OSRC's TRX-4 Defender "Greybeard"

[mebeknob]

Where did you get the battery tray?


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[OSRC]

Bowhouse tray, off Amain: https://www.amainhobbies.com/bowhous...-0010c/p753646

Can also get them direct from Shapeways.

[B-MOW71]

Subscribed! Great thread OSRC.

I bought the TRX-4 Kit a few months back and I have to say I am extremely happy with how it performs. It was great right out of the box. I did add the Samix portal covers on the axle and bought the Bowhouse battery tray. Now the front end stays planted and climbs really well.

Keep the post coming! Looking forward to seeing more!

[OSRC]

Couldn't help myself, picked up a Bronco for sale locally. Decided I'd keep that one pretty much stock and that lets me go wild on the Defender.

So the Beard is getting some changes! Decided to go a little more performance oriented on this one. I removed the ungodly heavy Defender body and bumpers and set them on the shelf. Can always switch back later, and I really like the Defender body, but change is good!


Decided to go Jeep. I'm looking at used 1:1 Wranglers for sale, and I've got a bit of an obsession going on. I had this Axial body laying around for ages, and it pretty much drops right on.


Got a lot of work to do sorting out the bumpers, body mounts, and ride height. Really like the looks of this Injora bumper I found, but it's huge. Picked up some bronze Proline wheels and Hyrax's too while I was blowing my budget. Wheels were used, I'm not that rich. lol.


Proline rims don't quite clear the SSD knuckles. Think a bit of shaving on the inner rings will do it - it just barely rubs.


I will say I tore the truck apart a bit since I've run the heck out of it since I've got it and everything looked perfect. Still lots of grease, no wear on the gears really - very happy with how well the truck is holding up.

[OSRC]

Got a decently warm day yesterday and met up with a bunch of guys to do some trail running. Since we got 3" of rain the night before, knew it was going to be a muddy mess. Threw the Defender back together, changed up some batteries, put the Vaterra swampers on and off we went!

Good call on the swampers. Had great traction all day, no matter how muddy things got. And boy, was it muddy. Never seen this area so wet.





Best part of the trail...very rocky area that usually never has water - today, it was a mini-river.


Still killing it! TRX-4 still amazes me with its capability.



After nearly 2 years of running, finally have some carnage. Well, not really - just lost a shock spring cup.


Still have an issue with poor battery life. Went through 2 3800 packs and 1 2200 pack that lasted about 15 minutes. I know this is a heavy truck and it's working hard, but that's way too much mah. I thought swapping the ESC over would help, but not so much. Motor and ESC were plenty cool, servo was fine, still not 100% sure whats going on. Not to mention my first pack used 2800mah, second 1400mah, and the 2200 pack only used 400mah before LVC shut down the fun. What gives?

So I got home and pulled the motor and the spur turns very hard in first gear, and not much better in second. Hmmm. Pulled the driveshafts next, and the trans now turns fine. Hmmm. Seems the axles have a TON of drag in them. Odd that the motor is not running hot. Anyway, guess it's time to pull them apart and do some cleaning. Had to be done anyway due to all the water running, but hopefully I can solve whatever it is binding up in the drivetrain and free up some efficiency.

[OSRC]

Got the truck torn down...issues, issues, issues.

Pulled the motor and the spur turns very hard in first gear (though not so much in second) - got some binding somewhere.

First thing I did was pull the driveshafts... now the trans spins fine. Check!

Pulled off the axles...front turned very hard, rear was ok. Broke them both down and the front was filled with swamp water, which mixed with the grease and created a goo. This is why I hate running in water! Lots of parts to these axles...


After a gallon of degreaser and a forest worth of paper towels, everything is clean and muck free. Amazed at the parts, lot of trail running in a big heavy truck and the gears all look great.


Reassembled with some Penzoil 705.. This tub is older than I am, and I'll probably pass it down to the kids. Great stuff, been using it for my entire RC life. It's lighter than Red and Tacky, though not so light than it gets flung off. I wanted something a bit lighter since there's a ton of gear mesh in thee axles and I am looking to reduce drag. That's the thought anyway...


After assembly, the axle still spins a little stiff, though buttery smooth. Comes from the diff/locker area. Hmmm... Lots of bearings and what not in there. I can live with it though. Rear axle was surprisingly free of water, still had plenty of factory grease, and spins perfect.

