Fish's AX-10 ARTR

[warfish]

I purchased my first 1/10 crawler about a month ago and have been driving and upgrading it since then using info that I found on this site

The build consists of..
ARTR kit
Tekin FX-R esc
Tekin T45 motor
Castle BEC
Hi-Tech 7945SH @ 7.4V
HR dig powered by a Hi-Tech 65mg
Sedona's
STRC front and rear four link plates
Losi comp shocks
Underdrive in back (OD gears are on backorder )
Thunder Power Pro-LiteV2 3 cell 1350 mah li-po (20c continuous 40c burst)
Driven with a Futaba 3PM

I think that is everything I have added so far. I do have a delrin skid for her but with this Dig unit I have been unable to figure out how to tuck the links in. I am thinking of getting the SWX chassis, which would solve that problem, but I am still researching chassis at this point.

My intentions at this time are to use this season to learn to drive and have fun and then next season to possibly compete, this could change towards the end of this season if I get feeling comfortable enough with my rig . While I do enjoy short course driving with my RC's, the imagination, creativity, and thought process involved in crawling is far superior to any other type of driving I have done.

I do not have any good tips really to offer at this early point except for when you buy these artr or rtc kits you should do yourself a favor and reassemble the whole thing with locktite everywhere you can. My first couple days it seemed like I could follow behind the truck picking up screws as they fell out, lol.

We have had a terrible run of weather here lately so I have not been able to drive as much as I would like, but the driving I have done has shown drastic improvements from when I first put her together. I am currently converting a small pond in my backyard to a rock garden so I should have a good area to test and play as soon as the mud dries up some

Any and all questions, comments, concerns, or criticisms are welcome

Here is a pic of her when I first put her together

This is a pic of my pro-line hammers being put to good use

The following pics where all taken today as she currently sits

[warfish]

I adjusted how the body sits on my rig this morning, I am much happier with how it sits now even though there is a bit of a swiss cheese appearance to her I learned from it anyways

I am wondering if anyone might have some good ideas on how to possibly move the center bottom links to the inside of the chassis. You can see in the pic that the dig unit will impede with the link that needs to go there. I may just have to wait until my fun money reloads and buy a new chassis.

This is the skid I was hoping to install.

[Crawling Calvin]

Is it possible to trim the bottom of the Dig unit a little to make it fit better?

Overall it is looking good nice choice on the Losi shocks

[warfish]

Originally Posted by Crawling Calvin

Is it possible to trim the bottom of the Dig unit a little to make it fit better?

Overall it is looking good nice choice on the Losi shocks

Thanks CC

The housing on the dig unit is so thin that I don't think I could trim much at all off of it. I have thought about adding some spacers under the tranny, but I just dread the thought of raising the CoG in doing so.

I am enjoying the losi shocks a lot so far They have traxxas rod ends on both sides for a nice fit. I originally had them inverted but then I read on here somewhere (I think from kc-jones) that the losi shocks do not work as well inverted so I flipped them back over.

[Duuuuuuuude]

Have you tried installing the skid yet, or are you just looking at it and assuming it won't fit?


I've run my Losi shocks upside down for a few years now and they work just fine.

[warfish]

Originally Posted by Duuuuuuuude

Have you tried installing the skid yet, or are you just looking at it and assuming it won't fit?


I've run my Losi shocks upside down for a few years now and they work just fine.

I have installed it and I can get it all together no problem but it impedes the movement of the one link very badly, it has no room at all to travel upwards.

I do like the idea of having my shocks inverted for the cog, maybe I will flip them back over

[RksPlz]

I have that same skid on my frogger and had the same problem not only with tranny hittin a link but my motor hits the other link. It also flex's like crazy, for now I just shimmed it with a piece of lexan to raise it. I would like to make my own skid.

[warfish]

Originally Posted by RksPlz

I have that same skid on my frogger and had the same problem not only with tranny hittin a link but my motor hits the other link. It also flex's like crazy, for now I just shimmed it with a piece of lexan to raise it. I would like to make my own skid.

Thanks RksPlz Maybe I will look into a different skid. Although ultimately I would prefer upgrading to a vanquish hurst dig and a different chassis I think, but that will have to wait for the money to reload.

[warfish]

Been a bit since I updated on my rig. I finally figured out how to install the skid and get my bottom links moved inboard. It probably is not the best set up but I have much less hang ups on the rocks now.

Had my first breakage in the front end which led to me upgrading the rig a bit more. Picked up the Axial BTA kit along with some aluminum C's and a CVD kit for the front end. Next payday I will be ordering some beeftubes to sure things up in the front some more.

I ended up moving the front shocks placement in at the bottom so that I could get more steering. I am not too thrilled with the angle they are at now and am looking for other alternatives there.

All in all I would say I am having a lot of fun learning to drive and tune the rig. I try to drive at least one pack a night with making some type of tuning adjustment between each pack. There are a few lines in my rock pit that I had no chance at a few weeks ago and I am now conquering them

I know there is a ton more for me to learn so I am posting up some pics of my setup in hopes of getting some constructive criticism so that I can improve her even more

[Crawling Calvin]

Looking good so far! Try making the rear upper links longer, improves the car dramatically!

And it doesn't hurt to scrub the tires with soap n water or simple green and water! Really makes it grip

[warfish]

Thanks for the tips, Crawling Calvin
I actually do wash my tires fairly often but my rock pit out back is very dry and dusty right now, so one run and they look like this

I have some 1/2" extensions I am going to add to the rear upper links and give that a shot!

[PowerCrazy]

Move your shocks to the inside of your links and also where you have your links instead of using a nut put a spacer where your nut is then the link on the other side and put a long screw through them both and back into the delrin in the middle

[Duuuuuuuude]

Originally Posted by PowerCrazy

Move your shocks to the inside of your links and also where you have your links instead of using a nut put a spacer where your nut is then the link on the other side and put a long screw through them both and back into the delrin in the middle

That would be 1000 times easier to read if you bothered to punctuate it.

[warfish]

Originally Posted by Crawling Calvin

Looking good so far! Try making the rear upper links longer, improves the car dramatically!

And it doesn't hurt to scrub the tires with soap n water or simple green and water! Really makes it grip

Ok, I lengthened the rear uppers and you are right, it was a very nice improvement Excellent tip, thank you again
I also have taken to watering down the dusty area a bit before driving and this is helping to keep the tires clean a bit longer.

[warfish]

Originally Posted by PowerCrazy

Move your shocks to the inside of your links and also where you have your links instead of using a nut put a spacer where your nut is then the link on the other side and put a long screw through them both and back into the delrin in the middle

I tried moving in the rear shocks as you suggested (the fronts where already inside links) and while it did seem to help with a direct upwards climb, I was losing the rear of the truck on sidehills a lot more.

I wanted to test this more but unfortunately I burned out my steering servo due to forgetting to reset endpoints after some changes so now she is shelved until payday. Expensive mistake