B-MOW buys a TF2 Marlin Crawler

[B-MOW71]

I took Marlin to Team KNK TTC6 in Lebanon, Ohio a couple weekends ago. This is one of the best events that I attend every year. This year once again they set a few more records. There ended up being 707 entries this year. Last year there was 399 which was also a record set last year. This year there was a Class 0, 1, 2, 2.5 and 3. We had 4 different courses to run for each class. There was a Hill Climb, Trail, Rubicon Trail and Mud Pit courses.
There was also a semi competition and on Friday night they put on a night run through the woods behind the complex.

I didn't end up entering Marlin in a class, but took it to run around the practice course in my downtime while I waited for my next courses that I was running with my VS4-10 in Class 2.5.

Here are a few pics of Marlin crawling on the practice course.

They had 76 sponsors and vendors for the event and I believe 41 of them were on site. Another record set! Big thanks to all the sponsors that help make this an awesome event!




This is the practice course they had set up for us to do some test and tuning on.


















These pics are on the Class 0 course.











Thanks for taking a peek!

 

[Natedog]

Repaint came out great, shoulda competed with it!

 

[B-MOW71]

Repaint came out great, shoulda competed with it!

Thanks Natedog!

Yeah, I’m kicking myself now for not competing with it. I will next time for sure.


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[B-MOW71]

Got the Reedy 16T 5-slot in the mail today. Also pulled my Savox servo out of VS4-10 to put into Marlin.

Gonna get them installed soon!

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[dezfan]

I wanted the Reedy but RPP was sold out, so I got the Yeah Racing 5 slot 17T motor instead. It was a couple dollars less expensive than the Reedy, but might be the exact same motor for all I know?

I do know that it’s a marked improvement over the stock 45T motor. I might even drop a couple of teeth on the pinion as it has plenty of wheel speed on 3S.

The biggest improvement by far though was replacing the stock Twister servo.

Night and day!

 

[B-MOW71]

I wanted the Reedy but RPP was sold out, so I got the Yeah Racing 5 slot 17T motor instead. It was a couple dollars less expensive than the Reedy, but might be the exact same motor for all I know?

I do know that it’s a marked improvement over the stock 45T motor. I might even drop a couple of teeth on the pinion as it has plenty of wheel speed on 3S.

The biggest improvement by far though was replacing the stock Twister servo.

Night and day!

After seeing you bought the Yeah Racing motor, I went to RPP's website to get it. I had it in my cart and thought I better check to see if the Reedy was in stock, and sure enough it was. So I went the Reedy route. I'm hoping to get the motor in soon so I get Marlin out this weekend.

Yeah, can't wait to get that stock servo out. That thing is gutless! The Savox I took out of VS4-10 will be plenty powerful enough what I need it to do.

 

[B-MOW71]

Installed the Reedy Radon 16T 5-slot motor and Savox servo. Wow, they brought Marlin to life!

The Savox has given Marlin full on steering capability with plenty of power to turn the tires. It is a big change from the stock servo that came with it. I’m not a big fan of the noise these Savox make, but I’m ok with it if it gives it more turning power.

The new Reedy Radon has great low end torque with just enough speed for open trailing. Once I get Marlin out on the rocks I’ll be able to see if I need to go up or down on pinion size.

Gonna try to get Marlin out this week to do some testing.


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[B-MOW71]

Marlin has been feeling neglected lately, so I drove it in the garage tonight and spent some time with it.

A few months back, I bought the A&M Garage TF2 High Clearance Bumper/Shackle Reversal. It came as raw steel, so I shot it with a couple coats of Rust-Oleum Flat Black.









Bumper now sits right up against the grill and provides a much better approach angle.

I still need to install a fairlead to the bumper. I also need to rig up a servo winch and find a place to mount it behind the the trans somewhere on the chassis. I'll get to that another day.

Thanks for looking!

 

[stimpy]

Great looking bumper that"thumbsup"

Must get my Marlin back together - been in bits 2 years, took apart before I even ran it!....

 

[kincer]

I like the look of your Marlin, how do you like the stock 1.7 tires? I'm pretty pleased with mine, I'm running them on my Marlin 4runner as well.

 

[soze]

I keep wavering back and forth on the Marlin. How do you like it?

 

[JatoTheRipper]

Good looking Marlin!

 

[kincer]

I keep wavering back and forth on the Marlin. How do you like it?

I'm gonna chime in and I'm sure B-mow will chime in as well, I've had two other kit TF2 versions and now two Marlin versions, I really like mine, my second TF2 was highly modified and I ran Class 2 with it and did pretty damn good with it, even with leafs. My Marlins are only slightly modded but I don't comp anymore so I don't over do things. I have the 4Runner body on one of them, body is heavy but it's realistic to watch and drive, really makes the leafs work. I still need to tweak the suspension with the Marlin body. I really like them because it's nice to go out for a trail run and have to run different lines on the same trail because these handle things differently than linked rigs. One thing I've done with all of mine is take everything apart and check everything that's pre assembled, I've never had it happen but I've heard of others missing bearings here and there and checking for loctite. The RTRs I've also disassembled, checked, and lubed. RC4wd hardware isn't the greatest either, you shouldn't have a problem with good quality tools though.

