my Ridgecrest... (WIP)

[doc.hamilton]

Hey All,
Here is my Axial Ridgecrest. This is my second Axial, my first is an SCX10, an awesome truck. I bought the AX10 specifically to turn it into a crawler. It's seen some use, but the limitations I read about were evident, though I never broke any parts on it, with some pretty severe abuse - it's pretty well built.

So here's a timeline of what I've done so far;

1) swap the battery and electronics - so simple and cheap the extension was $ 5.00

2) reverse the shock mounts to lower the body - a real cheap mod - FREE

3) replaced the U & L links, steering link and tie rod, lockouts, C hubs and knuckles with sweet VP parts


4) replaced the servo - twenty minutes into a run the servo was getting sluggish - I stopped and checked it out - VERY hot to the touch - got a HiTec

5) extra tasty VP wheels and HB rover tires!

6) I've got a 14T pinion I'm going to install and check the transmission thoroughly

That's it for now...

[AsILayDying]

Very nice.... looks really good. Nice job man. Ill be doing some of the same for my sons rig.

[ridgecrest78]

how good does it flex?

[doc.hamilton]

Here's a snap of the flex - not too shabby I'd say

Hopefully I'll get out and do some crawling today at lunch

[Expert Failure]

Very nice, almost identical to my plans.

[doc.hamilton]

Hey all,
Just a quick update... I've installed a set of beef tubes (a BIG thanks to Dan) - they're awesome!

I also modified the driveshafts using Juan's method - a 3/16th alum. rod set with epoxy. Not only does it provide strength it also adds a little more heft down low.

Since I was dismantling the AX10 I figured I'd replace the stock 20P with a 14.

Overall I'd rate this a great RC - yes I've dumped some ducks into it, mostly to avoid breakage (I've only blown the servo) that others have mentioned.

I'm going to try and shoot some video (and stills) of where I've been cutting my teeth with this.

That's all for now folks!

[C*H*U*D]

Originally Posted by doc.hamilton

- yes I've dumped some ducks into it

Looking good

And don't worry....everyone dumps a lot of ducks into their rigs eventually. It's the nature of the beast. Or in this case, waterfowl.

[doc.hamilton]

Something I regret is not weighing it prior to mods. It's incredible how heavy it feels with the axle & driveshaft mods...

Cheers,
Todd

[doc.hamilton]

Ok, so no pictures or vids, yet. When driving it yesterday, it seemed real tourqe-ky (pretty sure that's NOT a word!) Anyone else experienced this? Particularly when going forward the AX10 seems to twist - like there's more power to one side. This only started after I put in the 14P. Any ideas as to what this may be or what's causing this?

Just as an aside, I've ordered the Axial under/over beveled gear sets...

Cheers,
Todd

[doc.hamilton]

So some good news for me! I thought the weekend would be shot - heading to an out of town wedding and spending time with one of our twins (today they turn 22 - YIKES)... To get ready for the wedding my wife and daughter are going to the salon for hair, nails, etc. That means I have FOUR hours to do nothing but run my RC's! I just hope the weather stays nice. If it's rotten it'll just be the SCX10 (water resistant)

Cheers,
Todd

[doc.hamilton]

Another update...
So I ran the RC on Fri afternoon. After about 30 mins of some pretty hard driving, the engine was not doing well. It was giving off an electric burning odor - I thought, great, I've toasted the motor. Well I dismantled the drivetrain this evening and discovered that the "tourqey" driving was caused by the 14P binding against the spur gear. I know, I know, I should have checked the gears better before assembling everything together, so now it's humming along nicely. Rain is in the forecast for Tues but Wed looks great!

Wish me luck everyone!

Cheers
Todd

[doc.hamilton]

Here's a snap from Friday afternoon. It's somewhat difficult to tell but the terrain here is very hilly. The rocks are part of a stream recovery project at the local park where I drive my RC's. Usually I walk the trails, albeit at a quick pace with my SCX10. The trail network is pretty amazing, lots of fun.

So this is after my run and the engine was not doing to well. But fun none the less.

Cheers,
Todd

[doc.hamilton]

Another day another $...

And so the upgrades continue - I'm going to install the Axial HD gears - overdrive front, underdrive rear for that drag effect (Thanks to EVOL for his awesome YouTube video for the inspiration). And, VP's diff covers (not pictured)

I'm becoming pretty adept at the tear down rebuild process, or as my wife likes to say MADNESS

[Kmmac1705]

Looking good man, keep it up.

[doc.hamilton]

Thanks Kmmac1705!

Well folks I got to crawl for an about an hour at lunch today, and this much I can say for certain. I need practice. Lots and lots of practice. I seem to specialize in rolling the RC. Not completely over, just onto it's roof.

On the mod side, I have decided to upgrade my servo to the Hitec 7950 - which means I need to install a CC BEC as well. AND, I've decided to mod the bod... not to the extreme that Juan was planning on doing, just something simple like what Bender did to his front end. Just a little trim

Cheers,
T

[jmecmore]

Chassis looks really good with the upgrades. Glad to hear you're happy with the Ridgecrest.

[doc.hamilton]

OK - latest update - mods etc...

So I've upgraded my servo, again, to the HiTec 7950. WOW, what a servo, massive torque. Which has lead to another problem - the case of the runaway servo. After about 10 to 15 mins runtime, I have to stop and tighten the servo mount and the screws for the servo mount. Very frustrating.

So along with the servo I also added a CC BEC. This has led to my rats nest of a wiring job, as the pics will show. Zip ties have seemingly become a good friend of mine.

Then I chopped up the body... talk about being aerodynamic jk. It's still just like a turtle - every time I roll it, it just lays on it's roof. So the mods were meant to help with it's approach angles (which it has) but I still think a different body would help when I roll it. Primarily I'm thinking of getting a RX10 body.

Well that should about cover the most recent developments on my Ridgecrest - thanks to everyone for watching, responding and giving me timely advice and suggestions!

Cheers,
Todd

[doc.hamilton]

My Ridgecrest - Now with 3wheel drive!!!

The principle contribution to this was me being goofy and installing M3x10 then M3x8 screws - I did remove them after noticing the binding issues on the axle shafts, but the damage had already been done.

So there I was, spending my lunch hour (or two) crawling up my favorite dry creek bed. I was doing quite well, getting out of jams that in the past would have stymied my old servo. (the HiTec 7950 is THE bomb!) So after one particularly tough spot, that's when I noticed it pulling to one side but it still made the climb!

Back at the ranch, er, I mean van, I dis-assembled the axle and sure enough, the short axle shaft was in two pieces and no amount of duct tape or elmers would fix it Another lesson learned - though I'm certain this would have happened at some point as others have snapped theirs...

Replacement VP VVD's have been ordered!

I am curious though as to how much torque was needed to do this - anyone out there know this? There's probably some matha-manatical something or other to conjure that up...

On to the pics!

[HONCHO22]

Damn! better check mine..did the same screw upgrade!lol

[isyeskeert]

My dog bones did the same. I upgraded to the Axial cv axles and saved my 54 dollars versus the vp cvs. The steering seemed to be the area that benefitted the most from the swap, and I have an upgraded servo!