Volvo Wagon Axial SMT10

[mmatthews]

Castle SV3 3800 KV

Hitec 7954

Steel transmission gears

Steel axle tubes f&r

STRC hubs and knuckles

CBE aluminum links

Aluminum steering links

STRC aluminum shock bodies and caps

Bess suspension straps

Proline Brawler wheels

Proline Destroyer tires

ESS one sound module (not here yet)

Barbie Volvo station wagon body

Dumb build, but fun.

Sold most of the original parts as soon as it showed it.

Started ordering new parts.

Rit Dye made easy work of changing the wheel color.

Hardest part was coming up with a way to mount the body. Ended up going through the fenders. Place a spacer between body and shock mount area on chassis. Not the easiest to take on and off, but shouldn't need to remove it often.

Unfortunately the Rit Dye wouldn't take to the body. Had to break out the trusty rattle can. It bonded descent, but I know it'll scratch. Fortunately a black Sharpie is a great match.

Added some green to accent the chassis. Also added the blower and headers. I later tossed the blower in favor of just the blower cap.

Mocked it up to get some outdoor pictures. I quickly removed the decals. Just wasn't the look I wanted. At this point I was still waiting to upgrade the shocks and install the "glass".

Got my aluminum shock bodies and caps in. Also installed my limiting straps. I've played with fluid and spring weights. I think I'll still need to dial them in. I'll have to drive it and see.

At this point it was down to the final touches. Needed to add the green "glass". Do some paint touch up. Adjust shock springs again. Removed the blower. And yes I know pro trucks have the motor down in the chassis, but I was going for more of a home brew, southern rig. That's the reason for the blower cap and fender headers.

So at this point all I'm waiting on is the sound module. Wanting to do some open header blast across the yard. The Brawlers are stock offset. It will have very limited steering radius. I might add some 1/2" RC4WD spacers later. Using stock offset requires a steering link that stays parallel with the axle. Any bend at the knuckle will interfere with the wheel. Wheelbase is 11.5". Being so short it's for sure going to be a handful to drive. Hopefully I have it low enough to help with handling a bit. I did lock the front diff and left the rear open. I've done this on a previous build, and it really seemed to work. Pretty sure first outing will knock the headers off.

Well that's it. A big, dumb, useless, monster wagon. Hope you like it.




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[mmatthews]

sweet rig! that is an original idea for sure! very well done!

Thank you.


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[mmatthews]

Took some outdoor shots today. Actually ran a few batteries through it. Blast to drive. Did a little body mod to reduce tire rub. Adjusted my shock springs. Using the firms front and rear. Have a 15t pinion with stock spur gear. On both 2s and 3s it seems to be good temp wise.

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[HDMM]

Not bad for a "goofy" project....lol. It does have that classic monster truck stance.

Did you have any issues mounting the proline wheels to the AR60's? I was going to order some, but friend of mine said he was having a hard time mounting them on his SMT10, that there almost wasn't enough threads left for the wheels nuts. I couldn't see how that could be?

 

[mmatthews]

Not bad for a "goofy" project....lol. It does have that classic monster truck stance.

Did you have any issues maounting the proline wheels to the AR60's? I was going to order some, but friend of mine said he was having a hard time mounting them on his SMT10, that there almost wasn't enough threads left for the wheels nuts. I couldn't see how that could be?

You have to use a flat wheel hex. The ones that come on the SMT10 have a lip on them. This makes them too thick.
#ax90035 is the flat "thin" version.


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[HDMM]

You have to use a flat wheel hex. The ones that come on the SMT10 have a lip on them. This makes them too thick.
I'll look for a part number. I couldn't find it, but I had it somewhere. I just used an Axial hex, but a lot of after market are the same flat type.


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That's exactly what I thought and was trying to tell him. He said he put on some other hexes and there still wasn't enough thread, I think he might be trying to use proline wide hexes from a slash, which would explain why there aren't too many threads left for the wheel nuts.

 

[mmatthews]

That's exactly what I thought and was trying to tell him. He said he put on some other hexes and there still wasn't enough thread, I think he might be trying to use proline wide hexes from a slash, which would explain why there aren't too many threads left for the wheel nuts.

Ya, I just edited my post with the part number. With the thin hex I had no issues.


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[mmatthews]

Added an ESS One + sound unit.


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[mmatthews]

Volvo comparison shots.

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[Szczerba]

Nice work on the build mang. Always doin' up the cool stuff.

 

[mmatthews]

Nice work on the build mang. Always doin' up the cool stuff.

Thanks Shane. Appreciate it.


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[BJoe]

Added an ESS One + sound unit.


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GAAHHH, I need one of those for my Grave Robber Wheely King!

 

[mmatthews]

GAAHHH, I need one of those for my Grave Robber Wheely King!

Shocking how fun it is to drive with the engine sound.


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[BJoe]

Who did you get it through? I tried Tower when I was still working for a hobby shop, but they didn't have it on their site.

Just looked it up, there's a new ESS-One PLus, they must have been between the normal and Plus models when I looked this spring.

 

[mmatthews]

Who did you get it through? I tried Tower when I was still working for a hobby shop, but they didn't have it on their site.

Just looked it up, there's a new ESS-One PLus, they must have been between the normal and Plus models when I looked this spring.

Mine is a Plus version. Ordered it off eBay from a U.S. supplier.
I had some initial issues getting it set up. It comes with a single wire off the unit that connects to a USB port to load and modify sounds. The single wire connection doesn't do anything on my unit. I've read others had the same issue. The work around is to use the three wire that goes to the throttle position on the ESC. Once I did that I was fixed. I was able to download and modify the sound I wanted.


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