New2rocks buys Bomber for birthday

[new2rocks]

Got a gift certificate for my birthday, so I decided to buy a big box:


Dad: "What's in that box, Roo."
Roo: "It's something from Axial."
Dad: "What makes you think that?"
Roo: "It has Axial tape on it and the box says Axial."

Nothing gets by this kid. Look's like Scrunch is curious, too. Let's see what's inside:







Yay! More box! Big brown box begets birthday Bomber box!





Roo: "We should drive it like this!"

Hmm...there's an idea. Okay, maybe not. Let's get a closer look:



So to recap, I've bought myself an RTR, cough, choke, for my birthday. Apparently I've either lost my mind or been struck by a bout of extreme intellectual laziness. Maybe a bit of both, but I have my rationalizations:
1. It looks seriously cool
2. It's not available in kit form
3. I have quite a few kits in progress and could use some relatively instant gratification
4. It wouldn't hurt to experience a true RTR for once (the D110 RTR doesn't really count)
5. Did I mention how cool it looks?

The plan for this build is to try to stay close to Randy Slawson's 1:1. Which means stealing some ideas from Bilinvic (sorry, Bil) with my own spin. I'll be reviewing and experimenting as I go. So...with that said, here goes...

[Bmxreeves]

Definitely subbing to this


__________________________
1.9 ibex tuber

Slash that got run over by reindeer

R.I.P Dave Mirra
Cheers Jacob

[new2rocks]

I took it out for a brief shakedown run box stock to get some dirt on it.


The shakedown run confirmed my initial impressions from reading up and seeing my buddy Nick, aka, Helios RC, run his on an outing a few weeks ago. It's surprisingly capable out of the box. The suspension is very supple and does a great job getting up and over obstacles at a slow crawl. Which is a good thing given that the stock 35T can only muster a slow crawl on 2S and isn't exactly quick on 3S. The down side of the soft and compliant suspension is that, at even the slightest hint of a turn, this thing rolls over quicker than a lab looking for a belly rub. Seriously...it will roll if you look at it funny.

As far as the rest of the package is concerned, it's an interesting mix of good and not so good. Here's my quick list of likes and don't likes, in no particular order:
Things I like
-- Axial has done away with almost all of the self-tapping screws in favor of machine screws
-- Sealed bearings everywhere
-- Yeti transmission with all hardened gears and easy 2-speed upgrade
-- Shock mounts come ready for dual shocks
-- Stock steering servo is perfect for a shift servo
-- Proportions are great. From pictures, the AR60s looked like they might be a bit too wide, but in person, they seem spot on.
-- That body...ooooh that body with so many pretty stickers

Things I don't like
-- Plastic links everywhere
-- The metal trailing arm reinforcements aren't included
-- Dogbone front axle
-- Plastic knuckles and c-hubs
-- Pot metal ring/pinion
-- Familiar stock locker that can't handle brushless power
-- Tires that seem like they have no foams
-- Stock steering servo is perfect for a shift servo
-- As easy to wrench on as a Wraith, which is to say not very

There's a ton of potential here, but I'll have my work cut out for me. Fortunately, I have helpers, starting with Roo, who wanted to perform a careful inspection after having read the instructions that instructed him to inspect:







And then there was Scrunch, who thought Bomber might be a bit nervous (like a patient heading into the OR, I suppose). So Scrunch reassured Bomber, telling her that everything would be okay and that Bomber would be better than ever when we were done with her.



The small boxes have already started arriving:




So let's get to it...

[Bmxreeves]

Ohhh I see greatness coming.


__________________________
1.9 ibex tuber

Slash that got run over by reindeer

R.I.P Dave Mirra
Cheers Jacob

[new2rocks]

I let Scrunch choose the first upgrade. She chose the Vanquish Currie Antirock Yeti Sway Bar, and it was a good choice.







Did you see what just happened there? Roo must have snuck in and done some work while we weren't looking:




Fresh off his Yeti build, Roo decided to take on the SSD Diamond Centered Rear Axle (Wraith size) by himself. He figured out about 2/3 of the axle swap without any help. I better keep an eye on that little guy. Who knows what he'll get into next...

