TRX-4M Crawler
A toddler's first RC truck, taken apart and put back together one upgrade at a time.
Started with a stock Traxxas TRX-4M and a 3-year-old who wanted a "beetle car." Seven epochs of upgrades, mostly waterproof, mostly slow, all built together on the dining table.
Chapter progress
- E1 Big Build Day
- E2 New Brain Day
- E3 Big Wheels Day
- E4 Accessories
- E5 Performance
- E6 Brass
- E7 Brushless
- Done
- 1
- In flight
- 1
- Up next
- 1
- Planned
- 3
- Merged
- 1
Epochs
- E1 done
Big Build Day
New beetle body, lower center of gravity, better articulation, reliable waterproof steering, smoother drivetrain, brass weight at the lowest points.
- E2 doing
New Brain Day
Brushless ESC + Fat Viper motor + 6-channel radio. The brain transplant.
- E3 next
Big Wheels Day
Lift kit and bigger tires. Center of gravity goes up; ground clearance follows.
- E4 planned
Accessories
Winch, scale lights, tow rope. The truck starts looking like itself.
- E5 planned
Performance
Underdrive gears, skid plates, and final tuning passes.
- E6 planned
Brass
Brass weights at the corners. Heavier where it matters; better articulation.
- E7 merged
Brushless
Folded forward into Epoch 2. Kept here as a marker.
Activity
-
Wired up new servo, ran test in driveway. Steered straight on first try.
-
Brushless ESC + motor arrived. Decided to fold Epoch 7 forward into Epoch 2.
-
Epoch 1 complete. Beetle body fitted; first parking-lot drive.