OS's You-Em-Gee

[OSRC]

Everyone is building G-speed rigs, and I'm still messing with SCX10 V2's... I did just break down and order a III, but that's for another long winded thread.

Getting back to the matter at hand, it started at last years G6 when I saw a UMG doing very well on some of the technical trails... I thought the short wheelbase and tall body would limit it a lot, but it surprised me with how well it wheeled.... Interesting. Filed that away in the mental filing cabinet for future reference.

Then one day back in December when "locked down" I saw this bad boy hauling stuff around across the street. One of the local farmers has it and uses it on the farm.


Thusly inspired, I did my part to stimulate the economy and broke down and ordered a UMG kit... They are decently priced, pretty well featured out of the box, and I figured it should keep me busy for a while.

Not being able to leave anything stock, I built it with a bunch of goodies...some of which I had laying around and some of which I snagged with the kit:

Samix shock towers
Samix Brass C's
SSD Knuckles
SSD Rear axle weights
SSD rear lockouts
SSD 2-speed trans
SSD diff cover (front)
SSD Overdrive gear
HW 1080 and Holmes Crawlmaster 540 13t

I started this back in January, so let's go back a bit. The kit comes with the 1-piece axles, which I totally forgot. Thankfully, I had enough bits in my stash to build the 3-piece housings so I could bolt on my goodies.


The OD gears wouldn't turn at all in the front housing. Odd. I ended up chucking the pinion in my drill and using a file to grind down the back of the pinion until it turned freely. Still a little crunchy, but at least it now turns decently. It'll wear in. Maybe.


Axles built, the rear was still a 1 piece, I was waiting for the rear lockouts which were backordered at the time. (eventually I swapped over and added the weights)


Chassis was done and ready to go! It looks so short with that wheelbase...having flashbacks of my old Dingo! This is my third II kit, but the first time I've ever used the II transmission. It's way big.


The body is quite complicated, and was a lot of fun to assemble. Took me a while, which was perfect since it was winter and there was absolutely nothing going on. Took my time and tried to nail all the details. Went with the same paint scheme as my Defender.


Farmer inspired, I tried to do plaid on the shirt. Came out kinda meh, but not terrible I guess.


Picked up some loose LED's and wired them up - the warm LED's are perfect. I was debating the Mercedes grill, but in the end just stuck with the stock one.



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(Sat for a month...it was freaking cold out there!)
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Got a wild hair and set it up to go out and play in the snow... Stretched some lunchbox tires over some 2.2's and they fit this truck perfectly!



The life happened.. I never did run it in the snow... maybe next year!
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(sat for a few more months...)

[OSRC]

Finally last weekend, I got it out for the maiden run. (First full run I've done on 3S, by the way) and turns out is really capable. Who knew? Good approach angles front and rear and a decent amount of weight down low to counter that heavy, tall body and it was crawling all over the place. Smooth low end and a ton of rip with 3s in high gear. Had a ball with it!


Nature is awesome... getting back to the roots!


Tricky climb, some of my other trucks struggle here, but with the great approach angle, I was able to get both tires on the rock and it scrambled up and over. Redcat tires are well broken in and they are really working well. Wasn't sure about them initially, but with some better foams and a few miles on them, they came alive.




Did decent on my usual test rock as well... Sidehill was not the best though, I had some issues with the shocks. (Gee, stock Axial Icons had leaks?? You don't say)


So, after about 90 minutes on the trail, the shocks had no more oil and the truck sounded like a blender. Hmmm....Parked it, headed home and ordered some more parts to make some changes.

The SSD 2 speed worked perfect, but the stock top shaft was causing all the noise. The spur was sliding back and forth and hitting the pinion set screw. Ordered a VP top shaft and converted back to single speed. Now it seems nice and smooth again.

Both front and rear axles were turning a little hard. The hexes were rubbing the brass weights a bit in the back, and I have no idea why the front was turning hard. No matter, I swapped in some SSD axle housings for a bit more weight and everything was nice and smooth when I was done. I did have to add a pinion shim up front to take up for the material I took off earlier.


They look great under there!


I use teflon tape, green slime, thick grease, and some other build tricks to spruce up Icons, and usually they hold up pretty decent. Some i've had for years and they are still leak free. Not these....they leaked so bad they may as well have fountained the oil out. When I was done, there was only 1 left with oil in it, and it was about 1/4 full. Not sure if I have some old O-rings, forgot something, or what, but I've never had a set of any shocks leak so bad. The truck was pogosticking all over the place by the end of the run and it really affected performance. Stock springs are way soft too for that tippy body too. I swapped on a set of TRX shocks with 40wt oil and some stiffer springs and it feels much, much better. Also mounted the shock lowers on the link mount screw to lower the truck a touch. Had to trim some of the fenders, but the lower CG should be worth it.


And ready for round 2 this weekend!