OS's World of TRX thread

[OSRC]

Time to consolidate.... I lost track of what was going on where, I've got 547 pics online across several different threads, and since they are all TRX4's I figured I'll make one single glorious thread for anything interesting that happens among these rigs and update it going forward.

Previous threads:

TRX6: OS's TRX6
Sport Kit: OS's TRX4 Sport Kit
Sport #2: Rebuilding a used Sport
Tactical: One more for the trail... A Tactical mistake.
Defender: OSRC's TRX-4 Defender "Greybeard"
Bronco: OS's TRX4 #2 - Bronco

So let's have a roll call, shall we?

TRX6 has nothing new since the last post. Doesn't really need anything to be honest. Still running stock electronics until something fails. I've got a 1080/Trailmaster combo waiting in the wings just in case.


Defender hasn't really changed though I swap around wheels and tires a lot depending on where I'm wheeling. Still my favorite truck to wheel. It just works.



I forget which one this was... I think it was my original Sport kit, I don't quite remember. It was a bug in its latest life. In any case, it's got a set of Enduro Axles under it now. I really like the stance, and the axles bolted right up with minimal fiddling. New PL Raptor body for the build too, just needs some paint. Painting it to match my 1:1. Should be a decent performer once it's all tuned out.






My Sport....er, current Sport that was a Bronco. I changed it around for the recent G6. the build is over in that thread... still has the rear diff, it acts like a mini dig at times and comes in handy! Performs fantastic, I had zero issues with this rig after 10+ miles of hard G6 course running. No particular plans to change anything other than maybe a motor swap. The Crawlmaster is a great motor, but the Trailmaster seems to fit the truck a bit better.




And my Bronco. I think this was the Tactical at some point as it still has the longer WB. Or not, I don't remember. Lots going on here - portal delete, forward motor, outruner, still has diffs all around. Not sure what I'm doing with this one yet. I do want to get it running - I think the outrunner/PDK and the unlocking diffs would make for an interesting drive.




Man, that is so much easier than hunting down the individual threads to update them. More to come as I continue to exhaust my bank account for the glory of tiny trucks....

[Benp]

Great thread!!

I love the paint job on the Bronco!

I like what you did with moving the battery to the slider and eliminating the battery tray.

I see myself doing that at some point. I trimmed some of the Bowhouse out due to upper link contact but not having the tray is even better.

What receiver box is this? Looks a lot roomier that stock.



Since I’ve added the Castle Link Quick Connect I have a lot more wiring that doesn’t fit in stock box.

I’ve also noticed your lower shock mounts how are you liking those?



I also have them and am planning on playing with a long travel droop setup with 110 Desert Lizards at some point.

Great thread and awesome rigs!!!!!

[OSRC]

The radio box is an old Axial I had in my parts bin.

The shock mounts work out great! Go over them in pretty good detail in the original sport thread. They angle the shocks out slightly at the lower mounts and it really calms down the suspension. Note I was missing some parts originally, though Asiatees did make good on it. I've since bought another set.

Starting on post 63: OS's TRX4 Sport Kit

[Benp]

For whatever reason I couldn’t open that thread.

I am familiar with them and think they should work well with the longer shocks.

Mocking them up with the desert lizards I was using the stock traxxas upper ball mount. That wAs giving me the tilt that I needed.

[OSRC]

It's a great setup. I ran mine with the 90mm shocks set up for droop. Entire chassis sat lower and it really helped COG.

[Benp]

That’s exactly what I’m after!

Thanks!

[Uncle Pete]

OS, thanks so much for this thread. I was on the fence about a TRX-4 Defender and now I will have one in a few days. Great ideas, great content.

[alexleblanc]

What are you doing for gearing on the Element axle’ d TRX4?

[OSRC]

Originally Posted by alexleblanc

What are you doing for gearing on the Element axle’ d TRX4?

