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mr crispy

Axial SCX10 Jeep Wrangler G6 build

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Recently I've been deliberating about getting a CR01 Rock Socker (oh that name :() or an Axial SCX10. They would both make good trail runners and should handle a light bit of crawling. Then I found this new G6 Wrangler model from Axial and that was it. Better still RC Geek listed it on eBay for the cheapest in the country (almost as cheap as importing from Germany) so a quick trip down to Crawley today and I can savour the goodness without writing about Mr Postie drop kicking it around Surrey :D

It's a big old box!

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Hmmm, that new box smell :)

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Should be an interesting build.

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Just a teaser for now :D I like how robust my Wraith is but that was prebuilt so I've wanted to do a full Axial build for a while now. I'll update once I've begun the build properly.

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Looks like fun! RC Geeks have always been great, even when they were at Battlebridge, though I'm yet to visit there new premises. Have they got a proper shop set-up now?

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No just a desk at the building entrance. You'll need to call them first so they can bring the stuff you want down. Bit of a bummer really as I live just 5mins away from the old Battlebridge location... and it's opposite my local rec area where I test out my cars. There's even a small wooded area for a bit for trail driving and crawling.

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Was always interested in how kits other than Tamiya were assembled. Definitely keeping an eye on this one.

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I have a Dingo kit in waiting, but this is a nicer looking body. Looking forward to seeing it come together!

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If it's like other Axial kits you'll have most of the parts bags open by step 3 - they really need to organise the kit parts better. Perhaps this latest kit is an improvement ? Let's see ;)

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You know, I realised today that the only other non-Tamiya kit I've built from scratch was my very first proper RC car a Mardave V-Dub back in the mid 90's. It's been Tamiya all the way since then.

This Axial manual is well laid out with the usual parts list to check it's all there. Going through it all there's already included quite a few metal upgrade parts in this new G6 kit. It's also got a proper 4 link suspension arrangement rather than the 3 link on other SCX10 chassis, so it should have a little more agility. Rubber sealed bearings as standard (HEY TAMIYA, TAKE NOTE!) but for the love of god can someone explain what these things are for?

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No mention of them in the manual that I can see?

Like a true man I completely ignored the instructions and started by putting the wheels together first :D The kit comes with plastic 1.9 sized Walker Evans wheels which feature in a lot of Axial cars. They look good and have a kind of fake beadlock moulded into the rim. It's a shame they don't include actual beadlocks as the tyres will need to be glued on which makes maintenance and adding weight a problem. As it is the tyres are a nice, soft grippy rubber and should work well.

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The included tyre foams go in easy and fill out the tyre just right. Fully assembled the tyres are quite snug on the wheels but would benefit from gluing once you hit the trails. There's only 4 in the kit, no spare like you get in other Axial SCX10 kits :(

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Opening up the main gear bags revealed lettered parts bags and step one starts with parts bag A. I'm thinking this may have address the issue Percymon mentioned earlier but by the end of the 2nd page I'd opened more than half of the larger bags to get what I needed.

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The first few steps assemble the locked diff with ring and pinions gears. This is all familiar as my Maverick Scout copied this design almost to the letter. The hex head screws look a lot more scale than the usual Tamiya cross heads. You'll want a decent set of hex head drivers to put this together, I've only just started and already used 3 different sized hexes!

The diffs build up quickly using the supplied rubber sealed bearings, grease (it doesn't say what kind but it's bluish and stickier than ceramic grease) and thread lock.

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I ran a little grease around the case join to help keep debris out.

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The top link mount is attached and holds the cases together.

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That's it for tonight. All the parts feel like good quality items and the instructions are easy to follow. I'll keep you posted.

Nic

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Fitting the C hubs. They are numbered separately so make sure you fit them correctly so the steering knuckles will be level.

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Knuckles on and that's the front axle done.

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I should point out there's a few screws and bolts that are the same dimensions but two have a self cutting thread and the others are machine screws. The instructions show the correct parts to use in 1/1 scale on the side just like Tamiya do, but the isometric drawings only show a machine screw. Make sure you are using the self tapers for fixing the 4 link attachment on top of the axles. I missed it first time around but fortunately noticed the mistake before going further.

The rear axles go together just like the fronts using the same diffs, gear cases etc. The obvious difference is the longer drive shafts.

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These are held in place by the lockouts rather than the steering hubs.

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Once fixed they feel nice and solid and give the axle a reasonably scale look. Here's both completed axles.

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Axial often add metal hop up parts in the kit versions, keeping the RTR versions all plastic

Goes together quickly ;)

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Am loving this build already, even more so because I probably would have missed it had it not been in the all new builds section! ;)

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for the love of god can someone explain what these things are for?

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No mention of them in the manual that I can see?

