My boy's new FOFF

[motocooney]

***UPDATE...I'm too new to post the classifieds. But I'm selling this FOFF locally on Craigslist. If anyone is interested, shoot me a text @ 616-617-8694. It will come with everything in the pictures except for a motor and rx. Also, the Traxxas servo has been switched out for a TowardPro MG servo

So up until 2 weeks ago I had never even heard of a Formula Offroad truck...But after seeing some videos on youtube and looking at all the pics in the FOFF archive, my little boy was convinced that we HAD to build one right away.

All I had layin around were some old Ax-10 chassis plates and some Revo rod ends. So I started searching around for parts...I bought some 1/4" aluminum round for the links.

Wheelbase is 13".

This is what I came up with. I'm sure it will be improved after we actually drive it.
The velinion waterproof system will be hear in a day or 2. I plan to run a 2500mah 3s in the rear. We'll be using the stock pitch gears at first but I'm sure we'll switch them out for 32p soon.

Let me know what you think. I plan to lower the body on the chassis by 1 1/2". I didnt wanna punch more holes in it until I was sure it was going to be used.

[DRV KRAWLER]

First of all Great Job Dad ! I think this is totally funny, my 3 1/2 year old is the one who wanted me to do a Foff build. I know I and many others will be keeping our eye's on this build. If I can be of any assistance, or I am sure anyone else would be willing to help out ! Best of luck, and thank you for sharing !

[M1tch]

looks good!! that body will be ok when lowered. i messed around with my body more than once to get it how i want.

is the transmission stock? if it is it will break im sorry to say, but enjoy it until it does break. possibly the driveshafts as well.

hate to sound like a bringer of doom, but at least you will be prepared...


and your kid can blame you

[motocooney]

The transmission is stock... as are the driveshafts.

Are you saying that I need to upgrade the gears in the trans?
If so, what do you recommend? Robinson Racing metal gears I assume.

I'm not running a slipper...mostly cause I dont have one lol.

Also, I dont wanna drop fifty bucks on driveshafts, but what is a cheap upgrade, or isn't there one.

Thanks for the input

[motocooney]

I found the Integy aluminum gear upgrade for the tranny. Is that legit?

I also, found MIP driveshafts.....$38 each?!?!! ouch....I'll see how long the stockers last.

This was supposed to be a budget build But so far, every other RC we have (including the SC trucks we race every week) have taken a back seat to the "snow racer". That's what Jagger (my son) calls it.

Am I crazy to run this without a slipper setup?

[M1tch]

yep, RR outdrive and idler. i dont know of any tougher drive gear (behind the spur), but mine looks ok.

RR parts are idler gear 1541, and 1542 outdrive.

i use e maxx centre drive shafts but i have altered the outdrive completely so they fit straight on and im using wheely king diff pinions which have the pin holes in.

[M1tch]

dunno about the integy, especially if they are aluminum. mip's are good, but EEK!!

with the power of brushless the driveshafts tend to jump off the outputs. i think the new axial outputs have a pin hole in them they may be better. i assume the input pinions shafts in the diff have dilled holes also

[Drail]

looks grate i'd swap your paddles. the sand paws will work better up front. lucky kid Drail

[DRV KRAWLER]

motocooney,

Their is without any question money that needs to be thrown at these rigs. They are the breaker of parts, High RPM and High SPEED can cost money.
RRP Gears are your best bet, I have seen some use the HR combos. All of my rigs run RRP.
Look around some of the builds are running stock Plastic shafts from Traxxas. You don't have to step up right away to MIP. In my opinion if it say Integy, IT WILL BREAK under this kind of abuse. You would be better of buying more plastic.

Take a little time, enjoy some of the threads. I have learned alot from others experiences. And from that experience I have been building my soon to run rig. DRV KRAWLER FOFF'en Formula Offroad

[West Cork Basher]

I'm likeing your build so far ...

You've given me a idea with those alloy bars across the chassis ,
great way of mounting the body ..

What shell is that , that you have fitted...


Here's my Ax-10 build soon to be FOFFer ..
Mad mAX-10..ProLine Tuber Cage Build.. - RCCrawler.com Bulletin Board

I'm subbed..

Sean.

.

