Diesel's AX10 1.9 rock racer "El Tortuga Rapido" (update post #41)

[EeePee]

Originally Posted by dieselfuel

Keeping it real.

You better be.

[dieselfuel]

Originally Posted by 53Guy

Looks great man, did you use hollow tubing for the tie rod or did you sleeve some threaded rod?

its actually 1/8" rod sleeved with 3/16'' tube cut about 1/4" short from the ends with 3mm threaded rod brazed into the ends. it's solid so i hope it
ll hold up well.

Originally Posted by TANK

this is really bad ass... keep up the good work.

thanks a lot man! i got the ESC programmed yesterday only to find out the motor is dead. hooked a battery straight to the motor and got nothing... so as soon as i get a motor here in the next few days i'll be good to go.

Originally Posted by EeePee

You better be.

just trying to make you proud of me. lol!

[dieselfuel]

tortuga got a motor tonight, it's alive!! got a 55t from a friend, i havent run a 55t in years, forgot how slow they were. that and the combination of the OD/UD gears, makes it drive kinda weird. it climbs like a damn goat but doesn't pop the front end up over stuff like i'm used to.

the steering doesn't work as well as i hoped it would. the tie rod flexes under load, limiting steering to the left. gonna have to work on that.

[NGreen]

That's a shame about the steering, I was hoping it'd be spot on. Do you have room to braze a bit of a gusset on the corners of the tie rod?

[dieselfuel]

Originally Posted by 53Guy

That's a shame about the steering, I was hoping it'd be spot on. Do you have room to braze a bit of a gusset on the corners of the tie rod?

yeah, I'm gonna see what i can do. actually the drag link angle is the down fall of it. mounting it on the underside of the tie rod and the fact that the new aluminum servo arm is shorter than the plastic one i had on there before have limited its ability to steer to the left. if the drag link were mounted higher on the tie rod it'd be much better. i'm going out to the garage.

[dieselfuel]

ok back from the garage. got the drag link mounting figured out, it's nice and horizontal now and steers lock to lock just fine. got batteries charging and all the drive line sew screws loc-tited. ready for a shakedown run on the rocks tomorrow.

[dieselfuel]

Tortuga and i have returned from his maiden voyage. I'm pretty damn impressed with it so far. the OD/UD gears make a huge difference when turning, climbing and stepping up ledges.
Ive got a few minor changes to make: softer rear springs, i noticed the front doing all the work, i over sprung the rear anticipating some torque twist but there is hardly any at all.
maybe another ounce or two of wheel weight weight up front. I'm only running like 4.5oz front and nothing in the rear, i wanna keep it light. I'll add one more ounce per front and see what happens.
and lastly, i don't see the tie rod lasting too long. i don't have room to gusset the bends because it'll hit the servo/link plate and after a technical section Ive got some unwanted toe-out. I'll have to redo the tie rod out of heavier material.

didn't feel like bringing the Nikon, sorry for the iPhone pics.






going up the "escalator" at Crawlege. two 3-4' climbs with a small landing in the middle. I've seen/driven MOA rigs that wouldn't climb this.

[4xFord]

Very cool and original build Scott, she looks like a lot of fun to drive.

[drumbeater]

so like I said when's it for sale


How would stainless steel tube work on your tie rod?











Nice job Scott. I wish Justin would get back in to crawling so he could go out crawling with you.

[dieselfuel]

Originally Posted by 4xFord

Very cool and original build Scott, she looks like a lot of fun to drive.

thanks man!

Originally Posted by drumbeater

so like I said when's it for sale


How would stainless steel tube work on your tie rod?











Nice job Scott. I wish Justin would get back in to crawling so he could go out crawling with you.

fawk you steve...
brazing stainless might not work. but i can get heavier tubing to sleeve over some 8-32 or 4mm all thread and make something heavier. i love the clearance i get from it, it just needs to be stronger.

[dieselfuel]

Updated pic of the steering.


Shaved the shocks too, bored.

[NGreen]

Maybe I'm blind, but where did you shave the shocks?

[thomas]

Originally Posted by 53Guy

Maybe I'm blind, but where did you shave the shocks?

they are scx10 shocks, he cut off the fake resivores


im really liking the looks of this rig! good work

[dieselfuel]

Originally Posted by thomas

they are scx10 shocks, he cut off the fake resivores


im really liking the looks of this rig! good work

yep. thanks a lot man.

El Tortuga is going with me tomorrow for a 4 day trip to the Grand Canyon, Sedona and Prescott AZ.

[drumbeater]

I have some s/s tube if you want I'll send you some to do your tierod. I drilled a small hole and ran a bolt to hook my drag link to. You'll need to tap the ends to connect your rod ends.

[dieselfuel]

thanks, but ive got plenty of steel to work with here, from 5/16" and 3/16" steel tube to 3/16" key stock to 1/8" and 3/16" solid rod. i'll figure it out.

[Stormin2u]

It's defiantly has a comfortable look on the rocks.

[dieselfuel]

figured I'd post up some photos of El Tortuga on my AZ trip. i crawled some of the boulders in the campground at the grand canyon and just a little bit in the actual canyon but didn't get any photos of it there. then we stopped at this cool picnic area in oak creek canyon just north of Sedona, cool little creek bed, it was fun.

Mather campground


oak creek canyon

[PowerCrazy]

Fill the steering link up with jb weld or epoxy

[dieselfuel]

Originally Posted by PowerCrazy

Fill the steering link up with jb weld or epoxy

its not hollow, as i mentioned earlier in this thread, its 3/16" tube sleeved over 1/8" solid rod.