SLN’s Axial Experience

[ScaleLifeNewbie]

I trimmed the battery tray to fit my Traxxas batteries and I really like how front heavy this is with the battery in. I feel like this is going to be the better performer of my two rigs, because of the good tires, metal beadlocks, good electronics, and it’s weight balance. I think the only thing the TRX4 has going for it against this is the portals and the two speed. Now if both rigs had the same electronics and tires, i think it would be close.

Random thought ramble over lol.




_________________
SCX10 ii
TRX4

[high plains drifter]

Loving that body color with the black wheels and krawler tires. Really a great look.

As for the toe in on the drive side... looks like you just need to adjust your linkage to push it out a hair. Hard to tell how much... plus alignments always look a little distorted in pics. But if you have to adjust anything to the point of losing a lot of thread contact, then you need to address something else. I know that doesn't really help but just like the issue that you were having with the ( control arm?) linkage on your other rig, you don't want to ever overcompensate by pulling out too much thread from ball-ends/ rod ends.

Soldering- I know this has been covered a bunch but I also have to stress the flux and tinning. Not sure what's up with your soldering iron but even most cheap ones will heat up enough to "get you there". Please... tin the wires and use flux... cannot stress that enough. Also.. if your soldering iron has removable tips then make sure that the tip is tightened all the way onto the iron. Sometimes they become lose and that will also effect temperature.

I also think that this rig is gonna crawl really well given the weight bias over the front. That was one of the absolute best things that my buddy did to his rig to improve performance. Also lowering the COG helped his rig's performance significantly.

Good work, dude and again... great-looking rig.

[ScaleLifeNewbie]

Originally Posted by high plains drifter

Loving that body color with the black wheels and krawler tires. Really a great look.

As for the toe in on the drive side... looks like you just need to adjust your linkage to push it out a hair. Hard to tell how much... plus alignments always look a little distorted in pics. But if you have to adjust anything to the point of losing a lot of thread contact, then you need to address something else. I know that doesn't really help but just like the issue that you were having with the ( control arm?) linkage on your other rig, you don't want to ever overcompensate by pulling out too much thread from ball-ends/ rod ends.

Soldering- I know this has been covered a bunch but I also have to stress the flux and tinning. Not sure what's up with your soldering iron but even most cheap ones will heat up enough to "get you there". Please... tin the wires and use flux... cannot stress that enough. Also.. if your soldering iron has removable tips then make sure that the tip is tightened all the way onto the iron. Sometimes they become lose and that will also effect temperature.

I also think that this rig is gonna crawl really well given the weight bias over the front. That was one of the absolute best things that my buddy did to his rig to improve performance. Also lowering the COG helped his rig's performance significantly.

Good work, dude and again... great-looking rig.

Thank you!

I will mess with the links in the morning, it shouldn’t be a super huge adjustment. I also have a little bit of positive camber for some reason. Not sure if it straightens out when on the ground, but up on the stand both tires have it.

I will definitely pick up some flux before I solder again. Any certain kind? Is the paste or the liquid better?

I was actually worried the battery tray would be bad because it’s so high up, but we will see when it’s out on the rocks! I was really surprised how good the front weight bias is.
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SCX10 ii
TRX4

[high plains drifter]

I guess that one difference between my buds rig and yours is that his weight in the front was lower than yours but still... that weight up front should definitely improve performance over your trx4. After he made the changes that put that weight further forward, his rig just flat out gripped the terrain and pulled that rig up and over so many obstacles/ ascents than before all the changes. I'll bet that this new rig is going to out-crawl your trx4. I'll def be interested to see.

I don't think that the particular brand of flux matters much but I do really like this one: https://www.amainhobbies.com/miniatr...065002/p117398 Unfortunately it's on back-order at Amain atm.. Isn't that always the case lol? I am seeing it listed on Ebay, RC Planet, Walmart, and other places so it may not be too hard to find... dunno. But again... other reputable brands/ types should work just as well.

[Phildirt]

I had to adjust toe on my 10ii rtr. It only takes a few turns on the link. Not super critical to get it laser straight for a toy crawler though.

