My trx4 sport photo's

[mr_alister]

Went for a walk in a new place today with my wife and kids and naturally our "pet" came too Took a few photo's for y'all to enjoy! In this environment i don't need to make any changes at all. It handled everything perfectly. On the rocks though, I need weight low down and a much better servo.

[mr_alister]

So I'm thinking about a way to improve performance but keep the scale look. I love watching all the parts work amd when i saw v33's truck i fell in love. So first step is get new shock towers for the rear. Or.... make some!

[mr_alister]

Next up, get a half cab body and make a flat deck. 45 mins later and some aluminum and an old lexan body i have this as a proof of concept. Lol, it looks hideous but at least you can see where im going with this.

At this point i haven't done a single thing i cant undo so dont get mad at me just yet

[mr_alister]

I actually really do like those homemade shock towers so i might leave those on there. The idea is to delete the bumpers entirely, remove the battery tray and put the battery somewhere else. A nice cab only body and a properly made flat deck that can sit right on the frame rails. Lower that cg as much as possible and have a fairly unique looking truck!

Am i nuts or is this worth pursuing?

[Benp]

Great pictures and scenery!!!

I love the shock towers!

You can take those another step further with more mounting positions.



I like the idea of removing the battery tray. I’ve been toying with that idea as well and moving everything to the sliders. I run small-ish battery packs 1500/2200 so room needed isn’t bad.

Depending on you’re usage I wouldn’t go full bumper removal. No bumpers isn’t the greatest for encountering an obstacle that you’re wheels aren’t in contact with first.

A lot to be said for a bumper sliding you up and going instead smashing, tire contact and going.

I really like your template I idea!! I think it’s great! I love the 1/2 cab/ flat bed look. I can see myself ending up there maybe as a project next year.

Check out these guys for ideas. IMO, they have the 1/2 cab and flat bed seriously nailed.

https://iercscaler.com/shop/ols/products

ETA - Not crazy idea. I think is awesome and even more awesome you’re mocking it up and planning on doing it yourself.

[mr_alister]

Thanks for the compliments!
How has leaning your shocks forward like that affected them? Do you gain more droop like that?
I think i need to have another go at building a better front bumper that slides me up rocks more. The one i made kinda does exactly what you said having no bumper does. Lol.

[Benp]

Originally Posted by mr_alister

Thanks for the compliments!
How has leaning your shocks forward like that affected them? Do you gain more droop like that?
I think i need to have another go at building a better front bumper that slides me up rocks more. The one i made kinda does exactly what you said having no bumper does. Lol.

It lowered the rear’s ride height down. To the point the upper links were contacting the low cg battery tray when the rear end travelled up.

I cut the tray out so the upper links have clearance when rear is compressed.



Another reason I want to move the battery to the slider.

My goal is a lot of droop with same ride height. I have some 110 mm desert lizard internal spring shocks for this.

I tried tipping the fronts in a similar fashion but wasn’t working out. Seems to me that the fronts work better when it travels nearly vertical. The rear does fine.

Looking forward to see what you come up with.

ETA- maybe look towards the 1:1 rock crawler world for bumper inspiration.

I really wish traxxas would have something like this available. It really looks like it would do well based on its angles.



It’s inexpensive enough I might get it to see if I can make it work.

[mr_alister]

Well, after all that talk about smashing into rocks I did some testing. My homemade bumper gave me way better approach angle vs the stock one but I discovered that although it had better approach, when it did hit it seemed to not slide up the rock at all and i got stuck. So i went back to the stock one but trimmed my body even more so i could put it all the way "in" and "up". It still hits rocks sooner than my homemade one but it just slides up until the tires grab. At that point its all about traction so the bumper isn't in play anymore. Here's a couple photos of how its sitting now.

[mr_alister]

I think i might try to mod it so that it goes about another half inch in and then cut the body so it's over the bumper but behind the "stinger bar"

If anyone has tried that I'd love to see photos!

[Benp]

I’d say you’re on the right path.

The bumper contact, sliding and then tire contact is the goal I’m looking for.

When you look at your side shot, you can see the contact angle of the stock bumper. Safe to bet that’s why it’s doing well.

[Jeff6x6]

You could forget the mount altogether and bolt to the side of the frame. Put one bolt in ...then angle it for the best approach angle ...then drill the second hole. Or the trx-4 defender front bumper mount is offset. It can be mounted either way. Stock was down. Many people turn theirs over.

[Jeff6x6]

Stock TRX-4 defender mounts.

[Benp]

I’ve been looking at those type of bumpers for a while.

I was checking out ie scalers.


https://iercscaler.com/shop/ols/products/toro-stby-bpr

Scalerfab has the “pre runner “ bumper I believe which is stinger and then bars out from the side.

I just couldn’t pull the trigger yet on that.

I pulled the trigger on the vanquish stock bumpers. So we’ll see how that goes and take it from there.

[mr_alister]

Trying not to spend much money on this stuff. Saving my $$ for better electronics. Still need a new servo. Plus i very much enjoy modding things and making bits work.. Im very interested to see how those vanquish bumpers work out!

[OCMike]

Here's a video showing front and rear bumper mods for TRX4.....

https://youtu.be/n-zPXBMByJQ

[Benp]

Originally Posted by mr_alister

Trying not to spend much money on this stuff. Saving my $$ for better electronics. Still need a new servo. Plus i very much enjoy modding things and making bits work.. Im very interested to see how those vanquish bumpers work out!

Oh I hear you.

I just couldn’t bring myself to splurge on the nice bumpers.....yet.

I’m hoping the bumpers will work with minimal work.

[mr_alister]

So I couldn't shake the idea of moving the battery to the side and removing the tray altogether. Got home early from work so i went for it. You can see in the last photo I had to change the preload on one side to account for the weight. Using a simple elastic band to hold the battery in until i get some velcro or something better. Its way lower now so that's cool. Testing will tell if the extra weight to one side will screw up my balance or not.

[Benp]

That is great!

Now you’ve got my wheels turning!

[mr_alister]

Just did 30 mins on the rocks and I'm happy to say it's made a very noticeable difference! The weight from the battery lower down and further forward really helped with front tire grip and its ability to "pull itself up" over steep rocks. I couldn't really notice it tipping sideways one way more than the other so i dont forsee the preload issue i mentioned being a problem. Maybe someone with more shock experience could weigh in on that?

Only took this one photo of some good sidehill action.

[mr_alister]

Made a gif!