Superbleeder's Honcho/Tacoma Build Thread

[iamsuperbleeder]

work has begun on a new front bumper, to rid the truck of the floppy plastic one...

so I picked up some aluminum today




the plan is to make it completely bolt-together, since I don't have any welding or brazing skills. this is more or less a "trial" thing to be honest, so I don't expect it to be perfect. this is my first try at something like this

I got the two uprights done for now that I'll build the bumper off of. They're not perfect like I said, but they should get the job done when it's finished.









I'm going to span a flat piece between them to mount the lights to (not looking to mount a winch any time soon, so didn't bother making room for one)







and above that I'll mount a rod. I'm going to drill and tap the ends of the rods so they'll screw right into place





I'll also mount a rod across the bottom to stiffen the frame there





and to stiffen the uprights, I'll run a couple pieces of flat aluminum up the sides






I have a vision in mind, so hopefully it comes out looking SOMETHING like that vision, lol. It's only going to be the center piece; nothing jutting out to the sides killed the approach of the tires



ALSO as you can see, I reinstalled the stock drag link to give it full range of steering. It'll stay there until I get around to making one with some bends in it with the Traxxas rod ends. I also have a set of 100mm shocks on order plan to keep the same ride height, just give it a little more travel

[Jus]

@ the *nuts*

I like what you're planning with the bumper. I look forward to seeing the final result.

[iamsuperbleeder]

well I completely ruined one of the uprights today trying to mount a cross brace to it so I'm going to put the aluminum bumper on hold for the time being. I might end up just trying my hand at brazing instead soon, then I could have a little bit stronger of a bumper, and make some steel sliders and a rear bumper too, and if I think I've gotten the hang of it, I might even remake a rear cage


but, I did modify the plastic one for the time being

I reinforced it a little with some of the aluminum, right where most of it's flex was occurring. it's pretty stiff now, and the only flex is in it's mount to the frame rails

I trimmed the sides up a little too to better the approach of the tires. I tested it out in the back yard, and it seems to be able to scale things MUCH better with just that little triangle removed!














I then found something to do with the little aluminum triangles











but the stock plastic draglink is going to have to go soon... it flexes and bows out BAD when the steering gets in a bind. and that's with the stock servo too...

[lets go jeep]

your truck is looking good

[iamsuperbleeder]

Originally Posted by lets go jeep

your truck is looking good

thanks!


sneak peek at the next free mod, currently in progress






been contemplating doing this for a little while now, just decided to pull the trigger tonight

[iamsuperbleeder]

finished "lightening" the tires this afternoon


they look pretty good in my opinion, and they GRAB from the quick little test run in the back yard! I'm VERY impressed with how they perform now!

[iamsuperbleeder]

lol, messing around after the front drive shaft popped off the transmission again... and managed to wedge itself into the front links and lock up the front driveline

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjeTcPJumPg



so I just applied MORE locktight... I'm going to be replacing those stupid shafts soon if they don't keep popping off during EVERY RUN...

[iamsuperbleeder]

so I went to put on my work boots this morning, and the freaking lace on my left boot broke... which really didn't surprise me since they were over a year old and I needed new boots anyhow...

but when I got home from work, I pulled the lace that was left out of that boot, as well as all the lace out of the other, and made up a few ropes









while I was out buying new boots, I also stopped in at Radio Shack and picked up a project box. but I need to do some shopping online for some supplies before I make it waterproof. I want the electronics to be modular like they are stock, in that you can quickly remove everything just by unplugging them. I plan to make everything basically plug into the project box on the outside, and the receiver and ESC will be in the box and will connect inside with some "pass through" connectors mounted to the box.

Sent from my space age wireless communication device.

[Rook82]

Coming along nice and good ideas. What may work for what you want from the waterproof box with unpluggability (my own word) is servo extensions. They could plug into the receiver and then run out of the water tight box through a hole that you seal up. Then you could plug the servo, etc into the servo extension end that is hanging outside the box. They make those servo extensions in all kinds of lengths.

[Big Daddy]

The truck is looking good.
I see we are fight the same issue with the tie rod on the steering links. I think I may go with the level-3 link but not sure. I think the easy fix would to buy the rod end kit from axial that has the ends that are angled out some. Well, the easy fix would be to buy the upgrade, but that's too easy after going through making all the other links.

