Tow/Trail H2

[67mustang]

So I wanted something that could pull my crawler. First I thought about a flatbed but there are no bodies that size. Next I thought about gooseneck on 1/6 new bright raptor which happens to be the only decent body made these days. Then I looked on ebay and found a gunmetal grey H2. I'm a sucker for gunmetal grey so I bought it. Very decent condition. I plan on a trailer as well.

There are not many documented/finished 1/6 scale builds. This H2 is actually more like 7.5 scale. The width of the body is like 10.75". Track width is 12" stock. The wheels are 3". The Tires are 6"x 3". Stock wheelbase is 16" but I think it will be closer to 17.25" when its done.





Got the body off. It wasn't as easy as I thought. Also retained the harnesses for all the lights.

[JandG]

I'll be watching!!

[67mustang]

Been working on the upper frame. Looking at it and designing it in my head took the longest. I didn't want to build a frame and end up going another route so this is version 1 and only. It is not heavy but its not light either. Its gonna tow and have extra goodies so I am not too worried about the weight. 1/2"x16 gauge. Aluminum tube and 10-24 allthread for the crossmembers. Theres another crossmember for the front but it has to get installed after it goes in the body. I think with about 1 hr on the drill press I could drop 20% of weight. I may do that at some point but I am tired of working on this frame and am ready to move on. Its almost done. Got all my holes drilled.



Now I am working on the lower frame. Its easier for me this way because I want the transmission to tuck as high up as possible before I weld it to the upper frame.



My harbor freight drill is on its last legs. Don't know if its the motor or battery. Hopefully it will last long enough to finish this project.

[67mustang]

Finished the frame finally. Very straight and strong.

Frame Out



Frame In





Body On


This thing is starting to look badass. I got nearly all the parts I need so keep an eye on this one. The hard part is over and should be downhill from here.

[JandG]

Originally Posted by 67mustang;

This thing is starting to look badass. I got nearly all the parts I need so keep an eye on this one. [COLOR="Red"

The hard part is over and should be downhill from here[/COLOR].

jinx yourself. It's all over...lol

[67mustang]

Finished the carrier bearing. That is 2 of the summit/revo shaft together. Goes from the rear output to the rear axle.

That is a traxxas erevo/summit knuckle mounted inside a traxxas nitro motor mount I had lying around. I knew it would come in handy someday. Perfect fit, very strong, zero slop. Came together like I planned.

[67mustang]

Got tired of working on the drivetrain so I moved onto the wheels and tires. Gonna be running some HPI trophy truggy wheels. They are 3.8" and I haven't seen anyone use these. I stumbled across these on rc planet. This hummer looks great with my rok loks and chrome blast wheels but I wanted to give these trophy truggy wheels a try. Mudslingers do NOT fit on hpi blast wheels. Rok Loks fit blast wheels like they were meant for them. The trophy truggy wheels are a "black chrome" and I really like them...they go great with the gunmetal h2. The face is totally flat and it has alot of backspacing...about 1/2" more than blast wheels. They are lighter than blast wheels. I ended up narrowing them by about 3/4" to like 1.5" or so. Did them by hand with a cutoff wheel and it looks like a machine cut. The ONLY thing that keeps me from loving these wheels is the finish. It looks great but up close leaves a little to be desired. I am using those nifty axial wheel adapters. I dremeled out the hex and bolted it to the wheel with some stainless hardware. Track width is about 14.5.

[JandG]

nice choice of wheels

[67mustang]

So I went ahead and cobbled it together. I made upper shock mounts but they really lack the craftsmanship to be bolted to the frame. I will have to redo them sometime. I have to choose springs and a motor so I wanted to run it for insight before I bought stuff. I have run into an issue where due to the size of the revo shaft, my spur option is limited to 80T. Therefore my lowest possible gearing is 3.80. Its too fast on 3s with my 1200kv roc412. The motor pulls it fine but I built this rig to tow at least a 12 pack in ice or my rig.

Should I abandon the idea of running a revo shaft and go back to the wraith shaft (I have 4 complete shafts) to get my spur size back up for a lower ratio? Or should I stick with the stronger revo shaft and live with 3.80 ratio and run a 500kv on 6s? Point is I don't know if 3.8 will cut it.

Perhaps I should slap on my wraith shaft and check gearing possibilities.

[350TacoZilla]

What about using a GRU unit like rc4wd or HPI crawler king? It would be easier to fine tune gearing that way since you can always go too low with the GRU then just gear up spur and pinion to get desired ratio.