When I went to put the driveshafts back on, found they were locked solid. They were so solidly locked, I had to put one end in a vise and pry the parts apart. Rear wasn't so bad, but the the front was really locked. Well, there's part of the problem for sure. Cleaned them really good and they still don't slide like they should. In fact, they don't slide at all. Since it was Cyber Monday, I decided to blow some more money and ordered some SSD shafts. Problem solved!

Also ordered some lockers and a UD gearset for the rear. I love the diff locks, I think they are a great innovation BUT now that I have 2 TRX's. I figured I can experiment a bit with this one.

[JatoTheRipper]

I'll have to try that grease some day. Red and tacky is too tacky for RCs IMO.

I'm anxious to see what you do with this one and how much performance you can get out of it. I'm so tempted to buy a TRX-4 Sport (highly disappointed in the lack of Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales on the TRX-4) and maybe even put the GRC front motor kit on it.

[joeR6]

Originally Posted by OSRC

Broke them both down and the front was filled with swamp water, which mixed with the grease and created a goo. This is why I hate running in water! Lots of parts to these axles...

I've noticed the front axle gets water in there easily even when packing the diff and axle housing with grease. I take the Defender hiking with me about once a week and after a few water crossings I took the front apart and low and behold the nice blue marine grease i had stuffed in there 6 weeks ago was now filled with brown swamp goo.
I try to limit my water crossings now, but when i take the kiddos hiking with me of course all they want to do is drive the Defender through water - hard to say no when they get all giddy!

I'll probably take apart, clean, and re-grease portals/diffs 2-3 per year. More so if playing in lots of water. I guess the front axle could use some kind of a "boot" like 1:1 CV joints use to help keep the swamp water out.

I recently took the transmission apart for the first time (owned the truck 1.5 years now with lots of use) and it wasn't too bad in there. There were some droplets of water (like condensation inside a sauna) and little bit of brown gunk on the gears but the bearings were fine. Cleaned everything up and re-greased and tranny isn't "ticking" anymore.

sorry didn't mean to hijack your thread - love the build progress so far!

[OSRC]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

I'll have to try that grease some day. Red and tacky is too tacky for RCs IMO.

I only use it on metal gears, and I brush on a thin coat. Works great! Too much can cause drag though. This Penzoil stuff is great, I use it everywhere.

Originally Posted by joeR6

I recently took the transmission apart for the first time (owned the truck 1.5 years now with lots of use) and it wasn't too bad in there.
sorry didn't mean to hijack your thread - love the build progress so far!

No worries, doing the same myself. Not sure if I want to dig out the transmission or not. I don't submarine my truck ever, I don't think water's even gotten that high. seems to be working fine, and it's a lot of work to get it out of there.

Even though the rear axle looked dry, i tore it down anyway. Soaked the bearings and will relube with some lighter grease. Looking for any efficiency I can find.

[kincer]

I've had great luck keeping bearings running super smooth for a long time by soaking them in ACF50, my Slash 4x4 was beat hard through water and mud, never had a bearing failure. You're not going to believe this but I would take the body and electronics off after a serious wet and muddy run, hose off all the heavy stuff and wash in the dishwasher then just respray the bearings after the dishwasher and I was good to go for the next run.

[OSRC]

The sealed bearings in the axles were surprisingly stiff. Soaked overnight in WD40 and they loosed up nicely.

Finally got the Defender back together and ready to go! I've sorted out all the driveline issues and everything is now butter smooth. Made quite a few changes while I was in there.

When I pull the motor, I usually strap it into the battery tray to keep it from flopping around... works like a charm!


Went back to an 11t pinion for now. Wan't happy in the C holes, so I moved it to D. Runs much quieter...


Made a few changes to experiment around. The Defender crawls pretty well as is, but there's always room for improvement (and Jello). While I had the rear axle apart, I dropped in a set of underdrive gears.


Also painted and detailed the rear diff cover. The gray looked a bit too plastic-y for me. Came out pretty nice actually!


Decided to go with a spool up front. For winter driving, going to be leaving the diffs locked most of the time anyway I reckon. I'm thinking that with the front locked and an unlockable rear, I can unlock out back when needed and it will allow the front to pivot somewhat. Especially with the rear being underdriven.


