after 2 years, i'm back

[rcmfmaxxman]

so do you remember two years ago at elk rock island/spring park a boy who came with his red 1/8th buggy bodied tlt based rig? it was said it was too skimpy but it did decent? and that was the only time it was ever came out? well i am back after 2 years and the truck is completely disassembled and being revamped and modernized. a good deal has happened in the rc rock crawling world in two years to cause for an update on the rig.
previously...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/RCMFMaxxMan/climbingsmall.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/RCMFMaxxMan/nakedsmall.jpg
the new chassis is much narrower (more than an inch) and simpler and the motor is a good deal closer to the center...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/RCMFMaxxMan/chassisstage2.jpg
i use my resources to the fullest... :)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/RCMFMaxxMan/recycling.jpg
If i can afford it i want to get some cvd's for better steering (which will be behind the axle i think) and get a dig set-up (is that now pretty standard?) then something drastic will be happening to the axles and something drastic with the suspension. its kind of still in the works though so i don't want to talk much. anyways comments? advice? all is welcome :)

glad to be back!

[bagged92sdime]

welcome back...:) looks like ya got a good start there....keep us informed on the progression of ur crawler...:)

[vinny]

[QUOTE=its kind of still in the works though so i don't want to talk much. anyways comments? advice? all is welcome :)

glad to be back![/QUOTE]


If you don't want to talk much about it how can we advise you?......:D

If you can, go to the next comp and see what the 2.2 guys are running. Several different rigs that are working really well to scope out. Might give you some ideas.

Welcome back!

Vinny

[War Pig]

Glad to see you back in the groove. I think you're first go round was before my time :) . Going to the next comp would be a good idea, and yes, dig is almost required for a competitive rig these days. Looking forward to seeing your ideas, and a new crawler build. Ask alot of questions, there are alot of great minds in this club. Tim.

[rcmfmaxxman]

yeah i've been browsing forums alotttt and have seen what the latest is. like droop suspension is popular, dig is common, but brushless outrunners and lipos... are those pretty mandatory to be competitive these days???

ok i'll spill some ideas...
1. so i'm making a tube chassis but i'm worried about weight because it seems alot heavier than just a regular chassis and throwing a lexan body on it. any comforting words on this? its all aluminum but still it seems heavy.

2. then the shocks will be droop but they will have a twist to them that i'm pretty sure should eliminate torque roll. but you'll just have to wait and see that ;)

3. Then i think i might be doing a panhard set-up. is there any advice on setting it up? (or is it as simple as setting up a traditional 4 link). and is there any down sides to it vs. a traditional 4 link set up?

4. Also i saw the tiny build on rcc that slinkysam did and i wanted to do the same thing he did with the rear axle how he offset the diff housing. but what should i do for driveshafts? his are just straight shafts and i asked him what they were but he did not respond. and i can't really make my own because i don't have the technology to make splines. what do i do??? i need one really long one and one really short one.

5. also i clocked the front steering c hubs to get a much better pinion angle. the question is since the pinion is angled up instead of parallel to the ground i now have the option to adjust caster without sacrificing precious clearance. i know caster is standard on rc cars that go fast. but for a rock crawler is it better to have zero degrees caster or maybe a few degress?

6. are cvd's worth $50??? seems steep to me.

7. tires... i notice mk2s are still very popular but is it the new m2 compound or still the m3 that people are using. then i also see the losi rock claws. are they as good as everyone says? moabs (which i have) seem like they never really got as popular as everyone thought. a great tire all the same though. so which one reigns supreme for 2.2's on oregon rocks? still the mk2?

8. what i asked about lipos and bl's above. standard?

9. lastly i was reading the 2.2 comp rules and it said an overall height of 3.75" for tube chassis'. that seems kind of tall to me. whats the word on this?

ok there you go. that should be a good basis for thought and advice giving :) thanks in advance

EDIT: war pig, i'm using your idea on dig. with the disk brake up in the chassis. i think its a much "safer" set up. but i think i'm going to have 3 positions. 4wd, 2wd, and 2wd with rear locked. is yours like that? i was thinking about it and thought just regular 2wd could be beneficial on those near vertical climbs where the rear tires rotating threaten to flip the truck backward.

