G60nut's Bronco build

[G60nut]

Thought I might post some of my progress up. I have been in and out of the hobby since I was well, young lol. My first R/C was a Marui Big Bear, from there I had a Futaba FX/10, and a Kyosho Indy F1 car, Many years passed and my next R/C was a Traxxas Slayer Pro, That was stolen and now I have recently gotten back at it. Never thought I would enjoy this aspect of the hobby as much as I have. I purchased my TRX4 only for the 79' Bronco, my grandfather had one, and I loved that truck! I thought it was just going to be a shelf queen. Boy was I wrong! I have gone through the truck and modded it to my hearts content. Please feel free to ask any questions as I have done a lot of work to make the suspension as good as I possibly can, and work everywhere.

Mods so far:
-Brass, Lots of brass mostly Treal all on the axles except for a brass bumper
mount
-Long arm lift kit, I have modded the kit to be more of a flex kit than a lift kit as the truck sits almost stock height.
-Yellow .22" stock length springs.
-10wt shock oil.
-MIP Drive shafts
-SSD Bumpers front and rear
-Tekin T440 servo
-Traxxas BEC
-4c4wd "side sliders"

On to pics:
So here it is, far from a shelf queen.




















I've tried to post before so I'm going to start with an intro. Stay Tuned.

 

[G60nut]

Alright on to the Pics.

Some Flex shots. I've hear pros and cons of too much flex. But it sure looks cool and seems very capable and stable in the rocks.










Under body shots,











A shot of the front end setup. So I have modified the traxxas lift kit servo mount / upper panhard mount. I ground down the panhard bar mount and drilled new mounting holes for the bar. The servo mounts on top (for clearance) and the panhard bar has a slight bend (again for clearance) and rc4wd offset ends. The steering link has a small bushing in it where it mounts to the servo arm to help correct bump steer. The drag link also has a slight bend in it to clear the Treal brass diff cover. The way it is set up I get both full "droop" and full compression of the longer shocks.



Full static tilt angle, picture taken just before it decided to roll off the board. I didn't have a good way to verify the angle but looked like it was a little over 45* (With battery ready to run)

 

[G60nut]

As it sits on the scales. I tried to get a subjective weight and remove variables, (no battery, No body, no wheels) its a Porker!



With battery body and wheels RTR



Front RTR weight



Rear RTR weight



Some of the rolling stock that I have tried out again subjective. But my favorite all rounder is the Proline BFG's. The Hyrax is my best performer on the terrain that I'm on (mostly rocks) The Pit Bull's are my worst tire but seem to be getting better the more I run them and present a fun challenge. Lastly the stock Canyon Trails work Surprisingly well I would rate them 2nd / 3rd in my line up.



Feel free to shoot me any questions. More to come

 

[AnimalHippie]

Welcome to the forum and the crawler addiction! Awesome build brother! Looks like what a 1:1 bronco around here would look like. Just allot more flex. Really like what you've done to it. A low COG battery tray would help you a bit. As far as too much flex being a bad thing. The times I've noticed it have a big negitive effect is when your crawling over a hole or ledge where one tire would normally hang as you go over it. With more flex the tire tends to drop down too far and bring your rig with it. It also adds more body roll on sidehills. Which can also put you on your lid. With that said.. if you like the way it performs and what you have going with it. Then don't change it. That's one of the best parts of this hobby. You make it yours and how you would like it to be. I've always been a fan of allot of flex. It looks really cool, but I have seen the negitive effects of it. Good luck with your build! Can't wait to see some more action shots!

 

[Summitonslingrs]

Sweet Rig!!
Too much flex, not enough flex, Brass, no brass. You will hear a million different opinions but it sounds like you having fun and that is all that really matters.

 

[Schs2013]

Sweet Bronco dude enjoy!

Sent from my FRD-L14 using Tapatalk

 

[Topher Builds]

Congrats on the rig!

If you like the canyon trails, you may want to consider cutting and ailing them, they’re even better and do surprisingly well with a proper foam. I’m a fan of Krawlers myself as well.

 

[G60nut]

Well I went out on a trail run the other day hit a rock with the c-hub and snapped the front axle. I didn't realize how much it sucks to carry out of the woods. So I ordered up replacements.





It all went together well. the only thing that I didn't like was the upper arm mounts are not threaded like stock. you have to use a longer bolt and nut. other than that they seem to be of good quality. I also ditched the diff skids. They were aluminum and really seemed to stick to the rocks. The Axles came with stainless skids but I don't think I will be using them.

 

[G60nut]

So I got a Low CG batter mount, and found out it could go lower. Drilled some holes and dropped it down as low as it could without hitting the rear links.

 

[G60nut]

Finished up the winch install. The winch is a cheap amazon winch not a lot of power. I'm planning on replacing it soon with a servo winch but it all works great. RC4WD remote controller powerd off the castle BEC. I didn't like look or clearance of any of the winch bumpers that I have seen available so I fitted the Warn fairlead into the SSD bumper.

 

[G60nut]

So I've been back at it again. Finally received my GRC Axles. Supper impressed with these. So much more clearance and the akerman that is added to the steering makes a really positive difference all around.

OLD


NEW


GRC axles, I swapped the diff covers to the GRC axles for a little extra weigh down low.



Still playing with the suspension, this time I've added 120mm shocks front and rear and high clearance links. I had to do some adjusting of the length of the links, in the front for pinion angle, and to realize full droop with the longer shocks. And in the rear for pinion angle so the drive shafts don't end up being lower than the links. Also Added a Bowhouse battery tray and lower skid.













Its got tricks now.

 

[G60nut]

I've also been working on recovery options. Added sand boards to the body. Front servo winch. and DSM Integrated Self Recovery System. I love the DSM setup! It works so well I don't think I'll use the winch again lol. Definitely a custom install DSM shows it mounted under the truck but I decided to run the bungee over the top. I ordered a second pulley so it would run over the frame rails and drilled a hole in the SSD front bumper to act as the fairlead when the cord resets.









So the best part is that the hook resets its self! I don't have to stop and wait to put the winch back. Just drive over the hook and presto, back in the bumper.

Video:

https://gopro.com/v/pJV3aXGg5WgB2

https://gopro.com/v/y8ZrL0wgDJk96

And some videos of just driving around.

https://gopro.com/v/o6O397bEEJaV6

http://https://gopro.com/v/aR63PQey45Rq7

https://gopro.com/v/QnpW8G5Q92XEQ

So there it is. I feel like I'm nearing the end with the build. So if anybody has any thoughts I'm open.

 

[rs10man]

Love the build. It’s a monster with mad flex