Dual Rock Rey Build

[Famof5Jeep]

I don’t see many RR builds which is sad because these things are really well built. Yes the stock power setup cogs when trying to really crawl but 99.9% of the time it's just fine because these will see more bashing light dirt track, U4RC use.

I built these for my son and I starting with two stock R2R Rock Rey’s. They are durable and fast on 2S. The tall tires do make handling fast problematic but I will say the AVC for real... It works well and can be controlled at the remote easily. Only parts broken so far have been the stock bumpers on both and the same front shock body and shaft twice from crashes in 10 degree weather. The worst part of the build is the tear down to get to the diffs. With the new panels it’s a little easier but still requires the cage to be removed for access no matter what. Mine is the RB and my sons is the Monster. He picked the purple. Both are mirror finish.

Drive train mods: both fully locked... rear (stock), center and front diffs (Vaterra locker). Fully locked has little negative impact on steering. Go fully locked you’ll be happy you did.

Steering mods: metal steering servo horn (threaded end.. forgot manufacturer).

Body mods: shaved all cage mounts flush, made custom aluminum panels (.025" sheet aluminum from HomeDepot), wrapped with vehicle wrap found on amazon, stickers found online, new stainless steel button head cap screws for body found online, spare tire mount custom 10/32 screw through .025" sheet aluminum (see pic), spare tire added, wheels painted to match, light bar moved under cage, light painting in the interior. To make any body panels start with cardboard from a cereal box and keep changing it until you are happy.

Hope you like the pics... I watched some of the RCN videos online for ideas. Search Rock Rey Custom... The rest was google and trial and error. Maybe we’ll see more Rock Reys soon. These really are great, durable vehicles that are plenty quick on 2S.

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[mulchman]

About time we have some rock reys to look at. And some very nice ones at that.

Wayne

 

[KR145]

About time we have some rock reys to look at. And some very nice ones at that.

Wayne

I agree !! Alot of talk on the truck on here. Almost needs its own thread.

That aside, those look sweet!! I like the body panels. A lot cleaner than the stock body, IMO.

 

[JatoTheRipper]

The Rock Rey looks awesome and I'd love to get one at some point.

I love the Red Bull one. That's my theme of choice. Nice work.

 

[Famof5Jeep]

Had a great day at RC Excitement. First time running there, I’d highly recommend a visit. They raced an IFS Rock Racer class today. Great group of people. Broke plenty of parts. Time for repairs.

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[JohnnyAnguish]

It was great seeing these rigs in person.

 

[mond]

Got a list of what broke?

 

[Famof5Jeep]

Got a list of what broke?

I’ll preface this by saying that this was the first time my son (12) and I (old) took these to any track. Not to mention one with 3 double jumps along a wall. We were NOT gentle, actually we were downright abusive. There is no need for 3S so we still use 2S and drove them as hard as we could. If I were a better driver I could have kept up with most of the rock racers. I think 1 RR was running 3S but you can’t use that speed on this track. By the end I was able to clear the doubles pretty consistently. It was me (last) and a Yeti well ahead of me bringing up the rear of each race. All great guys and tons of fun. If you are in MA or NH you should check out RCExcitement in Fitchburg.

Monster - Both front axle sliders (male ends sheared - pic) Left steering buckle, Right front shock tower, Camber link mount, Front bumper, Front roll cage. My son endo’d ALOT probably under full power most of the time.

RedBull - 11MM Front bearing gave out and I drove it for hours that way ruining the full front diff gears and housing (pic), Front bumper.

I’ll be upgrading these to make the drivetrain solid (centerline) and keeping the plastics (axles out) as inexpensive replacements to take the abuse. Best to keep a weak link somewhere and rather it be a cheap component like a $7 set of axle sliders. If I didn’t lock the front end, I don’t think mine would have seen any breakage other than the bumper. The locker had little impact on steering.

Pics of some of the damage.

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[BigBlokBoi]

Time for SSD front bulk head.

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[mond]

Your son really totalled it then! I was curious how the shock tower and cage would hold up to abuse.

 

[Famof5Jeep]

Your son really totalled it then! I was curious how the shock tower and cage would hold up to abuse.

Once the bumper broke the front cage and shock tower took the beating. Neither was designed for what was done to them. I’d say based on the abuse it really wasn’t that bad. He’s run it outdoors for a while without issue. It was the full throttle jumps and crashes into the doubles that took their toll.




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[Famof5Jeep]

Added window nets to both. Very simple to build, pic of materials above.

Update on breakage: we returned the track and made it out with little damage. The steering knuckle is still my weak point and the RB RR broke one but would rather that than something expensive. The Monster RR broke the shock towers again but that may have been due to my error installing them. I left out 2 screws connecting them to one another. Both broke the rear diff. The plastic case holding the locker to the ring gear broke, snapping all of the screws that attach the ring to the case. (Pic attached) I’ve found one HotRacing case online looking for one more. That should help a lot. We’ve never run anything other than 2S so I think it’s mostly due to full throttle starts.

We still love them. They are great trucks. If we don’t crawl w them at all I may take the locker out of the front end eventually but I’m in no rush.



