1957 Chevrolet Task Force Wheely King

[Arcocustom]

Decided to get the Wheely King up-and-running again. Been robbing a lot of parts (shocks, tires/wheels, radio, servo, battery, etc.) off of it for the past couple of years now, so it is time to put it back right again. Made a some mods & upgrades along the way, and even added a few hop-ups as well. Let's take a look.

Truck already has a 4-link from New Era that uses Traxxas E-max driveshafts which extended the wheelbase to about 12 & 1/4 inches. It also has a front steering links, rear steer lock-out kit, steering hubs, motor plate, & steering bell-crank from STRC. The adjustable upper and lower shock mounts are from Hot Racing. The upper 4-link mount is by Integy and has been modified to a triangilar 4-link, rather than the stock 3-link.

The truck also sports an HPI Crawler King "Black" chassis & Black shock springs. The sway bar is custom made using music wire, linkage stoppers, and Associated rod ends. The Body monts are stock but have been modified to accept the 1957 Chevrolet Task Force body-shell from Parma.

The tires are stock Wheely King shoes that have had the cartoon-ish logos removed using a sanding drum and dremel. The wheels are custom made from Tamiya King Cab 2.2's. Inside the tires I am running Pro-Line's 2-stage over-sized memory foams for 5 & 1/2 inch tall tires. The wheels are bolted to the axles using 10mm wide, hardened, Tamiya TG-10 hexes.

Thanks for taking a look at the build. - Arco

 

[northerngames]

look's good the link setup on the axle looks scale too.

 

[kjr2]

Nice truck. Those wheels look super cool with the stock tires. It's like a mini clod wheel/tire!

 

[soulja55]

looks good!

 

[Arcocustom]

@northerngames
Thanks. That upper 4-link mount was one of the very first mods I completed on the truck. I used a pair of Integy (#INT T8112SILVER) upper arm mounts, two shims cut from some 1.5mm thick carbon fiber sheet, and a couple of Tamiya (#9804179) lower suspension stays for the TLT-1.

@william g
Thank you sir. I ran up against my limit on the freebie account and had to upgrade. All fixed!!

@kjr2
Thank you. Gluing two sets of wheels together and sanding the logo's off the tires takes some time but is worth the effort IMHO. Glad you like the end results. I've had a few people say they look like Clod Buster tires & wheels now.

@soulja55
Thank you for the kind words sir, I appreciate it.

Here is what the truck looked like about three years ago. It was already highly modified back then when the decision was made to rob all the electronics, shocks, wheels & tires, hardware, and whatever else was needed to start another monster truck build. It sat for the last two years or so being neglected until now.

Finally got tired of looking at it sitting there all crumpled-up and stripped. Started by test fitting some custom width Tamiya wheels with a new set of WK tires mounted on them and sorta slapped an old Parma 57 Chevy body on there I had lying around in the scrap heap.

Mocked-up the chassis with the new wheels and tires to get an idea of where I am with the suspension and how it should look with that old body-shell. The sway-bar was still there, although it is missing some pieces. New shocks were going to be in order as well. Also wanted to run a set of foams for the new tires. It had them before and they made a huge difference. Need a new servo, receiver, & crystal. Tried switching the wheel hubs out in favor of some hard 10mm wide tamiya units too. Not sure about the width of the truck now though. May go with a 6mm alloy part instead. IDK??

**Parts List**

HPI
#10836 - Wheely King - No Electronics
#85266 - Main Chassis Set (Black)
#85253 - Shock Body Set (2 Shocks)
#6878 - Shock Shaft 3x61mm (2pcs)
#6588 - Shock Spring14x90x1.1mm 23COILS (Black/ 2pcs)
#85256 - Shock Parts/ Shock Tower Set
#Z694 - Washer M5x10x0.5mm Silver (10pcs)

Hot Racing
#WK12R08 - Lower Shock Mount Crawler Wheely King
#WK2808 - Aluminum multi Mount Shock Tower WK

Integy
#INT T8112SILVER - Upper Arm Mount For HPI Wheely King

New Era
#HWK702 - Extended 4 Link Crawler Kit
#HWK350 - Lightweight Locker for diff

Parma
#10325 - '57 Chevy P/U (1/10 .060 Clear Lexan Body)

Pro-Line
#6172-00 - 2.2" Oversized 2-Stage Rock Crawling Memory Foam (2pcs.)

