The 5:12 sportsmen

[chris.martell]

My new skid


It still need some cleaning up but IMO it's money! Thanks Crackhead for loaning me the uhmw after I messed up all of my figuring out the router.

I finally got some much needed wheel time in! I must say this crawler is bad a$$ un tuned it pulled steeper lines than any other version of this crawler I've had yet. The wheels stay planted and torque twist well it has none that ive noticed. Steering will get better when I can afford the xr mod but its fairly decent. I have some tire and weight tuning to do and my front links need to be shortened a touch to stand the front shocks up a bit plus I'm right at 12.5 wheel base so I'd rather be a hair short. Here are some pictures of my maiden voyage with the 5:12.






My rig is built not bought!

[chris.martell]

Travis I'd like to thank you for the inspiration for my Drop Kick chassis!

My rig is built not bought!

[MRCrackhead]

Nice job Chris. I like the new skid.

That's really cool how you were able to wrap the bottom of the chassis just like the big kids do.

I'd suggest countersinking the bolts from the bottom with a nut on top on those lower links. No chance of ripping one out that way.

Glad to see the rig running again.

Sounds like it's working even better than the last one.......but not good enough.......hahahaha!!!!!!!!

Just kidding, nice work.

[chris.martell]

I will counter sink the link bolts as soon as I dig up the right hardware but the screws that are holding it are in there good and have threads like a wood screw!

Get that Betty on the rocks and we'll see just how it performs Merc I need som wheel time.

My rig is built not bought!

[MRCrackhead]

It's getting close. May be running tomorrow.

To finish what I have left, it will likely be dark.

I'll be testing under the "stadium lights".

Makes me feel just like real rock star!!

[chris.martell]

I rounded up some hardware and countersunk the skid to bolt the lower links to the it. Now all I have to do to finish the skid is round off the rear edge.

As you can see the nylon nuts are clode to the drive shaft but clear.

My rig is built not bought!

[chris.martell]

Tonight I got some wheel weights fabed up out of 3/4 structural washers and my front links shortened a 1/4 inch. My rtr weight is 4lbs 9oz and my wheel base is 12 1/4 inches.

Wheel weights are a total of 6oz

Mount


Assembled




My rig is built not bought!

[MRCrackhead]

Nice job Chris.

I can't wait to see that skid in person.

How do you like the horizontal mounting of the lowers?

Do you notice any limiting of travel, other concerns?

What's the transition from the link to the skid look like with them turned that way?

[chris.martell]

Originally Posted by MRCrackhead

Nice job Chris.

I can't wait to see that skid in person.

How do you like the horizontal mounting of the lowers?

Do you notice any limiting of travel, other concerns?

What's the transition from the link to the skid look like with them turned that way?

Merc I like the new skid the transition isn't as good as mounting them the other way but I haven't sanded it to perfection yet either, mainly cause its not that bad and I have bigger issues to adress first.

Mounting them horizontally seems to help them articulate freely quite a bit and the links travel way more than I need.

As you can see the cups are much taller than the tire




Even with all that articulation the links just start to bottom out

My rig is built not bought!

[chris.martell]

Well I got the 5:12 finished in time for the Palmerton comp! I dont have much wheel time and what little I do was disheartening. After switching to 3s cvd pins seem to break rather quickly. So I went to LHS and got some piano wire slightly larger than the original pin and made a few sets. I haven't run them yet but the cvd's run a lot smoother than they use to in my hand. Hopefully it will last for this comp.

I also changed out my shocks for some ts01's and im running dual rate springs in them hard over soft. Felt this was the be setup for them but I'll ultimately hate them and get something else.



My rig is built not bought!

[chris.martell]

The Palmerton comp was great the rock there was superb and the all the guys were friendly and helpful. Wanna say thanks to all the judges and guys that set the courses.

My rig preformed better than I could have imagined. It was very stable pulling steep inclines and side hilling awesome.

I did however have some issues with my front axle all of which happened after I would make a driving error and would try to recover once on the lid. First course broke a cvd pin no big deal it was expected ever since I went 3s.

But this is what put me out for good and was totally unexpected

I was trying to recover when I wedged a tire against a rock and BAM snapped an axle! Oh well at least it partly ready for the xr mod.

My rig is built not bought!

[marzzz23]

nice meeting you today man! I saw that carnage in person!

[chris.martell]

It was good to meet you to marzzz23.

My rig is built not bought!

[Jslick]

I have several more of the carnage. Got tons of pics from Palmerton.

[chris.martell]

Originally Posted by Jslick

I have several more of the carnage. Got tons of pics from Palmerton.

Thanks John id like to see some of my rig actually crawling and not ripping the axle apart.

My rig is built not bought!

[winnerone23]

Originally Posted by chris.martell

Thanks John id like to see some of my rig actually crawling and not ripping the axle apart.

My rig is built not bought!

Might be a couple on my XR thread..

Great job yesterday Chris

[chris.martell]

I downloaded some off of Jslicks eparccrawler link to photo bucket.

My rig is built not bought!

[chris.martell]

My rig is built not bought!

[chris.martell]

Thanks go to Jslick, MRCrackhead and anyone else was taking pictures.

My rig is built not bought!

[TURBOFEST]

Lookin good! Looks as if you guys built some awesome courses yesterday!

Nice Carnage! Beef tube time ;)