Tommy's Beast II 6x6

[BoyFreakWonder]

Blue truck is blue. I like.

[skybolt]

Hey Tommy, had a chance to start my build, but I have a question about the drive shaft and pins connecting the transfer case to the tranny.
Did your pins screw thread all the way through? mine were capable of this as there ware no "stops" to hold the drive shaft pin from over insertion.

Thoughts?

[Tommy R]

Yep, they'll go all the way through. :( So I just Loctited them into place and am hoping for the best!

[alexchen86]

Wow awesome progress Tommy! I was never a fan of that weak shift linkage setup on their two speed tranny. I immediately purchased the stronger one when I built my TF2. Yes the TF2 is an awesome build, but definitely an entirely different animal compared to a leafed scx10 or GCM's leafed chassis.

Built it..ran it in the yard for about 15 min and another run on the beach and sold it lol. If rc4wd would at least have extra or at least slightly stronger hardware that would go a looooong way haha. That last axle is at a funky driveline position...did they at least improve their driveshafts for this kit though? Hope it's not the same plastic just more splines lol.

[Tommy R]

Originally Posted by alexchen86

Wow awesome progress Tommy! I was never a fan of that weak shift linkage setup on their two speed tranny. I immediately purchased the stronger one when I built my TF2. Yes the TF2 is an awesome build, but definitely an entirely different animal compared to a leafed scx10 or GCM's leafed chassis.

Built it..ran it in the yard for about 15 min and another run on the beach and sold it lol. If rc4wd would at least have extra or at least slightly stronger hardware that would go a looooong way haha. That last axle is at a funky driveline position...did they at least improve their driveshafts for this kit though? Hope it's not the same plastic just more splines lol.

Alex, what part of the shift linkage was weak? Are you referring to the internals in the trans?

So far, the only drivetrain stuff I've used from RC4WD were Yota axles with their newer style CVDs and so far I've been quite impressed with what they've survived. No issues thus far! But I'd heard horror stories about the strength of RC4WD parts for so long that it took me a while before I bit the bullet to give them a try.....but I'm glad I finally did.

Since the Beast has Yota axles, I feel pretty confident in it. Only real unknowns are the trans and t-case. Hopefully they'll hold up!

And yeah, the rear axle is kinda funky and I plan to change it....and maybe shorten the overall length of the chassis in the process. Not sure if the driveshafts are improved, but they are splined plastic with a metal ring. We'll see how they hold up. One thing I'm not a fan of is if the middle axle is completely compressed while the rear axle is in drooped out, the last driveshaft becomes uncoupled. Not sure how often that may happen while crawling, but it's something I'll be keeping a close eye on.

[Tommy R]

It's not quite done yet, but it's getting close. I decided to weather the cargo bed quite a bit because I thought it was appropriate. I didn't weather the cab/chassis to the same degree because remember I want this truck to also be a trials truck or maybe an RV....and those aren't typically all rusty.

Well, anyway, here you go. It was my first time at black washing and rusting. I learned quite a bit and may do more of both on this truck.

[kakachille]

Looks sweet makes me want to get one

[Tommy R]

Originally Posted by kakachille

Looks sweet makes me want to get one

Thanks! Been a lot of work and trying lots of new things, but it's been fun.

[XSRCdesign]

Man these are super cool

[new2rocks]

Nice work so far! You're spot on about this platform providing plenty of opportunities for creativity. I look forward to seeing what you do for different beds. Carry on...

[Tommy R]

A little video I put together today after I got it running. And some specs:
Holmes Hobbies BRXL
Integy 55ty motor (12t pinion)
5000mah 3s LiPo
Hitec 7950 on 7.4v (Castle BEC)
Tower Pro shifter servo

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

And suffered its first casualty. I wonder if RC4WD has a metal driveshaft in the right length?

[skybolt]

That's awesome man!

At first I thought you had installed a sound module, but soon realized it was the truck in the background!

[Rckcrwlr]

Looking good Tommy

Sent from my VS985 4G using Tapatalk

[Tommy R]

Originally Posted by skybolt

That's awesome man!

At first I thought you had installed a sound module, but soon realized it was the truck in the background!

LOL! I figured people might think that. The batteries in my Dodge had died so I was letting the truck idle to charge them back up. But I felt it was a fitting noise, right?

Originally Posted by Rckcrwlr

Looking good Tommy

Thank you, sir! Looking to upgrade the stock driveshafts to steel versions (preferably your super scale series. Got recommendations on what I could use? I don't mind trimming the lengths, if necessary. The rearmost shaft is really short!

Thanks!

[ScGRaceR]

what a awesome build! loving the color. build. everything about this.....


i think its a little out of my comfort zone for building something like this !