RC4WD
#Z-S0466 - HPI Wheely King Straight Axle
#Z-S0543 - Straight Axle Adaptor for Wheely King Axle

STRC
#ST2852B - Wheely King Aluminum Machined Steering Knuckle (1 Pair)
#ST85257B - Wheely King Complete Aluminum Front And Rear Steering Linkage Kit (Blue)
#ST85260B - Wheely King Aluminum Steering Bell Crank (Blue)
#ST86818B - Wheely King Aluminum Heat Sink Motor Plate (Blue)

Tamiya
#9804179 - RC Upper/Lower Sus Stay: 47201
#53345 - RC Toe-in Rear Upright

Traxxas
#4928X - Transmission Output Yokes (Heavy-Duty) (2)/ Set Screw Yoke Pins M4/10 (2)
#4951X - Half Shafts, Long (Heavy Duty) (External-Splined (2))/ & Internal-Splined (2))/ Metal U-Joints(4)

Thanks for checking out the build. - Arco

 

[Arcocustom]

Finished mounting/installing & wiring all the new electronics. Still need a main battery pack though. That will be the final purchase for this vehicle.

**Electronics**

3 Racing
#3RAC - MHS005/BU - Motor Heat Sink W/Fan for 540 Motor (Fan Shaped) - Blue

Castle Creations
#Mamba Maxx ESC with CM36-s7700 - 7700Kv (beyond 4t brushed) 10th Scle Brushless ESC/Motor Combo

Futaba
#R152JE-75 - AM 2CH. Receiver
#FUTL49 - RX Crystal AM 75.590 CH.70

Kimbrough
#124 - Large Servo-Saver (Extra Strong Spring)

Racers Edge
#1005BK - Antenna Tube Black

Tower Hobbies
#TS-70MG - Super Torque Dual BB Servo

Thanks for taking a look.

 

[Arcocustom]

Let's see now... after I bolted a set of new lower mounts & shocks on, I needed to fool around with the suspension some more. The lower links had to be shortened to fix the caster angles on the front end. Also dug out some taller body mounts that came with the truck and took a couple of pics with the old beat-up body just sitting there for a mock-up.

Even with where the body sits, the body still wants to rub the tires a bit when the suspension is at full articulation. May have to put some type of limiters on the shocks. :conf

Well, the new body has now been trimmed. Finished customizing the body mounts to the correct height as well, but I still need to ream some mounting holes. Before we go any further on the new body, I need to mess around with the pinion and castor angles first. The lower rear links need to be shortened about a half inch so there is room for adjusting the angles on the driveline and axle C's. Once that is finished I will know where the body needs to be located on the mounts. As mentioned, I did finish installing the electronics, but the steering servo needs to be centered because nothing has been powered up just yet. Also went ahead and installed a clip-on heat-sync/w fan coated with a thin layer of heat-sync cooling compound that should lower operating temps and keep the motor cool.

At this point, you may notice the different angles on the 4-link bars. The lower front links have been shortened about 9mm and that has put the castor angle of the steering hub where it needs to be. The new lower shock mount has yet to be installed in the rear so the rear links are not quite parallel. The crawler style lower shock mount relocates the lower link in front of the axle so the angle can be altered on the lower link, making them parallel. The relocation requires that the link be around 9mm or so shorter than before. This required cutting a small section from the lower bars with a dremel.

Thanks for taking a look. - Arco​

 

[william g]

looking good, but I would rather open up the wheel wells some more than raising the body. Plus by opening the wheel wells you can fudge the wheelbase disparity better.

 

[Arcocustom]

@william g
Thanks. I agree. Don't want to lift the body any higher either. It's actually gonna drop about an 1/8 inch when I ream the body mount holes. I dug through my parts bin and found a set of RPM nylon stops that clip onto the bottom of the shock shaft which should help. Also opened the wheel arches ever so slightly to help with the problem so there should be no more tire rubbing on the body.

Finished installing and modifying all the 4-links and shock mounts. Everything is nice and solid and the suspension is working smoothly. The rear sway bar has also been reinstalled and is functional once again. Now that all of that has been accomplished I have decided to install some rear steering hub eliminators and a set of straight axles from RC4WD.

After removing all the stock parts and the STRC rear-steer lock-out, I cleaned and oiled the bearings, then installed the new parts. The axles dropped right in and the eliminators slipped on perfectly and everything is turning smoothly.

The new parts help clean up the axle IMO and should add some strength to the drivetrain. The rear axle has a diff locker installed so the one piece axles were a needed upgrade.

