Dr. F's Kit Bronco

[dr frankenstyle]

I got this kit a couple months ago and I've been meaning to post it up. I won't bore everyone with the basic build, only thing that stood out was the bad trans output gear. Mine split when I tried to install the bearing, but Traxxas warranty covered it with no problems. Then the steering servo burnt out on like the third time out, but they covered that too. Anyway, it started out like this ....



and after a few changes, it now looks like this.



I used the Defender shock mounts and eliminated the inner fenders. It has YR sliders and bumpers, but I milled a slot in the front one for my winch. I mounted one of the big warn's behind the bumper mount and fed the line out thru a RC4WD fairlead.



I'm running Xspede beadlocks and BFG Krawler T/A's. Right now it just has brass knuckles and portal covers all around, but I have alloy axle housings and I've got the rest of the metal axle parts on the way that should be here in the next couple of days. As always, I'll try to answer any questions about the build. Meanwhile, here's a couple action shots.





And a shot during my very first comp, with the SMRCRC guys. Lost a llittle paint too.



I'll be adding pic's and info, so check back. Thanks for lookin' and likin'.
jim

[dr frankenstyle]

I want to give a big Thanks to Al at heyok. I got one of his new winch/light controllers and I love it! I'm running the 3W LED headlights, so Al set me up a regulator to go with my controller. That way I can run an occasional 3s without my headlights starting a fire. You can see 'em tied on the battery restraint for now. I pulled the light wiring back out to re-paint the body after last months comp, and haven't gotten them wired back up yet.
Here's a better look at the winch setup.



I just made a simple bracket to mount behind and below the stock bumper mount, using it's screws to secure the winch plate. I had to pull the big side gear off of the Warn and even grind the case a bit to get the spool centered in the frame rails. I left the top and bottom rollers on the stock fairlead, but cut off the sides to tuck it snug into the bumper mount. I ground off some of the front of the mount and flipped it to get the bumper tucked back in for better approach angle. Then I cut off the bumper mounts to make room for the winch. Then I bent the RC4WD plate down at the ends and re-drilled it to mount right onto the new plate, at the right height to center the line thru the bumper and mount. I wanted to keep the "free-spool" feature, so I made sure to position the winch so that when I extended the shaft (release button) it would clear the frame rail and be easy to get to under the fender.



After milling the front bumper and polishing the new fairlead nice and smooth, It's ready to help out when needed.

[slickwill16]

Hey Doc. Your rig is looking pretty tough. I really like that Bronco body. Keep up the good work. How do you like that winch? Been thinking about adding a winch to my truck, and I really like the looks of that one.

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[scalemadness]

Originally Posted by Inspector86

It would be nice if you would resize your pics per forum rules. It gets old having to scroll side to side in order to see and read your post.

No problem viewing from my Iphone

[dr frankenstyle]

Originally Posted by Inspector86

It would be nice if you would resize your pics per forum rules. It gets old having to scroll side to side in order to see and read your post.

Sorry, I didn't realize there was a problem. Mine displays Ok, if anyone else has trouble, let me know and I'll see what I can do, or maybe a mod' can help. Anyway thanks for lookin' and lettin' me know.

[QUOTE=slickwill16;5873068]Hey Doc. Your rig is looking pretty tough. I really like that Bronco body. Keep up the good work. How do you like that winch? Been thinking about adding a winch to my truck, and I really like the looks of that one.

Thanks, I know some were expecting the "other" Bronco. I call it "the Leetle Jalapeno". I always liked the late '60s - early '70s body more.
I like the winch so far, but I haven't actually "used" it yet, so I can't give you much of a performance review. I'll post up whenever I do get a chance to try it.

Originally Posted by scalemadness

No problem viewing from my Iphone

Thanks for lettin' me know. Glad to hear not everyone is having trouble.

And Thanks, to everyone, for lookin' and likin'.

[2mtech]

How can you stand to work on this with it so huge?? I'm surprised you even have full size tools after all the micro stuff!! lol

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[dr frankenstyle]

Originally Posted by 2mtech

How can you stand to work on this with it so huge?? I'm surprised you even have full size tools after all the micro stuff!! lol

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Yeah, I know ... these M3 screws seem HUGE!
It IS easier to work on tho'.

[2mtech]

When you finish I'll expect to see a video on your crawling terrain coffee table.

[JatoTheRipper]

That body and wheels look good on the truck.