[War Pig]

WOW, that's alot of questions. Alright, here it goes.

1. My chassis with body, weighs about 6 oz. There are alot of sweet tubers running around, and I don't think they are any heavier than other trucks.

2. I don't do droop, don't know much about it.

3. 4 link is easier to set up.

4. Don't know.

5. Don't think it matters a whole lot.

6. Yes.

7. Losi's kick a**.

8. Not standard, but nice. I believe that the 2.2 national champ runs a brushed motor. I could spend an hour talking about brushless and lipo if you want.

9. The rules are there for a reason :) .

As for my dig, I have mine set up with 4wd, dig w/ freewheel, & dig w/ lock. I have a multi position 3rd channel on my radio.

Hope this helps a little. Tim.:) :)

[rcmfmaxxman]

haha blame it on vinny. he wanted more info. but anyways thanks alot for your enlightenment :)

[rbgerrish]

Remember, technology is useful, but driving skill is most of it. Gatekeeper and Bender are great examples. Hell, Bender won 06 Nationals with a tamiya-plugged stick pack and lathe motor. Just set your truck up well and practice. The big-dollar crap isnt needed...

[I B RACIN]

I remember, I was there....

Welcome back.

IB..

[rcmfmaxxman]

I remember, I was there....

Welcome back.

IB..

i think i remember. were you the guy who had made the 4x4 pede crawler?

[rcmfmaxxman]

guess what...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/RCMFMaxxMan/hydro.jpg
(note: i'll get rid of those air bubbles later. i was just lazy)

[Bacon]

guess what...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/RCMFMaxxMan/hydro.jpg
(note: i'll get rid of those air bubbles later. i was just lazy)

Hydraulic steering?

[CerberusZJ33]

nice... crossflow hydraulics. kind of forced articulation? i cant wait to see this in action

BTW thats a lot of shock oil lol

[I B RACIN]

i think i remember. were you the guy who had made the 4x4 pede crawler?


Yeah that was me, it never worked to well but it was fun trying.


IB..

[rcmfmaxxman]

haha yeah it was really cool none the less though!

back on topic... ok i have ran across a problem. when i compress one of the hydro cylinders while the other is under load the oil is just forced out between the shaft and the o-ring instead of moving the piston :( is this just a bad shock or are these shocks just not capable of this task??? is there anyway to seal them better??? help please :confused:

[McBoob]

What if you were to limit it to just the top tube? As far as your problem, the only thing I can think to do is to rebuild the shocks. Also, this just came to me, when we did this in science, we used syringes that had no holes like the valves do, so everything worked. Maybe if you went to a valve that didnt have any holes in it, and then just the top tube your problem would be solved.

[rcmfmaxxman]

the chassis is about half done. how about that hood :) just take a wild guess where it came from :D here she is...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/RCMFMaxxMan/pose1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/RCMFMaxxMan/pose2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/RCMFMaxxMan/pose3.jpg

[Johnny_QuestOR]

looks pretty sweet!!

[bagged92sdime]

i like it...:) so is that hydraulic steering?? :) the hood is bitchin!!! :)

[rcmfmaxxman]

cerberus was right about the forced artic. it was going to be sweet but too much oil leaked from the bottom seals so i can't do it corner to corner how i wanted :mad: I'm not sure if those shocks just suck for this job or if they are just old. i would like to try some better shocks with maybe a double seal but i'm afraid to spend the money and drill holes in their sides just to find out they have the same issue. so i dunno. i might do it right front to right rear and left front to left rear with only the top chambers so the shocks compress and extend adversely but then if i don't use some chain or something to hold the axles in place i could end up with a rock crawling see-saw. so as of now i'm not sure what i'm going to do. i really do want to do something inovative for suspension. but i guess everyone would like to do something innovative. i just get so down when i have to do everything the same or similar to everyone else. anyways thats all gonna keep thinking but i'm booked the rest of the week with work, school, and homework. :( i'll keep the thoughts going though and hopefully next weekend i can make some break throughs on this thing.

