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The above pic is of a Radio Shack "Intruder" ( previously "Hot Machine" - different tires/wheels and body/stickers) u know what? The pic is from the 2000 Radio Shack catalog - i once again didnt have a "before" pic, lol. My mutant is based on the "hot machine", so i dont have the phat chrome wheels/aggressive tires. :-(

But no matter ! cuz ive got ARTICULATION FOR DAYS! no suspension travel, but again, ARTICULATION FOR DAYS! lmao:-)

The chassis was cut from a plastic square "tube" ( if there is such a thing, lol. "square tube" - somebody give me a better term, lol) Its light, rigid, yet very slightly flexible, so it can survive shock/impact. Ive built many chassis from aluminum, but i prefer this plastic. Aluminum looks cool, but we all know it loves to bend. In stock form this truck had 4wd via shaft that ran to the front gearbox, so if i wanted to keep the 4wd i would have to adhere to tight tolerances for wheelbase, suspension travel, chassis stiffness, etc so the shaft wouldnt bind or pop out. So, 4wd is gone:-( i turned the front end around (look at the pix, at the front of the truck u can see a white cup that accepts the shaft from the rear) this was so i would have a greater "angle of attack" approaching obstacles. i had to reverse the wires going to the servo motor, but couldnt figure out how to reverse the "feedback" for the servo, so the steering no longer "centers" itself - oh well, this thing runs on a 360 motor ands is geared low, so i have plenty of time to tap the steering till it centers before i hit anything, lol. I run a 6, 7, 8, or 10 cell nicad pack - taped on wherever it will fit, lol. The little bit of suspension travel it had is gone - it wasnt enough to warrant me having to figure out a way to mount the shocks, lol. Instead both ends are securely attached to the chassis - u can see a plastic "strut" on the front end in the pic above.

U can see the pivot point on the chassis which allows the articulation. I just drilled a hole and put a bolt through it with a few washers between the 2 slabs of plastic. The bolt gets loose while im running the car, allowing the 2 halves to swing left to right and up/down (wheelbase "shrinks" when driving foward, lol) so i need to find a better solution, one that will only allow the "twisting" motion and not the up/down & left/right motions. Perhaps a small "lazy susan" ball bearing joint? hmmmm where to find one....

The 2 slabs of plastic sticking up in the air on the rear of the truck (no attempt was made to make them identical, lol, just scraps i had) are there to protect the circuit board when this thing ends up on its lid - heres a pic with just the rear on its lid, lol. Can your truck do this? lmao.

If u email me, and please feel free to do so, include a reference to RC or this site in the "SUBJECT". i get alot of spam, so if i see a strange email address with no subject, or a subject that says "hi" or "hello", etc, im not going to read it - so u need to say something in the subject that makes it clear to me that your message isnt spam. ndumu@hotmail.com