TRX 1/16th Summit into '53 Ford 1/12th Crawler

[dr frankenstyle]

Little Summit ...Crawler

I'm new here, so I'm not sure just where I "fit in". I call my truck a semi-scaler, and it is running 1.9's, so I thought I'd post a thread here on my Mini Summit build that I call "Pumkinstein".



It really IS a Summit VXL under the old "Midnight Pumpkin" body, so I guess now it's a 1/12th scale Summit

I beefed it up with lots of aluminum (GPM arms and body mounts, Integy carriers, Fullfoce skids) and some hand built parts. I mounted an E-Revo receiver box to hold the Big Summit 4 ch radio set. It runs a Dynamite "Tazer" ESC (with drag-brake) controlling the VXL motor. That drives a hand-built 4.5 to 1 gear reduction pushing a 9T pinion thru a 55T spur into a flipped tranny, so top speed is tumbling down the rock pile.

I fit it with RC4WD 1.9 "wagon"s and 90mm tires (weighted fronts) with memory foams. Handbuilt hanger for the rear shackles and mount for the Warn winch and bumper-guard (a rear bumper for an HPI Bullet, cut and modified to mount to the heavy alum' skid). Filled both diff's with re-usable adhesive putty, shimmed 'em up and the carriers. I couldn't find LWB aluminum arms, so I cut and tweaked the rear uppers into LWB's, and if you look closely, you'll see that the rear lowers are actually FRONT lowers that I mod'ed the chassis ends and the chassis pivots a bit and mounted backwards to max out the wheelbase and get it back to matching the body's.



I added a few scale details to the Pumkin hard-body, mirrors, tailgate chains, personalized plates, made a roll-bar from alum', added some scale treadplate etc. Switch the lights from the radio ( ch 4 & 5).
It's crazy fun on the rocks !

​

I've added more details, so I'll post an update soon or you can check it out more (and my Revo/Summit 3.3 build) on theTRX forums. ;-)




chop it up ... stitch it up ...It's ALIVE !!!
​

I wanted to add a bed-mounted spare, but ... the truck hardly has any bed, so I got out the ol' choppin' block and came up with this ...

http://i1315.photobucket.com/albums/t599/dr_frankenstyle/Pumkinstein 3 114_zpsmu1igoy4.jpg

I took an old wheel to the table-saw and took the scissors and a razor-blade to a tire. Then soldered a brass nut and washer together, added a couple of handles to the "spinner" made of 12G house wire and cut the cone off of a faucet washer for the hold-down assembly. I cut a "hole" for the bed cover from a piece of thin cardboard (cereal box ), a little black lacquer and ready to glue together.

http://i1315.photobucket.com/albums/t599/dr_frankenstyle/Pumkinstein 3 115_zpsvsqo37t8.jpg

The cut tire isn't much taller than a regular tire laid flat and covers less floor.

http://i1315.photobucket.com/albums/t599/dr_frankenstyle/Pumkinstein 3 117_zpsh0wftckz.jpg

I like the "in-the-bed" look (I'm making new fender-wells) and it covers the rear body mounts nicely.

http://i1315.photobucket.com/albums/t599/dr_frankenstyle/Pumkinstein 3 118_zpszoyyrzzk.jpg





chop it up ... stitch it up ...It's ALIVE !!!

I wanted to add some detail to the bed, to go with the new spare-tire, so I decided to work up a bed-box and hatches/covers for the tire/storage area. I got out the HR scale diamond plate and mocked-up the parts in thin cardboard (more cereal box ).

http://i1315.photobucket.com/albums/t599/dr_frankenstyle/Pumkinstein 3 121_zpsbxrflhm4.jpg

I stacked 2 more layers of c-board with a layer of 1/4in plywood, to "fill" to the top of the bed, and painted the stacks black to give it clean "darkness" in the gaps. The HR tread-plate bends easily,(I already covered the running-boards with it) so I glued the trimmed cardboard patterns to the back and it bent around the edges. It forms pretty nicely, but it's easy to ding.

http://i1315.photobucket.com/albums/t599/dr_frankenstyle/Pumkinstein 3 123_zpszhwyatht.jpg

I made handles (upholstery staples) and lock cylinders (small nails, cut-off) and hinges (scored rings on some 14G house-wire)and with a bit of paint the parts were ready. I glued "rare-earth " (NdFeB) magnets into the spare and under the toolbox lid, then glued some to the underside of the body to hold the assemblies in place. (got the idea from RC Heli's)
Also finished the new fender-wells (cut the bottoms from small cream cheese containers), they cover the "see-thru" look under the body, and make the bed look deeper.

