“Gemini Twins”

[Littlemotor]

Welp…. Getting notifications I’m not doing enough around here, and slacking on a build thread… Didn’t figure there was any point in sharing as they’re not Arrma, and in a mostly completed state of play.. Making a fair amount of changes to both, so I’ll share some pics, and progress as they take place I reckon. I’ve seen a handful of other brand builds since I registered-so why the hell not..

Tekno ET48 2.0 with Tekin 2250kv, Tekin RX8 Gen3, Tekin T-440, and Tekin Graphene 6500 LiHv
Tekno NT48 2.0 with Reds 721 Pro Scuderia Superveloce, Reds X-One HD coated 2143 pipe, NitroPro FKN500FST servos, VP Lutz Blend 30%

Both are told what to do by Futaba Tx/Rx..

Don’t flame me toooooo bad… alright-back to work…

 

[Littlemotor]

Got the fugly (and waaaaaaay overbuilt imo) front tower swapped out for the new lightened unit. Rearranged the shocks so that the emulsion bleeders are now facing in, and the weep holes facing the tower. Had some cleanup to do over operator error (and I knew better).. Last time I cleaned up the electric, I skipped the compressed air after the suds because I had a lot going on, and it was super nice out so I let it “sun dry” while I handled my other obligations.. No bueno. I KNEW it would come back to bite me.. Hingepins and a-arm sleeves looked like ass, my high dollar Tony’s Screws weren’t happy with me, and the wheel bearings were just bleh.. what should’ve been a 15min swaparoo became a couple hour job due to bringing the bearings back to life.. I’ll get back after it here in a bit..

Just chucked ‘em up in the m12, and hit ‘em with green scotch-brite.. Same for the sleeves.. Cut some narrow bits off to thread/stuff through the centers of the sleeves as well. Came out like brand new money inside, and out.. Thankfully I hadn’t waited too long, but lesson learned none the less..

Black oxide coating is a joke imo, and I almost always hit my stuff with dry wax after cleaning everytime (except this past time obviously ) and don’t use any sticky lube, so rust/corrosion won’t be an issue. I’ve seen brand new parts with black oxide treatment rusted to crap, so I’m absolutely fine with the bare metal and dry wax.. Also had a slight bend at one hinge pin end, and gave it a stern “talking to” with “The Persuader”..

Bearings didn’t really take a great deal of effort to bring back to life-just some time until I was happy with ‘em.. Good to go now.. Lance Mountain would approve..

Pretty big difference in weight here. ALL Tekno stuff is waaaaay overbuilt, so I’m not the least bit nervous of the little girly sissy tower.. -and I am much happier with the ugly factor plummeting more than a few notches imho... -as for the lack of adjustability due to the diet plan; I couldn’t tell you a time those outer, or upper rows were ever called upon for my driving style, or track conditions..

The only real bummer I ran into has nothing at all to do with the tower… Like apple, and android, ford and Chevrolet, Nickelback, and literally ANYTHING ELSE; Truggy folks seem to either be OG Truggy bodies from 2005 to about the year before last, or the newer style, and what’s commonly referred to as “Bruggy” bodies.. Tekno pioneered the later with their very squared off, pickup bed style, exposed front shock tower body with this very vehicle.. It comes with a separate “nose cone” with a grille, and headlights, that simply bolts to the front tower. There’s a HUGE fiasco going on with ROAR right now over it.. It took a bit for me to get used to it, but I very much prefer it over the old style bodies for a number of reasons. That being said-I’ve got a few JConcepts bodies (Bruggy style) for both of these trucks in this thread, and for my girl’s ET48 2.0 as well. I had purchased some “universally fits nothing” front wings for these two, but it doesn’t appear to be a good fit for Tekno apparently.. Kinda bummed, but I’ll either look into them further, and see what I can do-if they’re “hokey” AT ALL, I won’t run them-or just run the nose cones that come with the JConcepts bodies, or the OG Tekno nose cones.. Below are photos of the front wings called “Flock Foils” that I’m talking about. These aren’t my vehicles-but will give you a much better visual representation than me snapping a couple pics of them in my dirty mit..

