TF2 = time to push my scale envelope

[new2rocks]

After building a couple of seriously hopped up Axial rigs on my own (super capable but not terribly scale in appearance), my recent Gelande sold me on the joys of less "capable" but much more scale rigs. The only thing missing from that build was that I relied on a friend to do the paint job and interior. So I've decided that the TF2 would be the perfect rig to use to develop my painting/detailing skills while adding to my scale collection. My kit and most of my parts arrived today.

Here's what I have so far:

Functional upgrades: Steel punishers, XVDs, Shooters (2 pairs), Red soft leafs, RC4WD steel sliders, Tough Armor rear bumper with tow hitch
For looks: CCHand detailed interior, RC4WD bench and leather seat cover, RC4WD metal emblem set and lettering kit, Front inner fender set

Since I know I won't have the patience to wait until I'm I'm done with the body and interior before I get it running, I stopped by RC Recycler today (dangerous to know they are 10 mins from my office) and picked up a painted body to hold me over while I paint and detail the one in the kit.

Here are a few design inspirations:




As you can tell, I'm going for a simple, clean look with enough customization to make it personal but without cluttering up the truck's great lines. I'll post updates periodically as I go. Wish me luck and let me know what you think!

[Alpha Male]

You certainly are not afraid to jump in with both feet! There's a lot of coin setting on that table. I'm interested in seeing that bench seat cover installed. I almost got one myself but I decided to do my own upholstering job.

Can't believe you bought a body to run in the meantime, though.

[tokdl]

Sweetness! I'm digging the temp. body. I can get carried away while building my projects too. I have to force myself to slow down and enjoy the build before it's hastily done. Fighting the urge to tear into my second TF2 kit now. Good luck.

[racin707]

Kinda gotta watch this

[new2rocks]

Started the build tonight with a little help from our little ones. Our little guy (age 5) immediately commented that the TF2 came from the same place where the Gelande came when he saw the RC4WD logo on the box.







Already have started opening and using some of the hop-up. I was lucky to find T-Boxes in stock at a store in CT last night (RC4WD and RPP were out of stock). While I'm waiting for those to get here on Friday, I'm going to work on some of the mechanicals (lubing tranny, filling shocks, etc.) so that I can keep things moving while I wait for those.

For the thread, I'll probably end up skipping most of the basic, by-the-books assembly, since it's been done 000s of times. Bear with me while I get through that stuff...

[new2rocks]

After looking at the stock tires, I'm realizing they're not going to fit the bill for combined trailing and rocks. Looks like Growlers are the tire of choice for 1.55s, but I think I want something shorter (4" or less). Any recommendations? Rock Stompers? Rock Crushers? Others?

[lunatick]

Originally Posted by new2rocks

After looking at the stock tires, I'm realizing they're not going to fit the bill for combined trailing and rocks. Looks like Growlers are the tire of choice for 1.55s, but I think I want something shorter (4" or less). Any recommendations? Rock Stompers? Rock Crushers? Others?

Just go the growlers
Its like they were custom built for the TF2

[nharkey85]

Originally Posted by new2rocks

After looking at the stock tires, I'm realizing they're not going to fit the bill for combined trailing and rocks. Looks like Growlers are the tire of choice for 1.55s, but I think I want something shorter (4" or less). Any recommendations? Rock Stompers? Rock Crushers? Others?

Depends on whether or not you want trim the body. With rc4wd red leafs+middle leafs, homemade 3mm lift and the typical body trimming up front i could run tires in the 4.18-4.20 range. Under compression/flex the tires would completely fill the wheelwell with fair rubbing but not grabbing the body. These are 1.9 MTZs @ 4.19" moinred on gmade sr02 raw steel beadlocks which pulled the offset in a bit which i wanted. Apparently from my pics the front didnt get close....

[new2rocks]

Thanks for the pix. Yours looks great. I'd prefer to keep at least one of the bodies untrimmed and unlifted, so it looks like I'd need to stay smaller for that one. But something like that may be a good option for the second body. Food for thought...

[Jus]

The stock tires are excellent actually. i like them a lot. I run them with no foams. They are slightly short for me so I've got a couple bigger tires I alternate between. Rock stompers and Growlers. I'm not too impressed with the growlers, they are good on dry rocks but when things get wet they are useless. They are also too "all terrain" to really bite on the steep hill climbs. They are much better than the stompers though, except for looks.. the stompers look fantastic on these trucks. So really I still haven't found the perfect tire yet, and I refuse to run 1.9's on this truck..

[new2rocks]

Well, it's almost a roller now, with the Dirt Grabbers from my Gelande until I figure out what tire I'm going to run. I have to say that RC4WD kits go together so nicely! All I need to add now are steering links, the T-Boxes (which should arrive tomorrow) and electronics, and I should have something that moves (albeit one that will still need a lot of work).











Initial observations:

-- I'd like to figure out a way to lower the truck a bit. A quick google search didn't turn up any TF2 specific lowering kits, so I'm wondering if an SCX10 kit would work or if there are any other good ways to do it.

-- Rear articulation is actually fairly good. Front articulation is not. The biggest limiting factor at the moment seems to be the short (70mm) front shocks. I'm thinking replacements will be in the works pronto.

