Traxxas Sledgehammer Refresh

[morrisey0]

I picked up this Sledgehammer a while back, and it has finally ended up in the work queue. Bought it form the original owner who lived a couple of hours away. I could tell he loved the truck, and it came with a tackle box full of spares, and I could tell he really cared for this thing. Was not surprised that after cleaning it up a bit, it was in great shape. So far, mechanically, the only issue has been a single fractured rod end. Literally, not a single other mechanical issue. The only other purchased parts have been mechanical replaced for aesthetic reasons, body, tires, screw set, bearings, and electronics. Oh, and shocks, but that wasn't the trucks fault.

Started the build as usual. Starting with a breakdown and keeping parts organized.

Then plastic / nylon parts are placed in bags filled with water and dawn. This rehydrates and starts breaking down the gunk.

Wheels had been painted as some point in time, so they went into brake fluid.

[morrisey0]

For the existing electronics, the 2013 servo had a lot of play in it, so it needed help. I did some looking around, and the current Traxxas standard 2018 servo looks almost identical to the 2013, so I just cheated and swapped stickers between the two. I didn't notice until I started putting it together that the only part of the servo that you actually see is the bottom, and the newer servo has a no recycling stamp on the bottom. The old one would obviously have not had this, but oh well. The 2001-R Rx had a cut antenna so I went into it to see what it would take to replace, and found it rusted out pretty bad. I couldn't find another, but the more modern 2019 is readily available ...... and is the same case. So, easy case swap and I have a more modern 27mhz Rx.

Around this part of the process, I screwed up bad, and am still pissed off about it! I moved the bag of front or rear shock plastics "somewhere" and I removed a single shock body to see if I had tools that would completely disassemble it. I did and I sat that single body off to the side. Then when we got to the whitening process. the rest of those four bodies (with collars, stops, ends) were nowhere to be found! I have 4-6 hours of searching this house for those shocks, and nothing. I did, stupidly, have my trash can hanging out right in front of my work area at that time, and all I can come up with is that they ended up there, and I discovered this hours after trash pick up. Finding original white Sledgehammer shocks is pretty impossible I found out. Luckily, at least as of the 1997 Parts List, black aluminum 4760 shocks were listed as an optional part. These are readily available still, and are on the way. These won't be completely original out of the box, but I think them being an option is acceptable.

After days hydrating, white plastics went through a peroxide whitening process. The suspension arms reacted the best to this. The rest of the parts did pretty good, but not great. The diff case did not like it, and started chalking.

[morrisey0]

Then, after getting all parts cleaned up and whitened if needed, the build begins. The original SC did not exist in the truck, so I tracked down an XL-1 and found a NIP super awesome heat sink. The original tub was acceptable, but I found a new one for a price I couldn't pass on. New skid plates are front bumper are also included. It is pretty cool finding parts that would exist in 1989 still available, and some at your local hobby shop. The servo saver of course, the body washers, the motor heat sink, and shocks are all standard parts today. I am sure there are more, but these are all I looked into.

[morrisey0]

Oh, this is my #1 tip for anyone that wants to rebuild a Sledgehammer. Take lots and lots of pics, and measure your turnbuckles before disassembly! So far, I have found one online manual, and that is care of tamiyabase.com, and props to them for hosting it, but it is not very clear. I whipped through demo on this thing assuming a clear manual would be available, and I wish I had taken more time with it.

The TB manual has text and it is 80% clear, but there is a lot of "as shown."

This is typical of what is shown. Orientation of parts is nearly impossible to determine. All pics are just various shades of grey.

Oh, and the manual is based around a planetary diff, and mine is ball. And it lists the front suspension turnbuckles to be 92mm c-to-c, and you will find that is way too long.

[coxbros1]

sweet

[morrisey0]

I am going to chalk up the losing of the shocks as a blessing in disguise! Because, although I think the cheap plastic white shocks are most true to an original build, they ultimately look cheap. The black shocks also make it look a little like a second version whereas mine is a first version and I want it to look that way. BUT, IMO, the black anodized shocks look so much better than the white plastic ones! And then the weird part is that I ordered four pairs of the black shocks, and two came with gold shafts, and two came with silver shafts. I was just happy that it wasn't 3 pair vs 1 pair, and now each corner has a gold and silver shock.

Mechanically about done outside of the body posts. I have some stock spring material I am going to cut to length for those. Then on to body and decals. Paint will be single one color job.

[morrisey0]

Pro tip #2: If your body post springs are in need of replacing because they have seen way too many rollovers or are rusting, this https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08LD2S71C?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1 is all you need. Ignore the fact that the description calls them compression springs, these are expansion springs and are pretty much the exact dimensions of the originals (except for length if that was not clear). The originals are about 20.5mm at their tallest point, so just cut to length. I used snips to cut them long, and then a cut off wheel on a Dremel to make the final cut.

[MarkyDents]

Looking brand new ! Well worth the effort

[Lonestar]

That is one fantastic looking Sledgehammer here!!! great job!

[RC10th]

Peter Gabriel would be proud !

[morrisey0]

Managed to get a little time over the weekend on the final details. It is complete and operational with the original Traxxas radio that came with it.

Couple of small complaints on the TBG / MCI combo. The lexan is .03" nominal, but gets thinner in stretched parts. Behind the rear fender wells, the body is .19" with ~5 coats of paint on it. When trimming it, it was like cutting paper. I actually had to hold the lexan taut because it didn't have any strength on its own. And then the MCI decal set came with the "Hedman Hedders" sticker overlapping the main line decal. This is legitimately how it is scanned and printed. I appreciate what MCI does, and I will continue to be a customer of theirs, but something like this can be fixed in P'shop in minutes. I asm leaving the Hedders sticker on for now, but may trim it out in the future.

And my other complaint is about Traxxas themselves. This body is based off an '80s C/K10 (or some other '80s PU), so why does it have like a 1940s front bumper??? Back bumper looks correct, front bumper half a century off.

As with any and all of my bodies, if you see a decal that is straight, plumb, and in general looks placed correctly, that was just a happy accident.

[GeneralZod]

Wow! Looks great! Nice idea with the spring body posts. Traxxas sure used alot of nylon back then and still do. They cleaned up rather nicely.

[juicedcoupe]

And then the MCI decal set came with the "Hedman Hedders" sticker overlapping the main line decal. This is legitimately how it is scanned and printed. I appreciate what MCI does, and I will continue to be a customer of theirs, but something like this can be fixed in P'shop in minutes.

That might be how the original was. In that case, I could see trying to keep the original design.

[morrisey0]

And then the MCI decal set came with the "Hedman Hedders" sticker overlapping the main line decal. This is legitimately how it is scanned and printed. I appreciate what MCI does, and I will continue to be a customer of theirs, but something like this can be fixed in P'shop in minutes.

That might be how the original was. In that case, I could see trying to keep the original design.

Definitely not original. I have never seen another SH with that Hedder sticker there.