Jato Got a Bronco

[Inspector86]

I would just install SSD portal weights front and rear.

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by Inspector86

I would just install SSD portal weights front and rear.

That would bring the weight right back near 50/50. I'd like something closer to 60/40.

[Inspector86]

Ahh, understood. MFR portal covers on the rear would do the trick.

[mikemcE]

Beef Hexes ? “Patties”


Hang up and Drive

[JatoTheRipper]

I was rushing to get my TF2 finished for a Sunday run. The Sunday run never happened due to weather so I got some time to work on this truck.

The stock servo is kinda weak out on the trail. I would go on to discover that giving it more juice helps out. I'll explain later. Anyway, I bought a Savox 1230SG servo during the 15% off sale as well as the Traxxas metal servo horn. I chose this horn because it's a direct fit. There doesn't seem to be any other direct fit servos at this point.




I also bought the pushbar that I may or may not use.




As I stated earlier in the thread I bought the Castle Mamba X ESC to try in brushed mode in this truck. Well it turns out I couldn't find a good place for it. It doesn't fit in the stock location and it's heavier than I expected so I resorted to the good old faithful HobbyWing WP 1080. I stocked up on these during their sale so I have a couple of them lying around at home.

Let's open up the receiver box to remove the stock ESC. Well look at this rat's nest. It will be "fun" getting all these wires back in without pinching them in the receiver cover.

I actually had to cut the servo plug off of the stock ESC since it was threaded through a wire holder ring on the truck and it was impossible for me to get out without removing the receiver box. Instead of doing this I just snipped off the servo plug because I'll probably never use this ESC anyway.

There's nothing wrong with the ESC except I absolutely hated the reverse delay. There were a few times during my first trail run when I tired to "save" a rollover by using reverse and it wouldn't work since there's a "safety" delay built into the ESC. It turns out the internal BEC is also weak. It's probably set at 4.6V.




Here's the HobbyWing WP 1080 installed in the stock location. Fits perfect. As I stated earlier, the BEC in the stock servo is weak. I found this out when I installed the 1080 and it made the stock servo fly. It worked so well, in fact, that I forgot to install the Savox servo and I buttoned up the rats nest of a receiver box. Instead of opening the receiver box back up I think I'm just going to run this stock servo next time and see how it works with the 6.0V from the WP 1080 ESC. I think I set the internal BEC at 6.0V because I had read the micro servos can't handle more. I have yet to verify this.




The rock light locations are a cool touch, but I don't see myself ever using them. I used one of these spots to 3D print and mount a cover that contains a spot for a neodymium magnet to hold my body clips. I first tried this on my Bomber and I love it. The magnet keeps a firm hold on the body clips and it lessens the chance of losing them out on the trail during batter changes and/or repairs. Ideally the magnet is positioned so you can put the clips on the body, but I didn't want to do that on the Bronco. I didn't want to add weight up high nor did I want to damage the body with hot glue. Technically, I can also put the body clips underneath the wheel well and they'll hold there. The battery is that strong.



Here's the Traxxas pushbar. I think Traxxas made a small oversight with this pushbar so I fixed it. It's all in the details.

Before:


After:

[TroopThrowback]

Read your manual! I hated the reverse delay too, switched the esc to “comp crawl” mode and the delay is gone as well as drag brake set to maximum. I thought I was going to have to replace t esc until I posted up on a TRX page how I hated the esc and got schooled quick




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by TroopThrowback

Read your manual! I hated the reverse delay too, switched the esc to “comp crawl” mode and the delay is gone as well as drag brake set to maximum. I thought I was going to have to replace t esc until I posted up on a TRX page how I hated the esc and got schooled quick.

I did read my manual after a friend said the same thing to me when I complained about the reverse delay.

Unfortunately, putting the stock ESC in comp crawler mode gives you 100% drag brake and I don't like that either. I want instant reverse and something like 50% drag brake. Unfortunately, you can't get that with the stock ESC.

[2mtech]

Kinda sad they chose to use black screws on that pretty pushbar...nice fix ;)

[Shape_Shifter]

Great idea on the clip magnet!!

Is there any crawling settings on the HobbyWing WP 1080?

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by Shape_Shifter

Great idea on the clip magnet!!

Is there any crawling settings on the HobbyWing WP 1080?

Thanks!

Yes. The 1080 is well loved by many as a crawler ESC, me included. I even have one in an on-road car.

[Teng]

Another very nice looking TRX4 Bronco you have now Jato( I am envy ) question, Since the side hill was so bad, Would you like to have the Portal killer from SSD soon?

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by Teng

Another very nice looking TRX4 Bronco you have now Jato( I am envy ) question, Since the side hill was so bad, Would you like to have the Portal killer from SSD soon?

Thank you!

The portal axles have their benefits and their drawbacks just like anything. The added height and clearance under the axles helps a lot while traversing over rocks. Portals do raise the center of gravity which hinders the truck in side hilling.

With that being said, I do not plan on getting rid of the portals anytime soon. I am going to try to lower the center of gravity of the truck in other ways.

Overall, the TRX-4 is a great truck as it comes out of the box and it is very capable.

[JatoTheRipper]

I finally convinced my dad to move up to the SCX10 II. He's been abusing a Dingo for years now, but the SCX10 II went on sale and I convinced him it was time to get one. Here are a few comparison photos of the SCX10 II RTR and TRX-4 Bronco.

