Losi Based Class 3 "Left Hand Path"

[GiJoe]

My son Cameron has been after me to build him his own full blown Class 3 Comp rig. I guess is good to start them young!

He got the bug when he competed in the GURUS Fall Brawl, Now he cant wait to do it again.

With all my builds, It will be Losi axles and Trans...with a "TWIST". More on that later!


This rig will be Leaf Spring...with a "TWIST" More on that later!

It will have 4 Wheel Steer and most likely 3S, but maybe 4S!

[GiJoe]

This is my buddy Pigfart... Yes, he HATES that nickname!
Piggy had a truck in the Mudd'n Militia called "The Whore". This bitch was a train wreck on 4 wheels, but it was a BEAST none the less.
Here are a few pics of The Whore stuck in a hole. If you look close, notice how bad the frame flex is! The cab and bed would be off as much as 8 to 10" at times. My plan is to duplicate this. Just going about it a different way.

[Bulldog]

I think Pigfart has earned his nickname...and like any good nickname...they are usually unwanted and stick in the worst way.

Bring the build. Big ugly bowtie with a Beater twist.

[GiJoe]

To be honest, I wish it was a Chevy body going on this rig. I wanted to do this as a replica of Piggys truck, but, its for my son, and he wants a Ford Superduty body. Oh, well, they are cool too!



Making a few spring hangers out of unused TVP'S
THAT = $$$ Saved!






Leaf springs from a Tamiya Highlift. I mocked up with the springs further out towards the wheel, but like this set-up for several reasons.
1.) Very stout mounting position
2.) With the springs closer together, the leverage increases and allows more flex from a stiffer, more robust spring (as compared to a soft RC4WD Red Spring)
3.) Increased tire clearance for steering angles.
4.) I didn't have to fab (or buy!) any lower brackets to mount axle!






Had to grind off the little nubs on the servo plates that dropped into the upper link mounts.







Lightweight Aluminum Frame Rails

[GiJoe]

Metal gear LNC Trans and a Novak 17.5 Brushless.

I think is safe to assume the direction the drivetrain is headed!

[GiJoe]

While this may not be the Backbone of the rig, it's most definitely the "Spinal Cord"!

[GiJoe]

Mig Welded some 16ga.steel to some 3/8" nuts





Cleaned up into a useable piece(s)

Doctor, your patient is prepped and ready for surgery....


Uh Ohhhh.....Here come the surgeons!

AAAHHHHH!!!!! WHAT DID YOU DOOOOO!!!!!!

[GiJoe]

The truck is back together in one piece! Thanks to a piece of 3/8" Stainless Steel all-thread. This is what the two sub-frames will pivot on.



I tried using this spring on the all-thread to keep tension on the sub-frames, but it was stiffer in one direction and made the chassis feel un-balanced.





Here is a good shot of the frame twist.







The spring steel Hacksaw Blade is all that is required!

The blade(s) are anchored at either end in the sub-frames, then float free in the center guide plates. As the frame twists, I get progressive tension which helps maintain my contact pressure. The whole assembly is easily tunable simply by adding blades to stiffen things up if needed.

To be honest, (bench testing) reveals that my leaf springs really don't do anything but support the weight of the vehicle, look totally scale and give me much needed scale points!





Here you can see the blade deflection in the guides when a wheel is lifted.

[GiJoe]

Here is a 16 ga. steel bracket I fabbed for the side mounted Transfer Case. Also, made a temporary plastic skid.

The front driveshaft is stock LNC, and shaft from trans to transfer is a stock LCC shaft.

[idk]

looking good man i like the whole idea!

[GiJoe]

Thank You All!

The rear driveshaft poses a different problem. Its too short. So, rather than run out to MIP or another big $$$ vendor (no offense, they all have great products!, I just don't have deep pockets!) for a longer shaft, I decided to try this:


I wanted it to look scale from a side view. A 1:1 Rear Driveshaft more often than not is a large diameter tube with a skinny little splined shaft out the end.

I mocked this up with a drill bit (similar material as a LNC shaft) to see if a plug weld into brake line would be strong.





I put it in a vise and smacked the drill bit with a hammer to try and drive it into the tube. It Held!




So I cut a LNC shaft in half and plug welded it to a 4" piece of 1/4" brake line.










Just for fun, I added another saw blade (2) to get a feel for the stiffer flex. I think we're good!

[tuner]

I made a few comp frames like this but with the shock in the middle. The breakover was incredable but seemed very unstable going in reverse for some reason. I like the way you did this one.

[GiJoe]

I hav'nt posted in a while, but did a lot of trial and error in the last few weeks.
First, I had a change of heart on the body for this rig. Wanted to try a larger one (or at least mock up to see if I was gonna change direction.)
With that, I found some plastic and started making electronics trays and body mounts.





Tried a newer style Superduty Extended Cab.






With the fact that this will be a Class 3 Comp Rig, I really wasn't feeling the larger body after all the trouble of making trays to fit, etc.....Oh Well
Scrapped the Extended Cab and sticking to my original plan of using a slightly smaller body. I also didn't like how flimsy the plastic trays were feeling. I am now using 1 5/8" wall track. It has some nice beads along the bottom that keep the trays stiff. Even with the hole cut for T-Case clearance.





Lastly, I went on a spending spree (Which REALLY Hurt! Lol) for all my rigs...not just this one.
Among items bought were multiple Steering Servos, 3S & 4S Batteries, new RX/TX, Servo Horns, Screw Kit, Drive Shafts and many other misc. odds & ends for the upcoming Spring / Summer busy season!!!!!

I took the advice of a friend and am going to try T-Maxx Shafts. They require a little modification, but nothing serious. They are BEEFY as HELL! Nice and long for stretched wheelbases (easily cut if needed).

[Highmark]

Awesome build man! I love seeing creative suspension designs and that's definately creative.

[tdlosinc]

Nice! I converted my LNC to a scaler too. It'll eventually be class 3 legal once I rework the back half of the truck.

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

[doublej]

I have been wanting to a "flexing chassis" on a class1 for awhile. Would look so cool to see the bed come offset from the cab while driving around.

[GiJoe]

Here is the body type that will be used on this truck. Although this one is just for mock-up, it gives a good indication of proportions.
When done, the rear of the truck will have a cage assembly and only use the bed sides.

[GiJoe]

Just a little FYI, I took the advice of a friend and decided to try some T-Maxx shafts on this rig. Reason being, they are much longer than a standard Losi (or Axial for that matter!) and helped with my wheelbase stretch.
Interesting to note: They are physically HUGE in comparison to a Losi or Wraith shaft I tried before.
Here is the T-Maxx (left) compared to the Losi comp crawler (right)



But, If you have the space to fit them, they are very smooth, appear to be bulletproof, and LIGHT!
I took some weights for comparison:
LCC= 1.25 oz.


LNC= 0.85 oz.


T-Maxx= 0.85 oz.!!! Shocked Me!

[GiJoe]

PitBull Rock Beast II with Crawler Innovation Foams on Losi Beadlocks
Fresh set of Losi HD Axles!



That's how a scaler greases Worms!

[old man 52]

Definitely like the new body choice , Its really coming along.