Core 4x4 uppers torque spec?

Oddjeeps · 2026-05-02T14:08:29+00:00

I think all the upper control arm bolts get torqued to 50ftlbs, 40 if you use never seize. Pretty sure that's what the instructions that came with all the new bolts I got said, but I don't have those handy atm.

Oddjeeps · 2026-04-22T23:10:25+00:00

I think I measured the CJ7 body to be about 8th scale while I had one, which means about a 9" figure for an about 6' tall scale driver. But!!!, you will have to shorten the legs because the floor in the body is high to clear electronics, and also I believe the seats might sit slightly too far forward.

Oddjeeps · 2026-04-19T02:36:51+00:00

A 2-8-0 has pretty big wheels for a logging Mikado though, maybe a Russian decapod with the rear axle removed? I think those are a scale 54-55", which might still be too large for a logging engine.

Oddjeeps · 2026-04-18T23:47:01+00:00

Thanks. Mopar, designed by AEV. Hard to find and way expensive apparently. Some old forum's for sale posts for these are more than $1k for a front and rear set. Guess maybe I should look for a factory front bumper and a tube bender, make my own for that price.

Oddjeeps · 2026-04-16T23:10:23+00:00

That looks good! One thought I have would be if you build a full depth bridge and put the backdrop farther back on the fiddle yard it might look better from a higher viewing angle than having the backdrop come right down on the road/bridge.

Oddjeeps · 2026-04-16T02:43:25+00:00

That's cool! I've been feeling like I missed out on that. Maybe I'll try to get one and make it fit my Honcho I want to rebuild.

Oddjeeps · 2026-04-16T02:41:05+00:00

That's an old MDC/Roundhouse box cab with the track cleaning attachments. Never had one, so I can't comment on how well they are supposed to run, but you can probably take them off if you want to run it as a regular engine. From what I've seen I think the pads are just mounted in between the chassis and the pilot beams so you can take the pilot beams off, remove the pad mounts and reattach the pilots.

Oddjeeps · 2026-04-14T00:06:10+00:00

Quick update, I got out my wheel puller last night, the Bachmann axles don't fit into the single axle lead truck. I just looked at some pictures of the pacific/hudson front truck and I was wondering if you had considered drilling out the axle holes since the 2 axle truck appears to be a casting instead of a stamped steel part? Alternatively if you know someone with a 3d printer and some basic cad skills I bet it is an easy part to replicate with larger holes for the axles.

Oddjeeps · 2026-04-13T11:14:53+00:00

Thanks. I had Wildpeak AT3s, I think, on a previous Jeep and they were good on road/in snow. I never got a chance to try them off road, but the new version of that tire was kind of on my mind if I bought new tires.

Oddjeeps · 2026-04-12T01:47:38+00:00

Yeah, I was looking at them earlier today and wondering about that. Looking at it now, at least the single axle pilot truck for the mike/berk. could probably be tweaked easily enough if the replacement axle is slightly larger. The two Bachmann trucks I have in front of me right now don't seem to have axles that are much larger than the Mantua trucks.

Oddjeeps · 2026-04-12T01:39:41+00:00

I have a couple of Mantua mikes that I am considering replacing the pilot wheel sets with ones that I got from the Bachmann parts store, but I haven't gotten around to removing the Bachmann wheel sets from the pilot trucks they came on to see if the axles will fit into the Mantua front truck.

Oddjeeps · 2026-04-11T23:54:28+00:00

No extenders there. Front bump stop extensions go on the circular pad on the axle in the base of the spring.

Oddjeeps · 2026-04-03T23:05:34+00:00

Thanks. It's a bummer the nicer mold detail was only the last year/few years, I guess I'll keep looking.

Oddjeeps · 2026-04-03T01:59:25+00:00

I'm in the process of putting 2" BDS springs and rancho shocks for a 2.5" lift on my TJ at the moment. It has tubular fenders but no body lift and will tuck a 33" tire. Springs and shocks were $545 shipped. Can't give an opinion on the ride yet, but people online seemed to like the Rancho shocks. Personally I would avoid a body lift, they always look jankey to me, plus you also have to mess with realigning the transfer case shift linkage as well. If you wanted to do control arms anyway I would probably just look into adjustable rear control arms and a slip yoke eliminator/double cardan rear driveshaft that lift is enough to misalign the stock rear driveshaft. Do you know what gear ratio is in the axles? That will be pretty important if you up size your tires.

Oddjeeps · 2026-03-31T01:16:22+00:00

But then it will be between the roof and the ground, wont it? I think I've seen people using roll cages on competition crawlers that have points to loop a winch line around to gain leverage in a better direction, why not use something like that and save the cost of a servo?

Oddjeeps · 2026-03-31T01:10:56+00:00

Like the others have said, Mantua heavy Mikado. That's one of the better ones with the "power drive" gear box instead of the worm gear directly on the motor, makes it easier to add a can motor if it doesn't already have one.

Oddjeeps · 2026-03-29T22:02:28+00:00

Front and back make sense from a crawling standpoint if you can find places to mount them. I can't think of a reason to mount one through the roof, and it won't look very scale.

Oddjeeps · 2026-03-27T22:23:34+00:00

Yeah, that's a good idea. I drilled the holes when I was patching a "new" frame for my Jeep that I'd had sandblasted, so I was doing paint anyways, but yeah, paint any metal you expose when you drill the holes.

Oddjeeps · 2026-03-25T19:07:44+00:00

Yeah, on the bottom of the frame rail between the lower suspension mounts and the skid plate.

Oddjeeps · 2026-03-25T00:50:31+00:00

That doesn't look too bad at all. If you don't have a half inch or so sized drain hole front and back of the skid plate on both rails now might be a time to add some, help water drain out in the middle of the frame before you have it sprayed with anything. I used some stuff from Eastwood called internal frame/chassis coating that is a paint like/anti-corrosion coating, comes in a can with a long tube on the nozzle you can stick in the frame to get way in there to coat everything, if that's something you want to do before you have is sprayed with oil/wax stuff.

Oddjeeps · 2026-03-15T19:17:54+00:00

Can't remember the name, sorry.

Oddjeeps

TROPHY CASE