They're gate markers - for marking out courses.

Generally, organisers use tennis ball halves, Axial decided to go one better.

Once you got 10 trucks or 9 mates with trucks, you'll be able to mark out a 10 gate course.

The flat section on top is for writing the gate number on.

img169_05082007113203_6_350.jpg

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i think the gate marker was an after thought. is more for photo shoot of the vehicle after the build to show off tga articulation, hence the flat top on top.

Like you said, Tamiya got to take note what others are doing. I see Tamiya like IBM back in the late 70s where computer was only mainframe for large companies only. The loss of IBM is the value of microsoft and apple combined.

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i think the gate marker was an after thought. is more for photo shoot of the vehicle after the build to show off tga articulation, hence the flat top on top.

It's got nothing to do with showing off articualtion, the flat is for writing on - either gate numbers or direction arrows

Panther and Proline both make similar products

http://www.axialracing.com/products/ax12012

http://www.amain.com/Axial-Micro-Gate-Marker-Set-10/p29479

This is a set of ten Axial Micro Gate Markers. This set includes four orange gate markers, and six green gate markers. These gate markers are perfectly sized for both 2.2 and mini rock crawler competitions. The directional pattern helps direct competitors in the right direction and an open area on top of marker allows writing of gate number or start/finish designation.

Features:

  • Perfectly sized for both 2.2 and mini rock crawler competitions
  • Available in bright green and orange so you can differentiate between starting, finishing, and progress gates
  • Sold in sets of 10 and pairs
  • Directional pattern helps direct competitors in the right direction
  • Open area on top of marker allows writing of gate number or start/finish designation
  • Size: 2” dia. x 1” height (51.5x23.5mm)

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That answers that then, thanks Twinset.

Next step is the drive shaft universal joints. They build up from scratch with the thicker rod fitting into the rounded end, the cap end fits over that and the pin goes through both to secure them together. Not pictured but there is a plastic ring to slides over the pin holes and stops it from falling out.

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Here's the ring is fitted

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The inner drive shaft is then fitted onto the cap end and secured by a machine screw that's passed inside the shaft and screwed into a corresponding hole in the cap end. I had a mild worry as my hex driver wouldn't fit down there but an allen key just about made it :)

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Same thing for the outer shaft.

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The shafts can slide inside one another and allow quite a lot of movement.

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They aren't permanently fixed so can pull apart, but they never get extended this far while driving. Being plastic they have been know to deform by twisting, this is more common in Axials Wraith that uses the same if slightly longer shafts. The Wraith comes with a 20 turn motor and has 5.5 inch tyres, many users upgrade to brushless so it's putting a lot more strain on the drive shafts. TBH I doubt the mild crawling and trail driving I'll be doing is going to bother them. You can fix it by inserting a length of 6mm rod into the hole I needed the Allen key for so it can't compress and twist, or of course replace them with metal upgrades. I'll keep an eye on it.

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Building the shocks comes next and here you get some nice shiny aluminium bodies and a fake reservoir to play with!

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Anyone that's put Tamiya CVA dampers together will know the drill. You fit 2 rubber O rings in the outer cap, Axial supplies a plastic washer that goes between them... yeah I don't know why either but I fitted it and gave it a dab of my own silicone grease to help the seal around the shock shaft.

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Circlips hold the 3 hole damper disc in place (there aren't any other discs for tuning). The shaft has a golden coating and feels nice and smooth. You also get precut rubber shock spacers (a nice touch) and a plastic preload ring that screws onto the outer case threads.

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Theres a choice of a single end cap or the double I've used to accommodate the fake alum reservoir (that also has a plastic option), it's held in place with a machine screw and a decal wraps around it to add a little detail. There's a thin rubber O ring that seats inside the cap rather than a diaphragm to seal in the damper oil.

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The rod end has a plastic ball press fitted into it. These are a harder, smooth plastic and get used a lot in Axial builds. They work well but can clog up when run in dusty conditions so they benefit from cleaning out every now and then.

A nice feature is the 2 stage spring. Rather than use a single dual rate spring Axial give you 2 springs and a plastic O ring carrier to separate them.

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The idea is the larger spring does most of the compression and the the smaller harder spring stops the shock from completely bottoming out. Lastly you get a large bottle of 30w silicone damper oil, enough to do 2-3 complete refills of all 4 shocks. Once fully built the travel is smooth and seems to work well.

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Next up is the plastic upper links with more plastic ball ends attached to the axles.

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And metal lower links with plastic rod ends and balls. They're attached to the metal link shafts with a threaded rod that have a hex end, a bit like an elongated grub screw.

