TrailFinder 2 Blazer

[ad456 331]

So last week I took complete leave of my senses and decided to order an RC4WD Blazer V8 Limited Edition. I've wanted a leaf spring truck for a long time now, always faced the Blazer body on something ever since I saw it and that V8 is a really cool looking thing as well.

Why not get at least next 6 months RC budget ruined in one go? Seems really stupid so that's a good enough reason

Delivered yesterday, all good and nice and shiny and super slow(but that's the point I think). 

Anyone else got a Trailfinder truck? Suggestions for a first timer? 

Couldn't help myself but fit the lunchbox tires for a laugh too but bizarrely looks awesome, or at least to me.

[Badcrumble 4204]

Love those bodies. My son plays with my Majorette Blazer, one of my favourite toy cars as a kid. Once day I'll have an RC version!

I don't know whether there are many RC4WD owners on here. Perhaps @JennyMo can give some guidance. 

You'll find plenty of resource over on ScaleBuildersguild, I'm sure.

Enjoy your Blazer - regular spec or in mud-bogger guise!

[ad456 331]

I’ll have a good look over on SBG for some tricks, thanks @Badcrumble
So I got the stock esc/tx/rx pulled out and replace them with a HW1080 and a 6ch rx for my Gt3c. Put the Original wheels back on now that I found my axle stands(don’t wanna ruin tires with flat spots)

Next is to fit some LEDs and actually get outside with it even if it’s only round the garden and driveway

[OldSchoolRC1 984]

Very nice! Love that motor, it's very cool looking! (and anything looks good on Lunchbox tires! :))

2 bits of advice - check the screws for threadlock, my TF was known to leave trails of debris behind it. Most if not all of the screws do not have any from the factory and they work their way loose pretty quickly. I remember 10 minutes into a run and my front shock tower was flopping around. That's never good! 

Also, check the mesh of the ring and pinion gears, if they are loose, they will chew up pretty quickly. our club's TF2 went through rear axle gears on every run until it was shimmed properly. 

I picked up a Marlin last year and ended up swapping over to AR44's before I even ran it. Not nearly as scale looking, but much more durable. 

[87lc2 2666]

Lunchbox tires look great on there!  I think some JC Rangers would be the ticket on that thing, but don't listen to me I tend to turn everything into a monster truck.  

[Nikko85 3454]

Perhaps go with the GF01TR wheels - lovely little grippy things, and look great on that truck!

[bRIBEGuy 3049]

8 hours ago, OldSchoolRC1 said:

2 bits of advice - check the screws for threadlock, my TF was known to leave trails of debris behind it. Most if not all of the screws do not have any from the factory and they work their way loose pretty quickly. I remember 10 minutes into a run and my front shock tower was flopping around. That's never good! 

Also, check the mesh of the ring and pinion gears, if they are loose, they will chew up pretty quickly. our club's TF2 went through rear axle gears on every run until it was shimmed properly. 

x2 on this!  ^^^  Rc4wd is notorious for a lack of threadlock and for questionable gear mesh.  I've also had axles from them showup devoid of any grease whatsoever...  

 

3 hours ago, 87lc2 said:

Lunchbox tires look great on there!  I think some JC Rangers would be the ticket on that thing, but don't listen to me I tend to turn everything into a monster truck.  

Oooh yes!  +1 on that idea!

[ad456 331]

Theadlock is ready to go once I’m done fiddling with things as anything metal to metal is a disaster without it. 

@OldSchoolRC1, the ring and pinion is something I’d completely spaced on, thanks for the heads up there. I’ve pulled the rear open and zero side to side on the ring and no forward to back on the pinion, it’s really tight without actually binding which is a nice surprise given the above experiences from above. Grease was the orange thick stuff and was a good amount.

@87lc2, I think you can understand exactly how much willpower I am enlisting not to go full lift monster crazy. Just yet anyway

I want to see if I can get on with this trail malarkey first and if not then the gloves come off!

Tonight I raised the dash a full 10mm as it just looked dumb so low, I’m not even convinced it’s visible in the above photos. Must get it painted too as the interior is just lost in there as it is.

Must pull the shocks apart and put some slime on the shafts to stop wear and lubricate a bit, fit some LEDs and I think I’m about there for the pre-flight checks.