Gonna get some ice cream, and get back on it in a bit.. Thanks for the reactions, and humoring me..

 

[Littlemotor]

Well hell… The OCD is strong.. I don’t like feeling defeated, so I never made it to get ice cream… it doesn’t fit as tight to the Tekno platform as it does the HB (obviously that’s what they fit it for when designing it), and they say it fits literally everything, so I got it as close as possible, while still being plumb with the tower, and front diff. bulkhead. This also just so happened to put it in position to where I’d have as much “meat” around the freshly drilled holes as possible so that it’s not just dainty, and delicate AF.. It’s actually sitting inside, and up against the swaybar collar “ears”, so in the event of a crash-it couldn’t possibly be more solid for this application. I’m pretty happy with it, and it’s honestly much more function than fashion regardless. The countersunk washers are some I had left over from my Associated RC8B3.2, but I’ll be grabbing some flathead protek screws, along with some black countersunk washers from Team Brood to finish it off proper.

NOW-time for that ice cream..

 

[Littlemotor]

Back at it.. Same(ish) shenanigans with the rear clip now.. Also wing change, some decals I had made up, and some setup changes. Just some fine tuning, then get down on some center mast action, and electronics upgrades.. Slow and steady..

We’ll see how far I get before it’s time for some more ice cream…

 

[Littlemotor]

Extensive clean up over rolling the dice reminds me why I shouldn’t roll the dice in the first place.. Anyway-slow, and boring; but good to go..

Looks the same as the last photo in the previous post-but it’s definitely not..

Liking the new, lighter tower much better.. Changed the roll center as well. I’ll go over the camber after I’m done with the build of course.. and the front toe.. Shocks, and diffs are fresh, and I was happy with their behavior last time out-so no changes made, or needed there..

I’m slack AF for not having made a simple template by now-which would make wing drilling/reaming go much faster. I’ve changed wing brands, and styles quite a bit, but after this mock-up, I’m fairly happy with this one. After the shakedown run, if it performs as well as I believe it will; I’ll go ahead and make that template.. I have (3) of these truggies, so that’d be a good call lol..

Now I just need to go wash my grubby prints off of it with some dawn and warm water, and let it dry so I can toss my decals on, and bolt it back down to the wing mount for the last time.. May be time for ice cream while I’m waiting on it to dry…

 

[Littlemotor]

Shewwww…. I’m usually pretty decent with laying down decals, but damn if that wasn’t absolutely nerve wracking… Hour and a half to wash, and sticker up a freakin WING… I don’t know if I was just being overly anal retentive, or if I was just nervous with custom graphics, but it’s done, and I’m happy AF with it!

Done for the night.. I’ll get to the main course, electronics addition, a couple odds and ends, and steering modification tomorrow.. well, errrr-later today..

And I STILL didn’t get any ice cream..

 

[Littlemotor]

Some more work done to the nitro truck this time around. Been tied up with other obligations the past week or so, but managed to get a couple hours in on it..

While this sounds great on paper from an engineering standpoint; it’s less than ideal in an off-road environment. Ultra close tolerances, Carolina dirt, dead nuts in the front of the vehicle, it’s just a no go situation.

Grabbed up some Mugen m3x3x8mm aluminum spacers to allow the swaybar to “float”, while still doing its job. Gave the upgraded Tekno aluminum collars “the chop”, to retain the clean, factory appearance.

Next up is an upgrade I’ve been eyeballin’ for a hot minute; using the newer EB48 2.1 18deg spindle carriers, spindles, and adjustable kingpin design. Jenny’s sold out 30min before I went to order, but was able to source everything I needed from their competition; RCWaffle.. Much stronger setup, easier to maintain, and plays with my camber gain, caster, bumpsteer, and moves the scrub rate as well. Lighter, stronger, and looks a ton better to boot..

This requires a longer camber link, and I already run Lunsford Titanium turnbuckles, so I utilized rear inner camber link rod end from my Associated RC8B3.2 (I switched over to B4 ends when I installed FlashPoint Ti turnbuckles on it).

Continued in next post..

The associated rod ends are ultra soft, and there’s a ton of rod engagement, so this will be straight AF..

