My TRX-1
Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2016 12:57 pm
Hello,
I've been getting back into the hobby this summer after a 20 year hiatus when my daughter spotted my box of RC cars on a shelf in my woodshop. After a couple of father/daughter afternoons spent cleaning parts and assessing wear, I put together a shopping list and we finished the TRX-1 a few weeks ago and we've been enjoying driving it around the paved school yard near our place ever since.
I was never a fan of the original body, so I went looking on eBay for an alternative. A seller was advertising this Radicator body with "TRX-1" in the listing's title. However, it is a very poor fit and I only managed to make it sort of work on my second attempt (the seller had sent me two because one of them had slight imperfections). The wing is original.
I had MCI Racing print the stickers in orange so they'd fit better with the colour scheme I was going for. The colour match isn't perfect, but I don't mind too much. I went with MCI's generic orange, but next time around I think I would try to specify given CMYK values to achieve a better match.
I installed the Bandit's caster blocks, steering blocks and axles to give myself more tire and wheel options. I've installed the Bandit's black chrome wheels and I rather like the look, but the chrome finish does not seem that resilient. I had to shave a bit of material from the front suspension arms to keep them from interfering with the wheels. Not ideal, but I preferred this alternative to replacing them with the Bandit's arms. I also had to shorten the front turnbuckles quite a bit and I changed the original flimsy rod ends while I was at it.
(Yes, even the motor is black and orange.)
I took the opportunity of this rebuild to address my biggest misgiving about the TRX-1: the slipper clutch. I used a layshaft from STRC intended to install a B4 slipper clutch on Bandit, Rustler or other Traxxas vehicles. Since there seems to have been little changes to the Traxxas transmissions over the years, I gave it a shot and I was glad to see it work on the TRX-1. While I was working on the transmission, I also rebuilt the differential and I was thankful to see these are still in production and widely available as a kit.
The car runs great, but it's too fast for my daughter! I usually gear it differently and adjust the controller as well to give her a chance of managing this beast.
I've been getting back into the hobby this summer after a 20 year hiatus when my daughter spotted my box of RC cars on a shelf in my woodshop. After a couple of father/daughter afternoons spent cleaning parts and assessing wear, I put together a shopping list and we finished the TRX-1 a few weeks ago and we've been enjoying driving it around the paved school yard near our place ever since.
I was never a fan of the original body, so I went looking on eBay for an alternative. A seller was advertising this Radicator body with "TRX-1" in the listing's title. However, it is a very poor fit and I only managed to make it sort of work on my second attempt (the seller had sent me two because one of them had slight imperfections). The wing is original.
I had MCI Racing print the stickers in orange so they'd fit better with the colour scheme I was going for. The colour match isn't perfect, but I don't mind too much. I went with MCI's generic orange, but next time around I think I would try to specify given CMYK values to achieve a better match.
I installed the Bandit's caster blocks, steering blocks and axles to give myself more tire and wheel options. I've installed the Bandit's black chrome wheels and I rather like the look, but the chrome finish does not seem that resilient. I had to shave a bit of material from the front suspension arms to keep them from interfering with the wheels. Not ideal, but I preferred this alternative to replacing them with the Bandit's arms. I also had to shorten the front turnbuckles quite a bit and I changed the original flimsy rod ends while I was at it.
(Yes, even the motor is black and orange.)
I took the opportunity of this rebuild to address my biggest misgiving about the TRX-1: the slipper clutch. I used a layshaft from STRC intended to install a B4 slipper clutch on Bandit, Rustler or other Traxxas vehicles. Since there seems to have been little changes to the Traxxas transmissions over the years, I gave it a shot and I was glad to see it work on the TRX-1. While I was working on the transmission, I also rebuilt the differential and I was thankful to see these are still in production and widely available as a kit.
The car runs great, but it's too fast for my daughter! I usually gear it differently and adjust the controller as well to give her a chance of managing this beast.
