South Africa / English
22 December 2023
Traxxas TRX-4
- by ScaleMonkey
We also could not resist and built a Ford F-150 based on the TRX-4. Now, some might say that this is available to buy… Correct, but we wanted something different. The Ford F-150 from Traxxas is a so-called High-Trail model with a long wheelbase of 336mm. That is all well and good, but frankly, this model does not have much to do with reality. Therefore, our approach was to create a truck that is as realistic as possible but brutal, featuring all the refinements of the TRX-4 chassis.
What does that mean?
The suspension needs to be lower without losing travel. The same applies to the wheels; they are too large, so they have to go. The motor – we won’t even talk about that – we need a new one. Finally, the axles: the original ones are too light, so we installed an aluminium/brass combination from Vitavon here.
Let's get to the details
The body of the F-150 is truly excellent. We painted it in Candy Red and Black and equipped it with the original Traxxas lighting kit. Nothing more needs to be done here; everything is in order with the clipless system and ready for the first drive.
For the ladder frame, as previously mentioned, we opted for a conversion using Vitavon parts. These are manufactured to a very high quality from high-strength 7075 aluminium and supplemented with brass weights on the portal axles. To lower the suspension, we modified the original shock absorbers of the High-Trail version (110mm) using the piston rods from the standard TRX-4 version. These now measure 100mm. The longer housings also result in a larger oil volume, which has a very positive effect on the damping. The springs from the standard TRX-4 variant were also used, so that the suspension and vehicle height can be well adjusted.
The axles of the TRX-4 are suspended on several links, which required some careful planning. Traxxas includes an additional extension for the rear axle in the long-travel version. For whatever reason, that part is completely redundant, so away with it. We built completely new wishbones from stainless steel for our Ford, thereby also saving ourselves the aforementioned extender. The rear axle mounted in this way has a much more dynamic suspension movement and now serves the purpose of a trailing axle better than before.
For the drivetrain of our F-150, we chose the Hobbywing HW38020386 AXE Plus R3 540L 2100kV R2 combination. This allows for very sensitive control in first gear and offers plenty of speed in second gear. And as for the power… more than enough!
To neatly stow all the new technology, we built a carbon battery board, which also provides space for the Hobbywing ESC. This immediately creates a tidy appearance amidst the usual cable clutter of the TRX-4. Speaking of technology, we operate all our models with Sanwa remote controls. These unfortunately only have 4 channels, but that is sufficient for a TRX-4. As a solution, we used Reef servos for the differential lock and the gear shift. These are freely programmable. This allows the differential lock servos to be connected via a Y-cable, with the direction of rotation and travel adjusted separately.
As our vehicle slowly takes shape and the end is in sight, we went in search of the right wheels. We found what we were looking for at RC4WD. We decided on the Classic 10-Hole Chrome 1.9″ Beadlock Wheels. Here, the small holes in the rim bed were drilled out and additionally fitted with 1.6mm hex bolts from RC4WD. It might be a bit of a gimmick, but we like it. For the tyres, we chose the Goodyear Wrangler MT/R 1.9″ 4.7″ Scale Tires from RC4WD. These are not that large, but they still look quite mean.
All in all, we spent two months enjoying this project and, we believe, built a stylish vehicle. If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to leave them for us… We would be delighted.
Thank you for reading.
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