Another Honcho build by a sorta newb

[odomandr]

Current Rig Build Sheet:
VP knuckles
Boom racing universals
The Crawl Space custom links
VP Trans housing with metal gears
Axial metal motor plate
56t 32p spur
12t pinion
Holmes Torquemaster Expert 550 21t
Ae2 esc
Castle Bec
Hitec 7954sh servo
VP shock hoops
Traxxas 80mm shocks
CNC custom 1.55 beadlock wheels
RC4WD Goodyear MTR tires
Crawlers innovations single stage 3.5 foams
Tamiya f350 body
Random scale stuff

June 2018:
Well I have wanted another RC truck but life happens. Last week I made the decision to shove life out of the way and get a new Honcho. I love Toyotas so the other offerings were barely an option. I have a Tacoma myself and a SCX10 OG Honcho, adding another might bore some people but I dig replicating my 1:1 in a 1/10th scaler. I have done a good bit of research prior to deciding to go ahead with another Axial rig. I knew off the bat that the Honcho was lacking a few things.

I drove to my LHS, The Crawl Space, about an hour away. Ikaika and I had spoken last week about the different models and the upgrades that each had or was missing. I spent about an hour reading through the instructions, looking over the RTR, and organizing my tools and parts to begin the bolt on process. The remainder of my afternoon was spent pulling off new parts and replacing them with my preferred setup.

From the get go I wanted to run my Spektrum radio instead of the RTR Tactic unit. I have a yeti jr and was not impressed with that radio. I put in a sr415 to pair with my DX4C. I also knew that the front axle was missing an upgrade. I went ahead and grabbed a pair of Boom Racing universal shafts to replace the stock dog bones up front for increased durability and steering angle. I am going to run PitBull Rock Beast XL tires and didn't have high hopes for the servo and larger tires with the increased steering angle so I grabbed a Hitec 7954 SH servo with a new servo horn. I figured with the upgraded servo that I should probably take care of the front shock hoops too. The LHS was out of a lot of vanquish stuff id hoped for but I grabbed a pair of hoops by Team Raffee. I got this all put on and Ikaika helped me here and there. I think I have a really solid rig and once the wheels i have ordered come I will get these CI foams and PitBull tires on.

 

[v33]

i found out after doing some test that pitbull rb2's xl are not so versatile, running on wet mossy surfaces and mud they have a hard time climbing, for dry surfaces they are also not the best performers in lose soil when climbing... they just digg through the soil. i also have a set of proline hyrax, it performs way better the the rb2's but also has issues with the same terrain.

it would be best to have some photos

 

[JatoTheRipper]

Sweet! Honchos are cool and great performers. Can't wait to see photos of your build.

 

[Rekreant]

I love my Hyraxes on my honcho, but I crawl on mostly slightly wet rocks.

 

[odomandr]

Well I went down to my LHS The Crawl Space in Denver, to grab the final things for my xr10 mod on the OG Honcho. I also grabbed a few scale items for the Honcho ii. Peer pressure set in and I grabbed some Hyrax for a comparison...

Decided to keep the body I painted over the weekend for the OG, it's original body was beat. Trying to decide between another silver honcho body for the ii or a RC4WD 4door tacoma, I'm not a fan of the sandstorm. I'll decide by end of the week and make it happen.



Waiting on beadlocks still for the ii to put the new tires on.

Pics added to first post
And one of my workstation/shack area in the cave

 

[odomandr]

I have noticed that my LHS is carrying more brands than they used to. Used to be only axial vanquish ssd and some rc4wd. Lots of BoomRacing, team Raffee, and yeah racing now. I guess he is seeing more profit or sales in general with a variety of stuff in multiple price ranges. I have also heard of a shortage of parts both from axial and vanquish. Either way I wanted to build this honcho with mostly VP stuff or incision.... I know fanboi supreme.

So I made an order from VP when I noticed they had links in stock. I grabbed a few other items and as I neared the free shipping I threw in a pair of lower shock mounts....the new axle under the Honcho has them molded in already... fanboi strikes out.


NBD, small mistake. Glad I made the order as it allowed me to finish the front end. New knuckles and links should have this about where I want it.


Front bumper and sliders are on order from scaler fab. The wheels I ordered for this build are taking longer than expected so I ordered another set that is similar in style to what I wanted. If they arrive on Saturday as scheduled I may mount the PitBull tires and take the Honchoii on its first drive. If they don't then the OG Honcho will have a double header weekend with a comp Friday and a trail run Saturday.

