Leftovers squared - the CRAxial

[OSRC]

I robbed bunch of parts from my leftovers build (Ugly Betty v2) leaving leftover leftovers. I had a body, chassis, and transmission.

I also had an entire Axial drive train - also left over from upgrading some axles and trans parts - sitting here doing nothing but collecting dust.

So I piled it all on the workbench and dug out the thinking cap...I started thinking a similar size 2.2 truck, but I've got gobs of those, and that's what I robbed the axles for in the first place.

....The trans is bombproof and the chassis would make a good mud truck chassis, but I hate mud. Not to mention I'm in the doghouse when I drag muddy trucks through the house.

How about a CR01 chassis'd trail truck that actually steers well, has some ground clearance, gives me axle ratio options, and still keeps that Tamiya feel?

Yup, let's do that.

First, lopped off the bottom of the transmission mounts, and used the upper link holes for both upper and lower links. Also sliced 20 mm out of the center so I could move in in 1 set of holes front and rear. Fabbed up some 2mm 6061 to reinforce the plates and give the trans plate something to mount to.


View of the inner plates and the CR01 links mounted...bolted right to the Axial axles in the stock locations. This is all rough, had no idea where I was going with this at the time.


Since i used up 4mm of real estate, I had to narrow the trans plate up (right side) Sometimes buying Integy comes in handy - had NO issues grinding away on this to narrow it up. Drilled it for an Axial trans too while I was at it.


Mounted up the front axle and trans, and boom...got a roller


and got in the zone and never really took any pics, but pieced the rest together. 17.5 BL, 2S geared down, very nice little $50 combo I found. Used some G-transition 80mm shocks so it sits nice and low.


Getting a little busy up there.. but it all fit in the end.


Rock point of view.


Dropped the body back on, and time for a test drive



For a Saturday morning gimp session, came out pretty good. Axles are stock except CVD's, and the wheels are Integy "High Mass" Beadlocks with R35 Ripsaws and some heavier foams in them. Not a bad combo actually. So far, very stable and planted. I just clued in that Ripsaws are really good tires. I've sold off lots of stock kit ones - glad I kept a set. Never really ran them, and these have already started to break in and grab nicely.

Does need a bit of fine tuning, but overall off to a good start.



More of the CRAxial to come.

EDIT: I know rigs are usually classified by their axles (At least, that's how I usually do it) but I'm hoping there's enough CR01 DNA for it to live happily in this section.

[rocpede]

Came out awesome!! I like having left over parts.. To build something different and never done before.. Keep up the great builds...


Sent from my 2500HD

[OSRC]

Mini update. Notched the front bumper so the steering link would clear. Sometimes, could not turn right. Might be a problem at times...


Not sure what to do with the battery yet - it's above where I want to mount the body. Going to have to play with some options.


Stickers off, wheel wells trimmed, and sitting at final ride height. Weight is perfect 50/50 at the moment.


Few more body details coming..

[OSRC]

First trip out...with the brushless and the gearing, it was more like wheeling a rock bouncer - fast! Fun, but going to gear a bit lower. Also going to a sprung set-up - wasn't overly happy with the shocks. Did pretty good though - planted and predicable.

[jg09]

This is too cool! I've been planning a similar build. VERY similar, actually. I found this thread while looking for ideas haha. Yours turned out great! It's definitely given me a lot of inspiration for my build (that will end up being topped with a Tamiya YJ body and a smaller wheel/tire combo).

[jg09]

Are those 1.9 Ripsaws or 2.2?

[OSRC]

Thank you - they are 1.9's.

[Natedog]

Great build, love the mix of parts came out very nicely. Never made sense to me how high Tamiya made the CG on the stock dropped skid setup. Sprung setup has always worked better for me.

EDIT: Forgot to say that I too have found Axial Ripsaws in 1.9 and 2.2 to be excellent tires when using good foams.

[OSRC]

I've been out with it a few times since I posted. Did switch to a sprung setup and it wheels much better. Great little rig.

Sent from my SM-T550 using Tapatalk

[CM9000]

look at you about to start a little revolution

killer idea! can we get some video?

[OSRC]

They are fun - nice to show up with something different. The Craxial is still kicking - running just fine.