B-MOW's GSPEED V3 VS4-10 Origin VFD Build

[TK421]

It’s a paltry few grams for a lot of peace of mind.

Lou

[B-MOW71]

Originally Posted by indybama

Brian, i just had a thought brother. I was lookin back thru this thread on how n which skid u used for the vfd. U mentioned u wanted to used the spur cover but it wouldve set the trans back to far. What about notchin the cover where the servo mount would hit? U would atleast b able to cover the spur n pinion. When i was settin up the links for my vs4 with the trx4 axles, i had to notch the cover n clearance the motor mount just a tiny bit to clear the upper link. But still managed to keep the cover.

I think if u took it back to where the face of the cover angles back to the sides, it would b enuf to clear your servo mount. Wouldnt have to take alot out of it, so itd still b in one piece. Hope i made since with this lol. It sounds right in my mind...

Hey bama, that makes perfect sense. Thanks for the tip!

I actually did think about doing this, but my overly cautious mind thought about what if a rock would get inside the cover and then act like a blender and either lock up or disintegrate the spur gear. I was trying to picture in my mind what the cover would look like and how I could cut it so that it would fit tight around the servo mount cross brace.

Well, now thanks to Lou, it is clear now how it would look...

Originally Posted by TK421

Something like this?



Lou

Looks great Lou! Thanks for sharing and being the guinea pig!

Did you also add a metal skid piece under your motor??

Originally Posted by indybama

Thats exactly what i was thinkin lou. That actually looks pretty good, bettdr than i had expected

Sure does look good and I'm definetly going to get my cover cutup and installed! I also thought about cutting off the motor skid plate off of the stock skid and try to attach it to the bottom of the motor, but wasn't sure how I would attach it in the rear. I still may look into that. With how low the motor and pinion sits in the chassis, I could just picture a rock scraping against the pinion and possibly damaging something.

Thanks again for the tip! Much appreciated!

[indybama]

Wat about a thin aluminum sheet from where the trans mounts to the skid all the way to the spur cover? Maybe a thin piece of delrin? Thatd give the protection youre lookin for, but let it slide better than the aluminum. May shim the trans up just a touch, but i wouldnt think itd be noticable

[B-MOW71]

Originally Posted by indybama

Wat about a thin aluminum sheet from where the trans mounts to the skid all the way to the spur cover? Maybe a thin piece of delrin? Thatd give the protection youre lookin for, but let it slide better than the aluminum. May shim the trans up just a touch, but i wouldnt think itd be noticable

Yeah, a thin piece of delrin may work and I do have some extra thin alum in my scrap bin. I could mount it under the trans on the skid using the trans mounts and use a thinner shim under the trans (to keep the same mounting height) and then use the mounting hole for the cover on the motor plate.

I'm gonna take a look at this tonight after work! Thanks man!

I'll try to get some pics posted if I have time to get it done tonight!

[CODYBOY]

Hey guys, I had a problem with that brace and spur gear clearance on my motor forward setup. After thinking through it I just remove that cross brace from the servo mount. Since the mount is bolted to the chassis right there I don't think the removal is going to create any problems.
Ernie

[indybama]

Very welcome brother! I searched delrin sheets, thinnest i could find was 1/16"

Never thought about that ernie. Not a bad idea there either

[B-MOW71]

Originally Posted by CODYBOY

Hey guys, I had a problem with that brace and spur gear clearance on my motor forward setup. After thinking through it I just remove that cross brace from the servo mount. Since the mount is bolted to the chassis right there I don't think the removal is going to create any problems.
Ernie

Originally Posted by indybama

Very welcome brother! I searched delrin sheets, thinnest i could find was 1/16"

Never thought about that ernie. Not a bad idea there either

Great idea Ernie! Thanks for the tip! Yeah, since the VFD trans front mounts are very close to the rear support of the servo mount, I don't see any problems either.


So here's what I came up with last night. I removed the rear cross brace on the servo mount so that the spur cover would clear. I didn't cut the brace flush because I wanted to leave a little extra thread in the servo mount to use longer screws to keep it more secure. Everything clears great and with the VFD front mounts tightened down, the chassis rails are very secure and should not affect the servo mount with the brace missing.






Started working on the motor skid plate. I used a scrap piece of 1/16" Kydex that I had saved from a previous build. It's super slick on the bottom side, so it should work out well if a rock does get high enough in the suspension that it should slide easily.

It is rough cut for now and will lay on the top side of the skid and be bolted in using the VFD trans mounts. My plan is to bend up the front edge to match the shape of the bottom of the spur gear cover and I'll use the mounting screw in the motor plate to secure it. I'll get all the edges cleaned up and get it mounted in tonight to see how it looks.

[indybama]

Thats lookin good brian! Good idea on leavin part of the servo mount. A lil rigidity goes a long way most times.

The way youre doin that kydex is how i was thinkin of in my mind. Comin along nicely brother!

[B-MOW71]

Originally Posted by indybama

Thats lookin good brian! Good idea on leavin part of the servo mount. A lil rigidity goes a long way most times.

The way youre doin that kydex is how i was thinkin of in my mind. Comin along nicely brother!

Hey thanks! Yeah, the servo mount is still good and strong. Looking back on my decision on which servo mount to use, I'm glad I went with the laydown servo mount. If I would have used the dual servo mount like I had originally planned, I wouldn't have had the room to cut off the rear brace.

Good call on the delrin recommendation! I see my mind reading skills are getting better!

