Dez went Marlin fishing!

[dezfan]

Wow what a great wife you have getting you a mc, lol. That's for sure a great gift. I've got the shims on my axles and it does help with the angle like it should. Depending on the build worth grabbing and play with adjustments.

My wife is awesome! Love her to death, she spoils me.

So my A&M Garage parts came in late last week, and I finally got some time to install them. I started with the shackle reversing kit, ordered the +4 version.

IDK why, just thought I’d try it out.

Installation was pretty straight forward. No real issues.

I them removed the factory skid and transfer case, flipped the output shaft, and reinstalled the transfer case with the provided A&M bracket.

Again, pretty simple and straightforward.

Then I modded the out but shafts on the transfer case and axles so that I could install the TRX4 drive shafts I ordered to replace the stock drive shafts.

Then I installed the A&M skid. Love the large flat slide area this skid provides.

Next I switched out the stock ESC with the stock ESC out of my GEN8. From everything I can see, they are essentially the same Hobbywing 1040 ESC.

Why change it out then?

Well I’m lazy.

The GEN8 ESC was already set up for Lipos, it already had s Deans connector soldered on ( come on RC4WD, a Tamiya plug in 2019?) and the heatsink is red!

Anyways, ordered up some of those wedges to help the pinion angle, and a couple of additional Lipo packs.

Need to pickup a new servo, the stock RTR servo is garbage.

No shockers there.

 

[Bananaclip]

Upgrades are looking quite fancy sir! Keep us updated....

 

[mthomson]

What servo are you eyeing? I'm not pleased with the torque of the RTR servo either.

 

[dezfan]

What servo are you eyeing? I'm not pleased with the torque of the RTR servo either.

I’m going to end up putting a Savox 1230SG in it as that’s what I run in my GEN8 and I’ve been very happy with it’s performance.

In the mean time, I might throw the stock GEN8 HexFly servo into the Marlin.

It’s been tested to be in the 197oz range which I believe to be stronger than the stock Marlin Crawler servo.

RTR electronics are pretty much barely adequate to be operational, and the RC4WD RTR electronics are no exception.

They will all be upgraded sooner rather than later.

 

[B-MOW71]

Somehow I missed your latest posts! Nice upgrades so far.[emoji106] The A&M upgrades are nice and helps Marlin crawl a ton better.

Agree on the stock electronics. I ended up putting a HW 1080 in mine. Helped it a bunch!

And that stock servo, it’s bad! The Savox should work a lot better. Servo is next on my list.


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[dezfan]

Somehow I missed your latest posts! Nice upgrades so far.[emoji106] The A&M upgrades are nice and helps Marlin crawl a ton better.

Agree on the stock electronics. I ended up putting a HW 1080 in mine. Helped it a bunch!

And that stock servo, it’s bad! The Savox should work a lot better. Servo is next on my list.


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I had wondered why you hadn’t commented?

One of the Route 66 Crawlers showed me a new local near my house, so I got the Marlin out on the rock this evening for a few hours.

I have to say, I love the way this rig crawls!

It’s definitely going to take a little bit of time to learn the nuances of a leaf sprung rig, but it impressed me with what it was able to.



Pros:
The stock steering is great! It turns extremely well. The stock tires seems to hook up well on the rocks, it climbs well, seems fairly stable while side hilling, and articulated well enough to get the job done.

Cons:
The stock servo is even worse than I imagined! It’s gone! Probably the worst stock servo I’ve ever used. It didn’t have enough power to turn the tires on flat ground!

Second, the metal axles hang up on the rocks where a plastic axle will slide right over. I found that several times when I was hung up, I though maybe I was hung on the skid only to find out it was the front or rear pumpkin that was hung up.

I of course lost the drivers side marker light nearly instantly.

And the stock 45 turn motor is much to slow for my liking, even on 3S, so after the servo, it’ll get replaced as well.

