Scaling a TRX4 Sport factory body and general build thread

[FJC_GUY]

When I bought my TRX4 Sport I had planned on dumping the factory body and going to an actual branded body. Somewhere along the way I decided I really like the Sport body and decided to build on it for a while. Everyone thinks it's a standard cab Tacoma anyway.

I'll add some photos at the bottom but basically, I've added aluminum axle housings from Yeah Racing, and some Treal caster blocks after I broke one of the front housings in the snow. Nothing much done to it other than a Hobbywing 1080.

After I picked up a 3D printer things have progressed faster. I added the lighting kit when I got the truck but I'm currently in the process of kitting the truck out with a dual swingout rear bumper I'm modifying to be a direct fit, the bed rack which I'm going to swap the headache rack over to a low bar setup instead because it's fugly at some angles, and an ARB style front bumper that will get a winch in it by the time it's done.

The pictures are all pretty much mockup at this point. I got some of the redesign done over the weekend but the rear bumper print failed 4 times so I moved back to the front. All of the small accessory parts are from a file pack I pulled from Thiniverse and the bumper models started as https://www.thingiverse.com/4am_engineering/designs models that I have modified/am modifying in Tinkercad, as you can see in the pics I changed the Jerrycan holder orientation and doubled it to make room for the spare and allow me to move the spare closer to center.

The design and printing side is all still pretty new to me so just getting a part to fit feels like a victory at this point.

 

[Addict Rc]

When I bought my TRX4 Sport I had planned on dumping the factory body and going to an actual branded body. Somewhere along the way I decided I really like the Sport body and decided to build on it for a while. Everyone thinks it's a standard cab Tacoma anyway.

I'll add some photos at the bottom but basically, I've added aluminum axle housings from Yeah Racing, and some Treal caster blocks after I broke one of the front housings in the snow. Nothing much done to it other than a Hobbywing 1080.

After I picked up a 3D printer things have progressed faster. I added the lighting kit when I got the truck but I'm currently in the process of kitting the truck out with a dual swingout rear bumper I'm modifying to be a direct fit, the bed rack which I'm going to swap the headache rack over to a low bar setup instead because it's fugly at some angles, and an ARB style front bumper that will get a winch in it by the time it's done.

The pictures are all pretty much mockup at this point. I got some of the redesign done over the weekend but the rear bumper print failed 4 times so I moved back to the front. All of the small accessory parts are from a file pack I pulled from Thiniverse and the bumper models started as https://www.thingiverse.com/4am_engineering/designs models that I have modified/am modifying in Tinkercad, as you can see in the pics I changed the Jerrycan holder orientation and doubled it to make room for the spare and allow me to move the spare closer to center.

The design and printing side is all still pretty new to me so just getting a part to fit feels like a victory at this point.

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wow that thing looks sick when i first saw the sport i thought it was a tocoma intill i look closer

 

[FJC_GUY]

wow that thing looks sick when i first saw the sport i thought it was a tocoma intill i look closer

Thanks, part of the thought behind making the bumpers work with adjustable length mounts that work with the factory mounts is that if I want to swap to a different 313mm body, which I have several files for once I get a little better with 3D printing, it will be an easier swap-over.

 

[Addict Rc]

Thanks, part of the thought behind making the bumpers work with adjustable length mounts that work with the factory mounts is that if I want to swap to a different 313mm body, which I have several files for once I get a little better with 3D printing, it will be an easier swap-over.

i want a 3d printer maybe next year

 

[FJC_GUY]

i want a 3d printer maybe next year

Honestly one of the most useful hobby tools I've purchased. I use it for my RC stuff, diecast stuff, and have made quite a few useful household things with it, including a bunch of stuff for my wife's Cricut.

It's amazing what a sub $300 printer can do these days.

 

[Addict Rc]

Honestly one of the most useful hobby tools I've purchased. I use it for my RC stuff, diecast stuff, and have made quite a few useful household things with it, including a bunch of stuff for my wife's Cricut.

It's amazing what a sub $300 printer can do these days.

I'm looking at the $220 one on amazon its called the ender pro 3 i think but if i got it i would build a 100% custom rc car but i need a pc too

 

[FJC_GUY]

I'm looking at the $220 one on amazon its called the ender pro 3 i think but if i got it i would build a 100% custom rc car but i need a pc too

I picked up an Anycubic Mega Pro a few months ago and other than some made in China assembly issues I had to work through it's been great since I worked out the kinks. Funny thing is after I got it and showed my boss what it can do he had me order one to do prototyping at the shop. It had none of the assembly issues the printer I ordered 2 weeks before it had.

 

[Addict Rc]

I picked up an Anycubic Mega Pro a few months ago and other than some made in China assembly issues I had to work through it's been great since I worked out the kinks. Funny thing is after I got it and showed my boss what it can do he had me order one to do prototyping at the shop. It had none of the assembly issues the printer I ordered 2 weeks before it had.

weird must have been a bad little batch or just yours

 

[FJC_GUY]

weird must have been a bad little batch or just yours

If you read the Amazon reviews and take them with a grain of salt as you always should it shows. I'm a fixer and mechanically inclined so it was a pain but not difficult to work through the issues. Someone that got it and didn't have the know how to work on it would get frustrated quickly.