[iamsuperbleeder]

Originally Posted by Rook82

Coming along nice and good ideas. What may work for what you want from the waterproof box with unpluggability (my own word) is servo extensions. They could plug into the receiver and then run out of the water tight box through a hole that you seal up. Then you could plug the servo, etc into the servo extension end that is hanging outside the box. They make those servo extensions in all kinds of lengths.

yep, thats exactly what I meant when I said I have to shop for supplies the battery and motor plugs should be easy. I'm just going to run a bolt through the box from the inside with a round terminal connecting it to the ESC, and on the ouside there will just be a stud that I can hook the motor and battery wires too with some round connectors too

Sent from my space age wireless communication device.

[iamsuperbleeder]

Originally Posted by Big Daddy

The truck is looking good.
I see we are fight the same issue with the tie rod on the steering links. I think I may go with the level-3 link but not sure. I think the easy fix would to buy the rod end kit from axial that has the ends that are angled out some. Well, the easy fix would be to buy the upgrade, but that's too easy after going through making all the other links.

yeah I'm real close to just buying a ready made link, LOL. if I do, I think ill put some aluminum knuckles and servo arm on it at the same time...

Sent from my space age wireless communication device.

[iamsuperbleeder]

well I got my $20 shocks in today full set of 4 off eBay, lol

they're all aluminum and they actually seem fairly well built, but only time will tell

they're not a scale look by ANY means, but they move pretty well, give a little more flex, and they don't leak like the stockers, so that's a plus the ride height came up a bit with them, but not too much. if anything, it made my approach and departure angle a little better




















before:









and after:



















and some poser shots, seeing what kind of movement they offer

[diggindeep]

looks great, go with the mip shafts, threadlock the set's and they will take a beating,gonna check them shocks out,tired of the leaking.

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by iamsuperbleeder

yeah I'm real close to just buying a ready made link, LOL. if I do, I think ill put some aluminum knuckles and servo arm on it at the same time...

Might be a fix for the steering issue. They are for M3 but you could use 6-32 threaded rod as long as these aren't threaded. 6-32 is bigger anyways so you might be able to get away with it even if they are threaded and you have to cut new threads. http://store.rc4wd.com/M3-Offset-Short-Plastic-Rod-End-20x_p_1741.html##
I may go this route to fix mine.

[iamsuperbleeder]

there's got to be some offset ones like that that'll 8/32 rod will thread into... I haven't looked yet, but there's just GOT to be some, lol



placed a little order at Tower Hobbies last night to rewire everything and complete my water proofing. some Dean's connectors, 12 gauge wire, servo extension wires, and some small 2 and 4 pin male and female connectors to run the LED wires through the box and still have them able to be quickly disconnected

the plan is to put the receiver and LED control board in one project box, and the ESC in another, and mount them on their side on the sliders, so I need to swing by Radio Shack and pick up another project box. but this should be enough to do this little project and have some left over supplies as well

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by iamsuperbleeder

there's got to be some offset ones like that that'll 8/32 rod will thread into... I haven't looked yet, but there's just GOT to be some, lol

Well I can't find them. I think 6-32 will be fine for steering though, specially with the pipe sleeve. It's bigger than M3 and that's pretty common.

[iamsuperbleeder]

I'm thinking I'm going to need the next size up project boxes to house the ESC... probably the receiver and LED controller too...





Sent from my space age wireless communication device.

[iamsuperbleeder]

oh yeah, fits much better in one a little longer, lol





Sent from my space age wireless communication device.

[iamsuperbleeder]

well, now I'm just waiting on my order of plugs to come in, Wednesday according to tracking

got both of the boxes prepped and the wires desoldered from the stock motor so I can upgrade to the 12 gauge wire (probably not needed, but eh, why not)

tomorrow I'm going to pick up some marine grease to stuff in the trans and the axles, and I'm also going to pick up some dielectric grease and rip the servo open and waterproof it (I'll also use the dielectric grease in the external plugs later on)







labeled





here's the hole the 3-wire extension will feed through that will be connected to the ESC inside the box





same thing on the receiver box; two holes for the steering servo and ESC wire extensions to feed through





the wires coming out will be getting the 4-pin connectors on it for the LED's. the switch on the side is a bypass for the LED's, so they can be turned off





stock motor desoldered, with the "bling" removed