Project: AX10 + scaler features + dig

[avanord]

The comp on Saturday was a good time. I really enjoyed meeting you and everyone else involved. Your truck ran really well.

All you need to do now is make that servo winch

Your bumper looks sick. What are you using to weld the aluminum together?

[Josh_Br]

Originally Posted by avanord

The comp on Saturday was a good time. I really enjoyed meeting you and everyone else involved. Your truck ran really well.

All you need to do now is make that servo winch

Your bumper looks sick. What are you using to weld the aluminum together?

Thanks man, your truck did great too. I really like those tires. That was a great time!

I am stoked to make the servo winch. I read the how-to on here, which said about the same thing you said

Thanks about the bumper. The stinking thing is trying my patience. The one in the photo was the first one, but I've made two more since then. The aluminum rod keeps breaking, down near where it will mount to the frame. It seems to be having a hard time taking the stress of being pounded a little flat, having holes drilled in it, and the nearby bend. I'm not sure if it's going to work out or not. I've been thinking about it a lot today, trying to dream up a better way to mount it to the frame rails. The weld / brazing is called "alumna-weld", or something similar. I got the stuff at Harbor Freight in Erie, and use it with a mapp gas torch. I do hope it works out because it's really light. Let me know if you have any ideas!

[Josh_Br]

Just ordered some 3/8" square aluminum rod. I'm going to try to make some clamps to attach the tube to the frame rails. Here's a design by C*H*U*D that I'm going to try to mimick:

[avanord]

You could also braze/weld the rounded tube to a piece of 1/8 in flat plate to make your mounting points. Overlap them a bit, braze them together, and then drill the holes in the flat plate.

Once you get this all figured out you should totally make me one. I do need a bumper.

Do you have your dig still installed in your truck? I have been looking into getting one after learning that I can run it in my scaler and still be class 3 legal. If so how do you like it?

[Josh_Br]

I like the idea, so long as the joint turns out strong. I am not yet a Jedi-master with the alumna-weld . Would be happy to make one for you, no problem.

Last night I made a tray for the battery to sit on, right behind the tranny. I'm planning to mount the servo winch in front of the tranny where the battery used to sit. What did you use for your winch hook?

I ended up removing the dig. It was a 3racing dig I got on tcscrawlers.com for around $40. It was hard to find a place to mount the servo at the proper angle, and I don't think it was the best design of a dig. Maybe that's why it was so cheap. It was cool; if you are in a really, really tight corner it can help. If you get one, would you move to a 4-channel radio, or work out a different winch setup?

[avanord]

For my tow hook i just use a paper clip or something like that and bend it to what I want. Then I tied the winch line with a fishing knot and put shrink wrap around it all. The shrink wrap gave it a much cleaner look.

As for a radio my GT3B is hacked so I actually have 6 channels on it. It is definitely capable of running all kinds of goodies.

As for a bumper I would definitely like one in the future, but I wouldnt want it to take time away from your build. I am a patient person.

[Josh_Br]

That's sweet about the radio, how fun - six channels could do a lot of thing. Thanks for the tip about the shrink wrap over the knot, that's a good idea. I also got some of that bow line or whatever it's called for the winch rope. I'll try to get ya a bumper after I get the mounting thing worked out. Do you plan to visit Big Dog again sometime?

[avanord]

I would say definitely sometime in the future. As of right now I am not sure how soon that will be. I should organize something up here and invite all of the guys from the comp up. There are some awesome rocks out near kinzua dam. Everyone would have a blast.

Are more comps going to be taking place in the future at Big Dog. I had a great time, but it is a long drive just to drive my crawlers. Especially having my own course in the basement. However if there are more comps I am sure I would be able to make it down.

[Josh_Br]

That would be cool to visit Kinzua; I love that part of the state. A friend and I used to go boating in the resovoir. Let me know if you get anything together, I will attempt to make it. As far as Big Dog, Ryan told me that they were hoping to have a crawler event every third Saturday of the month.

[avanord]

If they have those events I will be trying to make it to as many as possible.

[Josh_Br]

I took a break from the tubing and bumper. I ordered a stock AX10 servo off ebay for $17, and some bow string (not exactly sure what it's called) for about $5 to use for the winch cable. Here are the photos!

Disassembled the servo:



Removed this pin:



Cut off the nub that stuck up from this piece into the gear in the previous photo, then tried to center it (by hand) and put superglue on it to hold it in place:



Two servo horns to be a winch spool:



Drilled the top one out, then put a 6mm Axial spacer down through it which also fit into the bottom one a little....just trying to get it worked out:





Cable and hook:



As a test, I powered on the truck and winched it up my wife's Grand Cherokee...





