Phildirt’s SCX10 mud and trail truck

[Phildirt]

Need a hair longer bolt but I think this is better. Aligned much better than I though, not sure what I saw the first time...

[Phildirt]

As my construction buddy used to say “close enough for the girls we run with”. I can live with that angle.

[Phildirt]

Excuse the really long bottom mount bolts. I had them on there for the sway bar setup but pulled it off to refine it. Got the HH 27t in today, soldered it up, will do a break in tomorrow then set the pinion gear and see how she pulls.

[Phildirt]

Wheelbase. It’s a hair too long now but that’s what I wanted to see. It looks much better than too short. Way more proportional now. Problem is if I switch up bodies it will be way too long but I haven’t done anything permanent.

[j0e]

I think you're looking good now. I like the wb adjustments.
I love me some mud trucks!

[Phildirt]

Originally Posted by j0e

I think you're looking good now. I like the wb adjustments.
I love me some mud trucks!

Kind of funny because what got me interested in this was the crawlers...but I naturally gravitated towards big/lifted. I have had 4x4 trucks my whole adult life, GMC/Chevy/Dodge...my last one was a money pit (05 Suburban LT 4wd, torsion delete/coilover swapped, lifted, geared, custom drive shafts, MT Classic IIs with 35x12.5r15 Falken MT's, tuned) and I sold it but immediately missed the tinkering.



I'm sure I'll eventually build a crawler but for now it's just not as fascinating to me as replicating what i have done in my garage/driveway for 20 years but at 1/10th the cost and time haha.

[j0e]

Originally Posted by Phildirt

Kind of funny because what got me interested in this was the crawlers...but I naturally gravitated towards big/lifted. I have had 4x4 trucks my whole adult life, GMC/Chevy/Dodge...my last one was a money pit (05 Suburban LT 4wd, torsion delete/coilover swapped, lifted, geared, custom drive shafts, MT Classic IIs with 35x12.5r15 Falken MT's, tuned) and I sold it but immediately missed the tinkering.



I'm sure I'll eventually build a crawler but for now it's just not as fascinating to me as replicating what i have done in my garage/driveway for 20 years but at 1/10th the cost and time haha.

Ha! That's awesome.


I'm more a monster truck guy, so mudders with big tires and speed are more for me than slow crawlers, too.
I like trail rigs, but still with a bit of speed.
Besides, I'm in DE; there's nothing here to crawl!

[ScaleLifeNewbie]

Originally Posted by Phildirt

Kind of funny because what got me interested in this was the crawlers...but I naturally gravitated towards big/lifted. I have had 4x4 trucks my whole adult life, GMC/Chevy/Dodge...my last one was a money pit (05 Suburban LT 4wd, torsion delete/coilover swapped, lifted, geared, custom drive shafts, MT Classic IIs with 35x12.5r15 Falken MT's, tuned) and I sold it but immediately missed the tinkering.



I'm sure I'll eventually build a crawler but for now it's just not as fascinating to me as replicating what i have done in my garage/driveway for 20 years but at 1/10th the cost and time haha.

I love Suburbans! I bet yours looked really good with the lift and t Mickey Thompsons. What size lift were you running?

I always have wanted a square body Suburban.


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[Phildirt]

Originally Posted by ScaleLifeNewbie

I love Suburbans! I bet yours looked really good with the lift and t Mickey Thompsons. What size lift were you running?

I always have wanted a square body Suburban.


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It came out to around 9-12" of lift depending on what pre-load I was running on the coilovers. I used a diff drop bracket from a torsion lift, made all of my own links and rear panhard. QA1 coilovers with a bunch of different springs but the last set were PACs. The MT's were 15x12, I had to run 2" spacers to clear the calipers, so it had hella stance haha. Could not keep it clean.

[Phildirt]

Got the Holmes motor in, did a break in before installing the pinion according to the directions on their web page. I am really paranoid about the gear mesh but I think I'm over-thinking it. It is a tiny pinion gear compared to the 20t so I had to ship it over quite a bit. I have it somewhere between "it will skip" and "it's hammered down" so I feel like its good. I used paper but that part confuses me so went more by feel. Got the electronics sorted back out, in their little waterproof homes.

