Get Trail Ready for RC Crawling Season!
How To Prep Your TRX-4 for a New Season of Off-Road Adventure
Hats off to those of you who hit the trail all winter long and keep your TRX-4® action-ready year-round, but for many drivers, the cold weather brought a break in outdoor driving. Now’s that spring is here, it's time to get your TRX-4 into tip-top shape for a new season of off-road adventure. One bench session is all you need to get your truck back into peak condition and restore full fun and functionality to your TRX-4. Let’s get started.
Clean & Inspect
Remove your truck’s body and wheels and give it a good cleaning. If you were good about keeping up with maintenance, this can be as simple as a dust-off and wipe-down with a brush.
If you were bad and let mud and dirt cake on there, you can bring water or gentle cleaners into the mix. It’s okay to soak the truck with a hose or spray bottle as long as you don’t blast it with pressure. Allow the water to soften up the stuck-on dirt and debris, then rinse.
Hit any nooks and crannies that are still holding dirt with a brush, rinse, and repeat until your machine is clean. Towel the chassis off as you give it a once-over for anything that looks like it needs attention.
Be on the lookout for:
- Excessively worn or bent suspension links and/or damaged rod ends
- Excessive wear on the axle housings, center skid plate, center driveshafts, bumpers, and floor pans
- Loose or missing fasteners
- Kinked, damaged, or disconnected T-Lock cables
- Damaged wires
If you discover anything that needs replacing, consult the exploded views included with your model to locate part numbers. You can also look them up online. Locate your truck in the Model Showroom, click over to its page, then click the Support tab. You can view and download the manual, parts list, and exploded views from there.
Receiver Box Inspection & Refresh
Remove the receiver box cover and wire cover. Confirm everything is clean and dry inside the receiver box. If you find dust or signs of moisture, check the O-ring seal for damage. Also check the rubber plug for good condition and tight fit, and inspect the foam wire seals. If there’s any doubt about any of the parts being up to spec, refresh the receiver box with the 8225 seal kit.
Remove the receiver box cover and wire cover. Confirm everything is clean and dry inside the receiver box. If you find dust or signs of moisture, check the O-ring seal for damage. Also check the rubber plug for good condition and tight fit, and inspect the foam wire seals. If there’s any doubt about any of the parts being up to spec, refresh the receiver box with the 8225 seal kit.
Portal Gears Refresh
Next, we move onto axles. Starting with any corner of the truck, remove the drive hub and outer portal cover to access the portal gears. Degrease and inspect the gears for damage and wear, particularly the top (input) gear. Worn gear teeth will take on a sharkfin shape and have sharper tips compared to the flat sides and rounded tips of new gear teeth. If a gear needs replacement and you’ve got a lot of time on your TRX-4, go ahead and replace both portal gears rather than mixing old and new gears, which may mesh imperfectly and wear prematurely.
Check the bearings for corrosion, spin them by hand to feel for smooth action, and replace any that aren’t up to snuff. Install the gears with a liberal coating of Premium High Performance grease. Or, if your TRX-4 sees a lot of wet-conditions use, lube the gears with Marine Grease. It resists displacement and breakdown by water but is tackier than High Performance grease. Repeat for the other portal assemblies.
T-Lock Test
Just as we did with the portals, we’re next going to remove the differential covers to inspect the ring and pinion gears with an eye for broken or excessively worn teeth. While the axle is open, power up the truck and cycle the T-Lock mechanism so you can confirm it’s working properly and check for wear.
Make sure the shift fork fits securely in the axle housing, and the detents in the diff carrier are rounded over from wear. Inspect the bearings for corrosion and smooth action, degrease and re-lube the gears with the same grease you chose for the portals, then button everything back up.
Upgrades to Consider:
If it’s time for new ring and pinion gears, the optional machined-steel gears are a great choice for increased strength and durability. You can duplicate your truck’s standard gearing with the 8279R set, or try an “overdrive” setup by installing the 8287 or 8288 gear to the axle’s ratio. Check out Get a Crawling Edge with Overdrive for details. And if you have a TRX-4 Sport and would like it to have T-Lock capability, everything you need to equip both axles is in the 8195 kit, including the servos. Note, you’ll need the 4-channel TQi transmitter to operate the diffs, and you can trade in your TQ for a discount on the TQi with the Power-Up Program.
If it’s time for new ring and pinion gears, the optional machined-steel gears are a great choice for increased strength and durability. You can duplicate your truck’s standard gearing with the 8279R set, or try an “overdrive” setup by installing the 8287 or 8288 gear to the axle’s ratio. Check out Get a Crawling Edge with Overdrive for details. And if you have a TRX-4 Sport and would like it to have T-Lock capability, everything you need to equip both axles is in the 8195 kit, including the servos. Note, you’ll need the 4-channel TQi transmitter to operate the diffs, and you can trade in your TQ for a discount on the TQi with the Power-Up Program.
Standard Gearing
Overdrive Gearing
Underdrive Gearing
Transmission Checkup
Disengage the center driveshafts, remove the transmission’s gear cover and lift out the motor so you can spin the spur gear by hand and confirm the transmission turns smoothly (check it in both high and low gear if your truck is equipped with the 2-speed gearbox). You’ll probably find it spins like new, because the TRX-4 transmission is virtually no maintenance under normal use—which means any type of use other than running it under water.
