An Evil Sportsman... giving the non-dig thing a try

[EvilTwin v2]

I had big plans starting out to convert a spare T1e Stage chassis that I had laying around to a Sportsman... My intent was to build a truck as cheaply as possible that would be capable of winning our local comp series and possibly some larger comps.

However, as I started things were just fighting me, and while at BuckImod's house, he offered me a deal I couldn't refuse on a CDW chassis w/ links, 4-link plates, Losi shocks, etc, so I jumped on it.

I picked up some new upgrade parts and threw together alot of old stuff that I had laying around.

Here's in the early stages with Tekin 35t, Castle Sidewinder, Castle, BEC, Overdrive front gears, Axial clockable C's, and a set of Comp Claws on Axial wheels. The wiring is a mess, but I figured I could fix that later. It won it's first comp out by a very narrow margin...



I then ordered underdriver rear gearing, some SLW's & custom beadlock rings from MTHead, along with SVEN's retainers for VP weights and a few other goodies. The wheels didn't show up for the 2nd comp of our series, so I ran it as it looked in the above pic and won this comp as well.

After the comp, the rest of my parts came in and this things started to shape up.









I took it out for a Test and Tune day at our club's indoor location and broke a CVD pin pretty quickly, so upon arriving home, I sent some funds to Gunnar for his no-drill pins. While I was making changes, I figued it'd be a good time to clean things up, so I mounted the body using Gunnar's mount kit and I routed all of the electronics a bit more cleanly. I was able to get everything but the motor and trans off the chassis.

There is a plate attached to the servo plate/4-link mount that holds the ESC and RX. The battery is also on the front axle. All in all, this thing is ridiculously stable.

I'm hoping that these cvd pins will hold up. I really don't want to spend $130 on Super300's.

Since giving my daughter my old MRC with my Hitec 5955 servo on it, I now needed a new servo for my mini, so it was time for a quick shuffle, so off came the JR Z9100T from the Sportsman. (I figure 370oz should be plenty for a 1.9.)

So, that brought up the question; what to do for a servo on this rig? At first, I was going to put the 8711 off of the rear of my Super and put my new Z9100HVT on it, but then I scored a really sweet deal on another JR 8711, so it'll be staying on the super (so I can run dual 8711's on the front of it ). Well, that Z9100HVT is just to pretty not to use, and who doesn't need 480oz of steering torque on a lightweight, plastic axled rig?!!! So on it went.

While hooking it up, I hid the BEC under the electronics plate on front axle, and routed the wiring under there, too. I also flipped the motor over so the wires on it were better tucked. Much better now...











I'm pretty confident going into the 3rd comp of the season this weekend that this truck can hang with any.

[Highlucks]

Nice truck man I like it. I am a big fan of the low profile chassis.

[EvilTwin v2]

Thanks, man! I tell you, there's some 2.2 Pro courses that I've run that this truck can hang with my Berg. It just plain works.

Here's a spec list:

- CDW Chump chassis.
- Losi Crawler shocks w/ gold springs.
- Axial SCX10 axles.
- Axial overdrive front gear.
- Axial underdrive rear gear.
- Axial clockable C's.
- VP zero ackerman high steer knuckles.
- Axial CVDs.
- Gunnar CVD & Hex Pins.
- Traxxas stampede drive shafts (custom fabbed).
- Axial transmission (mirrored).
- Tekin machine wound 35t motor (black can).
- Castle Creations Sidewinder ESC.
- Castle Creations BEC.
- Futaba 4PK w/ H604FS receiver (I know, kinda wasting a 4 channel rx...oh well).
- Holmes 3s 1300mah lipo.
- VP SLW V2 wheels w/ custom beadlock rings from MTHead.
- SVEN weight retainers for SLW wheels.
- Losi Comp Claw tires.
- custom electronics tray mounted to the 4 link plate. Absolutely nothing but the motor and trans sitting on the chassis. Everything else is on the front axle...and it makes a huge difference.
- Gunnar Body mounts.
- Old Bug Body.

...and this was supposed to be a budget build.

[PhantomRS10]

Thats what we all say about low budget builds. Good lookin rig man!

[bob1961]

nice build and i see the sportsman class growing....they passed that folded tucked under body like that at tech....there was a big fuss at nat's with a body like that due to it being folded under.......bob

....

[EvilTwin v2]

Originally Posted by PhantomRS10

Thats what we all say about low budget builds. Good lookin rig man!

Thanks.

Originally Posted by bob1961

nice build and i see the sportsman class growing....they passed that folded tucked under body like that at tech....there was a big fuss at nat's with a body like that due to it being folded under.......bob

....

Thanks, Bob, but the body at Worlds in '09 was folded so that it was only 2.5" tall. The rules say that the body must be 3" tall. Mine is 4" tall, so no problems there.

Honestly, there's really no reason to go any shorter unless it's on a stick or cane type chassis (such as the one that was used at Worlds in '09) and you actually get a benefit from that short of a body.

[ClassicGMJunkie]

looks like it might work. lol..

i'm going back to bodied. too much TT even full drooped, and too high COG with the tcs edge tuber. looks pretty, but just not as capable.

now the 1.9 might be another story... we shall see!

[Wicked Klown]

Nice looking set up ya got there. I have to ask tho since I'm new to crawling. With your shocks that far out doesn't it limit you steering? Right now I run SlingShot chassis with my shocks over one spot from yours and my tires hit the shocks at full throw.

[Highlucks]

Originally Posted by ClassicGMJunkie

looks like it might work. lol..

i'm going back to bodied. too much TT even full drooped, and too high COG with the tcs edge tuber. looks pretty, but just not as capable.

now the 1.9 might be another story... we shall see!

I would not base you judgement of all bodiless rigs based on what you have seen from the TCS eclipse. That thing is sh!t because it is all steel and just far to heavy. Have a look at some of the other bodiless rigs to see them actually working and doing a good job of it. Fast Back, frogger or moon buggy they all work really well.

Hey evil you may be able to get slightly better pinion angle on you front drive shaft if you pull the front shocks a few holes closer to the tranny. I run the slingshot another low slung chassis and have my fronts layed right down too. Nearly no TT and it is super stable too.

[ClassicGMJunkie]

oh i am a serious fan of the bodiless rig. i might wind up going with a lightweight setup before too long. the edge is just a pig.

[MexicanMarauder]

Sweet rig man sweet!

[EvilTwin v2]

Originally Posted by highlucks

Hey evil you may be able to get slightly better pinion angle on you front drive shaft if you pull the front shocks a few holes closer to the tranny. I run the slingshot another low slung chassis and have my fronts layed right down too. Nearly no TT and it is super stable too.

Thanks for the advice, but I'm not a fan of laying shocks down too much. I actually have them sprung and oiled for this setup. Besides, if I were to try to improve the pinion angle, I'd lose some of the caster that I worked so hard to get.

[EvilTwin v2]

Originally Posted by Wicked Klown

Nice looking set up ya got there. I have to ask tho since I'm new to crawling. With your shocks that far out doesn't it limit you steering? Right now I run SlingShot chassis with my shocks over one spot from yours and my tires hit the shocks at full throw.

The tires do get into the shocks, but that's the price you pay to be able to mount the electronics where I have them. Besides, I don't think I'm hurting for steering.