SVT's Vanquish VS4-10 Extravaganza!

[svt923]

Originally Posted by Topher Builds

Parting out the stuff you don’t use or is it new truck time?

I was thinking of cracking it open, taking out the transmission, and throwing the rest in the trash like the rich jerks that order the $250 lobster then only eat the tail before tossing it.

Really, I don't sell anything because I'm the weird hoarder type but there is actually a plan for this one.

[mikemcE]

I raised the offer to Coronas and Enchiladas, same result. I’m gonna wait, I’m not going to get a Pro..... He said also


Hang up and Drive

[Brandon]

I approve of your purchase. Build it, drive it, enjoy the performance enhancements

[bikepilot]

Well that's one exspencive trans!! But the good thing is ya got a ton of great spare parts!!

[SuprchrgdTaco]

Originally Posted by svt923

Enjoy that VS4-10 Pro, anyone with a screen name that good deserves the best tiny trucks (full disclosure: I am both a Tacoma owner and Mexican food enthusiast to cover both possible connotations).

I'm am currently scheming a way to get a VFD as soon as possible, hopefully Brandon or Harley is reading this and know my loyalty and undying gratitude is for sale.

Both. I love Mexican food and drive a Tacoma!

Awesome Pro! Mine is almost complete. Just need to figure out the paint.

Now time for some tacos

[svt923]

Originally Posted by mikemcE

I raised the offer to Coronas and Enchiladas, same result. I’m gonna wait, I’m not going to get a Pro..... He said also

You'll cave eventually.

Suckers like us always cave to the new stuff pressure.

Originally Posted by Brandon

I approve of your purchase. Build it, drive it, enjoy the performance enhancements

My motto in life is generally "what would Brandon approve of?"

Good to have positive confirmation that I'm making the correct life choices.

Originally Posted by bikepilot

Well that's one exspencive trans!! But the good thing is ya got a ton of great spare parts!!

Totally worth it assuming you don't throw the non-VFD parts in the garbage.

Originally Posted by SuprchrgdTaco

Both. I love Mexican food and drive a Tacoma!

Awesome Pro! Mine is almost complete. Just need to figure out the paint.

Now time for some tacos

Tacos are bueno and my favorite painting method is to not do it for as long as possible.

With all that said: feel free to mentally insert a meaningless platitude and incredibly humorous yet accurate comment on society and/or current events in my typical style at this point because there is no time for me to do any of that right now.

Here it is.



Yes, the long awaited D-1 bag.

Gaze upon its individually packaged glory! Have you ever seen anything so sublime? Only a chimp that is both blind and lobotomized could not see the marvel contained within.

There is also a bunch of other pretty good stuff in the box too but all of that is fairly unimportant.

Since some of you are as quick as Yukon Territory maple syrup in January, allow me to open said bag of goodness.



Yes friends, it is the VFD transmission. The heart of what makes the VS4-10 Pro so professional, prolific, and pro-stigious. We will dive into the special parts of the transmission later.

My plan was always to put the VFD in my current VS4-10 because it looks so damn awesome, the D44 axles are my preference over the F9s, and I love the fancy aluminum chassis braces, bumpers, and sliders that have been removed on the Pro kit.

All successful transplants require a certain degree of patient preparation and the VFD swap into the OG VS4-10 is no different.



The basis for everything is the new VFD skidplate since everything about how the transmission mounts is different. I'm glossing over the install here because it is little more than unbolting a few screws and reinstalling them except for 1 key difference.

The area of the skidplate that fits into the optional upper link holes has to be trimmed to clear the aluminum chassis brace like so.



Minor cutting and we are back on our way.

We have now arrived at the later portion of the post where things get explained.



Starting off, there is an aluminum motor plate that from my best estimates measures at "thick as hell". Aluminum support braces get attached to the motor plate to form what can only be a very rigid structure for supporting the extra long top shaft.

A new 56T spur bolts to the familiar Incision slipper eliminator.



The instructions say to install the motor at this point but it seems to make more sense to install it a couple steps later.

Next, you slide the transmission housing pieces over the aluminum support tubes to form something resembling a 1:1 transmission.



