2017 Rubicon Wrangler CRC RTR

[Dad,Canyoufix?]

Hello all. Would like to say that it is nice to post a thread even when it is likely everyone is posting about the same models. We all do it a little bit differently, sometimes that inspires creativity, other times, it inspires a parts list that we hide in our minds and delete all proof of.

The New Rubicon RTR, wow, did Axial do a great job with an out of the box RTR. If you are in the market for a rig that can pretty much hit the trails on 3s right out of the box and actually last more than a couple runs without having to replace parts, I personally think this is the RTR for you. I on the other hand, have never bought a Jeep, or an RTR and just immediately ordered a parts list before I even set hands on it. I knew what I wanted, got more than that and loved every minute of it. Here we go.

I Pre-ordered the Jeep and had most of the parts in hand long before slicing the factory seal on the box. I started with an interior, servo, and shocks. After seeing videos and pics from the cool kids that get their stuff way before the rest of us (still trying to find a way into that group...) I decided I wanted my JK to pop, to look a little aesthetically different than the direction the main stream was headed, black and red. While black and red look great together, I thought, let's mix it up. So, we went silver/aluminum and red. I ordered flares from RC4WD, clear or silver brawlers from VP, had some Axial 8 holes laying around, and eventually got super lucky with a deal on a set of parts I had never had the budget to buy before. I also ordered rings and hardware from LURC. Love the new RTR steering angle!



Lets start with the flares. They don't match up. The new CRC flares have a slightly tighter bolt pattern. This required some holes to be enlarged or repositioned slightly to relieve the body. They eventually found their home though. The bumpers and brawlers fit right up, the Ripper bumper had to be raised later. PIC Heavy WARNING.







Next was Wheels and Tires. The stock tires feel and look great. I know these are supposed to be RTR compound, but I thought with some wear, they will bite just as hard as my old RC4WD Claws, and they do pretty well in my area. The foams are a huge improvement for a stock RTR foam. Very impressed, so much so they will be staying in the tires. I really like the RC4WD M/T wheel nuts with screw on caps. Afraid of them spinning off, but we shall see.




Interior, parts tree details and shocks. Not much to show with the shocks. At some point I will add an internal spring under the piston and might switch to 35wt oil from the 22.5wt Losi oil I used to fill them originally. I want to play with the functional piggy back first. if I can keep the front soft and just tighten up the rear a little bit, it may be okay. The interior is from an old New Bright JK. It fits the body perfectly. I did have to trim it to fit the trans, and the rear body posts run right through the seat, but I will cover up the scars with scale items and maybe some passengers. This build is for performance and fun. Not trying to fit any rules, or maximize points here, just trying to have fun and see what becomes of it. The side of the interior fits the windows great, has notches already in it for clearing the mirrors and sits right on top of the tail light fixtures. With the spare tire in the back, the interior is sandwiched nicely when the body is put on. I do plan on using an old 2012 JK roll cage eventually, but I have a fair amount of paint work to do before I start fitting it to this interior. The details from Axial are great. I look forward to finishing up the paint and details I have planned on other parts of the body, but the door handles, hood latches and windshield wipers are wonderful and I really applaud Axial for including them with a RTR. Bravo! Pic Heavy WARNING again.






Now, for the parts I have yet to use because of budget. I know many have used these and will continue to do so. I can see why! I got these Curries complete, but used for less than the price of the housings new. I have always wanted a set, and now I have a spare set of AR44's to throw on another build. The Curries came with Samix Knuckles and weights. I was unsure if I would be keeping them until they arrived. They seem to be of decent quality, so I will run them until they die, if that ever happens. With the weight of this build ( I know it is far from what some reach, but still heavy for my build style), the knuckles will get their fair share of abuse on the mountains. There is also a picture showing the small plates I made to raise the Ripper bumper to reduce the gap. I plan on putting a winch in, so that should help break up what gap is left. I took the build out front and played around with approaching and riding a curb that varies in height, from as low as 4" to as tall as 7-8" in some spots. I use this curb to see where the tipping point of a build is. If the rig cant make it up the curb beyond the paved patio portion or walk the curb with the front tire on the curb around the curve by my truck, I have work to do. Thankfully, the Jeep passed.




