Dr. F's Kit Bronco

[Stonewall]

Thanks for the interest. I've done a few mod's since the last round of crawling, so it'd be tough to say what helped and what didn't. I took it down to the rock pile this morning, and I'm really happy with the way it crawls. The rocks were damp and the tires got wet from the grass, but it still climbed as well on the rocks as it did last time dry.



I could really tell a difference on the side-hills too.



I'm sure most of the credit goes to the heavier axles and wider hexes, but the new shock angles prob'ly helped a little too.





Thanks, I like the older ones the best too. "thumbsup" All of the paint on (in?) this one is on the inside. Whenever I knock off too much, I'll just flake off any loose paint, mask off the damaged area and try to re-shoot the layers like the first time. I figure the scars show up and make it look like it spends the weekends on the rocks and the weekdays in the body shop. :roll:



Thanks again for lookin'.

jim 8)

I kinda like that look too. I have the stock trx bronco and I just picked up some plasticote. This way when I roll it or run the body against a rock it’s start eating the coating making it look rougher for wearZ

 

[dr frankenstyle]

I kinda like that look too. I have the stock trx bronco and I just picked up some plasticote. This way when I roll it or run the body against a rock it’s start eating the coating making it look rougher for wearZ

Thanks, I'll look for your truck, or if you haven't posted it up do it so we can see it. "thumbsup"
This afternoon I cut a piece of styrene and screwed it to the "light module" lugs to make a platform for my winch and light controls. Then I was able to clean up my wiring quite a bit. I can't handle a spaghetti mess, so I took out some of the slack and tied things up nice and tidy.



I wrapped the light and winch wires and fed them thru the shock tower. I even added a plug for the back bumper, so when I get the red LED's in it. It came with white ones. :roll: You can see the plug for the body lights sticking thru the front body mount. When I get around to wiring the headlights and taillights back up, I'll pop in a pic.
Meanwhile here's another shot from this morning on the wet rocks.



Tune in next time ...
and Thanks for lookin' an' likin',

jim 8)

 

[dr frankenstyle]

I finally got the headlights and taillights wired back up.



I siliconed a pair of the 1W headlights in behind the molded lenses. They line up just right in the '73's light rings.



I always hate dealing with a leash harness and trying to plug and unplug the body, so while I was wiring, I grabbed a couple of left over Traxxas "legacy" male connectors and did a low-budget ez connector. I took one TRX connector and epoxied it to the top of the rear body post, like so ....



... then I grabbed some .060 styrene sheet and made a mount/guide plate to silicone into the top of the body.



I made the channel section to hold the two pugs in line and try to prevent any shorts. Once it was painted black and ready, I used the body posts to line it up and stick it in the roof.



Then I used some double sided foam trim tape to stick the other male connector, facing down, into the channel. The foam gives it a little cushion, and puts a little pressure at the connecting point.
When I clip the body on the two connectors mate up and presto ....



I set my heyok regulator to 3V for the body lights. That keeps the headlights nice and bright, but nice and cool too. The taillights had resistors already soldered in. I left them in, so the taillights are kinda dim. That's ok, I don't think I'll have to worry much about gettin' rear-ended.
The bumper lights are wired separately, and controlled separately thru the heyok remote control.



Now to see how it holds up to roll-overs.

Thanks for lookin'.
jim 8)

 

[2mtech]

Those puppies are bright! Creative connection technique there, doc. "thumbsup" I really like the looks of that rig.

 

[dr frankenstyle]

Those puppies are bright! Creative connection technique there, doc. "thumbsup" I really like the looks of that rig.

Thank you, Sir. The more time I spend with it, the more I like it. Yep, them headlights ARE bright. :shock: The 4 LEDs in and on the bumper shine about 4 or 5 ft. in front of the truck ....



.... while the headlights shine about 40 or 50 ft or more. "thumbsup"



You can barely tell when the off-roaders are added in front,



but the rear gets brighter. :roll: Even across the yard, it hurts to look straight at it when it's comin' at you.

I'm supposed to go hit the rocks with a buddy Saturday, so I'll get a chance to really see how much things have improved (or not ;-) ).

Tune in next time.
jim 8)

 

[kincer]

You ought to be able to see now!

 

[dr frankenstyle]

You ought to be able to see now!

Well, it lights things up nice, for sure. I just wish it could reverse the aging process on my eyes. :lmao:


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[dr frankenstyle]

Finally got in a little crawlin'. My buddy has had a dose of the flu, so we didn't get to the rocks as much as we wanted. In the meantime, he got a set of overdrive gears for the front end of his kit TRX that he's buildin'. Well I went with the lower gearing and got the underdrive set for the rear axle on mine. Gotta say I'm REALLY happy with that upgrade. It practically eliminates the under-steer or "push". Even with the diff's locked in, it turns a lot better. It seems to climb better too.