I couldn't install these pieces with the motor installed as the tabs were blocking the way as you can see.



After this step is when the motor makes more sense to be installed. Of course, things may vary with your motor of choice but it wouldn't hurt anything waiting until now to install the motor.

And everyone remember, labels out on the support tubes for maximum brand awareness.

After all that, we finally arrive at the first internal transmission gears.



The gears are big, wide, and steel, there is little to worry about here other than what grease to use. I used Vanquish because it is what Brandon would do.

Next comes the transfer case portion of the assembly where all the overdrive magic happens.



These aluminum gear plates are pure genius and should be celebrated as one of the true victories of the VFD design. They make sure gear mesh is maintained 100% of the time with zero deflection from plastic flex and they allow different gear ratios to be used without changing the outer case. Someone deserves a raise for this bit alone.

Four more wide steel gears were dropped into the transfer case after being greased up.



Then the outer bearing plate was dropped on.



Some other fun bits of information: all the bearings are regular, old 5x11s and the transfer case gear plates have a steel spacer that keeps the plates from pressing on the gears when tightening the outer cover of the case.

Now we have a fully assembled transmission.



The stock gearing on the transmission is 56/15 but I went with a 12T pinion to pretty much match the 60ish:1 ratio I was running with the old transmission at the rear. With the Holmes Puller Pro 3500kv, it will have all the torque.

Because I know you can't get enough of this transmission.




One last bit of "making the new trans fit the old truck" stuff. The front transmission mounts are different from the old battery tray mounts and are molded as part of the servo mount in the Pro kit.



It seems if Vanquish is thinking about people like me because there is a molded line in the Pro servo mount of where to cut transmission mount portion off.

And here is the complete VFD in its new home.



So cozy.

One of those other parts from the Pro kit that will be needed is the electronics trays so they were bolted in.



The stock Pro battery tray does not fit with the aluminum rear chassis brace in place so the options are either raise it to clear the brace or find a new home for the battery. One of those options is easy and the other is what I did.

I told the part making robot to make me a battery tray and it listened.



The new battery tray bolts to the stock electronics plate and gives the battery a flat mounting surface without the pesky slider bolts being in the way.

The battery may not be flat on the plate but it still ends up lower than the stock tray.



Now, here we sit waiting for the rest of the electronics.



I will be changing a few things up from the previous version of this truck so it isn't as simple as dropping the old stuff back in.

One last change I made while wrenches were turning was to add this GRC fairlead. It matches the finish on the bumper much better than my steel printed Shapeways fairlead that just seems to be oxidizing to a more and more gold hued shade by the day.



One of the cool upgrades with this fairlead is the winch line is routed through a pair of bearing rollers before exiting the front of the truck.



Even if it doesn't work any better, it looks better and that is a win.

An original VS4-10 has been combined with the Pro to make something even better. Names to be considered are the VS4-10 All Pro, VS4-10 All Star, VS4-10 Hall of Famer, and VS4-10 GOAT; cast your votes!

We have now reached our conclusion of this extravaganza installment. Join me next time when we have a functioning truck again.

[Brandon]

My Wife has been screen printing T-Shirts with "I Love Brandon". We pass them out to friends and neighbors, it seems you may be in need of one. Let me know what size and color.

The bearing plate idea came from Jim, aka Rippermachinist. I executed said idea, so I will accept the raise in his absence.

Nice work on the conversion

[svt923]

Originally Posted by Brandon

My Wife has been screen printing T-Shirts with "I Love Brandon". We pass them out to friends and neighbors, it seems you may be in need of one. Let me know what size and color.

The bearing plate idea came from Jim, aka Rippermachinist. I executed said idea, so I will accept the raise in his absence.

Nice work on the conversion

I'll forward the approval form on your raise, the % increase has been left blank so you can just go ahead an fill that in before submitting to HR.

As for the shirt, I'll take an XL in Harley orange.

[svt923]

Welcome back everyone.

In today's installment of SVT's VS4-10 extravaganza, we bring you along to the extremely exciting world of electronics installation!

Please contain your excitement.