It was then time to take the jeep to the park about 5 min from the house. A great place to test a rig before heading to Mt. Diablo. Here I can test roll and tip points and make adjustments with little risk. Mt. Diablo is not so forgiving. There are definitely spots you can loose a rig up here, but it will likely be found either as a pile of parts or maimed. In some places at Diablo, well, happy hunting. I think the Jeep did very well. I would like to fiddle with the suspension a little more before venturing out to Diablo again, until then, Coyote will have to do, and I can practice shooting with my Go Pro. Here is a short edited video of my trial run.

https://youtu.be/w--6P0gHXgM

Thank you for reading and looking.

[durok]

Looks fantastic, unique color scheme for your upgrades. The video was excellent and you have some great terrain to run on!

[Dad,Canyoufix?]

Originally Posted by durok

Looks fantastic, unique color scheme for your upgrades. The video was excellent and you have some great terrain to run on!

Thank you! It was my first time following with the Go Pro attached to my Remote. I want to get closer in future videos so the details of what the rig is doing can be seen better. Using an IPad to edit. I am very grateful for the terrain out here. I'm not sure I could live without mountains now!

[Teng]

I like especially the interior from new bright Jk added scale point for sure

[Dad,Canyoufix?]

When the Pro-Line interior I bought didn't fit as well as I had hoped. I took off looking through some stuff and found that JK interior. Once I saw how it sat in there and the tan with that red, I loved it.

[soze]

Truck is looking nice!

[Dad,Canyoufix?]

Originally Posted by soze

Truck is looking nice!

Thanks! I plan to paint the top black as my Jeep sources tell me it is either color matched or black on 1:1's. Black top and mirrors should look fine with all the silver everywhere else. I also plan on some tricks for other details around the truck. I also want to paint the inside to better resemble the interior of a JK. From what I have found, the pillars should stay red but the inside of the top should be a different color. I'll also be adding Wheel tubs and paint in other places to avoid sunlight from going straight through. I like putting a lot of work into the body, I know it will always be lexan, but that doesn't bother me.

[jason02ws6]

I use plastidip for the roof as well as inside of the body. Helped with the light passing through like you mentioned and gave the exterior a nicer look.




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[Dad,Canyoufix?]

Been a little while since updating this. I got some new sliders to replace the Brawlers. The Brawlers are nice, but the way they capture this body just doesn't suit my fancy. I feel, with the metal flares, the body needs to be able to move inward, but not outward. This will prevent shock from tearing the lexan right at the points the brawlers end. Warrior Armor has exactly what I wanted and they look like a scale option you might find on a 1:1 JK too! I was able to put the old trays back on and with some trimming, everything happily mounted up.

[Dad,Canyoufix?]

Took the truck to AxialFest 2018 after getting some cheap China Halos, they are actually quite nice. Just drilled out the light buckets until I could squeeze them in with a nice snug fit. The center portion of the light can be on or off. If running day time, I go mall crawler and turn the center off.








At AxialFest2018, I loved trail D. was just a great course for scale driving. I also found what I have been searching for since beginning this build. Found a decent set of tires that look good but still perform and can pull this 12lb beast up a 60* or more incline. I accidentally fingered one of my pictures in front of the beginning photo shoot on a night run. Kinda looks like a old trail photo to me, like lost world style or something. I decided to keep it and it has been growing on me.







After getting back I wanted to test some of the spots I had before, but with these new awesome tires. I quickly found the weight of this truck will always cause a mistaken throttle blip to end in tragedy. It made all the lines I wanted it to and I'm very happy with the truck as it sits. It is now ready to go on trailing sessions with my son's rig, a 2012 JK that we built out of the parts bin(not pictured here, yet).






As always, thank you for looking, enjoy and Happy Crawling everyone.

[distinctive pd]

Great looking Jeep!

[Dad,Canyoufix?]

Originally Posted by distinctive pd

Great looking Jeep!

Thanks! I really enjoy running it now that I have some tires on it that will hook under it’s weight. My son likes when I run mine with his. He has a 2012 JK with AR44’s under it.