JimK Builds a Better Bettle

[JimK]

I first saw the Furitek Bettle chassis for the TRX4M platform on Cape Crawler's YouTube channel. I knew right then and there I had to have one.....that's right, HAD to have one!! They hadn't been released for sale to the general public yet so I went to the Furitek website and preordered mine real quick like. Luckily I only had to wait a couple weeks and it showed up on my front porch. They had carbon fiber and titanium available. I thought the multicoloured titanium was pretty sweet looking so I went with that. The main portion of this build is already done and there's a few small upgrades and changes I want to do so I'll use this thread to get you up to speed and then keep you posted from there. Thanks for looking in.

If you happen to flip this thing over onto it's roof it rocks back and forth like a stuck turtle. The first time that happened I decided that would be a good name for it....so, here goes the "Turtle" build.



The main chassis went together nicely with a spare plastic skid plate from my Bronco. I think I will stay with the plastic skid on this one. I really like the colours on the titanium chassis plates. Fit and finish on all parts was top notch.



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[JimK]

While I was waiting for the chassis to arrive I ordered up a mess of parts so I could start building as soon as the chassis showed up. But then I ended up stealing a bunch of stuff off of the Defender because the chassis showed up first and patience isn't one of my strong suits.

In hindsight it would have been much cheaper to order another full TRX4M kit and take what I needed from it rather than ordering all the other Traxxas parts separately. Then I would have had spare parts and electronics for all my TRX4m's.....rookie mistake!!

Partial Parts List

-RC Hub Aluminum Beadlocks
-Injora 65mm Comp Pin Tires
-RC Lions bearing kit
-Meus Racing +6mm wheel spacers
-Injora brass steering knuckles & c-hubs
-Injora aluminum servo mount
-RC Lions aluminum steering link
-Injora brass diff covers - front & rear
-Injora stainless steel high clearance links
-Traxxas front and rear complete axles
-Traxxas shocks and aluminum shock bodies
-Traxxas battery tray & strap
-Traxxas 2065R metal ger servo
-Traxxas drive shafts
-Traxxas metal diff gears
-Traxxas hardware kit
-Traxxas transmission with low range gears.....and a few other goodies I don't remember off the top of my head.

Poor Defender torn down for donor parts.



Tore down the axles and installed the bearings, metal diff gears, brass diff covers and popped the new wheels and tires on there while I was ai it.



These tires are tall and narrow and installed on the bead locks without any issues.
I used a lot of stock plastic parts until the brass and aluminum goodies started showing up.
I did however already have the Injora diff covers and brass steering parts already so I put them on as I went.



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[JimK]

Didn't take long till I had me a rolling chassis. Just need some electronics to get this thing going. D@mn I like how this thing looks!!





Once again I cannot over stress the importance of staying hydrated while wrenching on your rc's.



Strapped an HH 66T to the crawler tranny before bolting it in place.



I put the grey aluminum shock bodies on and the lightest shock springs (0.095 rate) on all four corners and filled them with 10 weight oil. I'm looking for real soft suspension action and want it to sag into the suspension travel as much as possible. I also had some link interference in the front so I flipped the lower links to solve that issue. The tires are so big that I don't anticipate any issues with having them mounted this way.



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[Gramps]

Hey Jim aren't the links in the above picture upside down? I think those qualify for low clearance links. :-)

[JimK]

Originally Posted by Gramps

Hey Jim aren't the links in the above picture upside down? I think those qualify for low clearance links. :-)

You are correct sir!!

[JimK]

A few days later the electronics showed up. I went with a Spektrum DX2E Tx that I already had on hand and paired that with a new SR215 Rx. I only need throttle and steering for the Turtle so these'll do quite nicely. A Furitek Lizard Pro esc will get the juice to the motor. The Furicar app on my phone really made it easy to set up and make adjustments to the esc.



It was a tight fit but I got it all stuffed in there somewhat neatly. I may juggle it around a bit later if I need to.



There was just enough clearance to get the turtle shell back on.



I bought these 1200 mah batteries to power up the Turtle but all those wires made them to difficult to fit in the very snug battery tray. For now I'm using stock SCX24 batteries and they fit in there just fine. I have a Furitek adapter plug on the way that will allow me to use stock TRX4M batteries. Not a total waste as these batteries will fit just fine in my SCX24 Gladiator.



I had this Spektrum DX2E sitting around so I put it to good use instead of buying another Tx. It's pretty basic but works just fine and has all the adjustments I need.



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[JimK]

Wasn't long before the Traxxas 2065R metal gear servo showed up so I took a few minutes and popped that in. To be honest I haven't had any trouble with any of the stock servos yet but I just didn't like how the blue stood out on the front end of this thing.



While I was tinkering I put some shrink tube on the lower driveshaft connections to keep the o-rings from popping off. Somewhere along the way I also added a set of Samix brass spring perches to the shocks.



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[JimK]

The next little project was to install a set of MEUS 7 x 10mm brass wheels hexes to add a little weight and widen the stance a little bit. These added 6mm per side compared to the stock hexes.



You can see here the difference with the new hex installed.



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[JimK]

Made a couple small changes to the Turtle recently. I installed the Injora 12/22 overdrive gears in the front diff. A little bit of disassembly required to the front end but it's a pretty straight forward install.



Out came the Traxxas metal diff gears. I'll toss these in the parts bin with the other two sets that I have.



A dab of Lucas Red and Tacky grease on the pinion gear and in it goes.



Just need a dab of grease on this and we're ready to seal the diff back up and put the driveshaft back on. I spun the axles by hand before putting the driveshaft back on and the gears felt free and smooth with no tight spots or binding.



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[JimK]

Next I popped in an Injora aluminum servo mount. The stock plastic mount is adequate but you can see it flex a bit in certain situations. This new aluminum mount will take care of that.



All back together and ready to go. Need to scrounge up an aluminum servo horn now.



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[JimK]

Most turtles can be found in the local ponds and marshes but not this one. It prefers a more rocky and rugged environment. Here's a few shot's of it roaming around on the Krawler Kourse.





Lily is trying to figure out what the heck this thing is and if she should be friends with it or just eat it!?!?



Well, at this point there really isn't much left to do to the Turtle. I'm waiting for the Furitek TRX4M adapter plug to arrive so I can use the stock TRX4M batteries in this. When that shows I will install it and I'm going to move the electronics around a bit so I can have better access to the esc switch and so it's easier to plug/unplug the battery. I'm also toying with the idea of installing 10/24 underdrive gears in the rear to see what improvement that will make if any? A brushless motor has also crossed my mind but to be quite honest the current motor and low range gears do I fine job and I'm completely happy with that set up. One mod that will probably happen, and sooner than later, is a set of Injora aluminum axles front and rear. These things are absolutely beautiful and would also be a good performance upgrade. Metal driveshafts will probably end up on the Turtle at some point in the future as well. So much for "not much left to do on this"



This little rig is such a good performer and it's so much fun to drive. It's not too often that it doesn't go exactly where I point it.



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[JimK]

I've had this Furitek TRX4M plug kicking around for a while now and decided to install it this afternoon. I've been running scx24 batteries in this thing which works fine but they don't fit in the battery tray that well. While I was messing around I decided to bind my DX5 Rugged to the Turtle for a bit more adjustability.



I ran the plug lead through to the front and then mounted the new plug to the carbon fiber deck with 2ble sided silicone tape. It's a little tricky to get the battery plugged in with my big fingers but I can manage.



New plug and Tx installed and we're good to go.



Tossed it on the floor for a little test run. This thing goes almost vertical before tipping over backwards. Love my little Turtle. Need to get it out on the rocks again soon.



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