B-MOW's IFS Trailwalker

[B-MOW71]

Originally Posted by soze

Well... about that high clearance link bend...

Here's what I found out.

If your shocks are in stock position then the bend at the skid works out good.

If your shocks are leaned and allows your axle to be compressed more than the stock setup does, then the bend works better at the axle.

Yeah my shocks are in the stock position and since I put the fuel tubing on the shock shafts, the bend works out great at the skid.

Now on my Sendero, I’ll probably install the high clearance links with the bend at the axle. It has more flex and will more than likely get bound up at full compression.


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[B-MOW71]

Originally Posted by dezfan

Holy crap B!

It’s hard to believe that’s the stock Trailwalker body!

Nice work! Looks a 100 times better in this configuration!

Thanks dez!

It’s amazing what a little paint will do!


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[Sherman]

That's a sharp looking Trailwalker. You do good work!

[B-MOW71]

Originally Posted by Sherman

That's a sharp looking Trailwalker. You do good work!

Thanks Sherman!

[B-MOW71]

I got the REVolutionX Element Enduro High Clearance Mid-Chassis Brace printed and installed. Big shout out and thanks to soze for sharing the file!

The brace printed very nice and turned out great!

Here is a look at it installed. It fits great and leaves plenty of room for the high clearance links!

[Shinchu]

Originally Posted by B-MOW71

It is the chrome Enduro Sendero grill. I cut off the bottom portion that had the turn signals so that it would fit into the opening where the stock grill was. It is almost an exact size as the Trailwalker grill. I did have to file/sand a little off of each side so it would fit in. Also had to cut some of the lexan on the body behind the grill and make a couple holes. The Sendero grill mounts different than the Trailwalker grill.

The Chevy Bowtie I 3D printed. I found a file on Thingiverse. It was much bigger, so I shrunk it down so that it would fit the Sendero grill. I then painted it metallic silver and then added Tamiya X-24 Clear Yellow in the center. I put the clear yellow on thick and let it flow in so that it would be thick when it dried. The clear yellow gave it that somewhat transparent look like the 1:1 emblem. It is held on with E6000. The Bowtie feels like it is on there pretty solid, so I'm hoping that it doesn't fall off! If it does, I'll just print another one!

Looks great!!!
That's exactly how I painted my sons rc4wd blazer bowtie.
I mean its not a blazer anymore but yeah.
So great how you made this trailwalker look nearly licensed!

High clearence links and compatible soze brace look awesome too.
I gotta get mine out for some wheelin! Just been too dang hot.

[B-MOW71]

Originally Posted by Shinchu

Looks great!!!
That's exactly how I painted my sons rc4wd blazer bowtie.
I mean its not a blazer anymore but yeah.
So great how you made this trailwalker look nearly licensed!

High clearence links and compatible soze brace look awesome too.
I gotta get mine out for some wheelin! Just been too dang hot.

Hey thanks man!

Yeah, I really like how the bowtie turned out! Luckily I had some of that clear yellow in my paint supplies. I really wasn't sure how to make it look real!

Hi-clearance inks and the "soze" brace fit great and I can't wait to get it out for a test run!

I hear ya on the heat! It has been hot and wet hear for the last week. This week is supposed to be cooler and no rain in sight. Hoping to get some trigger time sometime soon!

[soze]

Body definitely looks great. Glad to see the print came out good and fits well for you!

[Topher Builds]

Nice print and cool part! Love seeing that type of thing going on.

Cheers gents.

[treadway47025]

What material did you print the two mounts in?

[B-MOW71]

Originally Posted by treadway47025

What material did you print the two mounts in?

I used PLA.

[treadway47025]

PLA, cool. Looks nice. Any info on where to turn for the 62mm link inbetween towers? Ive found 60 and 65mm

[B-MOW71]

Originally Posted by treadway47025

PLA, cool. Looks nice. Any info on where to turn for the 62mm link inbetween towers? Ive found 60 and 65mm

Thanks!

Well I guess I false advertised the 62mm link! It is actually a 60mm with washers on both sides that make it 62mm total length. I had a 60mm in my spare parts and didn't even look for a 62mm.

If you look close in the pic you can see the washers on both sides of the link.

[treadway47025]

Lol. Ok, ive been searching for 62 with no luck

[spoo76]

S99

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[B-MOW71]

Originally Posted by treadway47025

Lol. Ok, ive been searching for 62 with no luck

Originally Posted by spoo76

S99

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??? Um, say again!

[smog]

Your mid-chassis brace printed up really clean. Did it require much sanding? May I ask which 3D printer you use?

[spoo76]

Originally Posted by B-MOW71

??? Um, say again!

Must have done it from my pocket. I didn't respond to this lol

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[B-MOW71]

Originally Posted by smog

Your mid-chassis brace printed up really clean. Did it require much sanding? May I ask which 3D printer you use?

Thanks! Believe it or not, I took it right off the printer and installed it. I did not have to sand it at all.

I have the Ender 3 PRO and it has been a great printer so far! It is my very first printer and it has been very easy to use and it produces great prints. I've been lucky, it has been basically been "plug and play"! I haven't had to really adjust any settings to get great prints. Downside is if something does go wrong with a print, I'll probably struggle to figure out how to fix it!

Originally Posted by spoo76

Must have done it from my pocket. I didn't respond to this lol

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No worries!

I thought maybe I was missing something!

[B-MOW71]

It's been awhile since I've had the Trailwalker in the garage! Ever since I installed the IFS kit, I've been wanting to do something about the slop in the steering. The stock plastic bell cranks would flex under load causing the unwanted flex and sloppy, unpredictable steering. Luckily Bowhouse RC came up with a solution!

I ordered their new steering rack and bell crank aluminum upgrades. Both items installed easily and look great! All of the slop in the steering is now gone. The only play that I have now is in my cheap servo and a little play in the upper a-arm mounting pins. I'll be upgrading to a better servo in the future to reduce the slop and add more torque to help turn these fat wide tires a little better. Also going to take a look at the upper a-arms to see if I can fix the slop in them too.


The N2R Steering Bell Cranks are made out of aluminum and eliminate the flex and slop and add strength to the steering system. They are designed to reuse the stock bearings and bolt into the original location.




The N2R Steering Rack, which was first released last year, is CNC machined and eliminates the bump steer that the stock configuration was causing. It relocates and shortens the tie rods to put them in line with the upper a-arms to give it the proper geometry.




Here is a before and after look at how the new steering rack keeps the linkages in line with the a-arms. Suspension cycles smooth while keeping everything in-line.






And for anyone interested, here is a look at the weight distribution of how the IFS Trailwalker currently sits loaded with battery and ready to run. It is right around 6.29 lbs. I'm still wanting to install an interior, so that will add a little more weight to it.