pics from a sunday drive

[Big Mike]

Finally found a little time to go for a drive.

This spot is right down the road from my house, a big ditch randomly filled with rock. From fist sized up to as big as a refrigerator. This is a good spot to tax the limitations of a suspension setup and see what a truck is really capable of...

http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/5823/toyb.jpg
http://img694.imageshack.us/img694/4407/toyf.jpg
http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/5461/toyc.jpg

"Wheelwells" made of thin black plastic keep most of the debris out of the chassis interior and hides the un-scale looking interior view

http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/9237/toyhn.jpg
http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/8688/toyn.jpg
http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/2844/toymd.jpg
http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/4551/toyh.jpg
http://img682.imageshack.us/img682/368/toyo.jpg
http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/6669/toyk.jpg

Getting over the scratches is just part of running a hard body I guess. Now that I'm not worried about it as much, I'm pushing it's limits a lot more. This truck still continues to amaze me every time I take it out...

[slither302]

truck looks good"thumbsup"

[canadianbacon12]

Sweet spot, kinda looks like the area I go to. Rock rash is one of the good parts of the hobby, I stopped caring how it looked when I seen the drivers door on my TR lol.

[66sprint6]

The first couple scratches hurt the worst
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v103/66sprint6/NewCrawlSpot033.jpg

It gets easier from there "thumbsup"
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v103/66sprint6/NewCrawlSpot158.jpg

Oh...and on a side note, DONT crawl the day after you freshly painted the body :oops:. Looks like you have a very potent rig, is the suspension etc fairly stock? Im always lookin to make mine just a liiiiiiittle more capable lol.
Matt

[Breatholdiveri]

Good stuff man, always loved your truck.

Matt, take the little rubber stoppers off of the shocks shaft if you havent already, makes a world of a difference. Also, if you want easier flex a softer spring or lighter weight oil will help with that.

Alex

[Big Mike]

The first couple scratches hurt the worst
It gets easier from there "thumbsup"
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v103/66sprint6/NewCrawlSpot158.jpg

Oh...and on a side note, DONT crawl the day after you freshly painted the body :oops:. Looks like you have a very potent rig, is the suspension etc fairly stock? Im always lookin to make mine just a liiiiiiittle more capable lol.
Matt

Damn! Thats scratched up all right.

The suspension set up is stock, other than making my own axle truss/upper link mount for the rear axle, and ditching the stock "Y" connector at that point for a true 4-link set up.

http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/9604/axletruss.jpg

The shocks are stock, with the limiter bumpers removed. 30 weight oil. I carefully went over all the shock parts and removed any mold flash or other anamolies so they operate as smooth as they can, and I flip the stock springs so the shorter one is at the bottom. This removes the seperator ring from the shock body so it does not bind as the spring moves.

It takes a lot of love, but you can get decent performance out of the stock shocks. If you follow basic shock building rules, carefully trim/sand all moving parts, lube o-rings before assembly, make sure you get all the air out of them, etc., etc. the stockers can be made to work until you can free up funds for some Pro-Lines or something else...

[awd199]

Good looking truck"thumbsup" Is this the same rig that had the Blazer body? I am going to try the flipping of the springs. You still used the seperator ring, the only difference is that it's now around the shaft instead of the body, right?

[70duncan]

Nice looking 4 link mount "thumbsup". Looks like the truck works well. Nice job.

[Big Mike]

Good looking truck"thumbsup" Is this the same rig that had the Blazer body? I am going to try the flipping of the springs. You still used the seperator ring, the only difference is that it's now around the shaft instead of the body, right?

Yes, this is the same SCX10 chassis that had the gold/black CGR Blazer body, with the rear links returned to stock length. I wanted to start from scratch, but the budget sort of hampered that idea.

The Blazer turned out to be a good looking body, but it was too damned top-heavy because of the roof rack and all the stuff in it. This truck weighs at least a pound more because of all the steel, but the weight is distributed so much better, the performance of this truck really out-strips the same chassis with the CGR body.

Right I still use the ring, it's just down around the shock shaft now where it can't bind against the shock body as the spring moves. I haven't had them pop out of place yet.

Nice looking 4 link mount "thumbsup". Looks like the truck works well. Nice job.

Thanks. Learning to braze opens up a whole new world of stuff you can do yourself...

[crawlin10]

truck looks good i guess it time to get the crawler back out for winter