Not sure yet, it's got a 9/45 pinion/spur, about as low as I can go. Should be an OK match for the Crawlmaster. Feels good on the bench though I haven't run it yet.

[deuter]

Originally Posted by Uncle Pete

OS, thanks so much for this thread. I was on the fence about a TRX-4 Defender and now I will have one in a few days. Great ideas, great content.

Nice, what colour did you order and from where ?


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[deuter]

Originally Posted by OSRC

It's a great setup. I ran mine with the 90mm shocks set up for droop. Entire chassis sat lower and it really helped COG.

Amazing brass parts what are they and where do you get them from?


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[OSRC]

Originally Posted by deuter

Amazing brass parts what are they and where do you get them from?

I'm not sure, they came on a used chassis I picked up. Yeah Racing I think, but not 100% sure.

[OSRC]

A little TRX4 mayhem around here... bodies and chassis are playing musical chairs, but I think I got everything sorted.

I converted my Sport that I just ran in the G6 back to a Bronco. I swapped it over as it was easier to have an interior and all the scale doodads, but I liked it better as a Bronco. Swapped over the fenders, bumpers and what not....a power driver makes quick work of it thankfully. Took out the motor/ESC and put my old trusty Novak goat back in. Might be a 540 system, but it has plenty of power even for the somewhat heavy chassis.


Still has the rear diff lock...I like it, it works a lot like a dig and comes in handy in certain situations.


Left the suspension alone, it's pretty dialed. Aside from some preload changes, it works fine and won't see any changes.


Kinda wish I went with a more scale paint scheme, but a badass rig deserves a badass body.


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Next, got the Enduro axled TRX chassis painted up. I tried to match the F150 body (with cap) to my F150 (with cap) - came out very, very close in color. Painted Fascolor red backed with flouresent orange to make it pop. Then some Proline gunmetal that I darkedned slightly with some black for the fenders and cap.


Came out pretty decent! Wish my 1:1 looked this nice.


Need to adjust the WB slightly up front, otherwise it's ready to rock. Running the 1080/Holmes Crawlmaster 550 combo and single speed transmission. Gearing TBD... I think the 9t pinion will be fine.




Kept the BTA steering...it's a little tight in there, but it all works. Steering angle is fantastic.



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And finally, this hot mess. Forward motor mount, portal delete kit... lots going on here.

First off, the motor situation. The PDK really changes the gearing, it's super tall. Really, you need a high torque/low RPM motor for it to work. The Outrunner was ok - plenty of overall power, but lacked the slow speed resolution I wanted. The Crawlmaster 12t 550 is a somewhat low RPM motor and made a huge difference in low speed tractability and was perfectly driveable.... Then I remembered this Mabuchi "3t" 5 pole motor in my stash... I know it's super slow RPM (I think it was a boat motor?) and gave it a shot. BOOM - perfect. Not a lot of overall power on 2S, but the slow speed resolution is fantastic - as good as anything I've ever driven. 2 speeds is a must as low gear is basically a creeper - 2nd is just about walking pace. Feels like a 4cyl truck... smooth, but not exactly powerful. I think it'll be perfect on 3S, should I ever decide to go that route but it's very driveable as is. Kept the Holmes motor for another project and left the boat motor for now.



Never ran a 550 motor with the front mount and found out pretty quick the stock steering horn hit the motor...I could have raised up the motor slightly - the mount allows for some vertical adjustment, but that's a COG sin...it's already high enough. I dug around and found a random horn that was taller and just cleared.


Still the stock steering servo until it fails...has both diffs and the 2 speed yet.


One of the guys at the G6 was running a Sport with the PDK and 4.19's and it looked pretty decent....inspired, I moved the Sport body over here. It looks great with the narrower axles and slightly smaller tires. Kinda wishing I didn't trim it so much, but not wishing it enough to buy a new one. The 4.6ish Vaterra tires tuck in nicely, and my 4.5 Pitbulls would be a perfect fit too. Good to have options! I need the shorter WB links out back before I can drive it, but it should be a very interesting drive.. Lower, forward motor, just enough power... A very different kind of TRX.

