My take on the TRX-4. Ford F-100 with Rear Cage! Having never really been much of a fan of Traxxas (probably due to not ever buying RTR's) the TRX-4 has been off my radar. However, when they released a kit version, my eyes were opened. So, here's my take on the TRX-4 Sport. I was waiting for the new Sport kit to arrive in the UK, but I got impatient and picked up a Kit with the electrics instead. I sold off the ESC, wheels, tires and body etc. I've added the SSD portal covers and front overdrive to start with, and I've got a Mamba X with 2280kv motor to go in. I spent some time looking at body options. I want this to be a performer so all the massive top heavy bodies were out. I've got a few RC4WD Mojave cabs that I had thought about adding a cage to, but they just looked a little too small. So, I settled on the Pro-line Ford 1966 Cab. I'll be adding a simple, low rear cage to neaten up the back end. Here's the start. https://i.imgur.com/P5arH7C.jpg The body is the perfect width for the stock sliders, but I had to trim them a little and lift them up 5mm. https://i.imgur.com/ZcaT52x.jpg It seems to me that Traxxas have really thought about the versatility of the TRX-4. I love the fact that I can use a small lipo up front for performance, or a larger one in the middle for trail running. Thumbs up. https://i.imgur.com/bs4TXL0.jpg https://i.imgur.com/tqlo4g1.jpg I lengthened the wheel base 6mm and switched the rear shock mounts around. So, I had to cut a little bit out to allow them to clear the middle fixing bolt. I know I could have left the middle bolt out, but I thought as it's there I'd use it. https://i.imgur.com/7in1FXs.jpg https://i.imgur.com/y5ovTPG.jpg This allows the rear shocks to lay down a little. https://i.imgur.com/kyDXpoh.jpg Now, next up was the rear cage. This caused me more headache than any other metal work I ever done. I wanted to attach the rear hoop to the chassis, but as the rails bend in towards the rear axle, the 2 mounting tabs had to be brazed at an angle to make them work. The problem I was having was how to hold them in position while I took it off to braze, without them moving. I spent 2 evenings coming up with several methods that didn't work. Then, on the 3rd night, I had a brain wave. I decided to cut a piece of 1/4” alloy bar I had to the same profile as the chassis rails and bolt the mounts to that to braze them. This worked out perfect. Here's the issue I was having. https://i.imgur.com/s2POtdi.jpg The 3 pieces of the 3rd attempt. https://i.imgur.com/U9KM69N.jpg https://i.imgur.com/RnPG2Nk.jpg And here's the solution. https://i.imgur.com/BDz0SwH.jpg https://i.imgur.com/iDKaZzG.jpg And the finished result. Perfectly square... just how I like it. https://i.imgur.com/yUUPxs7.jpg https://i.imgur.com/BG41COh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/cZWWcpa.jpg https://i.imgur.com/hHN76oi.jpg https://i.imgur.com/qRK2cJs.jpg I guess it's a lot of effort to go to just to get one part of the cage right, but it was worth it. I made a start this evening on the next part of the cage, but decided to call it a night. The next piece is bent up, and tomorrow I'll get it brazed into place. https://i.imgur.com/2DIoGZu.jpg Thanks for taking a look. |
Re: My take on the TRX-4. Ford F-100 with Rear Cage! Following along. Solid start on the cage. Cab looks good mocked up too. |
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I spent most of the day today working on the rear cage. This involved a lot of head scratching and thinking to finally decided how I wanted it to look. I was originally going to build a conventional style roll cage the height of the cab, but as I really want to keep the weight low I chose to lower the cage. I was a little unsure how it would look, but I'm really happy with the result. Someone on Instagram asked me how I hold the part together when I'm brazing. The simple answer is I use what ever will do the job. In this example I used an old servo box, 2 clamps and a cable tie. https://i.imgur.com/tdOrYaC.jpg As I spent all day working on the cage, I seemed to be a bit of a mental zone, and therefore forgot to take pics as I went a long. So, here's the final cage. https://i.imgur.com/X3u38Hb.jpg https://i.imgur.com/HBim5rd.jpg And here it is all mounted up. https://i.imgur.com/dOQMy8r.jpg https://i.imgur.com/AZQskVQ.jpg I'm not sure yet whether I'm going to keep the spare tire or not. I do like the look, but it kind of goes against my plan of keeping the weight low. I guess I'll see how it performs with and without. https://i.imgur.com/aDWXSVo.jpg Next up will be to tidy up the rear of the chassis, and make up a winch bumper. |
Re: My take on the TRX-4. Ford F-100 with Rear Cage! Really like how that cage turned out. Nice work! |
Re: My take on the TRX-4. Ford F-100 with Rear Cage! Nice job! I like how u dropped it below the back window. Looks really good. I need to learn how to braze lol Sent from my SM-J327VPP using Tapatalk |
