The journey of a slightly de-marlinized TF2

[durok]

Perfectly shaped and proportioned little pusher bar...

Looks as good or better than what's offered aftermarket!

[twade984]

Yeah that’s awesome, nice and straightforward. Sometimes less is more


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[high plains drifter]

Originally Posted by B-MOW71

I've missed seeing the de-marlinized Marlin!!

The new bumper looks great! Sure is a ton better than the stock bumper that would get hung up on everything. I'm glad I removed mine from my Marlin.

Shackles look factory and I like the scale bolts holding on the plate! Excellent job!

Thanks very much! Quick story that we can ALL relate to... After everything was finished, I started reassembling it in orderto finally mount on the truck. And the very last step was to install the license plate. Holes for the little 2mm bolts had been tapped/ pre-threaded but I guess one of the [pre-cut/ shortened] bolts was a hair too long and as I was tightening it down... 'SNAP!'. Bolt broke flush with the bumper... S#!T!!

I was so furious that my mind just went blank... I got up from my work-table, smiled, and turned out the light in the hobby room. My eye was probably twitching tbh lol. But I gave myself an hour or so then went back to it and proceeded to use the smallest Dremel bit that I had to very carefully and precisely grind out the broken piece while making sure not to accidentally enlarge the hole or damage the threaded portion of the hole. Man that was rough but I got it cleaned out without damaging the hole and without any collateral damage to the surrounding paint. Cut down a new bolt, threaded it in and done!

Originally Posted by durok

Perfectly shaped and proportioned little pusher bar...


Looks as good or better than what's offered aftermarket!

I appreciate it, durok! My goal was obviously to create something that sat way back closer to the vehicle and that had minimalist design to avoid getting snagged on obstacles... And to make it super strong. Try as I might, I cannot begin to bend that steel so hopefully it'll fare well on the rocks and trails.

Originally Posted by twade984

Yeah that’s awesome, nice and straightforward. Sometimes less is more

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Thank you. I lreally liked creating the final version of the one that was on there previously as far as looks go and the fact that it had a winch/ steel cable/ roller fairlead... looked really cool. But man... not at the expense of so much performance loss. "Less is more" was definitely my mindset going into this one.

[ScaleLifeNewbie]

Good looking bumper HPD! thanks for reminding me I can build my own bumper rather than not having one because i can’t find it anywhere lol. Sometimes I get caught up in just buying it I forget I have the ability to build.


_________________
Veterans deserve a whole month too…

[high plains drifter]

Originally Posted by ScaleLifeNewbie

Good looking bumper HPD! thanks for reminding me I can build my own bumper rather than not having one because i can’t find it anywhere lol. Sometimes I get caught up in just buying it I forget I have the ability to build.

_________________Veterans deserve a whole month too…

Thanks, SLN. Appreciate the reply. Yeah... There was one that I saw on RPP that was kinda what I was after but it was delrin/ plastic and it honestly looked janky ( Is that a word? Do kids say that?). It hung down too far and the plastic-y appearance was pretty lame.

I have bins separated into 'metal', 'hard plastic', 'soft plastic', and 'foam'... just scraps of whatever stuff I might need. I really like being able to make things without spending additional money. Feels good. Only thing with this one that woulda been nice would've been if I could've bent or angled the ends back a little to get them closer to the body. But all in all this one is much lower profile than the RC4WD tube bumper that I had on there previously. I hated losing the Warn winch on the front of this rig but all in all, the new one looks pretty good and will afford WAY better performance in the way of approach angle. So... I'm satisfied.

Thanks again, brother.

[B-MOW71]

Originally Posted by high plains drifter

Thanks very much! Quick story that we can ALL relate to... After everything was finished, I started reassembling it in orderto finally mount on the truck. And the very last step was to install the license plate. Holes for the little 2mm bolts had been tapped/ pre-threaded but I guess one of the [pre-cut/ shortened] bolts was a hair too long and as I was tightening it down... 'SNAP!'. Bolt broke flush with the bumper... S#!T!!

I was so furious that my mind just went blank... I got up from my work-table, smiled, and turned out the light in the hobby room. My eye was probably twitching tbh lol. But I gave myself an hour or so then went back to it and proceeded to use the smallest Dremel bit that I had to very carefully and precisely grind out the broken piece while making sure not to accidentally enlarge the hole or damage the threaded portion of the hole. Man that was rough but I got it cleaned out without damaging the hole and without any collateral damage to the surrounding paint. Cut down a new bolt, threaded it in and done!