[dr frankenstyle]

Originally Posted by 2mtech

When you finish I'll expect to see a video on your crawling terrain coffee table.

Oh yeah, Bud, I tried it ... it takes about a second and a half ! In LOW gear!!

[dr frankenstyle]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

That body and wheels look good on the truck.

Thank You I looked at a few sets of wheels before I found these. I think they go together pretty well too.

[dr frankenstyle]

A few more details .... Some of you prolly noticed the steering servo. After it smoked, as I waited for the Traxxas replacement, I found these 20kg servos listed on ebay for robotics. Same servos as the Rc truck ones, just $17 ea. They came with a new heavy duty aluminum arm, but when I installed it, the panhard link would hit it at compression. So I got out an old dead servo and cut the mounting horns off of it, and used them to shim the servo up about 2mm and presto. Oh, and I did have to get the "pro-line tire" rings for the beadlocks to fit. The stock tires need 'em too, I tried one. And I cut about 1/2 in off of the frame rails at the rear, to get the bumper pulled in to the body. It's the ProLine '73 Bronco, for anybody wanting to know for sure. I did stretch the rear links a couple mm to fit how I like it.
These came in today ....



... and with these pieces that I got a couple weeks ago ....



I've got my next project. I'll post 'em up as i go, so tune in next time.

In the mean time, here's a couple more action shots.



comin' at ya



Thanks for all the looks an' likes.

[dr frankenstyle]

Well, I started lookin' into the axles. I want to build the front first, partly because it'll be more difficult to tweak and set up, mostly because I have an idea to get just a little camber into the rear wheels and I'm waiting for screws. But more on that later. The housings came with red covers, so the first thing I did was paint mine silver. I noticed the front one has a few degrees of caster built in (6 or 7 degrees positive). When the c-hubs got here I looked them over and noticed they seemed to be clocked about 5 degrees .....but if you go by their L & R markings, it's negative caster. :( So IF I mount them with the Chinese L & R, they end up like this ...



... but if I swap them around, they end up like this.



Goes from 1 or 2 deg to 11 or 12, here's one with the mark showing.



I've done lots of things backwards in the past, why stop now?
The c-hubs also have about 10 deg of camber too.



As I assemble these, I'll post up pic's and info. I'll get to my ideas on the rear after the front one's together.

Thanks for lookin' and stay tuned.

[dr frankenstyle]

I got the front axle together today and tweaked it just a little. I wanted to know how much weight it was adding so I threw the stock housing and c-hubs on the scale ....



... then tried the new alloy setup.



Nice hunk of fat, hopefully in the right place. At least that's what it weighed before I started filing on it. I checked the factory axle, and with the brass knuckles it showed to be getting about 30 degrees of steering arc on both forward and back swing. When I checked the all metal setup at first, it was only getting about 28 deg. So after a few trips to the garage, for the vise and the file, I came up with about 35 deg or better. And I didn't have to take off that much from the c-hubs.



While I had the axle out I took a shot of the bottom of the winch mount set-up. You can see the bumper cross-member a little better.



The new c-hubs have shock mount holes in them. If I had mounted them with the L & R on the L & R sides, they would've been on the wrong side of the axle to mount the shocks so I'm still puzzled by the markings. Anyway they have a centered hole and a drooped hole, so I used the drooped. They also spread the bottoms of the shocks and angle them out a little. It also takes the strain off of the link mounts.



I like the look and it should improve performance a little too. The rear set I got has a similar set-up, but that'll be later. For now it's back together and ready to go crawlin' tomorrow.




Tune in next time.

Thanks for lookin' and likin'.
Jim

[dr frankenstyle]

Went crawlin' with a buddy yesterday ...



...and had a lot o fun.



Also learned a tough lesson. The new brass knuckles limit the turning too much. That outweighs the gain from the added "heavy". It climbs well ...



... but losing the turning radius isn't worth it.



So today I put the stock knuckles back on, now my tight turns are back. Got some goodies in the mail today too. New alloy shock towers ...

front ...



and rear.



I really like 'em. They have lots of shock mounting holes, with 2 rows of drooped positions. I put mine in the middle row, then raised the lower mounts to the upper holes in the c-hubs.
Also got these today.



They were listed for the Bronco too, but the rear shaft was Defender length. I say "was" because I cut it down a bit, and now it IS Bronco length.