[ad456 331]

Got a chance to get out with it and found a big pile of topsoil at my mothers house and her pond area was not very dry either.

I've added some bruiser shackles that i got for 8 quid on eBay as i didn't feel that there was enough height for where I'll be running most of the time. After 5 mins with it I decided I'd made the right choice. I think next is some larger OD tires, these grip fine but an extra few mm of height will again help, anyone got any suggestions? I'd like something chunky looking and quite grippy. I'm considering 1.55" as I've some stamped steel china fines laying around from a CC-01 i was messing with.

Otherwise a lower turn motor is a definite, probably a 35t and i think then it'll be cosmetic/weathering stuff. All in I'm really chuffed with the truck.

[ad456 331]

So a wee update on this thing. Got some Injora Mud Country copies on it, has made quite a difference but has introduced some rub on the back of the front arches so they'll get swapped out for something slightly smaller soon (probably go 1.55") as I don't wanna start dremelling the arches. Have also fitted some metal wipers, a push bar with some KC spots and stickered the back windows.

@alvinlwh was south recently and picked me up a 3S 2200mah lipo(cheers dude!) for a different project so tested it in this and its picked up the 45t motor to exactly the right speed and torque i want so I'll be grabbing more next chance i get. Took it to my local park this morning for a proper play and subsequent carnage, lost a wiper and K5 badge, broke a bonnet hinge mount and chipped the other corner from rolling the whole way down a big slope next to the slide but hey ho, gotta accept some damage sometimes. I did make some sliders from some 6mm brass tube, silver solder and M3 brass inserts but they need a few tweaks and painted before they go on.

Performance wise this thing is pretty fun, the leafs are breaking in more now thankfully and it's taking on most of what i'd expect from it. Only impending changes will be the body mounts, the screws are driving me mental! Its just not handy compared to other options so I'll likely do the grub screw mod. In time I'll get some Boom Racing ProBuild 1.55" and likely some Element Grabbers as they have a good look to them. 

[Grumpy pants 4485]

Great pictures, it looks like a lot of fun 👏

[ad456 331]

So a "wee" update on this, I got completely distracted with everything else RC while I was working on my hot rod truck and basically burnt out on that project for a bit and moved onto this again. Last time i ran it I felt the truck wasn't right and that a bit of time to think about my next move was needed. So here's where i went,

Made some sliders at my mates house from some brass and M3 brass inserts.

 

Got the leaf reversal from RCBitz  to put the wheels where they look better and probably work better. Then I grabbed some Boom Racing 1.55" ProBuild wheels with the narrowest drive hub available and put some 1.55" General Grabbers on. Love the wheels but not sure they'll stay on this.

 

Started painting/weathering to make the truck look a bit less shiny, not finished, lots to be matched up along the way but its a first go and its likely not the worst ever. Broke out the styrene and made a template in Inkscape and made a visor based off a Fink Industries design then tried to get a match on the paint and added an RC4WD bracket to put more Daylighters on.

 

Fixed the bonnet and added some more wipers, this time I have moved the mounting point and filled the old holes.

 

Printed some better body mounts(from Thingiverse) and took some smooth shaft M3 bolts and cut the heads and extra thread off and changed the loathsome body mounts.

 

Went totally off the deep end and did the V8 bits, stupid really but it does look cool🤪

 

Clearanced the firewall for the distributor and added some moulding to the underside of the bonnet. 

 

Added a bench seat in the back along with some scale bits in the back, still all needs mounting more permanently once i decide what's gonna be stay where.

 

And made a CB antenna from some piano wire and sheet steel, not the cleverest thing ever but it'll bounce around pretty well.

 

Still got to finish up a ton of bits, mount radiator properly, wire distributor and decide on loom style, patch firewall, finish interior, blah blah but here's where its at now.

 

I also wired up all the LEDs with magnet wire to be easier to hide, the roof lights are run through a 1mm hole i drilled in the door seam.

Anyone have a shout on a decent scale light system that's better than the usual £15 "nearly there but still not quite right" eBay specials?

[bavee 1032]

Wow. That looks great!

[Mad Ax 9329]

I love that!  Great work  

[OldSchoolRC1 984]

Fantastic! Love the scale details, and the wheels look great! 

