Wyatts SSD TK PRO

[xwaz]

Sad to see that the Trail King Pro is gone, I think we all hope for a v2 version and wish we had grabbed another before they went to the wayside.
I wanted to Document my Trail King Comanche which is my favorite truck I have and the one that takes the most abuse and gets the most miles on it.
Bear with me as I reach back a few years and my Photo skills for RC were LACKING.
Starting from the beginning I wanted to build a "custom" truck I had gotten out of RC in 2018 and sold and thrown away all but one truck my Trusty TF2. Having gotten that back running I wanted to have another truck to see if the RC bug would bite again, and is sure as hell did. But 3 years and 15+ trucks later this is still my undisputed favorite.

Introducing my TK Pro! The fusion did go in it but the MTRs didn't end up on it till recently this year.

Rear Axle and the only assembly picture of the Kit.


Boom a body sitting on a chassis. I thought the comanche looked cool and I didn't have to paint it so from ebay it came!




I was terrified that the body was going to explode on the slightly rollover so I build and Exo cage, I have come to find that the Comanche body is probably the strongest hardbody ever. But with 2 wrenches and a vice I bend up a cage and Mig welded it together, then dremeled down the welds to make it look less lumpy.



Maybe a wooden welding bend isn't the best idea...


With the Cage done, I moved to the front bumper, I had picked up and RC4wd Warn 9.5 CTi for it and went about making it fit.

Yes its slight uneven and had remained so. I look at it as a lesson for my first RC Bumper project.

First test run with a painted Cage and unpainted bumper. Also missing a bunch of detail work. Also check out the RC4WD Rock Crushers that I had laying around. They were hard as rock but looked cool.




Bumper all finished up.


Finished the body with all the scale bits, and added lights. I also picked up a Futaba 4pm for the truck. I figured a nice truck deserved a nice radio.


You'll see a lot of this rock its one of my favorite places to take pictures of my trucks.


The Side Mirrors only lasted about 2 runs before they were ripped on.
As can be seen. This was a first Long hike I took the truck on, about 6 miles total, being November and only about 30 degrees I learned real fast lipos don't last as long in the cold and exhausted both 3000 mah 3s by mile 4 and had to run the last couple miles on a 2s pack. which made the truck painfully slow. Something I fixed later.


My goal was to drive the entire trail, even it it meant winching, I mean I had a winch and land anchor I was gonna use it!


And I needed it...


The Duratrax Scalers are actually not a have bad tire and for a more street style look I think they worked out alright.


But in the end I made it to the Lake and realized how much I loved hiking with an RC truck. It just made it so much more fun.


Next Up I wanted a touch more performance so I grabbed my old set of R35 Ripsaws, that I picked up back probably in 2013? slapped them on and went out with some friends.


One of which is a Profession Sports Photographer and got some killer shots. this one still remains my favorite. Thanks Matty!


This is how the truck remained for a while and will be the end of Chapter 1 of the Comanche.

[xwaz]

Chapter 2 Comp truck?

After a few months of crawling through the winter just about and chance I could spring was just on the horizon, and I had met some new friends that wanted me to come join them at the last comp of the season, I figured my comanche was gonna be a great comp truck I mean it was the most capable truck I had!

My plastic rear bumper had been broken and falling off for a while so I quickly made a steel rear bumper that has remained ever since, even though I said it was only temporary for the comp.


Comp Practice, I put on Hyrax even though I really hate how them look on the truck because everyone told me they were the best. I should have known during practice my fat lip of a front bumper was going to be my downfall. Let alone the fact the body along weight 3.7Lbs. But I was still hopeful!


Another Practice day this time with the Team Garage hack guys, I also realized here this truck was not a comp truck but was going to run it anyways.


The Comp came and went, I didn't get any photos on course but rest assure the big whale of a comanche didn't do well. I think I finished 1/3 courses maybe, broken both side windows out, a taillight bucket and learned how slow the RC4wd winch is, and damn did I have to use it a lot...

So I realized its not a Sorrca comp truck but it could still be a Scale Adventure truck...

But first Moab!

I brought the Comanche with me for a dirt bike trip in Moab and had a blast exploring after riding.


My Boss Brought his Bomber along and we messed around at the parking lot of Poison Spider, the Trifecta, Poison Spider Gold Bar and Golden spike as my favorite warm up trails in Moab.


It was around this time I had burned out my Reedy Servo and wanted a servo I never had to worry about, NSDRC RS800V2 Fit that bill. And still is!



I took this truck out at least 1 day a week all winter and spring slowly getting back into the mountains and playing it the increasing run off.
This area is a man made dam that was only 10 minutes from my old house and was a great place to test, I still go back ever being 30 minutes from it now.




Do you think I caught anything?


By this point my flares were holding on by only a couple of screws and it was about time to start thinking about either replacing them or taking them off completely.
I put on some Proline Grunts, on RC4WD Wagon Wheels. They work really well, but I haven't found a truck that they "fit" the look of.




