West & Down 2.2 U4

[altd896]

So having been tinkering around with an SCX10 scaler, a CC El Nino Shafty & a Wraith for trailing, after a bit of chit chat a few of us all the way down here have been getting an itch for this U4RC racing.
I was just going to beef up my Wraith a bit further but then got a tax refund & instead of doing something sensible like pay some extra on my mortgage I said screw it & decided to splurge it on Trophy class chassis.

I liked lots I saw but it was the Ultra Custom Fab chassis that triggered an itch nothing else was going to scratch. After a bit of brief messaging back & forth & a quick chat on the phone it was under way.

Kyle then proceeded to tease my with some build pics as he went.

[altd896]

With it underway plans for pulling the Wraith apart should have gone ahead.
Instead that changed to it becoming a 1.9 rig, so some new bits were going to be required to get this one to move on it's own.

[altd896]

Meanwhile Kyle had been working away & got some more done.
These pics created quite alot of envy when I posted them in our local FB group.

[altd896]

Finally the day had come when it arrived here.
I'll never quite understand the postal system that can get it from Utah via SF to Melbourne on the east coast down here in 3 days (USPS done good) but then take 9 days to cover the last 3000 miles across to the correct side of the country. (AustPost somewhat more painful)

However it can never be a good sign when your box has one of these stickers on it.
Dug out the second box & in spite of the clear labeling it seem ed to have taken quite a hiding.
Luckily thanks to Kyle zealous use of surplus boxes & bundles of shopping bags everything survived.

[altd896]

One of my mates suggested it must have got wet at the airport here being unloaded.

I think the USPS guy might have made a detour on this way from Salt Lake City to San Francisco, the timing was about right.

For those that don't get the joke, I had friends go to the US this year to go to Speedweek at Bonneville, it was cancelled due to the salt being under about 6" of water.

[altd896]

So now it's here it's time to start mocking up some stuff.

Cos Kyle is down the road from Erik I got him to source me some DLUX links & trusses.

I already had some GripFab spools so they've been reloaded with the 43/13 gear sets based on the DLUX testing discussed here Wheels7 handmade Ultra class car with a DLUX twist

Swapped on the VP clamping C-hubs & scale knuckles for no reason other than wank factor.

The shocks are the newish RC4WD Rock Krawler RRD 100mm units (baiscally black versions of the Kings). They look cool & all but I have my doubts about how well such a small body shock will perform so they may not stay. That & they are quite short in clearance on the lower eye to the round part of the end body & unfortunately they don't fit real well with the UCFab trailing arms.

Just as well I've got some surplus Traxxass alloy body big bores I can use.

I picked up one of the LockedUp scale hardware assortments so they're finding their way on where I can.
Scale Hex Bolts Kit MC Zinc

[altd896]

I'd been drooling over some VP Method 105s in basic black & as if by fate our local crawler shop Onetencrawlers.com.au had some arriving, it's like they were reading my mind (scarey)

Anyway they've been paired with some RBIIs & some CI 6.0" DD soft foams.

[northkona]

Originally Posted by altd896

I'd been drooling over some VP Method 105s in basic black & as if by fate our local crawler shop Onetencrawlers.com.au had some arriving, it's like they were reading my mind (scarey)

Anyway they've been paired with some RBIIs & some CI 6.0" DD soft foams.

Nice looking rig, that is some beautiful tube work.
Sweet wheels too, I just bought the red set off Stew and they're heading to the west coast for my Bomber rig, paired up with some silver U4's they should be pretty trick.

[altd896]

Thx northkona, your rigs are extremely nice too.
I don't think this will be as close a scale replica as yours, I haven't as yet decided on mimicking a particular 1:1 rig or just going with the basic theme of my own I have on my sportsman.

[altd896]

So started to knock together some basic panels for the time being while I wait on some trans parts (although I'm getting impatient so the Wraith may be giving up it's trans in the immediate future) They're still just flat lexan but I'd like to put a couple of bends along/across them to give them some shape.

Played with the rear links, they'd hit the chassis before the shocks were half compressed, I think I had them upside down, anyway turned them over & is much nicer.
Also swapped the RC4WD bottom eye off the rear shocks for a Traxxas 1942 3mm rod end, it's solves the step in the stock eye fouling the top of the trailing arm so I can use the rear most hole.

