Zil 130 Thing

[Tommy R]

New rear wheels showed up today. Turned out they're machined aluminum, as opposed to the stamped steel wheels that came with the kit. The long hub is also integrated so it's good I don't need to use these up front.




This is now how the rear looks. The 8 bolts in the center hold a cover over a conventional nylock underneath. I plan to replace all the hardware with scale hardware from Locked Up RC.


The front uses the old rear hex hub to attach to the TLT axle. A conventional nylock nut is recessed in there. On the ground is the hub/nut that came for the original bearing hubs.


Now the original hub/nut is purely for decoration. I really like how far the hub sticks out. Makes it look much more authentic to a driven front axle...especially one from ages ago.


The front mounted up and centered perfectly!


I'm loving the way this thing is looking! The front wheel/tire/hub combo just look spot on. I even love how the tire is clearly a bit too wide for the older, narrow wheel!

[Tommy R]

I found a problem with the rear suspension tonight. You see, the primary leaf spring pack is relatively soft, but once the overload springs make contact with the perches on the frame the suspension stiffens to the point where it doesn't feel like it moves at all. And even at ride height the overload spring is just starting to make contact.


After some experimentation, I found out the issue is actually at the rear shackle. As the suspension compresses and the shackle swings rearward, the shackle was making contact with the mount on the chassis. It just so happens to make contact at the same time the overload springs touch their perches. So that was merely coincidental.

It may be tough to tell, but I clearanced the shackle, but in order to remove the interference I had to remove one of the chassis mount's holes. 3 should be fine....I hope! LOL


Now the rear suspension has full movement and it'll compress until the overload springs invert and make contact with the main leaf pack. Another option would've been to move the rear shackle mount rearward a bit.