Dr. F's Kit Bronco

[dr frankenstyle]

Thank you, Sir. The SS seems to be "slicker" than the carbon steel, we'll see. The rock-lites are just little SMD leds that I got on eBay. I think they're the 8 or 12 series. I got the pre-wired ones to make it easier. Then I just made some simple "L" brackets from light sheet metal and used the bumper mount screws to hang 'em at the corners. The ones in the floor-boards are just mounted, from above, in small holes at the corners. I filed the holes into a pyramid shape like a light bucket to let the light "flood" more. Then I glued all the smd's into place with clear 5-min epoxy and covered them over with a dollop of epoxy to seal and protect 'em .... and it works as a lens too. The bumper lites were so bright that I actually painted most of the epoxy "lenses" black and just left a hole for the light. They lite up the ground and shine thru the wheels a little, but don't light up the top of the chassis or glow thru the body. I think there's more about 'em back in the thread, but I can put up some more pic's or info if you need, just let me know.


jim

[MaX-D]

Thanks Jim, I appreciate the info. I'm going to look them up on eBay.

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[dr frankenstyle]

You're welcome MaX'. You can get 'em with resistors installed for 12v, then they'll handle 3s if you need. I use a heyOk controller to switch mine, so they work fine on 2s or 3s. Al makes a really good product, and he's on here for easy support. I got his winch and light controller so one extra little remote runs my big winch and 2 separate sets of lights.
Post up some pic's when you get yours installed.


jim

[dr frankenstyle]

Well, I got to break in the new body and parts this weekend. We went to the south side of Springfield on Friday to a place we call Dobson Drive (because that's the street where you park ). the crawl-spot is under a bridge that goes over a mostly dry creek-bed. On one side of the creek there's a nice flat gravel area in the shade to set up chairs and "pit-row". On the other is an embankment that's about 40 feet tall .... and the rubble has been mostly covered with rough concrete so you have a hillside of high-traction ....



with rocks sticking out here and there, especially at the top of the hill.



It's a decent slope, so sometimes a rollover at the top will keep rollin' and tumblin' most of the way back to the bottom. Sorry for the picture quality, but the top of the hill is about 60 or 80 ft away from where we were sittin'. Navigatin' the tough spots was even tougher from that distance, so we rolled down the hill more than once. Along the east side there are a lot more exposed rocks. Lots of rough stuff to crawl on.



Some jungle too, so when you do rollover, you may end up tangled in a bush or vine by the time you stop.



Anyway, after 2 and a half hours of crawlin, my winch anchor and self-recovery bungee were in my pocket (tangled up in the vines one too many times ) .... my pull-tag was gone off of the winch hook (disappeared ) .... the passenger side-mirror was torn off (found IT ) ....and there isn't a corner left un-scratched! But it didn't lose any paint .....



so the little Bronc' still looks pretty good (I fixed the mirror 'til the new set gets here ) ..... and we had too many laughs to keep count.
Thanks for lookin' ..... and tune in next time.


jim

[dr frankenstyle]

I got a couple new batteries in the mail yesterday. GoldBat 3s, 1500 mah. They're like 1 and a half times the size of my old 1300, maybe because they're rated at 100c. They each came with a nice strap too.



They came with XT-60 plugs but I like the Deans style better. I know the Bronco will never need that much wattage but they'll be nice in my little Pro-Streeter if it gets out of its cage.
Anyway, it was a beautiful day today so I took the pony down to the road-side rocks for a couple hours to try one of the new bat's.




The red label tires are awesome! Even better .... and the G-8s are really good tires anyway. I'm still diggin' the color-change nose too.




No points for pogo-in' off a tree. It's funny how fast an hour goes by on the rocks.



I luv this little truck ..... it's all that .... and a bag o' chips.
Thanks for lookin' .... pop in a comment.


jim

[smog]

That is a particularly sweet rock you've got to crawl there. Thanks for the pics

[dr frankenstyle]

Originally Posted by smog

That is a particularly sweet rock you've got to crawl there. Thanks for the pics

T'anks mon Yeah, whoever cut the highway thru the hill-top did it just right .... made a sweeeet crawl spot. I was just lucky enough to notice it and give it a try.
No prob', I'm a shutterbug for every pic' I post up I prolly have 10 more in the folder.



jim

[MaX-D]

Awesome crawl spot you've got there. I dig the new paint job! What size tires are you running on your truck? They don't look like your typical 4.75" tire. Your tires look very scale for the body.

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[dr frankenstyle]

Originally Posted by MaX-D

Awesome crawl spot you've got there. I dig the new paint job! What size tires are you running on your truck? They don't look like your typical 4.75" tire. Your tires look very scale for the body.

Sent from my LM-G710VM using Tapatalk

Thanks, it's just some rocks beside the hiway but it's close and easy so it's one of my favorite spots.
Thanks, I'm super happy with the Spaz Stix paint (PS too ) and so far it's stayin' put really well. It's had a few hard rolls and no "peel-out".
The tires are just ProLine Krawler TAs. They measure right at 4 and 5/8 inch tall. I think the Gear Head slots help the look too. They're a little wider than all of my other beadlocks, so the tires are a bit fatter. Actually this time I added a slice of the ProLine foams to the inside of each tire because the CI foams left a gap in the sidewalls, which let them float in the tire a little. Now they stay in place and keep the tires from rolling under on sidehills. They perform better .... and I like the look. They look nice and big but not too "over-sized". I have a set of their "class 1" tires, but I like the big Krawlers the best. Thanks



jim

[dr frankenstyle]

The sun came out and made a beautiful day today. It might be the last nice weekend day this year, so I took the little Bronco down to the "road-sides". The state had mowed again too. 5 minutes in the steering started grindin' and squallin'. I thought I heard it "k-chunk"in' last time out. I guess it took one too many rolls down the concrete bank at Dobson Dr. After a quick trip back home for a servo swap, we were back on the rocks for some fun.




