Juice - Lobo’s TRX-4 Bronco

[jwwolf3]

Hey everyone. I’ve been lurking for a few months and have been popping up with posts every once and a while. Back in probably March, I walked by a local hobby store and saw the TRX-4 Bronco in the window.. and was fascinated!! I had no idea there were scale RC crawlers out there. I have a passion for 1:1 off roading but almost never have the time to go somewhere to wheel legally.. so I became fixated on these crawlers.

Started out with an RGT Adventurer..: but broke the rear drive shaft in about a week:

So I bought a TRX-4 Bronco!!



This will be my build and picture thread for the rig. Mostly just for myself as sort of a blog, but personally I love going through other build and adventure threads, no matter how simplistic the build. So come take a look, and feel free to add any comments or suggestions!!


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[jwwolf3]

A few stock and adventure photos:




On my bum solution for a holding stand:


Getting muddy:


Flexing at a nearby construction site:



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[jwwolf3]

From some of the photos in the previous photo, you can probably tell that I’ve already been pretty rough on the rig. Actually... really rough. The front bumper is probably 25% black by now because I’ve scratched most of the chrome off going for terribly aggressive crawls.

Decided I needed more weight in the front and a tougher, metal bumper to take the abuse I’ve been dishing out. Ordered an RC4WD winch bumper from Amazon. I’ll post up some install pics tonight, and this was a pretty rushed mounting effort, but I’m VERY satisfied so far:





The fit isn’t quite phenomenal; the bumper’s mounting point “dips” a few mm, and unfortunately that dip is exactly where I need to mount it. I’ll elaborate a bit with my next post and some pics.


Coming soon:
-Chopping down a $20 redcat body to fit over the bronco fenders for a bashing body
-painting a Proline 4Runner body
-cutting Lexan for Proline 4Runner body

On Order:
-JX 21kg steering servo.
This one was only $12 and didn’t add any shipping to my AsiaTees order with four sets of RGT driveshafts. I’m not sure if the TRX-4s servo is REALLY this weak or if I’ve already stripped the gears, but especially with the new front bumper the vehicle simply cannot turn its wheels under any type of articulation unless it is rolling. Hopefully the servo will help.

Long-term objectives:
-new wheels / prolines new BFGoodrich KM3 XLs
-Brass steering knuckles
-Rear bumper, possibly one with a spare tire mount??


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[Topher Builds]

Congrats on the purchase! Those chrome bumpers definitely lose some of their charm after a few runs. I’m thinking of stripping the chrome off of one of my sets. Waiting on custom fit bumpers from scaler fab, hopefully they get them done in the next couple weeks.

[jwwolf3]

Stripping crossed my mind too, but was very underwhelmed by the practical performance of the bumpers to bother modifying them just to avoid the scratching. Only reason IMO to keep them on is because the chrome looks so slick; if you go black you might as well upgrade the performance too! The approach angles are significantly better with this RC4WD bumper.. and I don't feel nearly as badly just smashing it into a rock to get a little hop-up.

[Summitonslingrs]

Originally Posted by jwwolf3

Hey everyone. I’ve been lurking for a few months and have been popping up with posts every once and a while. Back in probably March, I walked by a local hobby store and saw the TRX-4 Bronco in the window.. and was fascinated!! I had no idea there were scale RC crawlers out there. I have a passion for 1:1 off roading but almost never have the time to go somewhere to wheel legally.. so I became fixated on these crawlers.
So I bought a TRX-4 Bronco!!

Congrats on the purchase. I love my 1:1 off roader too but I have to say it was a neighbor with a Slash 4X4 that got me into RC but once I found crawlers and the scale scene it was over. I do like to take the RC's when we go out in the 1:1. It's fun to hit a couple lines while stopped for lunch.

Originally Posted by Pant Danza

Waiting on custom fit bumpers from scaler fab, hopefully they get them done in the next couple weeks.

I'm excited to see what Scaler Fab will come up with for your Bronco.

[TUSOffRoad]

Sweet rig! Lookin' forward to seein what you do with it.... It looks like you're off to a good start!

[jwwolf3]

Just a pair of pictures today to show how straight forward the installation of the new bumper was. Popped the screws holding the chrome bumper out and used the same front bumper mount screws to attach the new bumper.

Had to leave the mount in to give the screws something to bite into. In these pictures the bumper was mounted perfectly but a few minutes on the trail knocked it a little loose again- I’ll have to revisit.

In other news I let one of my buddies drive the car for about five minutes and he managed to completely strip the servo when the rear bumper hung on a bamboo stalk... at least I hope only the servo stripped!!