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[willyg1981]

Honestly don’t do the HR cups they are a waste of time , it’s the puny screws that’s the weak link ,
The best fix Iv found and used so far is the Baja Rey’s HD diff (LOS232004)
And (Traxxas 2523 )screws the ring gear screw holes are a little bit tight so need slight enlargement
If you have a tap and die set it might be worth trying to get the Traxxas 2523 screws into the HR cups but the baja HD cups are the best fix so far ,
Ps like the window net idea , I tried making some with black duck tape but it proved unsuccessful



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[Famof5Jeep]

I crashed mine... totally stupid full throttle and caught a metal pole w the rear right tire. It broke the rear axle housing into 3 pieces. W a replacement a few days away I thought I’d try a repair. Photos attached after several days driving on the repair with no issues. No photos in the broken stage.. sorry but I have included the materials to repair. It is a UV cure patching material.. very cheap, and had it on hand from a home repair. Basically sit it in the sun for an hour and it hardens like a rock. Great stuff, Lowe’s or HD I think. I tacked the pieces together with superglue, let them set. Holding them to tack was the worst part. Cut the material in strips and wrap. The material has a light adhesive on one side to aid holding.

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[MickSz]

Hey I think your rigs look GREAT! Currently rebuilding a used and abused one I traded for a month ago. I think they have great potential and look forward getting it completed. I'll start a (re) build thread for mine just as soon as the admins post my RR10 Bomber (re)build thread.

 

[Famof5Jeep]

FYI diy parts cleaner. This works great. Simple Green diluted 50% in a small container w a cap. Gentle shake for 30 seconds let sit for a min or so and wipe clean. Great for greasy gearbox parts.

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[Famof5Jeep]

Diff Screw Upgrade w Traxxas 2523 screws

The ring gear holes are just a little small for these screws so I opened them up w the tip of a stone on my Dremel Tool. It takes seconds per hole. (In my pic you can see the two horizontal holes are larger compared to the verticals. Took pic just to show the difference before after). Also I pre insert the screws into the diff cup to make sure the enlarged hole is straight. If not the ring gear can run out creating more probs later. When fully tight the screws should protrude just just a small amount.

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[Famof5Jeep]

Limited Slip Front Diff. Again these are all purpose vehicles... crawl, race, bash etc. works in progress.

My son has been turning front axle splines into splinters faster than I can replace them and I’ve broken a bunch of drive pins so I tried this limited slip in his front diff and it works well. I’m adding it to mine now. It is still virtually locked but has some give. It is very tight and far more of a soft locker than a tight open diff.

I used the Marks Soft Silicone Earplug method, found in this forum. I may try softer in the future but we’ll run this for now. Key points. You need less than one “kids” size plug per diff. Too much and you can’t reassemble everything. Other key is to install the first spider gear pair in position first and w the notch up. Push a small amount around these gears then lay the second pair on top w the notches aligned. Add the last amount over those gears leaving the tops thin so the ring can mesh when you close it all back up. Make sure the tops of the spider gear sets have the same depth from the open end of the cup. Lastly snug two of the screws and make sure you have everything meshed. Hold the ring gear and rotate the stub on the cup side with a small Allen wrench. It will be a tight start but once moving it can be rotated to assure gear mesh. Then tighten it all down.

Have fun!

UPDATE: the Ear plug limited slip is still too “locked” given how much time we spend on hard surfaces. I should and would recommend something a touch softer if you are on a high traction surface and doing a lot of bashing/racing. I would be nice to have the front “turn into the corner” more.



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[willyg1981]

Limited Slip Front Diff. Again these are all purpose vehicles... crawl, race, bash etc. works in progress.

My son has been turning front axle splines into splinters faster than I can replace them and I’ve broken a bunch of drive pins so I tried this limited slip in his front diff and it works well. I’m adding it to mine now. It is still virtually locked but has some give. It is very tight and far more of a soft locker than a tight open diff.

I used the Marks Soft Silicone Earplug method, found in this forum. I may try softer in the future but we’ll run this for now. Key points. You need less than one “kids” size plug per diff. Too much and you can’t reassemble everything. Other key is to install the first spider gear pair in position first and w the notch up. Push a small amount around these gears then lay the second pair on top w the notches aligned. Add the last amount over those gears leaving the tops thin so the ring can mesh when you close it all back up. Make sure the tops of the spider gear sets have the same depth from the open end of the cup. Lastly snug two of the screws and make sure you have everything meshed. Hold the ring gear and rotate the stub on the cup side with a small Allen wrench. It will be a tight start but once moving it can be rotated to assure gear mesh. Then tighten it all down.

Have fun!

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Looks awesome man , very clear and concise write up ,
Iv been using racers edge diff putty and it’s good
Stuff , if your in the states , check out badhorsie diff grease they do a putty which is very good too !
Blue tak is a good cheap limited “crawler” slip diff and is very similar to racers edge diff putty.

Are you using the ssd front bulkhead ?
The stock bulkhead warps horrendously under load .
If not definitely get one !



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[Famof5Jeep]

Thanks Willy. Yep we have the bulkhead and 3rd member in both, hoping to make the driveline bullet proof. Although the panel bodies make working on these very easy so it’s more about durability.

I may look into a softer locker next. We’ll see how they hold up and how much crawling we do. The cogging has become more annoying and I really don’t want to swap out the motor. I’m open to suggestions if there is an ESC that helps without going for a full sensored setup. X2 these get pretty expensive.


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