Projekt FrankenBandit

Welcome to RCTalk

Come join other RC enthusiasts! You'll be able to discuss, share and private message with other members of our community.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

bozo

What, me worry?
Supporter
Military Veteran
Rig of the Month Winner
Build Thread Contributor
Messages
269
Reaction score
843
Location
St. Pete, FLA
RC Driving Style
  1. Bashing
  2. Scale Builder
After building my Rat Rod https://www.rctalk.com/forum/threads/new-build-project-rat-rod-rustler.137088/ I was impressed on how easy it is to stretch a Bandit chassis.

Having a TON of Traxxas parts in the bin, I decided to build an extended chassis mid-motor "thing" just to see how well it runs.
Only "real" Traxxas parts used are the chassis pan, turnbuckles, upper deck, front bumper, rear A arms and some Anaconda 4wd wheels.
Rest of the parts used:
RPM Front bumper (moved to the rear), Gearbox, and soon to be added wide front A arms.
Integy shocks
Chineseium shock towers, front bulkhead, steering blocks and hub carriers
Innovateking 120A esc and 3650 3900kv motor
DumboRC X6 TX/RX with gyro
Gearing is 90/23, that is just a starting point. I also have a few other assorted KV motors to play with.

Extending the chassis was pretty simple, one 24" x 2" x 1/8" aluminium bar from Lowes ($15) and a bunch of attachment hardware.
Because of the weird bump on the bottom of the gearbox, I decided to cut off the motor mount section of a spare Slash chassis and use that as both a spacer to level the bottom of the gearbox and provide secure mounting points for the rear shock tower. This makes reversing the gearbox easy, and with the RPM gearbox separate A arm mounts I was able to keep a 3 deg. toe-in.
I decided on a 16" (406mm) wheelbase in case I ever want to use a 1:7 scale body in the future (think Aarma Limitless). I cut and drilled the bottom aluminium piece to run from the aluminum front bulkhead all the way back to the motor mounts. I fabbed an upper deck from the same aluminium bar and attached it to the rear shock tower and to the center of the Traxxas chassis pan. Overall it's really rigid and not really that heavy (I'll weigh it later). I left about an extra inch on the rear of both aluminium bars for future expansion.
One of the reasons I stretched it and reversed the gearbox was to move the CG forward. CG is now just about 50/50, and the RX gyro sits directly on the CG (see pic with clothespin attached to current CG) and centerline. From what I understand, this will provide the best performance.
I still have to add some more reinforcement bolts between the chassis pan and aluminium bottom bar and do some cleanup, but besides adding the RPM wide front A arms it's finished.
Not having a Bandit body, I used a New Bright toy grade body from the thrift store and added a "batwing" made from a piece of 1/8" nylon sheet.
So far it runs really stable (limited to the road length in front of my house) and this week I'll take it to a bigger parking lot and really wring it out. The 16" wheelbase and 13" track width really help.
If anyone has any questions or suggestions, fire away. I've examined many Bandit conversions and I think this method is pretty elegant and easy.
BTW, those ARE crutch rubber tips on the front shock towers. I had some extras from my walker :D:D:D
PXL_20230415_143605673.jpg

PXL_20230415_153235087.jpg
PXL_20230415_143656839.jpg
PXL_20230415_143759059.jpg
PXL_20230415_143805898.jpg
PXL_20230415_143831462.jpg
PXL_20230415_143853575.jpg
PXL_20230415_145303200.jpg
PXL_20230415_145312031.jpg


PXL_20230415_151907713.jpg
 
Nice build!
Let's see some video of it!
 
After building my Rat Rod https://www.rctalk.com/forum/threads/new-build-project-rat-rod-rustler.137088/ I was impressed on how easy it is to stretch a Bandit chassis.

