New Axial SCX-10 Wheel Wells review and pix

[new2rocks]

I placed an order for Axial's new SCX-10 wheel well kit (part no AX31150) as soon as it was announced. I was excited at the prospect of what I thought would be an easy, bolt-on inner fender and floorpan option to add to my G6. Well...it turned out not to be so simple. Although I'm pleased with how it came out, it took a lot more work to get there than it should have coming from Axial and given that I was working with one of Axial's current SCX-10 bodies.

Disclaimer: I don't have pictures showing all of the steps, as I didn't go into it thinking it was going to take this much effort or even be worth a write-up. But I hope what I have will help.

The wheel wells start out as a single piece of lexan that looks like this:


Each side consists of 2 pieces: a long piece that includes the front wheel well and running boards that extend down the side to the forward edge of the rear wheel, and a separate rear well with a small flap on the leading edge that overlaps the running boards by an inch or so.

The instructions tell you to cut the 4 pieces from the one-piece mould, then paint, then install on the chassis, then trim to fit the fenderline of your particular body. Here are the instructions:




It all sounds simple enough, but there are a few problems. First, each piece is deliberately made extra wide to accommodate a wide range of bodies. That sounds all well and good, but once installed on the chassis, it's near impossible (at least for my simple brain) to figure out a way to mark the outline of the fender of your body so that you know how much to trim from the wheel wells. The best I could do was an iterative process where I would test fit, trim a bit at a time, then test fit again, then trim a bit more, then test fit again, then trim a bit more, .... you get the picture. In theory, it might have been better to install the wells unpainted first, then mark the wells from underneath after test-fitting the body on top, then trim and paint. But hindsight is 20/20 as they say. It would have been VERY helpful (and not difficult) for Axial to include a set of stickers (like window masks) that could be used to identify where to cut to fit their most popular body styles.

The contour of the wheel arches doesn't line up as well as I would have hoped for the G6 body. The forward edge of the rear wells drops too quickly and had to be adjusted by pulling the fender forward and screwing the small overlapping flap to the running board to hold it in place (the instructions say to secure with double-sided tape, but I didn't think it would hold with the amount of tension needed to keep it in position). Up front, the front face of the wheel wells doesn't leave enough room for the headlight/turn signal buckets if you have those installed. I ended up having to use a heat gun to soften the well enough to create a "dent", and I had to bend the wires from my LEDs almost straight up to get enough clearance. After doing all of that, the front edge of the wells no longer lines up with the front edge of the fender.

After all is said and done, my G6 looks much better than it did before, but Axial could have done a few things to make the outcome even better and a whole lot easier. It ended up taking a LOT more work than it needed to or should have coming from Axial, and the end result isn't quite as clean as it could have/should have been. Nice idea, Axial, but not so nice execution.

Here are some pix, starting with the electronics/battery tray that I fabbed from styrene and screwed into the open side of the Blue Monkey CMS bracket:




With the body off:


Close-ups showing the lack of space between the wheel well and the light buckets:




With the body on:








So there you go...not bad, but I was hoping for more.

[SteveC6R]

Nice, honest write up. I'm like you, I was hoping they'd be a little easier to work with on the G6 body.

[SCREAMER]

I just got these in the mail today with my salvage yard JK Unlimited body. Thanks for the write up. It helps to know what I'm getting myself into. Great job also. Your G6 looks great.

[new2rocks]

Originally Posted by SteveC6R

Nice, honest write up. I'm like you, I was hoping they'd be a little easier to work with on the G6 body.

Yup...and thanks.

Originally Posted by SCREAMER

I just got these in the mail today with my salvage yard JK Unlimited body. Thanks for the write up. It helps to know what I'm getting myself into. Great job also. Your G6 looks great.

Thanks. That was my first time painting lexan on the outside. I finished it off with a matte clear coat for something a little different and am very pleased with how it came out. Can't wait until I have time to mess it up.

[Big Bill]

Pro-Line offered something like this a few years ago. It was more of a tray and wheel wells, I never tried one but saw a few in person. Your rig is looking great.

[Eric0424]

Originally Posted by Big Bill

Pro-Line offered something like this a few years ago. It was more of a tray and wheel wells, I never tried one but saw a few in person. Your rig is looking great.

Pro-Line's one-piece "floor pan" was released about 5 years ago (mid-late 2010) in 12.3" (# 3339-00) and 11.4" (# 3338-00) wheelbase versions for Axial SCX10's, didn't sell well for some reason.

[Eric0424]

A little more work than it should have been, but the end result turned out nice nonetheless.

[new2rocks]

Originally Posted by Eric0424

A little more work than it should have been, but the end result turned out nice nonetheless.

Tell me about it. Thanks!


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[Natedog]

Nice honest review thanks. Axial could have made them with little mold lines in the plastic showing where to trim them for Honcho, G6, and Deadbolt, that would have made trimming to fit much easier. I do like them though.

[Dextroyer]

Somehow this seems simpler to trim than the Proline undertray pan I have on mine. Cutting out the center for the tranny was a PITA! Then again I cut that with body scissors before I understood the value of Xacto knives.

[SCREAMER]

I finally got the ambition to tackle this last night and it is everything new2rocks said it was. Very tedious, lots of install, mark, remove, trim, reinstall, mark again, trim again.........
The end result is totally worth it but it will be a while before I do one of these again. It was a real PITA but will look great and protect the electronics which was my main reason for doing it.