Braving the Element

[durok]

Dropped the hammer on one today - Utility bed, too - expected by Friday...

Pic from site, more of actual vehicle when parts arrive and I get to customizing - yes, it will be rolling on TSL Thornbirds ASAP:

[Texas Crawler]

I think you'll like it. It's a cool rig, fun build. I would never recommend to build one without hard plastics though. Just my .02

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[mikemcE]

I think that pushed a goodie over the top. I will say after building one, fit and feel are much better than a similar kit from another builder. I did install most of the frame hard parts but not the axle housings. I want to see how good/bad they do.
All the rod ends kits and rtr are made from the harder compound and I’ve heard of only a few failures to date.
Im not sure the metal
Upgrade gears will be needed.
Enjoy and post up your twist!!

[Topher Builds]

Congrats durok! Enjoy the new addition.

[Shinchu]

Yeeeah baby!!!!

This what you tried to PM me about?
Super fun RTR rig! After so many nearly finished projects, this thing was a breath of fresh air to just get out and DRIVE!

Stoked for you brother!
I just found me some more green fun tickets... Not sure if they will go towards this or the kyosho rig we been eyeballing... ;)

[durok]

Originally Posted by Shinchu

Yeeeah baby!!!!

This what you tried to PM me about?
Super fun RTR rig! After so many nearly finished projects, this thing was a breath of fresh air to just get out and DRIVE!

Stoked for you brother!
I just found me some more green fun tickets... Not sure if they will go towards this or the kyosho rig we been eyeballing... ;)

Exactly what I was going to talk to you about, Shinchu - I just missed some great prices on 3 separate occasions - a scratch & dent at Amain, an Amazon seller that was undercutting standard pricing, and then a killer deal on a barely-used one - then I saw it for a whopping $51 off at some fly-by-night website that I was too paranoid to order from...

In the end I just said screw it, ordered it from Horizon Hobby through Amazon, ordered the utility bed and steel hexes from Element direct, and a super-cheap bumper (BOM, got the idea from soze) from fleaBay. I will be slowly upgrading as needed - but will basically run it nearly stock except for different wheels and tires for a while.

[durok]

"Elem-End-Ero" RTR truck shipped yesterday from Horizon Hobby - utility bed & steel hexes shipped today from Associated Electronics - Gmade Bom bumper shipped today from HRP.

Already have DS3218 "Pro" (supposedly slightly stronger and faster than std DS3218 servo) laying around with the free aluminum servo horn they always come with.

Also have 14t pinion from my Ascender that was barely used - will swap to max overdrive transmission gears and test the reversing motor wires and radio trick.

Using full-size battery tray for my 3S packs - installing 1.7" RC4WD Interco TSL pre-siped Boggers stretched over 1.9" SSD 5-slot black steelies.

[Shinchu]

Dude this build sounds SUH WEET already.

Glad you took the plunge. My LHS gave me a helluva deal and that made it a no brainer for me. $340 out the door! The chain store down the street said $370 plus tax I lollerskated right out the front door haha

Nice list of mods you got so far.
I'm about to order some goodies and some "free mod" type stuff too.
More on that in my thread soon.

Cant wait to see how those TSLs look!

[soze]

Nice man, the BOM bumper really does look good with the Enduro cab!

[B-MOW71]

Subscribed and looking forward to seeing your Enduro build!

[durok]

Unfortunately I don't know how long I will have to wait on the TSL Thornbirds, as RC4WD not only removed them from their site yesterday, they also replied to an email I sent about product ETA with this :

"I do not have any information as to how soon these will hit the shelf.

My only recommendation is to keep an eye out for the automated email

Skyler
RC4WD Support Team"

I had clicked on "Notify me when in stock" and emailed them about having posted on this forum about requesting a scale version of the 1:1 about a year and a half ago...

Kinda bummed, and keeping my fingers crossed as to their prompt release!

I'll likely also pick up their 1.9" Milestar Patagonias coming in a 4.7" O.D., which were also supposed to be shown at AxialFest and released soon after - those are also deleted from their site...

Anyways:

I plan to line the Utility bed with scale diamond plate aluminum sheet, which I already have laying around.

I am also thinking of possibly swapping in a VS4-10 chassis, if that works.

Ideally, perhaps SSD Pro44 axles as well - and possibly converting those to portals at some point.

To me, that would be the ultimate build.

Still undecided on the final cab for it... been looking at everything out there.

As I've said before, I love the MST JP1 body, but I also would like to have a body keeping the utility bed - at least at the beginning, I'll stick with the RTR cb and some paint.

Decisions, decisions!

[durok]

Amazingly, I just got a knock on the door and signed for my delivery from Amazon. Horizon Hobbies sure ships fast! I used a credit from a past Prime purchase and got this RTR for $345 delivered, total. I wasn't even prepared to get this until Friday! Thankfully, I have odd days off... Today and Friday.

[soze]

That's a good deal. My LHS was able to get me the RTR for $340 after taxes as well.

[durok]

I just might get the utility bed and steel hexes today according to tracking - but the GMade BOM bumper is on a slower route - looks like Friday for that.

Went ahead and bought new SSD Pro44 axles today from a member - so not using BTA steering.

Hmmm... still deciding on the VS4-10 chassis.

[MaX-D]

Originally Posted by durok

Hmmm... still deciding on the VS4-10 chassis.

I heard that Josh from Harley designs switched everything over to a vs410 chassis. He did a video on it, just waiting for that video to drop.

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[durok]

I'll be waiting for that, then.

Decided to try a different front bumper, too - if it doesn't fit I'll ship it back:

RC4WD Tough Armor Winch Bumper with Grill Guard to fit Axial SCX10:

[Shinchu]

I'm 98.7% almost certain that bumper will fit.

You are going to swap so much stuff, you will have no choice but to call it the elemendurovssd410. Or "Frankie" for short?

Either way it sounds interesting!
Bummer on the rc4wd tires though. I would love to see patagonias in 4.7 size.
If it makes you feel any better, the RTR general grabbers are decent, both in performance and looks (imo).

I'm also having trouble deciding on a body, mostly on account of the prolone 79 ford cab not fitting as easy as I hoped, and the rear cage that just got released for the enduro. Might have to order that knights dodge grill after all...

These trucks are a hoot!

[durok]

Called RC4WD yesterday about them dropping off the site, they said they will still notify me when they are released, they are still coming but no ETA as of yet...

I have a set of LURC Trail Readys with widener rings and black steel outer beadlock rings looking to clamp down on some rubber!

[durok]

Good news today... RC4WD has the Thornbirds AND the Patagonias back up on the site, in stock NOW!

I am ordering the Thornbirds as soon as they respond to the email they require for providing 10% military/veteran discounts.

Got the Element utility bed in the mail, will measure the whole thing when it's done, but for now I can tell you the most important measurement (obviously, the width at the back of the cab - and yes, the picture only show part of what's included):

185mm at the middle and the bottom corners - that's the widest part - and 170mm as the top corners begin to round off.

Cute baby Element decal included, also instruction sheet and extra hardware in case you are not using an Element body that comes with its own hardware.

And, just to show you they care about the environment, Associated sent the cage and the steel hexes to me in a repurposed RC10B6.1 Factory Lite racing buggy box!

[B-MOW71]

Element really does have the coolest boxes! For a long time AE fan like myself, that would be an awesome surprise to open the box and see the RC10B6 staring at me.

Glad to see you were able to pick up the new utility bed. I think these beds look great. I went to their website to buy one and found out they are out of stock. It won’t be available till October. These must be an extremely hot item!


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