Bought some Tamiya spray packs for the shell on the weekend. I'll be using the HPI Gigante shell (stock Savage XL shell) as i'd like the truck look for this build. First time painting a shell so it should be interesting.

I'm in the process of procuring the custom center dogbones so that's the last major puzzle piece sorted. GCM will be providing them.

Decided i would cut the TVPs with a jigsaw. I've had a real cheap ass one for a while now so i will be purchasing a quality tool, most likely a Bosch, during the week. Hopefully I'll get some TVP and battery tray cutting done on the weekend.

Started to rebuild my front diff to put the 50K fluid in it and change the bearings. Found that the drive cup shaft pin had broken\shattered :oh:. Had to actually file the shaft to get it out of the gear.
http://i1010.photobucket.com/albums/...t/IMG_0284.jpg

I could feel what i think was metallic grit in the fluid so i should probably replace all the internals. What's going to be the cheapest way to do that?

Cheapest savage diffs? eBay is where I get most Of my stuff cheap.--Josh

Working on rebuilding other parts of the truck. Thankfully my other diff was fine.

Old vs new. This is what happened to my stock towers after about 20 or so runs (most of those with LST shocks). Under impact they were consistently bending enough to damage the ESC wires. This is why i'm trying to figure out a support system as mentioned in post #13.
http://i1010.photobucket.com/albums/...t/IMG_0288.jpg

Some progress, received the diff parts and i've built most of the front and rear ends.

Front end with:- heavy duty servo saver spring, Hellfire steering linkage, steering bearings (not the HPI ones! too $), BP gears, 50K fluid, de-anodised parts and heavy duty cup joint.
http://i1010.photobucket.com/albums/...t/IMG_0312.jpg

Bought the Bosch jigsaw albiet the cheaper DIY line one. Did a test cut of the 3mm and it was quite good. Also bought a great bench drill that was on sale, unfortunately it's on backorder atm :(
http://i1010.photobucket.com/albums/...h_IMG_0313.jpg

Also decided on the wheels. I'm going with Rulux half-ups 1/2 offset with strapped Flux stock GT2 tires mounted on the inner bead for a lower profile. Choice of larger diameter (~160mm) tires is so frustrating. There's still nothing light'ish with really good offroad traction\handling and nothing that's belted at all :grrrrrr:

Well the drill press didn't make it for the weekend, arrives Mon. Still plenty to do. Need to finish building the shocks (50 centistoke oil, tube mod, 'white' springs with bad horsie covers), dye the wheels black, strap and glue the tires and resolve the slipperential leakage. Not to mention paint the shell.

Pic is a comparison of GT2 tire mounted on inner bead on Rulux 1/2 offset half-ups vs stock Flux wheels. Just a mockup and the tires on the Rulux don't have foam in them but you can see the diff. End result should be a non-ballooning tire with better lateral stability and traction. The lower profile also compresses the crappy HPI foam making it firmer. I would have used the old combo i had which was the same but with GT tires but i wanted something lighter. Stock wheels 300gm, old combo 380gms, new GT2 combo 310gms.
http://i1010.photobucket.com/albums/...t/IMG_0315.jpg

Quick update.

Finished building the shocks, fixed the slipperential leak though i'm not sure what i actually did.
http://i1010.photobucket.com/albums/...h_IMG_0322.jpg

Picked up the drill press during the week, great to finally have one. Got the main mount points drilled for the TVPs this morn then bolted them together and did most of the jigsaw cutting. Wasn't sure if the jigsaw would cut through the whole 6mm but it had no probs. Think my first metal jigsaw blade is rather blunt now though.

TVPs bolted together and marked up ready for cutting
http://i1010.photobucket.com/albums/...h_IMG_0324.jpg

Most of the cutting complete
http://i1010.photobucket.com/albums/...h_IMG_0328.jpg

Looking good!

great start!!!
what mount are you using for the slipperential?

Jahay: see post #3

Purchased a block of land recently so have been busy\sidetracked with the purchase and prepping to build a house. Got some work done today however. Completed the battery tray except for mounting point holes. Also got all the wheels dyed black. Custom dogbones have shipped and should be here in the next few days.

Battery tray weight is 69 gms. Was happy with this considering the stock Flux motor plate is 57 gms.

http://i1010.photobucket.com/albums/...t/IMG_0336.jpg

Custom bones arrived yesterday :mdr:. Might actually have something drivable by the end of the weekend.

http://i1010.photobucket.com/albums/...V/IMG_0342.jpg

nice... i will be needing this done soon. How long did it take to get it done? how much for two centre shafts?

25 CAD each plus shipping. Took a few weeks but there was a materials issue they had to resolve so shouldn't take that long.

hmmm do you think they could do it for me when i need mine?

Do they need anything from you?

How was the job, the pic looks gd but do they look like they can handle the torque of our brushless motors?