Cheap SOB Crawler Build

[hpiguy]

Originally Posted by MRCrackhead

I used a 4" grinder with a cut-off wheel.

Clamp the guard of the grinder to a flat table so you don't have to hold it steady (my grinder stays turned on without holding the button).

This allows you to lay the wheel on the same table and "push" it into the grinder wheel to make the cut.

Then you can "turn" the wheels with both hands and the cut will be perfectly flat.

I used some various pieces of flat metal to raise or lower the wheel until it was cutting exactly where I wanted.

I don't remember how much I cut out, but my wheels ended up being around 7/8" wide measured at the beadlock face (plastic, not the rings).

Cut the beadlock free from one side, run a screw all the way in through the beadlock ring and plastic wheel to see how much sticks out of the backside. This will determine how much you can remove without that screw hitting the screw coming from the other side.

I had a 2mm tap, so I tapped the plastic holes after the cutting was done just to make it easier to run the screws in, but that may not be necessary.

I used 3 bolts to make sure the wheels were lined up correctly, and glued the edges, tightened those 3 bolts, and then ran a bead of glue around the joint for extra piece of mind.

Let them dry, pull the screws, drill new vent holes (old holes got cut away), and install tires....

Thanks for taking the time to write all that up. For now, I gotta get through Christmas buying for others. I don't own a grinder or drill press (and don't like borrowing tools), which would both be needed for the mod it seems. Might just be cheaper to buy a set of SLW compatible wheels in the long run in my case. Someday, I'll own a nice shop with a decent house.

Originally Posted by brado

Looks great so far. What is the name of the chassis

It's a Bender SWX chassis, circa 2008 I believe.

Well, I spent the rainy crappy weekend pretty much finishing this rig up, for now. With the custom front axle setup, I'll need to pick up some wheels that let me run adjustable offset hubs, but that will have to wait until after Christmas. For now, the pro lines up front and rocksters in back get me closer than it was, still just over an inch off though; I'm at 11" front TW and almost 10" rear. I'll also add some UD / OD gears in the future as well.

I'd also like to give a big thanks, to everyone that's helped me out on this build. And its not done yet, just paused until Christmas is over with and the bank account recovers.

Finished up the steering rack and electronics, running another BIA RX, I love these things. A 3s 460mah pack fits just right (it can lay flat if I want also), just need to solder up an adapter from JST to Deans.



This is how much steering I ended up with, with nothing binding, and nothing rubbing anywhere



And of course, some poser shots complete with new stickers

[MRCrackhead]

No drill press needed.

Tapped the 2mm holes by hand and drilled vent holes with......any kind of drill.

A dremel, hacksaw, coping saw, or other device would do the cutting.

I just did it that way cuz I had the stuff, and I can't cut sraight with the aforementioned tools.......lol.

Anyway, your track width isn't that bad right now.

After my axle build I was at 11-1/2" or something crazy.

Comped it, and took third place. Total rookie driver to boot.

Once you've gotten used to it that way, over the holidays, you'll just be that much better at clearing gates if you narrow it.

It's a runner now, just drive, learn, and enjoy!

[MRCrackhead]

Also, how many degrees of castor do you have?

Your kingpins look close to plumb.....zero degrees.

Looks like you could use a bit more, which would help clear things on the backside, and increase your steering angle.

Rotating your knuckles back one more spline might change a lot, without changing a lot....

[hpiguy]

LOL, that's my problem. I can't cut or drill anything straight either. I think I'll throw some wheel wideners on the back (short ones) to even it up for now. It's cheap and it shouldn't be any worse that a wider offset hub as far as leverage for breaking things is concerned. I'm running the stock Wraith chubs and knucks, and have them all the way towards the rear axle (last hole in that direction) right now. I'll look at doing something about that this week. And you can bet it will get some drive time in the coming weeks. Ya know, you're pretty knowledgeable for a crackhead.

[MRCrackhead]

Traxxas #3654 wide wheel hexes well get you about 1/4" wider.

They're plastic, but dirt cheap for a short term fix.

Get you about 10-1/4" rear, which is really close to ideal depending on your setup and drive style.

[hpiguy]

Ordered

[hpiguy]

I moved my RX tonight to fit larger packs up front, need to order up some small 3s packs now. I'm hoping the weather is decent this weekend, I wanna hit some rocks.