Here it is installed on the truck. The cable goes up and in between two chassis spacers. They're nice and smooth for it to slide over. I added an off/on switch into the positive wire because the winch was spooling for a second when I powered on the truck (despite adjusting the trim). However, if I plug in the battery, wait for the ESC to stop blinking, and then turn on the winch it doesn't move at all. I'll probably just leave it turned off unless I'm using it.



I'm pretty stoked about this; it turned out good I gotta thank avanord for tipping me off to this and how simple it is to make a servo winch. It's really strong too, and cheap.

[Tin Soldier]

Originally Posted by Josh_Br

Thanks about the bumper. The stinking thing is trying my patience. The one in the photo was the first one, but I've made two more since then. The aluminum rod keeps breaking, down near where it will mount to the frame. It seems to be having a hard time taking the stress of being pounded a little flat, having holes drilled in it, and the nearby bend. I'm not sure if it's going to work out or not. I've been thinking about it a lot today, trying to dream up a better way to mount it to the frame rails. The weld / brazing is called "alumna-weld", or something similar. I got the stuff at Harbor Freight in Erie, and use it with a mapp gas torch. I do hope it works out because it's really light. Let me know if you have any ideas!

Why are you using aluminum and not steel? Most scale rigs are pretty heavy compared to comp crawlers. The steel is cheap, just use uncoated brake line and it's stronger and more durable. I will be turning my LCC into a class 3 tube scaler.

[Tin Soldier]

Originally Posted by Josh_Br

I took a break from the tubing and bumper. I ordered a stock AX10 servo off ebay for $17, and some bow string (not exactly sure what it's called) for about $5 to use for the winch cable. Here are the photos!

Disassembled the servo:

Attachment 198580

Removed this pin:

Attachment 198581

Cut off the nub that stuck up from this piece into the gear in the previous photo, then tried to center it (by hand) and put superglue on it to hold it in place:

Attachment 198582

Two servo horns to be a winch spool:

Attachment 198583

Drilled the top one out, then put a 6mm Axial spacer down through it which also fit into the bottom one a little....just trying to get it worked out:

Attachment 198584

Attachment 198585

Cable and hook:

Attachment 198586

As a test, I powered on the truck and winched it up my wife's Grand Cherokee...

Attachment 198587

Attachment 198588

Here it is installed on the truck. The cable goes up and in between two chassis spacers. They're nice and smooth for it to slide over. I added an off/on switch into the positive wire because the winch was spooling for a second when I powered on the truck (despite adjusting the trim). However, if I plug in the battery, wait for the ESC to stop blinking, and then turn on the winch it doesn't move at all. I'll probably just leave it turned off unless I'm using it.

Attachment 198589

I'm pretty stoked about this; it turned out good I gotta thank avanord for tipping me off to this and how simple it is to make a servo winch. It's really strong too, and cheap.

Do you have a 3 channel radio? Cause if not, I have an extra one I would sell.

[Tin Soldier]

You can also use a piece of tubing to direct your winch line so it doesn't get snagged. Just run the line thru the tube. Then you can make that tube come out at your bumper to a fairlead. :-)

[Josh_Br]

Do have a 3 channel, but thanks! BTW, have you ever considered a career in sales? Going with aluminum to try to keep the rig from being top heavy. Thanks for the ideas!

[avanord]

Nice work on the winch. I see you took my advice about the shrinkwrap on the hook/cable for a cleaner look.

Also I agree with making th bumpers and such out of aluminum. Although scale trucks can be heavier that doesn't mean that they have to be. Weight down low = good. Weight up high = roll over.

[Josh_Br]

Yes, the shrink wrap was a good suggestion. With this evolution of my rig, I have been striving to keep the CoG low, while transitioning to a class 3 scaler. Hope to work on the bumpers soon / next. I hope to incorporate some type of fairlead-ish tube into the front bumper to run the winch line through. Also, some day I'd love to find a good deal on Scx10 lights and mount them on the bumper too, I think.

[avanord]

Sounds like an awesome plan. Cog is a huge player in how well your rig will climb. Low and up front is my motto. Also the fairlead in the bumper is a nice addition.

[Tin Soldier]

I have light buckets just need to buy leds

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2

[Josh_Br]

Originally Posted by Tin Soldier

I have light buckets just need to buy leds

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2

Sweet! It sounds like you would part with them...?