Solitaire's 2nd SuckerPunch

[tapped-out]

Why did you space your upper links at the axles, Is it because you're using straight upper links? Maybe bent upper links would give your servo arm the room needed because you wouldn't have to use spacers.

[Solitaire]

Yep, using straight uppers. Even with a bent upper and mounting it close to the center point, I'd still have clearance issues. Also, I'm not sure how bent 1/8" Ti would hold up under stress. The distance between the the links is about the same as my present shafty, so I went with that measurement.

As usual, I could be overthinking the whole thing.

[Robbob]

From what I remember bent upper links get spring go when your using 1/8" rod, better to keep them straight.

[tapped-out]

Originally Posted by Solitaire

Yep, using straight uppers. Even with a bent upper and mounting it close to the center point, I'd still have clearance issues. Also, I'm not sure how bent 1/8" Ti would hold up under stress. The distance between the the links is about the same as my present shafty, so I went with that measurement.

As usual, I could be overthinking the whole thing.

I run 1/8" titanium bent upper links on my 2.2pro crawler for at least 3 seasons & going strong. Matter of fact last night going over my pro rig the 3mm screw holding upper links to rear axle (berg) was bent but links held up. I have no idea how/when it happened but links held up.

When I update my upper links on my sucker punch rig I'll run bent 1/8" uppers
If they don't hold up you can remind me, I should have ran straight links.

[Robbob]

Originally Posted by tapped-out

If they don't hold up you can remind me, I should have ran straight links.

Not they dont hold up ...... just 'can' feel springy

[onebullet]

i have no spacer on the servo side and my servo arm is hitting my rod end.

[TSK]

Originally Posted by Solitaire

I said I would mention why I thought the front DLux link mount should be slightly higher and the issue was the servo arm hitting the upper link rod end on a left turn. The solution was to put a double bend downward in the servo arm. Right now it just clears the upper link rod end on a left swing as well as the bolt in the small cross brace holding down the link mount on a right swing.

Nothin' like a hammer and a vice for fine tuning.

I may have to shave the top of the forward CF upright on the link mount once the drag link is connected.

That servo horn won't hold up after bending it like that,,,,

You need this Lsoi crawler servo horn. Thin but they have never given me any trouble. Notice how the arm is one the servo side of the splines instead of away from the servo case like standard horns.

Losi Aluminum Crawler Servo Arm (Hitec) [LOSA99038] | Parts - AMain.com - AMain.com

[Solitaire]

Well, there you have it...already two differing opinions on bent 1/8" Ti. I may have to bend the front uppers to give enough clearance for the electronics which will be mounted on the end of the servo rack. We'll see when I get to that point. Most of my time the last day or so was spent on fabricating a mounting plate for the Hulksta tranny. Pics on that later.

Originally Posted by TheSCorpionKing

That servo horn won't hold up after bending it like that,,,,

You need this Lsoi crawler servo horn. Thin but they have never given me any trouble. Notice how the arm is one the servo side of the splines instead of away from the servo case like standard horns.

Losi Aluminum Crawler Servo Arm (Hitec) [LOSA99038] | Parts - AMain.com - AMain.com

Travis, long time no see. Appreciate the link on that servo horn. Putting together an order from AMain as we speak, so your timing is spot on. I'll pick one up as a backup. I prefer the clamping style and will see how long the bent one lasts. I did notice the alum in the Axial horn is quite soft.

[Solitaire]

Originally Posted by onebullet

i have no spacer on the servo side and my servo arm is hitting my rod end.

I think you could run your drag link under the servo arm for clearance (as mine will be), but I can't quite tell from your pic.

[onebullet]

doesnt really matter where i mount it, the server horn is goning to touch the rod end haha.

[Solitaire]

OK, servo arm has just enough bend in it to clear the link mount, so that's done.

Now the next issue is lower link placement. First pic is my present SuckerPunch with lowers that I made out of Lunsford Rock Grinder links. The transition from skid to rear lowers is on the same plane. Can't quite get that from the DLux links I have on the new one (2nd pic). I had to internally limit the rear shocks by 7mm to get somewhat close and to get the skid clearance to a reasonable height (still a bit high).

[Solitaire]

As mentioned earlier, I had a Hulksta tranny I wanted to try out. Had a ton of stock XR gears that I'd never use again in the Pro, so some went into this.



I had bought a 13T 500 Limited Puller from Holmes, but it was just a tad too long for this tranny and chassis, so had to order a 400 Puller and it just fits.
Unfortunately, I couldn't get the nice red can on the 400, but did settle for a red hood and upped a size on the wire fill. Spent a little time fashioning a plate for it to sit on.





For reference, here's the difference in length between the two motors.

