9five9

Hey guys, over the years I've seen a lot of people asking what parts are needed to convert between two different 1/16 Traxxas vehicles, and usually it's a conversion from the slash or rally to the mini E-Revo. A lot of people have been very helpful with listing parts that are different between the kits, but many people have also been discouraged from doing the conversion because as you find out, it can get quite spendy. But the reality is you can USUALLY do the conversion for cheaper if you leave out some of the parts that aren't exactly essential, and even if you buy everything needed, it's still cheaper than buying a whole new RTR vehicle. I mean let's face it, the reason you want to convert is because you're not satisfied with the vehicle you currently have. And further, doing the conversion always allows you to convert back to the previous vehicle (if you really want to). However, as I've recently learned, that DOES take a ton of time.

Nonetheless, I've decided to throw up some pics from my conversion process.

Here's the most recent state the mini slash was in. While a quick little truck, it was never that fun to run in conditions other than ice and packed snow.



With a very narrow and high stance, the truck rolled over and tumbled if you looked at it wrong. There's a lot you can do by way of adjusting the springs, but I was never satisfied.


I gathered up what I thought were enough parts to do the basic conversion. Upon assembling the first corner of the truck, I realized you also need to replace the slash half shafts with E-Revo shafts. I thought the telescoping Traxxas half shafts would stretch, but I was wrong. The wider stance is simply too wide for slash shafts.


The body I chose is a Pro-Line Ford Raptor. The Raptor is a truck that is simply awesome looking and it's (in my opinion) the best looking MERV body out there. Here's how it would look mocked up on a slash. A lot of people have asked how MERV bodies would look on a slash. This is one option. It actually gives it a cool scale jacked up truck look. The high center of gravity look actually matches the true high center of gravity


As you can see the MERV suspension parts are much longer than the those from the slash. Obviously this is how the truck gets its much wider stance. The tires are significantly bigger too.


Once, I got the half shafts, it was a fairly time consuming conversion. I've found it to be easier to do this kind of work on larger scale vehicles, and can usually do them in a quick amount of time, but these little trucks can actually be slightly complicated since the parts are so small. It also helps to make sure your A-arms are on the right side and pointed the right direction. They are significantly different looking from the slash arms, so don't count on being able to "just tell where they go". Spend some time making sure you got it right. Also, every screw seems to be a different length. Be extra organized to remember where each screw goes. You'll thank yourself later.

Once I got everything together, I took a picture of the completed chassis. One thing to keep in mind is the stock 31 tooth pinion gear that came with the slash is too big. If your slash is a VXL, it also came with a 28 tooth pinion. put that pinion gear on, and you're set. That's the stock gear that comes with the MERV, so no need to buy another gear unless you want to do dual battery packs run in series, then you'll need to buy a smaller pinion.

The push rods and toe links I used are actually the ones for the Grave Digger. They are the same spec as the MERV units, I just like green more than red, so I went with the green ones. Glad I did too.


Here's the finished product. I went with a metallic purple that I use on all my RC bodies. I love how the truck turned out. I didn't get any bumpers for it. you can use the stock Slash bumpers with a little body trimming but they both stick out quite far, especially the back, as you can see in the picture with the clear body mounted on the slash chassis above. I'll probably put the slash front bumper on eventually. Who knows....


Here are the parts I used:

half shafts - 2 sets - http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXXKU7&P=X
front suspension arms - http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXXKV4&P=ML
rear suspension arms - http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXXLC8&P=7
Grave Digger toe links - http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXCAVA&P=7
Grave Digger push rods - http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXCAUZ&P=7
MERV wheels/tires - 2 sets - http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXXKW4&P=7
Pro-Line Raptor Body - http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXBMHM&P=7

Ttam Says Blarg

Cool man! How much did you spend on the whole conversion?

9five9

thanks! I think it was about $95 or so. So it wasn't cheap, but it wasn't near the cost of a new MERV, so I'm pretty stoked on that. There are ways around that. you can save $20 not buying the body if you're ok with just trimming the slash body. That throws it down to 75. either way it's worth it in my opinion.

SyCo_VeNoM

personally I woulda just bought a merv roller off ebay. Back when I tried selling mine they were like $120 instead of all that work

9five9

That's definitely a respectable route. But the work is the fun part, right? I personally like to save $25, and have a brand new truck with a shiny new body better. Granted I'll have that shiny new body scuffed up and old looking in no time.

But on the flip side, you could say that the extra $25 will get you a TON of spares. so either way, it's a win/win. I've never done a big conversion like this, so that's the direction I wanted to go. Glad I did.

SyCo_VeNoM

Well as long as you are happy its all that counts
I'll admit I've done the less economical route a few times... and in one regard probably spent more then the RC I was trying to change another to would cost new...
Best example of me royally spending a lot on a conversion was when I got the brilliant idea to convert a Savage .21 I picked up for $130ish into a savage flux...
umm... I'll put it like this in the end the only parts that are left off the .21 is the center transmission casing(as a quite a bit of the tranny was replaced), shock towers, front knuckles, bumpers, and the arms lol everything else was off of another Savage model left or aftermarket

9five9

haha...it's so easy to get carried away without even realizing it.

buddha9109

I know this is kind of an old thread, but i recently purchased a 1/16 Slash and am wanting to do this conversion. I noticed in the parts list that the rear suspension arms are for the Slash and not a Revo.. Is that a mistake, or are they different than the stock arms? I found a full set of arms on eBay from a 1/16 Revo, will those work for the conversion? Any input would be great. Thanks!!