Squashvan for the Trails

[OldSchoolRC1 1127]

So after seeing how well the TL01 did on the trails and rocks, I was thinking of building up some other chassis that could take advantage of the portals, preferably one without a rear motor. I was keeping an eye out for an old Wild Dagger (and still am actually if anyone has one lurking about) and then this popped up. Cool body, center motor, 4WS and everything will bolt right up. No brainer.

Come in a huge box...almost clod sized. Mine did come with a HW 1060 ESC, I hear some kits did not. 

The stars of the show. The body is cool, though it certainly is a bit odd. Interesting the wheel wells were already trimmed out. That's a first for me on a Tamiya kit. That huge chassis is a work of molding art - huge and complicated, but fits together perfectly. 

Thick and chunky gears. No worries about durability, I've had some Tamiya gears in runners for over 20+ years now. 

I didn't have any diff lockers handy, so I crammed the diffs with silicone earplugs. Still has some diff action, but it is super stiff. They are the splined output gears and I've found they are not nearly as strong as the D shaped ones. Going with a diff that gives a bit still works well on the trails and takes some of the driveline stresses off. Good enough for now, I'm sure I have some fully locked ones floating around here somewhere if needed.

Lots of 5x11 bearings later, we're looking at this stack of gears. Who doesn't love a giant pile of gears? Not quite as impressive as the Dynahead, but still pretty cool. And a quick note about Tamiya - they just do things their own way, and don't give a flying jalapeno. I mean really, who creates a chassis like this for a 4x4 RC?  And calls it a Squashvan? 

Gearbox closed up, everything fit together perfectly. I used a silver marker and did some detail work on the chassis. I think it looks pretty cool overall.  My Dyna and WR01 are looking on at their their odd sibling. 

Went with a Reedy 5 pole and a 17t pinion to start. I'm sure I'll need some gear reduction somewhere eventually, I'll test drive it first once I figure out wheels and tires and see where it's at. I ran it at 3v. for a few minutes to bed in the gears and everything is nice and smooth as expected. 

Interesting they give you separate dogbones and axles for the front (left) ... I would guess these are the HD versions? Interestingly, there is another set of HD dogbones in the box for 4WS - but no HD axles. 

Once the chassis was together, the rest was simple TL01 stuff and I put it together in a few minutes. It's a very simple kit overall.  I really like the bumpers, pretty sure one of those is going to end up on my Dynahead. The Comical series arms is nice, they add a little bit of width and a few extra shock mount holes. I tossed the stock friction shock garbage and installed some 70mm MST shocks from my CMX kit. Springs are a bit light, but they fit great. I threw on some 1.9 tires just to see how the stance was. 

..and cut out the body and dropped it on there. Cool, but man, that chassis hangs down there. I figured it would but it seems really low.  The shocks are way drooped though, I need to find some heavier springs and do some tweaking

Plenty of suspension from the MST shocks, and far more than I was getting from my TL01. 

I'd really like to get another set of portals ilo pillaging previous builds, but there is nothing in stock here other than the housings. Kind of a shame, and still think Tamiya should have put them out separate as an option part since there's so many kits that they can mount up to. 

So I'll steal them from the TL01 for a bit - I think they'll make quite a difference in the stance and be better used here.  I do need a few odds and ends like servos, but my budget needs to recover first...  

[JimBear 1302]

Lookin' good, @OldSchoolRC1! Had half a mind to try the body on my Rock Socker eventually, but not sure if it is long enough. Looking forward to what lies ahead.

[OldSchoolRC1 1127]

WB on the body is 267 IIRC, it should fit well on a CR01 chassis with a bit of fine tuning.. Better than the stock bodies where the WB is a bit on the short side anyway.  

[Badcrumble 4432]

Love it - if I didn't have the Dual Hunters, I would have one. Tempted by a body for a CR-01 though.

[Mad Ax 11168]

Nice build.  Interesting to see a different direction on this one, will be curious to see how well it runs on the trails.

[Nikko85 4192]

Would this fit the clod body. Might be an interesting take on a 4x4x4

 

[OldSchoolRC1 1127]

Been messing with the Squash a bit here and there. I went ahead and moved over the portals from my TL01 (Seen sitting low and sad in the back) and it made all the difference. Plenty of height under the chassis now and the lower gearing is much needed. 

Once I got the chassis where I wanted I started working on the body. I don't quite like it with scale tires... it just looks a bit off - especially in the front. I'm sure it's not nearly as noticeable when it's set up with the body at stock height and monster tires but lowered down I just don't like it.  It's a shame, I really like this body but I decided to go a different route. 

I thought about a Clod body, it fits the wheelbase perfectly. I tried a few others CC02 bodies as well and they do indeed fit the chassis pretty well. 

I liked this one the best. With the portals, the front wheels have a lot of scrub so it needs a lot of clearance up front. This FJ body was already trimmed up a bit and it had the best clearance for the front. Plus, i just liked the look.

I used some old TL01 rear body posts and they matched up perfectly with the holes already in the body. I do need to reinforce the rear a bit, it's quite wobbly. 

and as far as that Squashvan body, It will get a new home for sure - in fact, I think this is where it belongs.  I will update here when I get it mounted. 

[JimBear 1302]

@OldSchoolRC1 - CR-01 for the Squash body? Or at least the rails from one, irght? Really like the hotrod body for the TL01, by the way.

[OldSchoolRC1 1127]

Yessir! Looks right at home on the CR01, those big arches were made for monster tires after all. 

And thank you for the kind words on the TL01 - one of my favorite projects! 

[im888 8]

@OldSchoolRC1 can you please explain to a newbie (who is presently considering the purchase of a SV) why you want to lock the differentials? I don't have any knowledge/experience with gears, so what would be the drawback to not locking them and running the SV gears stock?

Also, would you mind advising: I saw a youtube vid of an SV builder who slathered all these gears in massive quantities of grease. However, I had previously read that less grease in an rc kit is better so as to eliminate dirt and grime buildup. In fact, I only used a pin-drop worth of grease in my Lunchbox gearbox and so far it's been running stellar.

Thanks in advance.

[OldSchoolRC1 1127]

Sure, locked diffs in this case are for offroad performance, specifically trail and crawling. With the stock differential when the weight comes off a tire or it's up in the air it will just spin and "diff out" - basically stopping your momentum. When are locked, both tires spin all the time.  This truck is somewhere inbetween - it has some diff action, but it is super stiff with the silicone crammed in there. Should do fine out on the trail, I don't really see it as a hardcore crawler. 

Grease is a personal preference... Some people feel better cramming it in there (not sure why), some prefer it light. Some of the crawler guys will fill their axles/transmissions completely with grease for protection when running in water. Personally, cramming a lot of grease in the gearbox adds weight and just makes a mess. That's just my opinion. 

Here's my general rule of thumb:

-I brush on a light coat of lightweight grease on my buggies, bashers, and any plastic crawler gears. I usually use a tub of Penzoil lightweight I've had for decades. It's super slick, whatever it is. I think above on the Squash,  I used the kit grease for some reason, it came with Tamiya's good grease, so I used it. I just put a light bead down the middle of the gears and let it run in. 

- A spray on teflon coating type lube for on road cars (too much grease adds drag, this is nice, light, and slick)

- Red and Tacky for steel gears in my crawlers, nitros, and basically anywhere I have metal gears in a driveline. It adds some drag initially, but loosens up after a run - it resists "fling off" much better than lighter grease. 

Has served me well for 30+ years.