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Effigy3

CC-01 1973 Ford Bronco

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I've been mulling this over for a while now. I want a trail rig. We have a pretty amazing park where I live with tons of hiking/biking trails. They're designated using familiar ski slope iconography: green circle, blue square, black diamond and double black diamond. I don't plan to do any rock crawling with this rig but there are rocks and roots all over the trails. What better way to spend time there than driving an R/C rig? After a lot of research and reading build threads here I settled on the CC-01 chassis as the best suited to the task at hand. But which one should I get? The Unimog certainly has character. I love the look of the Toyota Land Cruiser. For me though it had to be the Ford Bronco body. Growing up my dad was a hunter. When I was old enough I got my license and would go hunting with him. For the longest time the rig we would use to get to hunting camp or the back woods was a blue Ford Bronco. I don't recall exactly what year it was, but it was most definitely this body style. So this is going to pay homage to my dad and our hunting trips together.

Here are some pics of what I'm aiming for. These represent as close as I can remember what his Bronco looked like.

1969-Bronco.jpg

1973-Ford-Bronco-Dark-Blue.jpg

1973-ford-bronco-light-blue.jpg

The last image most closely resembles my dads truck so that's my target for this build.

The base for my build is an eBay purchase. The body is uncut and unpainted. (Score!) The chassis is built but it's never been run. It was built bone stock. The only electronics are a Tower Hobbies brand standard servo and the Tamiya TEU-104BK ESC that was included with the kit. I'm going to do the hopping-up in stages. There are two hop-ups I'm going to do straight away. They are ball bearings and a motor swap. I want this truck to be comfortable driving on the single track trails while I walk behind. I know that the stock silver can is going to be way too fast, even with a 16T pinion, so I'll be installing an Atomik Fireball 60T motor. They're cheap at $17 and it'll give me an idea of what the speed will be like with a 60T. I'm a bit concerned about the lack of a drag brake with the TEU-104BK. There are tons of very steep descents on the trails but I'm going to go with it for now. I think my next upgrade will be wheels and tires. Wow, the stock tires are more like plastic than rubber. I found some wheels that look pretty much spot on for the ones in the pictures above. I just have to decide on tires to mount. I want scale looks but I also want them to be very functional.

Here is a pic from the eBay posting:

eBay-image.png

Once the motor and ball bearing kit arrives I'll update this thread.

If anyone has suggestions for tires I'd welcome some advice. Keep in mind the trails are a clay/top soil mix with roots and sections of rocks, both large embedded in the trail as well as loose, fist-sized chunks.

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Congrats on the bronco. The steering sucks on the cc-01 so buy a ball bearing supported steering arm. It also goes without saying, the aluminum pinion gear will wear out also.

I love that body and have one also. I went with a set of 1.55 rims to make it look more realistic. I've just been lame about finishing it off.

image_zps8211f863.jpg

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Id suggest RC4WD for some white wagon wheels, and they have a tire they call a Dirt Grabber (I think) that's the spitting image of a BFG All Terrain T/A. Not sure if they have those tires in a 1.55, but they do have some very nice scale tires.

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Or for a more affordable alternative you could go for the popular Fastrax Kong wheel/tyre set. The white "steelies" would look the part, and the tyres grip exceptionally well.

fast0063w_600.jpg

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Or for a more affordable alternative you could go for the popular Fastrax Kong wheel/tyre set. The white "steelies" would look the part, and the tyres grip exceptionally well.

Yeah, even with shipping from the UK to US they're less than half the cost of the RC4WD choices. We'll have to see how the budget holds up over the holidays. Thanks for the heads up!

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Off topic a bit here but better place to mention it than anywhere -

I got my CC01 Pajero off the shelf the other day and noticed the Kong tyres had lost their original rubbery texture? They're still soft but not as soft as I remember them; I had a 'spare' left over tyre in a box and sure enough it feels different to the ones fitted, like a different compound. They haven't been anywhere damp or in sunlight. Anyone else had the same? I'm not sure what effect it will have on how they perform.

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They ship with some sort of glossy tyre dressing on them, which seems to be preserved by the packaging. This makes them very soft initially, but seems to evaporate quite quickly once the tyres are out in the open. They toughen up a bit as a result, but still work well in my experience. The tyre dressing on my Pajero and Evoque tyres dried off many moons ago, but they still grip very nicely.

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Off topic a bit here but better place to mention it than anywhere -

I got my CC01 Pajero off the shelf the other day and noticed the Kong tyres had lost their original rubbery texture? They're still soft but not as soft as I remember them; I had a 'spare' left over tyre in a box and sure enough it feels different to the ones fitted, like a different compound. They haven't been anywhere damp or in sunlight. Anyone else had the same? I'm not sure what effect it will have on how they perform.