http://i1315.photobucket.com/albums/t599/dr_frankenstyle/Pumkinstein 3 130_zpsh5wvffyk.jpg

Here's a shot to show the "lids" in action, but I glued 'em down, so they DON'T actually open.

http://i1315.photobucket.com/albums/t599/dr_frankenstyle/Pumkinstein 3 125_zpsktvmfgni.jpg

I made the bed-box and the tire/storage in separate sections so that the body pins are easy access, and I can run without the tire and still have the toolbox.
And when it's all assembled, it looks like the tire is IN the bed.

http://i1315.photobucket.com/albums/t599/dr_frankenstyle/Pumkinstein 3 131_zpsi72rj0rp.jpg

Here's a shot during the "bounce-around" test on the rock pile.

http://i1315.photobucket.com/albums/t599/dr_frankenstyle/Pumkinstein 3 136_zps4pjvnhpk.jpg

Couldn't shake it out (even passed the roll-over test)
What do you guys think?



chop it up ... stitch it up ...It's ALIVE !!!

 

[lonleycreeper]

Love it, very creative and innovative.

 

[dr frankenstyle]

Thank You, gentlemen. It's definitely one of my favorite creations. I like to make her look pretty, but she's NO "Shelf-Queen".
Like a dirty rug, I usually take it out and beat the dust out of it at least once a week.

 

[derrick.johnston]

What did you do to keep the diffs from stripping out all the time? I've heard the housing flex's a bit and causes problems? Just courious. I am thinking about doing somthing similar

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

 

[dr frankenstyle]

These are just shimmed to snug the gear-lash. I have a spare set because, like you, I read about quite a few problems but I've never had any trouble with mine. It doesn't do "speed runs, it will barely keep up at a walking pace. It'll get a rear tire wedged in the rocks and flip the truck, or it might kick out a rock the size of a softball, but not a single diff' issue. And it has weights in all 4 tires and lots of aluminum, so it's fat on the scales. I just run "picture-hanging" adhesive putty (not spools) so there is still a bit of slip, but it climbs like a little goat.

 

[dr frankenstyle]

It's been raining a lot lately so I worked on the little Ford a bit. I put the chassis and suspension rockers through a black Rit dye boil, really happy with the results. I got a cheap ($2.99) fire extinguisher on-line, detailed it a bit and strapped it to the roll-bar.



Got a new set of tires, better tread, slightly larger (44's in 12th scale) so I gave in and trimmed the bottom of the wheel openings a little. It hurt to cut more on my 30+ yr. old body, but it sure climbs BETTER, so it was worth it.



Took the gopro down to the rock-pile and shot a short vid'. I think it does alright, for a truck that was originally built to do backflips.



http://vid1315.photobucket.com/albums/t599/dr_frankenstyle/Punky videos 017_zps4bwpnbtk.mp4

 

[rcbasher12]

That's a sweet body


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[dr frankenstyle]

Thanks, she's been with me for years. Here's how it looked 25 yrs ago, with the original chassis.


Back then, the shocks, wheels and a hand-built gear-reduction unit (3/1) were the mod's. We did some sled pullin' with my buddies, Clod's, Blackfoot's and such. Lots of fun!
I still have the chassis, box and lots of spare parts.

 

[rustneversleeps]

Nice build by the way,and great details.I couldn't find it but did you lock the front and rear center diffs."thumbsup"

 

[dr frankenstyle]

Thanks, no I don't like spools, they put too much stress on things during trail-runnin' or general driving for me. I stuffed both diff's with Scotch removable Mounting Putty (some call it picture-hanging putty), and shimmed them snug. The putty lets things slip enough for short turns, but when one side "outruns" the other by much it tightens up and "posi"s. They're a little looser on these 90+ summer days, but I like it because when you have tires in the air it kinda delays the posi-trac action a little and you see the tire spin a bit before it tightens up and moves on. No center diff', just the "flipped" trans' and the reduction unit.
Here is a short vid' on my front-yard rock-pile.
http://vid1315.photobucket.com/albums/t599/dr_frankenstyle/Punky videos 017_zps4bwpnbtk.mp4

 

[clarketian]

Have you ever thought about a long wheelbased summit vxl?

 

[dr frankenstyle]

This one is actually a few MM longer than the Summit is stock. I extended the rear arms a little more than the LWB arms, and way more than any alum's I could find. And I'm runnin' a set of front lowers in the rear, flipped around, giving me more lower "stretch".

