Well this is my scale Bronco. As with most scale truck this one has TLT axles. It actually started out it's life as Full TLT Rockbuster, bought new from Ultimate Hobbies.  I started out with the full intention of building a scale crawler out of it but descided to start out building box stock to see how it was. I realy enjoyed it stock, especially after locking the center diff. It was a crazy wheelie machine. Almost didn't want to change it. I built it using a Dynimite Power Pulse ESC, Futaba TX & RX, and a Savage steering servo, and a tamiya silver can.  But then after a while I streatched it out but using 3/16" threaded rod sleaved with 1/4" aluminum tubing for links, stole the trans and sliders out of my rustler, cut down the trans, flopped the stock side plates side to side and tuned em inside out to fit the trans in the stock chassis, tossed on the rear Rustler shocks, and a pair of rear pede shcosk I got from a friend, and stole the ProLine F150 body off the rustler. I now had my first incarnation of a scale crawler. Surprisingly it worked well and I was pleased with it.         Another thing I did, I wanted to retain the protection of the servo and link that was provided by the stock axle bumpers, but they were a bit bulky. So after some thinking I cut up the bumper some to add clearance but keep the protection.  I left the truck this was for some time, can't remember how long exactly, But I thrived for more. Mainly traction and better looks. Come Christmas time I found under the tree 4 ProLine Moabs, 4 front pede rims, Integy 55T and an HPI Bronco body. To start I tossed the Moabs on the truck as is. Kinda looked funny, needed to trim the body for clearance but worked even better now.   For the foams I found some yellow packaging foam that whas about the right thickness so I cut a few pieces to the right length and width and notched them with several "V" patterns.   Shortly after this I had a bit of a misfortune. The Tamiya style connector from the battery to the Dynimite ESC shorted out and caught on fire while it was sitting on my comuter desk. When it did so the truck took off full throttle in reverse across the desk. This happened just after I pluged in a fresh pack. Luckily I caught the truck and was able to just blow out the fire and disconnect the battery only recieving very minor burns on a few fingers. But the house stunk like burnt plastic for over a week.    The body also suffered from some fire damage.   After the fire I descided to rebuild the entire truck. I already had the Bronco body, and I wanted a better chassis. I looked at the few after market TLT crawler chassis's that were out at that time (not many) and just didn't want to spend that kind of money. Then I seen my Juggy chassis laying there. I removed it from the Jugg when I purchased a TXT to replace it so I figured I give it a shot. I used only the aluminum, not the plastic. I flipped the upper long plates inside out and flipped the lower sideplates upside down to use for link mounts. Also the pede/rusty shocks were too big so I went back to the stock TLT shocks but flipped them upside down to keep the weight low. The Esc was replaced with a generic of the Futaba MC330CR. Here are a few pics of the initial mock up.   This setup uses the same trans from the rustler but layed down now. I used some aluminum angle to make the trans mount. Also made a new front servo/link mount. Here is what I did for the servo/link mount.     Then after laying out some paint on the body I had my first scale crawler.       For a little added scale'ness I painted the rear diff to replicate a chrome diff cover.  And lastly I added a Savage front bumper by making brackets from the same angle aluminum used for the trans mount so the bumper is mounted ridged to the frame.    That is how it sits as of the writing of this. I have had some problems with chassis flex due to my lack of proper crossbracing during the initial assembly. I have also had problems with the U-joint popping out of the yoke for the rear driveshaft at the trans. And with the Integy lathe being so torquey along with the other problems the truck is just slowly tearing itself apart. So a rebuild will be in it's near future. Not sure how it will be done as of yet but I have been looking at the many chassis kits avalible as of late and have gotten a few good ideas. Most likely it will end up with a home made chassis of some sort providing more flex, a lower COG, and better drive shaft angles. But we will see. Only time will tell!! Thank you again for all those who voted. With all the nice trucks on the site and the trucks I was up against, I didn't belive that I would have won. |