BgredPhoenix

[bgredjeep]

Well, after several rounds of ignoring the whole trucks of freedom thing, I finally folded and ordered one up on the last round. I've wanted to build something with a vfd trans for a while, but never pulled the trigger on the trans or a vanquish rig before. This is my first vp crawler

I ended up getting my least preferred of the options they were shipping, but I'm going to rock it and will end up with a cool rig.

My package had an rtr straight axle Phoenix, f10t housings, driveshafts, etc. I was really hoping to get something with portal axles, but this was the chance we took on that order.

I pulled it out of the box this morning and started taking it apart (before taking any pictures). For now I'm just going to slap all the option parts I have on it and decide where it goes from there.





The body looks pretty good sitting on a wraith width 2.2 big tire rig (my capra). Lol

[Valor]

Congratulations and enjoy it. Can't really go wrong with any of the packages.

[indybama]

That body does look pretty good with them wide axles n big tire lol

[twade984]

Nice score, I’m interested to hear how you like the rig


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[bgredjeep]

So far I like it. The body seems overly large. Not sure if I'm going to stick with it. I could use the Coyote body I had ordered for my pro. Maybe a roof chop and cage build on the Phoenix body. We'll see.

I built the axles today with the f10t housings. These are my first "high end" housings and I can tell you they are impressive. Much lighter than the cheap housings I've used for other axles.

I grabbed the weight of the front axle before and after. +1.3oz for a metal housing and knuckles it pretty good.

Next up will be the machines transfer case gears. Gotta figure out how to take the trans apart. Lol

[B-MOW71]

Them axles sure are pretty! Looking forward to watching this build come together.

[bgredjeep]

So I've gotten all the TOF parts installed. Axles, trans gears, driveshafts are done. Now I've got some decisions to make.



My first debate is what body to run. I like the look of the fj, but the body just seems huge. If I stick with the stock body, the fender flares will have to go. I put some vxt2 tires on it (4.75") and they eat the fender flares pretty hard. Cutting the flares should give the room I need. I'll also push the front axle forward a bit.

I've also got a coyote body in the garage that needs a home since the pro went another direction. Still undecided for now

I went ahead and started a little something for the Phoenix bed. I figured the bare tube bed wasn't helping my perception of the oversized body. $45 bedsides? Nah. Paper to fusion, to aluminum.

[indybama]

Those bedsides turned out nice! I like how they contour the tube sections. I agree, the phoenix cab is just to big. Its makes it a bit top heavy as well

[bgredjeep]

Thanks.

This morning I got the servo and radio swapped out. I tossed in a 9imod 70kg direct power servo I pulled from my scx10 pro. No idea the real output, but its crazy strong. Just got pulled when I swapped an LP servo in that rig.



While I was at it, I pushed the front axle forward a bit with Traxxas rod ends. It ended up around 7-8mm. Those few mm make a big difference imo.



Before


After


I ordered some micro servo mounts for the shift servos. Picked up these injora servos to handle that. There aren't many options for a micro with a full sized 25t output. Hopefully the mounts will show up shortly and I can finish the chassis.

[B-MOW71]

Bedsides look great!
Pushing the front axle forward sure does look better! I’ll have to do that to mine.


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[bgredjeep]

Originally Posted by B-MOW71

Bedsides look great!
Pushing the front axle forward sure does look better! I’ll have to do that to mine.

Thanks man. Really happy with the bed. Still not set on keeping the body, but it helped the proportions for sure.

That little bit of stretch really made the front look much better imo. It also made room for the 4.75 (that are really just over 5") tires.

[twade984]

Originally Posted by bgredjeep

Thanks man. Really happy with the bed. Still not set on keeping the body, but it helped the proportions for sure.

That little bit of stretch really made the front look much better imo. It also made room for the 4.75 (that are really just over 5") tires.

Nice job on the bed sides. I’m curious if you made any adjustment to the panhard bar also?

And I’m with you on the Phoenix body. It’s close to being one of my favorite bodies, but the cab proportions are weird, in a box stock configuration anything over like 4.5” tires rub, and it’s just big and heavy.


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[bgredjeep]

Originally Posted by twade984

Nice job on the bed sides. I’m curious if you made any adjustment to the panhard bar also?

And I’m with you on the Phoenix body. It’s close to being one of my favorite bodies, but the cab proportions are weird, in a box stock configuration anything over like 4.5” tires rub, and it’s just big and heavy.


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Thanks. No change on the panhard. If the axle isn't centered, I can't tell by looking at it.

[Col_Sanders]

Those bedsides look great and pushing the axle forward definitely helped the look. I'm still running the stock body on my Phoenix but it sure makes it top heavy and tippy. I'm waiting for it to die to swap it out.

[bgredjeep]

I got all the rtr electronics sold. Picked up the fusion se 1800 to try. I also ordered the aluminum motor plate and standoffs to finish the trans upgrades. Still waiting on my micro servo mounts that should be here next week and I can finish the chassis.

I listed the body for sale locally, but no bites. Last night I pulled that listing down and started some minor mods. Still looking at options to lower, or boat side the body. The chassis, and the bed (which I like) are a bit limiting, but I'll figure something out.

[bgredjeep]

I made some sliders today. I drew them up in Fusion first, then printed the paper template. I initially tried to use some 16ga steel I had, but I wasn't able to bend it effectively. It also felt like major overkill when I mounted the test piece so I picked up some 22ga and made the final parts.

When I was finishing up fitting the sliders I realized the od shift servo mounts to the slider, so I went ahead and made a quick servo mount while I was at it. Waiting for paint to dry now.

[TrailDawg362]

Following along with your build and mods, nice progress so far. I bought the straight axle RTR right before the TOF deal so I'm kinda in the same boat. It's a shame that most of the available cabs are a hair (or more) too short to work with the cage/bedsides and still align with the chassis.

[bgredjeep]

I got the sliders and servo mount installed this morning. Since I couldn't figure out a good way to lower the body, I raised the sliders a little. This let me cut about 3/8" of the bottom of the body.

The sliders are lighter than stock by a few grams, not that weight saving was a factor. Mainly I just wanted to make sure I didn't gain any significant amount. The OD servo is mounted and works great so far. We'll see if the Injora micro lasts.

With the servo blocking the oe battery tray location, I'm thinking I'll mount the battery on the passenger side slider, but I haven't worked on a mount yet. I've still got micro servo mounts coming that I can use for the 2nd shift servo, but at the rate I'm going I'll have that one made before it gets here as well. Lol

Here's where we are sitting currently.

[bgredjeep]

And just like that, shift servos are both in. I need to figure out the battery mount and I'll be ready for a test run.

[bgredjeep]

Battery mount is made. Waiting on paint to dry again. I'll get it installed for good tomorrow.