Interesting... I know that 1:1 car wiper blades will harden over time becoming ineffective to clear the windshield. We used to use little wipes that would clean and recondition the blades thus extending their life considerably. I don't know what was in those wipes other than rubbing alcohol so you could try cleaning the tires with some on a cotton ball. My brain says that there must've been something more in it than alcohol though. Wouldn't rubbing alcohol just dry out the rubber? I did some thinking and I remembered about this cleaner/conditioner used for ping pong paddles (ah hem - table tennis rackets). Surely the rubber used in the R/C car tire would react similarly to the rubber face on a paddle?

Either way, that's all I can come up with to rejuvenate the tires.

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Parts update:

The receiver box, bearing kit, and 60T motor have arrived.

I've done a lot of research on tire/wheel combinations. I know my dads old hunting truck had the same type of wheels as are shown in the images in my opening post. RC4WD sells a rim that is a spot on match. They also have a lot of great choices in scale tires and even hubs. I selected out everything I would want to use on this build. There's just one problem...

12.09.2015-09.21.png

With shipping this works out to be more than I spent on the entire kit! So I checked around for vendors and eBay for the combos XV and Nobbi were suggesting. They are very reasonably priced to be sure. The faux stamped steel rim certainly works for the vibe of this build but the down side is shipping costs from the UK or Asia made the proposition less desirable. I then searched through my normal US vendors and came up with these Integy Rover Style 1.9 Wheels All Terrain Tire White(2):

12.09.2015-09.00.png

They're really similar (maybe just a rebrand) to the others suggested but I can get them with reasonable shipping fees (FREE) and times. I should have these before Chritmas whereas the overseas vendors were quoting mid-January.

I also ordered off eBay a Tamiya Bruiser Mountaineer E Part Tree Cab Interior for Toyota Hilux Body. I think I can modify this to work in the Bronco. I'll eventually get the driver figure as well.

12.09.2015-09.11.png

That's it for now. I'll post more updates starting next week.

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I have priced up a cart from RC4WD many times but haven't been drunk enough yet to hit the checkout button. It's even worse for us in the UK as their shipping costs are rather high too!

Those Integy are re-branded KRT / Kong tyres for sure. Have you tried the US warehouse for HobbyKing? I actually got my first set through HobbyKing international, ended up paying more in import duty than the sum of all the contents of the parcel, so I won't be making that mistake again!

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I've been working on the CC-01 on and off all day. It looks like the builder of this truck went straight stock. By the book sir. That's the way it's done. Sooo...

1) Replaced all the bushings with rubber shielded Fast Eddy bearings. I would have preferred metal shielded in the sealed parts of drive train but the bearing kit was either all one way or the other. As an example, the front hubs:

12.26.2015-18.38.png

2) I swapped out the silver can and stock pinion for an Atomik Fireball 60T and Robinson Racing hardened steel 16T pinion.

12.26.2015-17.33.png

3) I cleaned out the Tamiya grease in the front diff and used diff putty. Should be a nice compromise between a free spinning diff and locking it with hot glue.

12.26.2015-17.35.png

4) I installed Hop-up Option 53188 Cross Country 4WD torque splitter unit.

12.26.2015-17.38.png

Questions: I have a couple of questions about this bit.

  • Is it possible to install it backwards? It free spins in forward and engages in reverse.
  • Is it possible to replace the brass bushings with bearings? What size are they?
  • Is this thing worth using on a trail rig?

5) Goodbye to the plastic hexes and hello locking metal hexes.

12.26.2015-18.40.png

6) While this model has obviously never been run, it came to me from Ontario with a natty old Tower Hobbies servo. I had one of these Futaba S3004 servos sitting in my box, so I swapped out the old servo for the new one.

12.26.2015-18.41.png

7) I thought I was ordering up the Integy re-brand of the KRT Kong tires/rims. As it turns out the tire tread isn't that of the Kong. These look more military spec to me.

12.26.2015-18.52.png

I have to say, installing 20 tiny little faux lug nuts was a pain in the fingers and trying on my patience!

12.26.2015-18.43.png

They're also very large in the wheel well and they rub on the chassis under full suspension compression.

12.26.2015-18.55.png

To be honest, I'm not keen on them for my Bronco. If I had a Unimog body it'd be a different story. I suppose they'll do for now until I can ante up for the RC4WD 1.55 wheels and tires.