Having a TON of Traxxas parts in the bin, I decided to build an extended chassis mid-motor "thing" just to see how well it runs.
Only "real" Traxxas parts used are the chassis pan, turnbuckles, upper deck, front bumper, rear A arms and some Anaconda 4wd wheels.
Rest of the parts used:
RPM Front bumper (moved to the rear), Gearbox, and soon to be added wide front A arms.
Integy shocks
Chineseium shock towers, front bulkhead, steering blocks and hub carriers
Innovateking 120A esc and 3650 3900kv motor
DumboRC X6 TX/RX with gyro
Gearing is 90/23, that is just a starting point. I also have a few other assorted KV motors to play with.

Extending the chassis was pretty simple, one 24" x 2" x 1/8" aluminium bar from Lowes ($15) and a bunch of attachment hardware.
Because of the weird bump on the bottom of the gearbox, I decided to cut off the motor mount section of a spare Slash chassis and use that as both a spacer to level the bottom of the gearbox and provide secure mounting points for the rear shock tower. This makes reversing the gearbox easy, and with the RPM gearbox separate A arm mounts I was able to keep a 3 deg. toe-in.
I decided on a 16" (406mm) wheelbase in case I ever want to use a 1:7 scale body in the future (think Aarma Limitless). I cut and drilled the bottom aluminium piece to run from the aluminum front bulkhead all the way back to the motor mounts. I fabbed an upper deck from the same aluminium bar and attached it to the rear shock tower and to the center of the Traxxas chassis pan. Overall it's really rigid and not really that heavy (I'll weigh it later). I left about an extra inch on the rear of both aluminium bars for future expansion.
One of the reasons I stretched it and reversed the gearbox was to move the CG forward. CG is now just about 50/50, and the RX gyro sits directly on the CG (see pic with clothespin attached to current CG) and centerline. From what I understand, this will provide the best performance.
I still have to add some more reinforcement bolts between the chassis pan and aluminium bottom bar and do some cleanup, but besides adding the RPM wide front A arms it's finished.
Not having a Bandit body, I used a New Bright toy grade body from the thrift store and added a "batwing" made from a piece of 1/8" nylon sheet.
So far it runs really stable (limited to the road length in front of my house) and this week I'll take it to a bigger parking lot and really wring it out. The 16" wheelbase and 13" track width really help.
If anyone has any questions or suggestions, fire away. I've examined many Bandit conversions and I think this method is pretty elegant and easy.
BTW, those ARE crutch rubber tips on the front shock towers. I had some extras from my walker :D:D:D
View attachment 163667
View attachment 163678View attachment 163669View attachment 163671View attachment 163672View attachment 163673View attachment 163674View attachment 163675View attachment 163676

View attachment 163677

If you cut scallops into the trailing edge of you spoiler it would look like a cape. ;) very cool. :thumbs-up:
 
If you cut scallops into the trailing edge of you spoiler it would look like a cape.
I just may do that. Either one big scallop or three smaller ones.
It's a window scraper for wintertime bashing
:thumbs-up::D:D:D That's what my wife said... even tho we live in FLA ya never know....
Let's see some video of it!
May be awhile before I will be able to do vids, but I'm planning on it
 
Some updates on the project...
I used a Chinesium front shock tower and bulkhead to add weight to the front. Bad choice.
Operator induced unplanned change of direction caused a curb impact head on at full speed. Car quit, me= OH NO!
No obvious damage, so I pulled the body and the battery had come disconnected- hooked it back up and everything seemed back to normal.
Meanwhile, the extra wide RPM front A arms had arrived in the mail, so I decided to install them.
When I started disassembly, I found that the front bracket and both long A arm mounting screws were badly bent. Also, the bulkhead holes for the screws were twisted out of alignment.
I decided that there was too much rigidity in the front end so I replaced the Chinesium parts with an RPM shock tower and bulkhead and replaced the A arm screws. Also added some more foam behind bumper.
Went out and whacked it into a curb on purpose, much better! no bends, damage or misalignment.
Note to self- use flexible stuff.
PXL_20230422_170020828.jpg

If you cut scallops into the trailing edge of you spoiler it would look like a cape.
Great idea, went ahead and did that. Much cooler looking! Thanks for the suggestion!
Also added nerf plates on both sides to protect rear end from side impacts using the same material as the wing.
PXL_20230424_174826460.jpg

PXL_20230424_174919646.jpg

Installed bigger wheels and changed the spur to 83T and pinion to 24T, top speed is 39.9MPH motor temps 119 deg.
Moved the receiver to the side pan to allow the body to sit lower.
Car is very stable, even with the gyro turned off it handles really well. Still too much body roll, I may fab up some sway bars to reduce that.
PXL_20230424_163415806.jpg
 
:thumbs-up::D:D:D That's what my wife said... even tho we live in FLA ya never know....
Ya never know. I had a girl motion me to use my hose and rub the ice off her window. It was only low 30s and I was washing the car anyways.

