SCX10 G6 - Jeep Cherokee Rebody

[Mad Ax 9325]

20 hours ago, Carmine A said:

I've so far had three Friends who got COVID. One didn't make it. 💔💔 One I kept in Video contact with. She looked AND sounded like BADWORD on a Stick! 😭  She's going to make it, but there were moments.... 

I'm very sorry to hear that.

A few friends and family members had symptoms back in Feb and early March before we really knew what was happening, but nobody was hospitalised and back then we couldn't get tested, so there was no confirmed diagnosis.

In other news - Sunday's weather was forecast to be dry, so I was going to take a motorcycle ride to the south coast for some fresh air.  However the forecast is now looking to be changeable, so I might go down in the camper, cook bacon and eggs while I watch the waves crash and drive the Jeep over some coastal rocks for an hour.  I don't know, it's a lot of time on the road and a lot of fuel money to spend, but I feel I should make the most of my freedoms while I have them - there'll be plenty of time to barricade myself in the workshop and cut up pieces of aluminium if we get another lockdown.

[Carmine A 2046]

I REALLY miss my Bike!! 😭😭  A long ride after Work would erase any stresses of the Day. Enjoy your free time whilst you still have it! 👍👍

[Mad Ax 9325]

I was looking at the G6 last week and spotted something I don't like much - with the body fitted, the interior was 'bent' over the body posts that clip into the rear shock hoops.  I figured I didn't really need those body posts and they weren't sitting properly anyway, so I peeled off the hot glue and removed them.

It's not easy to photo the interior through the windows but this gives you a rough idea:

I also took the opportunity to fire on some matt clear lacquer, because I don't like to see shiny seats when I look in through the windows.  I partly did this to improve looks and partly to see how well the matt clear finish came out spraying in winter conditions (in fairness it was a balmy 18 degrees C in the workshop even before I put the halogen lamps on, although humidity was high - it was a rainy weekend).  I have to matt clear my J45C body sometime and didn't want to do it in low temps if the finish will come out bad.

Also I cleaned up the sticky mess on the doors where I'd removed the old stickers, and added some more.

Refitted interior and new stickers:

This is a more acceptable amount of bend:

[Carmine A 2046]

You're right, taking interior pics through Lexan Bodies is a Bluudy PAIN!! 😖 You did well, considering. The Matte finish really makes a difference. Much more realistic!! 👍👍

[Dakratfink 967]

I’m loving the interior shots. I’ve always like static mode building, so getting into scale stuff like that might be my next leap. 
 On a side note, what kind of luggage do you have to take an SCX10 on the bike? 
I have soft case saddle bag panniers on my KLR but I don’t think they’d fit a 1/10 crawler ( I have taken my 1/16 Revo on a bike though ) 

[Mad Ax 9325]

On 12/2/2020 at 4:56 PM, Dakratfink said:

 On a side note, what kind of luggage do you have to take an SCX10 on the bike? 

Apologies, I meant to reply to this a month ago and completely forgot  

I have had chassis in the throw-over panniers before but the SCX10 is too big.  Basically I have a big flat tailpack, the sort that is briefcase-shaped rather than hump-shaped, which stays on the bike almost full time.  The SCX10 sits on top of that with bungees over the top.  The Proline body is sturdy enough to take the bungies without deforming, and with them angled right there's little chance of them sliding off.  Also the tyres squish down into the top of the tailpack so it won't roll off either.  Battery and Tx in the side pocket of the tailpack and Bob's a robot sidekick.

[Mad Ax 9325]

Anyhoo - I had a spare winch servo lying around since I wasn't going to use it on the CFX-W, so I thought I'd see how well it fits in the back of the SCX10.

Outwardly there appears to be plenty of space to get the winch in, at least from a scale perspective

This rear crossmember is printed in black resin.  It's brittle stuff and has already cracked in places, and looks like the towing eye has lost some screws too - self tappers make the resin crack and machine screws just pull out.  It will have to be remade completely out of alu for a winch to fit back here.  The towing eye was a hangover from the old Rubicon body and has no place on this rig.

