Unimog AKA "Radio" budget build

[Shinjari]

So ever since I got into crawling I've been a fan of the unimog. It didn't help that I used to crawl with a guy who had 2 amazing unimogs. He has since fell out of the crawling scene but his rigs will always be an inspiration.

Also someone I know said "everyone needs a mog in their collection" or something like that lol.

Now if you know me, I have several rigs and all of them (4) are hardbodied rigs so I tend to be a little more cautious with them when I crawl. Yeah I'll let them take a tumble or two, but nothing ground breaking if you will.

It was then when I decided I needed a lexan bodied rig or a "budget" build that I wouldn't care about falling off a rock.

Gonna be a long post as I didn't have time to write this as it was being built.

It started as a rolling chassis I got in a trade. Had some cool Stainless steel poison spyder replica bumpers, warn winch, heyOk controller, Losi shocks up front, dinky canitlever in the rear and stock axles.

Bought the Unimog body on fleabay and got to painting when it arrived. Decided to paint it on the outside desert tan. Surprisingly they don't make a lexan desert tan that I could find so I did my primer with a tamiya matte black lexan paint, then the tamiya desert tan on top.









Back to the chassis. I knew I wanted to run a CMS and at the time of this build I decided to go with the JCAD CMS/Battery tray/Servo winch combo and my trusty hands bros axle bracket. Only complaint about the JCAD kit, is the frame pan hard mount isn't very rigid, so it flexes under stress.

Added some VP 8* chubs/knuckles/knuckle weights, Robinson gears for the trans, CVDs, OD and UD gears on HR spools, R2J stainless links, gearhead 4link in rear, Hitec 7955 for steering and a HH Crawlmaster 20t for mock up. Removed the warn winch and added a hitec 625 with spool which I modified to be a servo winch.








A few parts later and I was done. Added a MMP w/ castle bec and a Holmes Revolver S 540 outrunner brushless motor and a few 3s lipos to run it. ALso slapped on my VP omfs with Proline TSL sx tires (non-XL size) with CI foams. Now you see why the word budget was in quotes earlier?

For the rear section I piece mealed together the box out of lexan from the rear section of the cab. Couldn't have people seeing the trans. Added a dinky budget interior. Used Blue monkey RC rear axle weights and a spare axial beadlock with flatiron to the rear for weight balance.

Here she is in her maiden voyage glory!







She ran like a champ! Performed better than I would've expected since I didn't get much tuning time.

First thing my buddy myth619 said was "That's what you consider a budget build? I was thinking stock scx10 with a body..."

During our run she got the nickname "radio" due to the noises the outrunner motor made while drag braking and all the random blips and bleeps associated with the esc and outrunner. I considered getting the new HH BLE ESC to silence the rig since it ran quietly besides the blips and bleeps...but opted to keep the nick name instead.



This is just the beginning.

[Shinjari]

So after running Radio like this for months I decided she needed some changes/facelift.

I got rid of the VP 8* setup for axial chubs/DLUX V2 knuckle weights and ran these for a few months.

I then came across a great deal on some Gmade steelies and figured they fit the build better than the OMFs.

After mounting up the steelies it turns out they have an offset that wouldn't work with the DLUX knuckles =(

So I ended up removing the knuckles to sell/use on another rig and put some Axial high steers I got from a pal locally.

I was worried about weight loss due to the knuckle weights, however after weighing the OMFs in comparison to the Gmades I realized I didn't lose much if any weight at all.

The OMF's with tsls were approximately 4.5 oz and the Gmade wheels by themselves were 4.5 oz.






Then about a month or two ago I was collaborating with my buddy Myth619 on my ultra4 build (work in progress) and we decided to ditch the cheap looking lexan box in the rear and build Radio a proper cage.

It is all DOM 3/16 tubing. First mounting points were welded to the chassis, but all the tub work was brazed. Also got a few of the new SSD axle housings so while the tube work was being done I got a new set of bearings and did a axle and tranny rebuild. I'll let the pics do the talking.

































Boat sides allow me access to the battery. May chop off part of the rear chassis to get more departure angle and I am currently waiting on more fab tabs to get the floor mocked up and done. Sorry if this was pic heavy but figured I needed to show off my buddies skills and my rig

Next updates will be gradual instead of a lump dumping of pics like this.

[Shinjari]

Started to mock up the bed. Should be simple and light weight with the hitec servo box covering the trans. Waiting on some fab tabs to get it started. Not sure what to do about the rear corners of the cab. May have to put something there so you can't see inside the cab. May just add to the body or something. Ideas?








