Kei Truck Traxxas Stampede mod

** Warning: This is a complex and heavy mod for your RC truck. The increased weight will increase the wear and risk of vehicle breakage.** Materials Used PETG - 2kg White (Cab, Bed, latches) - 1kg Black (Frame, Bumper, Tail light frames, Interior parts) - Clear (Headlamps, Interior lamp) - Transparent Red (Signal lights, Tail lights, B-Pillar lights) Electrics - ~2m Recycled solid core twisted pair (Ethernet Cable) - 8x 5mm 2.1v Red LEDs - 2 5mm 3.3v Bright white LEDs - 1 5mm 3.3v Warm white LED - 1 75ohm resistor - 1 100ohm resistor - 4 MTS-101 Panel Mount toggle switches - JST female to JR Servo Male adapter cable - JST Male end Hardware - Assorted M5, M4, and M3 bolt kit - Nylon lock nuts for M4, M3, and M5 - The bed latch is 3 60mm M4 bolts Build suggestions: I suggest slicing the cab parts into 3 pieces. I sliced the bed floor into quarters, and the walls into halfs. I suggest using PETG as your primary Material, and using Lightning infill setting for the cab. Build Journal I began the project by removing the body of the stampede, and making a 3D scan of the car. To generate the 3D scan, I used Polycam. I took a bunch of photos around the entirety of the car, and uploaded them into the app. The app provided an Obj that I was able to load into blender. I made direct measurements for key positions around the body of the truck. Specifically the size of the body towers, and other mounting points that I wanted to use. As well as the wheels, and to track the high and low points of the wheels. I did some research for existing 3D models of a kei truck, and found a great one on Printables by the user Stublag https://www.printables.com/model/468561 AbyssEyes split up the model into individual components, and added some accessories https://www.printables.com/model/471565-every-part-separated-in-the-suzuki-carry-kei-truck Charles Ahrens made a nice interior for the vehicle https://www.printables.com/model/481613-suzuki-carry-kei-truck-interior I imported these parts into blender, and scaled them up to match with the existing stampede frame. The end model is about 1/5th scale, at 57cm long. I then went to work. First thing I needed to do was to secure the new body to the existing stampede. So I built a basic frame that spanned from the rear pillars to the front pillars, with space for the cab to bolt onto. I needed to be sure that I can access the battery to easily swap things out. The suzuki carry has a dumping feature. That would be a cool addition, that can also give me access to the battery, without having to take the body off. I extended the frame back, and included a pivot point, and rounded the rear so the bed had clearance. I created a simple latch using long screws, and a few easy to print brackets plus a knob that I can use to operate the lift. The motor speed controller has a power switch, so I added a place to attach that to the frame. The traxxas reciever has an output of 5v, which I intend to use for LED lighting From one of the accessory boxes, I re-fashioned it into a place to attach a few switches. These will be for toggling the LED's. I cut holes into various parts of the frame, and cab to accommodate LED's and wiring. All the LED's are your classic 8mm thru hole. There are 4 in the back for the tail lights. I have space in the frame to help hold the wires up. I reshaped the headlights into a cone, I was hoping that the shape would allow me to make better use of a single ultrabright headlamp LED. As well as making printing and installing easy. Cut holes behind the front turn signals to fit LED's. I also cut a channel through the driver side B-Pillar to wire LED's behind the side lamps, and one as a cab light. I fashioned a few small pieces to cover the openings made for the wires. Because the bed panels on the real Suzuki carry fold down to allow the truck to operate as a flat bed, I added hinges. I also designed latches to keep the bed together. The two rear hinges allow the tailgate to fold down. The side ones allow the whole wall assembly to fold over. To finish off the build, I added a trailer hitch. I converted another old RC car into a "Toaster trailer", to be pulled along behind the truck. I started printing with the body mounts and frame. I'm using PETG for is durability, affordability, and ease of print. Started printing the front and rear, as I wanted to be sure those parts fit before I printed anything else. I had no issues, and was able to complete the frame. I then went up to the fenders and printed those. Then it was my first big piece, the cab. The cab is huge, and has to be split into 4 pieces. Left and right of the lower, and of the upper parts. I wasn't able to print the cab without supports, so to save on plastic I printed the passenger side with 10% lighting infil and 2 layer parameters. The cab is nice and light, but it was a bit harrowing removing the supports. I damaged the underside a bit, but this wasn't going to be visible. Because the drivers side had some channels for wires, I wanted to avoid more issues cleaning up the print. I used gyroid infil, and a soluable interface. The soluable interface was possible because I am using a MMU2 with my prusa. I don't believe the left side came out any better because of the soluable interface, as the print took 3 times as long and was plagued with print failues the whole time. The soluable filiment tears easily, so repeated short loading & unloading in the MMU2 caused frequent jams. I also used a lot more filiment, so this side was much heavier. I wish I just kept the same settings, as I also damaged the bottom trying to remove the supports. If I were to do this again, I would have split the bottom cab print into 3 parts. The right & left sides + the center. For the top, I cut that into half, with the pillars held up by supports. The inside ended up rough, and needs to be cleaned up with sanding. The wire inserts were simply all printed at once. Printing the truck bed, and walls was easy. I cut the bed into 4 sections, printing one at a time. Each wall was cut in half, and printed together. The bed was welded back together with a 3D print pen. The bed latches printed off easily. The walls and latches came together with some M3 screws. While playing with the latches, I broke off one from the attachment post, the post was pretty weak, so I went back with the 3D pen and added reinforcing plastic around each of the posts. They feel much more solid now. With the bed completed, most of the large parts are now done. I begun work on printing the lighting componets. I printed the tail lights, safety lights, and the turn signals in a transparent red filiment. I printed the headlights and the cab light in a transparent filiment. I also printed the switch attachment plate. I then started printing the exterior features. Starting with the trailer hitch, then the bull bar, and bumper. Then the roof rack. After these components, I started printing the interior components, the floor, the chairs, dashboard, center console, and steering wheel parts. With all the parts printed, and the major components welded together. I attached things together, so that I have a complete bed, frame, and most of the cab. From there, I begun the process of wiring the lights. I am attaching them to the traxxas with a small JST RCY 2-pin battery connector, the traxxas reciever has a 5v output available. I have 8 red LEDs, and 3 white LEDs. The cab LED is a warmer color than the headlights. Using a 175ohm resistor for the red LEDs, and a 100ohm resistor for the white leds. Using scrap ethernet cable for wiring. I finished the build by hot glue for most parts, and super glue for smaller parts like the name badge. The weight of the body was such that I decided to make additional suspension pieces. These are PETG parts intended to flex. I swapped the front M4 bolts with longer ones and nyloc nuts to hold down the new suspension piece. The back was made last minute, and was a pair of long rods that came off the old body attachment pegs. I zip tied the end of the rods to the rear lower control arms. I tested the performance of the truck at #Neotropolis3 where I entered it into the Smashbotz RC Car Race. I pre-ran the truck through the track, and it preformed pretty decently. Sand was a big issue, with 2WD it was difficult to get moving. Adding a bit of weight to the back did help a little. During the race however, I missed the angle up a large ramp. The truck fell off landing on the cab, smashing it to bits. I was able to complete the course anyway in second to last place, encountering every obstacle. Things I would change if/when I rebuild. - Print the cab and interior pieces lighter. I would use lightning infill instead of gyroid. - Redesign the rear suspension addition to not require zip ties. - I would redo the bed lift latch so I use less metal hardware.