I said there would be a few changes in the electronics department and this did happen but a great truth was also learned: I really don't like soldering. This truck could have been running like 10 minutes after the last post but seeing the uninstalled electronics sitting there made me go watch 2 hours of Dateline instead of spend 15 minutes installing a few wires. What a lazy lump of nothing I am. The real treasure of this thread is the lessons we learn along the way.

Without further adieu:



The original Mamba X has been replaced by a Tekin RX4. You may be wondering why I would do such a thing. The answer comes down to the age old reasoning of "to try something new". Nothing wrong with the Mamba X but I have like 4 of them and no RX4s. Now I have 4 Mamba Xs and 1 RX4.

The solder posts and wire orientation creates a rather clean install, all the wires for the winch and light controls however do not. It really isn't that bad and nothing interferes with the body so it is a win.

A closer look at the RX4.



Everything to the right is fairly neat and tidy, everything to the left is much less so.

Another change to the electronics was to replace the Airtronics/Sanwa radio gear with Futaba. Most of my Sanwa receivers suffer from the same issue: the cases fall apart. It is like the great minds of Sanwa design did not consider servo plugs can be slightly different widths so the act of actually plugging in things to the receiver (as one tends to do), causes the case to crack. This is exactly what one would expect from their $80 receiver.

Really, some bearded dude on Youtube told me I should be using a Futaba 4PV to control a VS4-10 and they don't just let anyone put videos on there so it must be really good advice. I then proceeded to get out my Futaba radio gear and grow a beard to be cooler. The new receiver is a Futaba R204GF-E which is small enough to fit between the ESC and inner fender and very nicely lacks an external antenna. More companies really need to get on this antenna-less receiver bandwagon. Between the RX4 on 1 slider and the battery on the other, the Traxxas receiver box from the OG installment of my VS4-10 was the odd man out. It is a small sacrifice to make.

In addition to the great truth about the fantastic lengths I will go through to avoid soldering, I came to another realization. While the KLR ATs looked pretty good on the truck, I don't actually care about this being a C1 truck at all and this does a fine job of reinforcing my decision:



The OG Pitbull Rock Beasts are perfect on this truck. They fill the wheel wells in a way that C1 tires can't yet are small enough to prevent rubbing in all but the most extreme situations. Can we get manufacturers on this 4.5ish inch tall tire size because this fits so many bodies just right?



The new wheels are SSD Contenders in bronze and they just look so perfect. The world needs more bronze wheels.

Even with the bigger tires, it is still sitting at the same low ride height.



With all the electronics sitting on the sliders or lower, the weight balance has definitely changed for the better. Even just flipping and turning it around on the workbench while wrenching, you can tell this is going to be more planted and stable. Yes, it is that noticeable.

One thing that I really appreciate is how smooth the truck is on the underside.



Really I just wanted to show off how my truck has the awesome D44s and a VFD while your truck doesn't. Ha Ha.

With that, we have a functioning truck yet again.



I did go a little too aggressive on the RX4 throttle curve so it has a weird feel around startup but that is a quick hotwire tweak. Hopefully the next time you hear from me, it is with a driving report and a bunch of outdoor pics.

To be continued.

[mikemcE]

Cool truck.......

Now about that beard, and images?

I’m not sure we can stand another Captain Vanquish!


Hang up and Drive

[B-MOW71]

Looks great! Glad to see the VFD transplants into the Origin's are slowly starting to emerge!

I agree on the OG Rock Beast. They fit perfectly with this body and chassis. I have been running the OG Rock Beast on mine for a year now and love how they perform.

Looking forward to the driving report and outdoor pics!

[svt923]

Originally Posted by mikemcE

Cool truck.......

Now about that beard, and images?

I’m not sure we can stand another Captain Vanquish!

I'll get a selfie posted up as soon as I can find an extra large bathroom mirror and pick the right Instagram filter.

Originally Posted by B-MOW71

Looks great! Glad to see the VFD transplants into the Origin's are slowly starting to emerge!

I agree on the OG Rock Beast. They fit perfectly with this body and chassis. I have been running the OG Rock Beast on mine for a year now and love how they perform.

Looking forward to the driving report and outdoor pics!

It really is amazing how many people still run them because of the size and no other company has come close to releasing a mid size tire as good. My dream is a 4.5 x 1.5 KM3 or MT-R and I will gladly throw all the money at the brand that comes out with that size first.

