u/Gpage13

I have several crawler in other scales (1/10 & 1/18) and was never really keen on the 1/24 or the scx24(the proportions looked off, and felt it was a too small). But yesterday I was consider picking up an scx24 JLU while at the hobby store, but all of my other crawlers are short wheel base Jeeps and I wanted something different so I picked up the Gladiator instead! (Even though I can’t stand the bed rack and rooftop tent. Brought it home and modded it immediately. Took the bed rack/tent off, removed the faux interior, and swapped on the wheels and tires off my TRX4M Bronco that I had laying around. I really like the way it looks now. I think I’m going to pick up a 3D printed bed cover for it too, and when my Injora beadlocks come in for my TRX4M, the 1.0 Method beadlocks on that will move onto this!

I have several crawler in other scales (1/10 & 1/18) and was never really keen on the 1/24 or the scx24(the proportions looked off, and felt it was a too small). But yesterday I was consider picking up an scx24 JLU while at the hobby store, but all of my other crawlers are short wheel base Jeeps and I wanted something different so I picked up the Gladiator instead! (Even though I can’t stand the bed rack and rooftop tent. Brought it home and modded it immediately. Took the bed rack/tent off, removed the faux interior, and swapped on the wheels and tires off my TRX4M Bronco that I had laying around. I really like the way it looks now. I think I’m going to pick up a 3D printed bed cover for it too, and when my Injora beadlocks come in for my TRX4M, the 1.0 Method beadlocks on that will move onto this!

I have several crawler in other scales (1/10 & 1/18) and was never really keen on the 1/24 or the scx24(the proportions looked off, and felt it was a too small). But yesterday I was consider picking up an scx24 JLU while at the hobby store, but all of my other crawlers are short wheel base Jeeps and I wanted something different so I picked up the Gladiator instead! (Even though I can’t stand the bed rack and rooftop tent. Brought it home and modded it immediately. Took the bed rack/tent off, removed the faux interior, and swapped on the wheels and tires off my TRX4M Bronco that I had laying around. I really like the way it looks now. I think I’m going to pick up a 3D printed bed cover for it too, and when my Injora beadlocks come in for my TRX4M, the 1.0 Method beadlocks on that will move onto this!

Before I finished the obstacle I did some testing with a 1/10 and 1/18 rigs. I tried to capture different angles to showcase the challenges presented to the different rigs depending on scale.

While I was waiting for the last of the supplies I needed to finish my rock arch, I had some lefter over foam that I wanted to try to make into another obstacle. The first attempt resulted in a pyramid-esque rock that was uninteresting, unchallenging, and boring, see 1st picture. I also happened to find some pvc pipe scrap that was going to get thrown away. This gave me the idea to make a balance obstacle. At first it was going to be a true balance beam type obstacle that I could reposition to use for my 1/10, 1/18, and 1/24 vehicles. After realizing that it was going to be tedious to always try to get the spacing right for the different scales, I modified my design to a “log” type bridge with different length and uneven beams.

I think it came out great, and depending on what scale you are running, it presents different challenges. For 1/10th the bridge deck is just a little to narrow, so only about 1/2 of each tire is on the deck and requires precise steering skills. For 1/18th and 1/24th the approaches are c-notches requiring precise tire placement and the uneven length beams test suspension articulation. The last thing I need to do is paint the PVC “logs” and then I’ll post a video of all 3 scale vehicles conquering the log bridge.

While I was waiting for the last of the supplies I needed to finish my rock arch, I had some lefter over foam that I wanted to try to make into another obstacle. The first attempt resulted in a pyramid-esque rock that was uninteresting, unchallenging, and boring, see 1st picture. I also happened to find some pvc pipe scrap that was going to get thrown away. This gave me the idea to make a balance obstacle. At first it was going to be a true balance beam type obstacle that I could reposition to use for my 1/10, 1/18, and 1/24 vehicles. After realizing that it was going to be tedious to always try to get the spacing right for the different scales, I modified my design to a “log” type bridge with different length and uneven beams.

I think it came out great, and depending on what scale you are running, it presents different challenges. For 1/10th the bridge deck is just a little to narrow, so only about 1/2 of each tire is on the deck and requires precise steering skills. For 1/18th and 1/24th the approaches are c-notches requiring precise tire placement and the uneven length beams test suspension articulation. The last thing I need to do is paint the PVC “logs” and then I’ll post a video of all 3 scale vehicles conquering the log bridge.

