TF2 SWB YJ project

[Killa-Cotton]

TF2 SWB YJ project - Now with K44's

Just got a TF2 SWB delivered yesterday and I'll be starting a YJ project. I picked up this body a couple weeks ago and was going to do a shortened SCX, GMC 4ten or maybe even a STRC short SCX chassis but I ended up deciding on the TF2. I noticed that the YJ body I bought is the same one shown on RCModelex site except for now it has a full interior and a couple other scale goodies. Not sure if I'm down with the Monster decals though. I kinda want to comp cut it but I want to see how its sits on the TF2 chassis first. Anyway I'll be posting my progress on this one. Here are a few pics to get it started. The first pic is from RCModelex.

 

[Killa-Cotton]

Getting ready to start so I'll post some build pics soon. I want to go through the drive train and grease everything properly first as well as check and flip the pinion shims if needed. I did notice that there is a discrepancy with the size wheels and tires included in the kit. I think I've read a thread were this was brought up before but no definite answer was posted. The rc4wd website shows both 1.55 and 1.9 stamped BL's and Mud Thrasher tires in their description for the SWB kit. No big deal probably just a typo. Well the box says that 1.55 wheels and tires are included but 1.9's are what's actually in the box (see pic). I emailed rc4wd from their website lest week to ask what size is included but haven't got a reply yet. This isn't a big problem because I would've bought the kit anyway and probably change the wheels and tires eventually. I just would've been nice to know. IMO this being a SWB chassis made for the Tamiya YJ body it should come with 1.55's.

 

[Crutch]

Funny it says in the first group of specs 1.55 wheels but in the second group of specs it reads 1.9 wheels and tires. Am I reading this right?

 

[Rckcrwlr]

Funny it says in the first group of specs 1.55 wheels but in the second group of specs it reads 1.9 wheels and tires. Am I reading this right?

Looks like a typo on the site.

 

[Killa-Cotton]

Yeah I changed the wording in my post above. After reading it back it appears that I was mad about the wheel/tire discrepancy and I'm not. It's really not a problem as 1.9's will fit and could be some folks preference. No big deal. I like the chassis so far and some of the minor changes like the addition of Punisher shafts and leaf spring mounts are nice.

 

[Killa-Cotton]

Pics as promised. The chassis went together well than and other than a little adjusting the leaf shackles because a couple were too tight there were no issues. As recommended I re-greased the axles, t-case and trans as well as replaced all the bearings with a set of Avid Revolution. I use these in my touring/drift cars and they perform great. The neat thing about them is they are rubber sealed on one side and have a metal shield on the other so you get the best of both styles. Of course they don't spin as freely as full metal shielded bearings but the resistance is still minimal. Back to the greasing, the axles had a little grease but the t-case and trans hardly had any at all. After a good coating of Red lube they are good to go. The axle shafts were shimmed well and I only needed to add one 1mm shim the rear axle pinion. I'm happy to see that RC4WD included steel Punisher shafts instead of the plastic type which usually broke on the first run if you even used them. Also a new addition that's pretty cool are the little concave leaf mounts. These are rounded and used above and below leaf were it mounts to the axle. I assumed to keep the center of the leaf from being flatted. There are a couple pics of these below. The last part of the chassis that needed attention are the shocks. They look just like Superlift shocks minus the decals. They are internally sprung and are stiff so I added a couple drops of 20wt shock oil to each to help free them up. I may disassemble them later and remove the hard plastic shaft guide because those tend to make the shock shaft bind on initial compression. I usually replace the hard plastic guide with a black o-ring out of cheap set of Tamiya shocks. That helps to free them up a bit more. That's it for now, next up is the body, wheels & tires.

Dry trans


Leaf mounts




Plastic shock shaft guide

 

[Killa-Cotton]

Here a some pics of the wheels, tires and body. The tires are huge I know but I don't have anything smaller at the moment. I'm trying to decide on going with 1.9 wheels and stretched 1.7 Iroks which are 4.1" tall. I've got several set of nice 1.9's so I would only need the tires. If that doesn't work I'll probably go with 1.5's and Rock Stompers. Below are the 1.9 wheels I've got. Would love to hear some opinions? Comp cut body maybe?

Locked up - Adversary
Gearhead - Trail Kings
DCW - Custom dual offset delrin. The BL rings on the Advesarys fit these wheels as well. I just put the black rings on for mock up.





Body on pics





Detailed dash and interior (gotta glue the arm rest back on)





Lights

 

[Bananaclip]

Damn your interior is pretty"thumbsup". Those DCW's are pretty nice to...

 

[Rckcrwlr]

Gearhead or DCW would be my choice. "thumbsup"

 

[whitrzac]

Is that interior custom?

 

[AJ.]

Awesome CJ-7 Dash! I think it would be a shame to Comp Cut that Body, it has a great simple and clean Daily Driver C1 feel going on. "thumbsup"

 

[Killa-Cotton]

Thanks! Yeah I think I'm gonna leave the body alone for the most part. I'm in a holding pattern until I get my new wheels and tires. I went ahead and got a set of 1.5 steelies with Rock Stompers and also picked up a set of 1.9 Mud Country tires for the wheels I already have. We'll see what looks best.