Buggy looks fun. Looks like she can slide while still in control.
 
Buggy looks fun. Looks like she can slide while still in control.
It's a blast! I put some Duratrax SpeedTreads on it and now it's all about throttle control. With the long/wide wheelbase and improved CG it sticks great and with a little "goose" you can kick the rear out with control as much as you want. Drifts like a beast! It's got a gyro and that really helps but even turned down it's very manageable.
I did a few more things, mostly cosmetic. Added some engine/exhausts from a thrift store Hot Wheels, cut a curve in the side nerf panels and removed all the rear bumper stuff. Main thing I did was to fab up a front wing/bumper out of the same material I've used before along with some modded RPM parts. Should help in impacts and downforce (I hope). Next is tuning- Got to balance out springs, shock oil, motor, gearing and ESC tweaking. This car is just for parking lot bashing, so top speed isn't real important. Main fun is slinging it around and drifting it in turns, pure 2WD heaven!
As far as a "theme" goes, the Batmobile genre appealed to me at first, but the overall shape screams "Red Baron" so I'm going with that. I'm looking into Iron Crosses as well as some more cosmetic changes to make it more "WWI" like. Maybe even some Spandaus...
PXL_20230504_212441429.jpg

PXL_20230504_212601585.jpg

PXL_20230504_212623980.jpg


It even stands up with stability :D
 
Big change of concept on the FrankenBandit.
I decided the red body was just too stupid, so I got a JConcepts 0043 Illuzion body to replace it. (BTW, red body still fits... maybe my Xmas rig?).
Rebuilt the front bumper area using a Traxxas 9420 Front Bumper from a Drag Slash, with a custom cut foam insert. Cut off the Bandit body mount on the upper chassis and replaced it with a standard round body post. Drilled a bunch of new mounting holes for the bumper.
Moved the receiver to the ESC mounting plate and rerouted the antenna wire to the original Bandit mounting location.
Switched the motor/ESC/TX/RX to a Traxxas VXL system for now, that may change in the future.
Car with battery weighs 5.3 lbs. and is 23.5" long, 14" front track, 13" rear track and 17" wheelbase.
Go Green! I had some extra Tamiya metallic green poly paint so on it went. Much happier with the overall appearance and I think the front bumper issue is sorted out.
Now I need a name and livery...
Any suggestions?
PXL_20230607_150403762.jpg
PXL_20230607_150424079.jpg
PXL_20230607_150444648.jpg
PXL_20230607_150456672.jpg
PXL_20230607_150542072.jpg
PXL_20230607_151845236.jpg
PXL_20230607_150519777.jpg
PXL_20230607_150602011.jpg
 
Hmmm... Nice idea...
Have to figure out masking, color etc.
Think about it. A decent portion of Florida people may believe it is real. 🤣

Car looks amazing. I hate that green but it looks so right here. 🙂 needs green leds or green El wire. I like your choice of aluminum placement also.

What's with the rear arms? Looks cool.

What's with the reversed motor wires?
 
Think about it. A decent portion of Florida people may believe it is real. 🤣
Florida man approves- the stupidity in this state is stupefying :eek:
I hate that green but it looks so right here
I got the paint for another project but hated the color also. Now it's growing on me...
What's with the rear arms? Looks cool.

What's with the reversed motor wires?
Rear arms are from an old Rustler project, painted with color flip paint.
Motor wires are reversed because the whole diff/motor assy. is backwards (mid motor). Reversing the wires makes it operate normally.
 
Back
Top