Scaling a TRX4 Sport factory body and general build thread

[FJC_GUY]

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

If I remember at home tonight I'll snap a photo. It broke because it was a lower quality print, and I made an error in my design I didn't notice until after I printed it so it was weaker than it should have been. It may still need an insert of some sort but when I get back from vacation I plan to fix some design issues and do a better quality print.

Another part of the issue is the shackle mounts and hitch are very squared off on the leading edge so they kept digging into the wood when it would drop on them. The shackle mounts are going to get removed and I'll either move the hitch up and into the bumper itself or at the very least rework it so it has less to hang up on.

I think I'm going to make a hitch recovery point like I use on my 1:1 that has a shackle on it and just slides into the hitch receiver.

 

[Addict Rc]

If I remember at home tonight I'll snap a photo. It broke because it was a lower quality print, and I made an error in my design I didn't notice until after I printed it so it was weaker than it should have been. It may still need an insert of some sort but when I get back from vacation I plan to fix some design issues and do a better quality print.

Another part of the issue is the shackle mounts and hitch are very squared off on the leading edge so they kept digging into the wood when it would drop on them. The shackle mounts are going to get removed and I'll either move the hitch up and into the bumper itself or at the very least rework it so it has less to hang up on.

I think I'm going to make a hitch recovery point like I use on my 1:1 that has a shackle on it and just slides into the hitch receiver.

that would be cool on the lookout for it

 

[Doom!]

Fine tuning the design seems like part of the fun.

 

[FJC_GUY]

Fine tuning the design seems like part of the fun.

It is until I make a bonehead mistake like moving something the wrong direction and not noticing it until I print it.

I printed the bumper again before I went on vacation then came home and got sick, then just got busy. I printed the swingouts last night after another revision and am going to throw some paint on it and hopefully spend some time on it this weekend.

I should have some unplanned free time this weekend because my wife has to go in for an unexpected root canal at 8am tomorrow so I'm guessing she won't be up for much more than sitting on the couch and sleeping for most of the weekend.

Have an issue on my FJC that takes priority over scale toys so it will depend on how long that takes. Hope to have pics up in the next day or so of the "final". Need to get it done because I have 2 local guys that are waiting for me to finish the design and make a couple for them.

 

[Doom!]

Sorry for your wife's root canal. Hope the FJC is a quick and easy so you can get back to the fun stuff.

 

[FJC_GUY]

Wanted to throw these in here since I've posted them other places. Design is solid although I think the light openings need to be changed a little to allow for more light output. I mocked them up with some red translucent PETG lenses I cut out of a print raft and they only light up at the very center.

 

[Addict Rc]

thats awesome

 

[FJC_GUY]

Did things kind of backwards, went out and broke it then came home and took pictures.

I got home Friday night and wanted to get the bumpers set up so I could test them today. This meant I had to figure out how to mount the barwork on the bumper for the front bumper to be complete.

The piece in the top of the picture is the original, one piece, bar work. The shape was good, my print was crap, but it was designed more like a model for the shelf without a good method for assembling it other than just glue. So I split it into two pieces, added rectangular pads, and a dowel to the end.

I then drilled a 4mm hole in the bumper for the dowel to slide into.

Then just because I was in a rush to get it on I poorly installed some 2mm screws through the rectangular plates. I've already revised the design so the rectangular plates will have 4mm dowels as well. It will provide a much sturdier connection that could be glued solidly without any hardware needed.

I'm happy with the design overall, even with zero effort in finishwork on the upper bar aside from hitting it with a wire wheel to knock off some print support material I like the look. It held up very well too aside from what you will see in the last couple photos that I'll explain there.

I printed the bar in regular PLA which isn't the toughest material. Despite that it held up well. I scraped it up against rocks intentionally and accidentally many times and it was solid.

Until we were on our way back to the car and I decided to drive like it was my Vorteks and send it end over end. I will probably glue it back together and put it on the wall somewhere since I'm going to reprint it all in PETG so I can leave it in the sun without it melting.

I've still got a little tweaking to do and I really want to get a winch in it but as far as projects go it feels about as complete as they ever do to me. I tend to come back to stuff and change it years later because I'm nuts like that.

 

[Addict Rc]

Did things kind of backwards, went out and broke it then came home and took pictures.

I got home Friday night and wanted to get the bumpers set up so I could test them today. This meant I had to figure out how to mount the barwork on the bumper for the front bumper to be complete.

The piece in the top of the picture is the original, one piece, bar work. The shape was good, my print was crap, but it was designed more like a model for the shelf without a good method for assembling it other than just glue. So I split it into two pieces, added rectangular pads, and a dowel to the end.