Thanks for taking a look - Arco

 

[william g]

looks better with the RC4WD parts, that is what I have for sale on a set of axles in BST, great product.
Did you get screws with the outer axle case parts? I ask because they need a shorter screw than stock. Stock screws will hit the inner axle shaft. Quick fix is to cut2 threads off if you parts didn't have screws.

 

[Arcocustom]

Did you get screws with the outer axle case parts?

@william g
Yes, the new RC4WD parts fit perfectly with no fuss, but no sir, they did not come with any new hardware. I did install some shorter 3x8mm titanium tapping screws from Speed Mind though, which I already had on hand in my hardware bin. Also installed some new 5mm E clips from the bin too.

Now that all of the suspension mods have been completed, I went ahead and reamed the body mount holes. Now the new Parma body is securely mounted using the stock, but slightly modified HPI mounts. In the photos you can see the rear bumper has been completely removed from the bed and the rear fenders behind the wheel arch have been trimmed by about 3/8 of an inch to match that line. The front bumper has the lower 1/4 to 1/3 trimmed away as well and the wheel openings have been enlarged just a tiny bit. Also reamed a hole in the bed for the receiver arial to pass through.

Thanks For checking out the Wheely King - Arco​

 

[th67ss]

Looks good Jay!

I've always liked that body, fits the Wheely King just about right:cool

 

[hrforsale]

that body really is sweet. I'd like to build an Awesome Kong scaler. That would be sweet.

 

[Arcocustom]

Time for a thread bump...

Looks good Jay!

I've always liked that body, fits the Wheely King just about right:cool

that body really is sweet. I'd like to build an Awesome Kong scaler. That would be sweet.

@th67ss & @hrforsale
Thanks for the kind words there fellas.

[COLOR="#BLACK"]**UPDATE**
2/22/2013[/COLOR]

[COLOR="#BLACK"]Ran the HPI Wheely King today and it wasn't long before I hit a mountain of ice at the end of the drive way. At first I thought the servo was broken, but after further inspection, I noticed the servo saver was striped. I wrenched the sevro back to center by hand, then continued to bash the King until the battery pack got hot.[/COLOR]

[video=youtube;aGA6ooIR49M]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGA6ooIR49M&list=UUuWnq3wvhHRr5Di5gyckDCw&index=1[/video]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGA6ooIR49M&feature=player_embedded

[COLOR="#BLACK"]Thanks for taking a look. - Arco[/COLOR]​

 

[OldSchoolDude]

Awesome WK build. Glad to see you got it running. The similar wheels you made for your F-350 inspired me to widen my wheels.

 

[Arcocustom]

Awesome WK build. Glad to see you got it running. The similar wheels you made for your F-350 inspired me to widen my wheels.

@OldSchoolDude
Thanks. I've been checking out your WK build the last couple of updates and it is looking real good. I saw your custom wheels too and they look great. *thumbs up* It's really nice to hear that you have found some inspiration from one of the builds. Keep up the good work!

 

[Arcocustom]

[COLOR="#black"]**UPDATE**
2/25/2013[/COLOR]

[COLOR="#black"]Repaired the damage to the King. The adapter insert that fits the universal Kimbrough servo saver to a Futaba splined servo stripped. I knew I had a metal gear servo in there so I figured it was something wrong with the saver. Dropped the radio bed/servo mount and installed a new insert and now the steering is tight once again.[/COLOR]

[COLOR="#black"]The switch I had to control the cooling fan on the 3 Racing heat sync that helps cool the Castle 7700kv Mamba Maxx brushless motor never was mounted to anything so I fabricated a mount out of some scrap aluminum sheet. The mount is made for a standard Futaba on/off switch and bolts to an existing switch mount hole in the Integy shock tower.[/COLOR]

[COLOR="#black"]Thanks for taking a look.[/COLOR]​

 

[Arcocustom]

Rcp crawlers cvd's & clockable axle c's.

Got some parts in the mail today...

 

[Supreme Reign]

I love that sweet rear sway bar setup.

 

[Arcocustom]

I love that sweet rear sway bar setup.

@Supreme Reign
Thanks. It's just some music wire inside a length of antenna tube that I glued into the stock wheelie bar after the two stock fasteners were removed and the existing holes were enlarged just a bit. I added a couple of chrome Du-Bro linkage stops and then bent the music wire 90 degrees. Some alloy Associated TC3 sway bar ends were added after cutting off the excess music wire. The bottom rod ends, pivot balls, & 3mm diameter linkages are borrowed from a TLT-1 with the links sleeved inside some 3mm I.D. carbon fiber tube. The top rod end cups came with the Associated TC3 sway bar.

1957