Project Molluscan

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I've been toying with the idea of my own chassis for a while, well I've finally taken the plunge.

The aim was purposely to be more fun than anything else, so with this in mind I designed the chassis around a snail form. Why? Because they creep about over the gardens and rocks and why not? :P So on to the build so far.



Designed in QCad/libreCad, a free program available in the linux world. There's not much it can't do for my simple 2D requirements, it's not over the top and I've used it quite a lot over the last few years now.

I found myself with a hour 2 so set to cutting the forms on a scroll saw @ work. Once there, drilled a few holes and bolted the pair of forms together. Using a simple sanding drum the form was cleaned to shape. Finally the remaining holes were drilled.





So, with the basic form there, I assembled the chassis to this point. I'll be using 6mm acetal rod for cross braces and custom links. The skid is from a Gate Keeper, at about £5 plus postage I didn't think it was worth the effort of making one. It will probably stay at this stage for a few days until I find the time to make the braces/links.



Let me know what you think, ideas are welcome :good2:

[chris.martell]

Very interesting design. I like it its good to see someone having fun with there imagination. :thumbup: cant wait to see more

Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk 2

[TSK]

Pretty artsy way to do it. Rollover should be fantastic.

Where are your provisions for the upper links? Or will you be utilizing the sames holes as those for the shocks? Cause you may want add some holes for the front uppers as your link geo will be pretty funky.

Any reasoning behind thear60 front axle and AX rear?

Have fun with it!

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Thanks for the kind words, it's all for fun

Upper links will be using the existing holes for now. If I find I need more fixings it's an easy job to sort. The reason for the AR60's at the front is to add a bit of stability and because I have them to hand. Again something a bit different to look at. I'll have a play with wheel offsets if it looks too drastic. Or I may simply end up running ax10 axles and use the AR60's else where.

I was discussing the chassis with a friend, he suggested a torsion set up may look better, I didn't really consider the shocks would cover much of the design and make it less 'snail like'. We'll see on that one.

Hopefully some time on the lathe tomorrow will be possible...

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A quick lashed together idea for it's looks. I need a few more holes I think for the upper links to join the chassis lower.

So far lowers are 110mm and uppers 80mm eye to eye. I've got a shade over 75mm centre height clearance and my wheelbase has slipped just below 300mm.



I have to strip it back down now to get the extra holes drilled hey ho!

One question I have to ask, 50:50 or 60:40, does this refer to weight or dimensions? I've noticed many of the after market chassis use a longer rear prop shaft. This makes me think it's down to the links?

Thanks for looking

[chris.martell]

Well IMO the 60/40 or 50/50 bias is reference to the weight of your vehicle front/rear. You can achieve your bias by adding weight or like me I wanted to achieve a 60/40 bias by making the rear links longer and the front shorter. Keeping all electronics on the front axle including battery makes it easier to get a forward bias. Hope this helps

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cheers for the advice Chris, I've stretched the rear links to 130mm and 100mm so a little rework.

I made a pair of acetal links from 50mm to 110mm in 5mm increment for future use, it'll ensure I have a easier time with links during these diy builds

The Molluscan got some electronics chucked in, Tekin fxr, Novak 55T and a 996R servo for now, I just wanted to see it live!

It works! :good2: I'll get some matching wheels on it soon, I have a set of beadlocks as well as some alloy hubs I can experiment with soon.

Cable tied and lashed together,


And for comparison, it did pretty well on the vertical against my SSS


I'll get to use it for a bit tomorrow just around the garden maybe, but it's a start

[chris.martell]

Just so you know I make my links out of 3/16 aluminum rod with a .049 I.D. to tap 3mm for the rod post and use traxxas rod ends part #1942 and 2742x so I can adjust my links by about 4 to 5mm and if you have 3mm nuts not lock nuts just regular nut there is even more adjustment.

You can see how I use the nuts here and the rod ends are 2 different lengths as for the aluminum it's held up for me rather nicely!
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Knocked a couple of battery/servo trays up, I'll see what they fit like in the next day or so.

They're made from some aluminium angle, 40mmx10mm

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Well, a bit more done, a bit more complete :good2:

It crawls quite well, the chassis needs to be a bit more rigid imo, you can see it flexing and it contorts around the garden obstacles. Sidney helped me out a bit with a flex shot









I still need to play with the shocks, I chopped some alloy threaded shocks to get them to size adding revo shafts into the mix with their tin coating. I'm getting just a spot of notchiness when they've rested or have been extended. More lube I think

OD and UD gears next with a decent servo. The Fxr is a different beast to the AE-2, I think I will be dropping the brake down a level or 2, endo's are not needed in my book

[chris.martell]

Its coming along very nicely.

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[chris.martell]

Man I keep finding my self looking at those servo/4link plates and getting inspired to make some for the 5:10 with some sweet access holes for the reciver and also to be light weight I have 2" aluminum flat bar and 1.5". Any tips?

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[MRCrackhead]

This thing is just plain crazy! I like it.

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Cheers lads, It's good to be involved

Chris, fab something out of cardboard first, iron out what you need there then go for alloy or cf if you're feeling 'exotic'

I scour the availability of stock material to make my life a little easier, 40mm X 10mm is to hand locally.

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bit of a video for your dissection

I managed to get to a 'local' spot, Black Rocks in Derbyshire for a hour or so. My good lady recorded a few minutes footage, here it is in all it's raw glory. I think the chassis is showing promise, it managed better than my DNA SSS rig on many lines. It was a bit tripod happy so a bit more work on the shocks yet, just to get it to conform a little more.

I'm using pink mini-t springs on the front, orange on the rear iirc. 30wt oil.

watch and weep

black rocks - YouTube

[chris.martell]

The snail is crawling rather well my friend! Whats you front link geometry like? The front wheel lifting like that is just like my old swx.

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Thanks Chris I used to have a SWX chassis too. These links are 110mm lowers and 80mm uppers on the front, eye to eye. Rears are 130mm and 100mm, shocks are about 85mm.

I'll get some better pics soon, if anyone wants a copy of the drawing in pdf or dxf format, so long as it's for personal use, feel free to pm me. I have the battery trays drawn too if anyone's interested?

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As promised, a few better pics of the rig as it stands.






And, to try and get some more technical knowledge, I've had a play with the Anti Squat of both axles, I need another hole in the front for a neutral setup. That'll be in the mk2



The yellow lines depict CoG height wise, and the 100% Anti Squat. The other lines are where the lowers are already and where the uppers should be to avoid movement under power. My uppers need to move up one notch on the rear. The fronts need an extra hole to gain 100%. Well I hope that's what it all means

[chris.martell]

Hows the snail rig coming along banners?

My rig is built not bought!

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How time flies! Nearly 4 weeks on, I've built the mk2 chassis adding another hole for anti-squat adjustments and generally just making it a nicer looking rig when up close.

I took it out for it's first proper outing over the weekend. There's not too many folk into crawlers over this side of the pond and I'm not overly competitive so the chance to meet a few locally is definitely not to be sniffed at! One of the guys has a Sudu so at last, something to compare the snail to It lost out a little to the Sudu (lovely looking chassis, handles very well) on the steepest inclines but it was close, a little link adjustment helped, so more tweaking needed. And to put in the overdrive gear. And to move all the electronics over the front axle. And a little added weight to the front if needed. And..... lol they're never finished

A little pic or 2 I snapped, in Derbyshire, UK.




And another thing I love about this hobby, is the views, a little self indulgent but, why not?



So in answer to Chris, Project Molluscan is crawling closer to being a nice rig that will hopefully hold it's own, the limits being more down to the driver

Built, the way forward!