While I was waiting for the last of the supplies I needed to finish my rock arch, I had some lefter over foam that I wanted to try to make into another obstacle. The first attempt resulted in a pyramid-esque rock that was uninteresting, unchallenging, and boring, see 1st picture. I also happened to find some pvc pipe scrap that was going to get thrown away. This gave me the idea to make a balance obstacle. At first it was going to be a true balance beam type obstacle that I could reposition to use for my 1/10, 1/18, and 1/24 vehicles. After realizing that it was going to be tedious to always try to get the spacing right for the different scales, I modified my design to a “log” type bridge with different length and uneven beams.

I think it came out great, and depending on what scale you are running, it presents different challenges. For 1/10th the bridge deck is just a little to narrow, so only about 1/2 of each tire is on the deck and requires precise steering skills. For 1/18th and 1/24th the approaches are c-notches requiring precise tire placement and the uneven length beams test suspension articulation. The last thing I need to do is paint the PVC “logs” and then I’ll post a video of all 3 scale vehicles conquering the log bridge.

While I was waiting for the last of the supplies I needed to finish my rock arch, I had some lefter over foam that I wanted to try to make into another obstacle. The first attempt resulted in a pyramid-esque rock that was uninteresting, unchallenging, and boring, see 1st picture. I also happened to find some pvc pipe scrap that was going to get thrown away. This gave me the idea to make a balance obstacle. At first it was going to be a true balance beam type obstacle that I could reposition to use for my 1/10, 1/18, and 1/24 vehicles. After realizing that it was going to be tedious to always try to get the spacing right for the different scales, I modified my design to a “log” type bridge with different length and uneven beams.

I think it came out great, and depending on what scale you are running, it presents different challenges. For 1/10th the bridge deck is just a little to narrow, so only about 1/2 of each tire is on the deck and requires precise steering skills. For 1/18th and 1/24th the approaches are c-notches requiring precise tire placement and the uneven length beams test suspension articulation. The last thing I need to do is paint the PVC “logs” and then I’ll post a video of all 3 scale vehicles conquering the log bridge.

Here’s the previous posts:
https://www.reddit.com/r/VibingRC/s/9zM0ow5Pnq

I was able to finish the texturing of the rock arch over the last week. This is the process I used:
Coated the raw foam with matte mod podge to act as a sealer
Used 2 coats of the 2:1 sanded grout/mod podge mixture with water added to thin to desired consistancy(thinner for a smoother finish, thicker for a rougher texture) let cure for 24 hours between coats.
The next coat is a wash I made from a get sanded grout way watered down, I brushed this over the entire arch to add some color variation. Again let dry 24 hours.
Final step this is critical last step is to put a coat of matte mod podge to act as the final sealer.

TPS I learned:
At first I did not do the last mod podge coat and it left an overall sandy texture. I thought this would be a positive and make the surface gripper. It actually had the opposite effect. The sandy surface doesn’t provide any grip, even with very grippy tires, and the sand was just rubbing off.
I bought an epoxy mixing kit off Amazon that included 10oz mixing cups, 1 oz measuring cups, stir sticks, and applicator sticks. It worked well for measuring out the mod podge and grout.
I used the applicator sticks and plastic spoons to apply the grout/mod podge mixture to the arch
I made my mixture the consistency of a a batter, this was think enough to stay in place (there was minor dripping) this also allowed for 2 types of finishes, left to cure after initial smoothing it left a texture similar to slick rock. The second grittier texture can be achieved by letting the grout mixture setup up a little, say 5 mins, then taking the applicator over it again, this caused the smoothed surface to break and result in a much rougher texture. The steeper side of the arch was finished this way and the shallower side has the slick rock finish.

Overall I’m really pleased with how this turned out, especially since this was my first time doing a project like this.

Here’s the previous posts:
https://www.reddit.com/r/TRX4M/s/JRTRQz7fVn

I was able to finish the texturing of the rock arch over the last week. This is the process I used:
Coated the raw foam with matte mod podge to act as a sealer
Used 2 coats of the 2:1 sanded grout/mod podge mixture with water added to thin to desired consistancy(thinner for a smoother finish, thicker for a rougher texture) let cure for 24 hours between coats.
The next coat is a wash I made from a get sanded grout way watered down, I brushed this over the entire arch to add some color variation. Again let dry 24 hours.
Final step this is critical last step is to put a coat of matte mod podge to act as the final sealer.