A brief run in the yard confirmed what a huge difference the sway bar makes. Stability is greatly improved, and it no longer twists like Chubby Checker when you squeeze the trigger. I would consider a sway bar a must have for this truck.

[Bmxreeves]

Wow that kids a badass! The vanquish sway bar looks so nice


__________________________
1.9 ibex tuber

Slash that got run over by reindeer

R.I.P Dave Mirra
Cheers Jacob

[SCREAMER]

Did you get foamless tires? That ain't right. Glad you made your way over here for a build and it looks like you're already off to a great start.

[new2rocks]

I forgot to mention in my last post that Roo's work included swapping out the stock R&P and locker for an HD R&P and Hot Racing locker. I'm sticking with stock gearing front and rear for now, because this one's going to see some speed. I may change that later on, but we'll have to wait and see.

Next mod was a bit of a disappointment. I picked up a set of UCFab trailing arms only to discover that the shock channel is too narrow for the stock shocks (which I wasn't planning to keep) and didn't provide enough clearance for the ball end of RC4WD King Medium OD shock (which I'm going to run sans springs, but more on that in a minute). So back went the stock TAs for now.

In the meantime, while I'm waiting on an important little box, I decided to throw a pair of 100mm King Medium ODs onto the front in tandem with the stock shocks for now:


I'll be pairing those with RC4WD 100mm King Piggybacks (sprung) up front. In the rear, I'll be running 100mm King Piggybacks in the forward position, and unsprung RC4WD 120mm King Medium ODs closest to the axle. I chose this combination because I wanted to stay as narrow as feasible to keep the proportions closer to scale. I'm expecting that it will take a bit of playing around with spring rates and oil weights to get things working just right. But it will be worth it for looks alone in the end.

While I was at it, I went ahead and installed the VP links (Wraith upper and lower with Revo ends in front, Wraith upper with Jato ends in the rear):




The Jato ends on both ends of the Wraith-length uppers leave them slightly longer than stock (by a mm or two), which works out well as it helps the pinion angle a bit.

So all of that leaves us here for now:


Once the SSD Diamond front axle arrives from HK, that will go in with HD ring & pinion stock ratio gears, Hot Racing locker, RC4WD Extreme Duty XVDs, VP knuckles/c's (orange, of course), and SSD steering link. And I'll have to figure out what to do with the trailing arms.

Once the suspension is set up, it will be time to work on the heart of this animal. Plans include an HH Puller Pro 3500 with HH BLE and CC BEC, MIP rear and Junfac front. And with the CC BEC will come a new servo (either an Xpert 7000 or HH HV500).

I'll also need new shoes. I haven't yet figured out what I want to run on this. I have some time, as there's plenty to keep me busy.

[new2rocks]

Originally Posted by Bmxreeves

Ohhh I see greatness coming.

I guess the pressure's on.

Originally Posted by Bmxreeves

Wow that kids a badass! The vanquish sway bar looks so nice

Check out the video I just posted in his Yeti thread. I still shake my head in disbelief sometimes. And yes...the Vanquish sway bar looks very nice. My only gripe with it is that the brass fittings are a bit finicky. But otherwise, it's a nice little setup.

Originally Posted by SCREAMER

Did you get foamless tires? That ain't right. Glad you made your way over here for a build and it looks like you're already off to a great start.

Thanks! I've been looking forward to getting one for a while, and I finally found my excuse, lol. Re the tires, I haven't pried them open yet to see if there's any foam in them, so I could be mistaken. But for the life of me, it doesn't feel like there's anything in there. I suppose I'll have to pry one open once I get the replacements just to see what's inside.

[new2rocks]

Seems fitting to close with a funny exchange from the breakfast table this weekend.
Roo: "Scrunch, can I help with Bomber?"
Dad: "Roo, what makes you think she needs help?"
Roo (to Scrunch): "You might need my help figuring some things out."
Dad: "Scrunch, do you think you need Roo's help figuring anything out?"
Scrunch: "Definitely not."

Welcome to my world...