With some tweaking both of those rigs can be decent. Told you that Traxxas just needs better tires/foams and some weight added down low. You’ll then have 2 different flavors, one with a little lower cg and another with loads of clearance.

The battery mount on all 3 of my rigs is forward, all in different orientations, I like the 10ii setup best because it is lengthwise in the frame. Sits a little higher on its side versus laying flat but opens up body style choices versus it being almost as wide as the sliders. Not sure what you are running but with a 3s the front of my 10ii is very heavy, almost too much front bias.

Progress looks good so far. My first post in your build thread was going to be something along the lines of ‘go slow and savor the build experience’ lol.

[RCBrutus]

Looking good SLN!

For me, the build is almost as much fun as driving the rig when it is all done. Something about that bench time just makes my inner kid happy

I agree, having the alignment straight as an arrow on a crawler is not as hyper critical as it is on a go fast car. One recommendation for you as you adjust your suspension and linkage is to have your rig ready to crawl. In other words, have the battery in the rig with the electronics and body on. Then give the wheels a turn or two to allow the servo to center itself and also give the shocks 2 or 3 compressions.

This will help simulate how your rig will be when you are on the rocks and will allow you to see how everything is aligned.

[ScaleLifeNewbie]

Originally Posted by high plains drifter

I guess that one difference between my buds rig and yours is that his weight in the front was lower than yours but still... that weight up front should definitely improve performance over your trx4. After he made the changes that put that weight further forward, his rig just flat out gripped the terrain and pulled that rig up and over so many obstacles/ ascents than before all the changes. I'll bet that this new rig is going to out-crawl your trx4. I'll def be interested to see.

I don't think that the particular brand of flux matters much but I do really like this one: https://www.amainhobbies.com/miniatr...065002/p117398 Unfortunately it's on back-order at Amain atm.. Isn't that always the case lol? I am seeing it listed on Ebay, RC Planet, Walmart, and other places so it may not be too hard to find... dunno. But again... other reputable brands/ types should work just as well.

Yeah, always back ordered on something I need/want lol. Thank you for the link!

Originally Posted by Phildirt

I had to adjust toe on my 10ii rtr. It only takes a few turns on the link. Not super critical to get it laser straight for a toy crawler though.

With some tweaking both of those rigs can be decent. Told you that Traxxas just needs better tires/foams and some weight added down low. You’ll then have 2 different flavors, one with a little lower cg and another with loads of clearance.

The battery mount on all 3 of my rigs is forward, all in different orientations, I like the 10ii setup best because it is lengthwise in the frame. Sits a little higher on its side versus laying flat but opens up body style choices versus it being almost as wide as the sliders. Not sure what you are running but with a 3s the front of my 10ii is very heavy, almost too much front bias.

Progress looks good so far. My first post in your build thread was going to be something along the lines of ‘go slow and savor the build experience’ lol.

I’m working on the TRX4 slowly, already got some metal beadlocks, then I’ll get tires/foams later on down the road. I like the battery tray a lot. I’m a 2s 7600mah battery. It was just a bit too long, so I had to cut one of the battery sides off. No big deal, still held in tight. That big ol battery definitely adds some weight up front lol.

I, believe it or not, took my time. Doesn’t seem like it, but I forced myself not to use the drill at all and do it all by hand. I did cheat on long screws, but other than that I did it by hand.

Originally Posted by RCBrutus

Looking good SLN!



For me, the build is almost as much fun as driving the rig when it is all done. Something about that bench time just makes my inner kid happy



I agree, having the alignment straight as an arrow on a crawler is not as hyper critical as it is on a go fast car. One recommendation for you as you adjust your suspension and linkage is to have your rig ready to crawl. In other words, have the battery in the rig with the electronics and body on. Then give the wheels a turn or two to allow the servo to center itself and also give the shocks 2 or 3 compressions.



This will help simulate how your rig will be when you are on the rocks and will allow you to see how everything is aligned.

