RCCrawler Forums

high plains drifter

I hope that this thread will be well-received as I'm aware that there are plenty of TF2 threads here already. I've had this rig for over a month now but I took my time researching this awesome platform and doing some initial mods before ever even thinking about getting some dirt on the tires.

First impressions are that it is an unbelievably FUN vehicle and behaves SO much differently than my other linked crawlers. The sprung suspension forces you to really feel the rig, pick lines more carefully, and drive with more finesse... paying attention to small details ( suspension movements, handling characteristics, trail obstacles, etc). Driving this rig is proving more challenging than a linked rig but I'm completely convinced that it's a good thing. I'll always love driving my D110 & Bronco TRX4's but there is something undeniably appealing about also being able to run such a completely different 1/10 scale vehicle now.

What I've done so far:

> Body- I originally sought to simply have a Marlin Crawler but after I had it a while, I decided that the orangish-red body color and big bright yellow badging was not the direction that I wanted to go. So I planned at that point to use a nice true-red Krylon spray on the outside of the body. I was also already planning at that point, to paint the interior and underside in Krylon Fusion satin black. After laying down the black I was VERY pleased to see that in the process, it had created the perfect red hue on the outside! So now I don't see any need to paint the exterior and that's cool with me! There's some more details that need to be done in order to completely finish the body ( adding Hilux 4x4 side badges, Toyota grill badge, proper tailgate badges, bed-rail tie-downs, snorkel, more scale accessories, etc) but it's coming along nicely at this point.

> Tamiya PS-31 window tint- I went a little heavier than I had intended and although it slightly hides that there is no finished interior, I feel like it's a bit too dark and also a little more "blurry" looking than I would like. If I do replace these windows, I'll definitely tint them a little lighter. I don't mind that the rear window will have to remain as is which is good since I can't redo that one.

> Internal shock spring removal mod
> Small leaf removal mod
> Chino Mod ( leaf spring eye taper mod)
> RC4WD TF2 Marlin Crawler steel rear tube bumper
> RC4WD TF2 Tough Armor steel front tube bumper w/ winch mount
> RC4WD TF2 Marlin Crawler steel sliders
> RC4WD scale shock boots
> RC4WD 1/10 Viking roller fair-lead
> RC4WD Warn 9.5cti winch spooled w/ steel cable
> Gear Head 1/10 Factor 55 Pro-Link winch shackle mount
> Yeah Racing 1/10 HD D-ring
> SSD rear scale hubs
> RC4WD Warn front lockout scale hubs
> Gmade 8mm scale hex bolts on stock wheels
> Custom fabricated alum rear bumper reinforcement plate

Next up:

> Steering servo ( Will prob go with HH shv500 v2 but not 100% sure yet)
> Front shock & tower rearward relocation
> Shave down the corners of the front wheel wells to reduce tire contact when turning
> Thread-lock everywhere
> RC4WD steel roll-cage ( I'm worried about adding this much weight above the chassis but we'll see)
> RC4WD KC Hilites ( 4)
> RC4WD Safari snorkel kit
> XT60 to replace Tamyia style connector
> Switch from NiMH to Zippy 2700 3S lipo

*** Another thing that I want to address is either a Dead Man Switch in the bed or an easier way to remove the body. I've seen several ways to accomplish both of these things so I'll be taking a more detailed look into all of this.

Below is a crappy pic of the chino mod. Fwiw I felt the need to only remove a small amount of material. I want to also give the springs some break-in time in order to gauge performance before I go too far. This mod I did on all ends... front and back ( 8 eyes total).




I really hated the plastic rear bumper mount ( cross-member) because it sort of acts as a pivot and causes a good deal of up and down movement of the bumper. Originally I was going to buy an RC4WD aluminum replacement but decided instead to fabricate a thick alum plate that bolts directly to the chassis and into the threaded bumper supports. This plate greatly strengthens the bumper and I feel is more reliable and secure than the RC4WD upgraded cross-member since the plate utilizes a total of 6 mounting points ( as opposed to 2). There is absolutely no play or pivot now.





I was dead set on running steel cable on the winch. Problem was that the stock steel bumper doesn't have enough room on the fair-lead plate ( vertically) to mount a roller fair-lead. I looked at a slew of aftermarket bumpers out there ( most of which I didn't like for one reason or another) and finally settled on an RC4WD Tough Armor bumper that I thought would work but I again ran into several fitment issues.

All I knew was that I didn't want to switch out to synthetic line/ hawse and there was no way in hell that I was going to run a steel cable through a hawse fair-lead lol. So I decided to fabricate a steel 'L' plate that would mount the fair-lead low enough to clear the middle bumper tube and also have a minimal profile so as to not compromise approach angle. It was an easy job for the most part although getting everything bolted together was another story lol. Anyway... I'm very happy with the result and now I have my cable-spooled winch with proper roller fair-lead... the way God intended!







Thanks so much for taking a look at this thread. There will for sure be more on the way regarding this TF2's journey!