She was creepin' up an over everything. You can see the extra clearance of the GRC knuckles lets it pass the rock points without snaggin'.




The Red Baron shot.



These things climb so well it makes every line seem easy.


jim

[dr frankenstyle]

Had to replace the SMD rock-lite on the left rear corner. I took the Bronco out in the yard yesterday and I guess there were sticks hiding in the oak leaves. One poked up thru the frame rails in the tail and yanked the itty bitty wires out of the led. I found the wire hangin' when I pulled the body off. The connections at the other end were ok, so I just clipped the resistor off and soldered a new SMD onto the wires and heat-shrink'd 'em. Then I flipped the li'l bracket and temporarily zip-tied the wire in place to let the epoxy set up and the black paint dry.



Once it all set up, I flipped it back and tied up the extra wire and presto .....



.... back in bidness.




I like how they light up the ground .... and yet, don't "glow" thru the windows.



Now I need to take her to some rocks after sunset ..... before winter sets in any more.


jim

[MaX-D]

I like those lights. I think I need to pick up a set

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[dr frankenstyle]

Originally Posted by MaX-D

I like those lights. I think I need to pick up a set

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Thanks The little pre-wired SMDs are pretty easy to work with. I learned that after I toasted 3 or 4, solderin' 'em for an Orlandoo jeep build. If you get the 12v ones (with resistors) you can use a basic switch or even just a battery tap and they'll work with 2s or 3s.



jim

[dr frankenstyle]

It's a nice, clear evening with a 3/4 moon so I took the Bronco down to the road-side rocks for a little "nite-crawlin".




The headlights help .... but the darkness definitely adds to the challenge.



Climbin' in the dark would be a real bitch ..... if I didn't already know some of the lines.
Shot a bit of vid' too.





Runnin' the cliff's edge is a bit trickier at night.



Here's the same shot with the flash on .... to get a better feel of what you're lookin' at.



aawooooo ... ow .... ow .......owooooo!!




Thanks for lookin' ...... let me know what u think.



jim

[Tmaxxed]

Bronc looks great man. I like the lights. They do work great for night crawlin. I just have the Traxxas kit in mine and love them at night.


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[dr frankenstyle]

Originally Posted by Tmaxxed

Bronc looks great man. I like the lights. They do work great for night crawlin. I just have the Traxxas kit in mine and love them at night.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks, bud'. I guess your boy has been helpin' you exercise your pony, and use your lights. I don't like drivin' at night so much any more (gettin' old) so I don't nite-crawl a lot, but I do like the lights on those rare outings.
Want to wish your family and everyone here a HAPPY THANKSGIVING!


jim

[Tmaxxed]

Originally Posted by dr frankenstyle

Thanks, bud'. I guess your boy has been helpin' you exercise your pony, and use your lights. I don't like drivin' at night so much any more (gettin' old) so I don't nite-crawl a lot, but I do like the lights on those rare outings.

Want to wish your family and everyone here a HAPPY THANKSGIVING!





jim

We don’t drive em much at night either. I can’t see very good either anymore. But they are nice to have if needed.
Happy Thanksgiving!


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[dr frankenstyle]

Hope everybody had a good holiday. I've learned some good info that I wanted to share. After cliff-diving at the road-side rocks .... again .... it got a k-chink in the steering servo ... AGAIN!! It hits the ground like a 9 pound hammer, after all, so even steel gears can only handle so much. Anyway, while I was lookin' into another servo, I saw in the Q&A someone mentioned that it's a copy of Holmes Hobbies HV500v1 and the Holmes replacement gearset will fit it. SOoo I ordered a set and tried 'em and BINGO! Good as new (or better) for less than half the cost of another JX servo. I have a spare servo that needs gears too, so I just ordered 2 more sets from HH. NICE!!
So anyone running the same servo, now you know where to get new gears. Just be sure to get the version-1 set, not the v-2.

..... next time.



jim

[dr frankenstyle]

I went back down to the road-side rocks today to try out the "new" (rebuilt ) servo.





The HH gears work GREAT! Steering is back like a new servo .... for a LOT less $$!




Now to rebuild the backup servo.



I reeeally like this little truck.



jim

[dr frankenstyle]

The weather outside is far from frightful. Sunny and in the low 60's. So I met up with Dave at Fassnight Park yesterday for some holiday crawlin' .... a "crawl-iday" I guess. Photobutt is having a Xmas breakdown, so I'll get some pics up later. Meanwhile (back at the ranch?) I shot some vid', just a little side-hillin' ..... so heeya go.



Here's his Jeep on the same run.



And a show of how steep it is ....



.... maybe TOO steep.

anyhooo .... it was a lot of fun for a couple hours. Didn't expect a crawl-iday like that 2 days before Christmas.


jim