MRC stretched/dropped Landcruiser build

[ladoga2015]

Started this build a few days ago from a Losi MRC I've had sitting around for a few years.

I purchased my son a crawler for Christmas (he hasn't opened it yet, of course)...So I wanted to get my old crawler rolling again. Have a project we can do together. Should be fun...

I used thick wire (from a tomato cage, of all things) for the suspension links.

I fabricated some aluminum plates to attach the Y-arms to (held in place with tough ziplocks, not my first choice, but handy).

The wheelbase is now 10". The height is dropped quite a bit too.

The CR01 Landcruiser body fits just about perfect, and looks like it's gonna be pretty scale. I might have to go up to a slightly larger tire, but will stick with the stock MRC 1.9 wheels/tires for now.

Hopefully I'll keep this thread updated

[ladoga2015]

Well, those first images were quite large...I'll tone it down a bit

Thanks to johnnyh66, I was able to get some driveshafts that fit. Traxxas parts #1951 and #1539R...Thanks man.

They were a beeatch to get on (those tiny hex bolts strip so easy, had a hard time getting all of the stock driveshaft parts off, and had to do a rig job). It works, and drives smooth.

Now, tomorrow morning my boy will open his new crawler, and we'll spend some time building, rigging, painting, and hopefully driving (got him a nice Jeep body).

A pic of the shafts...(yes, you'll notice the rig job...up at the gearbox, see the double-connection? I couldn't get the hex bolts out on the stock parts, they stripped)

[ladoga2015]

A little more work is done...

-waterproofing complete

-body, cut and painted

-body mounts, first stage complete, still need to finish up the interior

-rear body post also serves as a spare tire mount

-pulled some possible seats, steering wheel, and front bumper off a $1.50 Goodwill find...NewBright Rat buggy

-new lipo battery ordered

new black aluminum Losi Mini beadlocks ordered

-new 1.9 Mudslinger 2xl tires ordered

It handles pretty well, but the body likes to shift from side to side a lot. Gotta remedy that...

Also attaching a picture of my son's Christmas present, the Redcat RS10 (I know its not an MRC, but it goes with my story)...he did a bang-up job on the body...especially for a 10 year old. It's been dropped and stretched as well. Big sticky Proline tires. Fully waterproofed.

[ladoga2015]

- Changed the interior/body mount
- Added seats, and a pissed-off driver
- Driver has a magical steering wheel that floats
- Installed Mudslinger xl's
- Installed black chrome losi wheels
- Ended up keeping about 2/3 ounce of weight (solder wire) per wheel
- Lots of waterproof stickers
- Original losi wheel/tire mounted on rear
- Homemade black rubber fender flares
- Attaching a fake winch (painting it black, with silver wire, and red hook). Got that piece off a toy truck. Decided I didn't want a real winch.

As far as my scale build, this might be as far as I'm going to take it. I want to maintain driveability, and stability...Adding more stuff adds more weight, and I think I prefer performance over style...but ya never know? Might get a plastic roof rack and some sleeping bags and tools....not sure

[ladoga2015]

WOW....this scale building is addictive...update time.

1. Added a roof rack (made from Lego fencing)
2. Added a tailgate rack (Lego fencing)
3. Added gas tank accessory
4. Added faux-winch
5. Added more weatherproof stickers
6. Added chains (Lego)
7. Added lights (headlights and tail lights (bulbs, and red plastic covers) taken off a $1.50 Goodwill ambulance toy.....fog lights taken off a $1.00 Goodwill toy tow truck)
8. Moved battery pack to front axle
9. Added fire extinguisher

The truck is performing well, now that I have a new battery, and new charger. Still need to add a little more weight to adjust the center of gravity, but it does pretty damn well...

The wiring for the light system is still being finished. A separate battery pack will probably be attached to the rear axle? Not sure yet...


Here are a few pics (as well as pictures of my alternative body, the military buggy I custom-built). The buggy body outperforms the Landcruiser, as expected, much lower cog, and lighter weight...One body for scaling, the other for performance...

Here's a couple crap videos my son and I made as well...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbLvCZ3Gzwo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9YfphUKPgE