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Here's one of those situations where Axial fall behind Tamiya a little. There's nothing in the manual to suggest how best to assemble these quite simple parts. If you screw the "long grub screws" into the metal shaft it'll be 3/4 in before it tightens and would really need thread lock, leaving not much to attach the weaker plastic rod end. I found it best to screw these into the plastic rod end first to about halfway, then screw the whole lot into the metal shaft.

It's a little niggle but makes a difference and I think Tamiya would've talked you through it better. Perhaps Axial assume were all experienced kit builders but I think a novice may not have realised and ended up with a weaker link that was prone to fail... maybe that's the idea?

All shocks and links bolted to the axles.

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It's got nothing to do with showing off articualtion, the flat is for writing on - either gate numbers or direction arrows

Panther and Proline both make similar products

http://www.axialracing.com/products/ax12012

http://www.amain.com/Axial-Micro-Gate-Marker-Set-10/p29479

No dual purpose use. That is why each kit contains 2 gate markers and how many axial owners actually uses the pair as gate markers vs for shelf display, or is just me that uses as shelf displace . :lol:

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Making some nice progress!

You live pretty close to me then, I'm nearer the town not far from the Dome tower block, though all my rc stuff is somewhere else.

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You live pretty close to me then, I'm nearer the town not far from the Dome tower block, though all my rc stuff is somewhere else.

What in Redhill? I actually live in Merstham just outside Redhill but most people don't know it. I do a bit of RC driving around the Battlebridge rec ground on the A23 near the college. For trails and crawling I usually head over Dorking way and meet up with my brother and his kids. Leith Hill is great for trail driving. You know any good sites nearby? We could meet up for a bit of RCing about :D

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The transmission is up next and all pretty straight forward with a typical 3 internal gear set up.

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The cases are all moulded in tough nylon plastic and look up to to job although you can upgrade to metal parts.

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Metal motor mount and spur gear cover go on with thread locked bolts.

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The motor mount will allow for a few different sized pinions, the kit includes a 20 tooth pinion and it appears to be a steel one. The red friction pad is self adhesive and stuck on one of the metal plates. The other plate rubs against it to form the slipper clutch.

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The 87 tooth spur gear is then bolted to the back of the plate.

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A spring then pushes the two plates together.

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You can adjust the slipper clutch tension by how much you tighten the nylock nut onto the spring. The kit suggests fully tightening it and then backing it off 2 full turns. That's how I've set it in the picture.

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The transmission is then fixed to the skid plate with 4 self tapers but there are two different lengths. The longer ones go into the inner holes.

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Finally the spur gear cover is held on with 3 self tapers and should do a good job of keeping the crud out of the gears.

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The centre section with the Axial sign pops out and allows you to access the slipper clutch nylock nut without having to take the whole cover off.

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Lots to update :) 70t motor fitted with the kit 20 tooth pinion.

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The chassis rails are metal C channel and sturdy.

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I began by fixing the transmission skid plate to both rails and then screwed on the other brackets working out wards to the end bumpers.

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Shock mounts have 3 holes to choose from.

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Same at the rear. They also incorporate the body mounts.

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Fitted the servo posts to the steering servo plate.

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And screwed on to the front axle.

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Rod ends fixed to the metal steering bar just like the lower links.

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All connected up ready for when the servo arrives.

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Time to connect the axles to the chassis. I found it's easier to flip it over as the body mounts make good supports :) I connected the upper links first with 3mm bolts and nylock nuts. They also hold on the mounts for the side steps. The link closest to the motor was a tight squeeze. Then the lower links were connected to the skid plate with long self tapers.

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Last I connected the drive shaft to the tranny out puts.

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The shocks are fixed to the towers via self tapers and have a spacer.

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Both axles connected and all links and drive shafts fixed.

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Not too much to get hung up on underneath.

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The receiver box is tough and large, plenty of room even for old RX's.

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It's not exactly waterproof but should do a good job of protecting the electrics. It mounts between the steering servo and the transmission.

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From underneath it looks like a fuel tank.

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The battery mounts at the front above the servo and the receiver box. To do this it's raised on mounts which means it's going to be very high up raising the COG.

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There is an alternative rear mounting position which is lower but it moves the weight off of the front axle, not good for climbing.

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I'm going to try both positions and see what works best before doing any mods. In either position the alloy battery plate fixes on top of the cradle and uses Velcro straps to hold it secure.

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Here you can see how high the battery will be in the forward position.

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One thing I've noticed is the wire access hole for the receiver box is situated right behind the left front wheel. This is effectively the only hole into the box which should keep your radio gear dry, but some doofus thought it would be a good idea to place it exactly where any mud and water is going to be thrown off the front wheel? Why it doesn't exit on the top or the back of the box facing the tranny I don't know. Another mod to add to the list.

C9C7ECF8-07E0-4579-8120-8487AD0B8A42_zps

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