If you like to operate your TRX-4 in submarine mode, now’s the time to open up the transmission to make sure you don’t have any corrosion or wear issues with the gears, shafts, or bearings. If you’ve got the high-low gearbox, also check the shift fork and shift dog for wear at the engagement points. While the motor is out, give it a shot of aerosol motor cleaner and lubricate its bushings with a lightweight oil.
While you have the gearbox and transfer case open it's a good idea to clean off the gears and add a fresh coating of High Performance Grease.
Upgrades to Consider:
If you’ve got a TRX-4 Sport and would like to get High-Low capability, install the 8196 2-Speed Conversion Kit. Or, if you have a 2-speed TRX-4 and prefer a single-speed comp setup, the 8296
If you’ve got a TRX-4 Sport and would like to get High-Low capability, install the 8196 2-Speed Conversion Kit. Or, if you have a 2-speed TRX-4 and prefer a single-speed comp setup, the 8296
Shocks & Suspension
Examine the shocks to confirm the shafts are unbent, no lower spring retainers are missing, and the bodies are holding oil. To test each shock’s action, remove the screws that attach it to the tower and axles.
Removing the shock from the tower makes it easier to feel the smoothness of the shock action.
If the damping goes flat before the shock is fully compressed, add a few drops of oil to top off the shock and repeat the test. Watch the shock body’s upper and lower caps for oil weeping past them.
If you see any leakage, install new seals using the 8262 GTS Shock Rebuild Kit. If there’s no leakage, empty and refill the shocks if they’re ready for fresh oil. Better yet, treat all four shocks to fresh seals and oil whether they need it or not, so you’ll be good all season.
Upgrades to Consider:
For the ultimate is smooth damping action, outfit your shocks with friction-fighting 8263T titanium-nitride coated shafts, 8266X PTFE-coated shock bodies, and 8274 PTFE-coated aluminum pivot balls. Or, save your stock shocks as spares and swap them for 8260X premium GTS shocks. These shocks are built up with the PTFE-coated bodies and TiN shafts—just fill them with oil and transfer the stock springs to your new shocks. Or, experiment with springs that are stiffer or softer. Stiffness is indicated by rate number; the higher the number, the stiffer the spring.
For the ultimate is smooth damping action, outfit your shocks with friction-fighting 8263T titanium-nitride coated shafts, 8266X PTFE-coated shock bodies, and 8274 PTFE-coated aluminum pivot balls. Or, save your stock shocks as spares and swap them for 8260X premium GTS shocks. These shocks are built up with the PTFE-coated bodies and TiN shafts—just fill them with oil and transfer the stock springs to your new shocks. Or, experiment with springs that are stiffer or softer. Stiffness is indicated by rate number; the higher the number, the stiffer the spring.
Wheels & Tires
Give the tires a good squeeze and watch for water coming from the rim’s vent holes, indicting water trapped inside the foam inserts. It’s easy to remove and dry the inserts if you’ve got beadlock wheels, but glue-mounted tires are a challenge. Squeeze out as much liquid as you can, then park the tires in a sunny spot to dry for as much time as you can spare. If there are no water worries, give your tires a scrub-down with stiff brush and a natural degreaser such as Simple Green.
Check for any tears or glue gaps that need attention. Repair with TRX Ultra Premium tire glue as needed.
If it’s time for new tires and you haven’t upgraded to beadlock rims yet, you can get Canyon Trail tires on Method 105 beadlock wheels as fully-assembled pairs and save yourself some wrenching time. You can get them in standard 1.9″ size as well as 2.2″ for the K10 Cheyenne and lifted TRX-4s.
You can also get the rims and rings separately and create your own color combos. The rims come in charcoal grey and black chrome, and the rings are available in black, green, blue, red, and satin finishes. Bonus upgrade: swap the included black beadlock hardware for rust-resistant stainless steel screws.
Body Inspection & Repair
Clean the body with dish soap and water and inspect it for any damage that needs attention. If you discover cracks at the body post holes, reinforce the area around the holes by applying a layer of RTC adhesive (such as Goop or Shoe-Goo) around the hole and pressing fiberglass mesh tape into the adhesive. (You’ll find mesh tape in the drywall section at any home store.) When dry, trim out the mesh that’s covering the hole with a hobby knife. You can use this repair technique for any other cracks or splits you discover.
Is your TRX-4’s body thoroughly thrashed? Just look up your truck in the Model Showroom, click the Accessories tab, and select Bodies to see all the offerings. You can stick with the same style in both factory-finished and paint-it-yourself clear versions, or choose a completely new look for your machine. Go ahead and turn your Chevy into a Ford or vice-versa if you like, we won’t tell anyone.
There's a TRX-4 body to suit almost any taste.
Upgrades to Consider:
Have you added a Pro Scale Advanced Lighting Control System to your rig yet? It’s the ultimate in scale realism, completely customizable and upgradeable, and brings real after-dark capability to your trail-trucking adventures. Learn all about the possibilities for your TRX-4 with our Pro Scale Lighting Reference Guide.
Have you added a Pro Scale Advanced Lighting Control System to your rig yet? It’s the ultimate in scale realism, completely customizable and upgradeable, and brings real after-dark capability to your trail-trucking adventures. Learn all about the possibilities for your TRX-4 with our Pro Scale Lighting Reference Guide.
Pro Scale Light Kits add more scale detail and fun to your crawling adventures.
