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OldSchoolRC1

CC01 Amigo with Trail mods

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Another CC01 build, I've been fascinated with these little trucks since I first cracked open my XC01 Jeep back in the 90's. 

Got hold of a Tamiya Izuzu Amigo body in a trade that was a little worse for wear. Gladly traded a new Pajero shell for it as I like the look, and it's something different. I figured since it was already fairly beat, it would be a fine body to take out on the woods and trail worry free! 

I was debating some sort of solid axle rig, but in the end it was right at home on a CC01 chassis where the good Lord intended. I had one here I was messing with converting over to an HPI suspension, and after some wheelbase adjustments, it dropped right on. 
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It had a 3:1 reduction and Tamiya Xacto mini motor ready to go - best combo out there for a trail ready CC chassis. I also used some lead fishing wire to line the chassis rails to add some weight down low. 
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Rear suspension started with some modified Axial Wraith brackets to angle the shocks for a bit more travel. 
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Front is modified with some HPI parts..more on that later. 
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A look at the bottom. Junfac sliders and some others odds and ends
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The body was missing the rear section, so I added some cross bars and mesh to fill it in. A modified Dingo interior is also velcro'd in to fill in the hole. 
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The PO of this body used a lighter apparently to melt and flare out the wheel  wells. They were (are) a wavy mess on all for corners...I started sanding down to get them close, and eventually I'll fill a bit so they are somewhat straight. The orange paint has to go, so there's a lot of bodywork in the future for this truck. 
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Painted the details on the grill and removed the front bumper as it was cracked and pretty much an eyesore. Now has a much more appropriate off road front end! 
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A bit of a closer look at the front suspension. THe stock suspension is fine and I don't make many changes on most of my CC's, but I thought it would be fun to experiment a bit!

First thing is first - super simple, and doing it to all my rigs - drilled a hole in the skid plate so I get to the steering screw without tearing the entire front suspension apart. Also made a small skid while I was at it. I shaved the skid down 1mm so the new rear skid sits flush. Red threadlock on the steering rack this time. :evil:
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First off, let's figure out why the steering works so hard in the first place. The stock suspension geometry has a ton of scrub - especially with  wider offset wheels. I dug around in parts bins until I came up with something that was close - HPI  suspension parts were close enough to get started. 
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The front arms are not quite the right shape, so I used the rears instead. They have the same "rake" as the stock arms. I cut out some of the webbing so the C hub could slide in, added a spacer for the hub and they were a perfect fit. Aluminum arms would be best, but these will do for proof of concept. 
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Had to mess around a bit - the stock HPI universals didn't fit - too long. As of right now, I have the stock HPI axle and a Tamiya FF01 dogbone and already have better steering angle than stock and no binding. I'm going to try some other combos to see if I can get a CVD jammed in there.
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Can see the difference in suspension geometry... The HPI parts also give me 10 degrees of negative caster, with 8 as an option..Also, I can about go about 10mm longer with the shock though I do not have one here handy. 
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The only drawback so far is to clear the HPI suspension, I need non-beadlock wheels...or beadlocks with a ton of offset (but that's what I was trying to avoid) It is however a much better suspension set-up - more travel, better steering, adjustable toe and camber, and built in negative caster. Not to mention that with the improved geometry, the steering servo and rack don't have to work as hard. 

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Now that the front suspension has been improved, what about out back? I've been thinking about how to get an overdrive/underdrive setup for my CC chassis as it would help tremendously out on the trail. 

Simplest answer was to find a similiar size axle with a different gear ratio. Easier said than done, CC01's are pretty narrow compared to most of the mainstream crawlers. However, after doing some digging, I found two good options for a starting points. Ascender and Sawback axles are just about as close as you can get. With some dubious math:

CC01 axle gear ratio = 12/21, 1.75:1
Ascender ratio = 1.85:1 (-6% underdriven)
Sawback ratio = 2.21.1 (-13% underdriven)

If you want a wider track, Tamiya's TA hubs will add 10mm per side up front. That will bring it up to about 185mm or so.  That's a perfect match for the Sawback axle as-is, and for a slightly narrowed Ascender axle. And of course, there's always different offset hubs. 
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I decided to tackle the Ascender axle as I knew it was pretty easy to modify and I wanted to stay fairly close to stock to keep the tires somewhat tucked. Withsome cuttng, grinding and fingers crossed, I got mine down to 175mm wide. 165 would have been relatively easy with more filing, but I wanted mine to match my HPI grafted front so 175 was fine. 

Here's my modded axle compared to the stock CC (width-wise anyway). Must be the perspective, but it's only 10mm wider at this point. 
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Sitting on top of the HPI suspension - match made in heaven?
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Dug out some links, and it dropped it right in. Almost too easy! I already modded the rear shocks to be in front of the axle ilo behind like stock, so it was a quick swap. 
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I used some old SCX10 shocks with 10mm limiters as too much travel would be out of whack with the front. Added some Tamiya touring springs ilo the stock Axial as they were shorter and softer.  
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Overall view, and back on 4 wheels:
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For the record, this is most of my wish list for a CC02 chassis. I can dream, right? :)

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Finally, bodywork - turned out pretty good for how beat the body was when I got it. I'm not a fan of the proline rack - they should be embarrassed to sell it for the price they charge. I had to glue it together just to keep it in one piece. But it looks the part. 

Added some small lights to the front. Non operational as or right now. 
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Some small light accessories on the top rack. Just enough to add some detail without adding too much weight. 
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Not a fan of the plastic fantastic spare, but it's much lighter than a real wheel, so on it went. 
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And out on the trail... Did really good! Tires held it back for sure, I popped a front dogbone or two (really need CVD's to get full steering potential!) and the rear suspension was way to soft leading to some 3 wheel climbing. But very happy with it overall. The underdrive out back really made a difference. It would 3 wheel a but while climbing, but never once threatened to go over backwards. 

Getting ready to go with a friends CC01, a custom 'Mog, and a Cross rig
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3 down, 1 up! 
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A few random shots
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Took 2 of us to get the Cross out...
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At the end of the day...still going strong!
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First thing I did when I got back was outboard the shocks on the mounts and change to heavier oil. Feels much better on the bench...can't wait for next time!
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And that brings this rig up to speed! Any future updates will be posted here.

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Looking good, with a little work the cc01 is incredibly capable trail rig. Used as a trail rig at around walking to running speed where there is soil, sand and general slippery and bumpy stuff it’s almost unbeatable. 

Leave the smooth grippy rocks and slow speed work for the solid axle rigs. That’s all they are good at. 

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