This is where the winch servo will more or less have to go.  I'll have to get a bit creative here.

[Mad Ax 9325]

It was at this point that I realised there was quite a bit more work than just making a servo bracket - and if I gave it a bit more thought and time, I could make a hinged rear to make body fitting easier (right now, with all the wiring for the lights, it is a serious pain of a job getting the body on and off).  As the day was starting to look a little bit old, the fire was burning low, I'd got through about £10 worth of firewood and I was looking forward to sinking some beers and working on some EDM music that evening, I decided to put it away for another day.

I also reminded myself that this is one of only two functional scalers in my fleet right now, and trail running is just about the only RC activity I can logistically and legally do outside of my own home (and even that is a bit of a grey area as we're only supposed to go out for "exercise").  So - it doesn't make sense to pull this one apart when I already have another scaler in pieces waiting for my attention.  So this little idea is on the backburner for now...

[Carmine A 2046]

You could try an Aluminum Front Horizontal Servo Mount on the Rear.... 

It would stiffen the Rear Chassis as well. 😉

[Mad Ax 9325]

9 hours ago, Carmine A said:

You could try an Aluminum Front Horizontal Servo Mount on the Rear.... 

It would stiffen the Rear Chassis as well. 😉

I considered horizontal, but I'd need one of those ones that has the channel already in it for the winch, and to be honest it feels to me like a fabric winch line will wear out on the channel and a metal winch line will cut through the channel.  I've got an idea of how to make a new rear end assembly that incorporates a body tilt as well, which will make my life so much easier.

[Carmine A 2046]

I'm seeing your problem....

If that all works out, the Tilt will be a Bonus!!

[Mad Ax 9325]

UPDATES!  It's been a long time since I've posted anything about this truck, or about any project really, so I figured it's about time I got myself up to date.  Here's some pics from 2nd May, when I was fortunate enough to get a whole day in the workshop.

The story actually begins on 1st May, when the sun was bright and the air was warm (at least it was warmer than it has been around here for a while, if I stayed out of the wind), so I charged up a 3S pack, loaded my G6 Cherokee into the van along with my daughter and a picnic, and drove to a local beauty spot (actually right on the edge of a huge military firing range, so as long as they aren't shelling, it tends to be really quiet).

on any given day, these hills can shake to the sound of heavy artillery

After a relaxing picnic in the sun and a pleasant walk through the woods hunting for gruffalos (we only found downhill mountain bikers, which are much quieter but far more dangerous), my daughter picked up the transmitter and decided to drive my SCX10 through the dandelions.

Genuine gruffalo sighting, 2021

At some point she asked me to show her what the winch is for, to which I gave her the incorrect answer: "It's for helping the car get up a steep hill.  Look."  The correct answer is "It's for getting jammed up on the trails and requiring a complete toolkit to unjam."

So I began Workshop Sunday by tearing down the front end to get the winch out and free up the jammed cable.

[Mad Ax 9325]

It's not easy to see in this photo, but as the winch is encased behind the skid plate this is the best I could do with the winch in situ.  The cable somehow manages to jump off the drum and get around the spindle, and on the next wind is ties itself in knots and won't go anywhere.  Long live the cheap winch.

Fortunately I had another cheap winch that I got from some Chinese marketplace or other, so I thought I'd give that a try.  It's bigger and has a metal casing, and with any luck, won't let the cable come off the drum.  Well, we'll see, I suppose.

I don't like the ugly and flimsy metal plates that come with these cheap winches, so I cut my own.  I screwed the old winch directly into this black metal plate, which is part of the bumper assembly that I got from some other cheap Chinese marketplace ages ago, but the new winch is too big to fit.

So, first thing I'd have to do is make a bigger plate.  I used 3mm aluminium, a hacksaw, a flat-bladed file and a bench vice.

Then I wondered why the winch wouldn't sit flat on it.  This is why.

 

[Mad Ax 9325]

I covered the drum and motor vents in masking tape and punished it with a file until it was flat.