[rcmfmaxxman]

i finished the rear axle a few days ago and finished the chassis last night. just needs some cleaning up and painting. its not perfectly straight but i think it turned out pretty cool. by the way "my camera got dropped so this is what you get" ...or something like that. mahahaha! :p
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/RCMFMaxxMan/tuberteasercolors.jpg

[Johnny_QuestOR]

HAHAH... looks, umm.. interesting.

[Mr. Burpsalot]

I still luv tie dye........ (cool frame)

[rcmfmaxxman]

almost completed!!! weeee :D
Well here is the update i promised! it is soooo close to being driveable. i'm not doing a dig setup right now. i have put soooo much work into this and i'm getting really antsy to drive it and dig would be another several hours of work that i don't feel like doing right at the moment. so on to pictures...

here is the chassis after many hours of cleaning and cutting screw heads off...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/RCMFMaxxMan/cleaned.jpg

And "primed" (white gloss is all i had but it works)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/RCMFMaxxMan/primed.jpg

and the rear off-set axle:
here are the internal parts in order (tlt diff, tlt shaft with flat spot, tlt cup, pede wheel axle with lip grinded down and flat spot) ...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/RCMFMaxxMan/axleparts.jpg

diff (i know its kind of strange but again "it works")
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/RCMFMaxxMan/diff-1.jpg

here is the diff mated with the passenger side wheel axle...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/RCMFMaxxMan/diffandoutputs.jpg

and everything in the housing...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/RCMFMaxxMan/axle-1.jpg

next i used some 1/4" SS tube to lengthen the driver side shaft. I just grinded some flat spots on the shaft, used a couple set screws and topped it with a pede wheel axle with the lip grinded down. Then i used a 5/16" (8mm) arrow shaft as the new axle housing which had a perfect inner diameter for the 1/4" shaft. Then i took some plastic from two mad force suspension arms, bolted them together and drilled a 5/16" hole ride in between them. then clamped the arrow shaft in between them and bolted them to the cut up diff housing. for a bearing carrier i jb-welded the chassis end of a mad force suspension arm (which has an 8mm inner diameter...perfect) onto the arrow shaft and used a 5x8 bearing. thats basically it. it ended up looking like this...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/RCMFMaxxMan/mockup8.jpg

now for the mock up :toocool: i'm excited! are you? i went for a two-tone color scheme (white and black as you can see) because i liked the white anddd i liked the black so i compromised! besides all the tubers i see are one color and i think thats kind of boring so i'm changing it up. also i made some rear fenders just because. no real reason. maybe looks? we'll see if i like them. i'm going to mount my shocks underneath them.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/RCMFMaxxMan/mockup1.jpg

notice the clocked axle (and i flipped the c's 180 degrees so the short side would be on bottom for better clearance, and i'll be using a coutersunk screw for better clearance also)...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/RCMFMaxxMan/mockup2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/RCMFMaxxMan/mockup3.jpg

money maker :lol: ...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/RCMFMaxxMan/mockup5.jpg

may end up running it lower than this. but we'll see. it will probably depend on wheelbase...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/RCMFMaxxMan/mockup4.jpg

improved the steering by cutting the drive cups. we'll see how it holds up...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/RCMFMaxxMan/mockup7.jpg

and lastly, just for fun :D ...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/RCMFMaxxMan/mockup6.jpg

comments and suggestions are welcome and appreciated. thanks!

[BigD]

Your offset diff looks kinda like a Ford IFS axle. Curious to see the durability. looks cool.

[War Pig]

Very interesting, looks good. Looks alot like SlinkySam's "Tiny" build on RCCrawler.

