Jato The Trail Finder 2 - Leaf Spring Mafia Edition

[new2rocks]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

1. Does the shackle dimple go inside (towards the other half of the shackle) or outside? See photo below.

2. Stock foams are soft. They seem too soft. Are they? I plan on running the stock single stage foams in my 1.55 Rock Beasts, but they seem too stiff.

3. Does anybody put silicone, RTV, etc between the front and rear of the axle halves?

4. I am using blue thread lock everywhere to this point while building the frame rails. Is this OK or do you put red Loc-Tite everywhere?

1. I don't think it matters, but I put mine facing inside.

2. Stock foams are fine with the Mud Thrashers which are in the relatively firm X3 compound (stock tires and foams happen to work well for an all-purpose trail tire). Not sure how they'd work on the RBs. The Alien Kompound is obviously much softer, but the RB's have a beefed up sidewall that might offset. That said, I find these new gen stock PB foams to work very well. Yes...they're stiff, but the Alien Kompound is soft enough that it doesn't need a soft foam to hook up.

3. I don't, but I also don't try to use mine as a mud truck, lol.

4. Definitely use blue, not red. Red is much stronger than you need and can lead to damage if/when you need to take out screws down the road.

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by new2rocks

1. I don't think it matters, but I put mine facing inside.

2. Stock foams are fine with the Mud Thrashers which are in the relatively firm X3 compound (stock tires and foams happen to work well for an all-purpose trail tire). Not sure how they'd work on the RBs. The Alien Kompound is obviously much softer, but the RB's have a beefed up sidewall that might offset. That said, I find these new gen stock PB foams to work very well. Yes...they're stiff, but the Alien Kompound is soft enough that it doesn't need a soft foam to hook up.

3. I don't, but I also don't try to use mine as a mud truck, lol.

4. Definitely use blue, not red. Red is much stronger than you need and can lead to damage if/when you need to take out screws down the road.

1. I didn't think it mattered either, but I put them all on the inside.

2. I'm not sure I'll use the stock tires. If they were X2 SS I would give them a shot. I really wish RC4WD would get rid of X3 compound and switch everything over to X2 SS. I'd love if they made the 1.55 Rock Stompers in X2 SS and I know a lot of others would agree. I know you have connections at RC4WD. Maybe you could put in a word about getting Rock Stompers made in X2 SS!

3. I don't go in the mud often, but I will do it and I will run in shallow water. I'd rather be prepared for that in case. I'll have to find out what others have done.

4. Good to hear. I started building with blue. I never use red Loc-Tite on RCs. But I know some guys said they use red on their RC4WD vehicles especially with the kingpin screw.

Thanks for your continued help. I really appreciate it!

[1fox2go]

I packed my axles with Marine Grease same thing i did for my axial scx10

The stock foams are pretty good. After a few runs they will soften up a little and as everyone says the mud thrashers are a pretty decent tire. Im still running them until i get around to trimming some fenders to make room for the rock stompers

[JatoTheRipper]

I ordered the HobbyWing WP1080 for this truck. I think I have a cheap-o 45T brushed motor at home that I'm going to start with until I get a feel for the speed. Now I just need a steering servo, shift servo, and receiver.

[new2rocks]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

4. Good to hear. I started building with blue. I never use red Loc-Tite on RCs. But I know some guys said they use red on their RC4WD vehicles especially with the kingpin screw.

Just FYI - the kingpin screw stripping out is an issue on the Yota 2 axles (the ones that come standard on the Gelande 2 trucks and the TF2 SWB). The original Yotas that come on the standard WB and LWB TF2s don't have that issue.

One thing you'll need to do though is check the ring/pinion shimming. This gearset (which is used in both the OG Yota and the Yota 2) is very sensitive to shimming variations, especially in the OG Yota housing. If it's off by a little, the gears strip easily. If the shimming is correct, they tend to hold up well. It used to be that all you needed to do was swap the shims in the front axle so the thicker shim was inside the housing and the thinner one was outside. Within the past year, RC4WD made some adjustments to the manufacturing specs to try to correct this, and I'm not sure how consistently they're coming out with proper shimming. So it's a good idea to check each axle separately. A good rule of thumb is to bring the pinion in as far as possible without causing binding. Once you have that squared away, these axles tend to hold up well.

