By:
Brandon Wilcox, Thomaston CT
May 8, 2007
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pictures to open high resolution image in new window.
Let's face it, Clod Buster based rock
crawlers are not only expensive, but they can get boring
pretty fast. With the right setup, most Clod Buster
based trucks can climb over anything in their path with
ease; stairs, vertical boulders, and anything you might
throw at them. It's hard to find new terrain when you
have to look for such difficult areas. This is one of
the reasons the 2.2 class of trucks are gaining popularity.
2.2 size trucks use 2.2 size tires and don't have rear
steer. Much more challenging, and as I found out, a
lot more fun then the bigger rigs. This month we take
a look at one of the nicer chassis's available for the
2.2 size rigs; the Thunderhorse. The Thunderhorse chassis
is a TLT based 4 link chassis. It's made out of black
delrin and comes preassembled. One thing I liked about
the Thunderhorse was I could get it in either a 50/50
setup, or a 60/40 setup. I went for the 60/40 setup,
which tends to be better on steep vertical climbs. Unlike
most of the other chassis kits out there, the Thunderhorse
comes with everything you need, and it's already assembled:
skid plate, links, ball ends, servo mounts, and your
choice of transmission is pre marked for you to drill.
Here is what the truck looked like after I threw in
my transmission and electronics:
This is what makes up this truck:
Chassis - Thunderhorse 60/40
Battery - Custom pack (6 cell, brick, 2/3 amp cells)
http://www.cheapbatterypacks.com
Body - HPI Bronco body painted by Bill Zegers of http://www.zegersrcgraffixx.com/
Axles - TLT Axles locked by spider gear method
Transmission - Stampede (Locked with diff spool)
Suspension - Rear (Maxx Shocks) Front (Front Stampede
Shocks)
Motor - Integy Matrix Lathe Motor 35t
Speed Control - Tekin Rebel 2
Radio / Receiver - Traxxas TQ3
Servo - Hitec HS-645MG
Rims - Axial 2.2 Rockster Beadlocks (Black Chrome)
Wheels - Pro-Line Masher 2k's (Ran in reverse tread)
In this kind of truck, where space is limited and it's
difficult to mount electronics, I decided to call up
http://www.cheapbatterypacks.com and have them put together
a custom battery pack for this truck that would fit
over the front servo. I decided on a 6 cell pack, using
2/3 amp Elite cells, setup in a brick configuration.
Shipping was super fast, even though they build these
packs by hand, I still got them in a couple days. They
looked awesome, everything was professionally constructed,
and they were finished off with shrink wrap and a nice
custom label. Here is a picture of the packs I am running:
Once I had everything built and running
smoothly, I decided to go up to my local testing grounds,
a local dam that is by my house. The first thing I noticed
was how easily this truck got traction. The super soft
tires, in conjunction with the soft suspension setup
works great. As long as I can get my front tires up
on some rock, they will usually pull the entire truck
up with it. The torque was perfect, the 35 turn motor
gave me tons of torque, but still provided me with enough
wheel speed to try to scurry up sandy hills or moss
covered rock. I liked how the 4 link suspension worked,
the Thunderhorse came as a 12.5 wheelbase truck like
most 2.2 chassis's', which is perfect for rock crawling.
After about 10 minutes of crawling I decided to add
some weights to the front right tire, as it sometimes
tries to lift up when you get too vertical. Here is
a shot of the trucks articulation:
After going thru one of the battery packs,
which seemed to last a solid 30 minutes, my digital
camera batteries were dead, so I decided to put the
truck away and take it up to a GTG up in mass the next
day. I went up to Mt Tom, located in Holyoke Mass, a
really nice state reservation that has tons of rocks
and cliffs for all skill levels. This was only my 2nd
time driving the truck, but I got a feel for it right
away. Unlike Clod Buster based trucks, TLT's and Maxx
based trucks have torque twist, so to compensate I put
some heavier oil in the left rear shocks, 80 weight,
and the day before I had already added some weight to
the front right tire to keep it from lifting so easily.
Even though I only had this truck together for a couple
days, it seems like it's already getting dialed in.
I had a good time crawling up with the
guys in mass, and my rig was able to tackle most of
the rock Mt Tom had to offer us. For some final testing
of this truck I went back to my local dam, an area that
I am very familiar with. I wanted to see how my truck
would do in the area I usually take my Clod Buster crawler
to. First I went to a hill that is covered with small
sharp rock. To my surprise, the little truck went right
up and seemed to have no problem. Now I was off to try
some off camber crawling, which is more horizontal climbing
then vertical. The truck did very well. It was like
it didn't want to tip over. Just for kicks I put the
truck on its left wheels to see if it would tip over,
and even with the battery in the truck it would not
tip. For a transmission based truck, I must say that
the center of gravity sits nice and low in this chassis,
and with some added weight in all 4 tires it will definitely
give me a boost of confidence next time I try to tackle
some off camber obstacles.
About half way thru the second battery,
my left front wheel came flying off. Because the Axial
Beadlocks use a plastic washer to fasten the wheel to
the axle, they tend to loosen up fast, especially if
you use reverse a lot. I had some thread lock on me,
so I thread locked the nut holding on the wheels. I
also did some additional body trimming so the wheels
wouldn't rub the wheel wells on the body. After a 15
min break I took the truck back out to kill off the
battery, and after some good practice, and a couple
of hard flip overs, the battery finally lost its charge.
Overall I was extremely happy with the truck, it was
my first 2.2 sized crawler and it sure can crawl with
the big boys. Some changes I may make in the future
include upgrading to a brushless motor, and possibly
a stiffer spring in the left rear to counter act more
torque twist. I would also like to fit a bug body on
the truck, so when I flip over it may roll over back
onto its wheels.
Here is my final rating of the truck:
Design: 10/10
Assembly: 10/10 (Pre Assembled)
Steep Rock: 8/10
Small Sharp Rock: 9/10
Off Camber: 9/10
Overall: 9.2 "A MUST HAVE"
Where can you get the Thunderhorse? Jeff with JW Custom
Wurks makes and sells the Thunderhorse chassis: jwcustomwurks@yahoo.com
Where can you get the awesome custom battery packs I
used on this truck? http://www.cheapbatterypacks.com/