So next time, maybe follow the leader will be the other way 'round.



See Ya's next time.
jim

[dr frankenstyle]

Well, the rain got here this past week and I was still waiting for parts for the rear axle, so I got out the dremel and worked over the c-hubs and knuckles again. Then I ground a little off of the drag-link ends, and bent the link at both ends to give a bit more clearance at the punkin. Ended up with at least 3 or 4 degrees tighter turning radius. Any gain is a gain.



I did get the alloy rear axle together. I ended up using the plastic/chrome diff covers on both ends. The metal ones that came with the housings have a thicker flange around the edges that binds with the cable end of the T-locks little crescent fork. The weight loss was well worth it to have smooth diff locks, and I like the look of the chrome ones better anyway.
The rear c-hubs have shock mount holes, like the front. I just used the center holes for now, since I drooped the shocks one hole at the top. I like the spread stance of the shocks now, and it takes the strain off of the link mts.



A little something else you can see above ... when i cut the rear driveshaft, I cut off about 3 or 4 mm more than I needed. So to keep the center tube "centered", so the spline overlap stays equal at both ends, I removed the o-rings and cut 2 pieces of silicone tubing and slipped over the CV splines. I cut them just snug so they don't interfere with the shaft "shrinking", but I can compress them to remove or re-connect the shaft. And they help keep dirt out and grease in.
I noticed that my stock rear axle set-up had just a slight negative camber at the wheels. :( It's not much, but it's there.



The parts i was waiting for were some stainless flat washers for m1.5 screws. I filed a little off the top of the housing ends, then I took a 2-stack of washers and placed them into the bottom of the back opening in the c-hubs. I stuck 'em in with a little marine grease, then when I put in the screws, I tightened the top first. The washers force the c-hubs to mount with a slight angle, and give a degree or 2 of positive camber.



That should help a little on side-hills and maybe even turn a LEETLE bit tighter. So far I'm really happy with the truck. It'll definitely climb a steeper grade, easier now. I also added 8 mm hexes, widening the track about 1/4 in. I trimmed the front of the front fenders a bit more. I may need to trim the back a little more, we'll see after some more crawlin'.



Thanks for lookin' n likin'.

jim

[dr frankenstyle]

Rain again today, so I've been fine tuning some more. I took some 1/8 in. aluminum plate and cut, drilled and threaded a couple of pieces 1.5 in. by about 3/8 in. I used those as extension plates to move the tops of the rear shocks forward.



They mounted nice and sturdy on the new hoops, and they allowed me to drop the shocks 2 holes in the axle. I moved the tops down to the bottom holes too, and dropped both front shocks down to the bottom holes too. That moved the weight of the shocks down 1/4 in.



It isn't much, I know, but anything that lowers the COG at all is an improvement. Right?

I like the look of the angle of the shocks better too.

Thanks again for lookin',

jim

[kincer]

Interested in hearing if you see improvement with that shock mod, looking forward to see how it goes.


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[Stonewall]

"It's the ProLine '73 Bronco, for anybody wanting to know for sure."

Thanks I was going to ask because I also live the older broncs.
Bronco looks tough! Btw, did you paint that on the outside? I ask because the roughed up paint.

[dr frankenstyle]

Originally Posted by kincer

Interested in hearing if you see improvement with that shock mod, looking forward to see how it goes.

Thanks for the interest. I've done a few mod's since the last round of crawling, so it'd be tough to say what helped and what didn't. I took it down to the rock pile this morning, and I'm really happy with the way it crawls. The rocks were damp and the tires got wet from the grass, but it still climbed as well on the rocks as it did last time dry.



I could really tell a difference on the side-hills too.



I'm sure most of the credit goes to the heavier axles and wider hexes, but the new shock angles prob'ly helped a little too.

Originally Posted by Stonewall

"It's the ProLine '73 Bronco, for anybody wanting to know for sure."

Thanks I was going to ask because I also live the older broncs.
Bronco looks tough! Btw, did you paint that on the outside? I ask because the roughed up paint.

Thanks, I like the older ones the best too. All of the paint on (in?) this one is on the inside. Whenever I knock off too much, I'll just flake off any loose paint, mask off the damaged area and try to re-shoot the layers like the first time. I figure the scars show up and make it look like it spends the weekends on the rocks and the weekdays in the body shop.



Thanks again for lookin'.

jim