Dan_The_Man's Ftoy Build

[Dan_The_Man]

First of all, thanks to all in this forum for all of the useful info here. My Axial certainly wouldn't look like it does otherwise. In case you missed my last thread, here's a recap:

My buddy found a for sale thread over on GA TTORA for an SCX10 that was over a year old, but had never sold. After a few exchanged emails and a Pay Pal payment later, I had a lightly used SCX10 at my door. Here is the truck when I got it:

The kit came well built when I got it. It had:
-Tekin T45 motor
-Tekin FXR ESC
-Spektrum Dx3e radio
-Spektrum S300 reciever
-CC BEC
-HiTec servo
-Gearhead RC bead lock rings
-R2J rear link truss
-5000mah Venom NiMh
-Turnigy Accucell 6 Charger

The best part...all that for $300 shipped!

I wheeled the crap out of it for around 6 months, only doing a few minor mods like cutting the tires and pulling the foams. I started to find a few weak points though. The most annoying issue was the heims failing. I couldn't hardly wheel a day without having 1 pull off the link. The other was the body. The rear cage began to pull away and crack the plastic. Also, due to a lack of a front bumper and the battery placement, the battery took a hit on every roll over. I also managed to break a plastic knuckle.

So with a broken rig and a little bit of money, I was out to build a better Axial. The knuckles got replaced with aluminum knuckles and C's (which where next to go). I replaced the rod ends with Traxxas ones and broke out the trusty MIG to work on body protection. Here is what I ended up with:

For a first go around, I was happy with it. It wasn't meant to be perfect, just a weekend project to try my hand at tube bending. I know the body looks crooked... It wasn't pinned down in this picture.


Fast forward a few months and a lot of wheeling later. I had been having issues with the strength of the front bumper which lead to the headlight guards being cut off. The body had also cracked around the posts and it had a tendency to spit the pins out after every roll over. I decided to drop in an Axial 27t motor to help in the speed department, since a new area I was wheeling had a lot of loose climbs.

This is where the fun started. With a 27t motor, weighted wheels, a heavy NiMH battery, the weight of the tube work and no shortage of throttle, the parts began to fly. In only a handful of outings, I had managed to claim multiple driveshafts and a front out drive and the idler gear in the tranny. After seeing several high-end build threads on here, I decided it was time for the truggy to get a facelift. I had always planned to Ftoy my SCX at some point, so with a weekend at home and a phone call to a fabricator friend the Axial went under the knife. I picked up some 3/16" solid rod and a HF tube bender (Tubing Bender - Save on this Manual Tubing Bender) and so began the build.

All the old tube cut off:

Here was the first assembly, still with the Honcho wheelbase:

I made a parts run to the LHS and happened up on a set of 5 'used' Flat Irons for $20. I have had great luck with my current set (as bald as they are), so I decided to try a different cut on the new tires

And here it is now.

I picked up a toolbox from Tractor Supply to use as an electronics box which also gave me room to run an auxiliary battery for lighting in the future. The rear links are 6-32 all-thread with Revo ends. I still have hood bars, body panels and mounts to do, as well as finalize battery placement and tie the shocks into the cage. I know the welds aren't the prettiest...still running flux core. The current color scheme is going to be white with black panels. Once school lets out for Thanksgiving break, I plan to have this thing finished up pretty quick.



I finally got out of school for Thanksgiving break and had time to finish the build.

Chassis being finish welded

First assembly

And here is an idea Ive had floating around in my head for a while. I bought some LED strips from Autozone and some 1/2" square tube from Home Depot and came up with this. I'm happy with how it turned out, especially for the money.

LEDs can throw some light out!

And the finished product. I still have a few loose ends to tie up, but its mostly complete. Can't wait to get it out in the woods!

 

[pardonmyn00b]

It started out as a beat Toyota just like a real F Toy would. Very cool!

 

[Dan_The_Man]

Time for some final updates...and better quality pictures!