It was Time for a Bit more Power for the Comanche, I loved the Smoothness of the Fusion but the 1800kv was still a bit slow, So I threw in a 2700kv Holmes Trailmaster Pro and a Castle Copperhead. It woke it up a lot.


Scale Adventure Time! These are 100-150 gate adventure trail run that you have to work together with your team to make it through every obstacle. You also have a to pick up items typically every 30 gates and carry them back on the truck.
This is truly the event I wanted this truck for, and boy was it perfect.


The first couple went extremely well!


Disaster Finally Struck! on a 4 mile hike I was about a mile form the truck and was enjoying the extra power of the Holmes motor and a few big rock jumps later, the plastic axle finally let go. I am honestly shocked it took over a year of abuse to break one.


I couldn't get new Metal Tubes in time for a trip to arizona and some trail runs so I grabbed my set of Black Friday SCX3 Straight axles. I picked this up when they were $85 for the whole set!


A quick test and we were off!



New Axle Tubes came in for the TK Pro Axles.


Back on the OG axles and Grunts.




Chapter 2 got a little derailed so I will end it here and move onto Chapter 3 Summer/Fall of 22

[xwaz]

Chapter 3
Broke a Universal on the Pro44


It was caused by falling and rolling all the way down to the bottom of this hill and landed hard on the drivers front. During a Scale Adventure.


I ended up finishing that Scale Adventure with my Trusty TF2



Got it all replaced and headed out again!




Went out and Visited the Dam for some wet crawling


Scale Adventure Time! This time at 11,000'




Going back and writing all this has really shown me the progression of the body being slowly scrapped of most of the paint.


Another Scale Adventure, we had it to about gate 105 before the skies opened up and lightning shut us down from finishing.


My buddy towing 3wd capra up though a couple sections. Its all about working together to make it through all the gate and to finish as a team even if your truck breaks.


Not much changed for a while after that, It was just driven.
I brought it with me to a wedding in southern colorado and went for a couple mile hike before the ceremony.


As you can see my Ripsaws were getting pretty worn down by this point and I was starting to want a larger tire on the truck...

[xwaz]

Chapter 4, Big Meats!

I wanted to swap out tires and bump from the 4.3 to a 4.6. That was solidified after I threw on some RC4WD KM2s that I had sitting around and thought they looked perfect!


Marked my Trim Lines.


Trimmed up and ready for a the Final Scale Adventure of the year Halloween night run!


The Comanche had to take over halfway through after my Phoenix killed yet another set of VFD Twin Gears


Then the next Night I went up and attended the Snail Trailers Halloween Night crawl.


RC Buggy whips anyone?


The KM2s are actually a killer scale tire! They work well in most terrains I tried but are thin, more on that later.


I pulled the body off for my once a year Check up, I can get batteries in and out without removing the front bolted down body mounts so I never have a reason to remove it unless I am adding parts of maintenance, I found this time that the front drive shaft was showing the true wear of the truck. Its always run the SSD Transfer case with 20% OD and so the front shaft has some accelerated wear. I actually ran the truck another 2 months without it ever breaking



The fat lip bumper saves the day!


Found a Big crack


About KM2s being thin like I mentioned They finally gave up the ghost and most of them tore in the sidewall area. Bummer, I still haven't grabbed another set but really should.


This one had a straight up hole in it!


In my First Trucks of Fortune I happened to get the New Falken MT and some Gold 105s which I knew were destined for the Comanche and would replace my KM2s.


Talk about a Gorgeous Combo!!


Looked even better out on the trail!!



To me though them Missed a little bit of color. So I got some RED IFR Rings for them. Now its Perfect.





Took another trip to the Top of the Mountain, I usually make the 3 mile 2000' Vertical hike 2 times a year.






Winter Posses issues of course on going into the mountains but we have a lot of riverside parks and Whitewater Kayak parts that run mostly drive in the winter and result in some nice crawling spots.



Next Up is the Biggest Upgrade I have done to the Comanche Yet!

[lonleycreeper]

Wow quite the history on this rig, thanks for sharing.

[OSRC]

Excellent write up and history! Love to see a rig get put through the paces.

[xwaz]

Originally Posted by lonleycreeper

Wow quite the history on this rig, thanks for sharing.

Originally Posted by OSRC

Excellent write up and history! Love to see a rig get put through the paces.

Its my favorite truck. In fact I put another couple of hard miles on the truck today. I am still about year behind on the Thread, and should have it caught up tomorrow.

[Speedy-Triple]

Great build showing how great the Commanche TK is ... I don't put mine through this kind of testing but is good to know that is tough enough to put it throughout the carnage. I should probably rebuild it with a proper hardbody and some cage work on it this time around. Looking forward to see the next update.