I didn't get many pic's, I have a hard time driving and shooting pictures at the same time.



Also, last week, I added in some little custom rock lights. I like the factory set-up, but I'm not running the inner-fenders on my truck. So I just got some white 1206 smd led's to use. My eyes are getting old and blurry, and the little bastards are too big a pita for me to solder, so i just got the pre-wired ones with diodes this time.



I then used a 2mm drill bit and drilled holes at the corners of the floor-boards. After using a hobby knife to make the holes rectangular, I taped a smd into each corner from the top. Then I flipped the chassis and filled each hole with clear 5-min epoxy, to glue them in and seal the lights from water and dirt. The epoxy makes a nice lens too.



After 5 or 10 minutes, I pulled the tape off of the top side and put a bit more epoxy on the tops of all 4 lights. I just made small brackets from sheet metal to hold lights at the bumpers. I made L-brackets for the rear ....



... and twisted brackets for the front. I used the end screws for the bumper mounts to hold them on. I just spread a layer of the epoxy onto the brackets and let it set, then stuck the lights into it and put more epoxy on top of them to seal them too.



I hooked them in with the off-road lights and switch them with the hey-ok controller.



They're not as bright as the factory set, but they're plenty bright enough. And they only cost me $8 for 10 lites.



With the days getting shorter they'll come in handy for evening runs.


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[Inspector86]

I've done lots of things backwards in the past, why stop now?
The c-hubs also have about 10 deg of camber too.



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Actually, what you are showing there is not camber it's referred to as "King Pin Inclination".

https://www.quora.com/What-is-king-pin-inclination

 

[dr frankenstyle]

Hot Dawg! The things you can learn on the RCC forums these days. Thanks for the info, Inspector'.

8)

 

[dr frankenstyle]

A few weeks ago I was cleaning up the back yard and decided to take some of the junk and turn it into an obstacle to crawl on. So I screwed a few 2x4 scraps to some trees in the front yard, took an old landscape timber as a main beam, and screwed some cut-offs from a picket fence repair as planks and made a "spike" bridge.



I just used some more scrap boards and some old wire fencing for ramps, turning the fence wire sideways so the rectangle openings work like ladder rungs. I added a corner section hanging between a couple more trees at one end and put a couple extra ramps to give multi approaches. Here's a shot from the end, so you can see how jagged the deck really is.



You can't just roll up the middle, you have to actually drive your way across it. The single ramp is a 42 degree climb, and the middle ramp at the other end is 43. The other ramps aren't quite as steep, but they're still a little challenge.
We got 2 or 3 inches of snow yesterday, so I took the Bronco out to see how she does in it.



Did really well. The portals help keep the snow from piling up in front of the axles.



The Krawler T/A's really impressed me. Of course the wire ramps help the climb, since they don't hold snow, but the tread unloads really well too. They drop the snow, or mud, back out just about as fast as they pick it up.
I thought it was gonna slide off the side once, but it got a bite and pulled itself back on.



I think she likes playing in the snow.



Then my Ipod battery died so I didn't get any shots on the snowy rock pile. Maybe next time.


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[kincer]

Looks like fun! Looking forward to some snow here to try the same thing.:mrgreen:

 

[2mtech]

Looks awesome, but how do you have snow already??

 

[dr frankenstyle]

Looks like fun! Looking forward to some snow here to try the same thing.:mrgreen:

Thanks, and I bet you'll get your chance soon enough.

Looks awesome, but how do you have snow already??

Thanks "thumbsup" Yep, we never know what to expect. Around here we say "if you don't like the weather, just wait 'til tomorrow". :lmao: It's supposed to be 55 and sunny Friday. :roll: My buddy and I are planning to hit the rocks at one of the local city parks before winter sets in.

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[dr frankenstyle]

Well, 2 weekends ago my buddy and I took our TRX's to the rocks and after about 30 or 40 minutes I lost another steering servo. It was a 20kg this time, but just one of the 3218's (at $15 ea. it's not that bad). It didn't buzz or twitch or smoke .... just quit turnin'. I ordered a couple more and my buddy loaned me one so I could get 'er workin' again, 'til mine get here. While I was swapping it out, I decided to put in my Castle BEC too. I want to throw a THANKS to papabash for hooking it to his link and setting the voltage for me.



We set it at the 6.8v max for my servo, and as soon as I hooked it up the steering seemed faster and more solid. I had noticed, when I installed the first 20kg servo, that the panhard link was hitting the servo arm when the suspension was compressed. So while I had it torn down I took the dremel and ground the top of the servo arm. I filed away about a quarter to a third of the thickness of the arm and then polished it up.



