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This is really my first time working on anything in the crawler line and I'm not really well versed on what's best , there are various brake options that are quite important for crawling but you might be better asking on a crawler forum as I just don't know the answer sorry .

I don't know if it's realistic to think these could ever be a true crawler. To start with, the gearing is not low enough to truly "crawl". Add to that the limited travel of a leaf spring suspension, and you don't get a competitive rock crawler. That being said, I believe that with a few mods and upgrades these will make a very fun and capable trail truck. The heavy weight and 4wd shifting capabilities give a scale feeling while driving that I don't get while driving my Vaterra Ascender.

Nothing like my Twin Hammers either , there is a leaf spring class for crawlers I believe but you need fancy twist shackles and z boxes to get the articulation , checking the prices on rc4wd for those parts it comes to about £130 so not in my budget for this build .
I'm tempted to make a set of twist shackles but not right now .

I've decided to just ditch the big bull bars front and back , I'm making up a very plain bar to join the rear chassis legs as a rear bumper as it does tend to ground out on the rear as it levels out . I'm de-chromeing the front bumper on the body and then I'll paint it black as well.

today i shaved the front arches so the rubber extensions fit flush on , de-chromed and painted the front bumper and fabricated a new rear bumper.

agree with XLR8........you've done a great job on the finish. The rust simulation is top notch.

XLR8 wrote: ↑Sun Feb 03, 2019 7:21 pm Well done! I think the truck looks more scale without those huge white bumpers.
Only other thing I'd recommend is to trim the tail light lenses with semi gloss black and dab some red and amber paint on those phillips head screws to make them disappear.

Thanks the the kind words guys .
I have been looking and thinking about the rear light lenses , I'm tempted to put some baking foil behind them to see how that looks , I don't like seeing white bodywork through them , I've got a lighting kit coming so I've been holding off till it arrives , I'll paint the screws for sure as well as some others .
If I get time today I'll spin up the lath and make up some spacers for the front wheels so the track matches the rear , I should be able to get more steering lock before the tires foul on the springs as well , the rear is about 15 mm wider so that's two 7.5 mm spacers to make .

Good deal there , welcome to the club .
I made the spacers for the front wheels this afternoon and I'm much happier with the look and the extra steering lock , it was dark out by the time I finished so its not tested yet .

Any chance you will make some extra sets of spacers to sell?

Yes they need longer screws , if I made more I'd probably do them in plastic instead of aluminium just because it would be quicker , I'd still have to charge £20 plus p+p because of the time it takes .

I finally caved and ordered the rear window despite delivery costing twice as much as as the part , I think that's the last thing on my list .