- [Narrator] Alright my friends, let's jump right into it.
Here on the bench is my new Trail Finder 2
from RC 4-Wheel Drive.
This is the longer wheel base edition.
You can see here that in the body there's an extra door.
You may think this truck is familiar
and that I've built this before, and I have,
but it was the Trail Finder 2, first edition.
Now, that one's actually done.
I modeled that after the BBC series Top Gear
when Jeremy Clarkson and the guys were trying
to kill a Toyota pick-up truck.
You guys are familiar with it if you've seen the show.
Pretty iconic, and so we did a
great build series after that.
Now, I want to choose a different body
during this series, in fact I already know what it is
but I'm going to keep it a secret for you guys
so you can play along and maybe see what you think
is going to fit on this wheel base
that's going to be pretty cool for RC Adventures.
Now, like I said, this is a kit.
It does not come with any electronics.
There is a difference for the viewers
that are new to the show: a kit comes with
no electronics and you have to assemble
most or all pieces,
and then there is an RTR in the RC hobby
which is Ready to Run, it usually comes with the radio,
the ESCN motor, and you most of the time
have to buy the battery unless it's a brand
like Traxxas that sometimes
includes batteries with their gear.
Now, I digress, I want to
get into the box here and see what we have.
(cardboard tears)
Ah, RC 4-wheel drive, the first thing I notice
about this box, is that it's actually about
half the size from the Trail Finder 1, or, pardon me,
the first Trail Finder 2 that we had actually built.
So, the box was huge, they had a lot
of styrofoam and stuff, packaging it pretty darn well.
Tires and the bead locks.
Looks like bumpers.
More, ah ha, here's the body and the chassis rails.
Okay, instruction book says
what tools we're gonna need and of course
part 1 is going to start off with the chassis rails.
You know I've had a lot of people over the years
comment on build videos such as this one
and ask me how do I put these together,
or if I'm intimidated by doing builds like this,
and the answer is yes, every time I'm intimidated.
Of course it's going to be a bit of a challenge,
but that's part of the hobby, not everything is easy.
But, I have to say, a model like this one
looks a heck of a lot easier than
a lot of models we've seen before.
I'm going to approach this build
the same way as I always would've.
Going through the instruction book
I'm gonna flip through it first just on my own
so I know exactly the direction I'm going in.
Plus, I'm also thinking about the theme of my new truck.
What's it actually going to look like, right?
Trying to look forward in the project
to see how I can make out goals
and get those goals done while I'm building
to make it look like what I want.
Let's cut open the body here and show you guys
what's on the inside, I haven't seen it yet either.
(plastic crinkles)
Ah, the inside windshield.
Man, I love this body!
It's much larger, the old Trail Finder
didn't have this section on here,
but the long wheel base, that sure is kinda neat lookin'.
(plastic crinkles)
Neat. It almost feels like a different
type of plastic that they've used now.
I'm not sure about that, but it, yeah,
this isn't like the yellow stuff.
It's a little bit more coarse.
Well, there we are.
Gotta open the chassis rails.
This is bag A where they say we have lots of hardware.
Open bag C.
So here's where a lot of people
would start to get a little nervous, right?
You get a lot of small parts,
everything is in bags, screws everywhere,
but really, if you just approach it systematically,
like here, in part number 1, I'm noticing
just by the picture that the screws
that they want us to use are actually
button-head screws, right, they're not flat-tops.
So I'm going to be looking for M3 6 millimeters,
and these inside shackles basically.
The shackles are down here for the next step,
so one set gets installed with the 6 mils
and then the second set gets installed again
with button-head screws here at 8 mils
for the shackles on the inside.
So what I do is I basically lay it out
so I know what every part I need is where.
These two are going to come together to make
a single shackle, and here are the M8 screws
that I need, button-heads.
Again, with these ones, this is the first step
with the 6 mils and they're button-heads.
So everything is laid out exactly
how it should be in the book.
Here we go, both sets of shackles
are put onto the frame rails,
and the frame rails feel nice and sturdy,
everything about them, the counter-sunk
areas, they fit really well so far.
Okay, next is the side-mounting body posts,
here is the rear sliders right here.
(drill motor whirs)
Alright, and then the little shackles go on.
There we go. When I'm done they still move freely.
Getting out the middle transfer case mount.
This is going to be, I've gotta be careful
of the direction of this to make sure
to follow the holes on the right side.
So what I like about most of these RC 4-wheel drive
builds is that everything is countersunk and tapped
so you don't have like, there is a ton
of lock nuts that we have to use,
but comparatively, not half as many.
Just being able to thread it right into
the all-aluminum part, that's pretty handy.
Okay, first servo brace right here.
It's going to slide into the countersunk holes.
Some more chassis brace, these are just two tubes.
Okay I'm going to flip up the chassis,
we can see a countersunk area here and here,
using the instruction book to show the direction of this,
I'm going to drop this center chassis brace
right into there.
Now, I moved ahead a little bit
just so I could get some things done.
Here I've got the front dampener hangers,
the shock hangers are in place.
