FTX monster Build

[Nikko85]

For my next project  I want to try something different.

I was thinking about a crawler/monster truck to have something that could work in the garden or indoors. I was considering the FTX ravine as a basis for a 1/12 mini monster.

My idea is to take the axles and electronics and create a new chassis rail of a monster truck design. Then I'd cut much shorter rails, taking the wheelbase from 330 mm to 225 mm.

The appeal with the FTX is that it’s motor on axle, meaning I can make something relatively simple, it’s pretty cheap, and it’s also not that wide (230 mm) which means that when I put on wider tires it should fit the 1/12 MT scale.

It won’t be very fast, but I hope that I can perhaps upgrade the motors. I’ll keep it light with a Li-Ion battery.

Has anyone experience with this model? I quite like the idea of fabricating my own chassis plates and bars, but the MOA design and simplicity seems to be easier than having to buy gearboxes and shafts etc.

[ad456]

I don’t have any experience of that model but have done exactly what you’re planning with a Clod and it sounds like you have the right idea going on. 
Are you planning on lunchbox/wr02 size wheels? And is there a body in mind already?
Look forward to seeing what you do with it!

[Nikko85]

15 hours ago, ad456 said:

I don’t have any experience of that model but have done exactly what you’re planning with a Clod and it sounds like you have the right idea going on. 
Are you planning on lunchbox/wr02 size wheels? And is there a body in mind already?
Look forward to seeing what you do with it!

Yes I've got a set of GF01 wheels and tires going spare.

For the body I am not quite sure. I could a Pumpkin again or I could try the slash 1/16 for a modern monster truck. There is also a proline Chevy for the stampede which oddly enough is around 1/12 scale.

For the moment it is still just something I am kicking around, I worry it would be a little slow, and double brushless would not be cheap! But it seems like a good contender for a first go and the price is great for everything included. 

[ad456]

Those bodies sound like any of them could work well, I’ve got the Proline Stampede 50s Chevy for a 1/12 build sometime, it’s a 252mm wb which would be ideal.  There’s also a C10 body they do. 
 

I’d usually suggest 3s as an easy speed gain but with the enclosed motor design of the Ravine it may not keep cool. Brushless would be an idea, I’m not up on 380 motors so don’t know what other options are out there. 

[Nikko85]

Thanks. The ESC can take 3S but I don't have any LiPOs. I do have a few Li Ion but only 2s.

Brushless would be fun, I could have all the power I would need with  EZrun 2030s but that would get very expensive quick and it would probably end up breaking something. More sparky 380s would probably be the way, but I am not sure I can get zero times ones. FTX sells front and rear motors which suggests you need zero or one reversed timed motors which complicated maters.

 

[ad456]

Chances are that eBay non-branded 380 aren’t timed, ones for general industrial use. Or even a Mabuchi RS-380 for a drill, they are on eBay for less than £5. They’d likely be cheap enough to take a punt and you could choose from different rpm ratings

[Nikko85]

2 hours ago, ad456 said:

Chances are that eBay non-branded 380 aren’t timed, ones for general industrial use. Or even a Mabuchi RS-380 for a drill, they are on eBay for less than £5. They’d likely be cheap enough to take a punt and you could choose from different rpm ratings

That's a good shout. I saw someone drop a 35T motor in it and said it gave a speed boost and I saw another video showing the Traxxas 21T as a much bigger speed boost, so I should be able to  get something with more pep than stock It seems like the Mabuchi motors are easy to get hold of - I need to work out what all the codes mean, but there are a few RS-380 XXXX motors that would fit the bill. It looks like RS-380SH-4528

Would be something of upgrade as it looks like the thickest wires with fewest turns! Not sure if the ESC can handle it, but if they can handle 3S I think it should be able to handle 2S with a slightly hotter motor (although I'm not sure if ESC are limited by amps, voltage or power?)

If the ESC can't I'll just use my own ESC and radio gear.

 

[ad456]

The figures will be down to the spec sheet, most of the eBay listings have a data sheet for a Mabuchi.

As for ESC, it’ll be Clod style territory there, if one ESC is running both then it equals half the turns (2 motors at 27t = ESC rated for 13t) or run 2 ESC if I remember things correctly. 

