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ClodZilla 2
Here are the specs of my truck as it
sits now... Its still under construction!
Should be done by the start of Spring.
I ordered this chassis directly from Eric the owner at
ESP. Right off
the bat I had this truck customized. I opted out
of the four-wheel
steering and convinced him to make the first ever ESP
rear-steering
lock-out. I also added the floating shock kit,
sway bars and the
ClodZilla 4 battery mounts. I opted out of the
aluminum body
mounts due to bad past experiences with them
bending. I also
decided that I would not need the upper radio tray
mounts since
I wanted to lower the center of gravity.
In the upper picture, I built up the chassis thinking I would
get it ready to run. I took a ClodZilla 4
radio tray and installed it where the batteries were suppose
to mount. Since the Clodzilla 2, 3, & 4
all use the same lower chassis plate, I knew the Zilla 4
battery mounts would work. All this lowered the center
of gravity greatly! I also installed the Team
Associated T-Maxx shocks on the chassis since
they were what I was going to use.
I then chopped the rails to make them shorter by about one
inch. I figured I didn't need them as long
since I'm not using the original shock mounts. This also
stopped the hardware on the floating shock kit
from getting hung up on the chassis rails. The body
mounts stayed in the original location, I chopped
the rails just after that. Next I drilled some holes to put
the cross members in since I had chopped off
the two end support mounts.
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Next I drilled out my floating shock kit to 6mm hole and added
the special order 3x6mm flanged
BigBallBearings. This ClodZilla 2 now has ball bearing
floating shock kit!
Next I worked on the servo mount. ESP's style is over the
motor. You attach the servo with servo tape
and zip ties. I never really cared for the method of
attaching, but I do like the placement!
I made an mount out of some scrap fiberglass board and a extra
servo mount out of my RC10GT. I had to do some grinding,
drilling and taping! I'm really pleased with the outcome!
Which is a first for something I've made. It almost looks
professional and its pretty solid too!
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Around this time I sent out the chassis for this project, and Project
Gecko's parts to get anodized black.
From the start I knew I wanted to use an eight cell battery
pack,
but I knew mounting it would not be easy. As much
as I like the
Zilla 4 battery mounts, I did not like how you used a
zip-tie to hold the
battery pack in place. So I decided I would use
some G10 fiberglass as
a battery mount. I cut the G10 fiberglass to the
size I needed. Then I
had to wait for the chassis to get back for fitting so
I could drill the
mounting holes. I partially assembled the battery
pack. Last two cells
were not attached since I wasn't sure of the placement
at the time.
Batteries are Team Orion GP-3300 SP2 V-Max Plus RDS
cells. I'm using Team Orion Gold battery bones,
and Team Orion gold connectors. I also tried the Novak soilder
for the first time.
The black parts between the batteries are Bolink Pan Car
battery mounts. There pretty cool, however
you need to make a custom pack to use them. They screw down to
the battery tray. I do need a small
spacer under them though.
Around this time I ordered a bunch of parts to go on this
truck. In the
picture you will see the new Futaba FM radio, Team Orion
Method-R
motors, body clips. Duratrax body mounts, Badhorsie
shock booties,
and an BRP Antenna whip.
Since my shock booties arrived, I decided to install them on
the Team Associated shocks. I also thought about how I could
make the antenna whip match the truck. In its clear
state with the antenna wire showing, I thought it looked Fugly.
My solution was simple. I took an extra shock bootie,
turned it inside out, and sewed one end shut. I cut off
the excess and turned it right side out. Slipped it over the
antenna whip and WOW! It looked sharp!
Next I dyed the Super Rooster case black. I even
dyed the Trinity
servo saver black to match. This trucks main
theme was to be black.
At some point the chassis parts came back all anodized
black. During
this period I have a lack of pictures unfortunately. I
started working
on finishing up the assembly of my battery pack and its
mount. The
mount took allot of shaping which actually was rather simple
to do
with my dremal. The pack fit perfectly with the mount
and has no
movement now. Took me a while, but I was even able
to find some
heat shrink tubing to go around the pack. After this I
installed all the
components together and the chassis was finally taking shape.
At this point I painted up the stock wheels to match the
chassis and
installed the tires I would finally use. They are
Duratrax Diamond-Z
Spikes. An old tire that was discontinued years
ago, but is still one
of my favorites!
Since the body I had painted for this did not
fit, the truck sat for a
good while while I decided on what body to use. I
ended up going
with a Parma Chevy Step Side body to keep up the old
school look.
So on December 31st I masked up the body. Let me tell
you, the mask kit included was junk. Too short
for the side windows and too long for the windshield.
While painting my air brush was acting up. It
would either have no paint or too much paint coming out.
I'm told it was do to the air being so cold.
I let it dry over night and cut it out on Jan 1st. Put
some body mounts on and I tried attaching it.
While the body was long enough to fit on the chassis, the
floaters hit on parts of the body. So I
had to find some really long body mounts for the rear, and put
some spacers under the ones in
front. Even if the body is a little higher than I
wanted, I still think it turned out awesome!
I'm now too afraid to drive this beast!
Parts on this
truck
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- Team Orion Wire
- Team Orion Shock Oil
- Team Orion Locking Body clips
- Team Orion Method-R Motors (16x2)
- Team Orion V-Maxx Plus 8 cell 3300mah battery
- Stock
wheels (painted black)
- Duratrax Diamond Z-Spike Tires (Discontinued)
- Sassy Chassis or ESP Steering Bell crank
(Discontinued)
- Custom G-10 Battery tray
- Robinson Racing Pinions
- BRP Antenna Whip
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