[M1tch]

sean, i did that on my foffer originally, then went to a single post front and back.... now i want to go back to the original. lucky i still have the holes in the body.. its so i can fit a bigger battery in the back between the chassis rails when im using it as a trail truck, as the cross members supporting the posts stop me doing that.

theres no end to developement, but no end to the fun either

[johnnyh66]

Fun in the snow, wait till he gets it in the sand!

I ran mine without a slipper for a while. I was very mindful of the throttle though... post in the wanted section for one. I'm sure you can pick one up for next to nothing.

Traxxas maxx shafts are beefy, they can handle the power and parts are cheap. There's a few ways to hook them up. I'm guessing they can mount directly to the new Wraith outputs?

I'd try to get the shocks more vertical if you can fabup a mount. Fight the torque twist.

[West Cork Basher]

Originally Posted by M1tch

sean, i did that on my foffer originally, then went to a single post front and back.... now i want to go back to the original. lucky i still have the holes in the body.. its so i can fit a bigger battery in the back between the chassis rails when im using it as a trail truck, as the cross members supporting the posts stop me doing that.

theres no end to developement, but no end to the fun either

Sorry M1tch , but I don't quite under stand,
cann't picture it in my head . .

[desertrat55]

Nice job so far ,im working on my foff build also FYI you can pick up hardened gears for the t case, stainless outdrives , and metal driveshafts fairly inexpensive at bizzarehobbies.com They have a lot of sweet parts for crawlers and others.

Keep up the good work

[Hacksaw707]

Welcome aboard, Nice start, if you can get the battery off the rear axle and inside the frame, maybe on the upper links, that 2500 mah pack will be heavy, making it want to pull the fronts off the ground under throttle. Like Johnnyh66 said try to stand those shocks up to fight torque twist. Run it, break it, up date it. You'll find soon enough what you need to replace.
Have fun

[West Cork Basher]

What bodie shell is it, looks nice ,
mite and try and get one , if I know what make / model it is...

..

[motocooney]

Well, we rocked it out in the yard for a while tonight. It's fun. It seems so slow to both of us lol.
I don't know what I was expecting???

Maybe the gearing is the issue.
The velinion motor is hitting the nut on my rear upper link. so I could only fit an 18t/87t...I was in too much of a hurry after work to get it running. Didn't wanna mess with relocating/shortening the rear uppers.
So I know it's way undergeared.
I just moved the link bolt hole about a half inch back on the chassis and the motor clears now. Although I didn't shorten the links so it tilted the rear axle back a bit. But I dont really care. I think it just looks better with the front and rear axles perfectly level across the top.

We went through 2 servos in about 15 minutes. i dont know what the deal is.
The 1st was a Traxxas 2075 "waterproof" servo
The 2nd was a freebie replacement I got from redcat so I knew that would break but not in less than a minute.

I really want to keep this rig waterproof. I'm in Michigan and we're expecting a lot of snow soon. So no sandy beaches for us until at least May.

As far as the shocks, I didnt have any other shorter shocks. If I stood these straight up, they'd be sitting close to the end of their travel.

My goal is a better suspension setup for sure. I finally understand what "torque twist" is all about.

The body is a Pro-Line Rockstar body. Which now has 2 more holes in it. I tried to lower the body but didnt realize it wouldn't clear the ESC. So it's back at the first ride height. Oh well. Maybe I can relocate some stuff.
There is NO room on these things for electronics.

Thanks for the comments guys!!!

My boy loves it by the way

[M1tch]

Originally Posted by West Cork Basher

Sorry M1tch , but I don't quite under stand,
cann't picture it in my head . .

me too now i read what i wrote

i had body posts out the side at first, then out the top. now i want to go back to a side mount.

maybe

[West Cork Basher]

Originally Posted by M1tch

me too now i read what i wrote

i had body posts out the side at first, then out the top. now i want to go back to a side mount.

maybe

Now I under stand . .

[motocooney]

It's a Pro-line Rockstar Body.

We drove it lastnight. It's way undergeared. 18/87

Gonna try 23/87 tonight.

Also, we went through 2 servos in like 15 minutes?!?!

A traxxas 2075 and a junk redcat replacement servo.

I'm gonna buy a new gear set for the traxxas cause I like the idea of waterproof electronics.