JimK's SCX24 Gladiator

[B-MOW71]

The LCG chassis looks good and should up the performance of the Gladiator.

Good call on making the battery lead extension. I did the same to my JLU and C10 so that I wasn't wearing out or breaking the pins on the ESC.

[JimK]

Originally Posted by B-MOW71

The LCG chassis looks good and should up the performance of the Gladiator.

Good call on making the battery lead extension. I did the same to my JLU and C10 so that I wasn't wearing out or breaking the pins on the ESC.

Thanks Brian. This little truck really works well on the trail. I had the same concerns about constantly plugging and unplugging directly into the esc.

[Gramps]

My understanding from using PH2.0 connectors on my whoops they have something like 100 connections before failure. So when I got my SCX24's I cut the battery lead and use Xt30's for the connectors. I just leave the PH2.0 plugged into the esc.

[JimK]

Originally Posted by Gramps

My understanding from using PH2.0 connectors on my whoops they have something like 100 connections before failure. So when I got my SCX24's I cut the battery lead and use Xt30's for the connectors. I just leave the PH2.0 plugged into the esc.

Thanks Gramps. I'll take a look at the XT30 connecters for sure.

[diceman42]

I was kinda surprised that the esc(s) use the ph2.0 instead of something like the xt30.

[JimK]

Originally Posted by diceman42

I was kinda surprised that the esc(s) use the ph2.0 instead of something like the xt30.

Good point....it is a pretty fragile plug. I actually had to fiddle around with mine today to get it to plug in properly and it's still pretty new. Plug swap may happen sooner than I had planned.

[JimK]

I had some time to kill today after work so I went down the the shore of the Detroit River to play in the rocks. Much of the shoreline down there is lined with rock to prevent erosion....makes for a great place to crawl. I've had my 10th scale trucks down here a few times but this is the first time with one of my tiny trucks.

A view of the rocks along the Windsor side of the river. That is the GM Towers and a view of the Detroit shoreline on the other side of the river.



I found this small cove area. It was a great place to play as it was somewhat out of sight and the big rocks are waist height when standing down beside them in the cove.



Getting a little flexy. I used some of the larger beach stones to bridge the gaps between the bigger rocks.



Another stone bridge. I think I might actually make a short wooden bridge about 12 - 16 inches long that I can carry with me to bridge the gaps between the rocks as I drive along. It would be a quicker method than using stones and I could cover a lot more distance that way.



Traction on the rocks was not an issue for the Traxxas Mickey Thompson Baja Pro X tires.





Full disclosure....I placed the truck by hand where you see it for this picture. It's pretty steep but the Gladiator stuck there when I sat it down and was able to drive up it with a bit of wheel spin and some side to side action with the steering.



The stretch of shoreline rock that I was playing on. I could have went on for quite some distance if I had a mind to keep building stone bridges.



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[JimK]

Had some fun today swapping out rims and tires for the Gladiator. The stock tires were a bit small for my liking and I found the TRX4M tires to be a great size for this truck and I have plenty of them laying around since I went to larger tires on all my TRX4M's.



I'm currently running the MT Baja Pro X tires on the stock Traxxas Defender wheels. The Canyon Trail tires were put on the stock Bronco wheels. I finally managed to scoop up a set of the Traxxas Method bead locks so it's to to mix things up a little.



I put the Baja Pro's on the Method bead locks with the brass rings in the front tires and no foams. I put the Canyon Trails back on the stock Defender wheels with soft Crawler Innovation foams. These are very soft tires and the CI foams should provide a bit of support but the tires should still conform nicely. I'll put the BFG Mud Terrain tires back on the stock Bronco wheels and I'll have lots of tire options to choose from. Ended up with a few extra bead lock screws which is always nice.



Baja Pro on Methods with brass rings. You can really feel the front weight bias with these rings when you pick the truck up.



Baja Pro on Methods with plastic rings.



Just for comparison, the Canyon Trails on stock wheels with CI foams. I really like the Canyon Trail tires and I think they'll be great back up tires for the Gladiator.



Here's the Baja Pro's back on the truck with the Method wheels....I like!!



