First project with T-Rex Brute Force Tape

[Dmarzke]

I picked up a roll a couple of weeks ago.

I had my old basher body with the bed about to fall off.

Here is a before of the bed. I fixed some cracks with Permaseal Cold Weld.




First I fiberglassed and Flex Sealed the inside.


Then I started running strips of the BF tape down the bed and around the corners.



I use a home built pin and nut setup similar to the proline setup only mine has yet to fail me.







I then went around and heated and removed wrinklesI used a hinge pin to force the tape into the bed grooves.

Done for the night. I will get some better pictures outside tomorrow

Don


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[Squeegie]

Let us know how it holds up!

Note: I hope the mods step in and edit your thread title...

[ElectricPropils]

Would it not have been easier to just buy a new body at that point? You did a good job and I'm sure it's very durable but that just seems rather unnecessary.

[ElectricPropils]

Note: I hope the mods step in and edit your thread title...

I was thinking the same thing, I'm not sure if that was on purpose or....

[Dmarzke]

Let us know how it holds up!

Note: I hope the mods step in and edit your thread title...

I'm looking through the web portal and I don't see a way to edit anything in the original post.

Heck, I don't even see a way to delete the thread.

Mods, it was juts my lucking iphone. Ducking iphone. Trucking iphone.

Stop it Siri. Now I think she is bucking with me.

Anyway, honest mistake.

This tape is tough though. You can not tear it under any circumstances. It likes to gum up scissors. It can take 2 or 3 tries with a utility knife.

[Dmarzke]

Would it not have been easier to just buy a new body at that point? You did a good job and I'm sure it's very durable but that just seems rather unnecessary.

I have a new one with lights and a lot less scratches.

This is the body that came on my original 4Pede I purchased on Ebay. I'm a little attached to it.

I already have good reinforcing on the new body so this one got the Dino treatment just to try it out.

I'm thinking putting big squares of it under the body mounts on my X.

This one is my daily basher.

The new one only comes out at dusk.

[Dmarzke]

This my newer body.

Double layer of fiberglass in the bed and a single layer everywhere else than the center.

After I ran the first one I realized it was overkill.

Just hit glued in a simple 4 light kit to go with the light kit on my 4Pede.


I tried to put them in the stock position but they point up and out now.


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[GotNoRice]

That is a lot of tape. You should check out Shoe-Goo. Just use masking tape to hold the body together, put a bunch of shoe-goo on, and then remove the masking tape once it dries. When you use Shoe-Goo you aren't just doing a make-shift repair, you're practically reconstructing that section of the body. The sections with the shoe-goo become the strongest part of the body afterward. It's durable but flexible, almost like a very tough rubber. Tape is more of a short-term repair, and the broken section will remain a weak-spot. Eventually, especially running in dusty areas, the tape will start to come off on it's own.

This is my original Stampede 4x4 body from ~10 years ago. I recently refurbished it for use on my spare stampede that I built. The rear body-mount holes were destroyed, turned into holes the size of a quarter. I rebuilt the whole area around those rear body-mount holes using shoe-goo.

[zedorda]

I have been using this body for over a year now. Beating the heck out of it learning to drive my long body(Slash) monster truck. Has faired impressively well imo without much reinforcing done. I just coated the underside with a newer style spray-on bedliner and Flex-seal clear on top after the stickers. I even completely ripped the screws out of the rear shock tower that hold the body mount on and just have some visible flex points near where the bed meets the cab from the trouble. It has been through water, sprayed, and scrubbed clean with a brush but all the stickers have stayed nice and water proof. I will be doing the same treatment to all my bodies from now on. Note this is just a Traxxas E-Maxx 3912 body not a proline or other extra thick body. You can check this thread for before pics: https://forums.traxxas.com/showthrea...highlight=maxx

Here are some current pics before I clean it and apply more Flex-seal clear where needed. All the black scuffs from the blacktop washes off. Current weight is 188 grams with wires and all.

[Dmarzke]

Here is the finished project.

Solid as a rock. It will prolly outlive me.

It’s so solid I am thinking of adding a light kit so I can play deeper into the evening.



I’m still fine tuning my setup with the big tires but so far I am digging them. My only regret was using 2 layers or Gorilla tape. It makes the tires kinda heavy. Next time I will use 1 layer of this stuff and overlap it an inch and then heat gun it.


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[Dmarzke]

This was more of a practice project. Just to see how the 2 techniques worked.

I really dig the Flex seal over mesh tape.

The Brute Force rape looks like a bed liner of you take a little time and really melt it into the channels.

It was a body that was about to be scrapped anyway. I used it for practice and the replacement body got a really nice reinforcement from FS and fiber tape along with a basic light kit.


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[zedorda]

That TAPE looks to be freakin strong. Like 100mph tape or something. I am just curious what the body weights now?

[Dmarzke]

That TAPE looks to be freakin strong. Like 100mph tape or something. I am just curious what the body weights now?

Well, I did both tape and fiber flex seal because it was in pretty sorry shape. It’s noticeably heavier in the back but I don’t know if I have a scale that small. I will look this weekend.

I did just drywall tape and flex seal on my new body.

Also I am running my 4Pede as a Bigfoot With 6 inch tall 2 inch wide tires so the weight is negligible.


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[olds97_lss]

Here is the finished project.

Solid as a rock. It will prolly outlive me.

It’s so solid I am thinking of adding a light kit so I can play deeper into the evening.



I’m still fine tuning my setup with the big tires but so far I am digging them. My only regret was using 2 layers or Gorilla tape. It makes the tires kinda heavy. Next time I will use 1 layer of this stuff and overlap it an inch and then heat gun it.


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What wheels/tires are those? Do they rub the front body/arm when you turn? How long are the extensions?

[Dmarzke]

They are just some generic tires I got off eBay. I have to run in grass a lot and the stock 2.8 tires just are not much fun.

I started a search to get the biggest tires while still having a usable basher.

These are 3.2 rims. The tires are 6 inch tall and a little over 2 wide.

I was initially concerned because the spokes were on the very outer edge, but they work perfect on the back and I just had to trim about a half inch off the TBone bumper.

The big tires are certainly fun to bash with. I am still cleaning up some slop in the front suspension and looking for a new ESC. My 7 year old cheap 120 amp esc just gave up yesterday. They really stress the drive train.

Once I get things the way I like and it works I will shop for some better tires with the same dimensions.




I plan on doing a thread on it once I get it finessed a bit more.


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[olds97_lss]

You have hub extensions on there though, right?

Not sure why... but just made a kneejerk purchase of some 10mm offset 12->17mm adapters to try instead of the 6mm offset ones I have. Kind of want to try some old 3.2" tires/wheels on mine.

I run 1/8th electronics on 3S, but would likely gear down a bit anyway to compensate for the larger OD tires. My trencher 2.8's just aren't hooking up that great and I have a few sets of old 3.2" tires/wheels I ran on trucks many years ago.

[MaXDee]

I'm running some old 3.2 truggy wheels and tires on my 2wd. It's the funnest Basher truck I have. It will run through grass like it's nothing. Wicked fun!

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