New vertical plates for a Trekker

[JKred]

Hey guys,

I picked a Trekker a month or so ago, been messing with it here and there, changing shock orientation, springs, etc, and I decided I wanted to go more the crawler route.

Unfortunately the trekker chassis has horrible approach and departure angles, and I don't want to cut up my chassis in case I change my mind down the road. Solution? New chassis using solid aluminum vertical plates.

Basically I'm going to copy the stock chassis design, but shorten it up a bit.

Started with a piece of aluminum, and located all the bolt holes with a punch.


Next I traced out what I wanted the plates to look like lightly in pencil. You'll notice it's very similar to the stock chassis.


And finally, spent some time with a dremel and a drill and cut out the first plate. It would have gone a lot smoother if I had a band saw tho....


Hopefully I can get to the next side tomorrow and get it back together. I'm also thinking some sort of roof, maybe aluminum tube... Not sure.

[TheScaleAddict]

I've got a stock losi micro crawler chassis you can have if you want it. Just pm me your address. Unless you're dead set on what you e got.

[MGCrawler]

Keep going with it bud, home built is always better than store bought!

[TheScaleAddict]

Originally Posted by MGCrawler

Keep going with it bud, home built is always better than store bought!

I didn't buy it at a store... I bought it off of Craigslist...

I thought he might prefer it, since he's wanting to go more for a crawler than a scaler. It's not like I was trying to sell it to him.

[JKred]

Hahah it's all good, much appreciated. Ill keep with what I'm doing tho.

I actually prefer to do fab work. I have a real crawler (Jeep Wrangler) that I do fab work on, so this is like my mini escape, and it's a shit ton cheaper. I just don't have all the best tools to work at this scale lol.

I can't decide if I'm going to use some aluminum tube and "cage" the top, or if I should make essentially a roof out of more sheet and bend down some A and B pillars. I want something to protect the esc for when I flop it on its lid.

[TheScaleAddict]

Brass welded cage and styrene bonded cages are the way to fab at this scale. Go over the new what and where to buy thread. You'll want to go with 1/8" tubing.

[JKred]

Originally Posted by cephas

Brass welded cage and styrene bonded cages are the way to fab at this scale. Go over the new what and where to buy thread. You'll want to go with 1/8" tubing.

What are you using to weld and bond? Silver solder and some form of adhesive?

I'm not use to this scale! I can't use my 180a MIG!

[tpurdin]

very cool i dig it, I was thinking about what to do with my trekker chassis and ive got some aluminum laying around may have to go this route

[TheScaleAddict]

Originally Posted by JKred

What are you using to weld and bond? Silver solder and some form of adhesive?

I'm not use to this scale! I can't use my 180a MIG!

For brass, use an acid core solder. I use the solder station featured in the what and where to buy thread. There's a link for a bender too. Pm me with any questions. I'm pretty handy welding and bending at this scale.

[MGCrawler]

Originally Posted by cephas

I didn't buy it at a store... I bought it off of Craigslist...

I thought he might prefer it, since he's wanting to go more for a crawler than a scaler. It's not like I was trying to sell it to him.

Uhhh, OK

I more like told him that his homemade chassis will be cooler than the stamped losi unit.

Anyways...

I dig the idea of the bent up aluminum roof, this should be fun to watch!

[TheScaleAddict]

Originally Posted by MGCrawler

Uhhh, OK

I more like told him that his homemade chassis will be cooler than the stamped losi unit.

Anyways...

I dig the idea of the bent up aluminum roof, this should be fun to watch!

Whatever. Stock losi chassis are the coolest ever. Which explains why I can't even give it away. LOL

[JKred]

Finished up the other plate. First test drive found a few little place I could trim away and give a lot more clearance, but I'm happy so far, no catching the frame front and rear on climbs and descents.




The stock trekker wheelbase is exactly 5" at the ride height I have it. I know most of you guys shoot for 5.5" (from what I've read) but its decent so far

[TheScaleAddict]

Nice work!

[smuggl1n]

Good job but why wouldn't you just cut down the trail trekker chassi? All the holes line up with the tt right?

[JKred]

Originally Posted by smuggl1n

Good job but why wouldn't you just cut down the trail trekker chassi? All the holes line up with the tt right?

In case for any reason I want to go back, basically.

[TheScaleAddict]

Originally Posted by JKred

In case for any reason I want to go back, basically.

Yer a pretty fart smeller. ...I mean pretty smart feller. I rarely think that far ahead. Good for you!