[Nikko85]

Yes,  I will explore those motors, it looks like the original motors are 40T so this should help a lot, specs for RS-380-4528 seem to suggest 25,000 @7.4 volts. Although the gear ratio is low (1:40) given the large tires it shouldn't be ultra slow with a hotter motor.

I think a standard HW ESC should be able to cover both, as they are only 380 size, so won't pull anything like as much current as a 540 - hopefully the stock electronics keep up anyhow (I've seen someone drop an 18T traxxas into the car, and they just said it was too fast, not that the electronics died).

 

 

 

[Nikko85]

The Chevy C10 turned up, although the wheelbase is long it looks a little smaller scale than my other bodies, odd that it's made for a 1/10 I would day around 1/13 but close enough to work with my collection.

It's around 240 mm wheelbase.

The FTX could work, I was also wondering about the thunder tiger CR12 as an option? I have seen those with GF01 wheels and tires and they looked like a great mini truck.

Of course an ORV would also work or an MF01x but I want something different to my current collection and I've not got a solid axle 4x4 MT. 

 

 

[Badcrumble]

On the smaller monster truck scale is the CEN Jimny.

CEN Jimny.

Actually, you've been here before...

 

 

[Nikko85]

8 hours ago, Badcrumble said:

On the smaller monster truck scale is the CEN Jimny.

CEN Jimny.

Actually, you've been here before...

 

 

The CEN Jimny looks great, and certainly one to think about. Originally I was looking at the 175 mm wheelbase 595 for my smaller cars, but now the 210 mm Jimny would be perfect to match my collection,  I quite like the idea of a a Pumpkin (or Slash 1/16) on a CEN 1/12 for a nice modern monster truck.

I've given it some though, and decided that it'll either be a thunder tiger/team associated or the FTX.

I can buy the PUBG 4x4 (which looks to be, although it would be great to confirm) the exact same chassis as the Thunder Tiger CR12 and also the newly released Team Associated MT12  for the same price as the FTX.  I would put on the larger tires, and make something like this

The benefit of the CR12/PUBG is that the wheelbase is already spot on, and with bigger tires I'd be slightly gearing up so will have a little speed. The new MT12 means spares should be available, and they seem to have mostly the same parts. There are upgrades for 4 wheel steering etc, although mainly 3D printed solutions, which I could try.

However it doesn't seem like it can handle much power (spur gear known weakness) and will probably not be as fun or fast as my GF01, although much lighter and perhaps better at crawling. 

The FTX on the other hand looks like it's got loads of cheap spares and is something really different. However with the smaller tires than stock I'd be really gearing down - and might end up with something very slow - unless I replace both motors, which then might mean I'd have to replace the ESC and then get a Y harness or lose 4 wheel steering etc. It would involve much more work to get working - which could be good or bad depending on how much time I've got!

Of course the obvious solution is to put it on an MF01x with the 239 mm wheelbase and wider arms to make an off road basher, but I've got a couple of MF01x and I like the idea of a sub £100 project.

[Nikko85]

Looking at the data sheet it looks like the PUBG 4x4 is the exact same chassis as the MT12. It even has the open diffs, the same gear ratio transmission and everything else. I can see that there have been some issues with the gears stripping, but it looks like they are using a different plastic (a beige not white as in the originals) so I am hopeful they have fixed it. There is also the Funtex CR12, which is also the exact same chassis, which also have cheaper (and identical ) parts, so I can get a few in bulk or even order the GPM metal spurs if they are not solid.

Sadly the PUBG 4x4 looks sold out everywhere, so will have to keep looking. I swear I saw it for sale only a few weeks ago.

Edit: I managed to track down a PUBG 4x4 at what looks like a good price! 

So, the plan is to get the Chevy C10 body on the PUBG for a monster truck, adding GF01 wheels. The drivetrain of the PUBG looks identical to the MT12 Team Associated sell - so this means that it should be able to handle the larger tires.

Between GPM spares, the MT12, the Funtek CR12 and the Team Associated CR12 there are enough still in product chassis to make me not too worried about spares.

I haven't lost the idea of also doing an FTX at some point either for a full MOA mini clod style MT,but for now I might make another thread to highlight the CR12/MT12 chassis.