TSK's "Whole Lotta Nothing" Special aka Plain Clothes

[TSK]

Been pretty much out of the hobby for awhile, only checking in on RCC at random to see how things are going. Eventually saw Axial's new rig and decided to order one as I miss having something to wrench on.

Not 100% sure on what I will end up with, but I know I want it to be fairly light and rolling on 1.9's.

What I got so far...

- Axial SCX 2 kit
- Y Town Uncercover Agent
- SMW skid
- eBay Trail Ranger
- Trepadors w/ Crawler Innovations Deuces Wild foam
- RC4WD OEM stamped steel wheels
- Hitec 7950 for steering
- Locked Up/HeyOK servo winch
- Holmes Puller Pro Stubby 2200kv
- Castle Mamba Micro X

I got some other bits... Reign Labs grille, HR aluminum trans, various CMS setups.... Just not sure if I want to run that new transmission and stock CMS. I do like the stock CMS setup with the integrated winch and front mount battery, but I would have to ditch the CF chassis brace. Chassis brace looks to need a "servo on axle" set up so I try eyeballing everything and see what sings to me.

Thanks for looking.

 

[1beatjeep]

Sweet other trail ranger body build..

 

[TSK]

The SMW skid uses the skid plate index holes to bolt up to that chassis. Since the Y Town chassis doesn't have these holes. I just bolted up the stock rails to the each CF rail to use as a template.

Lightweight goodness...8)

Stock rails 4.7oz

Y Town carbon fiber Undercover Agent w/ SMW 3d printed skid with stainless hardware (including the 4 lower link set screws) 3.3oz!

Speaking of SMW, Rob's work has always been synomymous with "precision." I was a little skeptical of how the 3d printed parts would be compared to his machined products.

This nylon printed version feels much ighter than I recall the machined delrin version I have on my other rig. Not too sure how it slides in comparison to the delrin but it feels super hard and at the very least will slide much better than the soft stock plastic.

The precision is there for sure though. Once assembled, the chassis lined up cherry and has zero tweak.

Jake at Y Town and Rob at SMW have put out some quality goods and I am excited to get this truck together and out on the rocks.

 

[SCREAMER]

This looks like it's going to be a really cool build. Keep it coming SK.

 

[WheelinKing]

I like your style

 

[badhoopty]

dig it!

 

[TSK]

"thumbsup"

This looks like it's going to be a really cool build. Keep it coming SK.

dig it!

Thanks guys"thumbsup"

Curious how this will turn out with that chassis.

I think it will work fantastic. Light, stiff and adjustable. I know Del Monte wouldn't put it out if it wasn't a top notch performaer.

I like your style

Thank man, likewise. Thanks a nice clean rig"thumbsup"

 

[TSK]

Things come in, things go out. And thus is the circle of life.

Mamba Micro X and HH Puller Pro Stubby 2200kv arrived.

2660 big bores disassembled and headed out to Dlux for some lathe work. I never cared much for SCX shocks (although I still use them). IMO the traxxas big bores are a far superior shock, although definitely not scale looking. I figured giving them the lathe job will make them a bit more shiny, and if I slap a ICON stocker on it, no one will complain:lmao:

 

[fr8cture]

I see alot of parts but no scx 2?? lets go! :ror:

 

[TSK]

I see alot of parts but no scx 2?? lets go! :ror:

Aw come on... I showed the sealed box in the first post

 

[TSK]

Got some true SCX 10 II stuff done today. Built the axles and some of the links to get it mocked up a bit. I am truly impressed with the engineering Axial put into the new axles. They almost look like mini class axles compared to the AX style axles of old. Fitment of everything was dead on and just an absolute breeze to assemble. I should note that I also installed an extra 5x11x4mm bearing at each end of the rear axle before the lockouts and axles shafts went in. Axial was kind enough to have a flange on the in or portion of the rear axles to keep those hearings located in the housing.

For mock up I am using a Vanquish CMS/lpanhard upper mount, simply because it booted up and actually lines up almost perfect with the axle's panhard mount. Don't mind the Y Town CF winch plate being in the back. I just wanted to see how stiff it makes the chassis, and boy does it do an amazing job. I am shocked at how such a simple piece makes such a huge difference. Unfortunately, part of it does not clear the VP CMS. I may try to have a modified version made, that will mimic the stock SCX2 battery and wind mount positioning.

A closer look at the front CMS. I am using a Jato rod end on one end to compensate for the increased height that the chassis carries for the upper panhard. Looks a little long, but I will wait until the truck is as ride height before I mess with it to better center the axle. Front and rear uppers need to be shortened to comply with the Y Town upper link gel. One other small detail I noticed is that the rear uppers were of mismatched length. One is about 2mm longer than the other. No biggie since I won't be using them, but thought it is worth mentioning.