Next plan before I submerge it again is to find/make a filter sock for the motor. Thinking panty hose or tights, my girl does ballet so I'm sure there's some around here. If not I'll find something similar. Just want to keep the big debris out but have something easy to remove so I can blow the motor out after runs. I don't plan on "mudding only" or burying this thing to the point of it being ridiculous, it's not built for that. But I will hit some puddles

First reaction to the 27t motor/87t spur/12t pinion is that it is cool, but slow. Plenty of torque but I lost a ton of wheel speed versus the 12t motor and old pinion. Not going to worry about that if it can spin fast enough to clean the tires and move forward in the soup. We'll see.

[ScaleLifeNewbie]

Originally Posted by Phildirt

It came out to around 9-12" of lift depending on what pre-load I was running on the coilovers. I used a diff drop bracket from a torsion lift, made all of my own links and rear panhard. QA1 coilovers with a bunch of different springs but the last set were PACs. The MT's were 15x12, I had to run 2" spacers to clear the calipers, so it had hella stance haha. Could not keep it clean.

Wow, on 35s? Was there a lot of opening in the wheel wells?

Lmao, my dads ‘14 F150 has just a little bit of offset, and it’s always dirty.


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[Phildirt]

Got tired of fiddling with the kit frame as far as geometry/mounting points so just started with a clean slate and made my own. No, it’s not scale. But it still fits in my imagination of a home brewed mud rig. Wasn’t too hard, just some measuring/drilling.

[Phildirt]

The links and driveshafts are all at the same angle which is oddly satisfying to me. No binding, cycles well. I also like that I was able to get the shocks back to a vertical position, I plan on getting longer ones though with internal springs, maybe desert lizard or similar if anyone has a suggestion. Caster is horrible but it steers well enough for it’s designed purpose. If anyone has ever clocked the knuckles or swapped for a different design I’m interested but it’s not critical.

[Phildirt]

Body mounts on Velcro pads. Works pretty well. I think I need the 2.2 boggers because this thing is ridiculously tall haha. But holding off for a bit, since I plan on getting a rtr SMT kit I can slap those wheels/tires on this thing once I upgrade. You can see frame but it’s not obnoxious, again I’d expect to see something like this at the mud bog.

[Phildirt]

A peek at the rear

[Phildirt]

Yee haw ready for some slop. Maybe tomorrow, gotta Halloween tonight 😂

[Phildirt]

Originally Posted by ScaleLifeNewbie

Wow, on 35s? Was there a lot of opening in the wheel wells?

Lmao, my dads ‘14 F150 has just a little bit of offset, and it’s always dirty.


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Don’t have any pics of it on my phone with the 35s but here it is with the same wheels and 33x12.50s. The pic makes it look really squatted but it wasn’t that bad in person. This is set at 9” front, 7” rear.

[ScaleLifeNewbie]

Originally Posted by Phildirt

Don’t have any pics of it on my phone with the 35s but here it is with the same wheels and 33x12.50s. The pic makes it look really squatted but it wasn’t that bad in person. This is set at 9” front, 7” rear.

Yeah, that looks really good!

Also, loving the custom frame for the SCX10! I think it looks more realistic for a mud truck


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[Phildirt]

So I have decided since I am buying either a Wraith or Capra instead of building a monster truck based on SMT10 I will turn this scx10 into one. The plan:

Obnoxious lift (done for the most part. Dropped the tranny and shocks as low as I think they should be to achieve that ‘sky high, you ruined the truck’ look)

New shocks for stiffer ride: thinking Desert Lizard 120mm and I will locate them wherever I need for this height to keep shaft angle good

Upgrade axles- either some budget metal housings or rebuild these and add beef tubes

Better servo when I kill this one

2.2 Fling Kings on Jconcepts Dragons

Paint my other body for a shelf queen look, something with heavy metal flake and all the chrome, paint the dragon inserts to match

Use this body for go, the other for show.

Slap these 1.9 Boggers on the Capra if I go that route (likely)

Here is Phase 1. The lift is dirt simple, just huge brackets for good angles:

[Phildirt]

It’s definitely huge, tippy, and ridiculous. But I figured this will give me something to tinker with and look at to keep me from messing with the new rig too much.