Here's the Canyon Trails on the truck which I also think look pretty good.



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[JimK]

Did some tinkering on the Gladiator today. I installed a new set of aluminum Injora high clearance links with a 4 link set up in the front. I forgot to snap a pic but I also installed a set of Injora 13T overdrive gears in the front diff. That should hopefully tighten up the steering radius and make it climb even better.



Got the front links in....now for the rears.



Front and rear are all in now. No issues at all getting these links installed.





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[JimK]

Sunny and 82 degrees outside today and I got home a little earlier than expected today....no better reason than that to take the Gladiator outside for a little fun on the Krawler Kourse. So glad the warm weather is finally rolling around. Been a long cold spring.

Drove right down off the cliff with no issues. The back bumper scrapes quite often but doesn't usually get hung up.



Down the log ramp and across the bridge we go.



I was having a blast but Lily was less than impressed that I was not playing fetch to her demanding standards!!



Had to get the approach just right to catch a tire but it made it up onto the log with no issues.



Totally impressed! Needed a little throttle bump but it made it over this rock pile in both directions. My TRX4M's will climb it but can't make it over the top.



Took a few tries but I was able to climb up this near vertical ledge a couple times. The rock sliders kept getting hung up. I need to raise them up right to the body and I think it will scoot right up there. I think the brass bead lock rings in the front tires helped some here and on the rock pile too.



Ooooo....scary!!



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[Gramps]

I like your course looks like fun and has some good lines.

[JimK]

Originally Posted by Gramps

I like your course looks like fun and has some good lines.

Thanks Gramps.....I'm having a lot of fun back there. It's so convenient that I can spend an hour back there fiddling around or just a few minutes if that's all I have time for. So far I'm the only one to drive back there. With the warmer weather here now I'm looking forward to having a few buddies over for a crawl and a beer or two and I think the grandkids will have a lot of fun too.

I'm thinking of adding in an elevated wood road attached to the back fence starting where my little rig is sitting....



....and hooking around the corner and ending where my transmitter is sitting. Maybe with a little suspended section in the middle. My wheels are turning?? I'll keep you posted in the course thread if/when that should happen.



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[Gramps]

I actually have 2 one in the backyard for the 1/10 stuff that seems to always be a work in process as I am never happy with it. The onther for the 1/24 on the side of the house. I'm more into the little guys now. It so nice to be able to go out the door and walk 10' and start crawling. I have mine lighted so we can crawl at night in the summer when it's hot.

[JimK]

Yes it is nice for sure. If I remember correctly I seem to recall watching some videos or seeing pictures of your crawler courses? I think I have enough room in my backyard for a small 10th scale spot.....the wife however thinks differently!

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[JimK]

I ordered an Injora metal roof rack with a light bar for my little Gladiator. It showed up today so I took a few minutes this evening to install it.

It came well packaged in a nice little plastic case that will make a good little storage container. Sorry about the sideways picture....it's late and I don't feel like fixing it...lol



I used a body reamer to make four small holes for the rack mounting screws and a fifth slightly larger hole to pass the wires through after removing the plug end. The rack fastens directly to the roof with four tiny screws and nuts. Installation was quick and easy.



I'm pretty happy with how it looks and I like how the black metal rack contrasts with the tan body.



I plugged it into channel four and it powered up as soon as I turned on the esc. I thought I could toggle the light on and off with the channel 4 thumb button on the Tx but that doesn't happen? I will look into that tomorrow and sort it out. It does seem to be nice and bright. I'll test it out next week on the course at work when I'm on afternoons.



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[Bertman82]

That looks sweet. How does the roof rack mount to the body?

[JimK]

Originally Posted by Bertman82

That looks sweet. How does the roof rack mount to the body?

Four small screws and nuts directly fastened to the roof.



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[Speed Chaser]

Do you by any chance have an idea of how much the rack and lights weight?

[JimK]

Originally Posted by Speed Chaser

Do you by any chance have an idea of how much the rack and lights weight?

I didn't weigh the rack before I installed it but I can tell you it is very light. It's made from thin (0.020") stamped metal.

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[Speed Chaser]

I see thank you for the information JimK