The Kraken "build thread" TTC

[AkronAxial]

Hey guys! First off, some background.

I'd bought this rig used, and it was pretty well hit. Bearings were all but frozen, the inside of everything filled with rust, 90% of the thing needed re-done or worked on in some way. Came with some unknown servo, esc and a Tamiya silver can. Yikes!

Well, as ugly as it really was, it was my first trail truck and all I had at the moment, but it sure sparked lot of forward movement. Less than 2 weeks later I ordered the wife a brand new G6, and she and I, along with a few friends, started the local group "Summit County Crawlers" on Facebook, and my how things have snowballed!

I figured it was high time to show this thing some public love, outside of the realm of Facebook, so, here it is, the "build thread". I still have it, though it's not the same truck I started with, all things considered. Only the links and chassis remain.

Rather than lumping it all together at once, and boring you all with a novel, I'll make this a multi-post chronological journey to what she is today.

I'm doing this because the truck is finally where I want it to be, and now the next step is using the next pile of spare parts and the experience I've gained to build a 2.2 do-everything recovery rig.

Bear with me, will probably take an hour or two to get all the posts, pics and descriptions up!

[AkronAxial]

First off, the name. The Kraken. You see, my 1:1 I've currently got stripped apart and being totally redone in my garage is named The Black Pearl, so it only makes sense, show up in the Pearl, release the Kraken!

Well, here begins the journey, from someone else's used mess to something I am finally happy with. Time to start on the next one!

The best part of this truck is the frame. I've never seen another one like it, and the cross members are definitely home made, but it works. The links are high clearance, they also worked well, but the buck stopped there. This truck was great at first, until I'd really started to get into it. It just wasn't enough. The following pics are from the first time she came home with me, and the first run, outdoors freezing my butt off and having a blast!



First flex, I thought it was impressive, too!



Being a racer for many years, I'd never actually ran an RC outside in the snow, the cold, the wet, none of it. Heck, the only dirt mine ever saw before was clay and loam, the only moisture was from watering a track. What a brave new world!!! And if anyone here is familiar with Ohio, it does get COLD!

[AkronAxial]

First upgrade! The aforementioned cold weather brought me my first lesson in winter time RC: Plastic hates it, and it WILL break. Ok, so, aluminum ends it is! Not a bad start, right? Never even thought at this point that "Wow, those shocks! The drive shafts! What junk!".

[AkronAxial]

Already noticing a trend, too: Picture quality improved at about the same rate as the truck. Stop shaking your heads, it gets better!

A buddy tossed me these 1.9 Flat irons, not too bad. The Rip Saws that were on it before had real stiff foams and were NOT the R35 compound, so this was a huge step up!



Then, the electronics. As i'd mentioned, the servo, ESC, motor, all junk, and all on their last leg.

Not pictured, but i scooped up a Traxxas XL-5 ESC. Waterproof, cheap, simple, my style haha

I then dug into a box of motors I'd acquired, and found a Trinity P2K2, and away we went. The excitement was short lived when I'd learned the lesson that open end bell mod motors don't like extreme temps, dirt, water, mud, or pretty much anything. Oh well, live and learn!

I had no servo on hand, as my electronics surplus hadn't quite grown at that point, but I'd find my preference soon enough.

Tool and spare parts kit had also grown at this point, and seeing as how the wife had now joined me with her new G6, I had someone with a large messenger bag that could act as the trail support team

[AkronAxial]

Ahh, now the shocks! I'd acquired a used Losi 2.2 crawler in trade with some other things, and the brain started turning. Looking at the nice, nearly new Losi shocks, then my junkers....then the Losi.....then mine....time to experiemnt!!! They ended up being much smoother, better looking, and more adjustable than what I had, big win all around! I'm still rocking them to this day for the simple fact that they just freakin work!

I had no idea that just that simple change made the entire ride smoother, the angle of flex greater, all around better, though the increased ride height made the rig much more unstable and top heavy. Oh well, she'll grow into it ;)

At this point i'm beginning to realize how HIDEOUS the body was. Not the body itself, so much as the way it was done.





Although miles behind where she is now, this is still one of my favorite pics of this truck!

[AkronAxial]

Told ya Summit County Crawlers began picking up steam! Our first large group run in the woods. 16 degrees Fahrenheit, but we all had a blast! Our group, as well as members of Ohio RC Scale Gurus and NOSTR. Also, the first outdoor pic ever taken of the wife's green G6

It was also that day, in the midst of a group of fellow hobbyists, I grew a pair and found out that WOW, these things really are waterproof!!!

[AkronAxial]

That last big group run was the last run ever before the real "build" part of things began. It was also the last time the truck ran prior to me discovering how bad it really was.

