TF2 Marlin Crawler

[Natedog]

Originally Posted by Toyotarc

I thought about notching but I thought this would look cleaner. It is only like 1/8" taller than normal though. I did think of notching the rear of the battery tray to clear the frame rails if I were to push the tray towards the back instead of flip it but I ended up flipping it instead.

Did you swap it back because you were flipping the front end over descending?

Lower is better, it all adds up to better crawling and sidehill capability.

Yes.

Originally Posted by Toyotarc

... The new location for the shock to function smooth would either have to be straight up on the chassis or pointed towards the rear slightly.

Now the shocks don't bind when flexing which makes very smooth shock movement throughout all of the travel. There is multiple holes along the crossmember so if you have longer shocks this can still work for you. Definitely a worth while mod in my opinion!

I did also install 4mm lift blocks on the rear incase anyone noticed.

I stood my rears up as much as possible by moving them outboard on the stock frame crossmember and it definitely sidehills better! Intersting take on also moving them rearward. I'd leave both frame members either way for strength.

Lift blocks look nice!

[Toyotarc]

Originally Posted by Natedog

Lower is better, it all adds up to better crawling and sidehill capability.

I ended up flipping the tray around after 10min lol, so much weight up front with the winch now to.

I added the shock crossmember back to, probably smart to leave it there for strength.

[Toyotarc]

Ok finally started working on lifting the transmission up. First thing I had to do was flip the transmission around so that the mounting screws are facing up instead of below the truck like stock. Didn't get any pictures because it's pretty straight forward.

So I flipped the battery tray back to the stock spot to make this easier. The screws on the right side I had to drill a hole in the battery tray to reveal the threaded hole in the frame. Everything else was pretty straightforward, cut a little notch on the right side of the tray to access the driveshaft screw if needed. I also didn't raise the tranny as high as originally planned because the driveshaft angles were to gnarly any higher than this.



The front shaft was pretty steep after I moved the axle forward so I filed down some lift blocks to make shims. One I didn't finish yet so thats why it looks crooked



Here's a before shot of the shaft angle, take note of the length of the shaft in this picture.



Here's the new angle with the shims installed. Now the picture doesn't do justice of how much it changed the pinion angle but look at the length of the shaft in this picture vs the before.



Will be working on a skid plate soon.

[Toyotarc]

Finished the skid plate up. I used 3/32" aluminum for it.

So because I don't have a brake for bending metal I just used a block of wood, vice, and a hammer to make all the bends. Surprisingly I bent it all first try and I thought it turned out good.



Here's a another shot with all the holes drilled. Just need to file down some edges and I'll paint it.



Here's a nice final shot with it painted. I'll probably scratch most of the paint off pretty quick but it will look good for about a few days

[B-MOW71]

Congrats on getting a Marlin! These are fun little trucks!

Nice upgrades and fab work so far!

I had to tear my Marlin down right out of the box. None of my screws had loctite and most of the screws were loose. I ended up going with A&M Garage TF2 upgrades because I didn't want to take the time to make the pieces myself.

Looking forward to seeing more!

[Toyotarc]

Originally Posted by B-MOW71

Congrats on getting a Marlin! These are fun little trucks!

Nice upgrades and fab work so far!

I had to tear my Marlin down right out of the box. None of my screws had loctite and most of the screws were loose. I ended up going with A&M Garage TF2 upgrades because I didn't want to take the time to make the pieces myself.

Looking forward to seeing more!

Yeah I'm enjoying the truck so far!

Maybe if I was in the US I'd buy the parts but shipping cost and exchange rate for CAD is brutal so I'm forced to make most of it to save money.

[TAT76]

Wow that turned out good for a hammer job. ;) Keep it up!!

[lkvisser]

Originally Posted by TAT76

Wow that turned out good for a hammer job. ;) Keep it up!!

Ya it did!!!


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[lkvisser]

Originally Posted by Toyotarc

Maybe if I was in the US I'd buy the parts but shipping cost and exchange rate for CAD is brutal so I'm forced to make most of it to save money.

Same problem here! Great job so far!

I’ve finally gotten around to leaf/ chino/ oring mods.

Really surprised with the battery position..., consensus seems to be leave it where it is? The blazers I’ve moved batter all the way forward.., maybe cause it’s a heavier truck especially with cap on I suppose.



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[Toyotarc]

Originally Posted by lkvisser

Same problem here! Great job so far!

I’ve finally gotten around to leaf/ chino/ oring mods.

Really surprised with the battery position..., consensus seems to be leave it where it is? The blazers I’ve moved batter all the way forward.., maybe cause it’s a heavier truck especially with cap on I suppose.

Thanks!

I haven't done the Chino or oring mod and don't really see a need unless you were running all three Leafs. The the only thing I might change is swap the smaller helper leaf on the rear to the larger one as it might be starting to bend the little leaf.

Yeah the battery blows up front, even with the battery in the stock location It seems to still be fairly heavy on the front. I wouldn't mind some more weight for the back somehow. Maybe a metal rear bumper would be enough.

[lkvisser]

I can’t say if the oring mod does much of anything but the chino mod works. You can watch a leaf twist in the shackle as soon as compression of that corner happens.



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[lkvisser]

Originally Posted by Toyotarc

Yeah the battery blows up front, even with the battery in the stock location It seems to still be fairly heavy on the front. I wouldn't mind some more weight for the back somehow. Maybe a metal rear bumper would be enough.

Is that partially due to how high the marlin chassis sits? For some reason it looks much higher than my blazer. Maybe just the larger tires, brand new leafs, less body weight?