The build is definitely really fun, I’ll probably never go back to RTR again lol. I didn’t think it was too big of a deal, but i just wanted to make sure. Good idea on waiting until it’s driving, I didn’t even think of doing that.




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SCX10 ii
TRX4

[ScaleLifeNewbie]

Of course with my luck. SMH. I don’t know what went wrong, was trying to take it out and the bolt head literally just popped off. Didn’t even get a chance to run em.






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SCX10 ii
TRX4

[RCBrutus]

Looks to me that you may have over tightened things there. If you are using a hex driver, I would recommend adjusting your clutch setting very low, like 3 or 4, depending on the model.

[high plains drifter]

Not sure what happened, SLN but fwiw... When you're assembling or disassembling 3pc wheels make sure to press down with one hand while tightening or loosening the first or last screw(s). That way you're not making the hardware do all the work or putting undue pressure upon the threads and head of the screw. Also.. some hardware is better quality than other. Not sure if that played a part in the failure but it could have.

[Phildirt]

Can you post a pic from a little further away (or reduce the picture size) and also one of the hardware that snapped?

[ScaleLifeNewbie]

Originally Posted by RCBrutus

Looks to me that you may have over tightened things there. If you are using a hex driver, I would recommend adjusting your clutch setting very low, like 3 or 4, depending on the model.

I did all these by hand to try and prevent this, but that didn't happen.

Originally Posted by high plains drifter

Not sure what happened, SLN but fwiw... When you're assembling or disassembling 3pc wheels make sure to press down with one hand while tightening or loosening the first or last screw(s). That way you're not making the hardware do all the work or putting undue pressure upon the threads and head of the screw. Also.. some hardware is better quality than other. Not sure if that played a part in the failure but it could have.

Good tip, I'll be doing this next time. It suprised me how easily it snapped. Don't know how far it'll get, but I contacted SSD. Oh well, stuff happens, and good thing two is only $25.

[ScaleLifeNewbie]

Haven't even driven it yet and I'm already lovin it!

Back on the 10 ii after a few days break with it, and got some more goodies for it lol. I also decided to not run the TW body, it just wasn't doing it for me. I am going to order a new set of SSD hubs to repair my wheel since they don't consider that as a product defect. Understandable, for all they know I could've cut the screw in half


More in-depth update and pictures tomorrow!!

[ScaleLifeNewbie]

Unfortunately, I didn't have time today to even go to my workbench, so no pictures. I should have some time to post up an update with pictures tomorrow

[ScaleLifeNewbie]

This is where I’m at now. I really like these straight axels under this ol ford.

Not sure if I like the reservoirs on the cage. I do but I don’t. I am able to take the cab off completely with them on, and if need be I can easy pull them out and put back in without cutting the zip tie.

Please excuse the messy desk, in the middle of reorganizing.










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SCX10 ii
TRX4

[MarkWeso]

Love the body on there...very cool!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[B-MOW71]

Now that is one beat up and abused Ford truck body! Looks cool!

[Phildirt]

I’ve always liked the contrast between surgically clean/modified drivetrain and hammered/weathered body even before it was a thing. Looks good. Front windshield is a bit cloudy though lol.

[B-MOW71]

Originally Posted by Phildirt

Front windshield is a bit cloudy though lol.

He may need to vent his cab to let out the smoke too like you did on your TW! But his side windows are down, so maybe it just needs a good Windex-ing!

[ScaleLifeNewbie]

Originally Posted by MarkWeso

Love the body on there...very cool!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks!

Originally Posted by B-MOW71

Now that is one beat up and abused Ford truck body! Looks cool!

Thank you Stole this off my TRX4, looks a lot better over here.

Originally Posted by Phildirt

I’ve always liked the contrast between surgically clean/modified drivetrain and hammered/weathered body even before it was a thing. Looks good. Front windshield is a bit cloudy though lol.

Thanks Phil! I want to try and strip that paint off the windshield. It's just flat clear. Don't know if it's possible, but it's worth a try.

Originally Posted by B-MOW71

He may need to vent his cab to let out the smoke too like you did on your TW! But his side windows are down, so maybe it just needs a good Windex-ing!