Looking for a B5-based short course truck?

0 Nov. 19, 2014, 7:54 a.m.

11/19/2014
By Aaron Waldron

LiveRC.com

Despite having been on the market for over nine months now, the B5 and B5M twins have yet to spawn either a stadium truck or short course spin-off. It's not much of a surprise, really - given the lack of popularity of both truck classes over the last couple of years and the fact that neither is really a big deal outside of the U.S., whereas 2WD and 4WD buggy are strong around the world, there's not much of a rush to come out with something new when the SC10 and Centro-converted CT4.2 are both good enough to continue getting the job done at most big races and local tracks alike. Couple that with the fact that Team Associated's engineers produced an update to the B44 platform (that I drove before anyone else!) and are still wrapping up the Worlds podium-finishing successor to the RC8 buggy, they've had their hands full.

As we saw with fans of other brands after the launch of the Traxxas Slash, however, a lack of a factory-made kit won't stop racers from taking their curiosity about new vehicles into their own hands. On the popularly private group "B5 Nation," Facebook user Alan Hall posted these photos of a hand-built project truck combining the B5 platform with the suspension of the SC10.2 to create what may not be all that far off of what Area 51 engineers would create anyway. Alan cut two B5 chassis and fastened the halves together to lengthen the wheelbase to short course specs, using rubber-toughened CA glue and scraps cut from an old chassis to form a stiff joint between the pieces.

The "SC5" has B5 hubs on the front and rear, though it uses the arms, shocks, and towers from the SC10.2. As Hall pointed out, much of the B4.2's suspension geometry carried over to the B5 and the platform was simply refined for a better layout that was easier to assemble and maintain. Hall's truck is long enough to be able to run a full-length stick pack, which is not possible on the B5 buggy. The Baton Rouge, LA native chose to make his truck from the rear-motor car because that's what is most popular in his area.

What a cool idea!