XTruck Build

[Sky]

So I picked up this XMOD Evo Truck last year and walked out of the store with this in hand:

EVO F-150 Truck (yellow)
AWD Kit
Offroad Kit
Bearing Kit
Suspension Tuning Kit
Blue F-150 Body Set

After I installed it all I drove it once or twice, decided it wasn't that great and it became a shelf queen...

Now I've changed my mind, and I have avant to thank for it! I've seen how relatively easy it is to mod the steering system and drop a servo motor in and have a pretty decent trail rig/crawler setup. So, I'm going to keep this thread up to date with pictures and how-to's on transforming my boring F-150 into a trail rig.

First chassis mod I have done succesfully is modify the suspesion with MZ OL shock screws. Pretty simple really. I installed the XMOD Offroad Kit, but left out the lift-up pieces that straddle the chassis and hold the knuckle kingpins and the top of the shocks. Using the stock ones with longer screws, like the screws in stock OL shocks (aka. OL shock shaft screws) allows the same lift and almost twice the suspension travel from the A-arms.

Granted, it isn't a ton of travel, but certainly better than stock and I'm aiming to keep this truck to scale, so no crazy body lifts for me. But, speaking of body lifts, I have lifted mine slightly just to get better tire clearance. You can also see in my pictures that there is a gap between the fender flare and front bumper. That is where I will trim the bumper to gain more clearance while turning with the suspension compressed.

Along with the pretty basic chassis mods, I will be constructing my own family-style roll cage/roof rack using arch's method of soldering brass, and I will make a custom front skid/brushguard setup using brass/aluminum. I've included pictures below of my truck and the proposed Cage/Brush Guard, the Cage will be different, that one is kinda the idea I have.

Bah! I'm done writing now, I'll post pictures as I go!

[Sky]

UPDATE:

Made the front and rear Brushguards today. I'm very pleased! Soldering brass is super easy and bending the brass for the right shape is pretty straighforward using only needle-nose pliers.

I'm very happy with the results, starting work on the cage/roof rack tomorrow! I'm going to paint them all flat black after I'm sure they are just right.

[soccerfan93b]

nice truck there!! like the mods!!

[Sky]

UPDATE:

Cage and Rack combo is done! Whoo, took me 2 1/2 hours to complete this one, and it was a challenge to get it straight. I think it looks pretty good, but I might cut the back section off, it looks to SUVish for me, but I'll leave it for awhile.

Now I might do some step bars/body guards, but that's a lot of brass on the body. Then they'll be taken off for paint! For now I'm going to actually make it able to move, lol. I'm going for the HS-55 motor install next, along with modifying the steering rack for better movement.

Check out the pics! I know they're fuzzy, I took them with my phone.

[Sky]

Modified the rear rack, painted them black and added KC lights! I'm pretty much done with the body for now, moving on to the HS-55 install, with the exception of finding model kit accesories to go on the rack and maybe a light kit.

Can't wait to hit the [mini] trails with it!

[Sky]

Forgot pic, haha