That sounds like the luck I have! Glad to hear after the cool down you were able to get her fixed up! It looked good in the pic. I would have never guessed the tiny bolt snapped.

Originally Posted by ScaleLifeNewbie

Good looking bumper HPD! thanks for reminding me I can build my own bumper rather than not having one because i can’t find it anywhere lol. Sometimes I get caught up in just buying it I forget I have the ability to build.
_______________
Veterans deserve a whole month too…

I try to build/fab when I can, but sometimes it's easier just to buy!

Originally Posted by high plains drifter

I have bins separated into 'metal', 'hard plastic', 'soft plastic', and 'foam'... just scraps of whatever stuff I might need. I really like being able to make things without spending additional money.

Same here. These bins are always coming in handy!

[RC Perspective]

Nice looking truck bud! I have wanted to make my own metal bumper for some time now. But the organic bumper has grown on me soo much I don't want anything else

[high plains drifter]

Originally Posted by B-MOW71

... sometimes it's easier just to buy!

So I see you have never met my wife!

j/k.. It's pretty cool all the crazy stuff they let us spend money on lol

Originally Posted by RC Perspective

Nice looking truck bud! I have wanted to make my own metal bumper for some time now. But the organic bumper has grown on me soo much I don't want anything else

Thanks, man.. although tbh I have no clue what organic bumper you're referring to. You make one out of wood?

[RC Perspective]

Originally Posted by high plains drifter

Thanks, man.. although tbh I have no clue what organic bumper you're referring to. You make one out of wood?

That's exactly what it is.



My build thread is in here too.
Oh look, Another TF2 build thread...... (Watch me transform a used ebay TF2)

[high plains drifter]

Man that's pretty slick... fun-looking trail, great color on that rig, and REALLY cool bumper. Good idea and we've all seen full-size trucks with wood bumpers so it definitely looks scale. Thanks for sharing... I'll have to check out your thread.

[RC Perspective]

Originally Posted by high plains drifter

Man that's pretty slick... fun-looking trail, great color on that rig, and REALLY cool bumper. Good idea and we've all seen full-size trucks with wood bumpers so it definitely looks scale. Thanks for sharing... I'll have to check out your thread.

Thanks bud, I appreciate it.
Top pic was at USTE this year and the second is on my little home trail.
I can't take credit for the color or dents, but the rest is all me. You'll see when you get a chance to check it out.

With the dents it was only right to do it up like an old farm truck, or some old guys truck that wasn't maintained, So it was between a scale I beam, or a scale railroad tie lol

[diggerj]

Originally Posted by high plains drifter

Getting back into my 'slightly de-marlinized tf2' recently. Currently waiting on a new motor ( Crawlmaster Sport 550) but figured in the meantime, I'd address something that's been on my list of things to do for this rig for quite some time... Making a new front bumper.

I didn't want to buy one because of the expense as well as not liking most of what's available out there for one reason or another. So while what I made isn't perfect, I feel that it's much better than the previous one. It doesn't match the rear tube bumper but I'm over the whole 'matching aesthetic' thing on this rig at this point.

Main issue with the previous bumper was that it just stuck out too far and got hung-up on sticks and things. Obviously it compromised approach angle as well. It looked cool with the pre-runner appearance but it was time to put something on this rig that would improve it's performance rather than hinder it. The winch on the old bumper wasn't functional anyway so... time to go.

New bumper I made from 1/8" ( 3.10mm) steel bar stock. Nothing fancy and I guess that's obvious from looking at the pics lol. I used an old bumper mounting bracket from a no name chinese trx4 bumper that I had in my traxxas parts bin. The shackle mounts are actually modified aluminum body-mounting posts that I've had for over 20 years and never used. Just had to drill the [body clip] holes larger to accommodate the shackle screws. Pretty straight-fwd besides that. Paint is self-etching primer under Krylon High Heat satin black.

Nice job on the bumper and mounting, looks great. Very clean and low key!

[high plains drifter]

@ diggerj - Thanks much for taking a look. I haven't gotten to run this rig since making the new front bumper but hopefully soon. Unfortunately, 106 degrees is just too danged hot to play outside for very long lol.

