The hull is cast in a fairly low grade aluminium, and is very solid. It comes with mount holes for DKLMs own gearboxes, or for H/L type gearboxes. I used the 3.1 steel gearboxes and JP400 motors from the original hull I had. These fitted nicely and all mounting holes lined up. There is also a plastic cover for the majority of the hull which covers the torsion bars.
Here is a pic of the basic hull fitted out with an IBU2 Pro, amp, viper volume control Tarr 1 smoker, LiPo battery, and speaker
The rear plate is a separate casting again in aluminium. It has holes for LED rear lights the same as H/L, exhaust ports for the smoker, and on off switch which could also be set up for charging if you wish, and a H/L 9 pin connector I assume to plug a charger into. All fits together nicely. Fit to the upper hull is the same as H/L except only 4 screws are used.
The on off switch and H/L 9 pin connector are behind the 2 boxes one either side of the tow hook. These are spring loaded and fold down to access the switches. The mud flaps on the rear panel are hinged. I added the AFC working tow hook which is very nice.
The torsion bar suspension is very simple, but effective.
I paid extra to have the hull painted. this is done very well, with colours matching the H/L ones, and also matching up the camo pattern. I think this was $8 extra. this can be seen on the bottom of the hull.
The fit to the H/l upper is very good
The wheels did not come painted, and are actually H/L metal wheels with roller bearings. I fitted the wheels I already had painted as these are the same wheels.
The tank seems to sit better on the new suspension. All runs well now it is set up.
This is in my opinion a very good upgrade hull for the H/L leopard, however it is pricey. It corrects a lot of the difficulties with the h?l hull, especially the excessive flex, and spring suspension.
I will be progressing on with this build. Next up I have a set of Tamiya turret baskets to replace the H/L ones.Statistics: Posted by scalawag — Wed Nov 18, 2015 12:37 am
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