Shodog's RC10 Tube chassis build

[shodog]

I've been on the hunt for a tube chassis for years. I've missed out on a few in the past so when Spanky posted some of the chassis he made, I took the bait. I bought his #2 chassis and it came in the mail today and I'm happy.

[romulus22]

That thing doesn't need a body. That looks killer as is.

[SFC K]

I think the body fits like a glove! I like it with the body. I like how you opened up the back portion of the body too. Looking forward to the finished product.

[shodog]

I think the body fits like a glove! I like it with the body. I like how you opened up the back portion of the body too. Looking forward to the finished product.

Spanky cut the body out. I'm thinking of deleting the rear portion of the body entirely.

[RC10Eh]

Good call on the nerf bars ! That looks amazing !

[marlo]

Any plans for the finish on the chassis.

[shodog]

I'm deciding between a metallic red or dark blue for the color of the frame. I've seen both colors used on real 1:1 sand rails and they both look killer. I'm thinking a minimalistic body. Just enough to cover the front part of the chassis and leave the back open. I have a set of DHawk silver aluminum parts to make it all blingy. Until those come in I plan to mock up the chassis using some regular plastic parts. Shock will be polished originals.

[Spanky]

I'm so glad you like the chassis!

That chassis took weeks to get just right, and I was adding just a little more metal to some of the joints moments before shipping.

A little history on this chassis. After building #1, which is more like a regular sand rail (and is in other threads here at RC10talk), I found the original RC10 body almost fit. So the next revision (this #2 chassis) was modified to get the parts to all clear the original body. Because the main parts had been carefully planned in Solidworks, all that was required was some adjustments to the cockpit bars. Then I decided to try adding the nerf bars since I thought they looked cool and really made the chassis look like the old school RC10 even without the body on.

The entire chassis is seamless tubing except for a few key parts that couldn't handle the heat of TIG welding, and the hoop behind the driver which has bends that tubing just couldn't handle.

I can't wait to see what you do with this beauty!

[shodog]

I got the chassis mocked up with some spare parts I have. All the parts bolted straight in. The only tricky part was fishing the front shock tower into place. I don't anticipate any issues in bolting in the DHawk parts.







I plan to make a full length underbody skid plate from aluminum. Still deciding on the body. If I go with the full body route, I have a beautifully painted body by Squarehead.

I have some old thrasher bodies I can cut up and experiment with. Once I finalize the body and skid plate, I'll disassemble the chassis and prep it for paint.

[GoMachV]

Very nice, that looks awesome!

[Johnboy72]

Power coating the chassis or polishing?

[JK Racing]

I say add color to the chassis and run a clear body

[RichieRich]

This is awesome. I wonder how this would look with an A&L trailing arm setup?

[erichevy]

Looks great so far. Wish I had the skills to build a tube chassis. Can't wait to see this completed. Just awesome

[shodog]

I trimmed out a thrasher body and I think this is the direction I want to go with it.