[Brandon]

Thanks for the updates. Be glad you don't listen to said bearded guy talk about his videos, then talk to camera, then listen to himself talk to camera while he edits, then listens to himself again once its complete. After all that Youtube seems to think I would be interested and sends me notifications.

Don't forget to update the RX4 to the latest firmware and turn on active drag brake. I couldn't bring myself to run a BL system for the lack of that feature alone. Now that it exists only my original VS4-10 Origin is still brushed. Everything since then has been BL.

Smooth bottom btw.

[Neilo68]

Originally Posted by svt923

You'll cave eventually.

Suckers like us always cave to the new stuff pressure.



My motto in life is generally "what would Brandon approve of?"

Good to have positive confirmation that I'm making the correct life choices.



Totally worth it assuming you don't throw the non-VFD parts in the garbage.



Tacos are bueno and my favorite painting method is to not do it for as long as possible.

With all that said: feel free to mentally insert a meaningless platitude and incredibly humorous yet accurate comment on society and/or current events in my typical style at this point because there is no time for me to do any of that right now.

Here it is.



Yes, the long awaited D-1 bag.

Gaze upon its individually packaged glory! Have you ever seen anything so sublime? Only a chimp that is both blind and lobotomized could not see the marvel contained within.

There is also a bunch of other pretty good stuff in the box too but all of that is fairly unimportant.

Since some of you are as quick as Yukon Territory maple syrup in January, allow me to open said bag of goodness.



Yes friends, it is the VFD transmission. The heart of what makes the VS4-10 Pro so professional, prolific, and pro-stigious. We will dive into the special parts of the transmission later.

My plan was always to put the VFD in my current VS4-10 because it looks so damn awesome, the D44 axles are my preference over the F9s, and I love the fancy aluminum chassis braces, bumpers, and sliders that have been removed on the Pro kit.

All successful transplants require a certain degree of patient preparation and the VFD swap into the OG VS4-10 is no different.



The basis for everything is the new VFD skidplate since everything about how the transmission mounts is different. I'm glossing over the install here because it is little more than unbolting a few screws and reinstalling them except for 1 key difference.

The area of the skidplate that fits into the optional upper link holes has to be trimmed to clear the aluminum chassis brace like so.



Minor cutting and we are back on our way.

We have now arrived at the later portion of the post where things get explained.



Starting off, there is an aluminum motor plate that from my best estimates measures at "thick as hell". Aluminum support braces get attached to the motor plate to form what can only be a very rigid structure for supporting the extra long top shaft.

A new 56T spur bolts to the familiar Incision slipper eliminator.



The instructions say to install the motor at this point but it seems to make more sense to install it a couple steps later.

Next, you slide the transmission housing pieces over the aluminum support tubes to form something resembling a 1:1 transmission.



I couldn't install these pieces with the motor installed as the tabs were blocking the way as you can see.



After this step is when the motor makes more sense to be installed. Of course, things may vary with your motor of choice but it wouldn't hurt anything waiting until now to install the motor.

And everyone remember, labels out on the support tubes for maximum brand awareness.

After all that, we finally arrive at the first internal transmission gears.



The gears are big, wide, and steel, there is little to worry about here other than what grease to use. I used Vanquish because it is what Brandon would do.

Next comes the transfer case portion of the assembly where all the overdrive magic happens.



These aluminum gear plates are pure genius and should be celebrated as one of the true victories of the VFD design. They make sure gear mesh is maintained 100% of the time with zero deflection from plastic flex and they allow different gear ratios to be used without changing the outer case. Someone deserves a raise for this bit alone.

Four more wide steel gears were dropped into the transfer case after being greased up.



Then the outer bearing plate was dropped on.



Some other fun bits of information: all the bearings are regular, old 5x11s and the transfer case gear plates have a steel spacer that keeps the plates from pressing on the gears when tightening the outer cover of the case.

Now we have a fully assembled transmission.



The stock gearing on the transmission is 56/15 but I went with a 12T pinion to pretty much match the 60ish:1 ratio I was running with the old transmission at the rear. With the Holmes Puller Pro 3500kv, it will have all the torque.

