Hacked up Newbright TJ (first rig and post!)

[saltinemadness]

Originally Posted by flascx10

AWESOME BUILD!!! how do you like those tires and those shocks? im thinking about getting those shocks myself

The tires—to be honest i don't know how i feel about them. They look awesome! I run them without foams which makes the sidewalls VERY flexible. hard to turn in some cases, but they get really good grip in my opinion. Keep in mind i just got these tires and have only crawled with them outside twice for about twenty minutes. They DO work perfectly in the snow though. cut down through it like butter. I think the problem was that the foams they came with were cheapy foams. memory foam would probably be perfect. Oh yeah, the BBs really help with sidewall flex. there is almost none up front, but in the back is another story. I don't care if my crawler is noisy!

The shocks. They look sweet... i think they're hard to "tune" or fill with the right amount of oil. (i use 30wt) they DO leak a little bit, but not enough to cause real problems... i run them as 80% droop. I bet if you just put teflon tape on the threads they wouldn't leak. Or turn em upside down. i haven't tried it, but i might.

I've only had experience with the stock axial shocks... so i don't have much to compare them to. but I would easily recommend them. You can set them up so they're pretty stiff too. I did my research on these and found that some people hated em and some people loved em. I took a chance and was happy. the 110's are very tall though. the first photo is the rig at 80% droop. like if i push down another quarter inch it still sits tall. i'd go with the 90's or 100's.... do they make 100's? i forget... you get the idea

[2500hdon37s]

Originally Posted by saltinemadness

first i'll lower the body, and see how it performs... i will probably experiment with shorter shocks, but then i won't get the reach! also, straight uppers caused binding. UNLESS i remount them higher above the stock mounting points. idk.

Is there a particular reason for having straight uppers or is it just to look more scale? (i've read about this, but it just seems that people want it to look more scale)

i belive that all the travel of the longer shocks and the rodends being mounted under the 4-link plate is whats casuing your binding with straight links, unless they hit the lower links. maybe change the rod ends at the axle too.

also i read you have put BBs in your tires, BAD IDEA. that is the worst way to weight tires. if you use any sort of wheel speed they make your rig hop and bounce because of the unblanced tires. also the only reason they help your side walls is because they are taking up space. the will still roll over on a side hill. i suggest that you use lead wire or stick on lead weights weight the wheels, then grove your foam in th center so you still have side wall support but a soft center of the tire carcass to flex and grip.

[saltinemadness]

Originally Posted by 2500hdon37s

i belive that all the travel of the longer shocks and the rodends being mounted under the 4-link plate is whats casuing your binding with straight links, unless they hit the lower links. maybe change the rod ends at the axle too.

also i read you have put BBs in your tires, BAD IDEA. that is the worst way to weight tires. if you use any sort of wheel speed they make your rig hop and bounce because of the unblanced tires. also the only reason they help your side walls is because they are taking up space. the will still roll over on a side hill. i suggest that you use lead wire or stick on lead weights weight the wheels, then grove your foam in th center so you still have side wall support but a soft center of the tire carcass to flex and grip.

well in my defense i think i have the slowest crawler imaginable. I should be at turtle speed... but i'm actually at snail speed hahaha 65t with a 12tooth pinion.... even with a lipo it is tooooooo slow... so that's not a problem for now. and yeah the uppers were hitting my lowers.

[bigcountry]

nice rig

i am building my newbright TJ but i am stretching mine to an LJ

[saltinemadness]

well i actually did these updates a while ago, but classes are keeping me more than busy.

I painted the interior. no tape here people, this is all freehand. i've never used enamel paint on a model, so first timer... (i'm a design student, so i am good with exacto's and brushes, etc.) Some spots are a little crappy though.

I painted the seats... as you can see.

Got lucky—
at work, i sometimes take the garbage out, and i work at a discount department store. but in this particular garbage run there a set of ipod speakers. i was like DAMN i can use that mesh for my grill! So i stole it out of the garbage and used it. ALSO in the garbage were "PURE FITNESS WRIST WEIGHTS" and i was like, DAMN i'll use those as wheel weights. so i did. (no pics of those yet) But they're perfect. I already had about a lb worth BBs in there and now I can just stretch this 1 lb band around my rim and slap a tire over it. no noise... and it even is kinda foamy.

YES THERE IS SAND/SOMETHING IN IT YOU DAMN NAYSAYERS. so what. it's wrapped in neoprene. i don't think it's gonna leak. even if it gets wet. i will show pictures eventually.

But the weights are usually five bucks a pair. or $5 for 2lbs. (4 for me. 20% discount) BUT they were in the garbage cuz the boxes were messed up. Horrible world we live in. also scored a lava lamp.

PICTURES











Oh yeah i forgot to mention that I lowered the body onto the frame as low as she'll go. but the total drop was about a quarter inch. that caused me to have to completely dremel out the tranny area of the body. so THAT caused me to want to cover it. so i bent up some sheet aluminum. looks good. i don't know if i want to put "carpet" over it or not. But i am gonna make up some shifters, don't worry. just haven't gotten around to it. sorry for shitty trans cover pics.





P.S. YES the speedometer says CRAWL

[saltinemadness]

i ALSO forgot to mention that i did some detail painting on door latches, vents, etc. And i've been working on the "hull" of this "boat" if you catch my drift.

[saltinemadness]

Pretty much talkin to myself here:

Okay guys,

1. Remember those pure fitness wrist weights i was telling you about?
well here they are. And so far they work quite nicely. I added a WHOPPING 4 POUNDS of weight all in the tires, so this thing crawls over anything.