All of the center chassis braces are installed.
You'll notice as I was saying the holes,
these are actually threaded screw holes,
so they're pointed up the way they should be.
All the chassis brace and rails are nice and rigid.
I love, check it out, I love
the very small tolerances on these machined parts
because they fit perfectly together,
and I didn't have one of the button-head screws
round out on me yet, so two thumbs up on that.
On to the next part.
This small steel plate is the Trail Finder 2 upper deck.
Basically we have to set up some mounts
so I'll just do this off camera, it's pretty easy to do.
And the steel plate will basically
line up right on the frame rails.
Ah ha, so now mounting up into these
round tube chassis braces are gonna be
the fuel cell slash electronic receiver box.
This is where all the electronics will be running to.
Okay, body posts for the back.
Just slide it through from the bottom.
Piece of cake, with these plastic pieces
I always prefer to hand crank them
just so I don't strip out the threading
inside the plastic itself.
And I put in the back bumper mount.
Here is the transfer case I had mentioned earlier.
Let's take a moment to really appreciate
how far the scale hobby has come
over such a short amount of time over the last few years.
Here we are looking at a scale transfer case
that helps distribute power to the truck.
That is pretty neat.
There we are.
Remember, these things should fit together fairly easy.
You never want to force things into place.
Especially if it's a screw that's not threading properly.
Always make sure to back off the set screw
or the flat head or the button-head,
whatever you're using, make sure you've got it
seated properly or else it can cause you problems
in the future.
Here is the beautiful two-stage transmission
as well as where you're going
to be mounting your motor, of course the motor of choice,
whatever you guys decide, if you're building the kit.
One thing I like about the RC 4-wheel drive transmission
and I always have, is the fact that they use
thirty-two pitched teeth and pinion.
Really, really very strong,
and I've always been very happy with that.
The inside gears have always been good,
and I've never really had a problem with anything
busting on the inside, but that's just me.
Everybody else has different experiences, of course,
but for me I've had a few of these trucks
and they're pretty darn good.
The offset on the hanger making it very easy
to get to the screws to put them into place.
For those wondering, this will be the shifting arm
that's attached to the servo
that actually helps this transmission
shift gears back and forth.
And then the hanger on the other side
is going to take 8 mil flatheads, so,
it's different than the other side,
make sure your eyes are open if you're
following the instruction book.
And it's time to cut into the axle bags.
This is the front axle, I can tell that
because it already has the axle
or the steering horns installed, you can see there.
That's another thing I like about this,
the kits, this is all aluminum guys,
there are other kits out there that are plastic
and you have to assemble the axles themselves,
and this can be a lengthy process,
so for those that are intimidated by doing
kits, you know, this one here actually comes
mostly assembled, it's just a matter
of putting the frame and the suspension together,
and really figuring out the type
of electronics you want, but check this out,
it's already done.
The different one in the back,
you can see it's just a straight axle,
doesn't have any steering components at all
so it's very easy to identify.
So I'm going to need 4, 16 millimeter M3s
including the lock nuts themselves.
The two springs, smaller one on the bottom.
I'm going to just slide these longer screws
through, and then right where I just ended up
taking out those smaller screws,
these will actually slide through as well.
I've got the leaf, both leafs that I want
are in place, I've taken an M3 16 millimeter screw
and put it through to an M3 lock nut.
Now the neat thing about these Trail Finders
or the axle tubes that they use
for the housing here of the axle,
is that they're countersunk.
So, what that means, is you can take your M3
lock washer, or lock nut pardon me,
put it into place with your finger,
just kinda give it a small turn,
and everything tightens up right on its own.
I also built the back axle with the leaf springs,
now something came to mind while I was building this
and I may want to say this right now,
a lot of us are running trailers
and carrying like little RC quads
or you know another car or something.
If you want, and you are of course
carrying a trailer, this is the time
where you'd want to put in those smaller
leaf springs here in the back,
but be forewarned, if you do that
and you're not running with a trailer,
then the rear end is going to be a lot stiffer
than it would be if you left those springs out,
so really up to you, if you carry a trailer,
that might be something you want to investigate.
Just tighten up these screws.
Alright, with both axles in place,
then we're moving on to the dampeners.
Okay, so the shorter dampeners on the front.
The 18 millimeter screw with the two millimeter spacer.
Gonna start threading it into
the upper hole on the axle housing.
Ah ha, turns out on the back axle
you don't need a lock washer or a lock nut at all.
This actually just goes right into
the threaded axle housing, 2 mil spacer again.
Gonna run these on the inside,
cause they actually hook up on an angle.
With both of the dampeners in place,
you'll actually see how the suspension flex works.
Now being brand new it is still fairly stiff.
I'm glad I left out that extra leaf
in the suspension, but I know I'll be suffering later
when I've got a saggy rear-end.
(laughter)
No one likes a saggy rear-end.
So this really for those that are new
to scale trucking, you know, and scale trail crawling,
the whole point of a scale truck
is to mimic what it's like in full size,
so this kind of suspension articulation
is very common, especially if you want
leaf-sprung suspension with dampeners.
