Project: Overpriced Junk

[Battleborn7]

Hello all! I’m brand new to the forum and RC crawlers in general. So about a month ago I bought an scx10ii RTR Deadbolt... then after driving for a few minutes I loaded my shopping cart online(anywhere and everywhere) by the time I could catch my breath I had enough upgrades to build another truck.
My goal was to build a cheap alternative to a vs410 pro. I’m pretty sure I’ve failed.

[Battleborn7]

So the base for this build is the vanquish chassis kit, and the new scx10.3 straight axle conversion kit.
Addition parts to my cheap build include:
Injora 3 gear trans
Reused plastic links off the parts tree from my Deadbolt
25kg Amazon servo
Traxxas 21t 550 motor
Hobby wing 1080wp
Radio link rc4gs tx/rx

Expensive additions:
Vs410 pro body
Incision driveshafts

Plans are to keep this a relatively low budget and light weight fun rig. Sort of a “I built it because I wanted to” rig.

[Battleborn7]

Throwing in some pics of my Deadbolt as it pertains somewhat to my current build. Here is the current state of the deadbolt, skeleton head added per my children’s request and I sharpied in the eyes and whatnot for some detail. Added the rc4wd Mickey Thompson TTC Baja claws in 1.9 with some China aluminum bead locks. Also did some free mods, removed the bumper completely, flipped the rear shock mounts/body posts, lowered the body posts two notches and cut to fit slightly above the sliders, and cut out a good portion of the rear of the cage for better access to body clips. Also removed the light bar.

[Battleborn7]

Here’s where the Deadbolt comes into the current build. I originally had planned to use the Incision 12.3” link kit and scx10.3 straight axle kit in it’s entirety on my new build but there’s a few things that just did not work. The link mounts on both axles are in different locations to the 10.2 axles. I figured out I could use the lower plastic links to set my wheelbase at 12.3” but had to use the links for a 12” wheelbase on the uppers for the rear axle. For the front axle, I used the stock 10.2 lowers and had to lengthen one of the extra panhard links for the upper to correct the pinion angle on the axle. I reused the plastic panhard on the vanquish chassis and added temporary spacers via some plastic pivot balls to get the axle centered correctly with no binding. I’ve adjusted the front axle to where the panhard will clear the steering at full compression without having to bend it. Using the 100mm shocks that come with the 10.3 kit also exacerbated the horrible pinion angle so I slapped them on the deadbolt. It gave it more lift than I would like so I will tackle the pen spring mod on them when I get grease to rebuild them. For now the vanquish chassis is rocking the stock 90mm 10.2 shocks which I will trim the fake reservoirs off of at some point to clean up the look.

[Battleborn7]

The pic above is my deadbolt with the 100mm shocks and Incision link kit installed

[Battleborn7]

So I had some time to get parts installed tonight and get some wiring done up.
I opened up the China transmission and made sure there weren’t any missing bearings and that it had grease in it. I got the 550 traxxas motor mounted up, had to use the chassis spacer included to raise the mounting location up a little bit. And finally I was able to get my tx/rx hooked up and programmed.

[Battleborn7]

My cable management isn’t the best but if I need to tear into it, it won’t be super tucked away. Had some extra servo mounting screws and used them to route wires to the rx, I’ll probably throw a zip tie on top to keep them from slipping out.

[Battleborn7]

Got my vs410 body today, still waiting on paint to arrive. I’m not sure how I’m going to mount this yet, it’s got holes pre-drilled so maybe I’ve got some posts laying around somewhere I can use. The chassis kit nor the body came with mounting hardware. Kinda sucky but I’ll make it work.

[Battleborn7]

Also got my Hobbypark type 1 tires in, I like the kinda squared/blocky all terrain look. Tires seem decently soft and grippy. Just waiting on my wheels to arrive so I can mount them up. How are the cheap foams that they come with? I figured my rig would be light enough in the end to be able to maybe run them for a while.

[Battleborn7]

Got the ESC and my radio programmed up and set the steering end points. These new 10.3 axles have some good steering angle, I hope the front driveshafts can take it lol they are a hair away from rubbing the lower links.

[Battleborn7]

Got my new tires mounted tonight. Have an issue with the driver front wheel hub not fitting over the wheel hex. That’s what I get for being cheap. I’ll probably file down the wheel nut a bit if I can’t find a spare that fits properly.

[twade984]

That thing is coming together nicely! Really solid base you’ve got with the vs410 chassis, ar45 axles and the vp body. Look forward to seeing how it compares to the deadbolt.

I’ve run into the wheel hub fitment issue on three sets of those axle conversion kits, but I’ve only used cheap knock off wheels with them. I found in my case the hex adapter set screw/pin extends past the face of the hex when fully tightened down, and requires a little sanding/filing to sit flush. The smaller smooth side of the set screw, not the threaded side.

[Battleborn7]

Yeah I had the set screw pin issue on the deadbolt with the Q-t wheels or whatever they’re called lol. I backed the pin out a bit and applied some thread locker. This one is either the axle nut being out of spec or the wheel hub, my money is on the hub. Also having some issues which wheel nuts backing off the driver front stub shaft on the deadbolt, this is the third wheel nut I’ve replaced, maybe I should put a dab of thread locker on the stub shaft?

[twade984]

I also had wheel nut loosening issues on my deadbolt, and what I learned was that the hex adapter needs to be secured to the axle shaft properly. If there is any movement between the hex adapter and axle, it will rock back and forth and loosen the wheel nut over time. That was when I discovered the set screws were not properly tightened down. That could become an issue on the ar45 as well if backing the pin out allows even minor movement.

[Battleborn7]

Ahh that makes sense! The driver front always seemed wonky, I just thought the tire and foam were just half assed lol

[Battleborn7]

Small update, ordered the Vanquish body posts, front and rear bumpers, brass wheel hexes, 20mm servo arm and the new links they sell for the scx10 iii straight axles to fit on the vanquish chassis kit(includes front upper link and panhard link). I was going to try to get some paint on the body today but the wind was just a little too much.

[Battleborn7]

Well the paint is finally done!

[Battleborn7]

Trying to give you guys all the angles lol

[Battleborn7]

Quick shot of the tire stuffing. I’m limited on the passenger side because the panhard rod end it’s contacting my steering arm on full stuff, I’m out about a centimeter of up travel there

[Battleborn7]

All in all I really enjoyed this build. Being my first crawler build there was a lot of neat tips and tricks I picked up here and on the interwebs. Also being my first build I wanted it to have what I thought were decent parts on it without having to break the bank on it. I learned a great deal from it and there were two major things I realized about myself in the process

1: I am more of a function over form guy lol
Although I appreciated the vs410 body set and all the cool stuff that came included, the entire process from painting to adding all the scale details about drove me to the nut house. The mechanical details of a crawler interest me more than the aesthetics, chassis layout, shock tuning and tire grip are things I can get into. I will say it is amazing to see the quality of RC parts and accessories that are available to us at this time and the battery and electronics are worlds above what I remember of my youth.

2: I’m addicted to building and will probably order more crap than I need to start another build lol