Natedog's Trail Findering TF2 Tiny Truck

[Natedog]

Originally Posted by Levi

If and when you do the incision drivelines I'd love to hear a feedback back on it. I almost pulled the trigger on them myself but got impatient and went with the Punisher shafts was a last-minute thing get the truck rolling for the weekend outing.

Of course, they do look great, have to check with LHS or go to VP direct and see how they'd line up and fitment first. Punishers are supposed to be decent, but they are not perticularly scale looking. The TRX-4 shafts don't just bolt on, they need the ends drilled about 2mm deeper at the differential ends and bout 3mm deeper at the transfer case ends! Weird that RC4WD left so much unused shaft material after the driveshaft mounting screw holes. Thought about Dremelling the ends a little shorter on all the shafts so that any driveshaft with proper inner diameter will bolt right in.

Originally Posted by Zippy1

Going to be following along on your journey Nate. Thinkin I may learn something along the way...

Cool, let's hope we all do!

Originally Posted by Shinchu

yeah darned casey and his inspirational CMAX haha nate i am also a victim. more on a new thread soonish... ;)

cant wait to see how this goes. with your mechanical savvy and a scale looking Toyota... this is seriously going to be awesome!

Yep, good to hear lol. Thanks!

Originally Posted by soze

In for the end result.

Originally Posted by Bananaclip

Very cool! You are giving me the fever Nate! I will be tuning in for this build. I love the pic of your 1.1. Would it be possible for you to post more pics of the 1.1? Oh........... REMOVE that lower valance

Awesome, I'll have to dig around but I've got them somewhere! Thanks for the input!

Originally Posted by Shinchu

I'll just uh, leave this here... ;)
https://store.rc4wd.com/Rear-Tube-Be...ck_p_5241.html

Nice.

Originally Posted by touch racing

Ok that is a sweet looking tube bed but good lord you can almost buy a hole ascender kit for the price of it.

Originally Posted by Shinchu

This is the price for entering the super scale realm of tf2 and hilux...
Also this place has some neat nicknacks for scratch building leaf mounts, making u bolt brackets and real looking rod ends...
Solid link rod, Rc Channel - The Worlds of Rc Car Parts

Yes, so it seems at times. Useful site, thanks!

Originally Posted by rockhugger

.... I found you!!!!!

Ahh the memories buddy!!!

NO!!!!!

Precisely, especially when you have a friend who has a little torch for such an occasion. I will personally see to it that the bed is built by Nate. There will be brazing in your future Natedog.

mmmmm scratch built. I like the sound of those words.

Truck Looks good dog, This thread needs more scratch built. and not scratching your baws while dis/re assembling it.

Yep.

Yes!

OK

Sounds great!

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

I knew I had seen his 1:1 bed in RC size.

Similar.

Some parts arrived!
BOW-BTF-0030S BowHouse RC Rear Leaf Shackle Mount for TF2
https://www.rpphobby.com/product_p/bow-btf-0030s.htm

CWR-3019 Crawler Innovations Deuce's Wild Single Stage For 1.55 Tires; 3.40"-3.60" Tall Foam Pair (looks to be good fit for the RC4WD Mud Thrasher tires) Looking for little bigger set of 1.55 tires, love the white spoke steelies!
Deuce's Wild Single Stage for 1.55 Tires; 3.40" - 3.60" Tall Foam Pair (2) - Crawler Innovations

RC4Z-S0342 RC4WD XVD Axle for Ultimate Scale Yota Axle
https://www.rpphobby.com/product_p/rc4z-s0342.htm


Some parts ordered!
Ordered BWH-BTF-0014S BowHouse RC Trail Finder 2 N2R Low Profile Skid v4
https://www.amainhobbies.com/bowhous...-0014s/p753642

[Natedog]

I've been replacing all hardware as I re-grease, shim, etc. with a nice McMaster-Carr assortment. Two of the transmission gear shafts were already shimmed from the factory, but the main output shaft seemed kinda tight but turned smoothly. The transfer case is a nice design and incorporates two bearings on the rear output shaft which is a nice touch. Transfer case input shaft bearing pockets are several thousandths too big and consequently the shaft and bearings wobble around inside the case. My truck had been sitting on the LHS shelf for a year or so until I bought it, I'll run it and see what happens, but hopefully the new cases are much closer tolerance. I trimmed the ends of both output shafts to fit Traxxas TRX-4 driveshafts. Didn't trim the input shaft since it's using the solid steel RC4WD connector shaft.



