Show us your Ghetto Mods......

[Pizza Frog 802]

On 7/14/2024 at 11:24 AM, Re-Bugged said:

Looks like a wheelie bar could be fitted to it once the badass Brushless goes in 😉

( @Xeostar in the UK on here was making some braces for ORV’s a while back, there was a thread on it somewhere)

Yes that's right, I've seen that thread, I wonder if Xeostar is still making them, I've been meaning to inquire about possibly buying some for ages..

[tamiya_1971 733]

3D printed ghetto redneck cage. It allowed me to save an original Blackfoot body!
 

[Ferruz 13707]

On 7/13/2024 at 1:39 AM, Re-Bugged said:

TT02R chassis cover…

Pesky little stones we’re getting in the vent holes of the motor and intermittently jamming things up during Racing by Post sessions.

So an acrylic paint tube box was trimmed & zipped tied on, so far so good 👍🏻

Along the lines of this mod... I needed the same protection for the same reasons on my Mad Van.

The UK has Starbucks, here in Canada there is Tim Hortons, in any case a coffee cup is a coffee cup 😅

Hope that green crappy tape will hold as that's all I have on me for the moment. Now headed to the beach to find out if it works!

[Re-Bugged 12039]

5 hours ago, Ferruz said:

The UK has Starbucks, here in Canada there is Tim Hortons, in any case a coffee cup is a coffee cup 😅

Just add some sticky goo from Timmy’s delicious Doughnuts to it if the tape gives way 😋

[chris.alex 1944]

For buggies that are not actually designed to have lighting, I have found my own method of installing LEDs. To do this, you need these cheap 5mm LED sockets and thin sheet metal from the hardware store. My homemade LED holders are unobtrusive and last a very long time. 

[SlideWRX 1076]

On 7/15/2024 at 1:22 PM, Ferruz said:

Along the lines of this mod... I needed the same protection for the same reasons on my Mad Van.

The UK has Starbucks, here in Canada there is Tim Hortons, in any case a coffee cup is a coffee cup 😅

Hope that green crappy tape will hold as that's all I have on me for the moment. Now headed to the beach to find out if it works!

Ironically, this gave me the idea on my Manta Ray to use leftover packaging plastic to cover my receiver.   

Then I went to the previous page and found you had already done it!  

Brilliant minds think alike.  Brilliant I tell you!

On 7/7/2020 at 8:11 PM, Ferruz said:

-This is the only ghetto touch on my Manta Ray that's installed all year round.

A little transparent plastic box shield that was trimmed from some packaging or blister (I have a box full of plastic packagin leftovers exactly for this purpose) fits perfectly around the receiver. It doesn't make it waterproof but it saves it from snow and splashes, which is prettyvmuch what I need.

This too proved to be very effective and I suggest it: if you keep an eye out for the leftover packaging you'll find the dimension you need for pretty much whatever electronics in whatever car (a box of pens, chocolates, socks, cellphone, many things will do, they are around us all the time).

My Manta Ray sank to the bottom of a ditch last month, two good feet of water, and the time to dry it up it was good as before. I'm sure I was very lucky, but also sure that this helped.

Currently my ghetto mod is a balloon.  It worked for old school manual speed controls, so I figured it would work for my receiver, and it did, quite well!  I just didn't like it much.  

Anyway, I am working on a replacement 'box' After seeing your posts.   I saved the packaging from an ESC (I think?) I bought recently:

I ended up pushing it towards the back so I can hopefully fit a driver where I want with the new body. I'm using the posts that the manual has us install over the motor, but aren't actually used anymore to hold the cover down.  That plus some electrical tape to seal the edges and it is 'done'.

Now I am going to pay attention for a clear packaging bubble, slightly bigger too - my receiver is kinda squished in there.   

[ucacjbs 184]

Servo mount broke on midnight pumpkin chassis , so I cut apart a plate hanger for some pretty stiff but pliable enough brass(?) rod that I bent into shape and the fun could continue. One of those bodges that seems it could last for a while, but a new chassis is on the way. 