There.  Also note in this pic I had to file the embossed logo off the end because the winch was slightly too big to fit between the bumper uprights.

How's that for a chunky lookin' winch

[Mad Ax 9325]

After that, I figured I'd turn my attention back to the rear end.  For a long time I've wanted to make a hinged rear body mount and since I still had some daytime left I figured it was the right time to actually get on with it instead of just talking about it.

My 3D printed rear crossmember looks nice but is too brittle for trail use.

UV resin can't hold a machine thread and splits if you use a self-tapper

So, first thing was to make a new crossmember.  I made this out of 10mm square section alloy.  Hole is deliberately off-centre (which is a rarity for me, usually they're accidentally off-centre).

These are some little metal top-hat spacers which came with a servo.  Usually they're a narrower diameter but these were 3mm ID, perfect for an M3 machine screw, and the OD was just under 3.5mm, perfect for making a hinge joint in a chassis rail.

Chassis rails drilled out to 3.5mm.

[Mad Ax 9325]

The hinge will need to rotate over the back end of the rails, so I used a grinding wheel in a Dremel to cut in some clearance.

Assembly test-fitted with top-hat spacers

For some reason there's a whole section of work for which I have no pictures.  I could blame hardware failure, data corruption, government conspiracy or alien interference but truth is I got so absorbed in cutting and drilling that I totes forgot to take any.

So here's what I made.  A flat piece of 3mm alu bolted to the top of the bar stock.  On top of that, body posts and the old scabby winch that was on the front, which conveniently fits pretty well here.  No doubt it will continue to jam up on the trails but I probably won't use it that much (it's been literally months since I last went crawling with another human being, in fact I was beginning to wonder if the species had gone extinct) and if it jams it can just be coiled up on the roof and will still be useable as a tow rope.

[Mad Ax 9325]

Look!  I made a thing!!

 

[Badcrumble 4204]

Nice work! And you got to run it outside! Hopefully more runtime in the near future...

[Mad Ax 9325]

Yep actually I charged the 3S pack last Saturday morning because I thought my daughter might want to come to the woods with me (we still haven't found that gruffalo!) but she wanted to stay home watching Disney films instead, and since it was raining and pretty cold outside I wasn't going to complain.  The pack is still fully charged on the bench because I thought I'd get out for a solo trip this week, but I've been too busy.

I might go out after work tomorrow, I need to pull some volts out of that pack before they start getting out on their own.

[Carmine A 2046]

You ARE a Madman!!! That's a brilliant solution to the tilt Body! 💯👍👍  I was going to hunt down all the Axial bits that makes my UMG-10 Body tilt...

But this appears easier, more accessible, and STRONGER. 💪  How did you fit the Interior Plate to the Body? I see that the Interior Plate is actually part of the Tilt mechanism...

Now that WINCH!! 😲 That was a PROJECT. Well done!  BTW, your description of the Winch was dead on! 😂😜  It's great that you're giving your little Girl so much insight.

The "Gruffalo" sighting must have been a thrill as well. 😂😁

[Mad Ax 9325]

13 hours ago, Carmine A said:

How did you fit the Interior Plate to the Body?

With hopes and prayers, also known as Velcro.  I don't have access to the pics right now (tcphotos is blocked from my work network) but I think two tabs of Velcro are visible in one of the photos above.  There's more details on that further back in this thread.

The body actually locates really well over the Velcro because I had to cut sections out of the interior plate to get the light buckets to fit over it, there's no wiggle room once it's all in place, it's a really tight fit.  I stayed with regular body posts up front because, well, they just work.

In fact only a week ago I was seriously considering starting a thread with the very leading title: how many alternative body mount solutions have you tried before you gave up and used normal body posts?

[Mad Ax 9325]

just realised I managed to post this in the wrong thread - so here it is in the right place

It's been a long time since I did anything with this truck, actually a long time since it even got driven.  But on 14th August I put some time into fitting a wrestler figure I'd got from B&M Homestores.  I always felt this interior really demanded a good driver to finish it off, it seems weird watching a truck roll around with nobody behind the wheel.