Removed stock radio and installed a Spektrum that I had laying around. Deciding whether to run battery in stock location or flip the plate and run it in front of the tranny, probably start in stock location, but have to check the weight bias. Hobbywing WP1080 on the battery plate forward and right at the frame rail.

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by Natedog

Removed stock radio and installed a Spektrum that I had laying around. Deciding whether to run battery in stock location or flip the plate and run it in front of the tranny, probably start in stock location, but have to check the weight bias. Hobbywing WP1080 on the battery plate forward and right at the frame rail.

That's interesting. I never thought about flipping the floor pan/battery tray.

[HumboldtEF]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

That's interesting. I never thought about flipping the floor pan/battery tray.

My brother did this to his, we mentioned it to another friend who had the 2 speed but the 2 speed gubbins is in the way.

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by HumboldtEF

My brother did this to his, we mentioned it to another friend who had the 2 speed but the 2 speed gubbins is in the way.

Ah thanks for the info. Mine is indeed the 2-speed since I built the kit.

[Natedog]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

That's interesting. I never thought about flipping the floor pan/battery tray.

Nice option and all the bolt holes line up.

Originally Posted by HumboldtEF

My brother did this to his, we mentioned it to another friend who had the 2 speed but the 2 speed gubbins is in the way.

Cool. Maybe some spacers with the two-speed tranny setup with flipped plate?

[Natedog]

Couple more of the 1:1 as requested.




Ascending Cadillac Hill on Rubicon, yep that's some early season snow still in spots.

[Natedog]

BowHouse High Clearance skidplate installed under transfer case. Front and rear pinion shafts and transfer case output shafts trimmed so that TRX4 driveshafts fit. Driveshafts installed. Almost every fastener replaced, had a couple round out on removal.
BWH-BTF-0014S BowHouse RC Trail Finder 2 N2R Low Profile Skid v4

Traxxas Slash wheel hexes don’t fit well since they’re center holes are kinda large and the diameter doesn’t step down at the ends like Rc4wd hexes do. Itching to drive this tiny truck.

There’s no instructions with the XVDS, do I leave out the inner axle washers/shims since there’s no E-clip to retain them? Any other shimming required?

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by Natedog

BowHouse High Clearance skidplate installed under transfer case. Front and rear pinion shafts and transfer case output shafts trimmed so that Traxxas TRX4 driveshafts fit. Driveshafts installed. Almost every fastener replaced, had a couple round out on removal.

Traxxas Slash wheel hexes don’t fit well since they’re center holes are kinda large and the diameter doesn’t step down at the ends like Rc4wd hexes do. Itching to drive this tiny truck.

There’s no instructions with the XVDS, do I leave out the inner axle washers/shims since there’s no E-clip to retain them? Any other shimming required?

I didn't use the shims on my XVDs.

[Natedog]

Thanks, got mine installed without washers/shims fit tighter than the stock dogbone setup and I had to remove the one 0.1mm shim that was on the front spool, still diff action and steering got much tighter after reassembly. Gently tapped both stub axle ends inwards toward the spool attempting to seat all bearings and made almost no difference. Hopefully the bearings and gears don't mind the tightness.

The gears were factory assembled with a dab of what looked like old partially dried pinkish cosmoline and had dusty dirty coating like from a machine shop/warehouse storage bin. I cleaned it all up and applied fresh synthetic grease. The pinions had only one washer-like shim outside, which I installed inside and the mesh felt much nicer, was kinda lot of backlash in stock configuration. XVDs also cleaned and coated with synthetic grease.

One of the front shocks was really easy to compress, turned out both o-rings were black buna rubber oversized so that they didn't fit the shaft properly, light could be seen between the shaft and o-rings. I tried a couple different rings and had some old HPI Savage shock rings p/n 6819 fit good, so I greased with Nolene and reassembled, inner springs removed, Loctited the lower shock mount to the shaft and all filled with 3000wt diff fluid. CA’ed the little brass bushings into the aluminum shock ends, used tiny flat blade screwdriver to wick the glue into the crevices between where knurled brass inserts were pressed into the aluminum so that they are less likely to work themselves loose and fall out. Felt good and no leaks so far.



