New2Multi-axle - The Beast 2 6x6 build and review

[new2rocks]

I like DHL a lot. Every time the DHL guy stops by, he brings cool stuff. Like this box:


Inside this box was another box with pretty cool pictures:


Looks like this one has extra wheels. More wheels = more better. Let's take a closer look:


More wheels means more shocks. And more axles for all the wheels:


More parts...


And then we get to the bottom of the box. 100+ more parts for the body. More more more more more. More wheels, more axles, more shocks, more parts.


Wait...where's the chopper? The box had a picture of a chopper, and I don't see one here. That's disappointing. But I think I'll get over it.

[new2rocks]

Despite the fact that it was very late on Friday at the end of a long week, I couldn't wait to get started. Oddly enough, the instructions start with the body. But I need some instant gratification, so I'm going to jump to the mechanical bits first.

Here are a few pix of the start of the build:


If one Yota 2 axle is good, 3 must be 3x good.


As with all RC4WD kits, axles, tranny and transfer case come preassembled, but it's a good idea to open them up to add grease. These ones had more grease than past kits I've built, but it doesn't hurt to add more. That seems to be the theme of this build - more more more more more. Also, as with all RC4WD kits, all preassembled components (axles, tranny, transfer case) should be taken apart and reassembled with thread lock wherever metal screws into metal.


This is starting to look like a chassis.




Now it is obscenely late, so time to call it a night. More updates will follow shortly.

[Sarra]

o.O How... Are you levitating the chassis in the last pic? What magic is this?!

Can't wait to see more. :O I'm considering a 6X6 in the future, so... I'm going to watch your thread.

More levitation, pls.

[kstowe]

I'm in the same boat as Sarra.

I'm planning on this as my next build, I've only started with a parts list. Btw, what Electronics are you planning on running?

Sub'd so I know what I'll be up against!

[new2rocks]

Originally Posted by Sarra

o.O How... Are you levitating the chassis in the last pic? What magic is this?!

Can't wait to see more. :O I'm considering a 6X6 in the future, so... I'm going to watch your thread.

More levitation, pls.

Top secret military technology in 14th scale, lol. I may have a few other tricks up my sleeve.

Originally Posted by kstowe

I'm in the same boat as Sarra.

I'm planning on this as my next build, I've only started with a parts list. Btw, what Electronics are you planning on running?

Sub'd so I know what I'll be up against!

I'll be running a Holmes Revolver with an MMP, probably on 3s. Holmes steering servo and Traxxas shift servo. I'm hoping to have it running tomorrow.

And for both of you...do it!!! Hard to describe just how cool it is once you get your hands on it.

[Sarra]

Yeah. Only thing keeping me from pulling the trigger on a 6X6 or 8X8 project is my 1:1 car. It needs an engine, transmission, axle, possibly exhaust modifications, and body work. >_< Oh. FML. And Air Conditioning. It's gonna be like 110F all summer here, and I haven't had working AC for 5 years in this car...

If I can get a cheapo used beater, I might just save up after that for a decent 6X6 build.

[IronGut]

Yes! I can't wait to watch this build.

[new2rocks]

Made a little more progress this weekend. The front bumper assembly looks great:


Be careful not to overtighten the screws on the headlight grills, because the grills bend very easily.

Although the tranny comes preassembled, the motor plate and motor mount bracket assembly were uncharacteristically loose. It was easy enough to fix by removing the spur gear, tightening and thread locking the screws that secure the motor plate, and then reassembling the motor mount bracket (also with thread lock on all screws).


That's most likely a pre-production glitch, as this was one of the first kits released. In any event, it was an easy enough fix with no harm done. The slipper also needed tightening from the stock setting, which was also an easy fix. Now that it's all done, she's tight as a drum. After adding the HH Revolver, MMP, HH servo for steering, and a Traxxas servo for shifting, here's how she sits (forgive the temporarily messy wiring):


I was able to get in a few minutes in the driveway and front yard before the rains came, and I'm liking the setup so far. Next up will be starting on the 100+ piece body. I'm thinking it will be much easier to assemble portions of the body before painting rather than try to paint all of the parts before assembly. Due to the complexity of the body and interior, I'm going to need to study the instructions a bit to come up with a plan. More updates to follow.

[chino63]

What's up with the rear suspension?

[new2rocks]

Originally Posted by chino63

What's up with the rear suspension?

Since this is my first multi-axle rig, I've definitely been sticking with the instructions, and I'll confess to having found the rear suspension layout interesting. The middle axle lower links run forward of the axle while the uppers run to the rear of the axle. The rear-most axle has all of its links behind it.

I'm not sure why it was laid out that way, but it looks like it will work, at least by trail truck standards. Flex is about on par with a bone-stock TF2 and probably would improve with sone some 90mm shocks that have more travel. But then I'm thinking that for a rig like this, flex would be a sign of weakness. This is, after all, the Beast, and it will prefer to pound the terrain under it into submission rather than trying to articulate over and around it like some kind of mechanical ballet dancer. Or at least that's what I keep telling myself...

[kstowe]

Wow that thing looks awesome just sitting there! But after you said it, I can't stop wondering what it would look like sitting on some 90-100mm shocks.