I think rc4wd does 2:1 - 4:1 and the HPI is 7.4:1 or something crazy.

[67mustang]

So I ended up fabricating a real slick extended front output from 5.00 worth of hardware store parts. It is really sweet and super strong. Very pleased. It allows me to run my 32p 66t spur gears that I run in my wraith and my emaxx. Allows me to run the bigger driveshaft. I might be the only person running this shaft on an ax2 as I have never seen an extended front output for the ax2. I would have posted a picture but my fiance went to visit her mother in Texas and took my laptop charger. I have another one at the office so Ill get pictures up soon. She took our 3 year old with her and will be gone for a week so this truck should be done within that time.

I have run it about 1/4 mile so far on 3s with my 1200kv roc412 on 6/66 gearing. This thing is so slow in 1st gear its almost funny. It should be a hella tow rig whatever motor I end up going with. I didnt realize that the transmission is a shift on the fly so once i get the load rolling in 1st, the 2nd gear will take care of the rest and pull at around walking speed. I will probably run this on 6s.

Right now I am remaking the upper shock mounts and fixing the ride height. I had the pinion angles perfect but since I made the extended output Ill have to rework the upper links to fix the pinion angle. The steering setup is very slick as well.

Keep watching...Im almost done. Ill have pix soon.

[67mustang]

[simon170]

Lookin good. Bet it will look great when done.

[67mustang]

Trimmed foams. Glued tires. Upper shock mounts are re-done. I finally got the ride height I wanted. I ended up clocking the c hubs another notch after re-angling the pinion. I just need to pickup 2 bolts tomorrow and redo the steering toe. I still need to arrange the electronics and tie up loose ends. Other than that, this rig is pretty close to ready for a shakedown in the next few days. Prolly go with a bigger pinion as well.

More angles and detailed pictures coming soon.

[67mustang]

So I ended up charging my dremel up and taking the h2 out for a first trailrun shakedown.

This thing is freakin fun. I had initially wanted to not roll it as I built it with the intention of keeping it in great cosmetic condition....but thats not gonna happen. I rolled this thing a few times today and I see more in the future. It is really fun and drives very tank-like.

The first pack I focused on trimming the fenders as I was rubbing. I didn't have to trim very much and I am able to stuff the tires front and rear pretty good now. I still have to trim a little more but largely I got most of it done. I built this thing with "shorter" links so that the wheelbase wouldn't change while flexing and to get a realistic travel. I didn't want alot of travel cause the wheel wells wouldn't be able to contain it. I also wanted it to stay level while towing. It has a really predictable feel to it.

The old skool black "trinity" springs are perfect. I get a pretty good steering range as well. I ran it 3300mah of 3s power and had alot of fun with the 2speed. Didn't break anything. I need to buy batteries which will go under the hood.

I need to either remount the step rails or make sliders. Had so much fun I only took 1 pic.

[67mustang]

Took it out again today. I have 1-1300mah and 2-1000mah 3s batteries and it runs those in about 1.5 hrs. Same runs my crawler for 2.25. So i need to order batteries cause I dont know if i could make it all the way through a typical trail run. Im thinking 2x 2600 mah 60c under the hood. I want to run turned down 6s and 3s. 3s honestly is barely adequate. 4s would be perfect but i dont wanna even spend money on 2s packs. I figure run 3s for trail runs and turn down 6s for high performance when i know ill need it. Is running this thing on 6s gonna strain a 1200kv roc 412 and mmp? If so should i go with 4s only and call it a day?

Only problem i had today was the slipper. What should I do? Im thinking drill out the inner slipper plate and run an extra long spur mount bolt. But maybe theres a better way? Slippers are unneeded here. Its like going wheelin with a bad clutch.

Also, i get a noise while barely rolling in second(high) gear. It sounds like cricket chirping. Are these my motor bearings?

[MAHitt63]

Bring it out to the scale run this weekend. I'd like to check it out.

[JandG]

Looking good!!!

[67mustang]

Originally Posted by MAHitt63

Bring it out to the scale run this weekend. I'd like to check it out.

Thank you sir. I think its pretty cool and super fun to drive. I'll bring it. I'm glad we will be on a trail that is wide enough for this thing.

Its kinda funny that this H2 is a guzzler, too wide for the trail, and has the aerodynamics of a brick....just like its 1:1.


Update: Making a rear bumper/hitch.

[MAHitt63]

Thanks for bringing the Hummer out and playing with the group of mostly wraiths. It preformed well and looks very cool. I'm impressed.