Custom Chopped F-350 Boyer Truggy Project!

[WheelMan]

Hey guys, a while back I got myself a Boyer Truggy kit from RC4WD, and so far I've been having quite a bit of fun building it. I am copying my original build thread from over on the RCCrawlers forum to here, in case there are some guys over here that might get a kick out of my build, but might not know about RCC. It's a pre-built chassis, but I've had it almost completely torn down at one point in order to make my own personal adjustments to it.

It really is a great kit for adjustability and offers almost endless possibilities for getting exactly what you're looking for.

I did not go with the RTR kit, as I am going to hand pick all my own electronics for it (and some that I already have). This is not my first R/C by any means, but it IS my first Crawler/Scale Truck...so I am very excited to say the least.

Anyways, I'll get on to the pics! Please leave all the feedback you want, I'm always looking for ideas on my projects, as there's always going to be someone out there with an idea I haven't thought of yet. So bring it on guys!

I think we can agree that we all love that moment of opening a brand new chassis!


And of course I had to order some of the essentials with it






Just fitting the body before I tore the truck down for the first time


Made some body mounts


I originally was planning to do the regular cab with the mini-bed as you can see here, but I have something much better in the works





-Travis

[WheelMan]

I'll skip the teardown and reassembly, as there isn't much to show there. But while it was apart, I utilized the adjustability of the chassis to extend the wheelbase out to its maximum. I also stripped the black anodizing from several of the suspension components (I love the aluminum look vs black anodized), and I cut down the front & rear shock mounts (as they seemed to be a little excessive). I also made a bed for the rear, and since I didn't like that the winch bumper stuck out so far in front of the truck, I took the winch off (thinking about using it elsewhere), cut the front of the frame down so I could pull the bumper in, and raise it up. I also mounted a HiTech Metal Gear servo.






















-Travis

[WheelMan]

The bumper mounts were really tall and I didn't like the look of them from the front, as they stuck down below the bumper too far.


Then I had to cut the chrome bumper down as well, since I raised the tube bumper up.








Toying with the idea of putting the winch in the back.







-Travis

[WheelMan]

And I laid the trans down...I didn't like it standing up, just didn't sit right with me.


I have something special planned for these two bodies


No driveshafts yet because I'm going to use a set of RC4WD's Ultra Scale Hardened Steel Driveshafts, as I love how much more realistic they look.



-Travis

[WheelMan]

I was working on one of my Maxx trucks, and when I set the body aside, I threw it on the boyer and thought hmm...that looks awesome, so I had to share.



Its a little big of course, but you get the point.


-Travis

[WheelMan]

A guy from the RCCrawlers forum (username Hoosierdady) is building me a custom F-350 body, and the progress is as follows.


















-Travis

[WheelMan]

He does amazing work, and I will continue posting his progress here, as he updates my thread over on RCCrawlers.


-Travis

[WheelMan]

So I've been brainstorming on how to clean up the 4-link mounts on the axles, since the 2 center links mount to the servo plate, and I mounted my servo to the frame instead of the axle. I don't like the servo plates acting as the center link mounts, as they completely take away from the scale look of the truck, and I'm not using them anyways, so I wanted to eliminate them.



So, I got to work on an idea I had.

I grabbed some stainless round stock...


Started bending away...






Finally got it right after bending several versions (tolerances were tight as the round stock was exactly the same width as the gap in the mounts, so the distance between the two bends had to be perfect)...


Then drilled some mounting holes...


And finally got it mounted up.


Still need to cut the screws down that mount the 2 center links and get some lock nuts instead of the standard nuts & lock washers.

Anyways, what do you guys think? I think it looks a lot better. Cleaner and a little more realistic looking than a big plate. Plus the axle can be seen better now, its not hidden under the servo plate. I am working on making another one to replace the servo plate on the front axle too.


-Travis

[WheelMan]

Got the front link done :D







I still need to pull it back off and polish it up.


-Travis

[WheelMan]

I know most of you scale guys probably like the look of black links better, especially for scale appearance. But I have always been a big fan of bare metal color myself. Its just a preference of mine, and it makes it different than most others. Plus, I'm not a huge fan of painting things, especially when I know they have a very good chance of getting scratched. The look that parts get when they're painted and get all scratched up just bothers me. But to each his own right

Sometime here soon I will be replacing the plastic axle housings with aluminum ones as well. And I have been toying with bead blasting the entire frame and having it powder coated...just haven't landed on an exact color yet...but it will definitely be some shade of silver/stainless steel color.

I really like the color of this frame on RC4WD's website...I wish mine would have come this color.



-Travis

[WheelMan]

Made a couple more Stainless Steel parts (from the scrap round stock I had left over from making the axle link mounts)

Cut, drilled & tapped a piece of ss round stock to replace the black anodized aluminum ones (that seem to strip out very easily) and replaced the metric hardware with standard ss hardware. The original stuff above, and the new below.


Made a set for both the front and rear of the truck (between the shock towers)


And polished the square center frame support, just for fun :D



-Travis

[bdebde]

looking good!

[WheelMan]

Another update on the body :cool:









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-Travis

[WheelMan]

More progress on the body








-Travis

[Bondonutz]

Very nice !