Really had fun crawling the Marlin, can’t wait to see what it can do with a good servo and some more wheel speed!

Didn’t get many pics as I was busy crawling, but I got a few.

 

[dezfan]

So RPP had a Dad&Grads 15% off sale over the weekend, so I took advantage of it and ordered up a much needed servo, servo horn, and new motor for the Marlin.

I wanted to try out one of the Reedy 5 pole 16T motors, but of course RPP was sold out.

By chance I saw that they had some 5 pole 16T motors from Yeah Racing that was only a couple of bucks less than the Reedy. So I figured WTF, I’ll give it a try.

Also need a new servo as the stock Marlin Twister servo is a huge POS. Since I’ll only be running 4.19s on this rig, figured I’d try a different servo. Still using a Savox servo, but instead of the 1230. I picked up a Savox SC-1201 as it was $20.00 less expensive. Still a name brand servo, still metal gears, and still rated at 347oz of torque at 6v. I figure it’ll be fine.

Picked up a SSD clamp on servo horn as well. All for like $80.00.

Thanks RPP.

Ripped out the stock motor and servo and bolted the new gear in. Servo lead was long enough to not have to move anything, motor mounted up just fine.

Hope to get it out for a test run in the next couple of days!

 

[B-MOW71]

Nice much needed upgrades. I'll be curious to see how they do as I'm looking to replace mine. That's too bad the Reedy was out of stock. I have heard good things about that motor and it is on my list.

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[dezfan]

Another day, another delivery.

The RC4WD Superlift driveshaft shim Kit arrived, so I figured I’d install them and see how I like em.

I used the largest shim on the rear and followed Nate’s advice and used the smaller shim on top to “square” everything up.

I used 20mm M3 stainless bolts which I installed from the bottom to eliminate the ends on the bolts catching on the rocks when installed the other way.

The driveshaft angle is just about perfect IMO.

Hope to get it out on the rocks this weekend to evaluate these latest additions.

 

[Bad Attitude]

Good to see you’re still around Joe! Miss you in KC.
I’m loving my MC as well. Definitely a different animal from the coil sprung rigs, but I have been driving it a lot more than my other rigs.

 

[dezfan]

Still kicking.

Moved to the mountains and got the itch to crawl again.

As you know, It’s a sickness. Started in April with a GEN8, added the Marlin in May, and waiting on my Enduro kit to arrive.

Miss the group in KC, I wish I could come crawl with you guys from time to time.

 

[dezfan]

Well got the Marlin out on the rocks again today. Flagstaff Hobbies hosted their monthly Crawler Hike and wow, today local was awesome. Giant boulders in every direction.

We were there got 3 hours or do and didn’t even touch 3% of this spot. Can’t wait to go back.

We set some impromptu gates to have some fun.

The new Savox servo was a HUGE improvement over the stock Twister servo from RC4WD. The added speed and power made the Marlin so much more capable.

And for anyone thinking about the 5 Slot motor from Yeah Racing. Go for it. Smoooth as butta and plenty of wheel speed when needed. Very nice motor for only $25.00!

We set a up few courses and kept non formal score.

Crawling against Axials, TRX4s, Gen7, Barrage, Ventures, etc...I finished second on the first course. A DOH moment caused me some additional points on the first course and a “win”.

Finished first on the second course. The Marlin was planted and the stock tires where amazing! I may try some stiffer foams as the stock foams where allowing a bit more folding on side hilling than I liked.

Other than that and losing the rear window at some point(??), everything else on the truck did great.

The A&M skid allowed great break over angles, and the A&M +4 shackle flip worked flawless.

Here are some pics fronts today’s event.

Lost my rear window somehow?

My dog Marlin hung on tight!

Couple of gates on course one.

All in all, a really fun day at an awesome local.

 

[B-MOW71]

Congrats Dez! Marlin looking good on the rocks. Sounds like it was a good time!

That's great news about the servo and motor. I will be checking into them for my Marlin.