[1fox2go]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

I ordered the HobbyWing WP1080 for this truck. I think I have a cheap-o 45T brushed motor at home that I'm going to start with until I get a feel for the speed. Now I just need a steering servo, shift servo, and receiver.

I am running the same ESC with a 45 t motor...wish it was a 27 or a 35 t

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by new2rocks

Just FYI - the kingpin screw stripping out is an issue on the Yota 2 axles (the ones that come standard on the Gelande 2 trucks and the TF2 SWB). The original Yotas that come on the standard WB and LWB TF2s don't have that issue.

One thing you'll need to do though is check the ring/pinion shimming. This gearset (which is used in both the OG Yota and the Yota 2) is very sensitive to shimming variations, especially in the OG Yota housing. If it's off by a little, the gears strip easily. If the shimming is correct, they tend to hold up well. It used to be that all you needed to do was swap the shims in the front axle so the thicker shim was inside the housing and the thinner one was outside. Within the past year, RC4WD made some adjustments to the manufacturing specs to try to correct this, and I'm not sure how consistently they're coming out with proper shimming. So it's a good idea to check each axle separately. A good rule of thumb is to bring the pinion in as far as possible without causing binding. Once you have that squared away, these axles tend to hold up well.

Good to know. I knew the Gelande II has the Yota 2 axles, but I didn't realize the SWB also has Yota 2's. I wonder why all of the trucks don't use the same axles.

I've read some of your guide and saw the old shimming method. I'll be sure to check it out when I open the axles to grease them. I opened up the transfer case tonight. It appears they are using white lithium grease. I cleaned that up and used marine grease. Marine grease is tacky and the TF has lots of gears between the trans, t-case, and axles so I hope it doesn't cause too much drag.

[new2rocks]

I use Lucas Red n Tacky, so you should be fine with marine grease. Just don't overdo it, but you already know that, lol. These trannies are very stout. I've never had any issue or failure with an R3 (single or two speed).

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by new2rocks

I use Lucas Red n Tacky, so you should be fine with marine grease. Just don't overdo it, but you already know that, lol. These trannies are very stout. I've never had any issue or failure with an R3 (single or two speed).

In my experience it's hard to "overdo it" since gears clean themselves out. I didn't pack the transfer case full so I should be good.

[JatoTheRipper]

I swore I wrote more posts. I must be losing my mind. Hint - I am.

So let's get onto the build, shall we?

When I opened up the shipping box it looked like the TF2 box had been through heck. Large chunks of the shrink wrap were missing and the closing tabs on the box weren't inserted correctly. It's like I got the box that was the very last one made on Friday before quitting time. But the RC4WD factory seal was in tact so I assumed I was good to go.



When I opened the box I was greeted with bubble wrap and plastic bags. Hmm I remember the earlier boxes being packaged much nicer. The old boxes had a layer of dense foam and there were cutouts for each individual part. Cost savings. Oh well.

Under all of this were the frame rails which were recessed into the dense foam I just mentioned.



I thought this was funny. The included their retail pack of shock oil, grease, and thread lock instead of just throwing them in the box. I'm not sure why, but I thought that was cool.



Scrwes bag? I'm not familiar with that language. Must be French!

[JatoTheRipper]

The first step I did, of course, was to mount one of the tires on the wheels. But Jato, you have Motoworx Racing wheels and Pitpull Rock Beast tires so why bother? Well I'm kind of a wheel and tire addict so I couldn't help myself.

People that say these wheels are hard to mount don't know what they're doing. All it takes is a screw, two washers, and a nut. Put it through the center of the wheel and tighten it down to lock the tire and wheel into place. Now you can easily install the 6 screws to hold the wheel together. It's literally that simple.



Now for some more tips. The body post is a pain to hold while tightening the screws. You can't get a grip on it. Shock pliers would come in handy here, but mine always seem to be hiding so I found a second best option. I took this old, ancient actually since I've had this since I was a little kid, wire crimper/stripper pliers and used the crimping end to hold the body post. This actually worked well.

When in doubt think to yourself, "What would MacGyver do?"



The manual has some Chenglish about the holes in the rock slider being a little tight. A little? It's nearly impossible to get a screw in there as-is. To make it easier to thread the screw into the plastic I took my body hole reamer and put a chamfer on the plastic rock slider. This makes it so much easier to start a screw in plastic. This trick will come in handy fairly often. This reason, alone, is why you should have a body reamer. I don't use mine to make holes in bodies.

