Swinging 6T’s – X-Factory X-60 Truck

Hot on the heels of our review of the X Factory X-6 Squared follows the X-60 Truck conversion. Just like the other X Factory cars the X-60 (pronounced X Six-T) comes as a conversion kit which means you have to source a donor car before you can start to transform your boring rear motor truck into a fire breathing mid-motor race car.

The donor parts come from the Team Associated T4 truck and it is not important if you use the Race Spec RTR version, the normal T4 or the T4 Factory Team Kit for the conversion. We used an inbuilt T4 Factory Team as we like the threaded shock bodies and anodized turnbuckles that come with the FT.

Supplied with the X-60 conversion kits comes a comprehensive manual that leads through the complete build of the truck including all the needed steps to disassemble the donor T4. Since it is made in black & white and comes with comments from Chazz Sinclair it give the impression of the legendary 1990’s Team Associated manuals making you instantly feel at home in your new (X-Factory) family. A coloured PDF version of the manual is available at www.2wdrc.com in case you like the electronic version better.

Front
As we used a new kit we first had to mock-up the needed front end parts. We retained the Associated shocks as most of drivers do. Optionally you can use Losi XXX-T shocks if you like. The front end of the X-60 is similar to the X-6 Squared and offers a nose piece such as the original T4 chassis. Swapping the front end is a no brainer but make sure the upper steering plate sits correct on the location posts and is screwed down correctly. The steering servo can be located in a forward and rearward position to alter the overall weight distribution. We mounted it in the forward position to add some weight to the front of the truck.

Middle
The chassis itself is a longer version of the item that is found on the X-6 Squared and offers the aforementioned one-piece design for the front plate, reinforcement ribs under the motor and under the transmission as well as enclosed battery slots to prevent dirt from entering the part underneath the battery. Compared to the X-6 chassis it offers more space for the receiver/speedo and depending on the electronics used you can mount them both in the front (former) battery compartment. As we used a relatively long CS Electronic CS Rocket speedo we had to use one of the tiny Spektrum-RC SR3500 receivers to fit both into the compartment. In case you wish to use the older 2+4 NiMH Sub-C battery layout over the new LiPo stick batteries you can locate the electronics in the side pods but we recommend to use LiPo’s.

The battery pack is located by a nice carbon fibre piece with X Factory logo. The retaining method with screws and nuts is a much discussed one as some X-60 owners do not like the idea of a more or less permanently located battery. Depending on the national rules some have to charge the LiPo packs outside of the car in a suitable battery pouch. Because of this we changed the original nuts for some knurled ones from Team Associated as used on the B44 buggy for example. This allows for a much quicker battery change and also adds a technical touch.

For some reason our conversion kit contained two different screw types for the battery location. One of perfect length, the other one way too long. We simply cut the longer ones to size with a rotary tool. Strangely our X-6 Squared came with the correct screw types.