 

[dezfan]

Congrats Dez! Marlin looking good on the rocks. Sounds like it was a good time!

That's great news about the servo and motor. I will be checking into them for my Marlin.

Thanks B!

Yeah that Servo and motor made a huge difference! The 5 Slot motor is very smooth and I still have the GEN8 SkyFly RTR esc (Hobbywing 1040?) in it.

I’m sure s HW1080 will provide even better results.

The stock tires really surprised me. They hooked up so well, even with their smaller size and lack of flex in the Marlin, I was pulling lines that some of the TRX4s struggled with.

I was shocked!

Upon further inspection, I did tweak a rear spring pretty badly, probably happened on a 5 foot fall it took off the backside of a bolder.

But that was early on stage 1, so even with a tweaked spring, it performed really well.

 

[dezfan]

Anyone make a simple high approach tube bumper for the Marlin?

 

[Cr00zah]

Really good stuff here dezfan, and that tip from Nate on sandwiching the leaf springs is gold! I cut my own shims from Delrin, gonna have to add some to the top of the springs, really like that idea. Anyway, as you found, the shims are great for getting some sane pinion angles, I went a bit conservative on the fronts after mucking w/ steering and am happy w/ the results.

I don't know of any "good" bumpers that fit your needs; I'm in the same boat and hope to make my own this long weekend. Have a bunch of 3/16" and 1/4" stainless and carbon steel tube. Already have stainless tube sliders in progress, so hopefully I'll finish them as well.

Such a fun little truck! Guess I need to make a thread as well as I've done some mods and have more planned....

 

[B-MOW71]

I don't think I have seen any tube bumpers for the Marlin, but I haven't looked for one either.

On my list of upgrades for my Marlin is the A&M Garage front bumper with fairlead. It gives great approach angle and pushes the leaf springs forward I believe 4mm. This may be something you might want to check out if you haven't done so yet.

I'll keep an eye out for high approach angle tube bumpers."thumbsup"

 

[dezfan]

Really good stuff here dezfan, and that tip from Nate on sandwiching the leaf springs is gold! I cut my own shims from Delrin, gonna have to add some to the top of the springs, really like that idea. Anyway, as you found, the shims are great for getting some sane pinion angles, I went a bit conservative on the fronts after mucking w/ steering and am happy w/ the results.

I don't know of any "good" bumpers that fit your needs; I'm in the same boat and hope to make my own this long weekend. Have a bunch of 3/16" and 1/4" stainless and carbon steel tube. Already have stainless tube sliders in progress, so hopefully I'll finish them as well.

Such a fun little truck! Guess I need to make a thread as well as I've done some mods and have more planned....

Thanks for the complement. Looking forward to seeing your build thread.

I don't think I have seen any tube bumpers for the Marlin, but I haven't looked for one either.

On my list of upgrades for my Marlin is the A&M Garage front bumper with fairlead. It gives great approach angle and pushes the leaf springs forward I believe 4mm. This may be something you might want to check out if you haven't done so yet.

I'll keep an eye out for high approach angle tube bumpers."thumbsup"

I ordered the +4 shackle reversal kit before I saw they had the same offering with the integrated bumper.

I guess I may have to attempt to build one myself.

 

[Natedog]

I don't know of any "good" bumpers that fit your needs; I'm in the same boat and hope to make my own this long weekend. Have a bunch of 3/16" and 1/4" stainless and carbon steel tube. Already have stainless tube sliders in progress, so hopefully I'll finish them as well.

Such a fun little truck! Guess I need to make a thread as well as I've done some mods and have more planned....

Yep, good high clearance steel bumpers are hard to find for this truck.

Where's your thread???

I ordered the +4 shackle reversal kit before I saw they had the same offering with the integrated bumper.

I guess I may have to attempt to build one myself.

Those look nice, but the one with bumper is too minimal and needs some bracing imo.