Doing the exact same updated, and lightened shock towers treatment as I did on the electric..

Also the lexan nose cone/front end delete in favor of a Racecraft “Mega Foil” the same as the electric.. just used the 1st as a solid template..

Moved onto the rear tower, rear swaybar bearing delete, and changed up the roll center..

 

[Littlemotor]

I run Tekin for steering duties in the electric trucks, and NitroPro servo’s in my nitro’s. These are the FKN500-FST () units. Love em. They are bad to the bone, blazing fast, don’t inflate their numbers, and have the best racing servo warranty in the business..

New J&T Bearing Co. “Leading Edge” wing, and my custom wing wrap from Boom Graphics.. You would not believe how tedious this part is to get perfect..

And finally some fresh new motorvation from Reds by way of a super nasty ceramic, 7port, modified Superveloce, and Hard Coated, welded 2143 pipe..

Tekno 13t hardened clutch bell, and Position 1 Titanium clutch screw. These motors rev to the moon-even for a race .21..

1army billet quickchange motor mount..

Thanks for following along y’all-I know it’s boring race shitt, but I like it here hanging with the much more chill side of things..

More to come soon. Just picked up a decent Iwata airbrush, and I’ve got some more parts coming as well. They’re coming along, and I’m anxious to hit the dirt again..

 

[332_RC]

Extensive clean up over rolling the dice reminds me why I shouldn’t roll the dice in the first place.. Anyway-slow, and boring; but good to go..
View attachment 348121

Looks the same as the last photo in the previous post-but it’s definitely not..

View attachment 348122

Liking the new, lighter tower much better.. Changed the roll center as well. I’ll go over the camber after I’m done with the build of course.. and the front toe.. Shocks, and diffs are fresh, and I was happy with their behavior last time out-so no changes made, or needed there..

View attachment 348123
View attachment 348124

I’m slack AF for not having made a simple template by now-which would make wing drilling/reaming go much faster. I’ve changed wing brands, and styles quite a bit, but after this mock-up, I’m fairly happy with this one. After the shakedown run, if it performs as well as I believe it will; I’ll go ahead and make that template.. I have (3) of these truggies, so that’d be a good call lol..

View attachment 348125
View attachment 348126

Now I just need to go wash my grubby prints off of it with some dawn and warm water, and let it dry so I can toss my decals on, and bolt it back down to the wing mount for the last time.. May be time for ice cream while I’m waiting on it to dry…

Nice layout on the wing. It's weird I just got a extra rear wing in last week for my infraction 6s & I've trimmed it out to a more drag race style I guess. And ended up putting holes across it in the upper row, very similar. Is that a track racing trick? Help w downforce? I honestly didn't know that was a thing. I just ended up doing it. I used one of those step drill bits after I laid it out w a scribe.

Any I'm digging this thread. Great looking, awesome details & work.

 

[Littlemotor]

Nice layout on the wing. It's weird I just got a extra rear wing in last week for my infraction 6s & I've trimmed it out to a more drag race style I guess. And ended up putting holes across it in the upper row, very similar. Is that a track racing trick? Help w downforce? I honestly didn't know that was a thing. I just ended up doing it. I used one of those step drill bits after I laid it out w a scribe.

Any I'm digging this thread. Great looking, awesome details & work.

Thanks brother, that means a lot! The Euro, or “Beta” style wings in particular have a LOT of downforce, and seriously keep the car/truck from being super twitchy in the straights, and more predictable in the air. So much so that it can kill speed-so I run the holes to tame it down, while still being sufficient, and retaining good manners in the air, and down the straightaways.. I can’t count how many wings I’ve drilled over the years, but I’ve always had the best results with calipers to lay out the locations, then a 1/16th hss bit, a 3/32 bit, and on to a high quality hand reamer. Whatever tool you use will want to bite/walk around in my experience due to the plastic being so soft, and thin.. When I use the reamer, I can “steer” it if need be. Removing the decals from the holes is ultra fun too lol.. sharp x-acto from the back side, and let the blade do the work.. it’s always a sigh of relief when it’s done, I must say.. I do have a good selection of super sharp uni-bits, and have had pretty good luck with a couple of them as well, but I don’t mind taking my time by hand.