TPS I learned:
At first I did not do the last mod podge coat and it left an overall sandy texture. I thought this would be a positive and make the surface gripper. It actually had the opposite effect. The sandy surface doesn’t provide any grip, even with very grippy tires, and the sand was just rubbing off.
I bought an epoxy mixing kit off Amazon that included 10oz mixing cups, 1 oz measuring cups, stir sticks, and applicator sticks. It worked well for measuring out the mod podge and grout.
I used the applicator sticks and plastic spoons to apply the grout/mod podge mixture to the arch
I made my mixture the consistency of a a batter, this was think enough to stay in place (there was minor dripping) this also allowed for 2 types of finishes, left to cure after initial smoothing it left a texture similar to slick rock. The second grittier texture can be achieved by letting the grout mixture setup up a little, say 5 mins, then taking the applicator over it again, this caused the smoothed surface to break and result in a much rougher texture. The steeper side of the arch was finished this way and the shallower side has the slick rock finish.

Overall I’m really pleased with how this turned out, especially since this was my first time doing a project like this.

Here’s the previous posts:
https://www.reddit.com/r/rccrawler/s/T1lOBbcj2A

I was able to finish the texturing of the rock arch over the last week. This is the process I used:
Coated the raw foam with matte mod podge to act as a sealer
Used 2 coats of the 2:1 sanded grout/mod podge mixture with water added to thin to desired consistancy(thinner for a smoother finish, thicker for a rougher texture) let cure for 24 hours between coats.
The next coat is a wash I made from a get sanded grout way watered down, I brushed this over the entire arch to add some color variation. Again let dry 24 hours.
Final step this is critical last step is to put a coat of matte mod podge to act as the final sealer.

TPS I learned:
At first I did not do the last mod podge coat and it left an overall sandy texture. I thought this would be a positive and make the surface gripper. It actually had the opposite effect. The sandy surface doesn’t provide any grip, even with very grippy tires, and the sand was just rubbing off.
I bought an epoxy mixing kit off Amazon that included 10oz mixing cups, 1 oz measuring cups, stir sticks, and applicator sticks. It worked well for measuring out the mod podge and grout.
I used the applicator sticks and plastic spoons to apply the grout/mod podge mixture to the arch
I made my mixture the consistency of a a batter, this was think enough to stay in place (there was minor dripping) this also allowed for 2 types of finishes, left to cure after initial smoothing it left a texture similar to slick rock. The second grittier texture can be achieved by letting the grout mixture setup up a little, say 5 mins, then taking the applicator over it again, this caused the smoothed surface to break and result in a much rougher texture. The steeper side of the arch was finished this way and the shallower side has the slick rock finish.

Overall I’m really pleased with how this turned out, especially since this was my first time doing a project like this.

Here’s the previous posts:
https://www.reddit.com/r/crawling/s/AcmIw6MIM9

I was able to finish the texturing of the rock arch over the last week. This is the process I used:
Coated the raw foam with matte mod podge to act as a sealer
Used 2 coats of the 2:1 sanded grout/mod podge mixture with water added to thin to desired consistancy(thinner for a smoother finish, thicker for a rougher texture) let cure for 24 hours between coats.
The next coat is a wash I made from a get sanded grout way watered down, I brushed this over the entire arch to add some color variation. Again let dry 24 hours.
Final step this is critical last step is to put a coat of matte mod podge to act as the final sealer.

TPS I learned:
At first I did not do the last mod podge coat and it left an overall sandy texture. I thought this would be a positive and make the surface gripper. It actually had the opposite effect. The sandy surface doesn’t provide any grip, even with very grippy tires, and the sand was just rubbing off.
I bought an epoxy mixing kit off Amazon that included 10oz mixing cups, 1 oz measuring cups, stir sticks, and applicator sticks. It worked well for measuring out the mod podge and grout.
I used the applicator sticks and plastic spoons to apply the grout/mod podge mixture to the arch
I made my mixture the consistency of a a batter, this was think enough to stay in place (there was minor dripping) this also allowed for 2 types of finishes, left to cure after initial smoothing it left a texture similar to slick rock. The second grittier texture can be achieved by letting the grout mixture setup up a little, say 5 mins, then taking the applicator over it again, this caused the smoothed surface to break and result in a much rougher texture. The steeper side of the arch was finished this way and the shallower side has the slick rock finish.

Overall I’m really pleased with how this turned out, especially since this was my first time doing a project like this.