[STANG KILLA SS]

nice Tommy! needs more weathering!
needs a fuel tank or something behind the cab below the bed, between the tires. just looks bare, the high bed doesn't help. 1/14 semi parts?

I drybrushed Tamiya flat brown over the rust on the rusty truggy. just barely enough to make tiny specks/dots. not solid. helped break up the mono tone rust and give it a lot more depth and realism.
misting cheap flat black over the paint can help too. like the windshield but lighter. cheap cans usually don't have as fine of spray which helps the effect.

[Tommy R]

Originally Posted by ScGRaceR

what a awesome build! loving the color. build. everything about this.....


i think its a little out of my comfort zone for building something like this !

Thanks! I wouldn't recommend this if someone has never dealt with styrene at all, but honestly, it's not that bad. Just very time consuming. Patience and a little forethought can go a long way when building the cab.

Originally Posted by STANG KILLA SS

nice Tommy! needs more weathering!
needs a fuel tank or something behind the cab below the bed, between the tires. just looks bare, the high bed doesn't help. 1/14 semi parts?

I drybrushed Tamiya flat brown over the rust on the rusty truggy. just barely enough to make tiny specks/dots. not solid. helped break up the mono tone rust and give it a lot more depth and realism.
misting cheap flat black over the paint can help too. like the windshield but lighter. cheap cans usually don't have as fine of spray which helps the effect.

Well, since I've decided this is going to be more of a trials truck, I don't want to weather it very much. You don't see many rusted out trials trucks.....well, I don't! LOL! The cargo bed on the other hand, could use some work for sure. But since I'll only rarely use it, it's a much lower priority right now.

In fact, I'm going to shorten the wheelbase and flip the control arms to face forward and once I do that, I'm going to remove the chassis' rear overhang. Once I do all that, I'm going to have to shorten the cargo bed. Or maybe I'll sell it? I don't know...

[Tommy R]

And for those interested. Here's some comparison shots between the stock driveshaft and the Junfac. The Junfac is a little shorter fully compressed.


I feel pretty safe in saying that at full extension the Junfac will be okay compared to the operating length of the stocker.


And in case anyone is interested in the PN. But keep in mind I'm not guaranteeing this length will work. I'm pretty sure it will, but I haven't tested it yet. Regardless, I'm shortening my wheelbase so it'll hopefully work for my application. Now I just need a super short rear driveshaft option! I suspect the welder may come out for that one...

[Tommy R]

The wheelbase shortening has begun! Figures I'd only just barely get it running for the first time and I go and tear it apart again!

But there's a few reasons for this. As stated before I'm making this a trials truck and to perform half way decent I think a shorter wheelbase will be better (within reason). I also want to flip the control arms around because that backwards facing stuff is for the birds. Not to mention I plan to bob the chassis right after the rear tires for a better departure angle.

I also think it'll just look better. And isn't that all that REALLY matters??

So here's my first steps. In the pic below, we're looking at the middle axle from the driver's side, by the way. Notice the shock tower has been moved forward. The rear hole is now where the front hole was. This moved the shock tower forward about 21mm. That's about how much I plan to shorten the wheelbase for now. Mount one screw and use the tower as a template for the new hole.

Also note the upper link mount on the axle has been flipped 180 degrees and is now facing forward. I know you can't see it, but use your imagination. The chassis mounts for the uppers have also been moved forward and share a mounting hole with the shifter servo mount. Note how the mounts have a "step" in them. This is now going to have to go to the outside of the framerail for what should be obvious reasons if you look closely. Secure one hole with a screw and use the mount as a template for the new hole.

For the control arms, I took the 51mm uppers and moved them to the lowers (replacing the 71mm bits). For the uppers I'm trying some 55mm RC4WD links I had around. We'll see how it works.


This is where the new shock tower hole will be. And yeah, my drill bit walked on me and my tower isn't perfectly horizontal. So sue me!


And this is where the new upper link mount will be drilled through. Not ideal, but it'll be fine. I could get jiggy with the Dremel, but just not sure it's worth the hassle. Also, if you looks just underneath, you'll see some silver paint I applied to the chassis. This notes are area that will need to be clearanced with a Dremel. Should be easy, though. I just need to remove some items from the chassis before I do that. More details on that later...


And for those curious, what I'm trying to do here is base all new mounting locations off of existing holes in the chassis frame rails. Reason for this is that it offers a much stronger likelihood that all of the holes will result in a trio of axles that are all still properly inline and parallel with one another. Fingers crossed it works!

[Tommy R]

I should also point out that for now the front links will remain unaltered. I may shorten them down the road, but that would then require moving EVERYTHING forward on the chassis....including the skidplate/t-case and shortening the intermediate driveshaft from the trans to the t-case. That may happen down the road, but not sure on that yet....