Natedog's Honcho kit build

[Natedog]

Made new cage piece out of hollow nylon tubing from an on-road car universal body mount kit to reduce weight and lower cog. I ran out of material, so don't have a cross brace in the forward set of holes, but the cage is strong enough with only the one cross-brace and still has the original built-in flex to absorb hard falls. I'll use some Rit dye to black it out the new pieces if they hold up well and will get some weights of the different pieces later.

[Natedog]

Start of my new improved bed/body pivot setup! This uses no brackets...zero! The bed is now as low as it can go without cutting crossmembers or bottom of bed cage, the rear tires just touch at full articulation.

Lighter weight, lower COG, less parts and should be just as durable if not more!

EDIT: Parma body mount post cut to just under 70mm length and both ends drilled to 0.099" (#39 drill bit) so that the 3mm machine screws will self-thread and be kinda tight. This is the pivot so I don't want them working loose. Cross brace/pivot mounts with two 3x12mm buttonhead screws.



Cross-drilled with 0.070" (#50 drill bit) for the 2x16mm bed/cage mounting screws. The white plastic washer is from Associated Team car shocks rebuild kit.



Top view bolted together with 2x16mm screws and locknuts.



Stay tuned...more to come!

[northernerbill]

I just turned my existing rear posts upside down to lower the bed, then chopped off the excess plastic above the top hole were the clip goes through.

[Natedog]

Originally Posted by northernerbill

I just turned my existing rear posts upside down to lower the bed, then chopped off the excess plastic above the top hole were the clip goes through.

That's a good idea that gets the bed really low. The lexan bed sits touching the top of my rear shock towers, I'm assuming that yours sits the same height?

[Natedog]

Bottom view looking forward, the new pivot piece is also the rearmost frame crossmember. I used plastic instead of aluminum so that hopefully it flexes similar to the rest of the plastic members. There is a good deal of flex built into the SCX frame imo so that it doesn't bend the metal frame rails as easily during hard use. Kinda like an old Ford or Chevy pickup frame flexes.



Another view from the bottom



Side view with the cage/body pivoted open.



That clear shiny type of Scotch tape holds my antenna to the inside of the right rear frame rail. It's lightweight, cheap, and holds great! Also cheaper and thinner than zipties...lol.

[Natedog]

Raised the front body mounts to level out the body in relation to the frame rails. My stock nerf bars help alot but the right side of cab is tearing at the front door/fender seam. body is pretty thin right there and it's a natural crease line. Might trim the bottom of cab to bottom of doors, what do you think? I was started some brakeline nerf bars awhile back but have not finished them...kinda worried they might transfer too much beating to the frame and bend something?

[Natedog]

I'm looking to put my esc and rx in a box and seal them up. I still have the stock box but am having problems finding a good low place with room to mount it. I'll use rtv silicone to seal it completely. I thought about the rear between frame like a gas tank, but it hangs low and the rear diff hits it during compression.

Where should I mount the box that will clear the bed and not drag on the ground out back?

[Natedog]

Just thinking about my battery tray rebuild and came up with this idea for rx/esc box held to stock crossmember with two screws, then at the rear underneath with two factory screw holes braced to the frame rails and the battery pack velcro'd and strapped to back side of box with a little shelf underneath....jsut set it all in there for the pic. It all clears the links and driveshaft by a millimeter or two.

[Natedog]

Wow...no input on the battery and rx/esc box setup I posted about? No opinions or dont care?

My battery tray idea morphed again, this time NO BRACKETS! It will be attached to the frame by two 3x8mm buttonhead screws with locknuts.

I started with a 1 and 3/16" wide piece of aluminum x 0.060" thick x about 6" long, folded a 90* bend at one end about 5/8" long in my bench vise and tapped it with a rubber coated deadblow hammer to make sure it's nice and proper bent. Then clamped the long part in my vise with 3.950" between bent end and the top of my vise. This number was arrived at by measuring several spots across frame rails (outside to outside) just behind the front shock towers. The frame rails start narrow and widen out as they get closer to the center skidplate. So I kinda took an average and added a bit more to allow for the shrink in distance the bending would create. I did a test piece with scrap to be sure.

[Natedog]

Then I cut the long end down to about 5/8" like the other side, these will hang down over the frame rails and be drilled for mounting screws, one 3x8mm buttonhead per side with a small plastic shim washer between frame and battery plate if needed. I cut 45*s at the rear corners to help with the increased frame width at the rear, but will be cutting a little more and doing the same at front corners. After it's all fitted, I'll trim the excess from both ends hanging over the frame rails and round the corners a little more.

[Natedog]

Battery tray redoux is done!
Top view from the front (body mounts and shock towers in foreground):

Bottom view:

Side shot with the velcro on plate

Battery mounted and strapped in!

[Natedog]

Total weight of new mount with screws and velcro is just over 15 grams. About half the weight of my first battery tray. New camera too, even surprised myself wow pics are much better.

[Savage03]

Lots of work, nice job dude

[Natedog]

Originally Posted by Savage03

Lots of work, nice job dude

Thanks man, just need to remount esc and rx and go crawlin!

[Savage03]

Yea need to go test all these things you have done now! I have always gown with the thought dont do to much at once without testing cause you might do so much and find its not right then all that time lost...so git er done

[rockhugger]

Originally Posted by Savage03

Yea need to go test all these things you have done now! I have always gown with the thought dont do to much at once without testing cause you might do so much and find its not right then all that time lost...so git er done

very wise words.... lol we both struggle with that.

Good work Natedog. What about the flex factor you mentioned?

let's go crawl and see how it works eh...

[Big Daddy]

Nice work on the battery tray, same location I used, but yours looks a lot cleaner.

[Natedog]

Originally Posted by Savage03

Yea need to go test all these things you have done now! I have always gown with the thought dont do to much at once without testing cause you might do so much and find its not right then all that time lost...so git er done

Ya, I can't leave well enough alone and am always thinkin of more ways to modify and improve my RCs.

Originally Posted by rockhugger

very wise words.... lol we both struggle with that.

Good work Natedog. What about the flex factor you mentioned?

let's go crawl and see how it works eh...

Yes...it's a struggle....lol. How's your scaler coming along?

Almost forgot, thanks...as Rockhugger said, I liked my old battery tray and it worked really well but I didn't like how it hung outside the frame rails and it was very rigid. That's why this one has only one screw mounting point per side and is made of a softer grade of aluminum so that it can flex along with the rest of the frame!

We need to go crawl soon...I'm shooting for this coming weekend!

Originally Posted by Big Daddy

Nice work on the battery tray, same location I used, but yours looks a lot cleaner.

Thanks!

[Natedog]

These fell off of somewheres while I was finishing my new battery tray.

[Savage03]

lol well I only said that cause im guilty of it to, see this pain in the arse clod I got sitting here