I bought a few mods for the TRX4M but only ended up keeping 2 installed. I bought a set of Traxxas Method 105 headlock, Injora Maverick MT 1.0/63mm tires, Injora SuperSoft silicone inserts, and the Injora 53mm shocks. I ended up only keeping the wheels/tires/inserts installed. The tires and inserts really made a difference. I put them on and tried crawling my rock arch and previously it required a bit of wheel speed to conquer, these new tires/inserts made slow crawling up both sides possible. After adding the tires I added the shocks, and while. I was impressed with the quality of the shocks, then ended up raising the CG and my rig began tipping over on the same obstecle that it was just crawling up before the shock swap. I tried adjusting the shock preload and using the stiffer springs, but it just worked better with the stock Traxxas GTM shocks and Injora tire/silicone insets. Side note I calculated the side of the new tires and the measure out to be roughly a what a 40 in tire would be kn a 1:1 rig. I think the fill the gap the the Injora body had with the punny Traxxas BFG KM3 tires it had stock.

Added some new mods. Added the red d rings front and back, added the red dif covers, and my NOS Pro-Line Ridge-line high clearance front bumper came in. I’m really sad Pro-line discontinued this bumper, but was glad I found one online! I think it fits the look of my jeep perfectly. The way I have my body mounted/positioned over the wheels required a slight modification. As shown in the 3rd picture fo my body to sit right I mounted the bumper using only the front holes on the frame rails and the rear mounting holes on the bumper/crossmember adapter. It works really well and is still very sturdy with 0 movement. I also scored the matching flush mount 2” led light bar that will replace the fairlead currently in there.

I’m going to rant a little, but this bumper being discontinued illustrated why it sucks when a conglomerate buys up independent brands. This specific bumper was designed with different frame crossmember attachments for the SCX10II, TRX4, and the Ascended. It’s awesome that they were able to save a storied brand that might have otherwise disappeared, the apparent loss of the brands willingness to support non-HH brands kinda sucks, and we as the hobbyists end up losing out on choices. Ok rant over.

Added some new mods. Added the red d rings front and back, added the red dif covers, and my NOS Pro-Line Ridge-line high clearance front bumper came in. I’m really sad Pro-line discontinued this bumper, but was glad I found one online! I think it fits the look of my jeep perfectly. The way I have my body mounted/positioned over the wheels required a slight modification. As shown in the 3rd picture fo my body to sit right I mounted the bumper using only the front holes on the frame rails and the rear mounting holes on the bumper/crossmember adapter. It works really well and is still very sturdy with 0 movement. I also scored the matching flush mount 2” led light bar that will replace the fairlead currently in there.

I’m going to rant a little, but this bumper being discontinued illustrated why it sucks when a conglomerate buys up independent brands. This specific bumper was designed with different frame crossmember attachments for the SCX10II, TRX4, and the Ascended. It’s awesome that they were able to save a storied brand that might have otherwise disappeared, the apparent loss of the brands willingness to support non-HH brands kinda sucks, and we as the hobbyists end up losing out on choices. Ok rant over.

Added some new mods. Added the red d rings front and back, added the red dif covers, and my NOS Pro-Line Ridge-line high clearance front bumper came in. I’m really sad Pro-line discontinued this bumper, but was glad I found one online! I think it fits the look of my jeep perfectly. The way I have my body mounted/positioned over the wheels required a slight modification. As shown in the 3rd picture fo my body to sit right I mounted the bumper using only the front holes on the frame rails and the rear mounting holes on the bumper/crossmember adapter. It works really well and is still very sturdy with 0 movement. I also scored the matching flush mount 2” led light bar that will replace the fairlead currently in there.

I’m going to rant a little, but this bumper being discontinued illustrated why it sucks when a conglomerate buys up independent brands. This specific bumper was designed with different frame crossmember attachments for the SCX10II, TRX4, and the Ascended. It’s awesome that they were able to save a storied brand that might have otherwise disappeared, the apparent loss of the brands willingness to support non-HH brands kinda sucks, and we as the hobbyists end up losing out on choices. Ok rant over.

I never understood the appeal of a dog on a scale/trail rig, and I never had one before on my other rigs. So when I got the CJ7 I decided to give it a try before swapping it to the 2 speed. Well I’m still not a fan so I swapped it last night.

My question is about how best to set up the ch3. If you don’t already know, the SLT3 tx has momentary switch for ch3 so the only way to keep the 2nd gear engaged is to hold the ch3 switch.

The default direction of the shift servo is to have hi as the starting speed, and pressing the button engages low. I did figure out how to reverse the servo so low is always engaged and pressing the button switches to hi. I gave both configuration a try, but as of now I’m sticking with the factory default o hi always engaged and pressing the button to engage low when needed.

I feel this will work better on scale crawling/trailing running where I’ll want higher speed most of the times and then only shift to low when I need extra traction.

So my question for you is which config would you choose?

