Couple years ago i bought a Nylint for 50 bucks at wal mart, modified the hell out of it and finally broke it. Ever since I have wanted to get another one.But with 5 kids and a 1:1 hobby to support, i can't seem to come up with the $300 it would take to get me started again. then i had an idea. With all the RC's ive had over the years, I just might have enough parts to build one myself,from scratch. So I started with an el cheapo radio shack H2 4x4 with independent supension all the way around. Tore it apart,and found that the front and rear have an actual (big) ring and pinion. so i made jb weld lockers for those. then atached homemade yokes to the inputs. I'm using (u joints?) and half shafts from a traxxas AWD car that i had to make driveshafts. the powerplant is the stinger motor from the traxxas ran thru a gear reduction piece. i locked the independent suspension in the most downward angle for clearance. so basically, All i need to do now is make the frame and attach the links. I'll post pics as soon as i can. let me know your thoughts.

thoughts? sounds intersesting.....i would suggest an axial RTR though...under 300 and will FAR outperform frankentruck........The "toy" parts just won't hold up

the thing i'm worried about it the axles. with the motor i'm using and the gear reduction that its going through, I'm afraid i will just grenade the axles at first bind. How much are just a set of axles for these things?Used maybe?

you can get ax10 axles for $45-$50 each for brand new, or you can pick up a set of these when they are back in stock for $120 for the set http://rc4wdstore.com/product_info.php?cPath=60&products_id=821. both are great axles

well, i got the suspension put together tonight,added tires(from nylint) and it looks like a monster truck. So i have to get it down a bit. next comes motor and shafts, then a shakedown

well with those tires you wont have much tire bite anyway.. so the axles may hold up.. if you end up with some better tires.. I have my doubts that you internals will last long...

nothing wrong with using what you got though... but no pics man come on. :shaking:

here's the progress. Still have to work on steering. Changed the motor. decided to go with a 7.2v power drill motor and gear reduction,attached to the traxxas gear reduction, to the r&p. need to come up with some stronger Driveshafts.home depot here i come. thinkin square aluminum tubing, kinda like my square tubing shafts on my 1:1. anyhow, let me know what you think.

looks like a beast..

That Thing Looks Cool! Good Job I Like It.

thanks! If this one works out for me, i'll need to find more axles. I have another cheapo FJ cruiser i wanna do fo my 10 year old, with the same kind of gear reduction, but different suspension. let me know if anyone upgrades and wants to get rid of thiers cheap.

Looks great! How much $ do you have in it? How much time?

Other than the initial investment in all the other RC's i've had, I just spent the first $3.37 on it today for some screws. Maybe 8 hours into it total. Tore it down today completely, to change some things and secure some others.

Basically, everything was bought for other RC's.

And with all the other's i still have, I wanna do another one. Might even build a prerunner instead of another crawler. we'll see.

so, i got everything put together today. Drove it around a bit, and busted d-shafts a few times. UBER torquey! But i ran the wire antenna over and ripped it off. so i had to be about 2 feet away. then it started getting really jerky, with intermittent power. now its just not working right. hopefully i can get it right so i can post a vid. It has HUGE potential.

I build basically the exact same thing you did a few years ago back when they had the Monster Patrol Body on it.
I wheeled mine for a long time with the independent suspension and probably broke a dozen dogbones. I ended up making some custom length arms when I locked it out and used some HPI dogbones knuckles and stub shafts.
Where the pinion shaft enters the gear strips out eventually, I replaced it once and it broke again.
Now I drive a rig with Twinforce axles.
Cool to see I wasn't the only one crazy enough to spend my time on these axles though. :D

I kinda foresaw the pinion problem, so i drilled into it and put a set screw so it can't slip.But, i fried it the other day, so it's no longer working for me:(
But, I'm going to go pick up another cheapo(batmobile $99 walmart special) that my brother bought a few years ago. so I might start again from scratch. I love the amazing torque that my homemade 1 spd. tranny made. used the planetary reduction from a 12v cordless drill. This thing would have turned bicycle tires if the servo would have been strong enough:smokin:. I just like the idea of being SUPER cheap and building a capable rig. I'm thinkin i'll build my next one and hopefully enter it in a comp, just to see how it fares. If anyone has any cheap throw aways in the sac area, let me know