Installed RC4WD #1 Aluminum Bumper Mount Trail Finder 2 RC4ZS0006, much nicer than plastic and straight across (no drop) so more ground clearance.
https://www.amainhobbies.com/rc4wd-t...zs0006/p298348

Ordered A&M Garage TF2 Shackle Reversal Kit
https://aandmgarage.com/

Got a spare set of 1.55 white spoke wheels, and Pitbull PB9016AK - BRAVEN BERSERKER 3.95X1.35-1.55 SCALE RC / ALIEN KOMPOUND / w/Foam (2 tires & 2Foams)
https://pitbullrc.com/collections/1-...ker-1-55-tires

[Natedog]

As others have noted the TF2 lexan windshield is too long and forces the dashboard and steering wheel down. As a result the steering wheel is straight up and down, maybe slightly downward angled, not the way it should be. Since the windows bolt in between the body and dash, not sure how to fix this, any suggestions?

Crawled it yesterday at one of my spots to get a baseline for a fairly stock setup before modding it and it did pretty well. Had a blast and am loving mine! Really teaches us to drive, take obstacles a little slower and don't let it roll 20 feet down the rocks like a lexan body Vaterra or Axial. Played follow the leader with Rockhugger and his Traxxas TRX-4 Defender. I kinda forgot what I was driving a few times and the little red Yota took a couple nasty tumbles, I gotta glue the headlight and marker light lenses in with a dab of E6000 or something. After a bit of crawl, I cut off center part of lower valance, this freed up the front spring shackle movement and really helped flex. One nasty tumble pulled the front core support peice out of where it's bolted to the front lower fender. Going to cut off lower valance and stock chrome plastic bumper that's bolted to the body, kinda like Marlin version, then need to build a proper front bumper.

I like the look of the full bed length, but am going to bob underneath rear of bed like Marlin edition and how my 1:1 was the couple times I had a stock bed on it. The way it is it drug the rear bumper a few times and the stock rear crossmember/bumper mount is designed in such a way that the rear bumper is bent and pushed down at a weird angle when the body is installed. Might replace the rear plastic cross-member too. Front suspension and shocks work pretty well, but when crossing an off camber crevice, the rear tries to unload the suspension and flop the truck over onto it's side. The way the rear shocks angle inwards is not helping, because they have very little damping effect in this situation. I'm going to install shorter rear shocks and stand them upright, might make my own upper mounts or use two suspension spring shackle plates bolted to frame and each other in triangle pattern.

Like to lower the body down, but not sure how easy that is and tire clearance on compression may be an issue. Stock Mud Thrashers already slightly rub front lower fender at valance, Pitbull Braven Berserkers are about .2" taller, so I'll need some room. Like to move nerfbars in about 1/4" each side, I can cut the mount legs shorteer, but might cause rubbing on the body that will force them downwards, maybe use heatgun to bend them a bit?

Stock RC4WD Twister servo works, but it's kinda weak and according to their specs only takes 4.8 or 6.0 volts. Running WP1080 without a BEC, going to add CCBEC and deciding what servo to buy. I want to get all my new servos on the 25T spline standard with 3mm attaching screw, looking at new Hitecs all aluminum case, 25T, etc. and the latest $20 servo hotness, DS3218 update servo 20KG full metal gear digital servo baja servo Waterproof servo, just not had best luck with any cheap servo.

Stock tires look good, but the hard compound is really holding this truck back, even after many 3S driveway and granite uphill burnouts, gotta go.

[JatoTheRipper]

The tires look great. Can't wait to see them mounted.

I haven't thought of a fix for the dash push from the window, but from the outside you don't notice it too much.

[Natedog]

Thanks!

If you do, let us know. Correct.

Stock sealed can 45T motor works but needs geared down, 14T pinion is fun but too high geared for real crawling and the motor was getting hotter than I like. 12t or maybe even down to 10T pinion on 3s should be much better, probably going to a trusty 21T 550 motor in this, they just work and don't get as hot. Also needs a bit more rearward weight bias, it was too front heavy with battery forward on flipped plate. Very happy with the BowHouse RC nylon high clearance skidplate and rear spring shackle relocator mounts!

Need a single/single tube rollbar in the bed too, Smittybuilt style!