 

[B-MOW71]

Great looking bumper that"thumbsup"

Must get my Marlin back together - been in bits 2 years, took apart before I even ran it!....

Thanks!"thumbsup" It is very nice and built well!

Yeah, I'd say it's time to get Marlin back in one piece and get it out on the trail!

I like the look of your Marlin, how do you like the stock 1.7 tires? I'm pretty pleased with mine, I'm running them on my Marlin 4runner as well.

Thanks Kincer!"thumbsup"

I'll say for a stock tire they work really well. They are nice and soft and grip the rocks great. I've thought about swapping them out for a set of OG Rock Beast, but since they work so well I just haven't done it yet and probably won't.

I keep wavering back and forth on the Marlin. How do you like it?

I did the same thing before I bought mine. I wasn't sure how I would like it, but the videos that I watched of them made me want to get one. After a ton of research and endless video watching, I decided the Marlin instead of the TF2 was the best option. The Marlin comes with a lot of the upgrades and mods that are normally needed to do the TF2.

I really like it. It is my first leaf sprung truck. It offers a different driving experience compared to my linked rigs. I have to say though, I wish these would come as a kit instead of an RTR. As I've stated earlier in this thread, it came out of the box with issues. I had to tear it completely down and rebuild it. In the end though, I'm glad I bought it and it is a lot of fun to drive.

Good looking Marlin!

Thanks Jato!"thumbsup"

I'm gonna chime in and I'm sure B-mow will chime in as well, I've had two other kit TF2 versions and now two Marlin versions, I really like mine, my second TF2 was highly modified and I ran Class 2 with it and did pretty damn good with it, even with leafs. My Marlins are only slightly modded but I don't comp anymore so I don't over do things. I have the 4Runner body on one of them, body is heavy but it's realistic to watch and drive, really makes the leafs work. I still need to tweak the suspension with the Marlin body. I really like them because it's nice to go out for a trail run and have to run different lines on the same trail because these handle things differently than linked rigs. One thing I've done with all of mine is take everything apart and check everything that's pre assembled, I've never had it happen but I've heard of others missing bearings here and there and checking for loctite. The RTRs I've also disassembled, checked, and lubed. RC4wd hardware isn't the greatest either, you shouldn't have a problem with good quality tools though.

I agree with disassemble and CHECK everything!"thumbsup" Mine wasn't missing any bearings, but most of my screws were loose and there wasn't a drop of Loctite on any bolt. I've read about the hardware not be the greatest, so I re-assembled with Team KNK stainless steel hardware.

And I'll add, you did a great job on your 4Runner! It is a sweet build!"thumbsup"

 

[JatoTheRipper]

I keep wavering back and forth on the Marlin. How do you like it?

I'm probably the biggest critic of the TF2. It's very frustrating paying so much money for a rig with so many cut corners and such cheap materials. After reading your Redcat Gen8 thread I'd say the TF2 is a metal version of this.
After you wade through all of the problems and fix the issues yourself it is a fun trail truck. But it's not much more than a walking trail truck in stock form. But that's a regular TF2 not the slightly upgraded Marlin edition.

 

[kincer]

I agree with disassemble and CHECK everything!"thumbsup" Mine wasn't missing any bearings, but most of my screws were loose and there wasn't a drop of Loctite on any bolt. I've read about the hardware not be the greatest, so I re-assembled with Team KNK stainless steel hardware.

And I'll add, you did a great job on your 4Runner! It is a sweet build!"thumbsup"

Thanks man!"thumbsup" That was one of my favorite builds, still have to tie up some loose ends on it.

 

[shhuskins]

Absolutely beautiful truck!!!

 

[B-MOW71]

Absolutely beautiful truck!!!

Thanks shhuskins!"thumbsup"

 

[B-MOW71]

I spent some time with Marlin today. I've been wanting to work on the interior and add some kind of floor and door panels for awhile now. I ended up finding a set of door panels for the TF2 on Thingiverse. For the floor and firewall, I cut up some styrene and glued them to the back of the dash and to the bottom of the seat. I then glued on the door panels and painted everything black.

It is kinda of simple and plain, but it now looks like a complete interior and hides the wiring and battery underneath the seat. I plan on adding a shifter and driver later on.












I was getting tired of the mirrors turning every time they would rub up against something, so I cut off the rubber post that goes thru the door and drilled a hole and added a screw and nut. The mirror is solid now and I won't have to worry about the mirrors getting ripped off.




I added a couple of scale items I found on Thingiverse. On the toolbox, I printed in gray and added some diamond plate decals to it. The lid raises up so that I can keep my tow strap in it. Also added a fire extinguisher.






Here are a couple pics of Marlin when I had it out a couple weeks ago. This was the first time that I had a chance to drive it since I added the Reedy Radon motor and HW 1080 ESC and the Savox servo.

This truck performed great! Super smooth start up and adding the better servo really helped out with the steering. I had a blast driving it! It crawls rocks and terrain very well pulled some lines that I thought a "leafer" would never do!

 

[Scrmblr2]

I absolutely love the grey! If I ever think about painting mine...I. May have to copy you.
Oh, and the yellow headlights.....