dustinbleh's *BRUSHLESS* Losi Micro 4x4 Trail Trekker Build!

[dustinbleh]

Hello all, i picked up a trail trekker the other day in a trade, and figured I would post up what i have done with it so far.

Here it is! When I got it the p/o had painted the body white and painted the bumpers/roll cage/beadlock rings bright green.. not my first pick in color combos but oh well!


first thing i did was pick up two single cell 400mah lipo batteries and wire them in series and set the up like saddle packs.. I used this same setup on my scx1o and it works great! I also changed to a Droop suspension setup.. much happier with the vehicle now.



I also picked up a set of mcrc mounted tires while i was at the shop..


mounted

The line up!

Trying out my hand at styrene.. Please dont laugh too hard! Ended up going a little crazy with it..






"winch" installed.. used the id badge retractor idea seen on another build..

Donors.. thanks walmart! Cant wait to get these mounted..

quick mock up.

Running in the front yard this morning..





Just installed the new servo last night.. Its a hitec hs-5065MG, and it was WELL WORTH the $40 price tag! much faster and strong than stock..Anyone need a stock servo? lol..




Hope you guys like it! Upcoming mods will be:
-Aluminum beadlock wheels and Rock Lox tires from RC4WD.. just ordered yesterday, should be here soon.

-New stock body ordered from eBay
-Aluminum links
-aluminum shocks
-aluminum C hubs and rear lock outs
-MORE WEIGHT! Doing anything i can to get more weight up front.
-moving electronics off top plate

Also planning on ditching the stock esc/rx combo, already have a brand new 2.4ghz system with a micro rx to install, just need to come up with an esc..any suggestions on one small enough for this truck? Also considering running an external BEC, so i can get the max amount of power from my servo.

Anyway, thanks for looking everyone... Please be kind If you have any comments or suggestions, id like to hear 'em! Also, I know my styrene work is terrible, it was really more of a test than anything else lol.. just wanted to see what i could do with it.

[mwscooters]

Did the body come untrimmed?

[dustinbleh]

No the body was aleady trimmed how it is right now.. not really sure why he trimmed it the way he did because it doesnt actually improve articulation at all, it just makes it ugly... lol. Oh well. the new silver body i ordered will be here soon

[Hydro-Tank]

Looks awesome! Lookin forward to this build....subscribed.

[mwscooters]

Originally Posted by dustinbleh

No the body was aleady trimmed how it is right now.. not really sure why he trimmed it the way he did because it doesnt actually improve articulation at all, it just makes it ugly... lol. Oh well. the new silver body i ordered will be here soon

Didn't want to rip your skillz at cutting, but Im'm glad it wasnt you.The new body should look sweet. Check out my hummer body on my trekker.

[dustinbleh]

thanks crazyrccrawler! Its fun stuff.

mwscooters, I figured id get another stock body since they are so cheap, but i also have those two hard bodies in the pics above.. Just trying to decided exactly what to do first..

I cant wait for the new wheels and tires to get here, should look sweet and help keep the COG way down..

Oh-has anyone tried to run different motors in these trucks at all? I want something with more torque, and the only motors i really know of are the Predator motors by getbent, but he is out of stock on those.. Not sure what to do.

[Midlife Crisis]

Best thing to do about a motor is PM Getbent and get on the list. As far as your styrene work goes, keep at it, you'll get better, just don't overdo it!

[mwscooters]

Originally Posted by dustinbleh

thanks crazyrccrawler! Its fun stuff.

mwscooters, I figured id get another stock body since they are so cheap, but i also have those two hard bodies in the pics above.. Just trying to decided exactly what to do first..

I cant wait for the new wheels and tires to get here, should look sweet and help keep the COG way down..

Oh-has anyone tried to run different motors in these trucks at all? I want something with more torque, and the only motors i really know of are the Predator motors by getbent, but he is out of stock on those.. Not sure what to do.

I run the stock motor, really haven't been disappointed by it. Put one in and see what it does, they should be cheap enough. I saw your bodies, they might be heavy. I tried that route first also and they seemed top heavy. So I got Revel snap tight model kit. It was much lighter and had the exact apperance I wanted. Good luck with yours.

[dustinbleh]

Thanks midlife, like i said it was sort of a trial run for the styrene work.. next time ill do something a lot more basic. And i am planning on contacting getbent and getting on the list! In the meantime, im going to pick up a Tekin FXR esc (only $89 at amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Tekin-Inc-FXR-...0949993&sr=8-1), and throw in my new radio system and see how that improves performance... its nice because the FXR has a tiny footprint so it will be no problem mounting it on the mc4x4..

mwscooters, with the lipo(s) i am running the stock more just seems a little too fast.. All i have to compare the performance to is my MRC and SCX10, but it just doesnt have as much torque as i want. And i agree about the bodies, they are quite heavy making the truck top heavy. Just curious, is that H1 a 1/25 scale kit? I've found several cool kits at my lhs and other local craft stores, but they are 1/25 and i was weary about the fitment. They are cheap enough that i can pick one up and give it try though i suppose.

[dustinbleh]

on second thought i think i will go with the B1R.. same basic features but much cheaper. (http://www.amazon.com/B1R-Micro-Brus...0951585&sr=1-9)

[dustinbleh]

Hey guys, thought i would give a little update... Today i primed and painted the roll cage (i think it looks somewhat better), and i also made a custom set of lower links! I just used styrene tubing for the links.. turned out decent. They dont hang up quite as bad, and i noticed with the stock links that the eyes started to tighten up with taking them off and putting them back on several times.. that wont happen with these! Anyway, here are the pics:





Let me know what ya think! Next i am planning on some bent links, but im not good enough with styrene to make two perfectly curved and equal bends, so i will wait until i get a tubing bender or something. Anyone have advice on how to do this?


Thanks for looking!

[Hydro-Tank]

Looks great! Where are your beedlocks? I dont know if this tube bender would work, but if not then you would have one for actual metal tube... Its a thread of this guy's tube bender, its a really great idea, it might work on styrene but I dont know

my tube bender...........

[dustinbleh]

thanks for the tip! i think something like that could definitely work on styrene..

Oh and i took the beadlock rings off of the truck because i like the look of the chrome wheels better than the fake beadlocks..

[Hydro-Tank]

The stock beedlocs are fake???! I did not know that.

[dustinbleh]

yessir! they are just regular glue-type wheels with a faux beadlock ring on them... kind of a bummer. there is actually a mod on the forum where you can turn the stock wheels into true beadlocks, but i thought it looked like a lot of work so i decided to just order the sweet rc4wd ones..

[Hydro-Tank]

Sly Losi lol. It would be cooler to get regular beadlock(real). Wonder if Mayem Eng. will come out with micro wheels. That would be something I would definately buy. Like micro Double Phatties.

[dustinbleh]

i know right? darn losi. Oh well. as long as the keep costs down i guess its ok. probably 70% of the people who buy the trekker would never even consider spending extra money on beadlocks, so i understand why they would include them.

I've never heard of that company before.. they make cool stuff?

[Hydro-Tank]

Wicked cool wheels! Like the best in the market(in my opinion) even though I own nothing from them. But their products looks sick!
Check out their new wheels. He is a Vendor on here.
http://www.rccrawler.com/forum/showthread.php?t=106544

[dustinbleh]

OMG! i love those wheels. we should let him know we would like to see some stuff for the mcrc....

[Hydro-Tank]

Definately! That would be awesome!