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Re: My take on the TRX-4. Ford F-100 with Rear Cage! I spent some time this week thinking about what I wanted the winch bumper to look like. I was originally going to use a RC4WD Warn winch I had and started to make the bumper. But, once the first part was mounted and I sat the winch on I wasn't really feeling it. Mostly, because the bumper had to stick out so far to house the winch, the approach angle suffered. Here's the start. https://i.imgur.com/kyCgAgC.jpg https://i.imgur.com/k71SJEy.jpg https://i.imgur.com/xMZUzIq.jpg So on to mark 2. I'm not going to use a servo winch, so this bumper can be nicely tucked in against the body. I always start with the 2 mounting brackets. https://i.imgur.com/547oaDd.jpg And as usual recently, I got carried away building it and forgot to take some pics. So, here it is done. https://i.imgur.com/Ggt3GeE.jpg https://i.imgur.com/VfMnOoJ.jpg https://i.imgur.com/AGKwL2n.jpg https://i.imgur.com/cRmhjBd.jpg https://i.imgur.com/hD3RVoO.jpg The last piece of metal work on this truck was the spare wheel mount. I thought I'd make use of the rear shock towers as they seemed to be in a perfect spot. https://i.imgur.com/0bAR9II.jpg And once again, here it is done. https://i.imgur.com/Cc7HeKw.jpg https://i.imgur.com/tESPs8j.jpg https://i.imgur.com/a1IfRsJ.jpg https://i.imgur.com/nB5XxbK.jpg Next up will hopefully be the paint, and install the electrics. |
Re: My take on the TRX-4. Ford F-100 with Rear Cage! Your metal fab skills are outstanding! Looks so awesome! |
Re: My take on the TRX-4. Ford F-100 with Rear Cage! Great job on the metal work! Front bumper looks awesome! I like how you tied in the spare tire mount to the shock towers and rear chassis brace. Looking forward to seeing more! |
Re: My take on the TRX-4. Ford F-100 with Rear Cage! Beautiful work. Also, I'm sure it's been mentioned before, but your scale garage is awesome too. |
Re: My take on the TRX-4. Ford F-100 with Rear Cage! Great build, I love your tube work not to much but all high quality in design and fabrication. Like you I've never owned a Traxxas product*until the TRX-4 and I've been very impress so far. |
Re: My take on the TRX-4. Ford F-100 with Rear Cage! Agreed with all of the above. Clean work! |
Re: My take on the TRX-4. Ford F-100 with Rear Cage! Nice job how strong is cage? |
Re: My take on the TRX-4. Ford F-100 with Rear Cage! Wow what a beautiful build, what materials are you using for brazing? my brazing never looks that neat.... |
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Re: My take on the TRX-4. Ford F-100 with Rear Cage! Thanks for the update, are your rods just mild steel? Sent from my LG-H870DS using Tapatalk |
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Re: My take on the TRX-4. Ford F-100 with Rear Cage! Quote:
I've been using copper coated bundy tube with nickle based rods. I have some silver solder, I might give that another crack. Appreciate the info Sent from my LG-H870DS using Tapatalk |
Re: My take on the TRX-4. Ford F-100 with Rear Cage! I finally managed to get the metal work primered and painted. I was considering a more vibrant color but ended up just going with black again. https://i.imgur.com/M9FL7YU.jpg While I was painting I also did the cage for the SCX10II Power Wagon build i've got going on also. https://i.imgur.com/caz8bfa.jpg And I fitted a Proline fuel cell. This just fits nicely behind the spare tire. https://i.imgur.com/jQazVPQ.jpg I've accumulated quite a few lexan paints over the years, so I thought i'd use one up on this body. I wasn't too sure which one to got with. https://i.imgur.com/5DikIwz.jpg And here it is. There's still some small details left to do, but i'm happy with how it turned out. https://i.imgur.com/k3TJL1X.jpg https://i.imgur.com/saQewqw.jpg https://i.imgur.com/R6Tqsvj.jpg Because I had to trim the front of the body to clear the tires, it meant that the grille decal didn't fit. So I decided to chop it up and move the headlights in a little. After cutting a section out of the middle of the decal, and clamped a socket over the headlight part to give me a nice guide to cut out the lens. https://i.imgur.com/RYkxkO6.jpg https://i.imgur.com/ASetd10.jpg I also fixed the light buckets to the inner fenders so I wouldn't have to unplug a wire everytime the body was removed. https://i.imgur.com/HfrRX1d.jpg That's all for now. I'm hoping to get this finished in the next day or so |
Re: My take on the TRX-4. Ford F-100 with Rear Cage! outstanding work, i love the detail and effort put into it. |
Re: My take on the TRX-4. Ford F-100 with Rear Cage! Looks fantastic. Excellent tube work. Love the colors. |
Re: My take on the TRX-4. Ford F-100 with Rear Cage! Amazing work! I have a question, What is the reason for reversing the shock towers? Clearance or performance maybe. Also, Is this done front and rear? Thanks. |
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Re: My take on the TRX-4. Ford F-100 with Rear Cage! I managed to get it finished last night. Well, at least to a stage where I can use it. So, here are the final pics before it gets scratched up! https://i.imgur.com/0VJyfIU.jpg https://i.imgur.com/Qu0bguR.jpg https://i.imgur.com/YZSYrWL.jpg https://i.imgur.com/pCgBhXJ.jpg https://i.imgur.com/gstuEUH.jpg https://i.imgur.com/0LRXwo4.jpg https://i.imgur.com/sN2gZQL.jpg And, on it's maiden voyage. The rocks were a little damp, but I'm amazed how capable it is. Also, this is my first brushless set up in a crawler, and I'm very impressed. I was expecting the low speed to control to not be quite as smooth as the brushed set ups I'm used to, but it's amazing! https://i.imgur.com/jV9aPyi.jpg https://i.imgur.com/vEEZobz.jpg https://i.imgur.com/mc4lVyB.jpg https://i.imgur.com/zPrA2vC.jpg https://i.imgur.com/c3wkDJY.jpg https://i.imgur.com/9lQJGnz.jpg https://i.imgur.com/KkdRJiA.jpg https://i.imgur.com/b1dJAXx.jpg https://i.imgur.com/kiClgz0.jpg https://i.imgur.com/Z2mhQgj.jpg That's all for now folks. Thanks for looking and I'll update this thread when/if I make any changes. |
Re: My take on the TRX-4. Ford F-100 with Rear Cage! Looks even better outside. I'm working on something similar currently with the proline 79 ford cab. I lack your level of skills though lol. Sent from my Vivo XI+ using Tapatalk |
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