[xwaz]

2023 Started off with some nice fancy parts for the old comanche!

While I only broke the plastic axles tubes once, I switch to the aluminum tubes after that and never had an issue.
Technically I have broken just about every piece in the axles on the truck. After about 18 months I stripped a gear ring gear from just being so worn down it skipped a few teeth when I bound the truck up to the point the frame was starting to twist. I broke a Universal after it fell 20+ feet, and a housing. I still love the SSD Pro 44s but was starting to think it was the weakest point of the truck, everything else has been trouble free and I was getting pretty close to wearing a hole through the center pumpkins as they were original. As well as since the truck is modeled after a Jeepspeed style or Ultra 4 4600 Modified class car I figured it deserved some special axles.

My goal was to put the Vanquish D44s but when I went to order the black fronts were in stock and clear rears but no match pairs anywhere.

After some back and forth I finally went with the F9s in black so I could see the scratches. and scratched they have become!


I build them up with VDI Shafts and all the stock SSD internals even the OG bearings that were still is great shape!

This is the nicest they will ever look!


All stock links worked with the Axles, However the Upper Front link needs to be moved to the passenger side and a small bend has to be added to it to clear the frame. As well as SSD Ball ends are too large, Traxxas ball ends are what are needed to either swap on Traxxas Revo Rod ends or just the hollow balls.


First Run out in Moab during a early March Trip.





Next up was the test at my personal favorite spots that luckily I live only 35 minutes from.

Yup they work in water.


Poser Spot


Yup they work on rock.


Yup they work in Snow


There is something deeply satisfying to me about scratching Vanquish Parts.


Made it to the top of the mountain. Typically around a 4.5 mile hike with 1300' of vertical and super fun obstacles the entire way to the top.


Have I mentioned that these Falken M/Ts hook up hard? Even writing 9 months later they still blow me out of the water on the performance and have been shockingly durable thus far.


Made it down just before dark and decided to hit a rock jump that typically launches the truck a nice 5' down the hill and right onto the trail. I usually do it every time I pass with the Comanche, but this time it didn't quite work and it rolled off the lip and landed turtled on a rock below and broke the windshield. It had been cracked for almost a year and a half up to then.


Another day out and I wanted to test the RC4WD MT/R that I had never found a truck that really worked well with them, Unfortunately it was the same case here, they looked good on the fake Roosts, but didn't perform nearly as well.


You can see the F9s starting to get some Silver to them. To me now they still look too new!


I also in trying to get up that ledge with it with a nice solid bump, that finally broke something in the SSD Trans, I broke the 2.5x8mm pin that the spur gear is mounted on. At the time I thought I had broken the Pinion shaft on the motor with how quitely it was spinning with power and that it went into a full free wheel.

A quick trip to The Crawl Space my local hobby shop and I was all sorted with a set of Axial pins.

Another Outing on the MTRs I still didn't like them. They just don't work on the sandstone, granite, or roots I have here.

I also broke a front body mount on this trip, its been bent and bent back hundreds of times and finally snapped.
With summer travel back in full swing, the broken body mount and finishing up a few other trucks the comanche only had maybe 10 miles put on total through the summer.

A local U4 Series popped up that is a stage style event and based on real U4 classes 4400, 4800, 4600 ect. I decided the Comanche was the perfect 4600 modified class car for the race.

Went out the the local Dam spot and race some practice. My 4400 Class is my Bomber for now, 4800 legends is my Gate Keeper and 4600 is my Comanche.


Stolen Photo*


Then more practice for upcoming U4 Races
Gotta make sure the shocks work. The SSD Shocks are the biggest PITA to bleed but they hold up to abuse like this without leaking.


The Big ol fat lip bumper may be a pain while crawling but I can't picture this truck without it.

[xwaz]

Currently as of November 23 this is what the F9 look like, I am seeing a lot of the lines on the front wear away and start to become more rounded.


Rear is the same case on the 3rd member to center section. Of course they have been flawless and have let me drive the truck the exact way I want to.
To me they have been worth every penny.


Who knows if these will stay under this truck of if it will in fact end up with D44s or maybe the HD44s.

[xwaz]

Originally Posted by Speedy-Triple

Great build showing how great the Commanche TK is ... I don't put mine through this kind of testing but is good to know that is tough enough to put it throughout the carnage. I should probably rebuild it with a proper hardbody and some cage work on it this time around. Looking forward to see the next update.

They are super strong trucks, I can say that I drive this harder than any other 1.9 truck I have and equal to my Bomber. The only truck that gets beat on harder is my Ryft.

Drive it hard it can take it!

[xwaz]

We are all caught up!
I went out yesterday with my buddy so he could test his new Gatekeeper. I started with my Capra but killed servo horn so I grabbed the Comanche for a fun couple miles of trails.




New Favorite All time shot of the Comanche.


The truck Drove better than I remembered it being and hit some lines that my Bruiser JK8 Phoenix has only done.
Overall it was a great drive with a great truck.