Upgrading Basher Rocksta 1/24

[Gompapa]

=Edited 10/17=

New body and my 5 yrs son driving his Police Truck.

Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OTpCWkxI4U







Well.. I am pretty much done I would say.
Made all the mods I wanted, and this is it! (Kinda tired too lol)
1. Lower/Upper Links Upgrade including custom adjustable 3 link.
2. Beadlock Wheels and Tires with aluminum Hex Wheel.
3. Custom 1/24 scale body with magnet
4. Torque motor with better servo
5. Bearings upgrade
6. Frame cut for more clearance
7. Lipo 450mah
8. LED with separated Battery
9. 3rd party inner spring shock

It was a fun project, but long run as I had to do 2 of these..
Anyway, enjoying a lot with my son now.
He is actually becoming 5 next Jan, but drives better than me..
My second son will born in March, and can't wait to have some fun with 2 boys.

My goal is getting into 1/10 scale one day, and 3 of us going to trail together.

Cheers!
==============================================

Just finished all the mods I wanted to have, and here I am sharing some pics!

All the links are custom, and I cut the battery box out for more clearance.
Also using 9V battery pack for the LED separate, as well as a good weight on the front.

Wheels/Tires made me open my wallet, but.. you know.. at least I didn't spend $70-$80 for that MiniQlo tire.
This RC4WD beadlock and 60mm tire is good enough to not have the..miclaw...maybe..

Cleaning all the wires was a bit challenge, but I was able to manage it using some heatshrink tube.

Oh... the 9g emax servo I got from Amazon was like 2mm wider.. and I had to cut the connector a bit.
And the upper arm!! This was a pain to find a Y-arm that I can use my thread with.. found some random 1/10 scale Front Arm from ebay.

The last thing I really want to find is 7mm aluminum hex or front/back c-cup upgrade.
Losi aluminum looks similar, but not sure it would fit perfectly.

Anyway, here are some pics!

[cleanandserenesteve]

your best bet will be to make some custom ones from 2/56 threaded rod, aluminum tubing, and mini t-ball ends as many have done with the micro crawler and trail trekkers. thats what I did to mine: just mimic your stock link lengths and bends

[TownsendTdi]

Redcat sumo crawlers use 2mm threads as well, but with the same size ball as the Losi micro crawler/trekker. You could replace your big balls (snicker) with sumo ones and custom links would be easier.

[Gompapa]

Originally Posted by cleanandserenesteve

your best bet will be to make some custom ones from 2/56 threaded rod, aluminum tubing, and mini t-ball ends as many have done with the micro crawler and trail trekkers. thats what I did to mine: just mimic your stock link lengths and bends

Thank you for sharing yours as well.
I am now actually getting M2 rod end + 55~60mm threaded to make my own.
RC4WD looks has some parts I can possibly build my own.

Couple questions if don't mind please.
1. Would it be possible to find any "Jeep" body like yours? Ive seen people got theirs from a toy car.
2. Did you manually bent your rear suspension link?

My upper front/rear body arm looks difficult to upgrade as it is a 3-point connection. Not like your 2 links each.

Thanks again, I will post once I find the parts.

[cleanandserenesteve]

1) Yes, I see the Jeep bodies on ebay all the time. If you type "micro crawler" in the search box the jeep bodies are listed as well as some other options.
2) Yes, I manually bent them with a wrench. I just kept my stockers handy and bent my custom ones to match the angle of the stock ones. Bent them slowly until they were a perfect match..

Yeah, I remember the Rocksta having a single link in the rear but I haven't looked at one in person in order to know exactly what would be needed to do the uppers, otherwise I would give you my experience with it...

And X2 on what Townsend suggested

[Gompapa]

So I found 2x55 threaded with 2mm rod ends!

and some 2mmx8mm/12mm screws just in case for connecting the rods on the body.

I believe this would work total less than 10 buck!
Now.. gotta think about modifying the upper links next..

[cleanandserenesteve]

Also, a wheel/tire upgrade would be nice for the Rocksta. from what I gather the stock tires are a bit stiff. Any of the rims/tires for the Micro crawler/trekker would be a direct fit..

