SSS-Revival

[Scocrawler]

I built this rig several months ago and have just crawled the crap out of the poor thing! I swapped controllers with a co-worker of mine one day, and he promptly (not intentionally) drove it off a 12' cliff. Since I am waiting for a new control arm I decided it was way past due to show the poor thing some love.

What it is now..
Billet Works Design SSS-R (awesome value, great performer)
Hitec 7950
Holmes Hobbies Torquemaster Sport 35t with Hand wound armature added
Axial od/ud gears
Ax10 housings
Creation fab tubes
Crawler innovations DD Foams
Hot Bodies white dot Rovers (shaved)
XR10 steering conversion (universals, c-hubs, knuckles, zero Ackermann arms)
Stampede shafts
Parma Xciter body (when the sexy BWD Dub Topper is not in place)
Gunnar mounts
Castle Creations Sv2 ESC
Castle Creations BEC
Flysky gt3b
Narrowed axial Beadlocks

What needs to be done...
Obviously the control arm
Fast Eddy Bearings throughout
Locked Up RC slipper eliminator
Motor inspected
Re-make the steering linkage (when I first made it I did not realize the bolt I welded on to the tie rod was not 3mm like I wanted OOOPS)
Tidy up some wiring (Something I suck at)
Lube everything again.


Good thing my crawler is not one of my kids or I would be in the "Grey Bar Motel" for neglect

Parts incoming. Will post pics of progress

[chris.martell]

Sweet rig how wide is the front axle outside of tire to outside of tire

[Scocrawler]

Originally Posted by chris.martell

Sweet rig how wide is the front axle outside of tire to outside of tire

Thanks Chris! Not super custom like yours though! It is a shade under 12" depending how flat spotted the tires currently are.

[winnerone23]

That sucks bout ur rear lower man.. I love this chassis, its an amazing performer!
I ran the same setup before goin with the sss-rs in CF. Same chassis, just an extra row of holes to mount the shocks too.
So far last season and the first half of this season, its Killing it!
Bwd makes one hell of a rig. I also run a mini mantis in 1.9 class(which I'm keeping)...
Can't wait to see where you take ur build..

[slowride1]

only good thing is I think you still can get parts for that thing from bwd

[Scocrawler]

Originally Posted by winnerone23

That sucks bout ur rear lower man.. I love this chassis, its an amazing performer!
I ran the same setup before goin with the sss-rs in CF. Same chassis, just an extra row of holes to mount the shocks too.

A buddy recently asked me about my "dream" build and I kept coming back to this chassis but with conventional shocks. I love this thing!

Originally Posted by slowride1

only good thing is I think you still can get parts for that thing from bwd

Not sure for how long but Don was more than helpful in getting me a replacement on the way.

[Scocrawler]

Did get a little bit done. Tore the motor and transmission apart I am no expert so let me know if you spot something with the motor I missed. The brushes had lots of life and the comm looks to have little wear since last machining and did not see any signs of extreme heat

Slipper clutch has seen better days. Time for the crutch to go bye bye. Had it so tight it never slipped anymore anyway

[Scocrawler]

Was a little slow at work so I roughed out a knuckle weight hanger.

I later heard that RcBros has a really good price on their hangers. Took me all of about a minute on their web site to decide that was a better way to. I am still going to try go with a clutch pilot bushing just so I can say "I made those" Will post pics as parts come in.

[billet works]

Those rear lowers should land there first of the week.

[winnerone23]

As Always Don, top notch service and Fast shipping!


The sss chassis is a killer setup! Without or with shocks. I just spent all the loot on building a second set of axles for my new chassis, just so I didn't have to pull mine apart.. its a "dream" alright, everytime it makes a climb and ur smiling ear to ear

[Scocrawler]

Originally Posted by billet works

Those rear lowers should land there first of the week.

YAY! Thank you. One segment of the Colorado Winter Series is scheduled for the 15th, and if it is somewhere close to home I will put the rebuild on hold and participate. Sure it wont have the upgrades completed yet but I am dying to see how my rig and skills compare.

Originally Posted by winnerone23

As Always Don, top notch service and Fast shipping!


The sss chassis is a killer setup! Without or with shocks. I just spent all the loot on building a second set of axles for my new chassis, just so I didn't have to pull mine apart.. its a "dream" alright, everytime it makes a climb and ur smiling ear to ear

Agreed, Don has really come through each time I needed him to. I really don't have much experience with other chassis' but I have zero regrets with my purchase of the SSS-R

[Scocrawler]

Been a bit of a wrench fest around here. With a comp coming up shortly I sorta ran out of time. Don got my control arms to me just like he said. My Locked Up RC slipper eliminator arrived, and some Fast Eddy Bearings. So I quickly got to work rebuilding the transmission and both differentials. You would think as an Automotive Technician I would be a lot better about preventative maintenance but I digress. I replaced all the bearings, lubed it all up and tossed in the slipper eliminator. Then put the whole thing back together so I could make the comp. Which sadly was cancelled! So now to take it apart again and continue with the rebuild. RcBros Weight Hangers showed up yesterday but I am having a heck of a time finding the right sized pilot bushing. Will hopefully get to the knuckle weights on Wednesday. Need to finish a bit of shopping and what seems like a ton of wrapping so who knows.........

[Crawling Calvin]

looks good on the rig. I personally never ran a slipper since it was more of a nightmare chasing it down to tighten it than anything.

Best of luck on the rig and don't go driving off any more cliffs! If you keep breaking the arms consider getting a pair made in glass filled Delrin. It weighs more and may not slide as well but should be tough as heck

[Scocrawler]

Originally Posted by Crawling Calvin

looks good on the rig. I personally never ran a slipper since it was more of a nightmare chasing it down to tighten it than anything.

Best of luck on the rig and don't go driving off any more cliffs! If you keep breaking the arms consider getting a pair made in glass filled Delrin. It weighs more and may not slide as well but should be tough as heck

Thanks! I really hope to avoid breaking any more control arms. Don sent me 2 so just incase I will be fine. If I do have many more of these issues I will see about something more serious.

[Scocrawler]

I did get my knuckle weights made. Couple minor problems. The rims on my SSS-R wont clear them, and they are currently on my Ridgecrest. The Ridge has rims that will clear the knuckle weights and has the same knuckles as my SSS-R. Once I get some rims for the crawler I will put the knuckle weights on it. The Ridge is just a basher and has no need for them.

The pilot bushings I came up with were not really what I wanted. They are brass impregnated alloy of some sort, and about a 1/4in too large in diameter. So had to machine them down to 1.6in od and drill out the middle to .750in id. Drill and tap for a couple mounting screws and done. They came out pretty well and the cost was right. I will toss them on the scale before I mount them but I am expecting them be right at 3oz each.

I also got a set of blue dot Voodoos to run once I get some rims. These things are sticky! And not even their sticky compound! I can see why all the cool kids run them. I can't wait to see how they grip the sandstone we normally crawl on. Will post updates of course. They have the reputation for not disappointing and I am sure I will be no different.

[crawl-o-matic]

"They have the reputation for disappointing and I am sure I will be no different."

...they do?

[Scocrawler]

Terribly sorry! Edited. These tires are going to be insane! I AM VERY EXCITED