[JatoTheRipper]

This is where I finished last night. The frame is mostly built.



I also disassembled the transfer case, cleaned out the white lithium grease, and greased it with marine grease. I still think the transfer case is the coolest part of this kit. It looks so real. Feeling giddy!

Yes, my hands are small. Yes, I know the joke. People with small hands have...small gloves!



After this I started having a "wonderful" gallbladder attack. I've been through my fair share of pain in my life, but passing gallstones is a !@#$%^&*H pain in the @$$!!!

I'm home today recovering, but I only slept a couple of hours. I'll resume the build when I feel better.

[new2rocks]

Sorry to hear about the gall bladder. Hope you mend quickly. I forgot to respond to your earlier post about tires (and implicitly about my ability to sway RC4WD). Even while I was a team driver, I couldn't credibly claim to have had any influence on product development, so as a former team driver, that's even more true. With regard to the X3 compound, it actually works fine as an all-purpose trail tire (which is how most of these trucks are used), and the X3 tires with more aggressive lug patterns like the Mud Thrashers and the now-discontinued Tomahawks actually work very well (as in, very very well) in loose and muddy conditions. So they probably don't see much reason to change that anytime soon. As for an X2SS or X2 S(3) version of the Rock Stompers, it doesn't hurt to send them an email to suggest it, but you might not want to hold your breath.

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by new2rocks

Sorry to hear about the gall bladder. Hope you mend quickly. I forgot to respond to your earlier post about tires (and implicitly about my ability to sway RC4WD). Even while I was a team driver, I couldn't credibly claim to have had any influence on product development, so as a former team driver, that's even more true. With regard to the X3 compound, it actually works fine as an all-purpose trail tire (which is how most of these trucks are used), and the X3 tires with more aggressive lug patterns like the Mud Thrashers and the now-discontinued Tomahawks actually work very well (as in, very very well) in loose and muddy conditions. So they probably don't see much reason to change that anytime soon. As for an X2SS or X2 S(3) version of the Rock Stompers, it doesn't hurt to send them an email to suggest it, but you might not want to hold your breath.

Thank you. I finally got tired of the pain and today I scheduled surgery to get it taken out.

No worries. I thought you'd have some input as a team driver. I didn't know you were a former team driver. I did send them an email and they said they don't offer that tire in X2 SS, but here are other options. They completely ignored my question if they would ever consider offer it.

[JatoTheRipper]

I disassembled the transmission to add grease. There wasn't much in there at all. What was in there appeared to be white lithium.

I wiped out the white lithium and added marine grease.

I then took the rear axle apart to add grease. It's not white lithium. It's a different color which is odd. I thought they'd use the same gear grease throughout.

I wiped off as much as I could without removing the ring gear and added marine grease.

It seems to be shimmed properly. There's only about .010" to .015" of inward/outward play with the pinion. Any pressure on the pinion shaft causes binding. I'm not adding shims here.

I'm going to wait until I get the XVDs to grease the front axle. No sense in disassembling it twice.

[1fox2go]

I think they may have addressed many issues with shimming that plagued many before us. Mine, yours, and a few others have all been shimmed proper or at least decent

[Thloftus]

Sub’d. Mine came in the mail this week, but I’m too much of a noob for a build thread!


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[mhowzit]

Good read! I just picked up a used, basket case tf2. It is my first adventure with a rc4wd. I still need to strip it down and see what I'm working with. I also ordered a G2 Cruiser kit, can't wait for that one to get here. I look forward to reading your progress.

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by 1fox2go

I think they may have addressed many issues with shimming that plagued many before us. Mine, yours, and a few others have all been shimmed proper or at least decent

Hopefully! Rollling changes are a good sign that a manufacturer does listen. But it took them a long time to make the changes if it does, indeed, fix the shimming issues.

Originally Posted by Thloftus

Sub’d. Mine came in the mail this week, but I’m too much of a noob for a build thread!

Thanks! You're not too much of a noob for a build thread at all. Start one. Sometimes noobs make the best build threads and it will a resource for you to get help and tips on your build as well.

[JatoTheRipper]

Here's the transmission back together. I know most people have seen this, but it's almost as cool as the transfer case because it's scale.



Here's the axle when I opened it. You can see the brownish-orange grease. I wide it off and added marine grease.