View attachment 153788


I then drilled a 4mm hole in the bumper for the dowel to slide into.
View attachment 153789


Then just because I was in a rush to get it on I poorly installed some 2mm screws through the rectangular plates. I've already revised the design so the rectangular plates will have 4mm dowels as well. It will provide a much sturdier connection that could be glued solidly without any hardware needed.

View attachment 153790


I'm happy with the design overall, even with zero effort in finishwork on the upper bar aside from hitting it with a wire wheel to knock off some print support material I like the look. It held up very well too aside from what you will see in the last couple photos that I'll explain there.

I printed the bar in regular PLA which isn't the toughest material. Despite that it held up well. I scraped it up against rocks intentionally and accidentally many times and it was solid.
View attachment 153791View attachment 153783

Until we were on our way back to the car and I decided to drive like it was my Vorteks and send it end over end. I will probably glue it back together and put it on the wall somewhere since I'm going to reprint it all in PETG so I can leave it in the sun without it melting.

I've still got a little tweaking to do and I really want to get a winch in it but as far as projects go it feels about as complete as they ever do to me. I tend to come back to stuff and change it years later because I'm nuts like that.
View attachment 153786View attachment 153787

it looks awesome keep it up can't wait to see the reprint

 

[Doom!]

Good to hear it was solid until you went into basher mode.

 

[FJC_GUY]

Bumpers are buttoned up until I get a winch for the front one. Seems good and durable at this point. First picture is scraps from the process.

Moved on to modding a LCG battery tray for a little more internal space, going to do an interior at some point, that will still hold a 5200 sized battery either hard shell or soft. The design I started with is 1) for a smaller pack so a full size pack hangs up on the rear cross-member. 2) it also interfeered with the rear suspension travel. I started to redesign the whole tray then realized I could just mount the rear mount on top of the frame bolted to the fender liner instead of down between the frame rails. Perfect fit that way and the batteries fit hoe I wanted.

I'm terrible about taking pictures and was fighting adhesion problems with the printer this weekend so I'll post some pics of how it ended up soon.

Anyway, the bar work on the front needs some finish work but since I'm planning on beating on it some more all it got was a coat of paint right now.

The process:

 

[Doom!]

Looks good!

 

[Tunedfrog]

Looking good.

 

[FJC_GUY]

More stuff,

Printed a servo mount to move the servo forward and hopefully solve the interference issue between the servo arm and the panhard bar at full compression. You can probably see in the picture of the front bumper above that they want to occupy the same real estate.

Printed and installed a new battery tray, more to clear up space for an interior in the future than for COG.

And printed a 1.9 beadlock. Should be able to get a coat of paint on and test fit it on the truck tonight. Thinking about ordering a set of the Injora crawler tires to mount on them to test wheel durability. For $22 they get really good reviews.

The beadlock seems solid. Put the first one together this morning to test fit and it locks the tire in well.

I'm going to hit the batch on the printer currently with the dremel with the wire wheel and see how much cleaner I can get it before primer.

Satisfied with the print though, at least until I run them and see if they break.

 

[Addict Rc]

Wow looks awesome

 

[FJC_GUY]

I think this will work. One painted, I think a couple more coats of black will finish it well. 1 coat of satin black over 4 coats of high build primer.

Need to pick up a set of 4.7 od tires. I forgot the Redcat Gen 8 tires are a little shorter. Probably just throw a $20 set of Amazon specials on to test how the wheels hold up because I don't really want to dismount the Canyon Trails.

 

[Doom!]

Looks good, really suits your truck.

 

[FJC_GUY]

Looks good, really suits your truck.

Thanks, of course I'm now body shopping again. LOL. I keep looking at the 80 series or LC70 bodies. I need to do a cantilever conversion in the rear before something like that though.

The bumpers were built with possibly changing to another body in mind, both are at their "shortest" setting currently so I could put a longer body on.

Although I forgot about this body. I don't know why more people don't use it. I really like it. Plus the grill and tail light assemblies are the same kit as for the pickup style.

 

[FJC_GUY]

Printed a new servo relocation mount. For anyone unfamiliar the first picture is the stock setup with the added fender kit on the TRX4.

The new bracket moves it forward quite a bit and opens up quite a bit of space. That is the stock servo still kicking. I have a replacement for it but I'm just waiting to see how much I get out of it. I think part of it is I almost immediately swapped out rx/tx and was very careful about setting my endpoints.

Before and after under.

 

[FJC_GUY]

Posted up in the wheel and tire section but the printed beadlocks with the $20 tires did well playing on cold and damp river rocks Sunday. I also cad'd up the bumper lights and did a test print this weekend. They take a 5mm LED and I used the bubble Hot Wheels come in to cut out some lenses.

Need to refine the design a little and I think they will actually look really good.