Cherokee's TF2

[cherokee95]

If the photos show up huge, refresh and they should be okay. Not sure why they to that sometimes.

Nothing too out of the ordinary here. Picked up a used RTR TF2 a few weeks ago for a steal of a price. Really couldn't pass it up. Glad I did, the damn thing is too fun to drive.

Came with a stock motor, ESC, Futaba servo, CCBEC, RC4WD winch (the large one, I'll use it on something else), shooter shackles, stock wheels and tires, ugly stickers and those rubber flares.

how it looked when I got it home


Took the flares and stickers off right away. Not a huge fan of them to begin with and I think these are way too large. Plus the previous owner drilled the holes out and used 3mm hardware.


Swapped out the wheels and tires. Went with the old school MSD Trail Ready 1.9's for the time being. I thought 1.9's would be too large, but I think they look decent on this rig.



Swapped out the crap shocks for some other crap shocks . Losi MRC upgrades. Work great until they leak out all the oil, but they are small and look decent. Made a temporary add-on the the rear shock mount to test them out.






Not a fan of sealed can motors or the stock ESC. Swapped in a Sidewinder and a Tamiya tuned 32t I had in the parts drawer.




Cut the front air dam off. The bumper will go once I decide what I'm going to build for it. Also replaced a couple stainless screws so they didn't stand out so much and glued the back window back in.




Lights that came in it work


Couple shots from it's first run. I didn't glue the window really well so I could get it back out to make some body repairs....it fell out again lol.

[SteveC6R]

Nice start. They're a blast to drive and more capable than people might think.

[cherokee95]

After that first run, I found out the stock t-case mount was even worse than I had read about. Had to fix that right away, so I made a new steel one.










Pretty dramatic change in clearance from stock.







Filled most of the holes in the body. I used 1/8th styrene rod. I planned to repaint it after but really liked the look after I sanded on it. Looks like a project truck some dude has been working on in his free time.






Upgraded the steering servo to a Savox 1231. Noisy like every other Savox, but so far so good and it's hard to beat 444 oz-in for $70


Broke a leaf spring next run. Time to dig in the parts bin for some Bruiser stuff. Couldn't get myself to spend $60 on the u-bolt kit, but this rig has the lift blocks on it. Countersunk the stock holes for flat head screws and drilled a hole off center to pull the axle forward. Tapped the new hole for 3mm and mounted the Bruiser springs in the stock hole. Could still come forward a couple mm, but it still looks better vs stock.

Also used Bruiser shackle mount and shackle. Replaced my badly leaking rear shocks with some parts bin Axail stock shocks as well.






Couple shots from the following weekend.




Broke a front spring on that trip. Time for more Bruiser parts (I have lots lol)

Similar idea to the rear, but only had to countersink the front hole. Mounted using the rear hole to pull the axle forward giving a few mm stretch to the wheelbase. Also used Bruiser front hangers.

[cherokee95]

Just about up caught up to how this rig sits today.

Ordered a couple things from RPP. XVD's, Fast Eddie bearings, new clear plastic tree, Toyota logo, Hubs and rubber mirrors (mine were missing when I got the rig). Also got the CChand emblems, but those are for the new in box body I have stored away.

Got most of these parts installed this past Friday


Also placed an order with Patrick over at LURC for some new A08 wheels! These are obviously the wrong lug count for this rig, but I don't care, they're sexy. lol






I grabbed a Bruiser interior out of a body I have on the shelf for now. Thinking I'll order a Dinky kit sometime soon.


Scale rigs need drivers....Paulie had to have a accident to fit in this interior


Was worth it to have a driver in my rig.





Now for the most recent part added. I bent my Bruiser springs both trips out after adding them (I might could be a little aggressive with the trigger ). So I looked at some 1:1 anti-wrap bars and came up with this. Pretty out of the way and worked perfectly on the Sunday crawl. Well, until my shooter shackles weld broke lol.

[cherokee95]

Here's a few outdoor shots from this weekend.

[cherokee95]

I put some new treads on the TF2 yesterday. They are probably too large for this truck, but you can't make me take them off after running them!

They look awesome and worked really well on our slick Sioux quartzite. They gripped good out of the package and got better as they started to break in . Looking forward to getting some more wheel time on them next weekend.

[rcchamp95]

Really like the rim and tire combo. Even though they are the wrong lug count, they look right at home on your truck