topher builds a(nother) TRX4

[Topher Builds]

Originally Posted by indybama

Lookin good tb! May need to pick up a set of those portal cases. Kinda like the idea of them outboard like that

Originally Posted by ScaleLifeNewbie

I have to agree, I like the shocks mounted on the portal too.

How come you only put Samix shock towers up front and not in the rear?

Thanks dudes! Here are the portal mounts I ordered... took a couple weeks to arrive and this was back in October.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Black-Porta...-/302993141210

For the shock towers I was really only looking to beef up the panhard mount so I only got the front set. For the rears I already had a couple of options on hand and think the stock design works well enough since they can be flipped and mounted to different holes on the rails to get some adjustability out of them.

[Cyclist]

I'm fairly new to crawlers, just got into them this year. What is the reason to go 4s on a crawler? 3s seems to give plenty of wheel speed as well as low end control when geared correctly. Bashers and racers on 4s I completely understand, but crawlers? Educate me please

[Benp]

I have similar rear mounts and the chub front mounts.

These are my observations/experiences.

My goal was to lower the rig down and still have same travel as stock with the 90mm shocks.

I was hoping that the stock lower shock mount would of been at the same height as the top mount hole. Unfortunately that wound up being between the middle and second to bottom hole. So, the mounts weren’t able to lower as much as I had hoped.

Also with the shocks out boarded, their action didn’t seem smooth like when the top/bottom mounts are in the same plane. Pretty noticeable on the front which I feel the panhard and steering link contributed to. This was when I was messing with the truck on the table and didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary driving.

So I have the shocks mounted in stock lower mounts.

Sorry for the high jack.

Keep up the good work Topher! I enjoy your builds and then seeing them in action on your channel.

[Topher Builds]

Got the axles, esc, and servo all set up. Just need to mount the receiver. Figure out where I’m going to keep the battery, and then do some paint work.

Getting anxious to wheel this one.

Originally Posted by Cyclist

I'm fairly new to crawlers, just got into them this year. What is the reason to go 4s on a crawler? 3s seems to give plenty of wheel speed as well as low end control when geared correctly. Bashers and racers on 4s I completely understand, but crawlers? Educate me please

Gear down, volt up

I generally agree with you about 3S and run it on everything else. A few reasons I’m doing that on this truck through. Running 4S will give me longer run times on a smaller mah pack, allow me to get the most out of the hh v3 servo, and I have the truck geared down by swapping the spur to a 45t and running a 10t pinion. On the bench test it has very good low speed control and should be plenty of torque.

Originally Posted by Benp

I have similar rear mounts and the chub front mounts.

These are my observations/experiences.

My goal was to lower the rig down and still have same travel as stock with the 90mm shocks.

I was hoping that the stock lower shock mount would of been at the same height as the top mount hole. Unfortunately that wound up being between the middle and second to bottom hole. So, the mounts weren’t able to lower as much as I had hoped.

Also with the shocks out boarded, their action didn’t seem smooth like when the top/bottom mounts are in the same plane. Pretty noticeable on the front which I feel the panhard and steering link contributed to. This was when I was messing with the truck on the table and didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary driving.

So I have the shocks mounted in stock lower mounts.

Sorry for the high jack.

Keep up the good work Topher! I enjoy your builds and then seeing them in action on your channel.

That’s interesting. My shocks don’t bind at all, I had the same mounts on an old trx4 I ran for a while and they worked well for me there. Having them outboarded makes the spring rate progressive so it does have a different feel but it’s still smooth compression on all 4 corners. My goal with this isn’t to lower the rig, and is more for shock tuning.

Here’s a video from my og trx4, this may be the last time I had it out before tearing it down and selling it. Suspension was working well here.

[themountain]

That is one nice TRX4 build !Love that you kept all black underneath...classy

[indybama]

That there is some purdy art work tb. Lookin good brother! Cant wait to see some body color n a runnin vid.

Gotta add a bec to mine. The savox servo i got with it seems to cause issues wen turning

[Topher Builds]

Laid down some paint on Tuesday when it was 65 out and now I just need to finish up the wheels and tires.

Going to start with the stock traxxas canyon crawlers but cut, I don’t think I’ll sipe them this time around but perhaps. Back in the yester years I saw BMow cut and sipe his and they looked great. Tried it on a set I had at the time and I was shocked out how well they did.

Two cut so far, two to go. Then I just need to mount them and it will be ready for action.

Originally Posted by themountain

That is one nice TRX4 build !Love that you kept all black underneath...classy

Originally Posted by indybama

That there is some purdy art work tb. Lookin good brother! Cant wait to see some body color n a runnin vid.

Gotta add a bec to mine. The savox servo i got with it seems to cause issues wen turning

Thanks brothas! Hoping to get it out this weekend.

Bams the savox servos can be power hungry. Bec should help or even a glitch buster may get you by.

[smog]

That looks like an excellent modification. May have to give it a go. I just removed a glued set of the Canyon Trails from their wheels the other day. What tool did you use for the cutting?

[MaX-D]

Originally Posted by smog

What tool did you use for the cutting?

I used these to cut my Canyon Trails with great success. I also use them to cut Parts off of a parts tree or anything else that needs to be cut flush. These even work great on a hangnail. LOL

https://www.harborfreight.com/micro-...ter-90708.html

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[smog]

Originally Posted by MaX-D

I used these to cut my Canyon Trails with great success. I also use them to cut Parts off of a parts tree or anything else that needs to be cut flush. These even work great on a hangnail. LOL

https://www.harborfreight.com/micro-...ter-90708.html

Sent from my LM-G710VM using Tapatalk

excellent, thanks Max. They do seem as though they would be a very handy tool

[Topher Builds]

Originally Posted by smog

That looks like an excellent modification. May have to give it a go. I just removed a glued set of the Canyon Trails from their wheels the other day. What tool did you use for the cutting?