Awesome CJ-7 Dash! I think it would be a shame to Comp Cut that Body, it has a great simple and clean Daily Driver C1 feel going on. "thumbsup"

 

[Killa-Cotton]

I've been thinking about picking up the rear 4-link for this project. I figure you kinda can't go wrong given the TF2's stiffness. Also with the 4-link I could tweak the wheelbase and pinion angle if needed. I haven't been able to find anyone who has linked their SWB truck yet so reviews are limited. Looks like RPP has them in stock now. I wonder if the standard wheelbase tf2's front 3-link kit would fit?

 

[Got TF2]

Not sure if you would have great luck using the TF2 front link. Here's a side by side of the kit contents.The mounts and brackets look very different between them. May be more work than its worth.

TF2 Front

2x 81mm Link (Black)
1x 67mm Link (Black)
1x 60mm Link (Black)

http://store.rc4wd.com/3-Link-Kit-For-Trail-Finder-2-Front-Axle-wPanhard-Setup_p_2471.html

SWB Rear

2x Long Black Steering Link (67.5mm)
2x Short Black Steering Link (40.7mm)

http://store.rc4wd.com/4-Link-Kit-For-Trail-Finder-2-Short-WB-Rear-Axle_p_4482.html

** All info from RC4WD site

 

[Killa-Cotton]

Tires are starting to arrive so here are some pics. Still haven't decided on the wheels so just looking at tires for the moment.

1.55 Stompers (would paint the wheels black or gold)




1.9 Mud Countrys ( I kinda like these on the Gear Heads)




1.9 Dirt Grabbers ( Ignore the axial wheels. I would probably run these on Adversarys shown below. The DCW wheels shown are too wide for the Grabbers. They would work great for the Mud Countrys though.)

 

[Killa-Cotton]

Update on the progress and I'll have more pics to post later today. Rpp Hobby now has the rear SWB 4-link kit in stock so I picked it up along with a set of 80mm dual spring shocks and a 32p 14t pinion that wasn't provided with the kit. The pinion was another part that was listed on the box but not provided. I figure there's no point in asking RC4WD as I still haven't received a reply from the email I sent them in March asking them to confirm the actual wheel and tire size that comes with the kit. Anyway back to the build. I'm hoping to soften the suspension a little up by installing the rear 4-link and 10mm longer shocks as well as moving the shooter shackles that are currently on the rear to the front. I'd also like to move the rear shocks inboard with a TF2 mount and free up some interior space but I haven't found the mount in the classifieds yet. Hint, hint anyone? With the full interior I'm using electronics placement is going to fun. Here is a pic of the parts.

 

[Killa-Cotton]

I wanted to post an easy mod for the RC4wd 80mm v2 dual spring shocks. If you have ever used a set of these you've probably had a spring retainer come off the bottom of the shock while driving before. I plan to run my front shocks as soft as possible so the leafs can support the weight. That combined with shooter shackles means the shocks will be fully extended making it easy for the retainer to pop off. What I did was simply installed a 3x6mm o-ring on the shock shaft (see pic) and that will keep the retainer from sliding up so easily. Cheap o-rings are fine as they are usually pretty hard and that's actually what you want in this case. I used some from an old set of Gmade shocks i have. The best part is the o-ring seats perfectly in the recessed portion of the retainer so you won't lose any of your piston travel on compression. Here are a few pics.

 

[Killa-Cotton]

After installing the 4-link kit yesterday all i can say is WOW, that was a WASTE of approx $55 with shipping. Not only did it not help the stiff suspension it actually made it worse. Below is a list of what installing per the instructions did to the chassis. I've include pics to show.

1. Shortened the wheelbase
2. Pinched the shocks against the frame
3. Set the pinion angle worse the before
4. The factory internal springs aren't strong enough to hold the rear of the chassis up. This is without the body, electrics, battery, etc. With all of those added the rear of the chassis would be bottomed out. **I've already tried to install a set of Rc4wd 80mm v2 Dual Spring shocks I bought but they are too long even with the spring on their softest setting.**

 

[Killa-Cotton]

It's not that all of these issues can't be fixed. The problem I have is that I'm $450 into a RC4wd chassis that looks like this and will no doubt perform like crap. It's not like I'm building a chassis from whatever parts I have where these kinds of issues are to be expected. This is supposed to be a kit engineered to be correct. Now that I've got my bitching out of the way, my options are to go back to the original leaf set up or invest another $50-$100 to set it up right. This is what I will need to do to make the rear 4-link work.

1. Shortened wheelbase & bad pinion angle. - (I'll need to buy longer links or adjust the ones I have by buying spacers or longer rod ends)
2. Pinched shocks against the frame. - (I'll need to install spacers on the bottom shock/link mounts)
3. Factory internal springs aren't strong enough to hold the rear of the chassis up. This is without the body, electrics, battery, etc. With all of those added the rear of the chassis would be bottomed out. - Install 70mm King dual springs shocks so I could adjust the spring strength.

**I've already tried to install a set of Rc4wd 80mm v2 Dual Spring shocks but they are too long even with the spring on their softest setting**

 

[PlayingDirty]

They say (from what I've read) the leaf set up gets much better after a few hours of "break in". Is the performance still that bad on the stock leaf set up after the break in period? I was considering a TF2, but have never dealt with leaf suspension before. You've taken the route I was thinking about with switching to the 4 link on a tf2. Subscribed.