 

[fr8cture]

Why those are some nice axles you have there. :ror: :mrgreen:

 

[Del Monte]

Sleeper build! I think that is the first II build with our chassis

I think a new front tray would be a nice addition "thumbsup"

 

[TSK]

Sleeper build! I think that is the first II build with our chassis

I think a new front tray would be a nice addition "thumbsup"

The build will be even sleepier in the next couple weeks as I head to Cuba. This thread might be on page 5 by the time I get back:shock:

Hopefully my chicken scrath design process works out:ror:

ON a side note, I thought it would be worth mentioning to any vendors that might be listening (cough cough - Vanquish) ...

It would be great if you guys could make the right side C hun/axle panhard mount a 2 piece deisgn that would allow for caster adjustment without rotating the panhard back at the same time. I myself, would like to add an extra notch or two of caster.

 

[TSK]

Small no picture update while I work on my suspension links. I am using Vanquish 3/16" Ti. I am shooting for a wheelbase around the 11.75"-12" mark. I have the rear pretty close, and the front only really needs to have the panhard length dialed in. I will however, have to fisdle with the steering linkage a bit though. I will try to post a pic of my progress in the morning.

Something worth mentioning though, I, like many, prefer the use of the trusted revo rod ends. Sadly, on these scx2 axles, the revos will need a little shave job on the perimeter surrounding the pivot ball (just like what was necessary to use revo rod ends on the front lower link mounts onthe xr10). The lower link mounts have a bit of bind when the links are level (viewed from the side) and free up in movement as they articulate. The upper link mounts on the axle are another story though. They sort of have free movement rotating vertically, but have very little torsional freedom as the revo rod ends have to be positioned at about 15-20* within the mounting tabs. There is no significant loss of articulation (not within the confines of shock travel anyways). Sadly I feel this is a HUGE design flaw on Axial's behalf. Yes, the 4mm threaded rod ends they have now are better than the 3mm versions of old, but they still are made of the same soft, malleable plastic of old, and when it comes to performance and durability, nothing beats a revo rod end.

Other little notes, looks like the UA chassis could use a third upper link mount location, below the two existing ones. Due to the low vertical separation with the scx2 axles, the upper chassis side postion looks unusable. Also, to sit the axles at the proper pinion angle, the upper links are about 15-18mm shorter than the lowers on my set up. This is causing a bit of axle clocking during compression. Looks to be about 5-10* loss of effective camber on the front end.

It should be noted that the Undercover Agent chassis was designed around OG SCX axles, and since I haven't hung those axles off of it, I can't say how the geometry differs. Also being that I am basically ignoring all of Axial's r&d by doing my thing, these nuances are not surprising. In the grand scheme of things, a driver of my low skill will probably not notice theee things while out on the trail/rocks. In fact, I am pretty sure most all of these aftermarket "high clearance"chassis wil have similar geometry issues.

That's all for now. Thanks for looking.

 

[svt923]

Something worth mentioning though, I, like many, prefer the use of the trusted revo rod ends. Sadly, on these scx2 axles, the revos will need a little shave job on the perimeter surrounding the pivot ball (just like what was necessary to use revo rod ends on the front lower link mounts onthe xr10). The lower link mounts have a bit of bind when the links are level (viewed from the side) and free up in movement as they articulate. The upper link mounts on the axle are another story though. They sort of have free movement rotating vertically, but have very little torsional freedom as the revo rod ends have to be positioned at about 15-20* within the mounting tabs. There is no significant loss of articulation (not within the confines of shock travel anyways). Sadly I feel this is a HUGE design flaw on Axial's behalf. Yes, the 4mm threaded rod ends they have now are better than the 3mm versions of old, but they still are made of the same soft, malleable plastic of old, and when it comes to performance and durability, nothing beats a revo rod end.

I have the Incision link set on my truck with the Revo ends so I experienced this as well. The axle housing required quite a bit of dremeling under the rod end to get the upper links to move freely.

 

[TSK]

I have the Incision link set on my truck with the Revo ends so I experienced this as well. The axle housing required quite a bit of dremeling under the rod end to get the upper links to move freely.

The revos will need to be shaved similar to this to clear the lower link mouint. As far as the upper lnk mount, I will look into it more closely when I get back from vavation. I'd hate to clearance the axle housing too much.

 

[fr8cture]

Even without the ends on the axle pivoting I get too much flex on my rig. Lol

Sent from my VS986 using Tapatalk

 

[TSK]

Even without the ends on the axle pivoting I get too much flex on my rig. Lol

Sent from my VS986 using Tapatalk

It does seem like the axles articulate good enough. And good enough is typically good enough. But I figure it's worth pointing out.

 

[TSK]

Time for a small update. Got the truck to roller status. I wasn't liking camber loss up front so I ended up going to the stock front upper link position. Did the same in the rear to allow for better drive shaft clearance as the HR trans has one of those extended outputs on the spur gear side of the case. I also ended up using the stock rod ends on the uppers to alleviate the binding at the axle side upperl lin mount. I was simply too lasy to mod the housing or revo rod ends. Dlux lathed 2660 big bores installed with mini-t pinks and reds. There is 30 wt in them which is far too heavy for the valving so I will swap out to 22.5wt when time permits.

Steering setup. I had to mount the drag link where the tire rod typically mounts to get the steering geo right.