[rcmfmaxxman]

Very interesting, looks good. Looks alot like SlinkySam's "Tiny" build on RCCrawler.

yeah i got the idea for the axle from sam.


it feels pretty sturdy but i guess we'll see when it takes its first big tumble :o

[Toyofast]

If you really want to take advantage of that offset housing you'll need to make an offset housing for the front too. Then you only have one side to catch on rocks... now with a centered and offset diffs, you have two possible places for rocks to snag.

Very cool to see rigs being built outside the box.

[rcmfmaxxman]

If you really want to take advantage of that offset housing you'll need to make an offset housing for the front too. Then you only have one side to catch on rocks... now with a centered and offset diffs, you have two possible places for rocks to snag.

Very cool to see rigs being built outside the box.

thanks for that tip. i was going to do it for the front also but its a little harder because you have to incorporate axle c's and steering. i'm probably going to eventually go back to a centered axle though because i think i have a cool idea but it wont work on my offset axle. but in the meantime i'll be trying this guy out!

[bagged92sdime]

looks good...:)

[rcmfmaxxman]

here is a long needed update. i got the truck running for the december orcrc comp literally minutes before the 2.2 comp started. but unfortunately got a dnf due to my neglect of testing the thing first. here is what happened...
1st: major glitching problem accounting for many reverse points
2nd: battery pack kept falling out
3rd: for some reason i shimmed the rear diff away from the pinion (i'm dumb) so that started clicking at the first climb
4th: the front axle snapped on both sides where i jb welded it
5th: servo horn stripped (for some reason i thought futaba horns worked on hitec servos haha)

So it was a failure but i kept a good attitude and had fun anyways besides the fact that it was freezing cold

Last night i put some work into this thing to get it running. i got it all fixed up but the the front axle gave out again so i will be abandoning the "rotate and glue" idea and continue on to all custom axles. here is its state as of now:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/RCMFMaxxMan/top.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/RCMFMaxxMan/side.jpg

busted front end:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/RCMFMaxxMan/carnage.jpg

completed rear axle with truss to mount links:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/RCMFMaxxMan/rearaxle.jpg

since the chassis was too narrow to route a driveshaft straight into the chassis i had to do some creative routing to a carrier on the outside of the chassis and then to a driveshaft that takes it into the chassis to connect to the tranny:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/RCMFMaxxMan/reardrive-1.jpg

So tonight i'm going to try to throw together a custom front axle. probably just something temporary because i am eager to take this thing out for a successful maiden voyage. I also got a mamba max that will be installed very soon and i picked up a set of rock claws that were on sale at rc modeler northwest. yes i am a little embarrassed to shop there but hey they were 17.99! plus they had 8 pairs in stock. can't beat that.

[Toyofast]

Good work but why not just let the outputs of the transmission hang over the edge so the rear driveline would line up?

Also.... I know you have lots of work into that thing but per USRCCA rules, your "tube" chassis does not comply. Mostly due to have a TVP style chassis as the base. A lexan body that fits into the rules should be used at a comp if you decide to keep the current setup. That or build a full tube chassis that fits to the USRCCA rules.

[grover]

I looked through the thread and it appears that you have the mounting plates welded to the tube. If that is the case I would like to see the rule that says this is not legal(assuming it meets the dimensional requirements).

Chad (former USRCCA rep for WARCRC

[rcmfmaxxman]

Good work but why not just let the outputs of the transmission hang over the edge so the rear driveline would line up?

Also.... I know you have lots of work into that thing but per USRCCA rules, your "tube" chassis does not comply. Mostly due to have a TVP style chassis as the base. A lexan body that fits into the rules should be used at a comp if you decide to keep the current setup. That or build a full tube chassis that fits to the USRCCA rules.

yeah i'm pretty sure my chassis meets the specs ;) and i would have had the transmission hang over the edge but i realized that the driveshaft wasn't going to work after i had built the chassis and at this point it would take pretty much building a new chassis to accomplish that.

[rcmfmaxxman]

sorry i just realized the broken picture was the wrong one. now it is fixed :o