Axial Dorkstar tribute build

[ecoli]

Hey all,

So I've been building a few tubers now, trying different methods and improving my abilities with the intention of actually building one for keeps. I think I've landed on one (or at least starting to!). Many of you are probably familiar with Ryan Gerrish's dorkstar builds. His 2.2 build is here:

The Dorkstar 2.2

And for the lazy, a pic:



I really liked the look of Ryan's tuber and pm'd him and asked if he would mind if I copied the design for myself. He said no, so I bribed him with large amounts of money until he relented. Ok, not really, he actually was quite supportive telling me to go for it and just asked for pics of the build. Now, Ryan's build is very unique in that he uses custom axles with dual motors. I just wanted to use plain old Axial axles and tranny. So, I had to make a few modifications from what Ryan had built. Namely, the tranny area and shock mount locations (Ryan's shocks mount on top of the axle, unlike the Axial's which mount on the side).

Pics of the progress so far:





Obviously have more work to do! Next step is to add in the bottom area, then supports for the front and rear, shock mount panels, and then fill in the open tube and add panel mounts.

Chassis is about 14 inches long, 2 inches high (will be just under 4 inches high complete) and around 3 1/4 wide, all outside to outside measurements.

Will post progress pics as they become available. One question I had was with making the bottom portion of the chassis. I've drawn in approximately what I envision:



I can either go with option "red" or option "green" for the front portion. I'm leaning towards option red as this would/should allow me to slide up on the rocks, but Ryan's is set up more like option green, and I can't argue with results. Opinions/insight welcome.

[jagg]

The Dorkstar is an awesome looking chassis Nice job so far, looks great . I like the red set-up, it'll make it just a bit different too.

[mysharona]

red

[bronko]

Can you post some pics of the rear link setup? Looks pretty "off" technically speaking.

[ecoli]

Originally Posted by bronko

Can you post some pics of the rear link setup? Looks pretty "off" technically speaking.

You're talking about the first photo, right? Not my rig, that's just a photo of what I'm trying to copy. Follow the thread link to see more photos. I noticed that too and will be setting up my own links in a more standard set-up. Having said that, Ryan knows what he's doing and I'm sure he had a good reason for bolting the upper rears that low.

[bronko]

Originally Posted by ecoli

You're talking about the first photo, right? Not my rig, that's just a photo of what I'm trying to copy. Follow the thread link to see more photos. I noticed that too and will be setting up my own links in a more standard set-up. Having said that, Ryan knows what he's doing and I'm sure he had a good reason for bolting the upper rears that low.

Gotchya. Ya the lack of vertical separation doesn't seem like it would help climbing, but if it works then it works. Now get to finishing yours!

[rbgerrish]

Great job so far Ecoli! Can't wait to see her all done.

The rear links on my truck were like that to clear the unusual driveline. Worked ok, but I've since rebuilt the thing and it's working much better....

Keep up the good work!

RYan

[Hellstomper]

Nice work I'm sure it'll look sweet when its done.

[Panchira!]

better put a brace from the shock hoops to the main frame or youll taco it in a crash or driving

[ecoli]

Originally Posted by Panchira!

better put a brace from the shock hoops to the main frame or youll taco it in a crash or driving

On it!

A couple more progress pics:





That's all I could get done before I started getting yelled at for neglecting the family. Should have the front shock mounts and braces done by Friday.

[jagg]

Originally Posted by ecoli

That's all I could get done before I started getting yelled at for neglecting the family.

WOW, been there........Wait still there !

[ecoli]

Few more progress pics:





And a couple with the panels mocked up:





I actually have the front braces on and the open tubing filled in now, just didn't snap any pics yet. So all that's left is to braze on the panel mounts and then grind, sand, and paint. Oh yeah, guess I should add some axles, tranny, and electronics to it too ;)!

For the panel mounts, I picked up some steel Du-Bro straps:



Cut them down to size and will braze them on.

And one final pic of my highly organized work space



Scary thing is, I actually know where everything is!

[Rocksmith Eng.]

You need to talk the wife into gettin a bigger desk dude!

[ecoli]

Ok, so got more done over the weekend, and it's now a roller. First, brazed on some panel mounts:



Then mounted the axles, and shocks and made up some links.







Sorry for the crappy photos, I've got to get my good camera out and snap some shots.

Anyways, as it stands currently, clearance is just under 3.25 inches, 2 inches at full compression. I'll likely go with softer springs, or potentially droop it. Will have to see how things work on the rocks.

Not pictured, but I've also finished off the delrin skid plate. May still go with delrin links. I've got the material, it just seems so flexy compared to aluminum.

I've also finished off the basher panels. However I've got another better set that I've sent off to ftr for a snazzy paint job. I'm leaving it up to him on how to paint it, so I'll be interested to see what else he comes up with.

Also waiting for my MSDs to arrive in the mail. I'm really pumped about getting these. I've heard nothing but good things. Once I get a bit more cash in the account, I'll be ordering other aluminum goodies and likely an R2D. Total bling for this rig ;)!

Other than that, I've still got more grinding and sanding to do. Got a lot of it done already, and it looks a lot better. Will then primer and paint it (going with good old flat black). I've got time to do it, we just got a huge dump of snow and it looks like winter will be here for a while yet!

Chris

[Jester666]

[SaVaGe MaN SS]

i love the panel look on the rear of that tuber

[Jeepernick]

cool rig,
Great tube work


Personally would get rid of that gross green

[ecoli]

Originally Posted by Jeepernick

cool rig,
Great tube work


Personally would get rid of that gross green

Thanks for the compliments guys.

Green is as good as gone. I'm waiting for my MSDs to arrive in the mail. Already made up new steering links. There'll be a few tiny bits of green here and there, but not enough to offend anyone, I think ;)!

[ecoli]

Well, it's pretty much done. I was hoping my MSDs would have arrived in the mail yesterday, but unfortunately, the combined forces of USPS and Canada Post didn't come through.

Anyways, some pretty much finished shots:







Got my basher panels on with my oh so awesome paint job (this is why I pay others to do it for me!). Overall, I'm pretty happy with how it's gone together. Unfortunately, with all the snow outside, it won't get an outdoors run for a while. However, going to test it out at a fellow crawlers garage in a week or so. Will hopefully be able to post more complete photos by then.

[balang_479]

Very nice.. you replicated the Dorkstar very well.