[deuter]

Your knowledge in RC cars is extraordinary, and you are an artist with paint, the red looks smashing.
You are extremely talented, keep up the good work.


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[Uncle Pete]

I second that motion.

[OSRC]

Sometimes the best projects come out of nowhere...

I was doing some fall cleaning and I found one of my daughter's old Tonka trucks in a bin. I have a few Tonka bodies laying around and they are cool looking, but heavy as sin... this one was mostly plastic. Huh. Took it in the garage and hacked off the wheels and dump bed. Huh...again. Wheels got to turning....

Fast forward a bit and I have cut down and hollowed out the base to the point where it fits on a TRX4 chassis. There's a bunch of molded in reinforcements/ribs in the plastic of the chassis and they took absolutely forever to cut out. I don't know what kind of plastic Tonka used back in the day, but it's by far the most difficult I've ever worked with. It's thick, tough, but melts easily when cutting... and I made a total mess of it. Also had to cut up the front and into the interior to allow room for the shock towers up front.

A few pics as it was taking shape... the body looked a bit high, so I went back and did more trimming.



Not a bad look for a TRX6 either... no, stay on track!!! One project at a time!


Chassis is a TRX Sport chassis and WAS the red Ford above...Never even drove it with the Enduro axles.... I needed a donor and this was it. So I put the F150 body on the shelf, stripped the chassis down, and rebuilt it with a cut down chassis (-1 inch) and put the well built Sport axles back on it at the Bronco/Sport WB. Single speed trans and no diffs to keep chassis clutter to a minimum.

After hours of cutting, sanding, test fitting, swearing, and 3lbs of plastic chunks on the floor, I got it down nice and low. Trimmed up the bottom of the body to match the contours of the TRX chassis (ish) and it solid mounts with 4 screws.


Cleaned it up a bit, removed the old decals and boom! There it is.



And while it's not friday, how about a few flex shots? May need to trim the fenders a bit depending on what tire size I end up with.



Still needs a ton of stuff...battery and electronics mounting, more bodywork, paint, etc but I like it...

[Gramps]

I'm liking it. What are you going to use for a bed? I can picture one of those big quarry dump trucks

[Topher Builds]

Great thread all around and a lot of really nice builds. Love the enduro trx4 mutt! Looks like that worked out pretty well, and the raptor body is sharp.

Excited to see more of the tonka too. Nice work!

[Benp]

Wow!!

Awesome idea with the Tonka truck!!!

Fantastic other rigs as well!

[OSRC]

Got a bit more done on the Tonka TRX...

Wasn't sure what to do with the bed, so I wung (winged?) it. Cut up some thick ABS and made a slantback for it. It's a good place to hide the battery and electronics since space is somewhat limited. Plus, it's nice and solid and structurally reinforces the body. It was a bit flimsy after all the cutting - solid as a rock now!



Whipped up a little battery and radio tray out of some scrap aluminum.



Battery lays in the same profile as the back, and it hangs down just below the rear upper links. It's a not a performance build for sure, but it's still nice to get the battery as low as possible.


I was going to fab up some sort of hinged cover to access everything but then I scoured the workshop for something that might work. Found a TRX battery tray... fits almost perfect! Shaved it a bit so it fits and on it goes! I had to order some styrene for the rest of it.



Ordered some lights and some other stuff, so while I'm waiting for it to get here, figured I'd work on the body a bit. Shaved down the fenders and front bumper a bit and broke it down (carefully) for cleaning and painting... it was NASTY in there!


Let there be paint!! I'll give it a bit to harden up, then re-mask and spray the rest.


Got the chassis buttoned up. Had to add long motor leads to accommodate the body, and finish a few odds and ends.. Also a better look at the ghetto fab battery tray.