Crawler Canyon Presents: ICFTW Vol6 Ep1, Straight Axle Phoenix Build (Bags A & B)

[@ardvark1835]

Hi from over the pond. I Thought all I needed is Speed. Until I came across you. Like myself Slow and controlled is now my speed limit . With a quick burst of speed to finish off .

[@Brian_Mowry__BMOW71]

Nice Doc! Great to see you picked up the straight axle Phoenix. Following along to watch the build!

[@JPWirt]

I like all the videos, but the ICFTW series are my favorites!

[@Oper8or]

As I eat my home made spicy chili at 11:47PM tonight, I ponder on you responding to one of my questions saying "there is a straight axle Phoenix kit you could use". Now you post teasing me. Purposely teasing my ability to make up my mind on building the Ground Fox Element or the portal build Phoenix and maybe another set of portal axles. Not upset, just a bit of RC envy. First world problems I guess.

[@CrawlerCanyon]

If there's anything that there's more room for in this world, it's rock crawlers. As I sat and thought that I bought my first crawler just over 18 months ago, and now have... 18 crawlers, that means one a month. I feel like in the long term this is not a sustainable model. 🤣

[@Oper8or]

@@CrawlerCanyon I am only limited by my wifes patience and the money she allows me to spend! I have enough room in my garage to house many, many more than the two I own but I am also reasonable. I would only use 3, maybe 4 at most (question mark to myself). I do enjoy your videos so much. It therapy for me, very similar to what I do when I hike and camp in the backcountry. I'm contemplating starting my videos back up, although not about RC's (they would be in there every now and then) but more about setting around the fire and just ranting about this and that as men tend to do when the grey out numbers the brown hair on the chest and face. Now to ponder the Phoenix build or the Element build. I need another bourbon.

[@theweldingone]

cuppa tea 👌🏼

[@smashtj666]

I'm sitting hear......about to smash the buy button as we speak....lol...

[@CrawlerCanyon]

Not knocking any other company's product-- I mean, a TRX-4 or a Gatekeeper go together perfectly well-- but the level of quality really steps up with the Phoenix, at least IMO. Everything goes together perfectly, especially when I put the correct parts in the correct places.

[@chriscord6524]

I’m so looking forward to your portal vs straight comp. I think you should mirror them. Same everything, only difference the portals. Then bash em

[@chriscord6524]

Damn I was hoping you were doing a comparison of the two.

[@CrawlerCanyon]

Oh, they'll get a head-to-head, even if they're not spot on identical. If nothing else, it will be interesting to see how much impact the Phoenix shell actually has.

[@Shakermt]

RPP hobbies has the clear element ecto body in stock also the element knightrunner

[@TheRokenya]

I just watched the vid, and I didn't see you grease the pinion and ring gear for the back axle? You installed the pinion and then installed the third member straight away? Hope I'm wrong... Anyhoo, Great build, and I'm looking forward to more of the series!

[@CrawlerCanyon]

I'm 99% sure I greased it when I took it apart after putting it together incorrectly. But that 1% is FOR SURE going to have me pull the third member to make 100% sure. Better to catch it now than when it's bolted to the rig. If you caught it and I didn't, good lookin' out. 👌

[@Esteb858]

At 27:28 in the video he is greasing the ring gear.

[@CrawlerCanyon]

@@Esteb858 virtual high five 🙌 as I was just getting ready to pull that axle apart.

[@TheRokenya]

@@CrawlerCanyon Am glad I'm wrong then. My mistake... I only watched from where you put the pinion in forward, and i didn't see the grease move.... I should have re-watched from earlier! Glad Steven's more alert then me!👍

[@Esteb858]

Curious as to why Vanquish excluded the brass tubes that went inside the axle housings on the portal version of the Phoenix.

[@CrawlerCanyon]

I’d have to double check, but it looks like the walls of the housing are thicker on the straights. I’ll have to put a caliper to it, but the hole looks like it’s only about 1mm bigger than the axle. Maybe they made the tubes redundant?