Cheers, happy building


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[Toyotarc]

Originally Posted by lkvisser

Is that partially due to how high the marlin chassis sits? For some reason it looks much higher than my blazer. Maybe just the larger tires, brand new leafs, less body weight?

Cheers, happy building


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My chassis is pretty high since it has a body lift and suspension lift so the center of gravity is a fair bit higher. The body is quite heavy itself compared to lexan counterparts so I find it tippy when sidehilling even with my leafs broken in. There's virtually no weight over the rear axle stock only the receiver box infront of it compared to the front which has a winch, transmission, motor, and servo so there's a lot more weight already upfront.

[Toyotarc]

Here's some cool flex shots I got today

Using up all that rear shock travel



Nice stuffed wheel well



Skid plate is almost same height as the rock sliders so it should slide of stuff perfect now

[Toyotarc]

Well ordered a Holmes 550 27T Trailmaster today!

The RC4WD 45T 540 is too slow I find. Need's more wheel speed sometimes to bump up a ledge. From what I have read a 550 27T is comparable to a 540 35T Speed wise but with more torque! I also ordered a 15T pinion incase I want more top end. It should have no problems bolting up the 550 since the TF2 has tons of room under the hood and since the bolt pattern for the motor is similar.

Estimated shipping time is 10 days so I will report back when I get it.

[lkvisser]

Originally Posted by Toyotarc

Well ordered a Holmes 550 27T Trailmaster today!

The RC4WD 45T 540 is too slow I find. Need's more wheel speed sometimes to bump up a ledge. From what I have read a 550 27T is comparable to a 540 35T Speed wise but with more torque! I also ordered a 15T pinion incase I want more top end. It should have no problems bolting up the 550 since the TF2 has tons of room under the hood and since the bolt pattern for the motor is similar.

Estimated shipping time is 10 days so I will report back when I get it.

What battery are you running?

When I ran the rc4wd nimh I found the 45 too slow.., now with a 3s and rc4wd 35., it’s too fast and jittery at super slow Crawl (very little torque)? Think I’ll have to go back....


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[Toyotarc]

Originally Posted by lkvisser

What battery are you running?

When I ran the rc4wd nimh I found the 45 too slow.., now with a 3s and rc4wd 35., it’s too fast and jittery at super slow Crawl (very little torque)? Think I’ll have to go back....


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Only use 2S. I have a pretty big pile of 2S batteries so don't have an urge to go 3S yet.

The 550 I think should have a boost in torque so I think it will work out with the 27T.

Maybe it's the 3s making it to jittery?

[Toyotarc]

Well time to replace the rear driveshaft! Why bother with plastic shafts when I got a metal shaft laying around. It seems with the higher skid plate I'm grinding the driveshaft more and the new shaft will be a touch longer and much more durable.



Longer one is the replacement, any extra spline contact is good!



Here's the new one installed and screws with some locktite on them.



This should be a bullet proof drivetrain now. All completely metal parts so I could probably run 3S without much issues.

Once I get this new motor I'll do a speed test comparing the two!

[Toyotarc]

Finally received the Holmes Trailmaster 550 27T motor!!! If I ever order parts from the US I always try to use RPP hobby if they have stock but they didn't so I ordered from Amainhobbies. Every time I use Amain it takes so long for orders to arrive and the box could of been way smaller to save shipping costs but whatever.

Quick shot of this sweet looking motor!!!!!!



Had to solder the wire leads on it so I always find drilling a hole the size of the pinion shaft to sit on a piece sheet of metal is a alternative to having it in the vice.



Now for soldering the leads on I take a piece of aluminum sheet metal and cut a slot in it to slide onto the post for the lead to keep extra solder from getting stuck on the motor housing. Aluminum metal is used because the solder I use won't stick to it so it slides out afterwards easily.

The picture shows no slot in it yet as I was making sure where I wanted it lol



Shots of it next to the RC4WD 540





Then installed onto the motor mounts with a 15 teeth pinion.



It has the same bolt spacing as a 540 motor so its a very easy install. The only tricky part is anything larger than a 14teeth pinion you have to install once the motor is loosely in the motor mounts because the opening to slide the motor through is too small.

Now some questionable GPS tracked speeds

The minimum speed isn't accurate so don't look at it

RC4WD 540 45T motor max speed 7.6km/h



Holmes Trailmaster 550 27T motor max speed 9.7km/h



Now my phones GPS speedo isn't super accurate so these numbers could be slightly off. These tests were performed on level paved concrete. Since it was pitch dark during these tests I couldn't get out for a trail run to test it out. So far it seems like similar torque off the start with more punch on the top end. I will get a trail run in next few days or so since I'm kinda busy.

[Toyotarc]

Got some shots from a quick rip around the house.

Has enough wheelspeed to get up starting from where it is.



Great low end for crawling on the rocks!



Another shot of a steep rock that wasn't possible before the new motor.



The rear springs are super soft, here's a shot of no load on the rear.



Here's with the weight of the truck on it.



The rear isn't sagging too much. I could swap out the shorter leafs for the longer ones to see if it stiffens up a little. Still flexes good so not a huge rush to fix right now.

New motor is AWSOME! This is easily the best motor/pinion combo for 2S batteries, if you were going to use a 3S I would probably use a smaller tooth pinion instead of a 15. The wheelspeed is so helpful, you don't realize what your missing out till you try it. It has no issues with low speed crawling along either so defiantly no downsides for upgrading to the 550 motor.

Few more weeks till its snowing here and that wheel speed will be very helpful.