[Gompapa]

Originally Posted by cleanandserenesteve

Also, a wheel/tire upgrade would be nice for the Rocksta. from what I gather the stock tires are a bit stiff. Any of the rims/tires for the Micro crawler/trekker would be a direct fit..

Yes, I did order the Losi micro wheel with Baja tire with x3 sticky!
Also, just a quick update for the upper 3 links arm.

I found a 1/24 micro rally aluminum upper front/rear arm set which was on sale for 6 buck, and these looks perfect triangle 3 links. Just ordered it to see if I can manage this through. If it works, great! If not.. well.. extra parts for the future..

Will keep posted once I get it!

Thank you for all the good suggestions!

[Gompapa]

Here comes some updates!




So far,
1. upgraded tire/wheel
2. Motor, servo
3. Cut out the battery box, and expand the body.
4. clean out the wires

I am planning to upgrade the suspension link tomorrow once I receive the package, and the secon pic shows the upper link I am trying to modify using 1/24 Y-Arm I had. Not sure how this would work..

Still looking for better Y link that I don't need much adjustment on the body.
So far so good! More Coming!

[Gompapa]

Been spending all my weekends for a month for this project, and now my son is asking me to do his.. with some police lights..

Will updates the 2nd version soon.. I hope.

Cheers!

[TownsendTdi]

Originally Posted by Gompapa

So I found 2x55 threaded with 2mm rod ends!

What ball studs are these? I've been looking for some with long threads, every one I've tried had a much larger ball than the losi/redcat size.
Truck is looking good!

[chbronco]

any updates??

[Gompapa]

Originally Posted by TownsendTdi

What ball studs are these? I've been looking for some with long threads, every one I've tried had a much larger ball than the losi/redcat size.
Truck is looking good!

Hobbyking has some M2 thread on their honglong warehouse.

M2x45mm Stainless Steel Push Rods (LH & RH Threaded) (10pcs)

[Gompapa]

Originally Posted by chbronco

any updates??

Been busy with work, and actually I am trying to finish the upgrade this weekend. (New bodies done!)

Having 2 models upgrade taking me some time.. (My 5yrs son is really into this, and always sees if I have anything upgrade on mine.. so.. I gotta do his upgrade as I do mine) x2 cost there..

Anyway, more updated pics coming up soon.

Meanwhile.. this is a quick phone shot I just took.
My truck and son's police concept tow truck.

[TownsendTdi]

Looks good- you should chase the grey truck around with the police truck.
Curious about what ball stud you used for the lower link- the one that mounts through the motor case and has very long threads? I'm swapping some axles to a custom project and the redcat sumo balls work for all locations but that one with super long threads. If I can't find anything I'll have to get creative so I'm interested what you used. Thanks!

[Gompapa]

Originally Posted by TownsendTdi

Looks good- you should chase the grey truck around with the police truck.
Curious about what ball stud you used for the lower link- the one that mounts through the motor case and has very long threads? I'm swapping some axles to a custom project and the redcat sumo balls work for all locations but that one with super long threads. If I can't find anything I'll have to get creative so I'm interested what you used. Thanks!

Finally.. done!
Updated the original thread with a video that my son is driving.

For the lower link, I found a ebay list which is gone now.
But this is pretty much same,
8pcs D4 2x18x2mm Rod End Metal Ball Head Buckle Joints Black for RC Climbing Car | eBay

Cheers

[Crawleone]

Would anyone be willing to make links for me or does anyone know of where to buy ready made

Thx in advance

[sethstiles]

Beautiful Rocksta's. I HAD one and loved it. What a great list of features for a micro and for the cost. Wish it would have worked out. What happened to me happens to a ton of users. No matter how "intelligently' you drive... THE PLASTIC GEARS STRIP OUT. Mine lasted a couple weeks. Hobbyking has upgraded metal gears that are awesome but they are forever on backorder and look to be hard to replace. I ended up sending mine back. If it came stock with metal gears, it would be unbeatable!

But, that was just my experience......