[@TheRCBuildersPost]

Am I missing out not getting this kit or the RTR? I like simple and not into switchable this, 2 speed that but I feel like I really need to give this a shot

[@CrawlerCanyon]

The Phoenix is REALLY good. I'm actually also surprised that they haven't made a VFD version without the selectable overdrive, I think people would be all over that. The thing with the Phoenix is that it's significantly cheaper to buy than it is to build. If I were buying another today, it would be a portal-- the straight axle (and the RTR is straight axle only) isn't as pleasant to drive for me. The Portal Kit is the way to go, IMO.

[@TheRCBuildersPost]

@@CrawlerCanyon I've always been a straight axle man and have refused to own anything portal. But, I'm gonna take your word on it and I just ordered the portal kit lol. I trust your judgement

[@JPWirt]

My body suggestion...TRA8112...only because I like the way it looks on straight axle rigs.

[@CrawlerCanyon]

How have I never seen the Sport w/ camper body before? Where has Traxxas been hiding this?

[@JPWirt]

@@CrawlerCanyon, not 100% positive but I think it might have only come in a builders kit. I don't remember ever seeing it on an RTR. The first time I ever saw it was when Matt from Scale Builder's Guild did one on an SSD straight axle converted TRX4 build series. I'd link the episode for you, but YT hates when I link stuff.

[@CrawlerCanyon]

I'll have to look for it. I'd like to see one painted.

[@JPWirt]

@@CrawlerCanyon he did his panel van or "Rally Raid" style which I really like the look of, but it also looks good with the windows in the camper shell. Back when you teased the Origin body I initially thought/hoped it was this one.

[@CrawlerCanyon]

Well, it's definitely the leader right now. Even with the "purchased separately" front and rear grilles/lights, it's still an "econo origin." I can talk myself into 65. That 110 price on the other hand... shudder.

[@brianmassey7563]

what about the Scalers or One Shot body from Gspeed? I hope you have the correct horns!

[@CrawlerCanyon]

I looked up the Scaler and One Shot-- the Scaler is definitely interesting, and (for me) it doesn't hurt that it's DeltaPlastik. I have a couple of their bodies on older builds. The One Shot though... have you ever seen something and thought, "I both love this and hate this at the same time?"

[@brianmassey7563]

@@CrawlerCanyon one shot makes me think tucked and gozer had a child.

[@thindigital]

Insta like! Here's a comment for the algorithm too.

[@brianargo1659]

The thing with the piano is it's a precise build. Where building a house isn't. The next step closes the gaps left from the last and so on untill u get to the paint

[@CrawlerCanyon]

My "problem" is I was a woodworker before I was a carpenter-- where in carpentry, 1/4" isn't even considered a gap, and I'm used to working in 64ths, or finer. My friends have long accused me of "woodworker-ing it" when I try to make a 4" part to fit in a 4" hole, and have to assemble everything with a mallet.

[@ericstratten6974]

G-Speed offers a Team C Samurai Pickup for 11.8” wheelbase, but it’s proportions are a LOT different than the Bushido

[@CrawlerCanyon]

YEah, I saw that one when I was checking out the other G-speed offerings. It's VERY loosely a Suzuki.

[@garyclark24]

I just finished my Phoenix last weekend, my only problems with the build was missing some screws here and there and four bearings were junk. I had screws to replace the missing ones and bought some fast Eddie bearings and all was well! I could be interested in the body, I did a crappy job painting my body and I’ve been going back and fourth on buying a new one.

[@CrawlerCanyon]

I've read where a couple of other folks have mentioned missing screws, I guess I've been lucky. I mean, not that missing screws would matter-- I have an unhealthy amount of fasteners. If you do indeed develop an interest to buy the Phoenix body, you can email me through doctorisotope.com or contact me through the crawlercanyon instagram. Price would be even better if I don't have to pay the criminals over at eBay.

[@EDChero]

@@CrawlerCanyon Hey there, I realize this is a bit like asking Picasso which brush he paints with, but could you tell me what camera you use? I noticed your smooth zooming action outside the other day and my interest in piqued.

