Twade’s Terrible Financial Decisions

[twade984]

Originally Posted by Sniper4370

Lookin' good Tom.

Thanks!

Well for now the vrd is done. My initial reaction is that it sits a lot higher than I expected. Based on what I’ve heard the guys at brazin say the rails have a relatively low belly height compared to some others. But they also set it up with 90mm shocks, so maybe they opted for low belly height to keep motor/trans weight low, while using 90mm shocks for increased travel and maintaining some amount of belly clearance. This would also help keep bumpers and sliders from hanging up as much.

I will run it as is a few times before making any changes… if I even make any.

Wiring is less than clean, but this truck is about function, not looks. Also, I’ll be running some 650mah 4s packs to hopefully squeeze enough juice out of the shv500lp, and get some amount of wheel speed from the 1000kv revolver








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[twade984]

Had about an hour of bench time while my youngest was napping.

Got the dig installed in the Fordyce. Didn’t think about the servo hitting the body since the Fordyce cab doesn’t have the ugly bump out for it. Was able to space the mount forward and it clears just fine. I already drew up a simple flat style mount I’ll eventually have cut out of carbon fiber but this works for now.
















Just hot-doggin around the office I have high expectations on how this thing will perform.

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[Goro Majima]

Skimming through this thread bro, I mean, these aren't too terrible of financial decisions

[twade984]

Originally Posted by Goro Majima

Skimming through this thread bro, I mean, these aren't too terrible of financial decisions

Yeah… I’ve definitely made my share of stupid purchases. And even recently I sold a few things that I ended up having to buy off someone else just because I’m impulsive and don’t always plan ahead.

But for the last year or two I’ve done good with my buying and selling habits. Parting out rigs here and there can put a few bucks in your pocket, or at the very least let you keep some parts relatively cheap.

For reference I have about $695 in the Fordyce, $805 in the carbon, $440 in the origin, and most expensive ( and least modded) is the Capra 4ws at $1140.

Early in the hobby I would pay retail for a kit/rtr then sell it at a loss to get something new. Eventually I learned to wait for deals, or like I said, buy kits/rtr and part out what I didn’t want to keep


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[diezel666]

Hehe, eventually you end up with a spare parts bin with enough to build a new tinker toy crawler as well. Don't ask how I know this....

[B-MOW71]

Rigs looking good!

I like how the Carbon looks with the stubby VFD and the servo behind the axle. I may eventually do the same if or when the stubby kits are back in stock. I never had an outrunner motor, so that would give me a chance to try one out.

Nice thinking on the DIG servo on the Fordyce. It should be fine just the way it is now.

[twade984]

Originally Posted by B-MOW71

Rigs looking good!

I like how the Carbon looks with the stubby VFD and the servo behind the axle. I may eventually do the same if or when the stubby kits are back in stock. I never had an outrunner motor, so that would give me a chance to try one out.

Nice thinking on the DIG servo on the Fordyce. It should be fine just the way it is now.

Thanks buddy

I agree, the stubby/bta setup very interesting and I’m curious to see how it handles.

I haven’t run a stubby revolver myself, but so far it seems nice

I’m sure the stubby kits will be back any time now


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[twade984]

It’s been a slow couple months for RC projects around here. Until this weekend anyway.

Fordyce sits exactly as it did before, Sendcutsend was out of carbon so I couldn’t order my dig servo mount, but it did come back in stock so I’ll probably get that coming soon.

The origin also hasn’t changed any, but I did put a pack through it running around the back yard, and it drives real nice. The only change I want to make now is some stiffer springs. The soft VRD carbon springs are just a tad soft for it imo.

I ended up parting out my vrd build completely so I could invest that money into, uh… let’s say precious metals.

But my youngest boy is turning 2 this month, and recently has developed an obsession with my rc trucks. Almost every day he drags me to the work bench and yells at me until I take one down and let him work on it. He’s also done a little bit of driving with the origin and I think he’s hooked.

With that being said, I knew it was time for his own rig, and I debated many different options. Scx24, trx4m, UTB18, sender12, ascent18, etc. but it’s about to be primo driving season here and I figured he’d be bummed driving a small scale rig while his brother and I run 1/10 trucks. His brother has been driving an element gatekeeper for a few years and it’s been super solid.

