SSD Trail King ruins (or is the highlight of) my beach vacation

[Topher Builds]

Originally Posted by SSD

You should see machined tubes by then

Originally Posted by durok

Very cool...

(EDIT)

HEY!

They've created a separate SSD Trail King section now...

Scale Rigs Brand Specific Tech - SSD Trail King - Pro Scale Chassis Builder Kit at RCCrawler.com

Double likes!

[new2rocks]

Originally Posted by Topher Builds

Looks fantastic. Can’t wait to get one of these! Love that steering.

Great thread.

Thanks! You won't be disappointed when you get yours.

Originally Posted by Shinchu

hey... how are you gonna drain your oil pan?!?!
and im sure that bronco wont mind a chevy powerplant.



kidding aside, its looking good! im curious to see those engine spacers at work. also is there enough room to run a sensor wire if you go sensored brushless? (asking for a friend).

Wait 'til you see my oil pan mod. As for the spacer, see below. And yes to the sensor wire...plenty of room if you run that through first.

Originally Posted by 2mtech

3D engine looks frankly stunning. Makes my Exclusive RC Mopar 440 look woefully lacking and crude.

Steering appears to be just short of rotating the inner rear wheel backwards at full lock!

Good job, David...enjoy the rest of your vacation. Hope you don't get as many surprise toll charges in the mail as I did after my last VA trap, I mean...trip.

Thanks, Wyatt. The engine is terrific. Exclusive's stuff is excellent for printed parts, but injection molding takes it to another level.

Originally Posted by JMass SA

Thanks for an awesome thread bud!!
I received mine yesterday and started the build last nice.
I was a bit confused with the M3 bolts for the axle tubes, thought I was losing my mind :-) Glad to see I wasn't!!

Glad you're enjoying. Make sure to post yours in the new SSD section.

Originally Posted by neilus

I'm getting closer and closer to getting one I think. Just need to get my head around not having more than 10% overdrive... but I guess 10% is fine for a trail truck, which mine would be.

Don't let the OD ratio stop you. I have plenty of trucks with and without. 10% is enough to feel a difference without going overboard.

Originally Posted by Topher Builds

I’m hoping for the same, OD at the transmission.

I have trucks with OD at the tranny and at the axle, and I don't see any benefit to OD at the tranny. If anything, OD at the axle is easier to swap in and out if you change your mind.

Since y'all have been asking about the motor spacer, let's dig in. I downloaded and printed out the 23mm spacer, and it made a big improvement in engine placement:






Once I paint the spacer to match the housing, it will blend right in. I will probably also drill out a hole in the spacer to route the motor leads and sensor wire rather than running them up through the intake manifold. I'm also planning to cut a notch out of the oil pan to clear the motor.

But first, time to get a body on it and get it running. Here's what I'm starting with:



Even with the included chassis rail extension, the rear bumper mount was a bit too far forward to work with the SSD rear Bronco bumper. No worries, though. To make the rear bumper spacing work, I had Roo whip up a spacer:



Everything fit perfectly with the body on:



That little bugger comes in handy.

I had it out for a little spin in the yard, and it feels great so far. Balance is excellent through steep climbs, descents and sidehills. I'll shoot some video this weekend, and then it will be time to work on the body.

[bikepilot]

Lookin great!! can't wait to see the video of it running!!! Keep up the great work!!!
brian

[new2rocks]

Originally Posted by bikepilot

Lookin great!! can't wait to see the video of it running!!! Keep up the great work!!!
brian

Ask and ye shall receive...here's the link to the first runs video:
https://youtu.be/53tWXe3sILk

And here are a few stills from the video:






First impressions? Right out of the box, overall balance and stability are excellent. It had no trouble handling steep climbs, sidehills and uneven terrain. When the terrain unsettled the truck (like when sliding on a slippery sidehill), the suspension remained very composed and easy to control. I was also pleasantly surprised at the lack of hang-up spots. Even when driving repeatedly over jagged roots and rocks, the only thing that hung up was the rear bumper (and that only happened once). So at this point, I don't see changing anything with the setup.

Now that I have first runs under the belt, next up will be painting and detailing the body. Thanks for following along!

[bikepilot]

I really liked the video!! watched it a couple times, looks like it did very well!!! Looking forward to more video and your thoughts on it!!
Thanks brian

[calcagno45]

Originally Posted by new2rocks

Don't let the OD ratio stop you. I have plenty of trucks with and without. 10% is enough to feel a difference without going overboard.


I have trucks with OD at the tranny and at the axle, and I don't see any benefit to OD at the tranny. If anything, OD at the axle is easier to swap in and out if you change your mind.

To be clear, OD is not included but existing HR and similar OD gear sets are compatible as well as the soon to be released SSD OD gear set, correct?

[SSD]

Originally Posted by calcagno45

To be clear, OD is not included but existing HR and similar OD gear sets are compatible as well as the soon to be released SSD OD gear set, correct?

Correct

[new2rocks]

Originally Posted by bikepilot

I really liked the video!! watched it a couple times, looks like it did very well!!!

Glad you enjoyed. Yes...it did great. It drives really, really well.

I finally got this back up on the bench after getting distracted a bit by the Element and VS4-10 Pro. Here are a few quick updates.

If I were smart, I would have picked up a clear Bronco body. But I'm not smart, so I spent way too much time stripping the paint off this one:


I did a quick and dirty (literally) detailing of the engine. My objective was to see what I could accomplish in 20 mins or less (excluding dry time). I started by pulling out the motor:




I hit the engine block and cylinder heads with primer and Tamiya Orange so they didn't look plasticky. Then I taught Roo my favorite (only?) engine weathering trick:




Brake dust + shock oil + grease = this:




Top tip...here's my brake dust ranking among our 3 1:1s: (1) BMW, (2) Odyssey, (3) CX-5.

I also decided to try out SSD's 15mm engine spacer and added a slot for the motor wires rather than running them through the slot in the intake manifold:


The shorter spacer puts the motor in just about perfect position under the Bronco's hood:


And with the shorter spacer, there's room for a prototype water pump from SSD:


I'll add pulleys and belts at some point, and I will need to trim the oil pan just a bit for clearance.

SSD also included an extra set of rear bumper mount spacers in the same care package with the water pump (thanks, SSD!):


With the motor properly dirtied and installed, it was time to have at cutting open the hood. I started by marking the cut line at the back of the hood:


I worked from back to front, and after some careful cutting (of the Lexan, not my fingers), I was left with this:


Next on the list to figure out are body mounting sans clips and a hood hinge setup that doesn't rely on painters tape. But that will have to wait until after a weekend in the mountains with the family...

[durok]

Too cool, my man...

Epic detailing.

Looking forward to seeing what happens next!

[bikepilot]

Lookin super!! I'm liking the detailing tips too!! Really looking forward to how ya mount the body and hinge the hood!! Cause I had the same thoughts when I saw the engine with this kit!!!
Thanks brian

[JatoTheRipper]

Sweet looking rig!

[2mtech]

Tres cool! The engine dirtying was a pro touch, really adds character. And it's a Ford, so it should be leaking oil and slinging grease.

Good bonus that you got your 1:1 wheels cleaned!

[CODYBOY]

Any updates on this very informative build thread. What kind of changes have you made since your last post? Any changes to setup?
Ernie

[scaled]

Is there enough clearance inside the scale engine for an outrunner motor like the Revolver?

[Topher Builds]

Any updates here? Love the latest post with the hood work and the prototype water pump. Coming around real nice.

[JatoTheRipper]

I just read through the thread. 2K in the shocks is crazy.

Is that water pump available for download?

[axben]

those axles look a little weak, how are they holding up?