500T...



400T...

[Solitaire]

Well, I've done something I really didn't want to do...put a bend in my rear 1/8" uppers. Unfortunately, the length of the tranny output shaft creates a rub point, so a slight bend will have to suffice. If these give me any grief, I'll go 3/16".

Before:





After:

[Solitaire]

And because of the narrower tranny/motor combination, the right hand chassis spacers can be removed.



Managed to fit a Rowdy Racing battery tray on the front axle. Just clears the shock and with a small bracket on the front, it should be strong enough to withstand my normal comping position...on the roof.



Only a couple of things left to do. Install the tierod I got from 5D, fashion some kind of electronics plate and install the electronics. Gettin' close.

[cboggs]

Any chance you can shorten that tranny output shaft so the angle isn't so steep? Builds going good, I look forward to comping against it soon.

[Solitaire]

Well, that would be the smart thing to do, but I'm not sure how well I can cut Ti and then drill a thru hole nice and straight.
Mind you, I have lots of length to play with if I bork it up.

[Erik D_lux]

Originally Posted by Solitaire

I think the front truss could be a tad higher, which I'll explain why later.

Sorry, really late to the party here. I dont come in this section much anymore.

You dont really want the upper links to be any higher. Where you have them is pushing it depending on the chassis. If you put them higher, you will have much more anti dive in your front link geometry and it typically wont serve you well. You might even find this now but with my sucker punch, I might have had close to the same amount of anti dive as you do? You will just have to drive it and find out. If they upper links at the axle go higher, you might have to have a chassis made that has the chassis upper links that go higher and still yet, you would be messing with geometry in other ways. In other words.... best to keep the truss how it is.

Originally Posted by Solitaire

I said I would mention why I thought the front DLux link mount should be slightly higher and the issue was the servo arm hitting the upper link rod end on a left turn.

As said, I think one of the huge issues of why the servo horn is hitting the rod end is because you spaced them horizontally at the mount. Ideally, you should not even be into the rod ends if you have the correct length drag link and not space it closer to the horn.

Here are a couple of pictures of mine and the clearance issues (none).

Dlux Sportsman build


I know you said that you spaced them out because you were probably binding the rod end since they were straight. Putting some bent rod ends on instead of bent links works great. This way you should be able to remove the spacer that is causing the issue and also get bind free. I also wonder if you could have avoided bending the rear uppers with some bent rod ends? Always good to have the bent ends in the tool box to double check. I ran my car with bent uppers and know quite a few others that did too with zero issues.

Dlux Sportsman build

As another option, I ended up changing my sporty to have steering like my Berg since I like it so much. If you have the real estate, you should give it a shot. The geometry is much better and the servo horn is out of the way of the rocks along with not fighting the rod ends on the upper mount.

Dlux Sportsman build

Lastly, you could try a flatter non clamping servo horn like in the pictures above. As you can see, it will help a ton with clearance issues and against popular belief, non clamping horns are STRONGER and more reliable than clamping. Its pretty much a moot point if youre not stripping clamping horns but just throwing the info out there.

Originally Posted by onebullet

ive been trying to think of the best way to make the right side servo mount a bit beefier. That little grub screw makes me worry

You shouldnt have issues with the set screw, I dont know a single person that has and lots and lots of guys run the same setup on Ultra 4 cars where they are close to 8lb and are ramming rocks at high speed.

A little fastener tech for you...

Whenever using a set screw, you never want to tighten against whatever its going towards at the bottom. Using a set screw, you want to thread it in with thread locker just until its securely into the material. Ideally this is 1.5x the diameter so 3mm x 1.5 = 4.5mm deep.

After doing that, you then want to put the nut or in this case, the servo post over the top of it and crank it down. Now it will act like a screw and put all the forces on the threads and under the head of the nut instead of all the forces only at the very bottom of the set screw.

Pretty overkill for RC stuff but maybe it will be helpful in "real world" applications where strength has more importance. Either way, my guess is that youre threading the set screw in too far before putting the servo post on.

[Tom G]

Bob

I had the same problem when I ran AR-60 axles.

I just flipped the axle over and swiped all the parts around, that has the drive line run a little more parallel with the upper links instead of crossing under.

You'll have to swap the ring gear to the other side so till turn the right direction.

[Solitaire]

Appreciate the tips, fellas.

With the tweaks already done, I have the clearances needed to at least do some testing. I'll swap out/rearrange components later if there are any issues.

[Solitaire]

Smashed the BEC and BR Mini today and set it up for bench testing. Still have to fashion an electronics plate yet.

I definitely have to reduce the angle of the rear driveshaft...some major shakin' going on. I guess it's time to test my cutting and drilling skills on the Ti