Been a while since updating this thread. Not much to add but might as well keep things documented at the very least.

>>> Installed RC4WD front fender liners. Made from quite possibly the thinnest most flimsy lexan in the entire universe. Not a big deal for a part such as this but definitely worth noting. Also worth mentioning that these do NOT fit the Marlin Crawler with shock-hoops in the stock location. You really can't just lower the mounts without some major modifications so modifying the fender-liners is about the only option. You could leave enough material along the bottom of the liners in order to mount them high enough to clear the top of the shock-hoops but I had already cut these out before realizing that. Not sure that all makes sense to read lol.

I wanted to keep the shocks where they were, so it was time to break out the Dremel instead. Pretty self explanatory.... Just have to cut out enough material to slide these down over the mounts as well as making a cut-out for the top of the shocks to clear as well. They look fine and they do the job of blocking out the electronics inside but again... these pieces are pathetically thin and flimsy. Fwiw I used Krylon Fusion satin black and painted both sides of the liners.

>>> Next up was motor replacement. After corresponding with Holmes Hobbies I decided on the Crawlmaster Sport 550 15t. Gearing is the stock 14/ 64. I have some reservations about this being too much motor for this application but I'll give it a try and see how things go. I can always use this motor in another rig if it doesn't work out for the TF2 and at only $20 it won't be a big deal.

Pretty straight-forward install although I did replace the cheap RC4WD connectors with the much more robust ProTek 3.5 mm gold bullet connectors. Night and day difference with the ProTek connectors... Very happy with these.

I'll definitely update this part of the thread after I've had a chance to run a few 2S and 3S packs with this new motor. That's it for now/ few pics...


Original RC4WD 540 45t next to the new HH 550 15t...




Old connectors & new connectors... no comparison...




Installed and ready to go. Also you can see in this pic the RC4WD fender liners and how they had to be cut out in order to accommodate the shock hoops and shocks.

[RC Perspective]

Originally Posted by high plains drifter

@ diggerj - Thanks much for taking a look. I haven't gotten to run this rig since making the new front bumper but hopefully soon. Unfortunately, 106 degrees is just too danged hot to play outside for very long lol.

Been a while since updating this thread. Not much to add but might as well keep things documented at the very least.

>>> Installed RC4WD front fender liners. Made from quite possibly the thinnest most flimsy lexan in the entire universe. Not a big deal for a part such as this but definitely worth noting. Also worth mentioning that these do NOT fit the Marlin Crawler with shock-hoops in the stock location. You really can't just lower the mounts without some major modifications so modifying the fender-liners is about the only option. You could leave enough material along the bottom of the liners in order to mount them high enough to clear the top of the shock-hoops but I had already cut these out before realizing that. Not sure that all makes sense to read lol.

I wanted to keep the shocks where they were, so it was time to break out the Dremel instead. Pretty self explanatory.... Just have to cut out enough material to slide these down over the mounts as well as making a cut-out for the top of the shocks to clear as well. They look fine and they do the job of blocking out the electronics inside but again... these pieces are pathetically thin and flimsy. Fwiw I used Krylon Fusion satin black and painted both sides of the liners.

>>> Next up was motor replacement. After corresponding with Holmes Hobbies I decided on the Crawlmaster Sport 550 15t. Gearing is the stock 14/ 64. I have some reservations about this being too much motor for this application but I'll give it a try and see how things go. I can always use this motor in another rig if it doesn't work out for the TF2 and at only $20 it won't be a big deal.

Pretty straight-forward install although I did replace the cheap RC4WD connectors with the much more robust ProTek 3.5 mm gold bullet connectors. Night and day difference with the ProTek connectors... Very happy with these.

I'll definitely update this part of the thread after I've had a chance to run a few 2S and 3S packs with this new motor. That's it for now/ few pics...


Original RC4WD 540 45t next to the new HH 550 15t...




Old connectors & new connectors... no comparison...




Installed and ready to go. Also you can see in this pic the RC4WD fender liners and how they had to be cut out in order to accommodate the shock hoops and shocks.

The fender liners are the thinnest lexan I have encountered as well. Worth noting, I used the Gelende fender liners, which will fit with the Gelende shock hoops, though they aren't as round as the ones you have. I was able to use the rear fender liners too, with heavy trimming to fit under the bed. I used Plasti-dip on mine.