[Alexei 547]

the Boomracing wheels looks very nice, but maybe a bit too good for the weathered body.

[ad456 331]

On 10/5/2023 at 9:31 PM, Alexei said:

the Boomracing wheels looks very nice, but maybe a bit too good for the weathered body.

Yeah, I need to catch them up to the rest of the rig. I wasn’t sure if they were staying on the truck and not sure my paints would stay on the chrome parts of the rim. I’ll get it sorted when I come to weather the interior I think as it’s looking like they’ll stay. 

[87lc2 2666]

I like the "new" wheels.  I see plenty of 1:1 trucks on the trails around here with beat up rusty bodies and brand new $3k wheel and tire sets.  Either way truck looks awesome, these RC4WD bodies are nice. 

[ad456 331]

I wasn't fussed on the taillights of the Blazer, seemed like they could be a bit better so I grabbed some AmPro ones. What a difference! I also took a chance on the Boom Racing Kudu light kit for their BRX models. Very cool unit with plenty of options and since i got the one for the old Land Rover they were nice and warm. I got that test fitted and its pretty much exactly what i wanted from a light kit, it controls all the spots, has hazards, control of wether indicators are working or not and brake/reverse.

 

Here's a comparison of the rear lights once I'd painted them. They are pretty good.

 

 

Cut out the body to fit them up.

 

 

Test fitted and looking miles better.

 

 

So I didn't do any more with the lights as I'm still deciding where the box should sit and then i can do the routing and glue the rear lights in. I'm gonna order a crimper and plugs so its a bit tidier, its a rats nest just now. So I designed and printed a basic tow hook mount and bought the RC4WD anti wrap bar and got those fitted. I also put more leafs back on to stiffen things up.

 

 

In October I did the family birthday and xmas shopping and helped the Mrs by ordering her gift to me with no consultation, brave but she was cool about it. So xmas came and the gift was built.

 

So now i need something to sit on there. Enter my trusty Wild One that's been my runner for about 7 years. It needs a bit of a revamp.

 

 

After a wee revamp with a mix of styrene, FAV/Shark Mouth parts and a £5 Knight Customs engine we have a start. I also threw on my Scortched parts slot mags and some slicks. I'll get some paint on it once the weather better. I printed some bits to fill out the bed and prototyped a tyre rack.

 

 

Added some AliExpress ratchet straps and it seems the garage is a hair too small now😂

 

 

So I redid the tyre rack in CDS pipe and now waiting for the time to get it fixed together with more than magnets. I'm also making a battery box from some styrene and it'll give me somewhere to put the straps when there's no load. I'm also messing with the leaf spring mounts to swap the shackles from the outsides to being on a pivot in the centre, that way I won't end up with all the load on one axle. I'll add better pics of that another time when its closer to finished as I'm still messing with spacing and height. I've dropped the whole thing by 11mm so far, not sure i can do more and that may already be too much. Need a dry day and time to run it around the driveway and see if it functions properly. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Grumpy pants 4485]

Liking this a lot! 

[ad456 331]

So I have been chipping away at this and have nearly enough to post. I grabbed an AliExpress alloy fuel cell for a look. It's fine enough but the logo isn't the best, slightly rough threads but otherwise does the job. I swapped out the servo cable for some black cable

I also rearranged the electronics and printed a bracket for a 10 pin pogo connector to save unplugging the connector for the light kit. It's not the most elegant but the lights stay on no matter how much I rattle the body and i can remove the body without knackering the light kit. I"m gonna run the bracket and see if it holds up before i do any tidying up on it. Now I'm left with a rats nest in the body to tidy up🤢. Gotta do some soldering on that as the front cables are all too short with the control box all the way at the back. 

 

 

I aslo grabbed some coloured hose to see if it was better for plug wires. It's not entirely to my taste but I have a roll of 22awg Kanthal wire that's got no purpose so I think I'll run that inside it to give shape to it and see what I think. It is a close colour match to the body.

 

 

 

So I sucked it up and spent a few hours over the last few days doing the wiring. swapped out the magnet wires that I had on the spotlights as It was already looking like a weak point. I grabbed the Gorilla tape and strapped up the leads and got the rear lights glued in. I'm really glad i did the rear clusters as they just look so much better than the standard ones.

Chuffed thats over as I can actually drive the flipping thing now!!