I have a JX .15/20kg cheapie servo ordered from AsiaTees that will hopefully get here Monday. I’ll probably swing my the LHS and see if they have any beefier servos on Monday as well. But for now, the fun has stopped!!

In other news my 3s battery is now refusing to charge. I’m hoping the charger just thought it was full? But it kept insisting that the voltage was set too high, no matter what setting I used.. even the 1s setting. The battery still works so I guess when I run it dead I’ll find out if it needs replacing.


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[jwwolf3]

I also learned the hard way why using a mount to keep the wheels off the ground is so important. After maybe 48 hours on the shelf the tires were pretty misshapen and giving the vehicle a pretty rough wobble. They sorted themselves out with a little use but I’ll definitely be more adamant in the future about getting the weight off the tires.


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[TUSOffRoad]

Originally Posted by jwwolf3

I also learned the hard way why using a mount to keep the wheels off the ground is so important. After maybe 48 hours on the shelf the tires were pretty misshapen and giving the vehicle a pretty rough wobble. They sorted themselves out with a little use but I’ll definitely be more adamant in the future about getting the weight off the tires.


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Got a quick option to save you $40-$70 on a stand. $10 piece of 2"x8" spruce & some screws & washers. Build your own. It even spins, & the little rails up top sit right in the recesses of the TRX4 chassis

[jwwolf3]

I like that idea! I’ve actually been even cheaper and just mounting it on a stack of cigar boxes hahah but it deserves something a little fancier. Especially like the no-stickers bronco look... might have to peel mine off on Monday now too.

Thanks for the tip!


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[TUSOffRoad]

No worries, if you want some actual measurements, just let me know! Happy to help out!


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[jwwolf3]

Originally Posted by TUSOffRoad

No worries, if you want some actual measurements, just let me know! Happy to help out!


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Hit me with those measurements!! I need something I can use to work on the truck with anyways, my cigar boxes keep the wheels off the ground but definitely aren’t stable enough to do any wrenching on.

[jwwolf3]

Received my proline KM3s and some Chinesium wheels today! Very thoroughly impressed by both. The wheels, I think by MOHERO, grabbed the proline tires like they were made to be together.

I’m pretty seriously concerned about mounting, however. It seems like these have too great of an offset to run with the Portals. I see a hex hub adapter available on Amazon- is that the part I need to make these work? The problem definitely seems to be that the wheels sit way too close to the axles...

I also picked up and installed a 20kg/.18s servo from the LHS. Holy cow. the difference is incredible. I would consider a replacement servo mandatory for the TRX-4 bronco, just everything about the truck felt substantially better with the new servo installed.


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[TUSOffRoad]

Originally Posted by jwwolf3

Hit me with those measurements!! I need something I can use to work on the truck with anyways, my cigar boxes keep the wheels off the ground but definitely aren’t stable enough to do any wrenching on.

Here they are
9.5" x 7.5" base
3" x 3" rotation block
4.75" x 7.5" platform
4.75" x .5" rails
These are length/width, height of every piece is 2"
The pic below is a crude illustration of how it goes together lol best to put washers on the outside of the ball bearings & countersink them into the wood. Keeps it more stable

[jwwolf3]

Thanks TUS! Appreciate you taking the time to draw something up!


Today’s update: the new wheels are on, MOHERO headlocks, with the Proline KM3s. I reused the plastic end caps from the stockers for now because the drive shaft is about 1mm too long to fit the MOHERO caps.

Also, obviously, finished painting and cutting my 4Runner body which i loooooove. Unfortunately it came a little damaged on the left side and I didn’t notice until after painting and cutting... but this body is sure to see a lot of abuse so I’m not too bent out of shape by it.

Tamiya dark blue metallic looks freaking awesome. Strongly recommend. It was semi transparent until I backed it with black, which didn’t really darken it at all.


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[TUSOffRoad]

Originally Posted by jwwolf3

Thanks TUS! Appreciate you taking the time to draw something up!


Today’s update: the new wheels are on, MOHERO headlocks, with the Proline KM3s. I reused the plastic end caps from the stockers for now because the drive shaft is about 1mm too long to fit the MOHERO caps.

Also, obviously, finished painting and cutting my 4Runner body which i loooooove. Unfortunately it came a little damaged on the left side and I didn’t notice until after painting and cutting... but this body is sure to see a lot of abuse so I’m not too bent out of shape by it.

Tamiya dark blue metallic looks freaking awesome. Strongly recommend. It was semi transparent until I backed it with black, which didn’t really darken it at all.


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Anytime man! Glad to help! If you have any other questions I might be able to help out with, by all means, ask away!