[chris.martell]

Get out there and lets know how it handles

[brettd]

Do you have the part # for the Traxxas screw you used in place of the bushings for the chub to knuckle?

This is a great build you have going on here. I still have my SWX chassis. I was going to scrap it since we didn't run a sporty class, but my boy wants to crawl, and we have just added a sporty class, so there ya go! Loving all the homebrew ideas.

Let us know how it performs!

[hpiguy]

Originally Posted by chris.martell

Get out there and lets know how it handles

I definitely will, just need the weather to cooperate on the weekends.

Originally Posted by brettd

Do you have the part # for the Traxxas screw you used in place of the bushings for the chub to knuckle?

This is a great build you have going on here. I still have my SWX chassis. I was going to scrap it since we didn't run a sporty class, but my boy wants to crawl, and we have just added a sporty class, so there ya go! Loving all the homebrew ideas.

Let us know how it performs!

Yessir, they're TRX #3642, 3x12mm shoulder screws. Thanks, I had a lot of help and great advice along the way. Good luck on your sons build, and that's a very cool way to spend time together. I'll keep you guys posted for sure.

[hpiguy]

I finally got to get out on the rocks over the Thanksgiving holiday, and got some playtime at the T1e RC compound. Huge thanks to Rusty for having me out for some crawling and rig abuse, and all the advice and pointers. I had a ton of fun, and I'm totally hooked on crawling this time around!


The rig did well, but I need to fab some steering stops or buy knuckles that have them, as I have so much steering that it will bind even the shaved unis. But mostly, I just need to work on my driving. I always want to focus on the front tires, and forget where the rears will land. In short, going slow is a lot harder than it looks.

[MRCrackhead]

Awesome! Cool Pictures.

Most fun you can have under two miles and hour...lol.

I thought going slow was hard......then I went to a comp where they started a timer....

Suddenly going slow, very fast, was even harder than going slow!

Helluva good time.

[hpiguy]

Ha ha, yeah we didn't run a timer. More just getting me used to gates and directional arrows, and breaking the habit of hitting reverse. Man, that's gonna be a hard habit to break for sure when you've been doing it for over 20 years. I can't wait to hit a comp next year, rig is getting torn down for some updates tonight.

[hpiguy]

Well I spent my evening swapping everything over to my new chassis. It's a V1 ECD ringer, and so far, I'm not very happy with it. I should have done more research. It has tons of flex, most of it in the chassis itself. I have some carbon that appears to be long enough, so I'm going to go buy a respirator tomorrow and it looks like it's back to cheap SOB fab time again.

[slowride1]

lay the rear shocks in some more
get the angle rite on the rear shaft
rock that bitch don't worry about the flex .
that chasis dose work well.
I would try to switch it over to 3.5 shocks but I understand money
the plastic scx shocks are cheep tho.
go look at ittybittys tread if u need help. he has his rocking as well

[slowride1]

let the rear set down some more will help out on that drive shaft angle some an mout the rear upper links on the outside of the chasis . looks like your missing 2 spacers as well for the chasis braces

[hpiguy]

Thanks slowride, maybe I'm over thinking it. Back in my day, frames were metal and didn't flex I'll try those things for sure. I have some extra chassis spacers actually, and there are two white spacers under the motor brace. What about limiting a set of Wraith shocks to 3.5" ?

[slowride1]

im not a fan of the limit
the bodys are to big an don't conpress small enough
but u can try that . the rear is just to high. try moving the shocks in some so your laying them down more . I really liked mine when it was soft. I was like 2 3/4 at the rear of the skid is all

[slowride1]

ya put the other 2 spacer in at the front an rear hole in the chasis an then run one on the shocks as well. it will still flex alittle but don't worry about it so much. if you want to stop it more then put alum spacers in an that will stop more of that . but I would get the rear setup rite first an try it .
I liked my rear links back over the axle more as well but that all little things to make it better. the way it sets it will flex it ass off cause of that rear drive shaft angle. get it as straight as you can

[hpiguy]

Ok, I'll likely just grab a set of SCX 10 shocks like you said, as they're cheap on the bay. I think trimming my rear links to get my wheelbase in line will also fix the drive shaft angle, I'm off by almost 1/2" right now. I'll do all of those things, thanks a ton slowride!