Originally Posted by MaX-D

I used these to cut my Canyon Trails with great success. I also use them to cut Parts off of a parts tree or anything else that needs to be cut flush. These even work great on a hangnail. LOL

https://www.harborfreight.com/micro-...ter-90708.html

Sent from my LM-G710VM using Tapatalk

It sure is worthwhile. And using the same exact type of tool Max posted.

[B-MOW71]

Great choice on the tires TB! The Canyon Trail tires have been my favorite stock tires that I have used after they are cut. They work great on the slick rock and muddy trails that I run on. I’m sure these would work great on the rocks out west.

I used mini flush cut cutters similar to the cutters that came with my Ender 3 Pro 3D printer to cut my tires. They make nice clean cuts and make easy work in cutting tires.


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[Benp]

The Canyon Trails are an awesome stock tire when taken a step further than cutting out the center small nub.



Take a dremel to the tread blocks and groove them. Not a knife and siping them.

They hold their own on my slick granite when compared to Predator Hyraxes and Landmines.

It’s a messy, slow tedious job but essentially free great mod.

[Topher Builds]

Finished up the body and getting everything mounted up. I decided to go with the Me and My RC theme on this one. I painted a similar theme on a Nova DR10 body that will likely never see the light of day again ( I don’t have a DR10 any longer) so I wanted to use it again here. Eric at adventure-Rc gave me the thumbs up to use his logo art on the hood and I was thrilled about that, he sells full size and scale size decals with the Rc guy on them.

This time around I used liquid mask for the first time, and I quickly learned that I can’t cut a straight line to save my life. I think next time I’ll still use the liquid mask but will use tape to set edges for cleaner lines.

All that’s left is the battery mounting and I’m wanting to stick a front bumper mount in the rear but forgot to order an extra. Either way I’m planning on getting it out this weekend to see how it does.

I’ll post some more shots when it’s finally all wrapped up.

[ScaleLifeNewbie]

That looks great TB!

I use Liquid mask on every body I’ve painted (3 bodies) and every time I regret it lmao. It’s super hard to cut straight and it sucks when you get it too thin. And the past two bodies I did it too thin and it was hell trying to peel off. For me masking tape is a lot easier.

Benp- those don’t even look like Canyon Trails anymore lol.


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[Benp]

Originally Posted by Topher Builds

Finished up the body and getting everything mounted up. I decided to go with the Me and My RC theme on this one. I painted a similar theme on a Nova DR10 body that will likely never see the light of day again ( I don’t have a DR10 any longer) so I wanted to use it again here. Eric at adventure-Rc gave me the thumbs up to use his logo art on the hood and I was thrilled about that, he sells full size and scale size decals with the Rc guy on them.

This time around I used liquid mask for the first time, and I quickly learned that I can’t cut a straight line to save my life. I think next time I’ll still use the liquid mask but will use tape to set edges for cleaner lines.

All that’s left is the battery mounting and I’m wanting to stick a front bumper mount in the rear but forgot to order an extra. Either way I’m planning on getting it out this weekend to see how it does.

I’ll post some more shots when it’s finally all wrapped up.

Topher - Holy cow! That’s beautiful! Awesome how those 2 colors go together with their lay out.

I’m really looking forward to see how it does with the upgraded axle housings. I’m very curious about that.

I went through the thread a few times but couldn’t find what wheels you’re using. I like those a lot.

Again, excellent job.

Originally Posted by ScaleLifeNewbie

That looks great TB!

I use Liquid mask on every body I’ve painted (3 bodies) and every time I regret it lmao. It’s super hard to cut straight and it sucks when you get it too thin. And the past two bodies I did it too thin and it was hell trying to peel off. For me masking tape is a lot easier.

Benp- those don’t even look like Canyon Trails anymore lol.


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Lol. And neither do the General Grabber Red Labels on my jeep or the Nitto Trail Grapplers on my neighbors jeep.

A tire groover is a beautiful tool.

[JCM5]

Sweet truck, love the color theme.

[indybama]

That looks fantastic tb! Wish my paint jobs came out that good lol. Goina have to show my buddy at work, he likes RC (the drink lol). Although they do get a kick out of me wen i bring my bashers to work. They curse me rite off the batt with "give it 5 mins n he breaks it".

So wen is the first run vid? Im excited to see it in action!

[Topher Builds]

Thank you all for the kind words. Always appreciated. I’m happy with it myself but I sure wish the lines of the red came out cleaner, thinking about re-doing the hood stripes and using tape instead of relying on my unsteady hand to get a straight edge.

SLN multiple coats definitely helped with the weeding. I think I ended up doing 4 coats of the liquid mask and let it dry overnight.

Bams I’m hoping to get it out this weekend and get some video together!

Ben the wheels are vanquish KMC machete with a silver beadlock ring

Here are a couple more pics I took. Did some bench flex testing to see how the suspension is moving and it’s butter smooth, about a tire’s worth of a flex which is what I prefer. Need that rear bumper to scoot up still and hoping I can find a front mount locally to put back there.

[B-MOW71]

Great pics, nice flex and tough aggressive stance!


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