My F-350 Hi-Lift

[Old Busted Hotness]

This one's just completed. I've put in a Novak Crawler brushless system and made up some wheels from Tamiya 2-piece rims, with Monogram Big T wheels used as centers. The Big T is a 1/8 scale plastic kit.

I put the shortest leaf under the main leaf, as I didn't want to go full soft. It may be too stiff yet. Fortunately, it's not a big headache to change. I love driving this truck! Many thanks to Tamiya for offering it!

The color is Tamiya Bright Red. Two cans, as I did the underside of the bed as well. I knew it would bug me seeing overspray every time I changed out the battery, so I shot the whole thing.

[Shodog]

Looks good.  That bright red almost looks orange in the pics.  Of course you will have to get some outside shots

[backtomyroots]

Looks fantastic.  How is the performance of the Brushless Crawler Motor ?  How does it perform in each gear ?  Most importantly how does it perform in general ?  Nice addition those wheels.

[billg4]

I lik it, looks good

 

Great job on the wheels, that'll keep it looking apart from the 5 million others we'll see posted in the next few months.

[DeeMiller]

Great looking color! Excellent choice!

The thing I don't like are the visible bolts in the body though...

Anyway, it looks ace with those rims!!![H]

 

Grtz Dee.

[Shodog]

The thing I don't like are the visible bolts in the body though...

Grtz Dee.

I agree but there isn't much you can do about it.  I thought about making some body colored sticker to cover the bolts.

[Old Busted Hotness]

I used M3 button-heads on all exposed screws to minimize their visual impact, and I plan to paint them red, except in the bed where the 1:1's use naked screws.

Outdoors, the red really pops.

I painted the step rails' end caps black. I also detailed the lenses with paint rather than the stickers. I used the white dummy LED's in the headlights, and the yellow in the rollbar lights.

If I really wanted to, I could have cut the turn signals and headlights from the lenses on the yellow and clear parts respectively and glued them into one part, but paint was easier [] What looks like a fingerprint near the screw, isn't. It's either a reflection, or my camera playing silly ******s.

Out back, more paint on the lenses. If you paint the lenses, paint the edges as well as the backs, it helps the lens appear to be colored all the way through. I thought the single exhausts looked more F-350 and less Nissan Skyline. That really is a paint booger under the taillight, though [:$]

A poser shot on the rockpile. Overall, it drives like a fullsize pickup, heavy and stiffly sprung. The center of gravity is pretty high, and it will roll over at high speed, just like a 1:1 F-350 will. Drive carefully.

The Novak is impressive. Low speed is very low. A garden slug will outpace you if you let it. Then give it some throttle and it acts like a healthy stock motor. The drag brake isn't much compared to an outrunner, but with six pounds to hold it's got quite the task on hand. Overall, Novak did an excellent job with it. I couldn't be happier with it even if I'd paid for it.

I may pull the coil springs out of the shocks to soften the suspension a tad. When I do that, I'll pull the body off and let you see the Crawler motor.

[mr_pushrod]

Good looking truck, nice to see non boxart paint and wheels.

[Old Busted Hotness]

Here's a closeup of the wheels:

I used Tamiya 2-piece rims, and Monogram Big T wheels, cut down, for the centers, with a wheel hex glued into the center, using the center hole of the 2-piece rim to make sure everything was concentric.

The Big T is a 1/8 scale plastic kit, originally issued in the early 60's, brought back this year by Revell.

[jocktheglide]

do you recommend the upgrade to the novak crawler brushless setup?  do you think its faster than theos stock setup from the videos?  more torque?

[DeeMiller]

Here's a closeup of the wheels:

*pic*

I used Tamiya 2-piece rims, and Monogram Big T wheels, cut down, for the centers, with a wheel hex glued into the center, using the center hole of the 2-piece rim to make sure everything was concentric.

The Big T is a 1/8 scale plastic kit, originally issued in the early 60's, brought back this year by Revell.

Niiiice job![]

What diameter are the tires? (as I like them mucho, maybe I'll order a set if they come available as a sparepart).

Thx.

 

Grtz Dee.

PS Are the mirrors flexible plastic (like the Hummer)?

[DJTheo]

Also really like the wheels, very nice idea!

Cheers

[Old Busted Hotness]

The tires are listed as 94mm, bigger than any other 1.9 tire to date. They work very well on this rig.

The mirrors are molded with the tailgate, so they're the same material as the main body. I flipped my 350 the other day and bent the driver's side mirror but didn't break it off. I'm looking out for some small springs to use as mirror mounts when the inevitable happens.

Jock, I love the Novak in this rig. It's got a perfect blend of low-speed control and just enough top end. I ran off a scale 1/4 mile in 9.0 seconds with it, and scaled a 58 degree slope. This truck impresses me.

[neo]

Just out of interest did you add the kit servo saver for the steering servo or did you use an aftermarket one?

[Old Busted Hotness]

I used the kit srevo saver. It's a bit mushy, but I'm using a digital servo with plastic gears so better safe than sorry. With a metal-gear servo, I'd upgrade to a Kimbrough saver.

[neo]

Thanks for the info.

Cracking build btw [H]

[Old Busted Hotness]

Makes a pretty good tow rig, too [H]

[DeeMiller]

Man, if it wasn't for the grass on the foreground, it looked **** real at first glance!

[]

[mr_pushrod]

It's like it was designed to do it! Sweet!

[Old Busted Hotness]

A few "improvements" to the original spec:

I cut the gear cover for easier access. Now I don't have to pull the servo out to access the motor. If you're wondering why I'd have to access a brushless motor in the first place, I changed to the sintered rotor to improve braking and hill-holding, per communication with Novak. Seems to have worked, but as it's raining I won't know for certain until tomorrow.

The gear cover isn't sealed, so this mod does no harm and speeds things up considerably come maintenance time [H]

I cut the skinny portion from the mirrors and replaced it with heat-shrink tubing, so the mirrors fold away. We were out of black heat-shrink at the LHS [:$]

[DJTheo]

The gear cover isn't sealed, so this mod does no harm and speeds things up considerably come maintenance time [H]

Sorry, but have to disagree, 2 small sideopenings (which most anyway close with tape) and a tiny gap at the sliper clutch adjustment nut can't be compared with a completely open pinion, spur and slipper. If I were you I would cut now the cover also at the bottom section so it won't collect/keep the dirt.

Love your mirror mod though, great idea! [H]

Cheers

[Old Busted Hotness]

Theo, I put the top half of the gear cover back on for running it. I just took the pic with it removed to show where I made the cut. []

Two screws and it's off.

[DJTheo]

Then its fine! []

Cheers

[gunpowder17]

Thats a real good idea, cutting that gear cover. I have just done the same after having to remove a few things just to get it off. Bravo!

[Petrolhead]

I'm realling liking the mods you've done to it so far!

But is it just me or do hardly any of these pictures seem to show up, meaning I can't see the rest of your fab work!?