Top Heavy TRX4

[NoGrip]

My attempt at a low COG Defender body.
The rear tray was made by bending polycarbonate sheet with a heat gun.
Low battery tray for a hardcase also formed from polycarbonate.
Portal covers at the front + steel bumper are the only added weight.

[Ninomaniac]

Looks great!

[meatmonkey]

I'm just not a fan of tossing a ton of brass under the truck in an effort to keep it upright. Sure, it lowers COG, but all that weight has downsides, like extra strain on everything from your servo to your motor. Geting just about any non-plastic wheel under it will help tremendously. Doesn't need to be any of those silly extra high mass offerings, even just 3oz of wheel per corner is noticeable.

After that I wanted just a bit more front weight, so I went with Locked up steel c-hubs. They are bombproof and have just enough heft to help.

[ScaleLifeNewbie]

Originally Posted by NoGrip

My attempt at a low COG Defender body.
The rear tray was made by bending polycarbonate sheet with a heat gun.
Low battery tray for a hardcase also formed from polycarbonate.
Portal covers at the front + steel bumper are the only added weight.

That looks dope!


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[MOguy]

Originally Posted by NoGrip

My attempt at a low COG Defender body.
The rear tray was made by bending polycarbonate sheet with a heat gun.
Low battery tray for a hardcase also formed from polycarbonate.
Portal covers at the front + steel bumper are the only added weight.

Nice to see a great looking truck that can still perform.

[fyrstormer]

Originally Posted by ScaleLifeNewbie

Nice I’ll have to take a look at that


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I just remembered, the name of the designer is "knightcustoms".

[ScaleLifeNewbie]

Originally Posted by fyrstormer

I just remembered, the name of the designer is "knightcustoms".

Ohh ok, I’ve heard of them before.


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[zenitram09]

following

[Scott Tighe]

I appreciate all the replies, I think I’m going to get some brass down low for starters, as well as stripping off roof rack and spare tire.
Any one recommend a good wheel set ? I was looking for steel but the proline hyrax have a set with plastic bead lock which I’m eyeing

[MOguy]

I first posted in this thread in about June 2020 and here it is almost 2 years later. I still have my TRX, at this point all that is left of my original TRX is the front axle and front drive shaft.

Originally I wanted to be under 8lbs and now I am under 6.5libs (C3 4WS) with barley a pound of that being sprung weight. I have long suspension and going with a sort on LCG/Sporty weight set up. I comp and my recent build I am is still "scale" and would be C3 legal but a real scaler may find my truck almost offensive. I do have a C1 hard body scale build to make up for it though.


Really nothing to add other than what I have learned is you have to pick a priority, weight or appearance.

[fyrstormer]

Sounds like you should've started with a different truck that came closer to meeting your requirements out of the box.

[MOguy]

Originally Posted by fyrstormer

Sounds like you should've started with a different truck that came closer to meeting your requirements out of the box.

what truck should I have started with?

[AK KRAWLER]

Top heavy or not and some more capable than others, regardless of how much is left of your original rig, some pretty cool rigs here. I like the custom bed covers, it really showcases talent and creativity. Keep it up folks

[durok]

I, for one, am tempted to follow similar body mods on my Defender! Stunning rig - can't believe I failed to comment on this build earlier...

[fyrstormer]

Originally Posted by MOguy

what truck should I have started with?

If your goal was light weight and low CoG with portal axles, a SCX10.2 with RC4WD portal hubs would've done the trick. My SCX10.2 has a low center-mounted motor and weighs a touch over 6lbs even with brass hubs, brass axle inserts from BeefTubes.com, steel suspension links, steel driveshafts, a steel 2-speed transmission, and a full-size shifter servo. My TRX-4 Defender is more than 1.8lbs heavier than that, and it's almost completely stock. The TRX-4 is a great truck, but if weight is important to you then the TRX-4 loses big-time. You can make it a lot lighter, as you yourself did, but you have to strip-out most of the stuff that makes the TRX-4 the truck it is.

[MOguy]

Originally Posted by fyrstormer

If your goal was light weight and low CoG with portal axles, a SCX10.2 with RC4WD portal hubs would've done the trick. My SCX10.2 has a low center-mounted motor and weighs a touch over 6lbs even with brass hubs, brass axle inserts from BeefTubes.com, steel suspension links, steel driveshafts, a steel 2-speed transmission, and a full-size shifter servo. My TRX-4 Defender is more than 1.8lbs heavier than that, and it's almost completely stock. The TRX-4 is a great truck, but if weight is important to you then the TRX-4 loses big-time. You can make it a lot lighter, as you yourself did, but you have to strip-out most of the stuff that makes the TRX-4 the truck it is.

It all depends on how much effort and $$ you want to spend. I bought an Enduro kit fir nt C1. Now the only thing I use from that kit is the servo mount. and a drive shaft.

I never bought a 10.2 but did a build sort of based on it but different chassis. The one-piece axles quickly broke and were repalced buy SSD diamonds.

My last build was from scratch.

I have taken my "TRX" build even further since my last post.

All my builds are now a LCG comp build.

At this point, knowing what I know now with the experience I have gained over the last few years, is if you really want a good build that is for a specific purpose any RTR is a waste of money.