That 15T may be a little much for the TF2; I find at times the 27T I put in mine to be a handful in second gear

Awesome little update none the less! Trucks looking good!

[high plains drifter]

Originally Posted by RC Perspective

The fender liners are the thinnest lexan I have encountered as well. Worth noting, I used the Gelende fender liners, which will fit with the Gelende shock hoops, though they aren't as round as the ones you have. I was ale to use the rear fender liners too, with heavy trimming to fit under the bed. I used Plasti-dip on mine.

That 15T may be a little much for the TF2; I find at times the 27T I put in mine to be a handful in second gear

Awesome little update none the less! Trucks looking good!

Yeah... I'm not sure why HH recommended this motor although a lot of people say that it has a a smooth controlled throttle response. That was why I chose it over the trailmaster. But yeah, maybe a different size would've been better for this particular rig. We'll see.

If it DOES wind up being too much I'm hoping that a different spur or pinion might do the trick. I'm planning on running a 2S in this rig... not sure if that will change much though.

Btw I would've rather used plasti-dip on these liners too but had to just use what I had on hand. I've got too many partially used spray paints already taking up shelf space lol.


Thanks for the advice and for taking a look... appreciated.

[Speedy-Triple]

Rc4wd fender liners are a joke ... lesson learned though I did reinforced them with shoe goo and a piece of styrene at the sidewall mounting area and they have held up ... if you mount and dismount your hardbody regularly they will likely not survive long.

[RC Perspective]

Originally Posted by high plains drifter

Yeah... I'm not sure why HH recommended this motor although a lot of people say that it has a a smooth controlled throttle response. That was why I chose it over the trailmaster. But yeah, maybe a different size would've been better for this particular rig. We'll see.

If it DOES wind up being too much I'm hoping that a different spur or pinion might do the trick. I'm planning on running a 2S in this rig... not sure if that will change much though.

Btw I would've rather used plasti-dip on these liners too but had to just use what I had on hand. I've got too many partially used spray paints already taking up shelf space lol.


Thanks for the advice and for taking a look... appreciated.

No problem bud! I too try to use what I have on hand, and that's lots of PlastiDip cause I love the stuff!

I wound up just changing the forward rate lower for mine, if you have that option on your Tx it'll probably be easier than another motor swap when you get to that point.

[high plains drifter]

Originally Posted by Speedy-Triple

Rc4wd fender liners are a joke ... lesson learned though I did reinforced them with shoe goo and a piece of styrene at the sidewall mounting area and they have held up ... if you mount and dismount your hardbody regularly they will likely not survive long.

They sure are. I haven't had that body on and off more than a 1/2 doz times since installing them and they're already starting to fold at the pressure points... and as thin as that lexan is, those folds will become cracks in no time. I may trim them back from the body a bit to allow a little more wiggle room.

Originally Posted by RC Perspective

No problem bud! I too try to use what I have on hand, and that's lots of PlastiDip cause I love the stuff!
I wound up just changing the forward rate lower for mine, if you have that option on your Tx it'll probably be easier than another motor swap when you get to that point.

I haven't upgraded the factory tx yet but I was thinking maybe swapping out the 14t pinion for a 12t or even an 11t if it seems like the power needs to be tamed down a bit.

[RC Perspective]

BTW, I'm stealing your bumper design, as after the axle flip on my TF2, sadly the organic bumper I have is now an issue

It'll take a little work designing something to 3D print, but I can make it look used and abused, and hopefully match a few dents in my front grille.

Would you mind getting some measurements of just the bumper part for me? If so, generic LxWxH would be perfect, I've already downloaded the mounting posts file to attach to the back. I'll have to cut my lower sill plate off.

-RC Perspective

[high plains drifter]

Nice!

So don't laugh... and I hope that this works but when it comes to computer stuff, files, scanning, and all of that... I'm about as dumb as they come lol.

Anyway.. Here is the bumper template with measurements. I've shown here each dimension with the corresponding A/ B/ C/ D as they relate to the top/ bottom/ side/ and bottom angle

A = 168.55 mm or 6.64"
B = 123.50 mm or 4.86" or 4 55/64"
C = 8 mm or .31" or 5/16"
D = 26.25 mm or 1.03" or 1 1/32"

* Angle of "D" = approx 25 degree
* Thickness = 3.19 mm or 1/8"