Because I know you can't get enough of this transmission.




One last bit of "making the new trans fit the old truck" stuff. The front transmission mounts are different from the old battery tray mounts and are molded as part of the servo mount in the Pro kit.



It seems if Vanquish is thinking about people like me because there is a molded line in the Pro servo mount of where to cut transmission mount portion off.

And here is the complete VFD in its new home.



So cozy.

One of those other parts from the Pro kit that will be needed is the electronics trays so they were bolted in.



The stock Pro battery tray does not fit with the aluminum rear chassis brace in place so the options are either raise it to clear the brace or find a new home for the battery. One of those options is easy and the other is what I did.

I told the part making robot to make me a battery tray and it listened.



The new battery tray bolts to the stock electronics plate and gives the battery a flat mounting surface without the pesky slider bolts being in the way.

The battery may not be flat on the plate but it still ends up lower than the stock tray.



Now, here we sit waiting for the rest of the electronics.



I will be changing a few things up from the previous version of this truck so it isn't as simple as dropping the old stuff back in.

One last change I made while wrenches were turning was to add this GRC fairlead. It matches the finish on the bumper much better than my steel printed Shapeways fairlead that just seems to be oxidizing to a more and more gold hued shade by the day.



One of the cool upgrades with this fairlead is the winch line is routed through a pair of bearing rollers before exiting the front of the truck.



Even if it doesn't work any better, it looks better and that is a win.

An original VS4-10 has been combined with the Pro to make something even better. Names to be considered are the VS4-10 All Pro, VS4-10 All Star, VS4-10 Hall of Famer, and VS4-10 GOAT; cast your votes!

We have now reached our conclusion of this extravaganza installment. Join me next time when we have a functioning truck again.

where can I buy that fairlead bud

[svt923]

Originally Posted by Brandon

Thanks for the updates. Be glad you don't listen to said bearded guy talk about his videos, then talk to camera, then listen to himself talk to camera while he edits, then listens to himself again once its complete. After all that Youtube seems to think I would be interested and sends me notifications.

Don't forget to update the RX4 to the latest firmware and turn on active drag brake. I couldn't bring myself to run a BL system for the lack of that feature alone. Now that it exists only my original VS4-10 Origin is still brushed. Everything since then has been BL.

Smooth bottom btw.

Experiencing that creative process in real life must be a sight to behold: right between watching Michelangelo paint the Sistine Chapel and watching a chimp pee on himself.

The RX4 has been updated to the latest firmware so I get to experience this cool active drag brake stuff.

Originally Posted by Neilo68

where can I buy that fairlead bud

Ebay and possibly other places that sell GRC stuff like Banggood or the other Chinese crap megasites.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/GRC-Servo-P...4f4c1321084919

There are 2 versions: a upgraded version with its own servo winch mount and the standard version which is the one on my truck.

[DukeMinnix]

I can't believe I missed these last several updates after knowing they were coming before all the rest of the common folk. Looking good. When are you gonna drop the news about the vs4-10 pro minus VFD, I mean the VS4-10 minor league?

You know what irks me? When someone quotes a post with 25 pictures just to ask where to get a specific part. I don't know why but it makes me want to punch my monitor.

[Neilo68]

thankyou for the link to ebay

[durok]

Originally Posted by DukeMinnix

You know what irks me? When someone quotes a post with 25 pictures just to ask where to get a specific part. I don't know why but it makes me want to punch my monitor.

When that happened I thought my scroll wheel had given up the ghost...

I am wondering how much the entire VFD transmission will/would run, if/when they release it to the general public.

It's truly a thing of engineering beauty!

[DukeMinnix]

Originally Posted by durok

When that happened I thought my scroll wheel had given up the ghost...

I am wondering how much the entire VFD transmission will/would run, if/when they release it to the general public.

It's truly a thing of engineering beauty!

I'm guessing in the 200-250 range, so all those people selling them now for 400 dollars better move em while they can

[Brandon]

Originally Posted by DukeMinnix

I'm guessing in the 200-250 range, so all those people selling them now for 400 dollars better move em while they can

Are people really asking $400 for them? hmmm... JK