Pirate "Clinger"
 

So my curiosity outlasted my patience, and since nobody has been able to get ahold of one, I decided to whip up my own Clinger rig. Hopefully it'll be drivable tomorrow, but for now here's a teaser pic. I'm really interested in seeing how it runs. Enjoy...



http://i46.tinypic.com/2ex0xa1.jpg

oh man that thing made me giggle a bit... let us know how it crawls.

what kind of articulation are u getting from it so far?

Looks sick!!can't wait to find out how it crawls.."thumbsup"

who said no one can get one? Im subscribed. and I got one.:mrgreen:

Right now its got tons of articulation, probably a hair over 90* if I crank on it. The front shocks were already limited to about 1 1/2" of travel, while the rear are wide open. The chassis flexes too, so I need to add some peices to stop that.

Suprisingly, it gets about 4" belly clearance when everything is extended.

i,m curious as well, they are interesting looking rigs..tempted to try one for myself"thumbsup" for fun..maybee they work

Where the hell is it? :evil:

I've been waiting months for someone to post a build thread...I assumed they weren't available yet...

I only have a prototype, It isnt built because well to be truthfully with you, I am not 100% sure how to build the damn thing. I had my cousin get it for me when he went to China last month and the instructions suck. I also have to come up with some parts because it only came with the chassis, links, and the upgrades for the connection to the Axial tranny. Its not a complete excuse, because as you know I have been painting on top of building my terminator build. But yours looks great!

You've got instructions? Must be nice...:roll:











:lol:

lol, I wouldnt call them quite instructions, more like backward pictures. The plates are carbon fiber and the dig unit is like a copied light version of the DNA dig? It is the exact same pieces that DNA used for their internals.other than that Im kinda lost with it. Active hobby has some really nice stuff including this killer shell. But its so damn hard to get here in the states. When my buddy was in Okinawa he went looking for me and picked it up. Ohh and BTW, alot cheaper over there. maybe i have a knock off huh?

Despite it's low rider appearance, the youtube videos show it's got some pretty good crawling abilities. Be interesting tro see how yours works out.

Then maybe you could gert a vendor star and sell you imitation for half the cost, and give me a cut for the good idea. lol

man that thing looks awesome. :twisted: cant wait to hear how it crawls. .. . :mrgreen:

Duuuuuuuuuuude, that's sick:shock:. Does it have a mirrored tranny with rear dig? Man I'm jealous. Come on man, more pics please. Did you get their brushless outrunner? I know I sound like a kid (I'm 38 )

im in love



thats a crazy looking rig"thumbsup"


could you post more pics for us

I think you have it upside down :)

Send it to me and I'll assemble it for you for a small fee. ;-)

Actually, since it'd be made in the USA, I'd have to double the price.

Thats how it works, right?

Trans is mirrored, the outrunner is a HH Revolver Black. No dig.

I was busier than I thought I would be today, so it hasn't progressed any further. I should get more done tonight (also get more pics), and hopefully take it for a spin too. "thumbsup"

Good point. Just be sure to make the tolerances a little looser to compensate"thumbsup"

Aaaaaaaaaaaalrighty! Got 'er "done" and mobile! Here's a rundown of what was used...


cloned "Clinger" chassis (made from cutting board)
stock/hacked AX10 skid
AX10 shocks (front)
Losi Crawler shocks (rear)
mirrored trans
stock rear lower links
custom front lower/upper and rear upper links
custom rear 4 link plate
custom front servo/battery/4 link plate
stock axles
LCC driveshaft (rear)
stock AX10 driveshaft (front)
HH Revolver Black bl outrunner motor
EZRun 35a esc


First, let me say that everything about this build seemed wrong. Too low, weird geometry, too floppy...just...wrong. Here's a shot midway through the build...usually I've got something in the middle to support the chassis to put it at its approximate ride height, but not this time. Here its sitting flat on the bench.