Looks like I need the 3 mil spacer
that comes in another labeled bag.
I love that they've actually sent extra spacers
and extra hardware.
It's almost like RC 4-wheel drive really does
put a lot of thought into the whole packaging,
how many of us drop things on the floor
while we're building and then we can't find them after.
(laughter)
I'm always glad to have the extra parts left over
as well, you know, there's nothing wrong
with having some extra hardware when
you're out on the trail anyway.
Fun.
For those that may be wondering
about the magnetic pit mat I'm using,
I got it from cowrc.com.
So next, I'm taking the whole transmission
and motor mount, I'm lining up this hole
that comes out of the transmission up to this hole.
Now, you'll notice if I'm turning this,
this actually spins free, there's nothing
that's binding or jamming it up.
Securing the transmission to the chassis.
Next is the drive shaft, and this, if anything
I could say, is the one place
I'm a little bit disappointed.
Everything else comes in aluminum or steel,
and these ones, apart from the universal joints
on the end, they're actually plastic.
Now, there's good things and bad things.
The reason you could have plastic drive shafts,
of course, is if it's under a lot of torque,
then it's the drive shaft that breaks
and not the transmission, so thumbs up on that,
I do understand that point.
On the other hand, with everything else
being mostly aluminum, except for these
slider rails and a few of the chassis
support braces right here, I would expect
these ones to be a little beefier.
But, RC 4-Wheel Drive does sell steel
drive shafts as an upgrade for those guys
that are a little more serious
out there putting a lot of miles on the trail truck
and you know doing some sort of competition,
there are upgrades available.
So, with that being said, I'm going to go ahead
and install the plastic ones here.
Okay next up, steering links.
I've had some messages come in over the years
about how to set up rod ends properly
with these screws, like they can be a bit of a challenge
and a lot of people try to thread it in the tube
and then they try to put the rod end on,
but that is very difficult
because you're not getting a good connection,
in fact it can just thread right into the tube overall.
So what I do is I put it on the end of my
hex driver right there, and I'll find
a smaller screwdriver, stick it though the eyelet,
and then just turn that set screw in,
and then it's nice and tight and straight,
and then when I thread it into the end of the tube,
there's no problem in making it tight and secure.
Okay, servo links are done.
I'm going to be using a Savox waterproof servo.
Fits in there perfectly, so I'll actually
end up putting the hardware on the servo itself,
including the rubber grommets that go in there
and the screw sleeves.
Okay just installing the first and second
steering throw arm, making sure
to put the smaller throw arm through
the leaf spring suspension.
Then as it starts to come through to the other side
make sure of course to grab an M3 lock washer
or pardon me a lock nut.
The shifting servo I put in is also a Savox,
but you'll notice it's a different color.
I really want the torque and speed up front,
but for my shifting servo, though I do want it
waterproof, it doesn't need to be super fast,
it just has to have the torque to be able to move
this shifting arm back and forth
when the transmission is under load.
I'll easily just slide the front bumper into place.
This is a plastic bumper.
I do have the upgraded aluminum one
from an old build I had a long time ago
so I think because it's a single piece of c & c
I'm going to go ahead and install this
but not until I line up the body
to see if it fits right.
Alright, there we go my friends.
I just slid the bumpers into place,
they're not permanently in there at all.
I did do the wheels and tires off camera,
it's very very easy to do, you just
undo the lugs, you clamp the tire together,
and of course you put it on the truck.
But there you go, as a roller with some servos installed,
look how long this vehicle actually is.
I think it's very cool how they extended
the drive shaft with that center drive shaft
hanger right here with the separate bearing.
I did swap out to one of these steel drive shafts
that I have here at the studio of course,
and I'll choose my motor and ESC combo coming up,
but there you go, a complete smooth roller.
And I figure, to end off the video,
even though this body isn't together,
it is a two-piece, might as well give you and idea
of what it would look like.
Dun dun dun dun daaaaaa!
Get it lined up, not if I had
it screwed together it would be nice and straight,
but whaddaya think?
That's a pretty darn great start
on a long wheel base Trail Finder.
I'm looking forward to seeing out
what kind of capability it does have.
It's simply beautiful, so I am going to paint up
this body, not sure when I'm going to do it,
but you guys are going to have to stay tuned
for the next episode when I'm doing this
because I'm going to unveil the body
that I have chosen to go on this,
even though this gray one is so super sick.
Also, coming up on the show,
we've got more build of the Vekta 5 from Kraken,
and got other things in the works too.
So make sure to hit the notification button
which is beside the subscribe button,
become part of the notification squad,
and then that way you guys won't miss any
of the upcoming build videos or tips and tricks
that I've been working on for you guys,
so you can have something cool and fun
in the winter months while we're all surrounded in snow.
So hopefully you've been wrenching along,
it doesn't matter on what RC,
but you've been working along with me,
and hopefully you've enjoyed today's build video.
My friends, thank you for tuning in.
We will see you in the next episode of RC Adventures.
Now get outside and have some fun with RC.
Bye!