Maverick scout crawler to scaler questions

[Terz1]

Hi guys. I've been reading more and more threads and watching a lot of youtube videos of these scaler rigs that people have been building. It's a long way from the usual, how fast can I get it to go thinking I've had before. I love how the things look so realistic and the idea of taking it over trails.

The first one I thought of buying was an axial scx10 (sorry it's not a tamiya) but I've heard a lot of talk about the maverick scout and that it's basically an axial copy and how good it is. Plus the price is amazing!

So my question is has anyone got the dimensions for the maverick scout such wheelbase (centre of rear wheel to centre of front wheel) and the wheel width of the vehicle and may be the wheel width of the vehicle from the centre of each tyre , on the same axle. The reason is that the body on the scout looks really poor and I want to find a jeep wrangler body which would fit, preferably hard body if one exists.

I'm looking into lower shocks or adjusting the ones supplied to make the stance better and other items I need to make it more scale and realistic. If there aren't any bodies to fit the scout dimensions I'll look elsewhere for a scale project.

Thanks for any help.

[JennyMo]

Hi Terz - I think most people who use the Scout as the basis for a scale crawler, tend to only use the axles and links (or use different length links if they want to adjust the wheelbase to fit a particular body more accurately), as the stock Scout chassis is not really suitable as a genuine 'scale' crawler, which ought to have some sort of ladder chassis to more accurately ape a 1:1 vehicle?

That is not to say you could build a really sweet crawler out of a stock Scout chassis with a better looking scale body shell on it, it's just it wouldn't be a 'true' scaler if you see what I mean?

The other issue with scale crawlers is that on the whole they have limited wheel travel (and ground clearance) compared to the sort of chassis the Scout has - don't get me wrong, I have similar style chassis crawler that has awesome wheel articulation, but if you tried to build a scale crawler out of it, you'd inevitably have to limit the wheel travel or else the wheels will hit the body - so the only option then is to chop a lot of the body away, which ruins the scale appearance?

One option to consider would be to build a scale 'cage' crawler - like the sort of rock buggies you see in Moab etc. - which tend to have a far narrower body/cage, allowing the wheels to fully articulate still - much more fun for driving in my opinion.

Otherwise (and it is something I'm currently considering myself), you can buy a simple ladder chassis kit for around $50 via Ebay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/252020650523?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

...and transfer the Scout axles, links and running gear to that, and build a genuine scale vehicle that way - using a Jeep, Toyota, Land Rover etc body on that?

Plenty of options, but certainly the Scout is a good place to start for the running gear - very cost effective as you say!

Hope that helps...

Jenny x

[Terz1]

Hi jenni. Thanks for getting back to me. That's a lot of options to consider. They all sound pretty good but I do like the sound of the ladder chassis and then transferring the running gear over too it. I think I'd go this route as I'd hate to start chopping up a good looking body to retain the standard chassis.

I have to admit that the rock buggies that you mentioned sound like they may be a bit more fun if all the articulation is retained.

You've give me a lot to think about there. Which is a good thing.

[mr crispy]

You could easily use the Scout axles, gearbox, motor and electrics (all of which are perfectly good and strong) and fit them to the Axial SCX10 frame rails and chassis with very little modification. An alternative is fitting a better body to the scout and then limiting the axle articulation with shorter shocks or like I did by fitting tubes onto the shock shafts. The Scout is a surprisingly capable crawler with a few minor (free) mods. Mine ended up looking like this;

I can't take the dimensions you wanted as I used all the running gear in a 1/6 Willis Jeep conversion;

If you're interested the mods I did are covered in a build thread 😉

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=63030&view=&hl=&fromsearch=1

[Terz1]

Great looking maverick there mr crispy! I've decided to go the new shell route like you mentioned. I've just received the pro-line jeep rubicon body shell and it looks amazing. The maverick scout has arrived too and I absolutely love it.

I was originally going to go full on scaler with this but the articulation on it is so amazing I don't want to lose that go anywhere ability. I'll do the rubber tube on the shock shaft mod to reduce shock travel. This should protect the arches on the new shell but can be easily changed back to a full on crawler.

What I'm going for now is a jeep rubicon 'high lift'. That way I'll have more suspension travel than the average scaler but not the insane amount that the crawler set up has.

Here's the jeep rubicon shell sitting nicely on the maverick. 100mm shocks would lower this so it looks more like a true scaler. Think the mavericks shocks are about 130mm

I knew those plastic washers would come in handy! They make nice spacers to push out the body mounts.

Later I'll have a good read of your thread mr crispy and get some modding ideas. Thanks for the link.

[mr crispy]

That's pretty much how I ended up with mine, scale-ish but able to climb pretty well 😉 Before you take it out get those axles and gearbox thoroughly lubed though! All the ones I've seen came bone dry.

[tam-trucks]

maverick scout are not to bad as a first crawler,i soon went back to tamiya stuff,found it bit soft in plastic wise,broke casing mounts mainly,halfshafts twice,striped gearbox,motor and esc burn out,3months later sold most of it on to fund tamiya tlt axles and 3speed truck gearbox to build a proper job,,but like with everything `you get what you pay for` in my opinion,,,shop about and save the cash for something good to come along

[Terz1]

That's pretty much how I ended up with mine, scale-ish but able to climb pretty well Before you take it out get those axles and gearbox thoroughly lubed though! All the ones I've seen came bone dry.

I've heard about the gearbox and axles being bone dry. I bought some extra lube just for the maverick. It's only had a brief outing so before I go mad with it I'll make sure everything's well greased up.

maverick scout are not to bad as a first crawler,i soon went back to tamiya stuff,found it bit soft in plastic wise,broke casing mounts mainly,halfshafts twice,striped gearbox,motor and esc burn out,3months later sold most of it on to fund tamiya tlt axles and 3speed truck gearbox to build a proper job,,but like with everything `you get what you pay for` in my opinion,,,shop about and save the cash for something good to come along

I'll see how I get on with it. For £119 rtr I wasn't expecting axial levels of quality but then again HPI make these so hopefully it won't be too bad. Plus I think most of the axial ax10 items fit so I'll find out what the axial guys upgrade to and just get those items.

[mr crispy]

TBH I never had any major problems with mine as the Scout or under the Jeep. I guess it depends how hard you push it and the trail stuff I do isn't anywhere near comp crawler level. The only item that failed on mine was the steering servo eventually started glitching and needed replacing.