Expert Advice Needed :Can this super cheap truck be turned into a crawler?

[TheHeadHunter]

OK here it is;
Square RC Sustain (mainly known for making option parts for other RC brands) I don't know how well known this brand is in the U.S...
Anyway they make this one truck only

Its called The Griffin it ain't nothing special to look at especially that ugly body that you will see soon...
this 1/18 hobby grade 4x4 comes as an RTR from the maker at about $200
the good part is I can get them for under half the price at my source,thats under $90 for a pretty damn fun and solid truck and RTR ,just need the transmitter batteries and to charge the two NI-CD 6.0v with the included charger...tons more fun than Mini-Z monster or Micro-T this thing has tons of power and torque from its 2 small motors feels very close to a standard Mabuchi Johnson 550 motor but its much smaller than a stock TLT torque wise.The tires are quite sticky and grip well and come with foams inserted too.
Here is the tranny on mine

and a couple more shots of it pulled apart(nothings too small to work with)


here is some action shots



I know the cons are many like;Unusual sizes overall motors,the wheel size is unusual too. ,dog bone drive shafts,non solid axles...but Ive seen some great Crawler engineers on this Forum and hope to prove even the guys at the factory where its made wrong ...I think it can be done but those guys there are only into drifting RC's and say it cant be done.
It would feel good to have something unique that might work as a crawler it doesn't have to be a great one either for the price its worth a try , what do you think

PS; here is the link to the Griffin website!
http://www.rc-square.com/griffin/index.htm

[Fracture]

Well if you stripped it right down I guess you could make a pretty good mini maxx crawler?
Im liking the tranny

got any pics of the tranny dissasembled? looks like it could make a good transfer case for a lightweight scaler imo

[TheHeadHunter]

Thanks for seeing the potential in it , as I said it might not make the best crawler but if it can make an OK scaler/basher with good crawler capability then great because of the price it will be the CHEAPEST option out there...and it would give me great satisfaction for me and others involved to be a part of finding the cheapest option project truck out there...

if you are interested I will ship one out to you at no profit to myself...I just want to see some results...

[Fracture]

With a lot of tube and brazing you could make a pretty good set of locked out axles and a chassis. Whats important is how heavy its build, eg what do the tranny and diff gears look like, what diameter shafts does it all run on..

I wonder how the dual motors & batteries would compare to a cheap single 540 setup?

-edit-
Darn.. now I wanna make a mini version of that (UPDATED-Done!)A new Twisted Creation is DONE!!!!!!
you could almost get away with a soldered brass frame at this scale, would be a cheap project.

Whats the width outside-of-tire to-outside of-tire?
Whats with the shocks? have they got oil in em or are they just for show?

[Cloak]

That's real tempting to order a couple from you. One to keep stock for the kids to play with and one to try and do something with.

[TheHeadHunter]

sure man just let me know and I can organize it ...only thing though since I am not a retailer my self I can not quote you any shipping fees...

[Fracture]

Could you post up some more info on the diffs/trans, and answer the Q from above? Im actually considering getting one of these for some reason

Also can I get a closeup of the steering knuckle&stub? would be good to know if these could take some 1.9 wheels

-edit-
just looked at the website.. this thing looks perfect for a mini locked out crawler

Tranny gears look nice and beefy too


I may have missed it, but does this come with bearings or are they only an upgrade?
One last thing.. outter diameter of the dogbone cups/outdrives please

[TheHeadHunter]

Originally Posted by Fracture

With a lot of tube and brazing you could make a pretty good set of locked out axles and a chassis. Whats important is how heavy its build, eg what do the tranny and diff gears look like, what diameter shafts does it all run on..

I wonder how the dual motors & batteries would compare to a cheap single 540 setup?

-edit-
Darn.. now I wanna make a mini version of that (UPDATED-Done!)A new Twisted Creation is DONE!!!!!!
you could almost get away with a soldered brass frame at this scale, would be a cheap project.

Whats the width outside-of-tire to-outside of-tire?
Whats with the shocks? have they got oil in em or are they just for show?

