

Oh I really like the trailing arm setup! I had no idea that cage used to be red!

[allanon1965]

Originally Posted by GTSLOW

Oh I really like the trailing arm setup! I had no idea that cage used to be red!

yup, nice bright orangish red....and before that it was blue..but, I am really diggin the black with the canvas top

the trailing arms seem to be working better than the original link setup I had as well..

got a new hood on it now and mounted the light bar in the front...

[allanon1965]

the trailing arms are working very well, better than I expected in fact. I do believe they will stay and I have been mulling over relocating the ESC, and Servo behind the seats, there is a nice amount of space there that is high up and protected from debris and water. I could then mount up a chassis mounted servo and servo winch in front!

[allanon1965]

I got the electronics moved tonight, worked out pretty well, and I have a lot of space under the hood now for a chassis mounted servo and a servo winch..

[allanon1965]

Well, I finally got around to shimming the front axle shafts and inner bearings..they wheels were very sloppy on these bomber axles and it took a large number of shims to get slop out. I am very pleased with how they turned out, so much so that I ordered more shims and am in the process of doing all my axial rigs! The Thug seems to steer and turn better now that the slop is gone, but that may be just in my head lol...

[allanon1965]

I found that the TH length trailing arms were binding up so rather than do more surgery on the mounting points, so I went back to links but I lost the progressive shock action I like so much.
I switched out to a wraith length BMRC V1 set of trailing arms that were on my 626 Wraith. This worked out perfect and you can see it allowed for a little more articulation, but not so much that it was a hindrance crawling. Note on the LR wheel the needle nose pliers are on the outside tire tread with the traditional link and they are on the inside tread of the RR tire on the trailing arm set up..

[allanon1965]

well I said I would never sell this again but it looks like I have no choice in the the matter, need to raise funds for my new home closing costs later this month, so up for sale in the classifieds and on ebay it is

[allanon1965]

I believe fate is cutting me some slack, I listed this twice and no one bought it, so I get to keep it. I decided to enclose the front end underneath the hood and help hide the wires. I think this turned out pretty well for what it is. I used E6000 so I can make changes later on if I decide to.

[allanon1965]

It has been awhile since I updated this build, I still have this rig and I upgraded the brushed setup to a Castle Creations MMP and a Castle 3800KV sensored 5mm shaft brushless motor. I cant believe how much power this thing has now! Its like going from a 250hp small block v8 to a 750hp Big Block v8...wow!

I replaced the WBHD drive shafts with an MIP in the rear and a Junfac in the front. I will eventually replace the Junfac with an MIP. This is gonna be a blast tomorrow when I run it!

[allanon1965]

I took it out ant ran it around a bit, tried crawling a wood pile, it did great until it got in a bind and something let go. It was running but making all kinds of clicking and other racket. I tore the trans down and found the stock lower gear had lost some weight lol! I am going to have to upgrade that lower gear. I already had the steel idler in the trans...

This 3800 sensored CC motor is stupid powerful in this rig lol! I get stupid with this much power

[calcagno45]

Good job! Time for some steal gears.

[allanon1965]

Yup, gonna go with the hot racing one piece lower locker..i have had one in my other wraith trans before and it works great