Glad you’re enjoying the thread, and really appreciate the kind words bro! I’ve got some wiring to update on the electric-I redo it after so many hours of runtime to be proactive, and I’m super pumped about giving the new Iwata a whirl when my fluorescents show up. In the mean time, my nitro buggy is ready for duty again, and I’ve got my girls ET48 2.0 to go through, do some maintenance, rewire it, toss some upgrades at it, and do a fresh body for her too.

 

[Littlemotor]

Got the “Gemini Twins” ET and NT48 2.0’s w/2.1 front ends wrapped up this evening. Only thing left is to bust out the new Iwata, and lay down some Createx Wicked paints on a couple JConcepts F2 bodies..

Swapping out the dull plum Tekno collars for AE RC8T4.1 blue units.. Also outfitting it with some Blue aluminum flanged nylocs for the standoffs..

I picked up a super unobtanium carbon fiber center diff top plate from Lit RC, but wanted to complete the look, and clamping force of some black cone washers from Ultimate Racing..

Some of the most obvious visual difference between the 2.0, and 2.1 spindles/carriers.. Carbon Fiber tunable steering arm selection is a plus as well..

Same treatment for the electric…

Replacing the seize-proned swaybar bearings with bushings by way of Mugen 3mm aluminum spacers, and modifying the upgraded aluminum Tekno collars to jive..

Muuuuuuuch better…

While I’ve got my MegaFoil off, I went ahead and used it as a template to pop a few holes in the ones going on my girl’s ET2.0 once these two are ready for paint..

Modifying the swaybar collars for the Mugen spacers-now on bushing duty.. came out fairly clean, and you’ll never see the modification anyhow.. -which was intended. The “pro’s” just turn them around, and run ‘em backward. I prefer to fly under the radar, and look factory(ish)..

I used (4) layers of the 60lb Gorilla double sided tape for shock absorbtion, and never had an ESC fail, or come loose from the ESC tray in 2yrs of beating the piss out of this truck.. I ran a channel at an angle for my steering servo wire.. it’s a lonnnnnnng way from the Futaba Rx.. Worked like a champ..

 

[Littlemotor]

Deleting the switch from the Tekin RX8 Gen3 ESC.. also running fresh battery leads, bullets, and motor leads with 12awg Deans Wet Noodle cable, Tekin Gold 5.5mm bullets, and some WireFly heat shrink tubing.. This is the 3rd Tekin RX8 I’ve done in maybe three weeks lol..

Picked up a J&T Bearing Co. carbon fiber ESC tray, and billet servo mount for the Tekin T-440..

This is where the servo lead passes between the ESC, and new Carbon Fiber tray. I had zero issues with the Gorilla 60lb tape, but wanted to give my 3M UHB tape a whirl this time. I again, used 4 layers for shock absorption to keep the board and electrical components happy..

Didn’t want to bridge my phases, so I chucked the truck up in this nifty vise due to liking my motor clocked to wear the motor tabs are at roughly a 45’..

I like this little soldering jig I grabbed from Hot Racing for cheap when I’m soldering up my bullets. Puts my battery leads exactly where I’m running them. A lot of guys prefer the battery terminals at the rear, but I’ve never had an issue in the event of a bad head-on whack..

Cut out some bedding from foam that came with some electrical part so my Rx doesn’t get beat to shiit…

Running heatshrink tubing between the hold downs tabs along the Tekno stone guards… I like to keep stuff looking as clean as possible, and it obviously provides some extra protection to the leads..

Gotta be a PIMP, and cap that antenna mast with one of my MIP driver caps that I never use for them..

And DONEZO…. Now it’s on to my girl’s ET48 2.0. Tekin motor, ESC, and servo… 2.1 front end, lightened towers, a bunch of my own modifications-basically very similar treatment to mine, with wildly different color choices..

Here’s hers… along with the other side of the room that gets no internet love... She’s super stoked for the “makeover”… I’m excited AF to get to wrenching on it.. Now it’s time for some damned ice cream..