So the truck is now the closest it's ever been to finally being a runner! So OF COURSE I end up doing this:
Yeah, I'm a glutton for punishement. I decided to change two rather important things about the truck. First, I decided to change the drivetrain. A Lesu 3 speed trans will be here tomorrow and it's already set up for AWD. Second, I decided the stock frame rails made the truck look a little too stubby for my liking. So I picked up some Grand Hauler rails.
Here's the truck with the new (unpainted) rails installed. Ideally I may prefer it about one inch shorter overall, but I'm going to try it like this first. Maybe one day I'll shorten the wheelbase, but I think the longer setup fits the style of truck I'm wanting to emulate.
The Lesu gearbox has an even taller gearset than the stock Tamiya. That sucks! So to compensate I picked up a HH 80t motor and it's feeding a 3:1 gear reduction unit. I hope this new drivetrain holds up okay. I've heard bad things about some of the Lesu stuff.