Edited February 24 by ucacjbs
Bodges got auto-corrected to bodies

[Ferruz 13707]

@SlideWRX well done, and that ESC packaging looks perfect for the purpose 👌

[Rookie Rabbit 47]

While browsing through Amazon I found this - photoshop - gem of a ghetto mod:

 

Best,

Rookie Rabbit

[MadAnt 887]

These are less of a mod and more like jank repairs, but it works.

The rear shock tower has been repaired with styrene, the front of the chassis has been held together with angle aluminum and the old control arm had a screw threaded to take the place of the broken plastic pin/nub. This old Grasshopper could be considered borderline trash, but I kept it going and now only take it out once in awhile for a little cruise.

[El Gecko 1673]

20 hours ago, MadAnt said:

These are less of a mod and more like jank repairs, but it works.

Pretty much all jank repairs over here too (ok some are technically mods, but all are kinda janky)

Bicycle spoke as a fix for the floppy gearbox on the Hornet:

New upright for the Hornet made out of a piece of old bumper (still holding up surprisingly well!):

Front shock towers made out of a brake from an old pair of inline skates:

And the current version of homemade shock mounts cut from aluminum sheet. The gray bumper was made from the battery door of an old battery backup unit.

The body panels and wing were made from a family-size jug of apple juice, and the roll cage over the driver is the rear bumper of a Nikko Big Bubba. The wing mount is actually the extension pieces that allow you to fit larger shocks onto a Frog.

Also made this ESC plate for my Hawk from an old external hard drive enclosure:

The front skid plate was made from the interior of that hard drive enclosure:

There's a lot in this pic. Servo mounts made from pieces of an old garden hose reel. Front bulkhead X brace made from sheet aluminum. The red posts that hold the X brace are old fuel fittings with plastic coat hangers jammed in, so the screws have something to thread into. And the black plastic pieces behind the servo with two servo arms sticking out the top are the receiver cover and front body mount. Lastly, a piece of bicycle spoke for a battery hold-down.

Body from a toy car, and wing cut from some packaging material with yet another bicycle spoke as the wing mount.

A coil of spring from a bicycle brake to strengthen up the stock Hornet servo saver:

Like @Ferruz's mod, but I used black coat hangers to brace the upper and lower shock mounts on my Hornet. The fake engine is from the same yellow toy car as the body above, and the on/off switch is mounted to the front of it using some more pieces of metal from the hard drive enclosure. You can also see the receiver cover I made from leftover packaging material in this pic.

Rolled this one down a dry creek bed and punched a hole in the roof, sort of fixed with black electrical tape topped by clear packing tape. The rollbar and internal scaffolding are made out of old coat hangers and other random bits. The front clip on this body is also made out of a juice bottle, and the rear "tailgate" is made from more packaging.

I also made a brace to keep from yanking the bumper off, and to stiffen up the rear body mount. The axle carriers are also enhanced and positioned correctly with aluminum adapters, and one of the rear suspension arms has been repaired with a piece of steel from yet another computer part.

Still working to finish this one, but the whole rollcage body was made out of coat hangers:

[Ferruz 13707]

@El Gecko that rollcage made out of coat hangers looks great, all the way to its color! Can't wait to see the final result 👍

[hairyjon 104]

Just wanted to say how brilliant this thread is. Not something I would really do but love seeing the ideas. Keep it up. 

[Frog Jumper 4475]

On 3/12/2025 at 11:35 AM, El Gecko said:

 

This one is awesome!

[Juggular 5254]

I did a ghetto mod.  Using the beloved Tamiya bushings may qualify? Maybe?

The left door on our LG has a gap-filling sliver-door that unfurls and seals the gap.  After 10 years, the entire door started to sag. Sometimes the catch on the frame could not catch the nub on the door, leaving a gap between the doors.  There is a nut under the door that could raise it by 1-2mm. But that wouldn't be enough.  