As i'd stated, bearings were all but frozen. Right. Half of them WERE frozen and decided they wanted to be bushings instead of bearings. The axles hadn't been removed in so long that they never did come apart. They're still sitting in a box in my basement, frozen. All screws gone, myself and one of my biggest friends playing tug-of-war with them, and still, nothing. I have a strange robot leg looking amalgamation of two axle housings, one on each side of frozen shafts and a transmission housing. Nothing, not heat, not a week long WD40 bath, not a week long PB Blaster bath, not brute force would do the trick.

The truck got stripped. Down to bare frame, much like what's going on with my 1:1 right now. The frame also got stripped, and repainted a nice shade of flat freakin black haha

The shocks were cleaned, refreshed and left with one squirt of oil in each.

The links were cleaned and new thread lock applied, then new everything else.

New AX10 locked transmission, HD outputs as well. HR hardened steel drive shafts attached to that and go into SCX10 axles with helical cut gears. New everything all around.

New Fast Eddy bearings. New marine grease, of course, and spread into all areas water or mud could enter.

MOD 1 spur/pinion

All new hardware.

Made my own clear electronics tray and attached a brand new XL-5 and Spektrum radio gear.

I also made the switch to a Traxxas 2075 servo. once again, waterproof, cheap, works for me. I'm only on my second one in a year of heavy weekly abuse. Same thing for the XL-5.

I ran the Holmes Hobbies Torquemaster Pro hw 27t for a while, but it just wasn't for me. Didn't enjoy replacing brushes and caring for the comm every run, for one thing. Back to sealed can Axial motors. I know, broken record here, but it's cheap, and it works. I like anything from 20t-35t. It is a trail truck, after all, not a dead-serious crawler or anything!

Basically, you're looking at a brand new truck save for the chassis and links.

Eagle-eyed viewers would be quick to spot one "down grade". Back to Rip Saws. My wife's stock Trepadors SUCKED and I gave her the Flat Irons and went to R35 Rip Saws with star-cut foams. They worked for me for a long time, as you'll see throughout this build...

[AkronAxial]

VERY dirty in this pic, but, the cold managed to show me another weak point, which ended up being the plastic ends on the Losi shocks. My brain started turning, and, oddly enough, it turns out that the aftermarket aluminum shock caps I had, NIB, from a Traxxas Slash 4X4 that I no longer had, fit perfect! Weak point eliminated, and a bit of good 'ol red white, and blue patriotism added! Ah, right, also, lighter spring rate on the Losi shocks. Still running them like this, these things still work great!

[AkronAxial]

More experimenting. After getting tired of looking at that beat up blue body, I found this one. I love the way it looked, but hated the way it fit and sat, so only ran it about 2-3 weeks. Oh well, back to old faithful :/

[AkronAxial]

Ahhhhh, the kind of scale look only time and abuse can buy you! Over time, the paint on this home made steel bumper got scratched, the bumper bent and dented, and some very nice rust began to appear. One spot on a rig you really don't mind seeing rust when you're looking for the beat up style unique to Motor Trend's Top Truck Challenge rigs!




Then, the next "scale" change, that actually sparked the next onslaught of modifications to this truck!

Shameless plug, but thanks to my buddy at Bull Rope RC on Facebook for the rope and sticker, the recovery rope looks great, is VERY strong and I love it!

Now that the performance of this truck is ALMOST where I want it, it's time to focus on looks, right? RIGHT??? XD

[AkronAxial]

WRONG!!! Well, kind of. The next batch of mods was both looks and performance. I used some scrap plastic I'd gotten from a friend, epoxied 3 layers of it together, drilled, cut and sanded, and made some new mounts for the LiPo tray. Compare it to pics earlier in this thread, and you'll see it allowed me to drop the LiPo down 1/2", and further forward by 1/2" as well. Not huge, but it actually made a noticeable difference as well as allowing me to tuck the battery down in between the frame rails.



I then took my first step into the world of Styrene! What an adventure! I kept it simple for the sake of learning curves and made a set of inner fenders that sit flush inside the body, but mount to the frame using existing parts and bolts. They do well for hiding the LiPo, and keeping just a bit more mud from reaching the inner workings of the truck.

[AkronAxial]

The next step including making a drop bed, a change that badly needed done to enhance the overall looks, and scale appearance of the truck. The issue was, my measurements are so close, tolerances so close, and the XL-5 so tall that i had to remove the cross member and previous electronics tray, drill the chassis and relocate the cross member further back, and position a new electronics tray attached to the bottom of the chassis instead of the top. This allowed me to move everything further forward and lower, all towards the center mass of the chassis.