Are you mooning me? Another beautiful evening, but wildfire smoke has been noticeable here for weeks.

[HumboldtEF]

So did you turn those "faux shocks" into actual shocks? Is there actually a piston inside of them? I've never been a fan of those sprung shocks, they really let the truck down. I've heard of folks filling them with oil but I assumed it was still not really a damper.

Keep up the good work!

[Natedog]

Yes, I disassembled them, lubed o-rings (2 per shock like most shocks) separated by a plastic spacer, removed the internal springs (available in different rates), pistons are white plastic with four notches around the perimeter. Refilled them with 3000wt diff fluid, bled and let sit over night before leveling the fluid, installing caps and mounted them to the truck. They work pretty well this way, but two are leaking oil out the bottom seals, maybe I overfilled them but I don't think so. They're very scale looking shocks, but due to large notches in pistons you gotta run diff fluid or the damping will be non-existent. Worked very well while crawling too!

Thanks, your GCM LandCruiser inspired me!

A&M Garage Shackle Reversal Kit arrived as well as some 80mm RC4WD shocks!
https://aandmgarage.com/

[BIGW0RM]

Originally Posted by Natedog

Yes, I disassembled them, lubed o-rings (2 per shock like most shocks) separated by a plastic spacer, removed the internal springs (available in different rates), pistons are white plastic with four notches around the perimeter. Refilled them with 3000wt diff fluid, bled and let sit over night before leveling the fluid, installing caps and mounted them to the truck. They work pretty well this way, but two are leaking oil out the bottom seals, maybe I overfilled them but I don't think so. They're very scale looking shocks, but due to large notches in pistons you gotta run diff fluid or the damping will be non-existent. Worked very well while crawling too!

Thanks, your GCM LandCruiser inspired me!

A&M Garage Shackle Reversal Kit arrived as well as some 80mm RC4WD shocks!

I cut my the lower bumper off like the Marlin too. My front clear driving light? next to the headlight broke too...lol. I want shorten and bob my bed like the marlin.

So you ran a 3S in yours so far huh? Im scared to try it with stock drive shafts! LOL.

The Vaterra has zero issue with the 3s on carpet wheelies. I would NOT dare to try that with my TF2...

Looking forward to seeing this build!

[Natedog]

Nice, I’ve been following your thread too, going to trim mine up but not sure how much yet, keeping it on the conservative side and probably use X-Acto fine tooth saw. Looking forward to your body trim job. Yes both my turn signals (clear lenses next to headlights) and one headlight lenses popped out, fortunately we saw them and picked them up.

3S only so far, shimmed both diffs as per the guide at top of the page. Driveshafts swapped out before any running. New Marlin shafts supposed to be improved but I’ve not seen them and still not really scale looking. TRX4 shafts trim to length while waiting for VP steel scale shafts to come available.

Yes my Ascenders have been very durable right out of the box.

[Zippy1]

Ran nothing but 3S so far. And tonight I did my very best to break a stock shaft, and they held up fine. May not be so lucky next run.
I will agree, the servo is nothing to brag about...

[Natedog]

I used a leather punch to vent the tires in three evenly spaced locations around the tread. Have tried mounting them several times and the last 1/8" is a bear, that's when the beads start pushing out Think I need to take about 1/8' off the inner rings, anybody else mounted Pitbulls or Berserkers specifically to the RC4WD white spokes?

Edit; I tried four long setscrews for quick mounting cab/body with the two rear body clip mounts through the bed. Didn't like the setscrews, they were starting to chew away at the cab plastic around the screws, so switched back to stock buttonhead screws for now. Need better option though.

[BIGW0RM]

Originally Posted by Natedog

I used a leather punch to vent the tires in three evenly spaced locations around the tread. Have tried mounting them several times and the last 1/8" is a bear, that's when the beads start pushing out Think I need to take about 1/8' off the inner rings, anybody else mounted Pitbulls or Berserkers specifically to the RC4WD white spokes?

Edit; I tried four long setscrews for quick mounting cab/body with the two rear body clip mounts through the bed. Didn't like the setscrews, they were starting to chew away at the cab plastic around the screws, so switched back to stock buttonhead screws for now. Need better option though.

I noticed the same thing!!!

I was going to try a smooth in the middle screw and just cut the head off and smooth it round. And just use pliers to manually twist them into the holes.