Spotlight: Drag Slash Accessory Build: Part 1

Customizing the Drag Slash with the Latest Accessories

The best-selling Drag Slash is tearing up the no-prep drag-racing scene from coast to coast and thrilling sport drivers who choose Drag Slash for its breathtaking combo of big brushless power and strip-ready Chevy C10 style. You can set your Drag Slash apart from the gang with accessory parts in vivid colors that look amazing as they increase strength and durability. Follow along as we trick out our Drag Slash with Heavy Duty arms and machined aluminum components. We'll also improve suspension performance with aluminum Big Bore shocks; install Traxxas Link telemetry to record speed, RPM, and temperature data; and even add custom graphics that you can recreate yourself. Let’s get started.

Here's a sneak peak at our finished Drag Slash. Now let's see how to customize it yourself.


Parts List

Chassis 5832A Blue Low-CG chassis 9460X Black-chrome wheelie bar 9462 Gray aluminum side plates 9463 Gray aluminum wheelie bar axle Suspension & Steering 2660 Big Bore Shocks (x2) 3632A Blue aluminum caster blocks 3636T Orange aluminum steering blocks 3652T Orange aluminum axle carriers 3743T Orange aluminum bellcranks 2531T Orange HD front arms 2750T Orange HD rear arms 3640 Suspension pin set 3744 Servo saver	Body, Wheels & Tires 9411T White Chevrolet C10 body 9415 Drag Slash body accessories 9474 Weld wheels w/ Mickey Thompson narrow tires 9475 Weld wheels w/ Mickey Thompson drag slicks 5752 Red body clip retainers 5751 Blue body clip retainers 8269X Blue aluminum hubs Telemetry & Battery 6511 Traxxas Link wireless module 6553X Telemetry expander w/ GPS module 6521 Temp / voltage sensor 6520 RPM telemetry sensor 6535 Temp sensor mount 6537 RPM sensor wire retainer 6538 RPM telemetry magnet and holder 2842X Power Cell 2-cell 5000 mAh LiPo battery

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Chassis & Wheelie Bar Options

The Drag Slash is already equipped with the low-CG chassis that’s offered as an optional conversion kit for the standard “lifted chassis” Slash, so we’ve already got the best-performing setup. Strictly for style, we swapped the dark gray main chassis for the blue version. In the wheelie bar department, the options are a black-chrome bar (identical to the stocker accept for the black chrome finish), or a pair of anodized aluminum plates to replace the stock molded parts. We went with the aluminum plates for maximum rigidity.

Since the Drag Slash is already equipped with the LCG chassis, we don’t need the full 5830 conversion kit just to get the blue main chassis. If you’re converting a standard 2WD Slash for greater track performance, the kit is the way to go.

The LCG kit’s main chassis, lower chassis, and nerf bars are each available separately in black, blue, and gray to mix and match as you like.

The bright blue chassis gives our Drag Slash a big pop of color, and it’s only going to get more colorful from here.

The 9460X wheelie bar adds a black chrome finish to the sides of the ‘bar and includes all the parts and hardware required for installation on a Bandit, 2WD Rustler, or a 2WD Slash with the LCG chassis. You can also install the Drag Slash wheelie bar on the Slash 4X4 and Rustler 4X4—learn how here.

Another option for the wheelie bar: 2.5 mm aluminum side plates to replace the stock molded parts. We chose the charcoal gray finish, you can also get the plates in anodized orange, blue, green, red, and pink.

We also installed the optional machined aluminum axle in charcoal gray.

Here are the wheelie bar options installed: stock wheelie bar, black chrome, and the aluminum plate setup.

Suspension & Steering Upgrades

The Drag Slash’s stock servo-saver-equipped bellcranks protect the servo’s gears from impact damage. For maximum steering precision on the strip, we traded the servo-saver-equipped ‘cranks for rigid machined aluminum bellcranks. If we need a servo saver, it’s only a 5-minute, 2-screw job to install the 3744 servo-saver, which mounts directly to the servo in place of the rigid arm. The stock servo’s 125 oz-in of torque is plenty, but if you want more torque and metal gears you can choose the High Torque 330 (330 oz-in) or High Torque 400 (400 oz-in). In the suspension department, we reached for aluminum-body Big Bore shocks, Heavy Duty (HD) arms in orange, and aluminum hub carriers, caster blocks, and steering blocks. The Big Bore shocks’ PTFE-coated bores and scuff-resistant TiN shafts deliver the ultimate in smooth damping, and the combination of HD arms and aluminum upgrades boosts our Drag Slash’s durability rating to “bombproof.”

The optional aluminum bellcranks are a direct replacement for the servo-saver-equipped ‘cranks. Hardware with pre-applied threadlock is supplied to attach the steering links.

Like other Traxxas machine-aluminum parts, you can also get the bellcranks in red, blue, and green. Even pink, for some parts.

Here’s the completed setup with a sleeve of heat-shrink over the linkage for a blackout look. The orange bellcranks look great with the blue and black parts.

Big Bore aluminum-body shocks feature a hard-anodized finish, PTFE-coated bores, and titanium-nitride treated shafts for minimum friction, maximum life, and peak performance. An off-road Slash uses “long” front shocks and “XX-long” rear shocks, but the Drag Slash uses “longs” front and rear. Two pair of the “long” 2660 Big Bore shocks are what you need to fully outfit a Drag Slash.

Big Bore Shocks
Big Bore shocks use springs with a 14.2 mm inner diameter (left), while the Drag Slash’s Ultra Shocks use larger 15.5 mm diameter springs. Swapping the Ultra Shocks springs over to the Big Bores without modification will result in a loose spring fit, but we can easily adapt the shocks to properly accept the larger springs. The Ultra Shock’s lower spring retainers can be installed on the Big Bore shocks, so just swap them over. For proper spring fit on the upper retainer, just snip the Ultra Shock retainer and fit it over the Big Bore retainer. Now the Ultra Shock springs will fit perfectly. We also used the Ultra Shock’s composite caps on the Big Bore bodies (don't try this with the aluminum caps because the threads won't tighten properly). This eliminates the need for shock bushings and the pivot ball in the cap allows the more freedom of movement.

Ultra Shock springs are slightly larger than the Big Bore Shock springs.

Swap the Ultra Shock retainers over to the Big Bore shocks.

If you’ve already got a 5862 Big Bore shock set, you can adapt it for the Drag Slash by installing 15 mm of spacers under the rear shock’s pistons.

To space the rear shocks, you can cut segments of fuel tubing to 15 mm, or use the washers and shock bushings from the Big Bore parts tree. One washer, one bushing, and the tip of one bushing will give you 15 mm. Remember to install two bump stops on the front shocks and one on the rear.

Here’s the finished Big Bore installation.

The Heavy Duty arms are made of a high-strength composite formulation that’s extra resilient, especially in cold temperatures that can make traditional molded arms brittle. You can get the arms in orange, green, red, blue, and black.

We’re pairing the HD arms up with machined aluminum caster and steering blocks for the ultimate in front-end durability. This combo requires the 3640 suspension pin set, which includes the 2.5 mm pins that fit the caster blocks.

Here’s the completed front end. Orange and blue are a hot combo.

The rear suspension is also fortified with HD arms, plus machined aluminum axle carriers.

That wraps up Part 1 of our Drag Slash build. Check back for Part 2 where we'll tackle the wheels, electronics, and some custom body modifications.