Radio currently has a slight lean towards the front but I'm not sure if I'll do anything about that. We will see. Enjoy =)

[FloridaCrawler]

unimogs have portal axles

[Shinjari]

Yes...yes they do. If you could find me a reliable set with easily available parts I'd consider getting them. But for now 1 ton axles will do.

[myth619]

Bwaaahahahaha, let's see your portal axeled Mog. Even though he says he drives like driving Miss Daisey (writers license ) he isn't that nice to it. Portals will not hold up.

[svt923]

That thing screams for a front trans and transfer case setup. I love the cage but it would look much better without the transmission sticking up through it IMO.

[Shinjari]

I agree that it would benefit from a front trans/t-case. However the trans is going to be hidden by a scale crate/box in the bed area so it should be so weird. Basically thats what the last pics show, the blue box will be painted and what not to look like a crate or something to cover the trans but still provide access to it.

[T4rscott]

Nice build!
Can you tell me where I can find the bumper you're running?

[Shinjari]

Originally Posted by T4rscott

Nice build!
Can you tell me where I can find the bumper you're running?

Thanks bud!

Unfortunately I got it in a trade and if I recall the guy said it was someone on facebook who made it. Basically its welded stainless steel and polished nice and shiny. I'll dig around to see if I can find any info. Its pretty heavy/robust. I'm happy with it. Who knows if it'll get replaced in the future.

[RCHuffer]

Nice Build Shinjari! I too miss seeing Prifral's Mog's out on the rocks. What's your wheel base at? I'm trying to build a Mog and I'm looking for a starting point.

[Shinjari]

Thanks bud. Curse Prifral for his mad skills and then leaving the hobby.

As for wheelbase I'm at 12.3". Using a set of R2J stainless links I got a while back for a axial JK that evolved into this lol.

[Natedog]

Very nice build, all that noise is why I can't run those motors, I like peace and quiet of outdoors when crawling. SSD axles look sweet too...love Unimogs.

[Shinjari]

Originally Posted by Natedog

Very nice build, all that noise is why I can't run those motors, I like peace and quiet of outdoors when crawling. SSD axles look sweet too...love Unimogs.

The outrunner just works SO well that I don't even notice the noise as much anymore.

Can gear it pretty high and avoid temps and it has torque for days.

I may still swap to a HH BLE...who knows lol

[Natedog]

Good to hear that it works so well. The HH BLE will stop the high pitched noise? I looked but dont' see if HH is waterproofing them with conformal coating or potting like they used to? Conformal coating is the better way to go, not hard to do yourself too.

EDIT: Have you run MMP and ROC412 to compare?

[Shinjari]

Originally Posted by Natedog

Good to hear that it works so well. The HH BLE will stop the high pitched noise? I looked but dont' see if HH is waterproofing them with conformal coating or potting like they used to? Conformal coating is the better way to go, not hard to do yourself too.

EDIT: Have you run MMP and ROC412 to compare?

Yeah you can change the frequency setting on the HH BLE to make it virtually silent, but I think it increases temps a hair according to HH.

I believe he does offer a waterproof option for his esc and want to say I recall it being conformal coating.

Lastly, I do have a MMP/ET3-S running a tekin 3100 in my C1 Hilux truggy.

Start up/slow crawl with revolver on a scale of 1-10, is a 10 even with a 20t pinion/87spur.

Start up/slow crawl with the tekin is a 9/10....super smooth just can't compare 4-poles to 12-poles (or 14...I forget). I tried the HH 2-pole trailmaster BL and it Cogged. Upgraded to the 4-pole tekin 3100 and it was night and day.

Can't compare the top speeds as the revolver is only a 2000kv vs a 3100kv. I believe the revolver can handle 4s though so it could be as fast/faster.

I'd say this revolver on 3s is like a 30t motor whereas the tekin is like a 27t. Hope this helps.

[Bananaclip]

The rig is looking great! Have your buddy plate the corner sections behind the cab with steel. I think that would compliment the boat-sides nicely. The SSD's look sharp to. Keep the build progress coming and the mass picture dump is fine by me........ I like pic's

[Shinjari]

Hmmmm I was thinking something like that too. Not sure I want it to be smooth, would like the plate/corner to be behind the tube so you get a contrast of tube and plate.

Next question is....paint the whole chassis and cage matte black? Maybe do chsassis desert tan and cage/boat sides matte black...tan chassis, black boat sides and rhino line cage? Thoughts?

[kakachille]

Do the cage all black rig looks sweet man I need one of these lol

[Bananaclip]

cage flat black! Plate behind the tube work is a given and the more i look the chassis needs cut off directly behind the dinky cantilever