-- It's going to be fun playing around with the leafs to see how much I can get out of them. I'm prepared to do the Chino mod and a couple of others that I've read about if it will make a noticeable difference.

-- I'm really glad I picked up the spare body. It will allow me to get up and running sooner, and I'll eventually be able to do 2 different themes.

-- This thing looks seriously cool!



More to follow. In the meantime, feel free to share your thoughts...

[nsimps]

I think the truck sits really nice with those tires. looks like a yota with a mild lift is all. Keep the updates coming!

[nsimps]

I think the truck sits really nice with those tires. looks like a yota with a mild lift is all. Keep the updates coming!

[new2rocks]

Added the T-Boxes up front tonight, and still not much flex up there. So I pulled out the 80mm stock Gelande shocks that we're sitting around and saw some improvement. I'm starting to lean heavily toward going with the Gelande hoops up front and either 90mm or 100 shocks with limiters. I'm thinking that will add a reasonable amount more flex without jacking the truck up too high, but I'll want to get some runtime first before going there. I plan to get the electronics installed this weekend and will add more pix once we're running.

[lunatick]

Originally Posted by new2rocks

Added the T-Boxes up front tonight, and still not much flex up there. So I pulled out the 90mm stock Gelande shocks that we're sitting around and saw some improvement. I'm starting to lean heavily toward going with the Gelande hoops up front and either 100mm or 110 shocks with limiters. I'm thinking that will add a reasonable amount more flex without jacking the truck up too high, but I'll want to get some runtime first before going there. I plan to get the electronics installed this weekend and will add more pix once we're running.

I run Axial Shock hoops on mine with stock SCX 10 shocks , was an improvement

[High Cotton]

Originally Posted by new2rocks

Added the T-Boxes up front tonight, and still not much flex up there. So I pulled out the 90mm stock Gelande shocks that we're sitting around and saw some improvement. I'm starting to lean heavily toward going with the Gelande hoops up front and either 100mm or 110 shocks with limiters. I'm thinking that will add a reasonable amount more flex without jacking the truck up too high, but I'll want to get some runtime first before going there. I plan to get the electronics installed this weekend and will add more pix once we're running.

I've been considering the same thing. The longer shocks with a taller hoop will give you more down travel with out an increase in ride height.

[new2rocks]

That's what I'm thinking. I'll post some photos as I go along so that you can see how it looks.

[new2rocks]

More progress tonight. We're now up and running , albeit with some very temporary pieces. Here's where it stands right now:
-- MMP, CC BEC, 2s Lipo
-- Tekin ROC 412 3100 kV with stock 14t pinion
-- HH servo for steering
-- Hitec 7950 for shifting (very, very termporary - serious overkill)
-- Red super soft leafs with med and small leafs at all 4 corners
-- Shooters at the outer locations (front of front leafs, rear of rear leafs)
-- T-Boxes at back of front leafs
-- Stock Gelande 80mm shocks in front
-- Ultimate Scale 100mm shocks in rear
-- 1.9 Dirt Grabbers from my Gelande (also temporary)
CORRECTION: After posting this initially, I realized that my shock lengths were wrong. Stock Gelande is 80mm and Stock Ultimate Scale is 90mm. See my post later in this thread about shock lengths for more on this.

Here are my initial observations after a brief shakedown in the driveway and front yard:
-- T-Boxes and 80mm shocks in front definitely helped over stock, but there is definitely opportunity to improve. I'm planning to order Gelande hoops for the front and 110mm shocks for all 4 corners. I'll try to get them set up in semi-droop, but I'll use spacers to limit up travel if necessary to keep existing ride height.
-- I love the 2-speed tranny, and it has me rethinking the motor choice (good thing before I order). In low gear, it's a hair faster than a brisk walk. In high gear, it's irresponsibly fast for a leaf sprung hardbody (but great fun). TBD on this one.
-- Although there doesn't seem to be a lot of slop in the axles, I think it can be tightened up a bit by adding some shims to the shackles and adding the RC4WD leaf helpers. I'll see how she does on the rocks first and then go from there.
-- There will be some placement decisions to be made once I get started on the kit body and CCHand interior. That's very much TBD, also. This is going to be serious fun. I can't wait to get it out on the trails and rocks for an extended run. Here are some pix of where it sits now:

[lunatick]

Originally Posted by High Cotton

I've been considering the same thing. The longer shocks with a taller hoop will give you more down travel with out an increase in ride height.

Yeah it does , its not a Huge improvement but it does help

[new2rocks]

Just placed some orders today:
- Gelande front hoops and RC4WD Emulsion 100 mm shocks (30mm of travel vs 15.5mm with the Gelande shocks and 16.3mm for the stock TF2 70mm shocks)
- HH Crawlmaster 16t and BRXL waterproofed

I'll probably add the T-Boxes to the rear once all of that comes in, and I'm going to put on a set of weighted wheels to bring the CG down. Also picked up a much more sane (and lightly used) Hitec WP servo for the shifter. Probably won't have it all in hand until next week, so there won't be much to report until then.