I will post all the photos of inside the tranny and measurements ...there are oil shocks as optional parts which I can talk to my guys here about possibly including in the package...
I will post the photos tonight .For now its back to work a few hours more:-(

[TheHeadHunter]

Originally Posted by Fracture

Could you post up some more info on the diffs/trans, and answer the Q from above? Im actually considering getting one of these for some reason

Also can I get a closeup of the steering knuckle&stub? would be good to know if these could take some 1.9 wheels

-edit-
just looked at the website.. this thing looks perfect for a mini locked out crawler

Tranny gears look nice and beefy too


I may have missed it, but does this come with bearings or are they only an upgrade?
One last thing.. outter diameter of the dogbone cups/outdrives please

OK the outer diameter on the cups is 8mm
the outdrives diameter is 4mm here's a photo of the cup next to stock TLT's

here is the stub next to a TLT stub

tranny setup

tranny next to stock Mabuchi 540

all bearings lol I didn't even know I just checked now

next to clod axles


for more info please let me know guys
''Im actually considering getting one of these for some reason''

This is exactly what I thought before I bought mine...lol and it was bought with the change leftover from a Losi Micro-T(which I am selling cause I don't like it much) I was purchasing the Micro -T and my friend( the owner)said how about these and said he can do them at a special price there were 3 left in a dusty corner...and then I said ''well I just bought the Losi'' and left the store lol walked right outside stepped out 1 2 3 4 5 6th step/ STOP I think /WTF went back and said I'll take 2 lol...at that price its just too good of a deal even just for a basher or present for daughters cousins... TY!!! Alex

[TheHeadHunter]

Sorry about the photos my camera sucks.About the wheels I asked when I bought mine and they said that they cant be changed.
I do understand that its not the best donor out there for crawling but I believe it is the cheapest and at the price worth chopping to bits and feeding to your fish as well.
As I mentioned earlier crawling is just catching on here so that plus the fact that the Japanese customers virtually like to be spoon fed famous brand name products off the shelf is the reason why no one or hardly anyone has noticed this truck.If it had Tamiya or Kyosho on the box of course every Tom Dick and Yamada would be bying one . Its the style of marketing here also ,the bigger brands/company's fight as hard as possible to fog out the less known ones.The general consumer point of view is very basic "everyone's got one so I have to have one too". Its tons different to anywhere else I guess.
Sorry to be going on and on lolz ...I just looooove the Chit Chat section!!!!!

[LAV25]

Oh man you actually bought one of those weird little blue vettes? I've been seeing them for years at Super Rajikon and wondering how they performed, I've got a Mini-Z Monster that I'm moderately disappointed with and occasionally kick around the idea of picking up a Griffin as an indoor/light basher, don't know that I'd try to mod it though. If we ever hit the rocks, throw that in your pack so I can give it a spin, will you?

Thanks

[TheHeadHunter]

...sure Mike ,can't wait for it to warm up it been too cold to leave the house.Its way much more fun than Micro-T !!!! ah it might be suitable for your 8x8 thing... I just have no idea how to go about the crawler project with it

[TheHeadHunter]

a Griffin as an indoor/light basher


Its not much of a indoor light basher cause its too fast and damn high in torque though/ try it if u want to make some nice holes in the wall its about 5 times as the torque of a Mini-z...plus I think it can be a decent donor for a unique project in the right hands ...definitely not my hands:-(

[LAV25]

Would you be able to post a pic of the wheel hexes or what passes for them? One problem I potentially see with customization is that the stub axle looks thinner than the TLT's, might mean that anything you make of it would have to use those rims and tires, or chop down some other tires to fit the rims....

Thinking thinking thinking.....

[Defender]

Originally Posted by LAV25

Would you be able to post a pic of the wheel hexes or what passes for them? One problem I potentially see with customization is that the stub axle looks thinner than the TLT's, might mean that anything you make of it would have to use those rims and tires, or chop down some other tires to fit the rims....

Thinking thinking thinking.....

Yeah thats what I was thinking...looks like it might be the same size as the mini inferno stuff.

That does look like a pretty fun truck stock though. Twin motors and batteries.. must be pretty fast for a mini.

[TheHeadHunter]

Originally Posted by Defender

Yeah thats what I was thinking...looks like it might be the same size as the mini inferno stuff.

That does look like a pretty fun truck stock though. Twin motors and batteries.. must be pretty fast for a mini.

Ever seen these in your HS Defender?