Rob's sportsmen build

[rob5059]

Well, I picked up a Ridgecrest on Friday for a Sportsmen build. Currently I am running an XR10, but I plan on selling this so I can have a crawler in the same class as my wife and son. My plan is to keep this a low budget build, and use as many parts as I can from my spare pile. I have some concerns with the axle width of the Ridgecrest, so I am not sure how well this will do. If it fails, I will dig out my old Warthog chassis and do the XR10 mod to some Scorpion axles.

The only thing I have purchased for this is the Ridgecrest, and Axial XR10 aluminum C-hubs and knuckles.

Ridgecrest
Axial XR10 aluminum c-hubs
Axial XR10 aluminum knuckles
Axial aluminum shocks with delrin pistons, and purple springs
Axial aluminum lower links from a Wraith kit
Axial universal axle shafts
XR10 wheels with HB Sedonas
Old bug body that I ran on my LCC

1) Flip the shock mount and lower the COG.
2) Changed out the shocks
3) Changed out the lower links
4) Changed out the c-hubs and knuckles
5) I was going to make some upper links, but I found the 101mm 30 degree bent links with some short angle rod ends were the correct size. So I used these for the front and rear.
6) Make steering linkage!!!! This has been kicking but butt since 5:30 this morning. I cannot get my tubing bender to make the short tight turns. I have given up for now on that, I have to build some sort of a jig to get the bend to match the stock linkage.

[rob5059]

I got the steering linkage made, I think it looks like garbage but it is better than stock. This was my 5th attempt at trying to get made. I went digging through some parts bins for electronics.

FRX with 45T or 35T motor. I am going to try the 45T first.
CCBEC
Hitec 5955
DX6i RX

[cooterwrenchen]

Good start keep it up

[rob5059]

Thanks

[Tgreer]

Just curious as to why you would use this as a sportsman platform, I would think it would be much easier to start with your scorpion axels, and have this as a scaler?

[rob5059]

Originally Posted by Tgreer

Just curious as to why you would use this as a sportsman platform, I would think it would be much easier to start with your scorpion axels, and have this as a scaler?

When I first saw the Ridgecrest I really liked it, and I was curious to see how this would do as a sportsmen. I had concerns with all of the plastic, but out of the box the geometry is a lot better than the AX10. I know the geometry can be fixed with aftermarket chassis, but I wanted to keep this on a low budget. I could have stripped axles out of my SCX10 and started from there, but I wanted to see how the Ridgecrest would do. And when I was at the LHS the other day, they had one is stock and I got to take a good look at it. It was an impulse buy.

I still have concerns about the width. It may or may not work out as a sportsmen, but half the fun is building and rebuilding to make how you like it. I can say right now that my sons AX10 performs better than the Ridgecrest. I need to lower the battery, maybe a servo battery mount.

[C*H*U*D]

Originally Posted by rob5059

...I was curious to see how this would do as a sportsmen.

This is exactly what I was thinking. If we all keep building with AX-10 axles, we'll all still be driving the same trucks next year, and the year after that, and the year after that....

For me, the Ridgecrest represented a fresh start with something new. It may not be the best platform to start with, but it's definitely interesting.

[rob5059]

Well it has been a while since I updated this thread. I have made a lot of upgrades to it, and I am pretty happy with its performance. All of the upgrades came from my Wraith that I was not feeling the love for.

So here is how it sits right now. She is a little on the heavy side weighing in at 5lbs 7.7oz with the battery.
Front axle:
Axial knuckles
Axial chub
Axial CVD
Axial lower link mounts
RC4WD upper 4 link mount
HR locker
Axial 36T/14 HD gears
STRC diff holders
VP titanium drag link and tie rod
STRC diff cover

Rear axle:
Axial straight axle lockouts
Axial lower link mounts
RC4WD upper 4 link mount
HR locker
Axial 38T/14 HD gears
STRC diff holders
STRC diff cover

Transmission:
HR harden gear set
Axial machined motor plate

Suspension:
VP titanium upper and lower links
Axial aluminum shocks with delrin pistons
Axial orange springs on the front, 30W oil
Axial purple springs in the rear, 35W oil

Electronics:
Tekin FX-R
Tekin 35T Pro motor, 14T pinion
CC 10A BEC
Hitec 7955TG servo
AR6210 RX
Gens Ace 1300 2 cell

[rob5059]

Well I decided it was time to try and loose some weight. I had a Gatekeeper chassis sitting in the back of a cabinet and figured I would give it a shot. The only thing I will be moving to the new chassis is the axles, tires and electronics. I had an AX10 non-slipper transmission with HR gears that I will use.

I have it sitting as a rolling chassis right not. Nothing appears to be binding and the drive shafts just clear when you flex the chassis. I am still mocking up a battery/servo plate for the front axle. I have a set of VP Wraith knuckles on order, so I can try and get more steering out of it.