Ultimately I found a deal on a brand new utron slider on eBay, paired that with my older boys original GK cage (front hinge mount broke during an ice storm last year… doing donuts in the street), spare Capra nittos, VP riot beadlocks, vp rtr radio, and a new fusion se 1200kv. The fusion is my favorite choice for beginners because you can turn the dual rate way down on the throttle, but with the rpm matching it will still climb over obstacles without stalling like a brushed motor. Makes it much easier to control top speed.















My goal was to spend as little as possible, but put something together that will last him until he either loses interest, or wants something better.

All I ended up doing was strip inner fenders, bumpers, rear bumper mount, and rear shock hoops. Then I designed and printed a new rear bumper/body mount, cut the stock sliders and battery try mount down, added some spare shock keys I had laying around to the rear (spaced out to clear the cage), and replace the front cage nose piece.

That’s it for now. Other than I will probably design some rear shock mounts and have them cut when I order my dig servo mount. I’m pretty stoked how it turned out and I’m pretty excited to try the new ifs setup out myself. It seems much improved over the v1 ifs


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[Speedy-Triple]

nice to hear you were able to drive and work on some RC ... I been able to put sometime revising old shelved minis and been enjoying them with my 2 boys as well, these two also like working on the cars and swapping tires from each other. The Gatekeeper looks really nice with the Utron Goodies, paint job looks proper and should be stout for a 2 year old, also capable as he will be able to go anywhere with the clearance of that body. Ifs for the win since he is going to be heavy on the trigger.

[hnoroian]

Originally Posted by twade984

But my youngest boy is turning 2 this month, and recently has developed an obsession with my rc trucks. Almost every day he drags me to the work bench and yells at me until I take one down and let him work on it. He’s also done a little bit of driving with the origin and I think he’s hooked.

Happy birthday to him! Don’t laugh but get him a redcat e10 and go one tooth smaller on the pinion, loosen the slipper a tad (for when he locks up the wheels) and add a servo with a servo reverser for 4ws. He couldn’t destroy it if he wanted to. Im sure you can build one from parts you have around too.

All your rigs always look pretty good and the entertainment value is never a terrible financial decision.

[twade984]

Originally Posted by hnoroian

Happy birthday to him! Don’t laugh but get him a redcat e10 and go one tooth smaller on the pinion, loosen the slipper a tad (for when he locks up the wheels) and add a servo with a servo reverser for 4ws. He couldn’t destroy it if he wanted to. Im sure you can build one from parts you have around too.



All your rigs always look pretty good and the entertainment value is never a terrible financial decision.

That and the danchee ridge rock both crossed my mind as options, but I’ve had such good luck with my older boys GK, plus having enough spare parts laying around kind of made that decision for me.

Originally Posted by Speedy-Triple

nice to hear you were able to drive and work on some RC ... I been able to put sometime revising old shelved minis and been enjoying them with my 2 boys as well, these two also like working on the cars and swapping tires from each other. The Gatekeeper looks really nice with the Utron Goodies, paint job looks proper and should be stout for a 2 year old, also capable as he will be able to go anywhere with the clearance of that body. Ifs for the win since he is going to be heavy on the trigger.

I agree the GK is a good choice for a beginner, if by some slim chance I end up a second utron chassis (you know, for science) I might slap an ecto body on it. Not exactly scale accurate, but I think it could look pretty cool.


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[smog]

good stuff! I really enjoy when I get my kids out on the crawlers. I was with my 17 year old this past weekend. We have a crawler course we carved out of a huge spread of broken concrete in the corner of a quarry. Its always a good time

I agree, best to give the little one a 1/10 and let him have at it.

[diezel666]

Originally Posted by twade984

Ultimately I found a deal on a brand new utron slider on eBay, paired that with my older boys original GK cage

Something about that GK rocking the IFS just looks soo soo right.

[twade984]

While the weather has improved around here, I just haven’t made time to go wheel some rigs.

In the mean time I’ve accumulated some nice parts that may or not find their way on to some rigs.

Reefs triple seven servo, black skarn and blue delta beadlock rings, steel incision drive shafts, Holmes Crawlmaster mini esc and team spec revolver, and a carbon spec vfd with stubby kit.

For now the Fordyce got the steel shafts, and I think I’ll put the skarns and deltas on it as well.






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