Traxxas TRX-4

Over the weekend I purchased a Traxxas TRX-4 Sport crawler kit.  I purchased the kit version because I love building RC cars as much as I love to drive them.

The TRX-4 Sport kit comes with everything except electronics.  What I really love is the roll-cage with the all the scale accessories.  Even better, the scale accessories are bolted on.  So, no need to worry about them popping off during a wreck on the trail.

The instructions were absolutely awesome.  Full color, 1:1 screw sizes for the hardware needed on each page, tons of pictures, it really was an excellent instruction booklet.

For the electronics, I saved my Savox SW-1210SG servo from an Axial SCX10 I used to have.  I purchased a Hobbywing 880 Duo brushed electronic speed control.  I went with the Duo because it was cheap.  I don't plan on ever running two motors since the TRX-4 isn't built that way.  To protect the ESC from shorting out, I put some dielectric grease in to the unused motor leads.  For the motor, I chose a RC4WD 20-turn brushed motor.  Brushed motors are "water-proof" simply because water doesn't effect their performance, even when fully submerged.  Of course, they're made with steel and steel rusts, so a give it a good wash-down after playing in the water with an RC specific motor spray of your choice.  I recommend an RC version because they tend to be safe on all the plastic bits found on and in RC cars.  The best policy is to remove the motor and spray it separately from anything else.  Finally, to control it all, I use a Sanwa (formerly Airtronics) MT-44 controller and a Sanwa RX-481 waterproof receiver.

There is a full aftermarket following for the Traxxas TRX-4 crawler.  Your pocket book is what limits the amount of aftermarket parts you purchase for your TRX-4.

The only upgrade I'm making at the start is an aluminum motor mount.

The kit comes with full set of steel suspension links, full metal gears in the transmission as well as the axle portal gearboxes, full ball bearings, aluminum threaded-body shocks, and a full set of aluminum 12mm hexes to mount your wheels to.

The body comes pre-cut and ready for paint.  I like the blue Sport RTR version of the TRX-4, so I painted mine blue too.  I totally forgot to put the provided window masks on before painting!  DOH!  Still, it came out looking really sharp.

I used a trick for painting the fenders black.  Normally, you paint the interior of a lexan body.  That's what I did for the blue.  For the black fenders, I used my X-Acto Knife to carefully cut and remove the over-spray film on the outside of the body only for the fenders and the truck bed itself.  Then I went nuts with the black paint.  When I finally removed the over-spray film it looks all nice and exact.

The rest of the truck is just awesome.  I'm really looking forward to getting this thing out and actually crawling with it.

Until then, keep it rubber side down!

Traxxas Bandit

Funny enough, I'm looking forward to racing a Traxxas Bandit and here is an article by RC Driver about that very thing.

They went the full Pro-Line route, which is pretty awesome.

I plan on taking a different route with a lot of RPM products as well as STRC components.

I want to put the RPM Gearbox Housing onto my Bandit because it has an aluminum motor mount plate.  This helps dissipate heat, but also insures that the gear mesh doesn't change as the motor gets hot.

In addition to the gearbox, I plan on a full RPM treatment of front and rear A-arms, front and rear shock towers, a gear cover, and a front bumper.

The specific part from STRC I'm particularly stoked on is their Machined HD Layshaft.  It allows you to use a Team Associated slipper clutch assembly which is significantly lighter than the stock Traxxas unit. 

STRC has a nice set of parts listed to complete the set-up:
AE Parts Needed:
6629 Slipper Clutch Nut x1
9605 Slipper Clutch Spring x1
9604 Slipper Hubs x2 - the Factory Team V2 version is 7495
9603 Slipper pads x1 - these come as a pair

Spur gear choices from Team Associated:

9649 72T
9650 75T
9652 78T
9651 81T
9653 84T

There are also Kimbrough spur gears that fit perfectly.  They range from 69T to 90T.  I think Kimbrough makes the Team Associated spur gears, but I'm not 100% on that one.

As well, I'm hoping that the Avid Triad Clutch works since it fits the standard Team Associated top shaft and the STRC shaft is designed to fit the standard Team Associated clutch.  For $30 it comes with two spur gears, slipper pads, slipper hubs, and a spring.  The Triad Clutch and spur gears have even less rotating mass than the Team Associated clutch pieces.  Every little bit counts in Stock Buggy class.

To compliment the lighter slipper clutch, I'm going to install a Traxxas SRT ball differential TRA2520, a delrin idler gear TRA1996, and a delrin drive gear TRA3195X.

For shocks, instead of the Pro-Line Power Stroke units RC Driver installed, I am going to install a full set of Traxxas GTR Hard Anodized shocks.  TRA7461X for the fronts and TRA7462X for the rears. These Traxxas shocks use the stock springs that come installed on the RTR Bandit.

That is my full build for the Traxxas Bandit.  I'm going to stick with the stock electronics until I'm ready for an upgrade.  The steering servo is probably the first thing to go, but the TRA2075 servo from Traxxas is very reliable.

Until next time, keep it rubber side down!