Here is the ii with new links and knuckles.

 

[odomandr]

The set of wheels I ordered for spares arrived today before the ones I initially chose for this build. I decided to pull the CI foams out of the PitBull xl tires and put them in the Hyrax tires instead. Pitbull has touted their new foam in the xl tires so I figured it's at least worth a shot since I spent the extra scratch on them. The PitBull xl got put on the spare rims with their foams and they look great. Huge but a really good look. I like them but they give the OG Honcho an inferiority complex, maybe that's just me.....


I also pulled the new bumper and replaced it with a trimmed bumper I had from the other build. That thing is huge too. Hopefully scaler fab has planned production for whatever isn't stocked to fill my order. Some scale accessories are on order too and then hopefully the power shift winches are back in stock at the LHS. I think the Deadman switch is super cool going to grab a few of those in the preorder I think. I need to build this dinky interior for the ii and order some scale driver/navigator.

 

[odomandr]

Well I have had a time this summer keeping the grass green. I finally got back to mowing after taking a week or two off to let it grow a bit instead of just bake and dry out in the sun. I noticed the west side of the house had some tall weeds between the yard and the patch of wildflower and went to weed eating it down. I discovered enough stones to begin what I am currently calling The Circle of HighCenter. The OG will get a good little testing ground while the ii has more power with 3s and taller tires with the xl tires to climb over much easier....

I'm slowly coming around to beating on the ii some now that I have the parts on it I want. Hopefully my scaler fab order comes soon for the front bumper and sliders


Also props to all the vloggers. I can't drive with one hand and film with another worth a damn.

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[odomandr]

Today I got around to putting the interior together. I have thought this sandstorm body needed an old man tan interior since the day I bought the truck. I decided to go with a two tone with a brown and tan on the bench, dash and door cards. I had an axial interior and exterior accessory tree to add stuff so I put door handles on the interior cards and outside the honcho body. I also added windshield wipers and side mirrors on the exterior while the interior got fitted with a gear shifter, steering wheel and fire extinguisher. I had driver and passenger for the interior waiting and went ahead and put a hooded sweatshirt and a fleece blanket on the back deck for unexpected cold weather at high altitude.



I am hoping that the LHS gets the servo winch i want for this truck by Friday. There is a comp Friday evening and a scale adventure course on Sunday. I am hoping to drive the OG honcho Friday and the ii will make its debut Sunday at the scale adventure trail run.

Im thinking the decals are about to disappear too. I am really into the axial topo line design but not the camo pattern, wish that sheet was of the topo lines instead

 

[odomandr]

the OG Honcho got me back into RC cars from the hiatus I took as a teenager. The Honcho ii has really bit me with the scale bug. I have really been intrigued by the scale builder diorama and garages that I see. I also was fed up with the layout of my workbench as it required me to reach over my work to get things from the pegboard. I moved the pegboard to my right so I can grab things easier and this made room for a bit of a beginning to my scale garage build. I will keep adding things but I am pretty pleased with the start of this project.

 

[odomandr]

Last night the esc browned and blinked red at me. Warranty call requested I email them. We shall see what they do. I also put the brazin flip kit on both the OG and the ii

 

[JatoTheRipper]

That interior is awesome! Nice work! That's from Dinky?

Axial electronics suck. If they replace yours under warranty keep it as a spare or sell it off. I highly suggest spending $40 on the HobbyWing WP 1080. It's an awesome brushed ESC.

 

[odomandr]

Yes that is the Dinky Kit and thank you. I need to affix it to the inside of the body instead of it just floating/crammed in and also some seat belts to keep my passenger out of the drivers lap....

I have had great luck with the ae2 on 2s in my first truck. 3s is too much im thinking in the summer on the hottest days. I thought waiting until after dinner would be sufficient but they really do suck. I am really considering a brushless setup now.

a bit of crawling up an incline
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[odomandr]

So I got my ScalerFab order in. I went with the comp front bumper and the sliders. Really like the way the sliders hold everything on this truck and the scalerfab pieces fit that bill exactly. I copied the Harley budget build and added a small piece of aluminum to mount he esc and rx after losing the factory waterproof box. I am not too concerned with that part as the spektrum sr410 is waterproof as well. This truck does so well I am quickly beginning to leave the OG on the shelf more and more. (as it goes shiny side down:sad::sad::sad

 

[odomandr]

I have been bored with this truck and preferred my original Honcho.... So I got some CI foams for the Rockbeastxl. Felt better but still needed something. Servo seemed a bit flexy in it's mount so I found a Bowhouse battery/servo plate and a Vader monkey skid to raise and smooth the low hanging area. I put in a VP trans with incision gears outputs and shafts.

