Crawler Canyon Presents: New Leafy Goodness (RC4WD TF2 Marlin Crawler Edition)

Another attempt at crowdsourcing. Left to my own devices, I'll just spray paint it black and be done with it.
IG: crawlercanyon

[@radioactivescalerc]

No life like the Leaf Life, RC4WD leafers just make RC driving fun & challenging

[@ethanbob946]

First I have watched for years love the videos. I got the rust bucket edition k5, that came with the interior and lift. I had one full size built like an old school monster truck. I went with the scale R4 transmission to move the motor to the center, and the servo flips radiator like, and bought a motor sleeve off of eBay. I got tired of stripping drive shafts and switched to metal, but I haven't stripped a diff yet, so good luck. I can't wait to see what you choose to leave stock and choose in the aftermarket and left over bins.

[@auggysimcity]

loving the color as is!

[@Fantaman900]

Run it at least once straight out the box, than tear it apart and make changes. Rolling stones - Paint it black came to mind and I like the idea of airbrushing something more interesting than a single color.

[@durden.tyler537]

Aside from Loctite, moving the medium length spring to the top of the spring pack will soften the suspension whilst reducing axle wrap. If I recall, the shocks have a needless internal spring as well. Above all, do run it as-is and follow the 1-mod-at-a-time premise, Doc, develop an appreciation for retro RC and scalers.

[@brianmassey7563]

I concur!

[@brianargo1659]

U said it. Dive in!! Take all but 1 leaf out. Drop it down as far as u can, Change the electrics, 2-tone plat black and gun metal.

[@njohnsonII]

Drive it as is for 2 minutes: Part of the fun is watching how the adjustments change the performance.

[@mickd8188]

I'm fine with you just doing what needs doing, what is needed to get it right, springs, drive shafts etc.. I will buy the marlin as my 1st leafer.. maybe a brxo2 if my budget allowed. Cheers mate 👍

[@SivartCustomRCs]

I believe removing a leaf helps in flex. There are other channels that have built this truck well. I could see a metallic blue on it.which would be better for pics/vids than a dark color. I plan on getting a WPL C24-1 which is a smaller yota crawler and doing a sand or dark green color with the forestry livery on it.

[@fromfin90]

i quite enjoy the fact you have a combination of leaf sprung cars and LCG really low things

[@BrandonM83]

Ohhhhh lettttts goooooo. The marlin story 👌👌😎😎😎😎

[@tylerbrown6215]

run it as is first. you need a base line to start from

[@mitsuman5555]

I haven't been badgering but I did mention this once awhile ago. So that's at least two of us that are pleased by this bit of news.

[@durden.tyler537]

Oh, this is going to be an enthralling detour to the direction Crawler Canyon has been going!

[@wayneharvey6568]

Remove the small leaf all for corners and remove a the springs from inside the shocks lock tight the spur gear bolts and check every screw on the truck

[@Andy_Yates]

Definitely see how it drives out of the box. Without that big ol' winch bumper that we use on our full size Toyota's, the approach angle can be pretty good. Pretty sure there's several people selling low profile bumpers if you don't want to make up your own. Painting that ABS... make sure give it a good scuff and clean it thoroughly. It's slippery-er than it might seem. I bought some pro grade stuff at the auto paint store (told them I was painting ABS/plastic) after my first attempt just wiped off when I tried to wet sand. I was also using Vallejo Acrylic, which is great and has been very durable since getting it done. I think a lacquer will make it easier. I painted the vintage looking hockey stick stripes on the door like the old SR5's had and I don't think I'll try stripes like that again 😂. I painted mine green over a gray primer, topped with a pearl white and covered with a hard gloss clear. It came out like a pearl green because the pearl white is pretty transparent. I am still tempted to buy this Marlin because my axle-swapped Toyota has some Marlin suspension parts on it 👍

[@nathanwirth9906]

I can’t wait to see this! I’ve been thinking about a leaf sprung truck myself. Definitely drive it first!!! And gun metal sounds good

[@westdesertwheeler2666]

Many mods necessary, but, set steering end points where the shafts don’t bind and give it a drive. You need a baseline. Don’t expect greatness and this thing will surprise you with how good it can be. The stock tires were great on mine on sandstone

[@nrvous309]

I would definitely take two of the leaf springs off each corner, and as far as the paint I'd do a patina

[@fatboytaylor7225]

Pin stripe something on it. The tires look great. I'm happy fir ya to have something that's foreign to ya.

[@wayneharvey6568]

Check out a&m garage for the upgrade parts and the bowhouse rear leaf spring hanger

[@jayleeson8517]

Retro paint black with ghosted gun metal flames

[@FYRC15]

Yes run as is then progress.

[@FaithSaraG]

Replace those body screws with grub screws, then your can just flex the body a little to take it on and off. The suspension tune-up is to take the springs out of the shocks and throw them away, then fill the shocks with a light diff oil. After that, pull the leafs off and do the Chino mod (tapering the eyes for more articulation). When you put the springs back on, use only the longest helper in the front. Out back, use the two longest helpers but cut the back portion of them off. This helps prevent spring wrap. I haven't had trouble with the driveshafts. I did have to replace the front one because it was too short after doing the shackle reverse.

[@CrawlerCanyon]

[@NFEzantiszar]

By chance do you remember what size the driveshaft you went with was ?

[@FaithSaraG]

@@NFEzantiszar I'm sorry, I don't. It's shorter than 110 mm, because I cut a 110-130mm shaft down a little to fit.

[@areadierc2803]

I Removed internal springs from shocks, 1 leaf removed all round

[@SalSpaceKhan]

Plymouth Prowler COPPER

[@Brian_Mowry__BMOW71]

Congrats on the new leafy Marlin! For the must-do's, you can check out my Marlin build thread on RCC to see what I discovered and fixed on mine! Can't wait to see the running footage of your new red Marlin!!

[@borneorcfilm]

geat 🙏🏻👍👍

[@Memeteam903]

Run it stock to get a base line. I am thinking Beige with a yellow and white stripe down the side.... Think 80s.

[@eeatsvaz]

drive!

[@patrickzink2191]

Take one leaf out on all 4 corners

[@CrossthreadRC]

Thread lock all the screws in the front of the truck or they will fall out on the first run. I’ve had 2 of these and it’s happened to both of them.

[@CrawlerCanyon]

I'm not real confident in the feel of any of the included hardware, to be honest. It's definitely not graded-- my MIP tips, which fit tight in other screws, almost flop around in the RC4WD hardware. As I'm going to have the whole thing apart to threadlock it, it's becoming increasingly likely I'm just going to replace every nut and bolt while I'm at it. I've read where people have mentioned something along the lines of "imperial drivers seem to fit better."😬 So much for tolerances.

[@andrewjahnke1071]

Drive as is and then paint it orange!

[@CrawlerCanyon]

The color is still very much up in the air, but I will say that orange isn't near the top-- just two builds ago was orange. Also, damn 1.7" beadlocks with red rings, I have to take that into consideration as well.

[@FYRC15]

Then use one weakest spring

[@chriscord6524]

Algorithm

[@philipjacobs5866]

Run it first and than make changes