I was looking at Revolver motors and they're out of stock now, so I'm was thinking PullerXL, but I feel like that might be too much motor. I'd love to see that thing in action if you get a chance. I've seen the V1 Beast run, but that had 2.2's and a brushed motor...

At any rate, keep up the good work! I can wait to see what you have planned for the shell!

[new2rocks]

Originally Posted by kstowe

Wow that thing looks awesome just sitting there! But after you said it, I can't stop wondering what it would look like sitting on some 90-100mm shocks.

I was looking at Revolver motors and they're out of stock now, so I'm was thinking PullerXL, but I feel like that might be too much motor. I'd love to see that thing in action if you get a chance. I've seen the V1 Beast run, but that had 2.2's and a brushed motor...

At any rate, keep up the good work! I can wait to see what you have planned for the shell!

Thanks! In my driveway and front yard testing, the Revolver/MMP combo was very impressive. Even with a smaller than stock pinion (11t vs. 14t), it has borderline silly top speed in high gear for this kind of truck, and it's silky smooth in low gear. We'll see what it's like with the added weight of the body on it, but I think it's going to be a winner. The Puller 20t might work (equivalent to a 40-45t), but I wouldn't go any lower than that given the weight.

Now that the weather has cleared, I'll try to get a video up sometime in the next few days. In the meantime, it's time to start figuring out that body...

[freu]

Didn't know about the beast II, good to know. Can't wait to see how you will paint your body, will follow for sure.

[new2rocks]

More progress tonight. Let me start by saying that this body is not for the faint of heart. There are lots of pieces. Did I mention lots of pieces? And there are stickers with letters and numbers on some of the pieces that don't match the numbers on the diagrams in the instructions. At least the bag numbers match the bag numbers on the instructions, but from there, you have to eyeball it to find the right piece. Here's an example:



Piece Z-B0087-1 is one of several rectangular pieces in bag Z-B0087, but it's not the piece with the H1 or X1 sticker. It's H9. So you have to eyeball shape and size to find the right pieces within each bag. Fortunately, it's not too hard (at least not so far). It just takes patience (not my strongest attribute).

So it was that I took a deep breath and dove in. After studying the first few steps and dry fitting the first few pieces, I decided that it made sense to start piecing this slightly out of order. I started by using the left side panel (shown in step 5) to line up the main floorboard and center cabin wall (shown in step 1), because the left side panel has groves that line up the floor and center wall perfectly with no play:




Then I added the two panels that make up the right side of the cab (from steps 5 and 1):


Next up was the front of the cab (but minus the windows and window trim for now). To get this mounted, I started by gluing the right edge to the right front corner (I'm using Plastruct Bondene if you're curious). I then glued the floorboard to the back of the front cab piece. After that, I glued the left front corner. And voila:


After the front came the fins that make up the insides of the footwells (also from step 1). When mounting these fins, I used the bottom piece of the floorboard without glue for alignment:


After the other side was done:


Looking at how it sits now, I'm probably going to hold off on the back wall and definitely will hold off on the rest of the footwells for now so that I have room to spray out all of the corners and surfaces inside. When I pick it up again, I'll be figuring out what other pieces I can assemble while still leaving room to paint. In the meantime, I couldn't resist seeing what it looked like resting on the chassis:




And last but not least, a picture of the rear suspension from underneath for Chino's further contemplation:

[1BadJeepBruiser]

Wish I hadn't been so broke so I coulda scooped one of these up. Looks great so far. I'll be watching

Mike

[new2rocks]

Originally Posted by 1BadJeepBruiser

Wish I hadn't been so broke so I coulda scooped one of these up. Looks great so far. I'll be watching

Mike

Sounds like it's time for another fundraiser...

[new2rocks]

I am clearly not right. Woke up in the middle of the night and decided I had to have a crack at the bed. And so...




This thing is addictive unlike any other rig I've built.

[chino63]

Thanks for the pic. #2 axle z-link, #3 axle leading 4 link. How's the pinion angles when cycling the suspension? That's uhhh.... interesting, good thing it's a toy car.

[chino63]

Not knocking the kit but it seems like an odd suspension setup

The build looks really good, looking forward to seeing it in action!

[new2rocks]

Originally Posted by chino63

Thanks for the pic. #2 axle z-link, #3 axle leading 4 link. How's the pinion angles when cycling the suspension? That's uhhh.... interesting, good thing it's a toy car.

Not knocking the kit but it seems like an odd suspension setup

Lol and agreed. There are lots of things we do with toy cars that would never work on big ones. The #2 axle rotates forward (rear goes up, front goes down) as it cycles up, as you could probably guess from the pix. So the rear pinion angle out of axle 2 does increase some as it cycles up. But because it's starting out almost dead straight and the 80mm shocks don't provide a ton of travel, it stays well within a workable range. If/when I switch to some longer shocks, I'll have to keep an eye on it.

Originally Posted by chino63

The build looks really good, looking forward to seeing it in action!

Thanks and me, too. In my thus far brief driveway and front yard runs, the suspension rides a bit like the stock TF2. Not much flex, kind of bounces over things. Planning to do some more involved test driving before painting starts this weekend and will try to get a video up when I do.