http://i46.tinypic.com/mw85l2.jpg

As it turned out, this wasn't as low as it would sit. In fact, once it was all together, it came to rest a whole 1/2" from the ground.

http://i49.tinypic.com/nmafxz.jpg

However, when you lift up on the chassis just a bit, the pivot that the rear shocks attach to swings down and adds a quick and easy 1" of GC. Fully extended, it'll clear 3 1/4".

http://i47.tinypic.com/2e1hdv7.jpg

If you'll notice in the picture above, the front shocks are limited to about 1" travel. The rears are not limited at all. There was much concern about over articulation...turns out that concern was not wasted...

http://i49.tinypic.com/2uh0col.jpg

It'll actually go further than that and hit a solid 90*, but the chassis is still pretty flexable. Some supports will fix that.

So I know what everyone is thinking...something this low has to drag and catch on everything it comes across...

http://i46.tinypic.com/oh0qib.jpg

And if you are one of those people, you'd be partially right. Yes, it spends alot of time dragging its skid, but suprisingly it hangs up on very little.

The whole clinger thing is starting to get a little popular now and I like it. You seem to be missing the same bolt in the front axle as I am. Wanna switch

I didn't get a whole lot of time to run it tonight, but did run a few lines across my rock pile, up the steps to the front porch, and up the incline board.

First the incline board. With it fresh off the workbench running no springs/shock oil up front and light oil/white Losi springs out back it barely managed to do 45* without torque twisting itself into something that resembled a Twizzler. Back to the bench to get some thicker oil and stiffer springs. It got the thickest oil I had (60wt) and I swapped the Losi springs out for some stock AX10 coils. Another few runs on the board and a little preloading the rear shocks got me to 65*, which is about as steep as I can go with any of my rigs before traction becomes the issue. It was still showing a tendency to TT but it was much better.

Next came the steps (there's two and they're concrete). Its not really a critical part of testing, but its on the way to the rock pile, so whatever. It went down fine but really floppy looking, like a small animal having convulsions. Up was pretty uneventful as well. It stayed planted the whole time.

Finally we come to the rocks. What I've got are some large-ish rock in a pile surrounded by something similar to river rock only jagged and more sharp edged. It breezed right across the little stuff and started its ascent with very little drama. Up and over it went, so I picked another line and went for it, no problem. Another line had a pretty hairy sidehill that I can't seem to make with my other rigs, and while this one didn't make it either, I really thought it was going to. I got snagged on the skid twice: once in the loose small stuff and once on a little outcropped edge. Everything else it just slid right over.

If the weather is good tomorrow I'll haul it down to the river and put it to a more strenuous test on some bigger rocks, but I have a feeling it'll climb pretty well. Its not near as jerky and loose to drive as I thought it would be.

There are some immediate issues that I need to address...

1. The turning radius sucks goat balls. The shocks are in the way, big time, and they keep the tires from turning very far.

2. The front axle is cocked so far back to keep the driveshaft in line that its got a stupid amount of caster. Like nearly 40* worth!

3. I fried the Sidewinder out of my sportsman rig so I'm having to use my EZRun, which sucks for crawling, and that forces me to use my Revolver, which is not a bad motor, but I much prefer brushed crawling over brushless.

4. I think I need to add more weight to the wheels. This may be a key part to these chassis. We'll see.

5. Its got terrible breakover. Scratch that, its got NO breakover. Once it gets close to verticle it kinda folds over on itself and flops upside down. Some tuning may fix this, so might #4.

Here's some random pics. If anybody wants a pic of something or wants to know something, let me know. I'll do the best I can. "thumbsup"

http://i48.tinypic.com/2117wp2.jpg

http://i49.tinypic.com/6s70g4.jpg

http://i47.tinypic.com/2ai1wup.jpg

http://i45.tinypic.com/6pnkmg.jpg

http://i45.tinypic.com/10d5ieu.jpg