46&2 mini-crawler AX-10 build

[fortysixandtwo]

Well I have been into 1:1 crawlers for years and recently one of my friends bought an AX10 RTR. I had seen these before and checked them out at WE Rock a year ago and really wanted one but just tried not to think about them so I would hopefully forget and not get one

But after playing with his once I was completely hooked and shortly thereafter bought an AX-10 RTR. I didn't even drive it when I first bought it, as I quickly swapped the stock 27 turn for a 55 turn and lowered the tranny gear before taking it out for the first time.

Here it is in all its (mostly) stock glory:

[fortysixandtwo]

Not so happy with the foam-bloated stock Rock Lizards and being very anti-chrome, I had to do something with the tires and wheels. So I painted the rims black and cut about 2/3 of the foam out of each tire. I also trimmed the body for more clearance.

Wheeling on the start of my future massive rock course:

[fortysixandtwo]

Swapped out the stock springs for some Team Associated super soft springs, made a huge difference! I also added some weight to the tires, about 4 ounces in the front and 2 ounces in the back. Keeping the rig light right now.

[fortysixandtwo]

Some wheeling shots from my friend's course, the olive drab rig is my friend's AX10 RTR:








For the greenies: this tree is on private property :P

[fortysixandtwo]

[fortysixandtwo]

And finally how it sits now, with the "new" (recent) paint job:

[bigflex]

nice start. It isn't hard to get hooked on these things. I bought my first clod and built it just to play with arround the house when I couldn't go 1:1 wheeling back in 04 now I think it would be easier to stop 1:1 than it would be R/C crawlin.

[fortysixandtwo]

Haha, uh oh. Sounds like me, looks like I am in for some trouble with the old lady, she thought this thing was going to save me money because I wouldn't be spending it on my 4runner

[fortysixandtwo]

Upgrades so far (bare with me, still learning RC part lingo :P):

Integy 55 Turn motor
Lower tranny gear
Upgraded ultra torque steering servo
Aluminum steering arm
Cut foam, drilled holes in rims
2 oz rear 4 oz front

Next I plan to go all aluminum steering and links but I am gonna beat on it how it is for now.

[fortysixandtwo]

Did a lot of tweaking to this thing recently. Bought the aluminum 30 degree bent links front and rear, aluminum lower y bar mount and aluminum y bars. and the aluminum steering and steering arm. Unfortunately none of the RC shops had both the links and steering in the same color so I ended up with red links and orange steering. Oh well. I also inboarded the links on the skidplate. On the axle side I inboarded the links and left the shocks in the inside of the shock/link mount.








Wheels great now. Still planning on keeping the battery where it is. For now.

[Jones323]

Cool ax10 man lookin good!

You should've some a "DIY" inboard link mount )=

[fortysixandtwo]

Haha thanks man. Its pretty easy really, just used an exacto knife to cut squares set in the stock skidplate. Then got some hardware from the hardware store to run a standard bolt and nut to hold the links in place.

[fortysixandtwo]

Did some mini snow wheeling today

[fortysixandtwo]

I had a Chevy Silverado body that I bought about 10 years ago for my Traxxas Stampede but never cut up or painted. So I decided to trim it up and came up with this two tone paint job for it. I plan to get LED headlights and tail lights for it eventually. I didn't spend all that much time on it because I have plans for a really sweet body down the road. Looks a lot better than the stock body with the half assed rattle can and sticker job though

[fortysixandtwo]

Not many updates, just some wheeling shots from my friend Ryan's course from last weekend. We plan on adding several more truck loads of rocks and building several new sections next weekend.






"Driveline Hill"








Ryan's heavily modified ARTR:

[fortysixandtwo]

"Cadillac Hill"
















Damn stock plastic shocks. Need to upgrade to some all aluminum bad boys. Getting tired of these things.

[slobin3d]

looks like you guys are having a ball.

have you looked into getting a saddle pack so you can get that stick pack off the chassis and down on the axle?

shock upgrade time maybe some shorter ones while you're at it? again get the COG down a bit, makes it a little more stable

[RobCam]

may i make a suggestion? get a saddle pack or a lipo battery pack. that stick pack has to be killing you on top of your radio plate. my saddle packs made a world of difference. just my 2 cents

[fortysixandtwo]

Yeah my friend bought me a saddle pack for helping him out with some stuff. I just havn't gotten around to changing my battery connectors and actually doing it. Everyone always tells me to lower my battery but I actually enjoy the challenge it presents and I am still able to keep up with my friends with saddle packs just fine. I will eventually lower it down but for now I am leaving it where it is. Thanks for the input guys.

[fortysixandtwo]

Got some new junk for the crawler. After breaking my 4th stock driveline I decided to get some beefy shafts. I saw these Integy shafts at the hobby shop and they look pretty good. They have about the same slip as the stockers but are all metal and don't come apart at full slip. (EDIT: I am aware of Integy's bad rep around here but these shafts have served me well so I am not complaining.) I also picked up a few spacers I had been needing them and bought the red steering rods to match my links. My truck is pretty colorful though heh since I can never find everything in the same color. ah well i don't mind really. Lastly I got clockable C hubs for my front axle which raised my steering up quite a bit. The combination of the proper spacers and clocked C hubs I got the perfect steering angle dialed in and gained a lot of clearance for my tie rods.




These things are pretty heavy. :yesnod:



New and well used old. Old parts all get thrown into Crawler #2 from extra parts pile . If you look back at older pics you can see how much clearance I gained.







I also lowered my battery and antennae down finally. Going to get some nice lipos eventually but for now this will do. Made a big difference just dropping the battery down that much though.