Finally, The VP portals. They were a bit tough to turn off the trans so I went with a castle combo with the 1900kv motor and Mamba X esc.

I still need to put some shocks on it. I'm torn on what to choose but they are the last thing I need to do to make this like the OG Honcho in terms of fun.

The portals do make it sit higher but I think it looks sweet and it didn't seem too bad in my backyard sidehill test pile.

 

[odomandr]

Well all of the wheel and tire set ups I have or had planned to use are giving me trouble. The portals requite a 350 slw hub and they have the 8mm nut on the output shafts. No big deal except none of the 8mm driver's I've found fit inside the slw hub. I was able to solve this issue on my wraith by running the 275 slw hubs as they are flush and don't have the recessed face for mounting. I can't stomach a new set of VP driver's to run these axles and the MIP driver's I have are not thin walled enough to be able to tighten as needed. So I have found an older losi wrench I hope works. But it doesn't arrive until later in the week. I don't like the idea of grinding down a socket or driver to fit. VP doesn't sell their 1/4drive attachment anymore and I don't like how close the wheels are to the portal with the 275 hubs. I may just have to bite the bullet on the VP wrenches

 

[odomandr]

Broke down and picked up the VP nut driver set for this truck and the wraith as they both have the larger wheel nuts. I also grabbed a set of trx4 shocks for this truck and put the stock springs on them. I really liked this setup on my OG honcho and so far it feels very similar now with them on this truck as well. The added height of the portals can definitely be felt on a side hill but I feel like I'm managing that well now. I'm not sure how I like the brushless 1900 vs a brushed setup in the other truck still need to drive it more to form a solid opinion. Nothing stands out yet in either way so only time will tell. I do like the swampers better in the snow than the hyrax setup but nothing is perfect in all conditions and the hyrax tires still perform well on rocks. I put the pitbulls on a chassis I built from leftover parts and with the CI foams they are still a solid option too. Verdict still out on a preferred all around tire as well

 

[odomandr]

Went to a comp one friday and ended up grabbing a project.....or two. Heard Ikaika mention a box stock store truck comp and wanted a reminder.....

So we are back to stock. I picked up a game changer 2 comp chassis and swapped the honcho stuff back to stock.
Then in my indecision I have hit reset and changed direction with this setup again. Currently the rig is as follows
axial chassis with f350 body mounted (still needs headlight and taillight lens as well as windshield)
Boom Racing Universals
VP shock Hoops
VP knuckles
VP Trans
Traxxas GTS shocks
AE2 esc
Castle BEC
Spektrum DX4C radio system
The Crawl Space/FNJ servo and winch mount

I need the following items:
servo
links
wheels and tires and foams
bumpers

 

[odomandr]

Well I turned the ii into a zero. Class zero. The f350 body is a bit on the smaller side so this made the most sense to me.
I already had a great start so I kept most of what was going and just finished it as I saw necessary. I got some super shorty big bore med 80mm shocks and had some links built to locate the axles in the wheel well correctly. Some CNC custom wheels with ci foams and rc4wd MTR tires finished the look. I got a 7954sh hitec and currently have the f350 bumpers on it. I still need an interior and windows but so far the wheels and tires are covered by the fender flares and the lights installed in their places. I need to figure out an opening door or hood or tailgate as well

VP knuckles
Boom racing universals
The Crawl Space custom links
VP Trans housing with metal gears
Axial metal motor plate
56t 32p spur
12t pinion
Holmes Torquemaster Expert 550 21t
Ae2 esc
Castle Bec
Hitec 7954sh servo
VP shock hoops
Traxxas 80mm shocks
CNC custom 1.55 beadlock wheels
RC4WD Goodyear MTR tires
Crawlers innovations single stage 3.5 foams
Tamiya f350 body
Random scale stuff

 

[odomandr]

Really happy with the how the links and wheels and tires that are on this truck all came together. Now to get the electronics squared away and an interior to cover it up

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