3" stretch Clodd-buster

[granite]

I have a super clod kit floating around and found a 3" stretch wheel base chassis on ebay.

Picked up a body that seems to fit good.I have a regular monster truck pick up body if this one is too big, but wheelbase looks about right.

I am experimenting with 1/5 scale wheels,lots of tire options, narrower and not excessively larger in diameter or too heavy.I picked up cheap 24mm rear hex and modified it to accept slightly modified Gearhead RC hub ( P/N GEA1254).

I'm sure this isn't original but I'm calling it a Clodd-buster

[granite]

This is the tire and wheel combo I might try.It is the tire and wheel used on the Losi 5ive -T.
Slightly larger and skinnier than the stock clod tire.The tire and wheel combo only weighs 3.5 oz more than the clod tire/wheel.
I don't think a little more weight is bad.Tread design is more to my liking for a crawler.

[granite]

Here is the Gearhead RC wheel adapter on the 5b hex. I have to check clearance on screw heads, if they interfere with the bearing boss, I'll counterbore the holes so the heads are flush.
To compensate for the extra wheel diameter I'm dropping down to a 9t pinion.We'll see how it goes, if it needs to go lower, I could drop as far a 6t I believe.
You have options for wheel nuts and wheels.I like these.
Stock 5T wheel and bling wheel front wheel for Baja/5T below.Truck would be wild with the 5b fat back tires and regular fronts, I have a set of proline bow ties already mounted.

[granite]

Screw heads interfered with bearing boss, so I counter bored the top of the hole.They are flush now. Broke out a little on the OD but its not an issue.

Have to get onto paint, I like to paint the body before assembly. I just wanted to get the wheel adapters out of the way. But I do the paint before building for 3 reasons, 1 it dries completely before using it 2 I paint outside and weather isn't always good for painting 3 I don't rush through painting and screw it up ( but usually do)

[granite]

Painted chassis, looked a little plain so wrapped it in carbon fiber pattern vinyl.

I call it carbon fibber not fiber coz its fake but looks decent. Have to touch it up a little but came out nice enough.

[granite]

Painted body. I used DIDSPADE pearl color shift powder added to Duratrax candy blue. A 5 gram sample bag of this stuff cost $2.80, it is more than enough to cover a body this size.
Although not a color shift pearl it does shift.
I wanted something just a little different than the standard Ford teal /blue color that always looks good on these body style trucks but in the same color range. I think DIDSPADES Macaw Metallic pearl hits the mark dead on.
Never tried this before it looks great even with the minor flaws/mistake/laziness. Smoke windows aren't as dark in pic.I cut body after paint so I have something to grab onto without messing up paint.I wanted a basic paint job becasue this thing is going to get used and scratched up so I don't like to spend a lot of time on a fancy paint job but want this beast to look decent.
Next time I'm going to use Auto Air because they offer clear.

www.didspade.com

[granite]

Starting axle building, got 9T pinion and Hot Racing 100:1 gear set with diff locker gear and adjustable motor mounts. 45 turn RC$WD Boost motors.

The 9t should give me a 66:1 ratio so with the extra big tires it should still crawl.

[TKW75]

This looks like an interesting build. Looking forward to seeing your progress.

[granite]

It kind of came together after I spotted the stretch chassis. I didn't like the Clod tire options and pulled some 1/5 scale tires for my gas truck out and thought I could make it work. Thats done so on to the rest. Going to use 2 Tekin FX-R escs.

[granite]

With the 3" stretch the steering rods have to be longer. I took the measurements from the manual and added 1.5" to the length, I found Uxcell 3mm rods close to the perfect length on Amazon.

Being longer they tend to bow, so using an old trick from gas boats steering linkage, I got some carbon fiber tube that the 3mm rod fits into. Even though the tube won't slip off with the rod ends on I put a little epoxy on the rod to stabilize it.
Super stiff and looks cool. No arrow shafts here.
Dual Esc's should eliminate clod stall.I have a ton of NiMh packs floating around and I going to use them. To mount them in the chassis, I picked up some Associated battery cups.