Unlimited Widow Chassis

[sourdojack]

So after modifying my Wheely King about as much as possible I wasn't very impressed with the overall weight balance. So thanks to Offroader5 I used his templates to make a much more capable crawler and still being able to use a lot of the parts off of my Wheely King.

This is how I got hooked 2 years ago on remote control crawlers.
Good old Nylint---
http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g142/sourdojack/Build%20Up/nylint001.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g142/sourdojack/Build%20Up/nylint002.jpg

Ok, now onto the Widow Chassis from Offroader5
I borrowed a scroll saw from a friend to make the Widow Chassis out of 1/2" and 3/8" delrin.

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g142/sourdojack/Build%20Up/widowchassis001.jpg

Here are the Upper Links out of the same 3/8" sheet used for the sides. (ended up liking the idea of a 4 link more than a 3 link, but im not gunna throw em away yet)

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g142/sourdojack/Build%20Up/widow3rdlinks.jpg

Here are some axle clamps I also made. (I think im gunna throw them away though; didn't exaclty use a measuring tape)

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g142/sourdojack/Build%20Up/delrinaxleclamps.jpg

Here are the axles with Revo P3 links for the lowers and Traxxas 118mm turnbuckles for the uppers (wheel base = LONG) Shocks are Aluminum ones for a Savage, not sure on the mm.

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g142/sourdojack/Build%20Up/WKaxles001.jpg


http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g142/sourdojack/Build%20Up/WKaxles002.jpg

For the trans I have a Stampede one laying around, but on my Wheely King I modded the stock set up with a GD-600. And I really love the low low gearing of it. So I clocked the stock motor mount about 120* and with a little clearancing and a lot of cutting, got it to work great.

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g142/sourdojack/Build%20Up/clockedmotormount001.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g142/sourdojack/Build%20Up/clockedmotormount002.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g142/sourdojack/Build%20Up/clockedmotormount003.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g142/sourdojack/Build%20Up/clockedmotormount004.jpg

Here is a picture of a shock with internal springs and limiters under the dampning plate.

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g142/sourdojack/Build%20Up/savageshockfordroop.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g142/sourdojack/Build%20Up/droopspringandspacer.jpg

Here are the wheels I'm still going to use off of the Wheely King Chassis. Velicity 6 Maxx size and my cheap way of getting more offset and beadlocks in one step.

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g142/sourdojack/Build%20Up/velocity6maxx.jpg
1/8" thick acrylic on a 12mm spacer of polycarb thats 3" outside diameter, six screws and you got yourself a cheapo beadlock.
http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g142/sourdojack/Build%20Up/beadlockrings.jpg

I cut off a little over 1/2" of the inside of each wheel which left me with 1/2" narrower wheels.

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g142/sourdojack/Build%20Up/narrowedvelocitywheel.jpg

And last but not least, a set of Axial Monkey Paws.

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g142/sourdojack/Build%20Up/velocitybeadlocks.jpg

I'll be sure to post more pictures after I have it up and running.

Let me know what you think. Im really not opposed to shrinking it down to 2.2 class, but I payed too much for my wheels and tires to let em just sit on the shelf... :-(

[Offroader5]

What's the wheelbase you're shooting for? You may end up having to mount the lower end of your shocks to the lower links if you make it too long.

Reason I say this is it doesn't look as though you lengthened the chassis at all from the original template. This means with the added wheelbase length, if you want to mount the shocks to the link mounts on the axle...then the shock angle will be very steep. This could make the shocks less affective in their dampening due to the steep angle.

I'll be interested to see what you end up with "thumbsup"

[sourdojack]

You're right, the shock angle did turn out pretty steep. I have some 80w oil in the shocks right now. But putting the shocks on the lower part of the axle clamps is a good idea. I will probably end up doing that. I sure put a good amount of scratches on it already, I forgot to take the camera out with me today... but I'll be sure to get some pics and video of it in action.

Here is a pic of the shock angle

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g142/sourdojack/Build%20Up/ShockAngle.jpg

And some pictures of it all put together - minus the bug body thats on backorder at my LHS.

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g142/sourdojack/Build%20Up/GD600installed.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g142/sourdojack/Build%20Up/Complete.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g142/sourdojack/Build%20Up/FrontView.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g142/sourdojack/Build%20Up/Flex001.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g142/sourdojack/Build%20Up/Flex002.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g142/sourdojack/Build%20Up/Flex003.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g142/sourdojack/Build%20Up/Flex004.jpg

[Offroader5]

I think you're going to get alot of torque twist with the shocks laid over that far.

I meant that you may end up having to mount the lower end of the shock on the actual lower link inboard from the axles a bit...like many of the supers do with the added wheelbase. You will probably have to use much shorter shocks to do this though.

The shocks on my Widow ended up steeper than what I wanted, but they work fine...I think I am at the limit of how steep I would want to go though.

[sourdojack]

What is the Angle your shocks are at? I am getting a lot of torque twist like you said. And instead of getting shorter shocks and making new lower links im thinking about making some upper shock brackets. And have them so they bolt to the stock chassis to move the shocks higher up and outward towards the axles. That way if i decide to scale it down to 2.2 I can just switch over parts.