Test fit the front bumper last night, first pic is the original I printed just to see if the size would even work. Grey is the updated revision, I removed more of the "wing" from the ends than I should have and am going to add that back in so it wraps a little, originals were far too long and hit the tires when articulated.

Mount and position fit right, it was a fast PLA+ print but I'm going to bash it in the yard a little this weekend and see how it holds up before doing a final revision and print in PETG. Mounts were just a quick Tinkercad slap together for fitment, the final version will be cleaned up from that.

I think the barwork needs to be tilted back a little so it is a little closer to the body but overall pretty happy with the fit.

 

[Addict Rc]

If you read the Amazon reviews and take them with a grain of salt as you always should it shows. I'm a fixer and mechanically inclined so it was a pain but not difficult to work through the issues. Someone that got it and didn't have the know how to work on it would get frustrated quickly.

Test fit the front bumper last night, first pic is the original I printed just to see if the size would even work. Grey is the updated revision, I removed more of the "wing" from the ends than I should have and am going to add that back in so it wraps a little, originals were far too long and hit the tires when articulated.

Mount and position fit right, it was a fast PLA+ print but I'm going to bash it in the yard a little this weekend and see how it holds up before doing a final revision and print in PETG. Mounts were just a quick Tinkercad slap together for fitment, the final version will be cleaned up from that.

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I think the barwork needs to be tilted back a little so it is a little closer to the body but overall pretty happy with the fit.
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looks amazing and i agree a little tilt back

 

[Greywolf74]

lookin' good

 

[FJC_GUY]

Got the rear to print without adhesion issues last night so got up early to test fit this morning.

The black one is the original design other than me hacking off the tab style mounts and gluing the factory TRX4 mount to it for mockup purposes.

The grey is my modified design with an integrated mount for the TRX4 factory mount. Fit looks like what I was going for aside from still needing to push the tire towards center and extend the post a little with a hex built in so the tire can't rotate.

Print quality is crap, this is for test fit and to bash a little for weak spots this weekend.

Fairly happy with it at this point. I'll probably shoot a little flat black on before running it because it makes it easier to see any layer separations that may occur.

Some extra Vorteks lower arm pins were perfect for spindles for the swingout test fitting.

 

[Addict Rc]

Got the rear to print without adhesion issues last night so got up early to test fit this morning.

The black one is the original design other than me hacking off the tab style mounts and gluing the factory TRX4 mount to it for mockup purposes.

The grey is my modified design with an integrated mount for the TRX4 factory mount. Fit looks like what I was going for aside from still needing to push the tire towards center and extend the post a little with a hex built in so the tire can't rotate.

Print quality is crap, this is for test fit and to bash a little for weak spots this weekend.

Fairly happy with it at this point. I'll probably shoot a little flat black on before running it because it makes it easier to see any layer separations that may occur.

Some extra Vorteks lower arm pins were perfect for spindles for the swingout test fitting.

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looks sick love it

 

[FJC_GUY]

looks sick love it

Thanks, I realized this morning that I screwed up my lower layer setting which is why it looks like that. It did print fast though which is what I wanted.

Now to see if it will take a hit in this material before printing it in the tougher stuff.

 

[Addict Rc]

Thanks, I realized this morning that I screwed up my lower layer setting which is why it looks like that. It did print fast though which is what I wanted.

Now to see if it will take a hit in this material before printing it in the tougher stuff.

didnt even notice if it is more noticable in person if you feel like it print another and keep that one as a spare

 

[FJC_GUY]

Ended up reprinting the rear bumper after another adjustment in Tinkercad, adjusted the tire carrier towards center and I like how it turned out. Final will be in a different material but I'm going to run this one until I break it first. Fit is great on the front but I realized I don't have any glue suitable for attaching the barwork to the base so I went out and banged them up on the woodpile and they both took some solid hits without issue.

Truck actually climbs a little better now. That tire leveraged out over the rear required adding a bit of preload to the rear coils. It grabbed better and wasn't any less stable side to side which was a little bit of a concern. Descent didn't really seem affected either.

 

[Greywolf74]

Lookin' good!

 

[Addict Rc]

amazing can barely tell its the stock body

 

[FJC_GUY]

Torture tested to failure this weekend. Front took hit after hit on the woodpile and is holding up fine. Rear snapped off right where it goes into the mount. I expected it to break and where it did is a design issue I caused, at least partially. The woodpile is tougher on parts than rock usually is because there are a lot of voids so the truck is "catching itself" on the bumpers pretty frequently when it drops off something.

So I need to redesign the shackle mounts and the hitch a little because they are hard hangups right now. Printing it in grey and putting a light coat of black on it illustrated where the problems were pretty well.

It's all a learning experience right now so it breaking bothers me less than when a print fails. Leaving on vacation Saturday morning so projects are getting shelved for a couple of weeks.

 

[Addict Rc]

dang well atleast you have a3d printer good luck maybe try a metal mount?