[B-MOW71]

I got the kydex skid cleaned up and mounted last night. Super happy with how it all turned out! I cut the skid plate to fit in between the links and the driveshaft and used the VFD trans mounting to mount the kydex skid to the TGH chassis skid. I put a bend in the front of the kydex skid to match the curve of the spur gear cover and used the gear cover mounting hole to secure it in the front.










The next few pics show the skid with the suspension at full compression. The skid still tucks in nicely right above the lower links. I was worried that the button head screw that I used to attach the skid to the gear cover may stick out to far, but it looks like it shouldn't cause to much of a problem.











Next step will be to get the winch line tubing routed and mounted. I did get a little more trimming done on the body. I'll post pics of it later.

[twade984]

That turned out real nice! This whole truck is looking pretty dialed.

[B-MOW71]

Originally Posted by twade984

That turned out real nice! This whole truck is looking pretty dialed.

Thanks twade!

Hopefully I can get this build buttoned up soon so I can see how dialed it is!

[B-MOW71]

So after I got the new skid squared away, I spent a few minutes on getting the Creep body trimmed up. I lowered it down about as low as I think I want it. I trimmed around the rear shock tower to get it to sit at this ride height.

With the current 350 hubs on the wheels, the tires ever so slightly rub the body when the suspension is cycled and the steering is turned. I may pickup a set of 475 hubs to try out and I'll probably cut the fender arches completely off.

Once I get the body set, I'll trim the sides of the body to sit right on top of the sliders. This body is a tiny bit narrower than the sliders, so instead of trimming the sliders, I'll just trim the body.

I picked up some paint at the LHS last week. I still need to come up with a paint scheme so I can get it taped up and painted.

[Juanito]

Looks great! I pulled the trigger on a V3 setup for the Element. I hope to post some pictures. Thanks to everyone for all the info!

[TK421]

I dig it. I also like what you did with the rear body mounts... I'm going to copy this too, lol. My Class 3 Gspeed has a similar issue with the rear end of the body. I just need it to sit about 1/4" lower than it does...

Lou

[Topher Builds]

Excellent work. Also a big fan of the rear body mount solution. I have a creep body on a Sherpa and have a workaround for the rear using the holes in the shock tower but I like this a lot more. Nice job and thanks for sharing.

[B-MOW71]

Originally Posted by Juanito

Looks great! I pulled the trigger on a V3 setup for the Element. I hope to post some pictures. Thanks to everyone for all the info!

Hey thanks! Congrats on the V3! That will make for a sweet rig! Can't wait to see it!

I've been thinking about picking up an Enduro Builders Kit and throwing it in my spare set of V3 G10 chassis rails.

Originally Posted by TK421

I dig it. I also like what you did with the rear body mounts... I'm going to copy this too, lol. My Class 3 Gspeed has a similar issue with the rear end of the body. I just need it to sit about 1/4" lower than it does...

Lou

Thanks Lou! Copy away! The nice thing about having the body mounts there is that it allows to lower the body all the way down to the chassis if needed. Also keeps the rear end of the body more stable.

I'm really digging your new C3 build! Love the looks of the red trans with the CF rails! Your twisting my arm to tear down my Capra and steal the axles out of it!

Originally Posted by Topher Builds

Excellent work. Also a big fan of the rear body mount solution. I have a creep body on a Sherpa and have a workaround for the rear using the holes in the shock tower but I like this a lot more. Nice job and thanks for sharing.

Thanks TB! I did have the mounts bolted to the shock towers at first, but that made it difficult to lower the body over the towers. Mounts bolted to the rails was an easy fix and will secure the body better!

I gotta say, these GSpeed body post mounts are great! So many ways to use these and I like that they have 2 mounting screws on them. I tried to use the KNK mounts in the past, but with only having 1 mounting screw, I couldn't keep them from twisting and moving around.

Quick question, have you had a chance to try out your new NSDRC servos? I have an RS800 V2 in my cart and haven't pulled the trigger yet. I'm struggling to choose between this or the 3Bros G14!

[TK421]

This is how mine ended up...



Lou

[B-MOW71]

Originally Posted by TK421

This is how mine ended up...

Lou

Looks great! Should work out well in that position!

[B-MOW71]

Finally found some time and ok weather to get the Creep body painted. I decided to cut the fenders off to get it to sit a little lower. I had too much tire rub with the fenders on and didn't have a spare set of 475 hubs to try out.

I wanted to use my Pure Orange and Bright Gun Metal color scheme, but wanted to add something extra too it. So I decided to paint it similar to my TLR 22 5.0 paint scheme.

I used Tamiya Paints:

- PS-59 Dark Metallic Blue
- PS-28 Fluorescent Green
- PS-62 Pure Orange
- PS-63 Bright Gun Metal
- PS-5 Black
- PS-55 Flat Clear


I tried to take a page out of Hemistorms playbook and try the lace trick to add some detail in the Bright Gun Metal area. I couldn't find the lace material he used, so I found a fishing net at Walmart and gave it a shoot.

To get the mesh look, I laid down the netting and sprayed the Bright Gun Metal, then removed the netting and sprayed the area with black. It wasn't really what I had pictured in my mind it would look like, but I think it will do. Kinda looks like snake skin!

Once I had the inside painted, I cut the film around the front window, grill area, fake rollbar/body stiffener and bed area and painted it black and topped it with a flat clear.




















Here's the piece of netting that I used.