P.S. please don’t just comment buy another tx that has a 3rd ch that doesn’t have a momentary switch. Maybe I will consider that in the future if I find the current setup annoying, but I’m letting it ride as is for now. Also please don’t comment add the dig back and run both, as that would require a new tx for the 4th ch. etc. keep comments about the the question at hand, if you know of a micro sized latching servo, or modification to make the momentary switch a positional one like the one on the trx4

EDIT:
I think I found a solution. It looks like there are 2 versions of the SLT3 Tx, SPMRSLT380 (comes with axial RTRs and has a green power button) and SPMRSLT320 the regular retail version. The 380 is stripped down and has the dig function hard coded into the chip, so the regular programming features of SLT3 are ignored. The 320 one has the full programming/configuration ability to turn the ch 3 switch from a momentary switch to a 3 position latching switch. So while I did say I don’t want to buy a new Tx, that was mostly related to buying an expensive multi-model version. I found several 320Tx takeoffs on eBay for about the same price and a relay.

I never understood the appeal of a dog on a scale/trail rig, and I never had one before on my other rigs. So when I got the CJ7 I decided to give it a try before swapping it to the 2 speed. Well I’m still not a fan so I swapped it last night.

My question is about how best to set up the ch3. If you don’t already know, the SLT3 tx has momentary switch for ch3 so the only way to keep the 2nd gear engaged is to hold the ch3 switch.

The default direction of the shift servo is to have hi as the starting speed, and pressing the button engages low. I did figure out how to reverse the servo so low is always engaged and pressing the button switches to hi. I gave both configuration a try, but as of now I’m sticking with the factory default o hi always engaged and pressing the button to engage low when needed.

I feel this will work better on scale crawling/trailing running where I’ll want higher speed most of the times and then only shift to low when I need extra traction.

So my question for you is which config would you choose?

P.S. please don’t just comment buy another tx that has a 3rd ch that doesn’t have a momentary switch. Maybe I will consider that in the future if I find the current setup annoying, but I’m letting it ride as is for now. Also please don’t comment add the dig back and run both, as that would require a new tx for the 4th ch. etc. keep comments about the the question at hand, if you know of a micro sized latching servo, or modification to make the momentary switch a positional one like the one on the trx4

EDIT:
I think I found a solution. It looks like there are 2 versions of the SLT3 Tx, SPMRSLT380 (comes with axial RTRs and has a green power button) and SPMRSLT320 the regular retail version. The 380 is stripped down and has the dig function hard coded into the chip, so the regular programming features of SLT3 are ignored. The 320 one has the full programming/configuration ability to turn the ch 3 switch from a momentary switch to a 3 position latching switch. So while I did say I don’t want to buy a new Tx, that was mostly related to buying an expensive multi-model version. I found several 320Tx takeoffs on eBay for about the same price and a relay.

I never understood the appeal of a dog on a scale/trail rig, and I never had one before on my other rigs. So when I got the CJ7 I decided to give it a try before swapping it to the 2 speed. Well I’m still not a fan so I swapped it last night.

My question is about how best to set up the ch3. If you don’t already know, the SLT3 tx has momentary switch for ch3 so the only way to keep the 2nd gear engaged is to hold the ch3 switch.

The default direction of the shift servo is to have hi as the starting speed, and pressing the button engages low. I did figure out how to reverse the servo so low is always engaged and pressing the button switches to hi. I gave both configuration a try, but as of now I’m sticking with the factory default o hi always engaged and pressing the button to engage low when needed.

I feel this will work better on scale crawling/trailing running where I’ll want higher speed most of the times and then only shift to low when I need extra traction.

So my question for you is which config would you choose?

P.S. please don’t just comment buy another tx that has a 3rd ch that doesn’t have a momentary switch. Maybe I will consider that in the future if I find the current setup annoying, but I’m letting it ride as is for now. Also please don’t comment add the dig back and run both, as that would require a new tx for the 4th ch. etc. keep comments about the the question at hand, if you know of a micro sized latching servo, or modification to make the momentary switch a positional one like the one on the trx4

EDIT:
I think I found a solution. It looks like there are 2 versions of the SLT3 Tx, SPMRSLT380 (comes with axial RTRs and has a green power button) and SPMRSLT320 the regular retail version. The 380 is stripped down and has the dig function hard coded into the chip, so the regular programming features of SLT3 are ignored. The 320 one has the full programming/configuration ability to turn the ch 3 switch from a momentary switch to a 3 position latching switch. So while I did say I don’t want to buy a new Tx, that was mostly related to buying an expensive multi-model version. I found several 320Tx takeoffs on eBay for about the same price and a relay.

Was playing around with my 3d printed rocks and thought this looked cool with the suspension articulation at the opposite corners.