RC4WD Beast 6x6 Reconstruction, Crawler/Recovery truck "Heavy Mental"

[BONDONUTZ]

Here's what I'm starting with, these are pictures the guy sent prior to making our deal. This thing had some serious issues when it finially showed up considering I was told other-wise.
5 broken off 2mm screws between 2 axle cases and over a dozen missing screws. The Mann body was broken in several places and all that was included was the floor pan and exterior shell, not sure if anything should have ben included such as door handles and hinges etc ? The servo mount was broken from crashing into something but it's reusable if I place a thin piece of alum over it and screw it into the Delrin. Also one of the front carriers is hogged out top and bottom from the missing kingpin bushings and someone just put a screw in and it worn the hole oval, real brainiac. And last but not least, the frame was bent in 4 places, no clue what they were doing with it ? In all fainess the guy I bought it from supposedly just bought it to turn a buck/profit but the original owner was a butcher of the truest form.






Once I received it I was able to get a decent pic

[BONDONUTZ]

I removed all the running gear and electronics and set them aside to get the new tires mounted up to make some room on the bench plus to see what needs to be done with the dual axles to make room for the taller tires.



Wow, what a PITA these rims are but they look super dope

[BONDONUTZ]

Next I tore down the 2spd tranny and found the idler gear pretty worn but with plenty left on it to last a while yet. I checked all bearings and bushings, cleaned everything and reapplied Mobil-1 Red Synthetic grease.

I then moved onto the original steering axle and drilled and tapped the broken
2mm screws and did a thorough cleaning and again used the Syn grease.





I bought 2 more steering axles from Rock @ RC4WD and tore them down as well and applied Syn grease during re-assembly.

[BONDONUTZ]

After switching around some links and adding a few 7mm spacers I was able to get the dual axles with plenty of space between the tires. This is the first of I'm sure many mock ups and to show my intent with this build.

Dual front axles both steering and the trailing axle also with steering, should help cut the turning radius down nicely.







I'm pondering on cutting this body down and transform it into Tatra bodie, thats a whole big can of worms with a bunch of other stuff to do first. I will post lots of pics and illustrate this process when the time comes.
I'm also open to suggestions on this matter ?

[BONDONUTZ]

Spektrum DX7S.

[BONDONUTZ]

Electronic's Parts list;

Castle Mamba Pro ESC
Castle BEC Pro
Trinity 1900kv sensored 540 on 3s OR Tekin SCX4 3000kv on 2s(Undecided)
1st & 2nd steering axles JR 8711 servos
3rd steering axle JR 8911HV
Trans shifting servo JR Z8550
RC4WD Winch will be bed mounted w/a boom.
LED's ??

[jsu101]

OOOOO Man this is going to be great....

[SlownSteady]

Nice build !! Those rims are a major pain. Well worth it they have a killer look. After the first wheel took about thirty minutes , I taped down the back of the rim to hold in the bolts. Cut my time in half. Jusssss sayin. Looking forward to this. Build.

[sweli]

Looks like fun!!

So six wheel steer?
On the servo that steers the center axle, you might play with attaching the drag link one hole up on your servo arm compared to the first and third axle.

[PFC FNG]

Subscribed.

Looks really good. Can't wait to see how it performs.

[BONDONUTZ]

I tried the new sheet metal break from Habor Freight and Tool and the thing works excellent, several vise grips are needed to hold the material steady in the tool but other than that well worth the price paid !

I made 2 electronics trays today and once the lenth is determined I will cut off the excess. Some make think I'm crazy but I decided to use Brass rather than aluminum and I'll explain why. Once the aluminum is bent 90* it cantr be bent back with breaking at the bend. Also I can solder braces, brackets, cab mounts etc etc right to these plates. The brass is a tick heavier than the aluminum but way lighter than the factory steel plates.















This entire sheet of brass is several grams lighter than this steel plate at 1/2 it's size.

[2manyprojects]

i love the wheels and the axles!

[Big Mike]

It's a sad fact of life: some folks just have more money than intelligence. How do you take $1200 worth of really cool truck and just screw it to chaos and back? Probably a birthday/Xmas present for some rich kid.

I've wanted a Beast ever since RC4WD first offered them up for sale. It warms my heart to see one get rescued from a bumbling idiot and go to a good new home where someone who knows what they are doing will give it some love...

[BONDONUTZ]

I FINIALLY received the parts I was waiting for so now I'm pretty motivated to get some shit done on this build after the stale mate for several weeks.



I cut the servo holes out on rear electronics tray out today and decided thats it seemes kinda flimsy around the trans shift servo area so I added few braces for the added strenth. I've ben a certified Mig and Tig welder for a couple decades but I couldn't remember the last time I brazed/soldered brass. What a nice refreshing change it was, everything just melted together nicely and gave me zero troubles and the finish of the product gives me several options for the final finish weither to let it tarnish naturally or possible Powder coating ?

[PFC FNG]

I like powdercoating myself, but if your handy with an airbrush you could fade the color of your choice in and out across the chassis. Let the sections of raw brass give a weathered look to it? I wish I could braze like that, solid work.

[BONDONUTZ]

Now that I have some stuff installed this thing is quickly getting heavy !
I ditched the 540 sensored motor in favor of a 550 Tekin motor, If by some chance this motor runs warm I'll probably go with a Tekin Pro4

I decided to just reinstall the shifting servo back on the trans where it originally was and removed the braces and added a plate tpo tidy the hole up.







DId some more work on the rear plate today, made a drop down bumper and got some of the steering hooked up on the middle axle.

[Big Mike]

Lots of nice brass work.

Heavy is not necessarily a bad thing IMO, as long as the suspension can handle it properly.

More weight = more realistic behavior when you're actually driving it.

This truck is going to be special...

[BONDONUTZ]

@ Mike, Your kind words are most appreciated.


Did more relaxing than anything else today but I managed a bit more.



Rear bumper braces and loops for the rear pull rings/shackles.



















This what I'm using to do the brazing/soldering






I've build hundreds of custom RC's over the years with a lot of one off parts but going to this extreme has ben the most fun ever, Wished I ventured into this kinda of stuff years ago ?

[dadrab]

The effort has certainly paid off. This is going to be damn nice.

[BONDONUTZ]

Originally Posted by dadrab

The effort has certainly paid off. This is going to be damn nice.

Thanks Bro


This is the last bumper addition, Weds I'm gonna lightly sandblast it, paint it and call it done.

I cut a plate and added it to raise the ring mount slightly above the chassis to make pin removal a little easier, also added a round tube inside the square tube for strenth.