At first, I thought to put a screw on. But the bolt head would carve the catch and break it eventually. (There was a convenient hole for the screw).  I needed something that could increase the girth. 

850 bushings would work, I thought. (I had a shrink tube to allow bushings to cushion the impact a bit).  

But, 850s were not large enough to make a good contact.  Why, Tamiya has 1150s just for this purpose!   

Now the middle piece unfurls without a fail, every single time. I don't know why it didn't come with a roller from the start. Planned obsolescence maybe? 

LG isn't RC... but for me, this is a historic event where Tamiya nylon bushings were actually doing something useful a dozen times day.  Before installing the roller, my wife had taped that gap filler. But that prevented us from opening just the left door.  I hope she realizes how useful RC maintenance skills could be?  I should've asked my wife how much money she'd spend for this, so I could have pocketed that money. If she had said "I'd pay $40 to fix this." That's already 1/4 price of the NXgen!  

 

[SlideWRX 1076]

A new fridge is expensive!!  You saved thousands of dollars!  A properly placed flyer from a local store, left open to the re****erator page would be a good reminder of how much she needs to spend on your hobby...

 

[Pablo68 1255]

On 7/16/2024 at 12:04 AM, tamiya_1971 said:

3D printed ghetto redneck cage. It allowed me to save an original Blackfoot body!
 

I did similar a couple of years back.
My rational was to save the body of a BF I picked up cheap. I didn't want to try and find a grill and rear end that was bound to be pricey and difficult to find. As previously mentioned, I wanted to save and reinforce the body
So I made this. In my mind there is a good chance that somewhere in the south of the USA, there is a redneck truck like this. It probably even gets driven on the road sometimes.

[El Gecko 1673]

On 7/10/2020 at 5:29 PM, Ferruz said:

Yesterday while looking through my rc spares I found these tires I forgot about. I've modded them like this for ice running, for what I remember they worked well as long as I was easy on the throttle, but at higher speed they'd become quite hazardous, shooting off screws here and there 

They gave the car an intimidating look once installed

I used to have a set of tires like this! My cousin made them for the Frog. I think there was an article in an old magazine about how to make your own winter kit? With screw-spiked tires and skis for the front wheels.

[El Gecko 1673]

Here's a recent one. Made a retaining ring out of a servo horn to hold the endbell on an old brushed motor. It might only last one run, but I'm excited to test it!

 

[MadAnt 887]

I call it The Jankameter. I needed a way to measure RPM at a constant 7.2 volts so I put this pile of jank together.

Also, yes, that is a Hornet gearbox half.

[SlideWRX 1076]

19 hours ago, MadAnt said:

I call it The Jankameter. I needed a way to measure RPM at a constant 7.2 volts so I put this pile of jank together.

Also, yes, that is a Hornet gearbox half.

That is a great creation!  It looks like there is a reflective piece on the 'pinion' - is there a separate pick up to measure speed?

[MadAnt 887]

1 hour ago, SlideWRX said:

That is a great creation!  It looks like there is a reflective piece on the 'pinion' - is there a separate pick up to measure speed?

I have one of those hand held tachometers from Harbor Freight. 

[JimBear 1384]

This is not my work, but just wanted to show it, since I was reminded about it, hearing the story of @Andreas W and his brothers' Grasshopper II. This is from the tub of the GHII I bought the other week, the one that is going to be the new 380 racer for Wilhelm "Willy" Schrott. Not sure if I am going to keep it stock, serving as the next custodian. If not, I´ll have to change out the tub since I can't get the pogo stick off without risking ruining it.

To me, it is a very neat job, with the bent metal and the tiny screws and what looks like glue.

[Andreas W 3149]

I like this solution. It's relatively clean. This would have been a good opportunity to make taller alu towers to fit longer and proper shocks. 

 

My brothers tower broke directly at the tub, so knoting what we now know he should have made a new out of alu. If he had asked our grandfather for help this would have been the solution. But he took what he had at hand and it was clearly successful.