[@CrawlerCanyon]

@@EDChero In the ultimate embrace of laziness/miserliness, I'm still using an iPhone. 98% of what you see on this channel comes from an iPhone 13 or an old iPhone 8+. Sometimes the outdoor shots come from the phone clamped into a DJI OSMO 6, which does have incredible zoom control. Every other time, it's the ol' two-finger move on the screen. Every time I start looking at "proper" camera gear... I buy another crawler. 🤣

[@SyntheticCompany]

@@CrawlerCanyon lol, I appreciate your cheapness, which has made Amazon more wealthy and me slightly more poor... but, I have fun! The iPhones do a damn good job, especially on an OSMO. I'm considering the Sony ZV-1 but I know that as soon as I pull the trigger, they will drop the a model so like you, I'm going to keep using my iPhone so I can keep buying more sets of Hustlers ;-)

[@auggysimcity]

@@CrawlerCanyon email sent!

[@after9527]

What tires are you planning for this build? Also I know you don't like proline but I don't fully know why? I get that their tires are a little more expensive, but you just dropped some serious money on more canyon trails. Surely there's room in the budget for a couple of sets of prolines. I only ask because I really like the way you do tires tests and I would like to see how prolines do vs jconcepts, deepwoods, etc. Is there some other reason you won't buy proline? Anyways I enjoy the vids, ty for making them.

[@CrawlerCanyon]

My lifetime Canyon Trail budget hasn't even hit 50 bucks yet-- 2 of the sets are OE from the two Defenders here, and the other two sets I bought from Jenny's for $19 a set. I've somehow managed to spend more on foams than I have on Canyon Trails. I'm had ProLine on the No-Buy List for over a decade. Overpriced and underdelivered. Their bodies are downright fragile, and they make their tires out of compounds so exotic that many of them dry-rot themselves to death in less than a year. PowerStrokes are the worst shocks I've ever had the misfortune of handling. So while it comes from a relatively small sample size, I've been burned by enough ProLine product to be pretty comfortable in never buying anything from them ever again. As I was pondering tires for this one, it clicked in my head that I have at least one set of everything made by Duratrax and JConcepts, so this build will get to sample everything, and I'll buy what suits him best. He's going to make his first trips to the rocks on the Landmines that were previously on the Tranquish, and if those work out, awesome. I would also like to try the new Vanquish Falken Wildpeaks, as well as the GMade MT04s... if the latter ever come back in stock. Still plenty of tires to test out there that aren't ProLine. Thankfully.

[@after9527]

Thanks for the explanation. Any chance we get a tire series for this truck? One day of duratrax, one day of jconcepts, and the winner from each square off in a finale.

[@tiborbeetles1882]

I just checked my oldest set of Prolines, some approx 4 year old Predator BFG M/Ts and they are cracked and splitting around the sidewall and wheel, so I think your experience is being replicated. I just hope G8 compound is tougher as loads of my tyres are Proline.

[@brianargo1659]

Good frame. Just needed a few clicks of zoom in on it. Because I'm sure most watch this from they're phone. And the closer the zoom the better

[@bmxdad75]

If you didn’t find where the 2 extra screws went…..they are for the steering stops of each hub.

[@CrawlerCanyon]

Then stay out they shall. I've (knock wood) been good with universals up to now, and rigs like Yella (with aftermarket knuckles) have no stops at all. Without EPA, he can throw to like 75º. Sure, he can't move or anything, but still.

[@FaithSaraG]

RC4WD has dropped the FJ55 body set down to $80.

[@CrawlerCanyon]

Dang ol' RC4WD has figured out how to make a Lexan body weigh a pound. I hadn't noticed that the thing is almost 21 inches long-- that's longer than a TRX-4 Defender. The overhangs don't look that long to me. 🤷‍♂️

[@vintagerc9173]

J Concepts PowerMaster body?

[@CrawlerCanyon]

Been considering that for the Tranquish’s second body. His Tucked is looking a bit knackered, and I was never super crazy about the paint job anyway.