Fixing up the Frankentruck(s), the fleet of them

[Frankentruck]

Need to adjust some turnbuckles, pick a motor, and do a few other tweaks, but my frankentruck is just about ready for a shakedown run.

[Frankentruck]

The slightly shorter shocks that came with my truck just weren't giving me enough ground clearance, so I added some brackets to lower the mount points. I'll probably pick up longer shocks at some point but this seems to work well for now. I also decided I needed reverse, so I nabbed a Super Rooster ESC. It's actually bigger than my T1X, so I had to revise the mount arrangement a little.

[Frankentruck]

I'm building up my tire inventory a bit. Since rear rims seem to be a bit scarce, I've started making my own. Amazon delivered us some huge 130mm height monsters that worked pretty well, but can result in a roll over during a top speed turn. Then a Losi parts site had an ok deal on some Pro-line Trenchers. We haven't tried the Trenchers yet, but I think they will be great traction.

[Frankentruck]

I also picked up these Pro-line Badlands tires, but apparently didn't pay enough attention to the 2.2" / 3.0" sizing. Different rim diameters on the same tire? Huh. Special rims needed.

[juicedcoupe]

I also picked up these Pro-line Badlands tires, but apparently didn't pay enough attention to the 2.2" / 3.0" sizing. Different rim diameters on the same tire? Huh. Special rims needed.

Those are for short course trucks. The goofy sizing is supposed to maintain scale looks while proving good performance.

[Frankentruck]

I noticed one of my CVDs had a pin coming out of it on the drive/gearbox end of it. I guess I didn't study the CVDs enough to know they had removable pins on the ends. Do these pins for the drive end come out easily during use? Is there a good method to keep them retained?

[juicedcoupe]

Newer ones have a retaining ring that snaps around it. On older ones, use heat shrink.

[Frankentruck]

I looked closer and it looks like I've lost some little plastic cover. Are there replacement pin covers, or do I need a new dogbone section of this CVD? My past experience is.with regular cheapo dogbones, not CVDs.

[Frankentruck]

Ok, I understand better now. This is basically a plastic pin through the end of the link and it has a steel pin core. Seems like it should be rebuildable, just a matter of whether parts are available or need to be fabricated.

[Frankentruck]

I ended up making a pin out of 3/32" brass rod. A little polishing to slightly taper it on one end, and then it tapped into place for a tight fit.

I came across these CVDs on eBay and am interested in knowing more about the red dust covers. Is this type of boot still available? Do they get packed with any sort of lube?

[Frankentruck]

One of my brass pins worked it's way loose. I probably need to just get some new CVD dogbones and be done with it.

[JosephS]

I looked closer and it looks like I've lost some little plastic cover. Are there replacement pin covers, or do I need a new dogbone section of this CVD? My past experience is.with regular cheapo dogbones, not CVDs.

This is a low friction cover for the cvd pin that protects the out-drives from wear.

Amain.com shows the 25/64" as the rc10t4.2 part and Kimbrough shows it as in stock.
http://kimbroughracingproducts.com/store/index.php?dispatch=categories.view&category_id=210

[Frankentruck]

I have seen that, but I don't know anything about them or their sizing. Maybe I need to contact Kimbrough for details.

[jwscab]

Those axles had pin cushions on the ball end, that is what they are called.

I would find some Steel pins as replacement and green loctite them in place

[Frankentruck]

I did find some stainless steel pins that were the right size at Ace Hardware in the bins. They are now green loctite 638 bonded in place. Hopefully they hold up. I had never heard of green loctite before. Thanks for the tip.

I've decided to tinker with brushless motors for the trucks. The brushed motors seem to do well in my TC3, but pushing around the heavier trucks seem to get them pretty warm. So I'm starting with an SS4300 setup. My T1X mounting bracket will adapt pretty well to the new ESC without being hugely oversized.
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