Tips and Tricks Thread

[Jus]

Here is a tip.. If you insist on taking off the bump stops, don't cut them. Take the rod end off the shaft and slide them off. You'll more than likely have a use for them at some point in the future when you start messing with different shocks.

[steele42]

Originally Posted by steele42

I also removed the bump stops and was very pleased with the outcome.

I live in Utah and my honcho was shipped from California, so when it got here the tires were puffed up like balloons. I let the air out, added weights, and drilled a tiny hole in each rim (backside where you can't see it.) The hole allows air to escape so the tire can form around rocks for better bite. Also keeps your tire pressure from changing with the seasons.

This was the difference in my tire pressure once I broke the bead.

[steele42]

Originally Posted by Jus

Here is a tip.. If you insist on taking off the bump stops, don't cut them. Take the rod end off the shaft and slide them off. You'll more than likely have a use for them at some point in the future when you start messing with different shocks.

Agreed, and it is not hard to take them off. I would think it's easier than cutting them. My own opinion though

[steele42]

Originally Posted by steele42

Cost: buy new metal rock rails that won't hang up as much as stock ones.

Free: modify the stock ones. I trimmed mine down to the first bar and flipped them over so they sit right at the bottom of my honcho body

Here is a picture of how I cut my rock rails. free and easy, and they hang up alot less and are WAY more realistic. I also mounted one pin a hole deeper than the other pin so it isn't straight with the frame, but it makes it follow the curve of the body better.




You can kind of see the rock rail from this picture

[steele42]

I also think it looks more realistic on a truggy when you can see the spare tire from the side, not just a bunch of diamond plate, so i trimmed up my flatbed so it's still mounted good but you can see the spare tire from the side.

[steele42]

I hope I'm not hogging all the tips, these are just things I did that made me really happy with the performance advantages (and looks.) I got a new DH Fab bumper from RPPhobby that gives me a MUCH better approach angle. It also gave me the winch plate.

[steele42]

Originally Posted by tlmxtcrawler

also you can take the bumpstops off your shocks for more articulation.they are rubber and you can slice them off with a razor blade pretty easy while they are still on the truck..i removed the tires to make it easyto get to.just reach in and pull the spring up from the bottom and slice the rubber and your done.set the spring back down in the spring cup...and your done except putting wheels and tires back on...lol

Taking the rubber bumpstops out was a must for me. If you have a body with a floorpan you may not want to because everything will rub, but with the Honcho body its a no brainer.

[steele42]

Another easy thing I did was put a softer spring on the rear shocks. This is going to be different for each persons application and rig because it all depends on your current weight distribution (batterys, electronics, etc.) so I'm not saying everyone should do exactly what I did. But based on my rig I put Axials white (soft) spring in the rear shocks. Now I can lift any tire on my whole rig and the shocks on opposing corners will bottom all the way out before it lifts any of the other tires (thus giving me optimal articulation.) Some may say that this would create more torque twist, but I don't seem to have a problem with that. Again, each rig is different, but thats the fun of fine tuning your own rig to your own specs.

[heinie_21]

if you mount all your weight as far forward as you can, you will find the backend to be too tight. do what eh above post said about softening your rear springs and you'll get full articulation before lifting one of the light rear tires

[Jus]

Speaking of the Honcho, you definately want some weight in the rear otherwise it sucks going down hill. I have 3oz in each tire all the way around and it's worked very well for me.

This is a personal preference thing, but I find that the articulation of the Honcho with the bumpstops in place is perfect. I wouldn't automatically take them out without driving it first. Plenty of experienced folks on this forum would agree that *less is more* when it comes to articulation. It's been repeated many times and I'll say it here. A good rule of thumb is just enough lift on one corner to match the height of the tires on the truck. So with the stock flat irons on the truck, with 3 corners in contact with flat surface the 4th corner can be lifted about 4.2 inches and that's it. A good starting point.

[crawlinnTN]

well i thought it would be cool to add scale brake to my rig so...
i took these and made this

[tlmxtcrawler]

Originally Posted by Jus

Speaking of the Honcho, you definately want some weight in the rear otherwise it sucks going down hill. I have 3oz in each tire all the way around and it's worked very well for me.

This is a personal preference thing, but I find that the articulation of the Honcho with the bumpstops in place is perfect. I wouldn't automatically take them out without driving it first. Plenty of experienced folks on this forum would agree that *less is more* when it comes to articulation. It's been repeated many times and I'll say it here. A good rule of thumb is just enough lift on one corner to match the height of the tires on the truck. So with the stock flat irons on the truck, with 3 corners in contact with flat surface the 4th corner can be lifted about 4.2 inches and that's it. A good starting point.

well with my honcho the flex with the bumpstops removed wasnt to extreme.i get right at 4.2 inches of flex if even that much.I agree with you on the less is more thing..I had the super articulation on my 2.2 crawler when i first got it but soon learned it was unpreditable and changed it.

[tlmxtcrawler]

Originally Posted by crawlinnTN

well i thought it would be cool to add scale brake to my rig so...
i took these and made this

now this is cool....very creative

[evsky]

Just a tip from me. I got my kit second hand but built and they over filled the shocks and they hardly moved so I took a little fluid out now they have full travel.

[steele42]

Originally Posted by Jus

Speaking of the Honcho, you definately want some weight in the rear otherwise it sucks going down hill. I have 3oz in each tire all the way around and it's worked very well for me.

This is a personal preference thing, but I find that the articulation of the Honcho with the bumpstops in place is perfect. I wouldn't automatically take them out without driving it first. Plenty of experienced folks on this forum would agree that *less is more* when it comes to articulation. It's been repeated many times and I'll say it here. A good rule of thumb is just enough lift on one corner to match the height of the tires on the truck. So with the stock flat irons on the truck, with 3 corners in contact with flat surface the 4th corner can be lifted about 4.2 inches and that's it. A good starting point.

Just for reference, with my bumpstops out, running the flat irons, and the truck fully articulated, I get exactly the height of the spare tire (4.2 inches). But I completely agree, it is all a personal preference thing.

[heinie_21]

boom

[AX10wannabe]

Originally Posted by steele42

Here is a picture of how I cut my rock rails. free and easy, and they hang up alot less and are WAY more realistic. I also mounted one pin a hole deeper than the other pin so it isn't straight with the frame, but it makes it follow the curve of the body better.




You can kind of see the rock rail from this picture

do you have any more pics of your rails?? i took mine off because they hung up on everything and i took the rear cage off but the rear of the cab body would flop around i was trying to figure out something for a mount but in the mean time i wanted to crawl so i threw the rails back on until i went to a friends house and crawled in his garage and i got hung up on everything again so i took them off.. what i dont like about them is they look like a side step not an actual rock rail.

[tlmxtcrawler]

ax10wannabe...you can bend your factory sliders up with alittle heat and make them form to the bodyjust like a real slider.mine was terrible when i first got it but didnt want to remove them so with some heating and bending i have got a fix..this is if you dont want to cut them and want to keep them on..









i hope this will help some!!!

[AX10wannabe]

hmm... thats an idea too... i dont mind cutting them up because im building a chassis out of solid rod anyways and want to finish it this winter but im planning out a interior right now so it would make it easier with them on.

[crawlinnTN]

the sliders are supposed to be more on the bottom than the side. id say move them inbound instead of making them mate with the side. now the cutting them off at the longer tube would be cool.