Finally picked up a Honcho!!New to crawling!

[06ToasterBox]

how muich did that all cost? thinking about building my own or just go buy em. rough est would do.

TIA,
J.

[05Fronty4x]

I can't really help much without knowing what material you have there and which style of links you are going for. Are you sleeving 8/32 rod with 1/4" .035" wall tubing? Or did you buy thicker walled stuff to drill and tap for studs like the stock Axial links?

[05Fronty4x]

Originally Posted by 06ToasterBox

how muich did that all cost? thinking about building my own or just go buy em. rough est would do.

TIA,
J.

Check out McMaster-Carr#

$2.91 for 3ft of stainless 8-32 threaded rod, and $11.06 for 3ft of 1/4" OD .035" wall stainless tubing. I've made 2 sets of links out of that material (6ft of each), but 3ft should be able to make you a set if you don't mess up. I like the stainless because it adds some weight down low, and slides over rocks better than aluminum without taking as much damage.

I do sleeved links using the material mentioned above.

Wrap the ends with a layer of masking tape to get them to fit really snug and centered:



They are also bendable. I took a 1x1x1" block of wood, drilled a 1/4" hole through it and then sawed it right down the middle to use as a clamp in my bench vise. Then I'd just bend them by hand. It's not very easy, especially the double bent front lowers I did on my last set.

Front: Single bent uppers with double bent lowers to increase clearance towards the center while still offering some protection for the pinion and drive shaft.


And a simple single bent rear upper/lower setup:


Measure thrice and cut once, lol. All that's needed is a hacksaw, vise, file, and calipers for accurate measuring.

[OKkrawler]

Damn that's some nice work man!! And yea I got the 8/32 threaded rod and 1/4 aluminum,they didn't have nothing thicker which I would've liked better. About $45 is what I spent

[OKkrawler]

Man I wish they had stainless,I might go and double check before starting them and see if they have any in stock.

[06ToasterBox]

Wanna make me some links with the bend? I've got some $$.
Sent from the shack in the oil field.

[Pgambardella]

Welcome to the hobby! First thing I would do is open the whole drivetrain up and see what you got, then regrease and replace. Bearings, seals, o-rings, ETC. and put more oil in the shocks. Just my 2 cents.

[OKkrawler]

Sounds like a good idea,I've never done anything like that but,I'm sure it's not to bad.Im gonna have to give it a try after I gather up a good grease and more research,thanks for the idea man!!

[05Fronty4x]

Originally Posted by 06ToasterBox

Wanna make me some links with the bend? I've got some $$.
Sent from the shack in the oil field.

That would be against the rules. haha

In all honesty I'm flattered, but I wouldn't feel comfortable making a set of links for a rig that I don't have here to test on. My process is about as slow as a 55T on 2s and requires a bit of test fitting to get the bends/clearance between links, axle clocking, wheelbase etc. just right. I would just make a copy of mine, but it's a bit longer than a stock Honcho/JK. I think I would need to purchase a "star" from RCC to charge for any services anyways and it might actually be cheaper to buy them from an already established vendor.

[OKkrawler]

Thread jacker ^^ Jk man chime on,I could learn a thing or two listening lol

[05Fronty4x]

Originally Posted by OKkrawler

Thread jacker ^^ Jk man chime on,I could learn a thing or two listening lol

Lol, sorry I didn't want to leave him hanging. I wasn't trying to advertise, I was just throwing some link design ideas out there. It's not all that scale to have bent links like that, but there is a functional clearance gain with them that makes it hard to pass up when making your own. It's only an extra step or 2 along with a little more testing to be sure the links don't contact eachother during flex.

This is the process I used: I figured out how much eye-to-eye length a rod end adds to the link, multiplied that by 2 and subtracted that from my desired link length. That gives you the length to cut the sleeve. This ensures the rod ends butt up very tight to the sleeve at the desired length. Then you can figure out how far the rod ends screw down onto the rod before bottoming out, multiply that by 2 and add it to the sleeve length. That gives you the length to cut your threaded rod. Making these measurements and calculations will give you a sleeved link where the rod ends butt up tightly to the sleeve, and bottom out on the threaded rod all at the same time and at your desired link length.

If you do any bends, you will have to figure out how much longer you need to make your link since bending shortens the eye-to-eye length. The slight bends in my rear links and front uppers shortened them 0.5mm or so, and the double bent front lowers shortened a little over 1mm. Of course it all depends on how sharp of a bend you make, and how rounded the bend is.



Carry on. Lol.

[OKkrawler]

Lol it's cool man I was Jk,your links came out great,I'm not sure if I could pull that off lol.I might go ahead and try the links with what I bought and see what happens.But no doubt your idea is awesome man thanks for sharing.

[05Fronty4x]

No problem. Aluminum will be fine, it just wears out and has a little more friction as you drag them over rocks. One thing is that aluminum will be easier to work with (cut, file, bend, drill, tap, etc.). I didn't have a good cutting wheel for my dremel so I just hacked away with the saw, lol.

[OKkrawler]

Originally Posted by 05Fronty4x

No problem. Aluminum will be fine, it just wears out and has a little more friction as you drag them over rocks. One thing is that aluminum will be easier to work with (cut, file, bend, drill, tap, etc.). I didn't have a good cutting wheel for my dremel so I just hacked away with the saw, lol.

Yeah man I'm gonna try to make them the best I can I might even wrap them in vinyl that I have laying around to add some detail.I'll be using my dremel and a file,wish me luck lol thanks again man!

[OKkrawler]

Finally got some free time to make my lower links and they came out nice,I think they did at least lol.I had a lot of fun making them myself and I had some vinyl sticker sheets laying around and decided to wrap them with it.

[FlipItOver!]

Originally Posted by OKkrawler

Well I got everything to make my links,just have to do more research to make sure I make them right the first time.Anyone have any tips?

Is that tungsten? 2% thoriated? Looks like it with the red pointed on the ends. And welcome, you need a couple more trucks for those bodies! ; )

[OKkrawler]

Bought a few parts from members on here,and had some time to install some of it.also freshened up the front axle with grease and a good clean also added stainless bolts and nuts.The rear is next,previous owner didn't really clean it up much.

[OKkrawler]

Thanks man,one upgrade I really ike lol

[OKkrawler]

New update,finally got the wheel and tire setup I was looking for,2.2 gmade mudrocks on stretched 1.9 super swampers.I know it's different but I'm very happy with the look,I'm hunting for a lr3 body or possibly a trail finder body..

[Bordersauce90]

Wow! Thats an awesome looking honcho. . One of the nicest ones around. Great process man