Got to also try & work out a battery mounting

[altd896]

So squeezed the trans in, that may change again yet though, I was going to use an AX/SCX10 based trans but the rear drive shaft ends up being very long (need 165mm) so may go back to Wraith style with the longer rear output.
The spur gear cover had already had some hacking on the left to clear the MIP & screw pin in but now it's had more to clear the front right upper link, it won't be keeping much debris out but it's only there to keep the motor & battery wires out of the spur (I can do without a shorted lipo fire in my life)

[altd896]

Also got onto some internal panels, starting with a rear bulkhead & floor, mainly to try keep some debris out & to give me a shelf to park the esc/bec/rx on.
Aiming on squeezing the HPI drivers in so it'll all be hidden under them.

A coupe of the other guys down here working on Matzilla chassis & they were trying source 3/16" plastic P clips to anchor stuff to the chassis. I joked that they'd be essential but I think it'll be true, they work great rather than my trying to add tabs & a $6/100 they're cheap.
The 2 on the cross bar of the cockpit will also pick up the back of the drivers seats to anchor them.

[Postclanker]

Makes me want to build one....very nice
Especially like the rear links and the trusses. Nice to have a bunch of guys wanting to do the same thing

[northkona]

Originally Posted by Postclanker

Makes me want to build one....very nice
Especially like the rear links and the trusses. Nice to have a bunch of guys wanting to do the same thing

I'm loving checking out all of these ultra4 rigs too clanker, just a damn shame we are all 3000 miles apart !
Maybe we could have a ultra4 rc world champs in say , Hawaii ???? Its sorta half way !

[altd896]

Bit more progress, but no pics yet.
I gave up on the SCX10 based trans for a Wraith style, I'm going to need that longer rear output I think to keep the driveshaft to a sensible length & to keep it out of the skid.
Found the MIP 11101 shaft set for an E-Revo has a working length of 6.7-5.850" (v the Wraith set that works from 5.5-4.5") sure it's got 2 stub shafts I won't need but it was cheaper to buy the set than all the bits, plus it has 6mm drive hubs so when SS comes back into stock of the big outdrives I'm already set.

I think I've given up on the RC4WD Rock Krawler shocks already before I've even got to run them. They're nice n all & so far they don't leak while just sitting on the bench (did green slime the orings & bleed carefully though) but they just don't have the feel I'm expecting for a truck this heavy, moving quite as quick as I expect this to go, over the sort of terrain it's going to get pushed on. I think they'll get moved over to a 1.9 scaler rather than a U4 rig.

Now to continue with panels while waiting on the post to deliver.

[northkona]

I think the Wraith trans is a must for these things too
Whats with the link mount on top of the rear axle ? Are both the rod ends supposed to go in the middle and there isnt enough room or is it actually offset ? It's hard to tell from the pics .
I hear your postie-pain too ! I got a big fat RPP parcel "in transit " , bummer the Aussie dollar is shrinking tho !

[altd896]

Originally Posted by northkona

Whats with the link mount on top of the rear axle ? Are both the rod ends supposed to go in the middle and there isnt enough room or is it actually offset ? It's hard to tell from the pics .

DLUX U4 truss, it's supposed to be like that, it does appear a bit off centre in this pic but thats partially the camera angle & partially the diff being rolled to the right where it sits on the pumpkin. The little hex bar on the right that's between the upper links is in the centre of the housing.


I would say for the rear truss it would have been possible to have designed the carbon part to be more symmetrical around the link mount but not with the front, it needs that clearance for the servo horn. From there it's logical the rear truss have the same link mounting as the front.

[northkona]

Dlux does some pretty cool stuff , I've got one of his upright servo mounts that I have never got around to putting on a rig, he had a sale on them and I grabbed one. probably should use it one day !
I am surprised he wouldnt change the profile for the rear or have it as an option, it just looks like the links are in the wrong spot.

[altd896]

I'm fine with it, it's the same as the front

[altd896]

Well the case for the Wraith trans arrived & got pieced together just with stock outdrives till the SS 6mm pieces are back in stock.

This allowed me to sort the rear drive shaft, unfortunately the minimum length of the MIP e-revo shaft @ 5.85 was still a little too long so it got cut & sleeved with an offcut of 4130 tube & tig welded back together, when I get power in it we'll see how good my tig work is (or how bad haha)




It turns out an MIP for the Yeti should have a working range of 5.6-5.8" & probably would have worked perfectly, didn't know that back when I ordered the e-revo bits but.