Yet another gopher - starting a colony!

[ecoli]

These things really are like gophers, there's tons of them out there! Anyways, here's my take on the whole gopher. The hood design was inspired from Harley0706 and I have to give props to Kawika for giving me some tips on setting up the gopher. Also to Double J for posting up the templates for the skull and hood design.

As it is winter in the great white north, running it outdoors will have to wait for a while. I'm sure there'll be more tweaking in the future. In the meantime, I just run over my son's toys.

Basic specs are as follows:

AX-10 drivetrain, axles, wheels (weighted with stick on weights)
Losi rock claws
Gopher chassis
Maxx shocks
CE Rooster
TQ2 tx/rx
Not shown, but I run 6-cell 2/3A saddle packs

Some personal touches:

Handmade 4-link plates/mounts
Extended shock height without adding extra flex by swapping out rod ends for slightly longer ones
Drilled out lower lower link holes (no, I'm not repeating myself)
Lighting!

On to the pics:



The underbelly of the beast. Made out of 1/8" lexan spray painted black. The extra screw across from the tranny goes all the way through and is held in place on the other side by a locknut to ensure the skid plate doesn't flop around. I see this skidplate requiring revisions in the future to help with sliding.



Full compression. Clearance is just under 2 inches (I can slide a 2x4 under it).



Full droop. Clearance is around 3.7 inches (The tires just touch the ground sitting on the chunk of 4x4)





Front and rear ends showing the 4-link plate and mount. The mount for the upper links was the biggest PITA, but it's solid in more ways than one. There's enough room on there that if I still get torque twist, I can easily bolt the rear uppers to the 4 link plate.





Rat's nest of wiring for the led's and the lighting itself. Seems a little weak. Gotta look for some higher output led's.

[ecoli]

And some more poser (poseur?) photos:











Still have to put in some internal springs. I think that will help limit flex.

One of the annoying things I had to deal with was link lengths. The front links are shorter than their rear counterparts. If they were the same length, then the skidplate angled downwards. Not exactly great for an approach to a climb. Not sure if this is a common issue or what, but if it works, I'm happy.

[Cole82]

It is suppose to be a 60/40 split. This puts more weight on the front axle. Also if you had hi clearence links in back it make the truck climb taller ledges.
Your truck is nice and clean though, I like the all black.

[toy4crawlin]

Good work on the panels.

But those chassis are Fugly
I can't beleive they made the pan square and not angle sides like the real 1:1 :-( So ugly and cheeesy

[deer_assassin]

I like the whole black out theme!

[ecoli]

Originally Posted by Cole82

It is suppose to be a 60/40 split. This puts more weight on the front axle. Also if you had hi clearence links in back it make the truck climb taller ledges.
Your truck is nice and clean though, I like the all black.

Ah, that explains it. I figured that one out by accident I guess

High clearance lower links will be next, buying a tube bender tomorrow

toy4crawlin: to each their own I guess. It wasn't my favourite at first, but it grows on you (then again, so does fungus ).

[kawika]

Originally Posted by Cole82

It is suppose to be a 60/40 split. This puts more weight on the front axle. Also if you had hi clearence links in back it make the truck climb taller ledges.
Your truck is nice and clean though, I like the all black.

A 40/60 split? The front links are supposed to shorter, correct?

ecoli the truck looks great

[Cole82]

Originally Posted by kawika

A 40/60 split? The front links are supposed to shorter, correct?

ecoli the truck looks great

Yes shorter in the front.
Everyone I know still calls it a 60/40. I know what you are getting at though.

[dezfan]

Kinda looks like an armored car!

[jwilli2213]

what does it matter if the links are the same size front and rear

[JUSTGOINGSLOW]

You have a dragster and its not at 12.5 wheelbase 60/40 40 front 60 rear

[ecoli]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I'm hoping for an early spring so I can actually run the thing!

Originally Posted by jwilli2213

what does it matter if the links are the same size front and rear

As justgoingslow stated, if you had a 50/50 split, the front end is a lot lower. It's especially noticeable in the skid plate where it's angled downwards. Not exactly the best approach to a rock!

I just fiddled with the lengths until the skid plate was more or less parallel with the ground. It's probably not exactly a 60/40 (or 40/60) split, so I'll likely change the final lengths yet. I want to keep the wheelbase at 12.5" (it's just under that right now), so that will mean shortening up the front links a bit more and lengthening the rear ones.

[kawika]

Originally Posted by ecoli

Thanks for the feedback guys. I'm hoping for an early spring so I can actually run the thing!



As justgoingslow stated, if you had a 50/50 split, the front end is a lot lower. It's especially noticeable in the skid plate where it's angled downwards. Not exactly the best approach to a rock!

I just fiddled with the lengths until the skid plate was more or less parallel with the ground. It's probably not exactly a 60/40 (or 40/60) split, so I'll likely change the final lengths yet. I want to keep the wheelbase at 12.5" (it's just under that right now), so that will mean shortening up the front links a bit more and lengthening the rear ones.

I had no idea that the gopher chassis was designed to use a 60/40 link set-up. I prefer a 50/50 set-up only because the front and rear suspension should behave in a similar manner, at least the path of motion should be the same. The dampening characteristics will change though because of the changes in shock angle. I'm having some trouble with torque twist. If I can't sort that out with different oil and internal spring combinations, I'm going to try the 60/40 split.

In respect to the ride height being lower in the front, you can always add a little rubber tubing to the outside of the shock as a bump stop. But, that will decrease articulation a little bit.

I mounted my shocks on the links so that I could adjust ride height very quickly depending on the comp site. The downside to that is they could get caught on rocks ext and as the shock slides away from the axle it loses its ability to dampen the movement.

Ecoli, I love the flat black. And don't listen to those Gopher haters. There is beauty is simplicity.