Decided YT needs more action in the RC section - so this is my crawler build. 2yrs ago I was surfing Toyota 4wheeling videos on YouTube when I came across this video of 2 Tamiya Hilux scale RC trucks trailing around with their scale military trailers in tow. I didn't even realize they weren't real trucks until about a minute in when I was wondering why the axles didn't look quite right. After watching the video again (hehe) I looked online to see if I could buy a scale Tamiya Hilux RC...unfortunately I found out they were no longer in production and the ones people were selling were going for ridiculous prices! So then I started looking at RCs and discovered the more affordable Tamiya CC-01, FJ40 Land Cruiser RC scaler since I was looking at FJ40s on craigslist at the time. After looking around for the best price online, I chanced upon the Axial SCX10 Honcho and fell in love. July 2011, I finally got my first real RC for my birthday from my wife. Honcho day 1: Since I was now hooked, I decided it was time to start tinkering with it and making it MINE. First up was upgrade suspension to F/R 4-link with DIY metal links and ditch the shock bump stops for more travel. I also decided to get the steering servo off the axle and mounted up on the frame, like a real truck's steering box is. Ran the truck like this for a couple months and took it with me when wheeling my 1:1 truck: And with my Cruiser: And everything was fine until my first bent steering link, which got me thinking about upgrades

This ad is not displayed to registered members. Register your free account today and become a member on Yotatech!

I decided that my steering needed some serious attention and beefing up after bending that steering link and somehow not breaking anything else, like a steering knuckle. Picked up a set of used, built axles from the RCCrawler classifieds to swap in as well as a stronger steering servo. New axles have aluminum carrier hubs, aluminum knuckles, beefy CVD-style axles, hardened gears and lockers inside, and the new setup gives a tighter steering radius:



Unfortunately, I'm not able to take advantage of the new steering since my stock radio doesn't have end point adjustments...so since a new radio is gonna cost me a lot of dough, I picked up some very slightly used BIGGER tires for very cheap, yay! These two sets of tires came up for sale at the same time and I couldn't decide, so I bought both

Mickey Thompson Baja Claws:


And some Super Swamper Boggers, which I've yet to run since I need another set of wheels:


Inevitably, the bigger tires resulted in some clearance issues - so it was time to work on the rig again and make everything happy...

So....last weekend I decided it was time to upgrade everything all at once if I can't fit the tires as-is anyways. Went to the hobby shop and bought some steel piano wire for making some armor

Started with sliders:


Then I convinced myself it was going to happen eventually anyways, and I busted out the scissors on the Honcho body I had this idea in the back of my mind of a 1:1 rig that I just loved the look of, so I decided to make the cut, bend some metal, and here's what I came up with:


And of course, here is the 1:1 that inspired the front-end:




Now I'm stuck and need help deciding what the front should look like. I've got 2 options that I like. I'd like to be able to do a "satoshi grill" and run the headlights as well. Option A looks awesome as a classic Toyota grill, but makes it tough for the satoshi mesh unless i add some verticals inside. Option B looks best to me since the hood lines match up with the grill and keeps it Tacoma-looking, but it leaves the lights exposed to potential danger. Width of Option A or B is right around max width before the tires will hit at full compression.

Option A and it's variation:



Option B:

Very nice buildup!

I am hoping we get snow here during the Christmas break ( I have 12 days off from work) so I can try my Wraith out in the snow.

ahhaah That thing is sweet!

That little guy was the highlight of the Squaw Ridge trip!

that is the coolest thing that i have ever seen. i thought it was awsome in the begining, but now its sick. i never knew that you could get model bogger or BFG tires. i might try to find me a sweet RC car. maybe model it after my truck.

^thanks! you think the scaled down KM2s, Boggers, and Baja Claws are sick....you should see the Pit Bulls! The Pit Bull Rock Beasts are supposedly the best tire out right now in terms of how well they grip all terrains, and I wanted to run them on this rig just like the Extreme 4x4 rig does - but I think they would look way too small since they're not much bigger than the stock Flat Irons/KM2s. The Claws and Boggers are 4.75" diameter and are the biggest 1.9 tires available. In the future, I may pick up a set of 2.2 Rock Beasts, which are 5.5" diameter, yeah baby! But 2.2s don't really look scale

love the tubework man! looks great!

option A for the grille looks a little FJ-ish, which I'm sure Corey would approve of but personally, I like option B!


the Baja Claws are amazing tires! and the Boggers, OH MY they get you through some mess and really throw some crap, especially when they're cut

got a little more work done on the crawler. bumper is looking pretty nice. I've discovered it is VERY hard to braze things to plate metal, especially on such a small scale. steel rod and tube is OK since heat dissipates quickly enough, but the plate heats up and melts the solder of areas that have already been set

i need to get myself a winch so I can determine the top hoop/low stinger for it. haven't attached fender hoop/grill to the sliders yet, but the front bolts to the top of the bumper. This way I can swap bumper out later down the road for a tighter profile bumper, stronger servo winch, and 90* approach angle - but I would lose the scale-look of the RC winch

Well...I pretty much wrapped up everything in a major rush last weekend to be able to participate in the 1st R.C.O.T.C. at the Folsom Rodeo Grounds on Sunday. I didn't end up finishing the comp because I ran out of juice from winching too much and my teammate needed my backup battery until he broke his C-Hub. Then I discovered I somehow broke the welds on my crossbar between the fenders and called it a day - caused by a MAJOR tumble (15+ rolls) down what was essentially a cliff. I think piano wire gets brittle after heating it up with the torch - or because i was fast cooling when i was brazing before i MIG welded everything else.

All in all, it was a great day to get out and scale with like 50 other people and I learned a lot. Now that my shakedown run is complete I know where my truck needs a little work, so next time I'll be ready.

Anyways, didn't get too many pics, but here's the new look:





didn't get many pics while driving, but here's a few:
starting line

random shot

using my teammate's situation to my advantage


getting a new paint job as soon as i can find time, also expect to see plenty more tweaking of this rig in the future...

I've made a few changes to the crawler in the past couple weeks. Took the rig out today to Folsom to test things out and break in my fresh paint job
White is some Lowe's plastic patio furniture paint and the black mountains are bedliner

Crawler has gone back under the knife!

Well...all that hard work I put into the back end of my crawler has been chopped off! Even though it looked cool, it all comes down to how well it functions. Although it did just OK, the triangulated rear shocks just gave me lots of problems with TOO MUCH FLEX and resulted in me upside down more than I'd like. The metalwork was also always getting hung up on the rocks - I'm still debating removing or narrowing the main hoop/headache bar because it sticks out past the cab -- i built it as if it were going on a 1:1 because i'd want to protect the cab and for scale-ness, but for RC it just becomes a hindrance! I also wanted to try shock hoops in the back again and this would require chopping out part of the skin on the bed (which was welded in place ), so the cutoff wheel was going to have to come out anyways...oh well

SO....here's where it is after the chop, a very quick spare tire mounting, and a nice janky piece of luan to simulate a janky plywood flatbed I haven't taken it out to the rocks/trails yet, but around the rock piles in my yard I can already tell this has been a positive change.