Definitely lowered my COG.

2. I added a shifter.
3. I made a bolo style tow rope, some bungees and a general purpose rope. I also found some scale chain.
4. I made a fire extinguisher.
5. I boat-hulled it.



If they can fit into trailbusters, i'm pretty sure they can fit into anything else. So if you wanna give it a try..............

Also—WAY better than the BB's. hdon was right. I'm sure these still aren't the best way to go, but i can sidehill now!















more poser pics. IT'S BEEN SNOWING, LEAVE ME ALONE!








POSSIBLE UPGRADES:
-high clearance steering kuhnuckles.
-I don't know if i want to go 2.2 so i was thinking RC4WD interco boggers? Or rok lox. I think the boggers would look sick!

What do you guys think?

[saltinemadness]

And here's some REALLY CRAPPY cell phone vids of it messin around in my room.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrqaczHktj0
get a lot more traction than very first vid. and the front end stays down a lot more.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4U26x5iJUw
I couldn't even get down from the bed at that angle before the weights.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6agSan6RqhA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kg1SsDCajaw
That's about as steep as i could go on the skateboards.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88ivpdNCMDw

[th67ss]

Man, that thing has got some flex

Will the tires flex any with those weights in them?

[saltinemadness]

Originally Posted by th67ss

Man, that thing has got some flex

Will the tires flex any with those weights in them?

yeah. they flex enough to grip well. i mean... the thing probably weighs around 8lbs. So even if it doesn't look like they're gripping...they're gripping. They don't fold over on themselves so that's good.

Before (even with bb's) they would flex too much. couldn't sidehill or anything.

[saltinemadness]

Talkin to myself again. haha.

But hey saltinemadness, this is saltinemadness... i just wanted to let you know that I built myself a bumper! ............


But seriously, I've never brazed brakeline before... so this was interesting. All in all... i think i did alright. Some joints are better than others, but they're all really strong. Did some testing... Rammed it into stuff... didn't break...

pictures!






Not my best joint...



One of my better joints...







will post more pics after paint, etc. currently waterproofing everything...

[geekfreek95]

looks cool but you need some lox or flat irons some claws wouldnt look at bad ether

[pardonmyn00b]

Looks pretty good, but needs some bigger tires! But I think you already knew that

[saltinemadness]

Originally Posted by geekfreek95

looks cool but you need some lox or flat irons some claws wouldnt look at bad ether

haha, yeah i know i know...

i still have my flat irons... i'm gonna put the same weights in them and test em but....

when i get some cash rounded up i'm gonna be purchasing either lox or the interco BOGGERS. i'm thinking boggers. They just plain look bada$$.

plus i bet the boggers get better grip than the baja claws. i know the claws are slightly taller... but not by enough for me to fret over.

[NGreen]

That thing looks great man! Did you use the green coated brake line to make your bumper? I'm digging the bumper looks real nice. Did you use a bender to make the bends or did you do it free hand?

[saltinemadness]

Originally Posted by 53Guy

That thing looks great man! Did you use the green coated brake line to make your bumper? I'm digging the bumper looks real nice. Did you use a bender to make the bends or did you do it free hand?

thanks man!

the brakeline is just 3/16" from autozone. it's more of a grayish coating...I forgot to manually set my white balance... so the grays look a little green in the photos. it's a pain to grind off.... but i usually just burn it off and then rub it with my fingers... comes right off...

I just used those cheapy spring benders you can buy at any crafts store.... i think the brand is K&S or something

i need a real tube bender!

[NGreen]

Oh, ok, I got ya. I do a bunch of bending myself and am always trying to find better ways to bend stuff up. Do you have a picture of your bender? I need to find a bender with a tiny radius for some projects coming up. As far as the tube goes, I don't even bother cleaning it either....just burn it off. The reason I asked was because I am having trouble finding tube in Hawaii other than the green coated line these days.

BTW, 1.9 RoxLox would look bad ass in my opinion!

[saltinemadness]

Originally Posted by 53Guy

Oh, ok, I got ya. I do a bunch of bending myself and am always trying to find better ways to bend stuff up. Do you have a picture of your bender? I need to find a bender with a tiny radius for some projects coming up. As far as the tube goes, I don't even bother cleaning it either....just burn it off. The reason I asked was because I am having trouble finding tube in Hawaii other than the green coated line these days.

BTW, 1.9 RoxLox would look bad ass in my opinion!

http://pics.towerhobbies.com/image/k/k%2Bsr1721.jpg
That is the same exact bender i used for this application. It's still hard to bend it though, but it does an alright job of not kinking the line.

But i put the line in the spring and used old bicycle handle bars and pinned the line/spring between my floor and the handle bars and then just pulled up until i got the curve i wanted.. this is NOT an accurate way to bend anything at all... but i wasn't duplicating sides, so it didn't really matter too much... but before i build my cage, i'm definitely gonna get/make an actual bender.

Is there a lowe's in hawaii? i mean... they sell solid rod... but then your stuff would be super top heavy... but it'd be easier to bend at least.

or you could learn how to braze aluminum.

yeah... lox or boggers... i still can't decide... everyone has lox though... and the boggers are taller

[BritnKurtTJ]

What are you using to braze your bumper?

[saltinemadness]

Originally Posted by BritnKurtTJ

What are you using to braze your bumper?

Harris safety silv 56 brazing rod and harris stay silv paste flux.
map gas and a map gas rated torch.