It also allowed me to position the ESC so it could sit inside the TSC tool box in the bed, through a hole in the bottom, and be operated through the lid of the tool box instead of always having to reach under a wet muddy rig to work it.

For looks, I ended up shaving off the entire bottom 1/4" of the tool box sit it sat nice in the bed instead of sticking up. I also made my own shorter body posts, and drilled holes for the clips to mount through so my mounting location could remain the same-ish, though now mostly hidden by the accessories in the bed.

Throw in a rolled up tarp, shovel, rake, full size spare and some beer cans and it's done!!!

The truck is DIRTY and home waterproofing things doesn't help, overlook the lack of aesthetics when she's topless, please









While fiddling with all this, I used the new room i'd made in the rear of the chassis, fiddled with the rear links, and bought another 1/2" or so of room. Now it totally tucks at full compression, and has more flex, too. The axle end of the top links and all the mounts actually go all the way up in between the chassis rails. The only thing the last several inches of rear chassis are even there for any more is to mount the body on!

[AkronAxial]

I'd come across my first ever set of bead locks, and it was love at first sight!!! They're 2.2's, and so are the tires, but it's not obnoxious. In fact, while they're nearly twice the width of my 1.9 Rip Saws, they're barely any taller at all.

Cut the tread on these very soft 2.2 Losi Rock Claws, gear cut the foams, and weighted the fronts (another first for me!). These things are GREAT!!! Along with the obvious performance benefit, the meatier looks brings it one more step towards TTC looks and glory!!! Not to mention they also fit the lift and height of my rig MUCH better



In the background of this shot, a hint of things to come for my next build, the junkyard recovery truck, built out of all spare bits and pieces, except the X Trail chassis....



*Borat voice* Ah, Very nice!!!

[AkronAxial]

Now, back to that hideous body. As previously stated, I LOVE the way this body fit the truck, and the thought of it. There was a lot I didn't love, however. The person to own it before me liked making "dents" with his soldering iron. A nifty idea, but I believe this was one of his first as the "dents" looked more like the truck had been deflecting tank shells!!!

The owner before him loved mounting holes. That would explain why there were THREE of them side-by-side on the rear, per post, and several down the sides that had been hidden by stickers. She also somehow must have figured the truck looked better with the grille upside down, and the indicators on top instead of where they belong. And the accessories glued to the top of the tonneau before the drop bed? Sheesh!

The problem was, I was the body's third owner. I didn't know who made it, what it fit, what it was called, nothing!!! Then, finally, after a year of searching, I found it!!! Sold off some things I had laying around and bought it!

I'd never worked with Tamiya PS-14 copper. I had no clue what a pain this paint was. I did the black, then laid down the copper in the same manner I had on dozens of body's in my life time. Big mistake. The copper ATE the black!!!

Tower was awesome enough to replace the whole order after hearing what happened.

Round 2.

FOURTEEN coats of copper that amounted to a mere dusting with each pass, to give it time to set before it could eat the black paint.

I took the outer mask off, and was greeted by one of the most beautiful colors i think I've ever seen on an RC! SUCCESS!!!

Body, btw, is a Parma 1967 Ford F-100



While not usually my favorite kind of color, the sheen and depth of this one, combined with the body lines, and the black to accent it....it's 100% pure WIN!!! LOVE IT!!!




Since it was the exact same body I'd had, it was fairly easy to cut it and throw the drop bed in this one. Old Blue sits on a shelf now with the black and silver body. This one? So dang gorgeous it's still sitting in my living room where I can sit back and look at it all day!

[AkronAxial]

And finally, "COMPLETION".

Basic plans for the future. She needs new links with less scratches, same color as I love how it accents the body.

She'll be getting all new bearings and everything worn out will be replaced, but that's a yearly thing with my RC's, needed or not.

Maybe search more for the perfect motor, but these Axial cans are cheap and durable, and don't seem to mind mud much

Maybe a few tiny changes here and there, like these eye hooks and "rope" holding the spare tire in (better SCALE explanation than Shoe Goo magic lol)



At any rate, here she is in all her glory! I personally think I finally NAILED the TTC style I was going for!

Oh, and what do ya know, my old set of 1.9 Axial Rip Saws still have a purpose :p





Maybe some day I'll get bored again, and decide to do a true-to-the-truck full interior, and some LED headlights and tail lights, but at the moment, I'm pretty darned pleased with what I've done!

Thanks to anyone who went through this thread, and thanks in advance for any compliments!!! Off to the next project!

I have to miss tomorrow's run, but will be out for sure next weekend, hoping for more snow, I'll post some top-quality pics of this thing afterwards