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Mini Truckin'
There are two projects currently being built here in my garage. They are loosely based on 1/24 scale plastic models. They are both fully RC, and fully custom built. Both will be electric, lipo powered for weight and size. That is where the similarities stop.

The Jeep is destined to be a scale offroad vehicle. Everything possible will be done to maintain accuracy when creating parts and construction. It will feature a 4-link suspension, center trans.
The tires for the Jeep are reproduction Super Swampers, accurate to the tiniest detail. They are very soft compound rubber, will be excellent in rocks, or any other surface.
The body is from a Daisy Duke kit I picked up a long time ago. I added a lot of small details, many of which will be broke off when I start running it! The hood was done by hand, all the tools are pewter reproductions, the chain on the front of the frame is real. Tools include a socket set, 4-way wrench, pliers, wrenches, a fuel tank, a bumper jack, and more. The underside extensions for the 4-link will likely go away to look more accurate, but they are carbon fiber. All further chassis mods will be brazed with square brass tube for a scale appearance.

The truck is a completely different beast. It will sit on a fully tubular hand-made chassis. The monster tires are for this truck, and they came from a Tamiya kit I picked up at my LHS.
It will be a serious rock crawler with massive articulation, aggressive 4-link suspension with both diff locked for as much traction as possible. I have started the tube chassis, but no pics just yet. It will be powered by a Speed 300 motor mounted to a Mini-T trans with custom drivelines running to Venom Mini Giant axles. The tires are very soft, with large air passage holes drilled into the wheels to allow the tire to wrap around rocks and grab onto them. The wheels are from a toy I found, it was a trick getting the tires wrapped onto the wheels and glued in place!

UPDATE 3-2-05
Well, plans have changed a little bit. I picked up a little toy called a "Super Slick". It's an odd name, but it donated some nice little locked solid axles. I made some side plates and figured a way to connect the 4-link rods. The tires fit perfectly as well. I'll let the pics do the talking.
I removed the inside rim section of the wheel because it was visible with my custom tires installed.	Here is what it looks like installed. The clips you see act as a kind of slipper. If the torque becomes too great, the wheel will slip on the hub to protect the axle. It remains to be seen if it will be a problem.
There are two ball sockets molded onto the axle shafts. They are not in a good position for a custom suspension, so I removed them, drilled out the centers and mounted a plate in their place. This will be the base or the outer links.	I made 2 side plates like this one. I used Traxxas shock ends, they have lots of ravel and are a solid mount. The rods are HPI, I think. I had them laying around, they will not likely make it to the final version.
5-8-05 I started putting the suspension together tonight. With as long as it turning out to be, I may have to figure out a way to widen it. I haven't made any dimension measurements yet because I don't think it's a final layout, but it's a start. Future major mods will come when I need to fit the motor and spur gear, either of which will require major changes to the side plates.	This is hopefully a good representation of what it will look like when completed. I like the height, although it's a bit narrow.
A side view of the same. It does look sweet, doesn't it?	The center triangular mount is creating a problem with the outer links hitting it during articulation. However, just now looking at the picture, I figured a better way to mount it.
Here is a shot of the chassis without the body on it. It's a simple ladder chassis. If you look closely, you can see the Mini-T trans in the center. The center links are HPI parts with Traxxas captured ends.
I was at Toys-R-Us and picked up another Super Slick, so now you can see what they look like before I tore it apart, if you hadn't seen a real one before. This one is wearing the Super Swampers and I locked the dif. So far, that's it.

	These pics make it look cooler than it really is. Other than the fact that the axles are locked and sold, it's pretty much a cheap toy. The electronics suck and it's top heavy so it likes to roll over. Past that, with the locked center diff and the Swamper tires, this little thing is pretty much unstoppable.