I accidentally DNA

[Joonatin]

I think I’ve accidentally bought a AX10/DNA Slingshot... Oh noes! I didn’t actually really know much about what I was buying but it was cheap (160$) so I had to get it. It came with electronics, wheels big bores and a spare set of tires (Sedonas+Panthers), plus a rebuild kit for the dig unit. I changed the battery connector, plugged in my own receiver and it was pretty much ready to go. It has an oldie Castle Sidewinder, 10A Castle bec, 45t HH Torquemaster and Hitec servos.



I mainly bought it for some parts for my C3 project but driving this was actually quite fun. I just think it needs wider axles and softer springs. Luckily I ordered a set of Xtraspeed metal AR60s with AR44 gears, and don’t have a use for those before I do some tube work for the C3 rig, so they’ll go under this one for now.



It drives fairly well but the turning radius is abysmal. It can be improved a bit with moving the shocks more vertical and of course it’s no more an issue after I fit the wider axles under this. Plus then I can use 4WS too...

[2mtech]

Originally Posted by Joonatin

I think I’ve accidentally bought a AX10/DNA Slingshot... Oh noes! I didn’t actually really know much about what I was buying but it was cheap so I had to get it. It came with electronics, wheels big bores and a spare set of tires (Sedonas+Panthers), plus a rebuild kit for the dig unit. I changed the battery connector, plugged in my own receiver and it was pretty much ready to go. It has an oldie Castle Sidewinder, 10A Castle bec, 45t HH Torquemaster and Hitec servos.



I mainly bought it for some parts for my C3 project but driving this was actually quite fun. I just think it needs wider axles and softer springs. Luckily I ordered a set of Xtraspeed metal AR60s with AR44 gears, and don’t have a use for those before I do some tube work for the C3 rig, so they’ll go under this one for now.



It drives fairly well but the turning radius is abysmal. It can be improved a bit with moving the shocks more vertical and of course it’s no more an issue after I fit the wider axles under this. Plus then I can use 4WS too...

Makes it hard to cannibalize when you're driving it!

[Robbob]

Drive It
Learn It
Mod It

Thats a clean piece of history you got - Say the word and Ill reimburse your 160 and send it this way. Im not kidding.

[CM9000]

ooooh robbob breakin da rules! nice rig though. super clean. somebody took care of it and forgot about it..

[Joonatin]

Originally Posted by Robbob

Drive It
Learn It
Mod It

Thats a clean piece of history you got - Say the word and Ill reimburse your 160 and send it this way. Im not kidding.

I’m not selling it, can’t you see I’m driving it!

[billet works]

Love seeing so many of my early parts on one rig in such amazing shape!!! I have a NIP kit and NIP dig here somewhere, I need to build it for myself now!

Don

[trainer]

My old rig Had to get rid of a lot of old stuff and wasn’t sure if there was still a demand for an old shafty. Great to see that it still runs. I got the parts directly from Don when he was changing the name from DNA to Billet Works... and if this was old I also got rid of an old DMG tuber project with TLTs and a R2...

[goobs]

i still drive my ax10 sling shot...with straight links. confirmed i was the only person to order mine with straight links lol.
its a great chassis with good history.

[Highlucks]

Great piece of history there. Keep it just the way it is and build something new.

I have the most recent and only 1/16" CF version of this chassis. Don very gratiously cut it and hand delivered it for me when mine broke at the 2012 Nationals in Alabama.

[billet works]

Originally Posted by Highlucks

Great piece of history there. Keep it just the way it is and build something new.

I have the most recent and only 1/16" CF version of this chassis. Don very gratiously cut it and hand delivered it for me when mine broke at the 2012 Nationals in Alabama.

You've possibly had the broadest array of my parts of any one person here...man it seems like Alabama was only a few days ago...you and your airsoft gun fun!

[JohnRobHolmes]

yeah, solid old rig there!

[Joonatin]

Welp, some work done on the car for now. I tore apart pretty much the whole driveline, greased everything, checked binding etc. Found a bit of a mistake there as the front drivehaft was a few millimeters too long. When the suspension articulates, the driveshaft bottomed out and started pushing on the transmission case and even on the spur gear a bit. After a bit of work with a grinder, I now have a shorter shaft which doesn't bind. I also applied generous amounts of marine grease to the axles. I should also have some shims coming my way soon, then I can shim the axle pinions as there's a bit of a nasty grindy feeling if you push the driveshaft towards the axle. Nothing bad but I guess a 0.2mm shim or two will solve it

Still not exactly in love with the five foot or so turn radius. Smaller shocks might help a bit on that part, though I'll probably just end up with wider axles. Softer springs might be nice too.

edit. Also bought some 900mAh 3S batteries for this.

[Joonatin]

Today I finally got to put the car to some real work. We drove around for about three hours and it performed really well. My friend had a 4ws Wraith, most of the spots he could do, this could too. Some spots the Wraith couldn’t follow with it’s higher CoG. The tires aren’t perfect anymore as they are quite old, the turn radius was also a problem on some routes. I’ll probably buy some KLRs or Pitbulls at some point. Also looking forward to the wider axles, they should be here in a few days.

Anyways... Driving around with this is really fun! Quite different from my scale rigs.

[Joonatin]

I decided to do some work on the links. Rear uppers caused some problems as the dig servo got in the way of the links. After cursing for a while, I almost decided to get rid of the servo and dig unit. Then I found some old CRC carpet car servo mounts and put it on those. I could have just made some new links too but wasn’t really fond of the idea of having something like four bends in the links to get around a servo. Servo position seems weird but it’s actually working really well now, servo horn angle is probably close to perfect.

Now I was able to get the links above the rear plate, get some more antisquat and also put them as close together as possible. I also moved the front links a bit and tried putting the shock back a bit more, though after testing, it seems I’ll have to move it forward a step again. It would be nice to get more down travel for the front, though I sort like the shock angle now, so a pair of longer shocks might be good too.



The stance got so much lower on the front, I had to raise the body a bit.



Climbing angle got a lot better too. So much so, that I’m pondering on getting plastic rear wheels and pondering for a bit more grippy tires on the front. The car was able to make this climb, too bad the rock doesn’t continue on the other side. Then I’ll have to find a way to get rid of at least a pound of weight, preferably from the rear. I’ll probably have to stop soon, as I’ve already spent this summers car budget and a bit more...