The little black box hanging out the back is the battery pack that came in the packaging with the LEDs. It is getting replaced with a small LiPo next week (hence why it isn't mounted)

Overall, I am very pleased with how it came out. The shorter wheelbase combined with the new tires is taking some getting used to. Also, the cut on the Flat Irons has been incredible. In loose or muddy terrain, they pull extremely well. I have yet to take them to Moss Rock Preserve and try them on the rocks. I still have a few things to address. You'll notice the battery is slid back on the tray- I need to put some rubber in there to keep it from sliding so much. The single velcro strap doesn't hold it well. The rear links, at least the lowers, need to be sleeved with brake line. The FToy took a tumble and buckled the right side links, so those will have to be replaced. As mentioned above, the light bar still needs a Lipo and switch mounted. I velcroed the tool box down and it moves around entirely too much for my liking. It still needs to be removable, so that is something I need to work out.

Hope everyone enjoyed the build!

 

[Dan_The_Man]

It's update time!

You can tell by the pictures, the FToy has been wheeled quite a bit. It has taken a severe beating and held up great, save for a few broken drive shafts.
There is a large off roading event down here in Auburn in the next few weeks, with several RC rigs that will be in attendance. I figured I would get the crawler cleaned up and give it some much needed TLC.

This go around, I decided for a little flashier paint job. I bought a can of aircraft paint remover and stripped the frame down. The frame is going orange with blue coils and links and gunmetal grey/orange/blue body panels. I am still working out the exact color scheme on the panels. Here is how the frame sits now:

It will be getting a few coats of clear tomorrow. All the electronics will remain the same, since they have worked great thus far. The only upgrade may be a Lipo since my NiMH is getting weak. Let me know what you think!

 

[mjderstine]

nice lookin Toy man.

 

[Dan_The_Man]

The more I looked at the current orange, the more I really didn't care for it. It was a little darker than I had envisioned. So after a trip to Home Depot, we had this:

I'm going to get more body panels cut for it soon, just haven't gotten around to it. Probably going to leave them bare aluminum and go for a brushed look to begin with. The links are painted blue, but that will be coming off. It seemed like a good idea at the time...

I threw it back together and ran it for a minute yesterday:

Its going to be getting a few new parts thrown at it soon. The front will be getting a true 4 link, since I have had issues with the front center link holding up to the abuse. The servo is also due a rebuild after I chunked a few teeth on the metal gears. (Props to Hitec on their servo durability) There is a good chance it will be going Lipo soon as well. I have had good luck with my NiMH packs, but they are slowly loosing their charging abilities.

Thats it for now. More to come soon!

 

[Dan_The_Man]

Time for a long overdue update!

Not long after that last picture was taken, my birthday rolled around and I had some money burning a hole on my pocket. I swung by the local hobby shop and picked up a 5000mah 3s Lipo, brushes to rebuild the tekin and a few other odds and ends. To clear the Lipo I had to redo the front hood area in order to clear it. I don't love it, but it serves its purpose well.

Here is the hood and new body panels. I promise I wasn't trying to flip off the camera..thats just how I decided to hold that panel up.

I know the Tekin is able to handle the 3s, but with as many hours of run time as this one had, it didn't take long for the 3s to wear the comm completely out. Just for kicks I threw in an old 27t Axial motor just to watch the show. This was the aftermath.

And yes, the smell is still in the buggy. I never thought metal was able to absorb odor..but it can.