Since I was going to a spool, I could now use the steel axle housing since it didn't play nice with the diff locker thingie. Adds a ton of weight up front...


Finished axle...doesn't look much different aside from the Bronco diff cover, but it's quite chunky. Defender does really good with weight down low - this should help out. Not to mention that with the spool up front, the axle spins SO much more free...all the bearings and the complicated diff lockers really add drag to the axle. I left the servo in for now as I'll probably go back to lockers over the warmer months.


SSD driveshafts came in as well - RPP must have beamed them directly to my house. Always a pleasure doing business with RPP! Anyway, the front rubbed the gearbox terribly. I had to grind away for a while to get clearance


Shafts installed and spinning free!


Got my lights hooked up again. I plugged in the Traxxas ESC and measured the voltage coming out to the light controller since I couldn't find any specs on it. Seems like it's running off straight battery voltage so I soldered in a connector to the battery leads and called it good. May go up in smoke, who knows.


Decided to change up the tires a bit. The mud running really soaked my foams since all my tires are vented. I took the old tires apart and am letting everything dry out. Since this season is lots of snow and mud, I swapped over a set of single stage foams for water resistance and Redcat Irocs for their aggressive tread. Cut a few ribs out of the foams to let the tread flex a bit. Otherwise, they were a perfect fit in the Redcat tires.



Ready for winter! Redcat Iroks look great under there. A bit narrower than my other TSL's.

[kincer]

That rig looks sweet! How do you like the new driveshafts?

[OSRC]

Wasn't happy I had to file down the gear case, but I do like the shafts themselves. Super beefy.

[Tmaxxed]

How did you cut the foams so perfect?


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[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by OSRC

Went back to an 11t pinion for now. Wan't happy in the C holes, so I moved it to D. Runs much quieter...

It'll probably run better than if you had put it in the A holes!

I remember when you said you were leaving this truck stock! Oh I know...that's what the Bronco is for, right?

Originally Posted by Tmaxxed

How did you cut the foams so perfect?

Most of his work is meticulous. He says he doesn't have patience, but you'd never know from his fab stuff.

[Tmaxxed]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

It'll probably run better than if you had put it in the A holes!

I remember when you said you were leaving this truck stock! Oh I know...that's what the Bronco is for, right?



Most of his work is meticulous. He says he doesn't have patience, but you'd never know from his fab stuff.

Yeah, looks great.


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[OSRC]

Originally Posted by Tmaxxed

How did you cut the foams so perfect?
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Scissors on the ribs and dremel for the cross cuts on the front foams.

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

I remember when you said you were leaving this truck stock!...
Most of his work is meticulous. He says he doesn't have patience, but you'd never know from his fab stuff.

I did leave it stock! For almost 2 years. it's time for some changes. Change is good!

And thanks - I'm much more meticulous since I'm a stay at home dad with no life.

[OSRC]

Originally Posted by kincer

That rig looks sweet! How do you like the new driveshafts?

On further inspection, the front shaft has a major wobble to it. Female end is off center somehow. I've read a few other comments along these lines. Not sure If want to contact SSD or not. Seems to run fine, but that vibration can't be good for stress levels.

[kincer]

Originally Posted by OSRC

On further inspection, the front shaft has a major wobble to it. Female end is off center somehow. I've read a few other comments along these lines. Not sure If want to contact SSD or not. Seems to run fine, but that vibration can't be good for stress levels.

Good to know, Thanks!

[OSRC]

The beard killed it today....

Weighed the new setup before going out - came to a relatively svelte 8.5lbs with a 52/48 weight balance.

Ran the same trail as last week, though with an inch or two of rain overnight. It was wet, muddy, slick and soggy pretty much everywhere. Lots of fun! Tires/foams did great - I'm really impressed with the Redcat tires for the price. Truck was much quieter and smoother this time out too. It's a not a rock machine, but on the trail there's little that stops it. It just churns up, over, or through.

Slogging through a wet spot with a friend's RC4WD D110.


Played with the rear diff - left it unlocked most of the day, just locked it up in a few really rough spots. It's still pretty maneuverable with just 1 open diff. Going with the locked front and leaving the rear selectable seems kinda backwards to me, but so far it works very well.


Dragging out the poor 110...found a super soft spot under the leaves.