That little trim gained about 3/16 in. of travel at the wheel. I also filed the top of the link end, and together it really reduces any bind in the steering when the suspension is compressed.



It doesn't seem like much, but it "scales up" to about 2 inches more wheel travel AND smoother action.
I got a pair of CI foams for the front tires too. I didn't like the way the stock Proline foams squished. The truck weighs in right at 9 lbs. so it mashes the tires a bit. I went with the Li'l Nova 2025's, which are the 4.5 comp cut with medium outer's. I like the "squish" a lot better now. They fill the tires a bit more so the tread is a little less flat across the top.



They seem plenty soft and flexible at the tread, but stand a little taller at the sidewall. Just what I was wanting. We hit the rocks again this past weekend and everything performed flawlessly. The new steering set-up seems a lot stronger and faster. The tires were hookin' up great on the rocks, even in the muddy areas. We got into some sticky mud and they started slipping a bit, but my buddy's a lot worse. The BFG's seem to unload mud about as quick as they collect it, so they don't cake up as bad as some others. I took it out to the rock pile the other day in the drizzle to clean up the tires a little and try them on the wet rocks. Even on the damp rocks they were grabbing nicely ....



and climbed everything I tried. Spike bridge was fun too.





The fence-wire ramps help clean the tread lugs too.


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[dr frankenstyle]

Well done man really nice rig!

How's the Castle BEC treating ya?

Thanks, it's been a lot of fun. So far I'm really happy with the bec set-up. I studied some of the other threads here to be sure I got it wired right, and so far so good. I'll see as I get more time on it, and I'll post up any issues or lack of. Hopefully it'll help stop the servo failures. The truck is doing well enough to climb trees. "thumbsup"



Okay ...



.... maybe not straight up. :lmao:

Thanks for checkin' it out.

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[dr frankenstyle]

Me and the little green Bronco had a really good afternoon at the park today. My buddy got a set of Pit Bull "alien" Rock Beast XL's and SSD slotted mags for his kit rig, so we hit the rocks to try 'em out.



He opted for a "light" set-up, so my truck outweighs his by about 2 lbs. (for now ). The rocks were damp so available traction wasn't the best, but it made for some fun crawlin'.



I gotta say, I'm super happy with the Pro-Line BF Goodrich Krawler TA's. My truck went up and over anything his would climb. Even in the leaf-covered areas, the little Bronco was holding it's own.



There were even a few spots that his wasn't able to follow mine. To be perfectly honest, my BF-Goody's were actually outperforming the pit's. We got into some more sticky mud and it seemed to cling into his tires when mine were clearing out between mud zones. You can see here the difference in mud-pack, and we'd been playing follow-the-leader so they'd both hit the same areas.



His got slippery enough that it ended up like this (I'm looking down the hill, so it's at about a 45 deg angle, nose down) at one point.



By the end of the session, he's now ready to add a little weight to the rear axle ....



... and buy a set of BFG's for his Bronco RTR :lmao: And mine are just G8 compound too.


Thanks for lookin' and likin'

8)

 

[dr frankenstyle]

Made a couple of small tweaks to the Bronco today. I drilled new holes in the sliders and moved 'em in about 1/4 in each.



Isn't a big difference, but I noticed it rubbing the sides on a couple of the rocks yesterday, so what the heck. It pulls the bottom of the body sides in a little too, giving it a bit more curve to the sides too. I also noticed the rear bumper draggin' a few times at the start of ascents, so I decided to cut off the frame rails... again ... and tuck the bumper in a little more.



I actually did it twice, 1/4 in at a time, so now that makes 3 times all together. :roll: But it definitely helps with approach angle. Had to trim the body a bit too. Looks better and should help performance.



Now it's ready for another day on the rocks.



I guess she'd better be .... my buddy just ordered a set of BF Goody's in the Predator compound too.
We'll be ready.


8)

 

[Tmaxxed]

So how does it compare to the predator BFGs?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[dr frankenstyle]

So how does it compare to the predator BFGs?


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Well, it turns out he got the BFG Mud Terrains, in Predator compound. We hit the rocks at the park this past weekend. It had rained 2 days before, so there was sticky mud between the rocks. It came down to who got to lead the way. The first guy in line broke open the surface and tracked a little mud up on the rocks, so the second guy had a tougher go of it. My Krawler T/As did pretty well against the M/Ts, but to be honest, after a little time in the mud his M/Ts collected a little less mud. As we trailed along from rock to rock, my performance faded a bit more than his. The M/Ts definitely showed their advantage in the mud, but I'm not ready to order any just yet. I did soak my tread clean in Purple Power, and we'll see how things compare next time it's dry again. I'll let ya all know the results. "thumbsup"
I may ask Santa for a set of Red label Krawlers, just to keep up. :roll: :lmao:


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