 

[rustneversleeps]

Thanks, no I don't like spools, they put too much stress on things during trail-runnin' or general driving for me. I stuffed both diff's with Scotch removable Mounting Putty (some call it picture-hanging putty), and shimmed them snug. The putty lets things slip enough for short turns, but when one side "outruns" the other by much it tightens up and "posi"s. They're a little looser on these 90+ summer days, but I like it because when you have tires in the air it kinda delays the posi-trac action a little and you see the tire spin a bit before it tightens up and moves on. No center diff', just the "flipped" trans' and the reduction unit.
Here is a short vid' on my front-yard rock-pile.
http://vid1315.photobucket.com/albums/t599/dr_frankenstyle/Punky videos 017_zps4bwpnbtk.mp4

So mounting putty eh "hanging putty" back in the day we we call it "plaster seen" is it white stuff,isn't it...
great little truck and video...
I wonder if this concept applies to the Slash 4x4....would be cool with LCG chassis and bigger shocks.Hmmmmm i wonder...
I'm also a member of the traxxas forum.Are you using the same name as on here...

 

[clarketian]

This one is actually a few MM longer than the Summit is stock. I extended the rear arms a little more than the LWB arms, and way more than any alum's I could find. And I'm runnin' a set of front lowers in the rear, flipped around, giving me more lower "stretch".

I used to have a summit vxl and I pretty sure it has compatible arms with slash vxl, which means you could have a "SCALE" looking pickup by changing the front and rear arms without stretching the wheelbase.

 

[dr frankenstyle]

Yep, Rust' (love Neil Young, by the way) It's the modern version, so now you can get it in blue, pink, green, or I got the grey/white stuff.
I thought about a Slash, but I had the li'l Summit, so I thought I'd see how far I could drag it "out of the box". If I hit the lottery .......
Yep, been on the TRX forums for years, same nick', what's yours?
Got a Revo 3.3/Summit hybrid that's in the Revo section. This one's in the Summit VXL section. Heard pic's too. Oh, and my boat is here, below in the non-crawler section.
I bug the crowd and offer lunatic advice all the time. ;-)

Clark', I looked into the Slash arms, but I needed to stretch the wheelbase to match the body and it looked like it would be tougher to do it with the Slash arms. And it would give me "shorter legs". ;-)

 

[rustneversleeps]

Yep, Rust' (love Neil Young, by the way) It's the modern version, so now you can get it in blue, pink, green, or I got the grey/white stuff.
I thought about a Slash, but I had the li'l Summit, so I thought I'd see how far I could drag it "out of the box". If I hit the lottery .......
Yep, been on the TRX forums for years, same nick', what's yours?
Got a Revo 3.3/Summit hybrid that's in the Revo section. This one's in the Summit VXL section. Heard pic's too. Oh, and my boat is here, below in the non-crawler section.
I bug the crowd and offer lunatic advice all the time. ;-)

Clark', I looked into the Slash arms, but I needed to stretch the wheelbase to match the body and it looked like it would be tougher to do it with the Slash arms. And it would give me "shorter legs". ;-)

Name is same to.But i just joined again i thought i was already a member but i guess not.tried different user names but nothing..
So i had open new account or register...
So what ever i thought i had is gone...maybe cause it was so long i wasn't on there,or maybe my email address has change,who knows anyways new member again...
You may see me doing the scale slash 4x4 crawler mine just sitting on the shelf for couple years now Actaully it the first slash 4x4 they came out with...I'll try to post pics on the other forum..."thumbsup"

 

[dr frankenstyle]

Name is same to.But i just joined again i thought i was already a member but i guess not.tried different user names but nothing..
So i had open new account or register...
So what ever i thought i had is gone...maybe cause it was so long i wasn't on there,or maybe my email address has change,who knows anyways new member again...
You may see me doing the scale slash 4x4 crawler mine just sitting on the shelf for couple years now Actaully it the first slash 4x4 they came out with...I'll try to post pics on the other forum..."thumbsup"

I'll watch for you in the 4slash section, or drop a line to one of my threads.
I saw your red 'Rado in the "...Chevy's" thread, nice lookin' rig.

 

[dr frankenstyle]

Here's a couple shots a little before sunset, with the lights on.

 

[rustneversleeps]

Nice shot,What new lights looks cool ......"thumbsup"

 

[dr frankenstyle]

Took Pumkinstein down to the rock-pile today to play with the winch a little.



Had the gopro shootin' time-lapse to catch some shots.



Climbing the steeper sections, with a little assist from Warn.



I have my winch remote velcro'd to the top of my radio so I can work it with a finger and steer too.