john01374

I've seen a ton of guys running new Proline bug bodies on the Traxxas Slash and I have liked the body and general idea right from the start but there has always been a couple of things I didn't care for. First was the length of the chassis. Looking at the Bug Body on the Slash chassis I've always though the front and rear wheels set too far forward and too far back from the body. Almost like the body was just too small. Second is I felt the wheels stuck out too far away from the body and didn't look scale.

After looking around at my various different Traxxas cars and trucks I decided to build my own Baja Bug but I wanted something a little more scale. I had considered shorting a Slash chassis and adding Bandit arms but then I'd still be stuck with the high mounted battery and tippy feeling of the stock slash and the problem would be even worse with a narrower stance. Same went for the Pede chassis. What I was left with was the Bandit/Rusty chassis so here we go.

What I used.
1) One used bandit roller $50 shipped.
2) One set of Slash body mounts $5
3) one set of Rusty front axles Free ($4 if you have to buy them)
4) Two sets of traxxas hex hubs (one front set, one rear set) free ($6 if you have to buy them)
5) 1/2 inch Alum "L" channel. Comes in 3 foot lengths at Home Depot $8
6) 1/16 sheet Alum for battery tray $4
7) Rustler Wheels and Tires. $50ish. Can be more can be less. Your choice. One thing to mention is you must use 2.8 or larger wheels when using the Bandit front arms. Anything smaller and the wheel will hit the arms and not allow full steering.
8) Bug Body $30
9) Slash front bumper $5

Please note that there are a couple of things I'm still waiting on so this is not finished. I have a new set of Proline 2.8 wheels and tires on order. Yes I know the wheels in the Pics are on backwards. They Have to be because of the Wheel offset

Cut the chassis 1.5 inches in front of the rear wall of the battery tray and stretch 1.3 inches.



I secured 6.5 inch long pieces of 1/2inch "L" channel using 4 screws and nuts along with an auto body adhesive that meant to bond Kit car bodies to the donor car. I could remove the screws if I wanted. It's that strong.





Sorry guys. Ran out of time. I'll post the rest of this when I return in a couple of hours.

rclugnut10

My Feedback: (1)

very nice, i like it, just one question why do you got your fronts and your back tires mixxed up???

the lug

john01374

Wheel offset. A bandit is slightly wider in the front than it is in the rear. A rusty is just the opposite so I had to swap the wheels to make it even. Since this was just mock up I didn't bother ungluing the tires from the rims. I have new wheels and tires on order

rclugnut10

My Feedback: (1)

okay, just wondering

the lug

john01374

Here are a couple of pics with the body mounted. I haven't had a chance to paint it just yet but I bet you can guess the colors by looking at the chassis.

Notice how the wheels now fit the body. I do need to set the rear of the body down just a little bit but I'm waiting until I get the final wheels and tires in place before doing so.




Here are a couple of Size comparison shots. This is my Bug next to a Stock Slash. Notice the difference in Length and width.



Here are a couple of pics with the bodies on. Notice how much smaller the Bug is compared to the Slash.

Brainanator

My Feedback: (1)

is that a slayer body on your slash? Caught me off guard

Pretty nice, you must like that body a lot in order to mod a vehicle to fit it can't wait till the finished product.

pede_187

Yea, I bet this is gonna look really sweet when it's done. Any plans to use bead locks or something?

pede_187

Any updates on this? looking foward to seeing the progress

mazdaprotege4

My Feedback: (32)

Looks very cool, are you going to run  skinny tires/wheels up front?

rebuilder

Thats gonna be sweet!! If you look at the second photo in the second set of pics, it looks almost like a 1:1 car with the house and the other cars behind it.

The Mad Modder

I have to say, the purple dye job on the chassis looks pretty sharp. BTW, any reason why you mounted the ribs on the rear and pins on the front?

Brainanator

My Feedback: (1)

yes, there is a reason, read the bold in the first post.

paul_TAB4

looks good. I am a big fan of bug bodies. I am mounting one on my aftershock.

john01374

I have made a little progress on this project. I managed to get the body painted. It turned out awesome., I'll snap a few pics when I get a chance. I'm still waiting on the wheels and tires.

I have the motor and ESC installed. I still need to install the receiver and make some type of battery hold down.

As for beadlocks. The car is currently sitting on a set of Proline beadlocks and it looks good but i'm not a fan of them. Far too heavy and their ability to actually hold the tire on sucks.

I'll get a few pics taken as soon as i'm done.

lordtec

My Feedback: (44)

that looks pretty freakin sweet.... that purple looks great... caint wait to see updates im thinking about building one myself

john01374

Here are a few pics with the body painted and on the chassis. I'm still waiting on the wheels and tires so it still has the old Rusty wheels on backwards. I thing the paint job came out awesome and I used a minimum of decals to keep a clean look.

mazdaprotege4

My Feedback: (32)

Looks awesome, I am looking forward to seeing it with the new whels.

Redvanmafia

really good job, but what i hate is people dont post videos, i no its hard sometimes but we really dont get how the truck performs or the fun factor thru pictures

john01374

I would love to post a few vids but a couple of things are stopping me. Biggest problem is I don;t have a Video camera. I would love to shoot some vids but right now it's not in the cards.

rebuilder

Yeah......................the less amount of decals the better IMO. Looks real nice, post pics when you get the wheels on!

lordtec

My Feedback: (44)

what tires/rims did you decide to use for it when its finished? might look good with some slash tires on it.... painted body looks great,was it done with airbrush or rattle can?

john01374

For the track I have a set of Proline 2.8 rustler wheels on order. The rear is going to wear Proline 2.8 Bowties and the front will run the stock Traxxas rustler ribs. I'm hopping Proline will release a 2.8 version of the edge fronts but they said there is no current plans to do so.

For the beach I have a set of paddles mounted on old rusty 2.2 rims. Haven't decided on what I'm going to run on the front but I'm limited to either a buggy front or 2.8 or larger wheel.

Right now I have the truck sitting on a set of Proline beadlocks and switchs and I do like the look but hate beadlocks so the new one piece split six wheels could be in my future.

The body was painted with rattle cans.

plasmaedge

Could you please tell me the measurements of the proline baja bug body as i am planning on making one myself just differently and was wondering how long to make the chassis!!!

Thanks!!!

john01374

The Body is 19.3 inches long with a wheel base of 12.5


I did finally finish this conversion and make it to the track. It handled much better than I expected. I did have to swap the shocks out for a set of stock Slash pieces but otherwise this conversion was a success. I'll get some pics of the finished Bug posted this weekend.

thzero

+1 Great job!