This dude is Kevin Owens, and apparently he likes to stun things, at least according to his T-shirt.  I don't really know what that means but maybe some outback camping in the Cherokee with his friend Seth will take that mean look off his face.  I had to resort to some surgery to get him in - today's WWF toys are way better than the action figures we had in the 80s, I had to use the hacksaw to amputate below the knee.  Does anyone else actually feel slightly queasy when they have to hack off a figure's legs?  They're still sitting on my workbench.  Somehow I can't quite bring myself to throw them out.

Some cable ties through holes in the interior make for a suitable harness arrangement.  Safety first, Kevin.

I think he fits pretty good in there.  Now that steely expression is no longer a mean glare, that's the look of concentration as he negotiates a tricky climb.

Ready to hit the trails, Kev..?

[Mad Ax 9325]

Fast-forward a few weeks, to the 5th September, in fact, and I had a bit more time to focus on this rig.  There were a few little issues that had been bothering me and I wanted to give it a good going over before the big event on Sunday.

Firstly the new rear winch, which isn't wired up yet because of some issues I had with my Arduino truck controller code, but at least works as a towing point.  The line was hanging out under the truck and was going to cause problems on the trail, so I added a fairlead and proper hook.  This looks like the winch has been mounted internally to the trunk floor.  Licence plate relocated to accomodate.

After that I wanted to add a spare wheel.  More on that later.  Problem was, no matter where I put it, it was in the way of something.  My first thought was to put it on the bonnet, like an old Land Rover, but these modern tyres are way fatter than old Landy-bands and poor Kevin wouldn't have been able to see where he was going.  The tyre I fitted (a stock MST tyre from the CFX-W - useless as a crawling tyre so a good donor for a tyre which will never roll on dirt) was too big to fit in the roof rack, and looked ugly anywhere I put it.  In the end, an offset rear hatch mount was the best option, but got in the way of my new winch fairlead.  I experimented with running the winch lead through a wheel spoke, but it would have put too much angle on it and probably damaged the line.

So I went back to the drawing board (or more accurately the tin full of aluminium offcuts) and made a new winch mount plate.

[Mad Ax 9325]

Now the winch is mounted off-centre, but that's OK for a rear winch, I think.  Spare tyre added also.  I got these wheels as a set of 5, but the 5th one never came out of the packaging until Sunday.

This adds a fair bit of weight over the back, but hopefully won't upset the handling too much on the trails.  I might need to stiffen up the suspension a little to cope with all this extra weight.

I also added a towing hook up front.  It's really frustrating when you're just trying to get a tow out of an obstacle and the line keeps coming off.  This should make it easy for me to hook on a hand-of-god winch line or hook up to a friend's truck.

I cut off the front bumper, too.  It was already cut in half to clear the bull bars and was just looking a bit silly.  I might have to run in a higher class now, unless the bull bar counts as a bumper.

[Mad Ax 9325]

After running the G6 in the SST a couple of weeks ago I decided the rear suspension is too soft.  The extra tyre hanging off the back is the main culprit, but the body, interior and winch all add up also.  The back end was sitting on the ground like a Roadkill project car about to start a 1200 mile road trip with generator, welder, spares and a workshop trolley full of tools.

I could have started by adding more preload, but I figured it was soft enough out back to warrant new springs.  Before placing yet another order for genuine Axial parts to fit the oil dual icon shocks, I decided to see what else I had that would fit.

The dual icons on the G6 edition have two springs.  The standard top spring is red, the bottom is green.  The top spring is pretty soft.  Here the truck is on a stand.

And here is the static sag, without battery

I don't think these shocks have been rebuild since the truck was assembled many years ago, so I stripped them down for fresh oil.

Then I went a-hunting through my parts stash for some harder springs, and I found these.  Left is the standard Axial spring, middle is a TRF yellow for M-chassis TRF shocks, right is another M-chassis shock although I forget what brand.  These probably came as standard fitment on an aftermarket M-chassis shock.  The hardest is the TRF yellow, the red one isn't a lot harder than the stock Axial spring, so I went with the TRF yellow.