8) I ditched the included Tamiya TEU-104BK ESC in favor of a HobbyWing 1060 primarily for the weatherproofing of the later. The former will end up in my Grasshopper replacing the el cheapo Neewer ESC Chinese special that's currently there. I also placed my Futaba R603GF receiver in a receiver box from a TT-02B. I really like how the receiver box fit so nicely mounted above the rear tires. It's a shame that portion of the chassis is all curvy. It'll be interesting to see how well the servo tape holds the box in place over time. I may have to come up with a more mechanical solution.

12.26.2015-19.02.png

Well, that's pretty much it. I have to paint and build up the body still, not to mention figure out this whole one-way gear in the front issue. Once all that's done I can take it out on the trail! I'll definitely post some videos, if I can ever sort out how. PhD in computing technology? Check. Post videos to forum? Not so much. #loseratpostingvideos

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That looks like a neat installation - I particularly like your use of the TT-02B receiver box.

As for the tyres, Fastrax Kongs are a good bit smaller than the ones you have there - yours look more like the larger Fastrax Snakes. The Kongs are only a couple of mm bigger than the stock "hockey pucks" and fit without rubbing. Here they are fitted to mine:

Snow%20052_zpswkiuw45j.jpg

Finally, regarding the torque splitter. It is usually not advisable to use it on a trail rig, which would benefit from 4WD in both forwards and reverse. And yes, you have fitted it backwards. Under normal operation it would give 4WD forwards, and spin freely under braking and in reverse.

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That looks like a neat installation - I particularly like your use of the TT-02B receiver box.

As for the tyres, Fastrax Kongs are a good bit smaller than the ones you have there - yours look more like the larger Fastrax Snakes. The Kongs are only a couple of mm bigger than the stock "hockey pucks" and fit without rubbing. Here they are fitted to mine:

Finally, regarding the torque splitter. It is usually not advisable to use it on a trail rig, which would benefit from 4WD in both forwards and reverse. And yes, you have fitted it backwards. Under normal operation it would give 4WD forwards, and spin freely under braking and in reverse.

Install: Thank you very much! The pic I posted isn't even the finished deal. It's a bit neater now that I've drilled a small hole in the ESC platform so I could run a tie strap through and fasten down the motor wires. It's dark out now but I'll post a finished pic tomorrow.

Tires: I think the picture and description at Tower Hobbies conflicted. I ordered off the description and hoped they just used the wrong image. Their image was accurate. :/

Torque splitter: I took that thing apart 3 times and I'm positive I have it assembled correctly but I agree. 4WD both forwards and reverse is important in a trail rig so out it goes. Front gear box is now back to stock configuration.

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I got the body trimmed and test fitted today.

12.27.2015-16.50.png

12.27.2015-16.51.png

There's a little bit of an issue with my previous plan of just running these tires for now...

12.27.2015-16.53.png

12.27.2015-16.54.png

Clearly 108mm diameter tires will not work with this body. :blink:

The KRT Kong tread tires are 98mm and the stock Tamiya tires are 90mm. To correct the issue, I've ordered up these 90mm KRT tires.

42383.jpg

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Those are the ones both myself and XV run on our Pajero's, they work well with very little rubbing only on full lock / under full compression. I've since bought some 1.55s but these rub even more :( will have to decide if it's worth it for the looks.

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Those are the ones both myself and XV run on our Pajero's, they work well with very little rubbing only on full lock / under full compression. I've since bought some 1.55s but these rub even more :( will have to decide if it's worth it for the looks.

Nice, add another TC'er running them on his CC-01! So I guess they make the Kongs in both 98mm and 90mm then, eh?

Bummer about the 1.55s Which ones did you get?

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These ones -

IMG_20151222_222953.jpg

But I'm going to have to get the dremel out on the arches, something which is not as much of an issue on lexan shells. Can't wait for an.opportunity to take it out now!

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A hole or 2 body lift for now?

I'm already on the top hole in the rear.

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I'm already on the top hole in the rear.

Hope you've applied enough Tamiya grease (sorry....)

Hope you solve this issue tho, it's a lovely neat build. Maybe a set of post extenders, maybe you end up with it not looking quite scale enough.

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Trouble with lifting the body is it starts to reveal too much of the chassis tub underneath, which doesn't look nice. The only time this looks OK is with the Unimog shells as they're more utilitarian if that makes sense!

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I'm currently sitting on the stock weels/tires as I wait for the the 90mm tires from HobbyKing's international warehouse to arrive. In the mean time I noticed that the battery liked to slide about a bit so I installed a 1 1/2" long piece of foam tape to the back side of the battery compartment. This worked like a charm and now the battery is snug as a bug.

01.02.2016-14.36.png

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This is cool, I'm busy looking at the CC01 for my next buy. Looking at the Pajero and the Amarok versions.

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