Fast forward to now: A friend of mine (lentsnh on here) even traded me an Axial Wraith trans for my SCX10 trans, so I now have the option to run dig in the future.With a burned up Tekin, a recently purchased Rustler that needed lipo and needing to downgrade to 2s, I decided to buy a friends well built 1st gen SCX10. This got me an older 35t Integy motor, 2 5000mah 2s Oynx Lipos and an XL5 for the Rustler. The rest of the truck will probably be parted out, so be looking for some sale threads this summer. I've enjoyed the Ftoy, but am ready to change up the formula a little bit. Since the 2s is much skinnier than the 3s, the hood is going to lowered to fit the battery a little better. Ever since I built this chassis, I was never crazy about the front end but since this wasn't a beauty queen I never worried about it. Since I'll be cutting up the hood, I'm going to try and make a jeep hood and comp style grill for the front to make it look more complete. For those of you fimiliar with Madram11 on Youtube (youtube.com/madram11), I have always been a fan of his JK buggy, so I might be changing a few tubes around to make it look like his buggy. I'll be at home taking a break from College classes this summer (also known as a job) so be expecting more updates in the future!

 

[Dan_The_Man]

Update time! Now that I'm home and have time to work, its game on. Here is a sneak peek of what I have planned:

I decided against hacking the FToy up to make it look like a jeep. By the time I made the changes, I was better off to start over. First thing is to hack off the hood and change that up. It will then be getting a new paint job.

Stay Tuned!

 

[Zappaz]

The orange frame looked awesome, did you ditch the light bar? I thought the light bar idea was great, those LEDs put out some decent light.

 

[Dan_The_Man]

The light bar will be coming back. Its as wide as the roll hoops at that point, so there's no good way to protect it with a hoop. Once I section it down, its going back on with a hoop to protect it

 

[Dan_The_Man]

Update time!

Disassembled and the old hood cut off

New hood lines coming together

First assembly

and the manditory poser shot

I'm planning on doing a lime green and black color scheme, very silimiar to the Hitman Buggy. I know the rig isn't perfect, but I'm happy with how it has turned out. I abuse it too much for it to be pretty anyway. I'm waiting on a battery to charge so I can try out the rear steer. Can't wait to see how it does!

 

[bvrc]

it's rad man. good job.

 

[Dan_The_Man]

I threw a fresh battery in it and finally got to test the rear steer. There was a definite learning curve, but it is awesome! I ran it on mostly loose ledges/hill climbs as well as some rocks. Its almost an unfair advantage on the trails...almost. With my radio, I have the servo hooked to the Aux channel and set the radio to the 3 position mode. This limits me to full lock and center, but it works better than you'd think. I'll try and get a video up soon. Its now torn down and getting painted.

 

[ColquittCustom405]

three paint jobs...wow. hahah

 

[Dan_The_Man]

Time for a long overdue update:

Here is a picture of it assembled, minus the body panels.

The green didn't come out as well as I'd hoped, but at the rate I destroy paint jobs, that won't be an issue. I'll have to get some wheeling pictures, but the rear steer makes all the difference in the world! The only thing left is to rebuild the servo...again. Hope yall like it!

 

[Lentsnh2012]

Love the rear steer, buddy! Can't wait to see it in action!

I do miss the good ole days when both of our trucks were still highly modded Honchos.

 

[Dan_The_Man]

Love the rear steer, buddy! Can't wait to see it in action!

I do miss the good ole days when both of our trucks were still highly modded Honchos.

A full bodied rig is in the works "thumbsup"

 

[yotapower07]

Stumbled across this thread via Google search. Sweet looking rig man. I want to build one myself.

 

[Dan_The_Man]

Time to revive this thread!
As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. Such is the case for Imageshack being free and locking all my pictures up. I’ll try and restore the pictures soon. But here’s a refresher of where it all started:



Since the last update the FToy saw yet another paint job, as well as a Hyperion 10t motor and MMP setup and MIPs. Save for stripping servo gears, it has held up great. But enough talk… it’s time for some wheelin’ pics!





At the local state park:






Unfortunately, the FToy has been sitting for quite a while now. I stumbled on a deal for a wraith, so the drivetrain was stripped to put in my wraith (build thread on the way). I am still debating on what to do with the rig, but I will surely update this thread when it gets some attention. As always questions, comments and jokes are welcome!