You can see the pushbar installed on the Bronco as well as my change from black oxide to stainless steel screws on the pushbar. I'm a fan of the way it looks so it's stay on at least for now.

The SCX10 II RTR was, unfortunately, dead. It seems like the wires on the AE-5 ESC weren't soldered correctly and the power kept cutting out. So this the Cherokee sat in my car while he trailed his old Dingo.

[JatoTheRipper]

We had a rare, very nice, spring-like weekend and I was able to do some trailing both days!

On Saturday we did a test session on our "test rocks" with various vehicles. One of the vehicles I took along for testing was the Bronco. It was my first chance to run the truck since installing the SSD knuckles. They helped substantially and I was very pleased with the mod. It crawled steeper inclines and overall was more planted on the rocks. I'm still torn about adding a little weight in the rear. I guess more test runs will have to be done before I make that decision.

I did lunch the stock servo this weekend. The truck didn't take any particularly hard tumbles, that I remember. I was crawling up a big test rock where there shouldn't have been too much strain on the servo when the failure happened. It started getting weak and then sounded like some of the gears got stripped. I didn't get too much time on the truck before it failed. Overall I highly recommend the SSD knuckle weights!








Here you can see my Bronco on top of one of the test rocks. This rock has stopped and even broken many trucks in its day. My Bronco make it up this rock without the knuckle weights, but I had to be very careful when picking my line and I needed to use a lot of momentum. The truck crawled this rock much easier and in more spots with the SSD knuckles installed.

You can see OSRC's incredible Deadbolt project climbing up the rock and it gives you an idea of how steep this rock is in certain sections.

[2mtech]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

I finally convinced my dad to move up to the SCX10 II. He's been abusing a Dingo for years now, but the SCX10 II went on sale and I convinced him it was time to get one. Here are a few comparison photos of the SCX10 II RTR and TRX-4 Bronco.

You can see the pushbar installed on the Bronco as well as my change from black oxide to stainless steel screws on the pushbar. I'm a fan of the way it looks so it's stay on at least for now.

The SCX10 II RTR was, unfortunately, dead. It seems like the wires on the AE-5 ESC weren't soldered correctly and the power kept cutting out. So this the Cherokee sat in my car while he trailed his old Dingo.

I've always appreciated the faithful-to-1:1 appearance of the Bronco, but set next to the 10.2 it's even more vivid how much it looks like a 1:1 vehicle next to a giant toy. Maybe it's just me.

Wish I still had my dad around, he would've loved this hobby. Appreciate that you do!

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by 2mtech

I've always appreciated the faithful-to-1:1 appearance of the Bronco, but set next to the 10.2 it's even more vivid how much it looks like a 1:1 vehicle next to a giant toy. Maybe it's just me.

Wish I still had my dad around, he would've loved this hobby. Appreciate that you do!

Traxxas nailed the Bronco body. It's by far the best ever Lexan crawler body IMO.

Sorry to hear that. My dad got me into RCs when I was a kit (him a Tamiya Fox and me a Tamiya Hornet) and I got him back into it 30-ish years later. I am lucky that he's young enough to trail with me.

Older doesn't mean calmer though. He's the wild one of the bunch!

[Asuckaphish]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

Sorry to hear that. My dad got me into RCs when I was a kit (him a Tamiya Fox and me a Tamiya Hornet) and I got him back into it 30-ish years later. I am lucky that he's young enough to trail with me.

Older doesn't mean calmer though. He's the wild one of the bunch!

Nice, my first RC was a Tamiya Hornet and then after that a Fox. My dad had the Super Shot. Many years later in my 30s my Dad and I got hooked into the 3D heli world. He passed back in 2011 before I discovered rock crawlers a few years ago. I'm sure he woulda been all in on the crawlers. So many good quality time spent with dad RC'ng.

[durok]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

The SCX10 II RTR was, unfortunately, dead. It seems like the wires on the AE-5 ESC weren't soldered correctly and the power kept cutting out. So this the Cherokee sat in my car while he trailed his old Dingo.

Ack!

That's not likely to help you change your general feelings towards Axial products, huh?



Your Bronco is looking fine with those hubs and that new pushbar...

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by durok

Ack!

That's not likely to help you change your general feelings towards Axial products, huh?



Your Bronco is looking fine with those hubs and that new pushbar...

Axial electronics have always been crap. I believe this is the first time I've ever had anything messed up on arrival, but it's a minor annoyance for me. It's a bigger annoyance for my dad since he couldn't use his new truck, but he has much more patience than I do so it wasn't a big deal to him. Customer service already responded saying they'd ship a new ESC. That will be a backup because I already ordered him a HobbyWing WP 1080 last night and, of course, a spare for me.

My love-hate relationship with Axial is deep. So deep that I have a shiny, new set of fully built SSD Diamon Pro axles awaiting an Axial chassis.

The SCX10 II is good no doubt. The kit is on sale now and it's really tempting me. You can never have too many toys (until you run out of money or room).

[durok]

I love those SSD Diamond Pro axles, very innovative product - using plastic pumpkins and metal axle housings is smart, IMHO... I like the new Deadbolt body color, could see someday doing a "Budget Build" based on one of those... But the TRX-4 Bronco with a clear body would (I think at this point) be what I'd want prior to that. I really would like to do a white w/matte black hood and roof paintjob, run black deep-dish RC4WD steel-spokers and RC4WD Ground Hawgs. Probably cut out the grille and replace it with some sort of mesh (got a bunch of black metal mesh from PC cases laying around).