JPH Traxxas 4x4 Slash

So, it started simply enough .... I had been at a Ground Pounder Club race all day and as I unloaded my truck that evening and my 3.5 year old, Oliver, asked if he could drive my Slash. I quickly set it to "Trainer" mode (an awesome feature that only Traxxas offers) and we sat down on the curb to run the truck in circles.

Not much gets by my 5.5 year old, Nathan, so when he noticed Oliver wheeling the Slash, he ran and got his Traxxas Stampede (yes, I'm a Traxxas fan) and asked if he could run with us. The three of us sat on the curb, running in Trainer mode for almost a half hour. A little bit of crashing, a little bit of bashing, some curb jumping, some curb smacking, and a whole lot of laughing and having fun ....

I was still thinking about our family r/c time, with a smile on my face, as I drove to work the next day. But, it brought to light the fact that I, the hobby shop guy, have not had an r/c car "just for the fun of it" in ages! I've been competitively racing r/c car for such for a looooong time now, but couldn't remember the last time I had something ready just for bashing around.

So, it started simply enough .... The need for something fun to enjoy with other hobbyists at local backyard tracks, parking lots, etc ... I quickly decided on a Traxxas 4x4 Slash (I did mention I'm a Traxxas fan, right?). I'd been admiring customers 4x4's for a while and decided this would be a great rig to just enjoy.

But (there's always a but), my workaholic side got the better of me very quickly and I decided this fun rig would also be a project to fix up a little and be the focus or a few articles for the JPH Website. Can't just have fun, there's got to be some work involved! This is the beginning of those articles.

The first day the upgrades were minor, but an important start. Open the box, remove truck, peel some stickers off the body and add some JPH stickers. Yes, that's upgrade #1 for almost every r/c product that I own! I took a couple pictures of how it came out of the box, then added the JPH Stickers. The next upgrade was to flat out the paint. It's a look I really like on Crawlers and Short Course trucks. Tamiya makes this a simple process with their #86055 PS-55 Flat Clear. Simply wipe down the body and spray a few light coats on the outside, right over the stickers and all. When it dries, it leaves a cool looking flat finish to the whole body.

I've got some choices to make concerning upgrades and changes to make to the Slash 4x4. For now, that's it for the first installment of this series of articles. Look for more coming real soon. Planned are body, shocks, sway-bars, tires, rims, motor and esc, gearing, maybe a few custom parts, set-up changes and more .... Stay tuned!

For a complete run down of what a Traxxas 4x4 Slash is, take a look at www.traxxas.com they have videos and pictures breaking down the whole truck on their site.

The photos below are just a few simple ones to show the truck as it came out of the box, the chassis with the body off, and the JPH stickers and flat finish (hard to tell it's flat in the photos).

Click here to purchase a 4x4 Slash!