[bilinvic]

Sub'd. It's definitely a compliment that anyone wants to "steal" my ideas. I'll be following along closely to "steal" any of your ideas in return!

[new2rocks]

Originally Posted by bilinvic

Sub'd. It's definitely a compliment that anyone wants to "steal" my ideas. I'll be following along closely to "steal" any of your ideas in return!

Turnabout is definitely fair play, so feel free to have at it.

Before continuing with the update, I neglected one very important detail. Our truck is referred to as "Bahm-burr" following this exchange:
Scrunch: "Dad, let's go work on Bomber."
Dad: "You mean, Bahm-burr."
Scrunch: "No, Dad. It's pronounced Bahm-er."
Dad: "What do you have against the second 'b'? What did it ever do to you to deserve to be ignored like that? It never said bad things to you. It never did anything not nice to you. All it wants is a little love."
Scrunch: "Okay, Dad. We can call it Bahm-burr."

And, so, we have a Bomber with a very not silent second "b", perhaps the only one like that in North America.

And on to the update. Another little box arrived:


And in it were these:


Roo likes assembling shocks, so he got right to work:


While he was filling shocks, I discovered that the lower ball end on the RC4WD Kings wouldn't fit into the stock trailing arms (the TA channels are too narrow). With that discovery, I decided to whip out the dremel and have at the UCFab TAs. After a few minutes spent, I was able to get enough clearance for everything to work. Here's a side-by-side showing before and after:


While putting everything together, I noticed that I needed washers or shims almost everywhere to eliminate slop:


Ultimately, I ended up with this:










The current setup is as follows:
FRONT
- RC4WD King Off-Road Scale 100mm Piggybacks with stock springs and 30W oil
- RC4WD King Off-Road Dual Spring 100mm shocks (medium OD) with no springs and 50W oil

REAR
- RC4WD King Off-Road Scale 100mm Piggybacks with stock springs and 30W oil
- RC4WD King Off-Road Dual Spring 120mm shocks (medium OD) with no springs and 50W oil

Many thanks to Bilinvic for his detailed specs and some additional info via PM. Bil was spot on about shock lengths (esp. the 20mm stagger in the rear).

The rear feels pretty good on the bench. The front feels a bit stiff, so I will be swapping in some softer springs on the piggybacks to soften it up a bit. As a side note, the RC4WD spring assortments are very handy, available for almost all of their shocks, and quite reasonably priced. Highly recommended...

So that's all I have for now. Some work travel this week followed by a weekend to visit family means there probably won't be any more updates for a little bit. As soon as I can get back to it, I'll post more.

[gbean]

Looks awesome!
I'd recommend slightly shorter swaybar links to keep the swaybar arms parallel to the trailing arms.

[new2rocks]

Originally Posted by gbean

Looks awesome!
I'd recommend slightly shorter swaybar links to keep the swaybar arms parallel to the trailing arms.

Thanks! I noticed that after swapping to the shorter shocks (they lined up fine with the stock shocks). I made up some links from a couple of rod ends mounted directly to a threaded rod, and it's much better now.

And now for the update. I left Roo unattended in the garage for a few minutes, this weekend, and look what he did:


He started taking the bloody thing apart! I guess that was my sign to have at the next round of mods: Axial 2-speed tranny conversion, RRP slipper, Axial aluminum motor plate, HH Puller Pro 3500, HH BLE, Xpert 7701 steering servo, and RTR servo repurposed for shifting duties. After discovering that the RTR radio requires an engineering degree to program EPA for channel 3, I added a receiver/radio swap to the list.

So with that plan, I got underway. I started with the 2-speed conversion. As a few others have noted, the 2-speed conversion requires parts that are different from the Yeti. The shift servo bracket is specific to the Bomber and included in the spare parts bag (kudos to Axial for thinking ahead). And the shift servo link needs to be much shorter than the Yeti version. I joined the Axial rod ends that came with the 2-speed conversion kit with a threaded rod, and it worked perfectly:


As others have also noted, a full size servo is a tight squeeze. Fortunately, there's a groove on one side of the servo bracket that provides just enough room to bring the servo wire up from the bottom of the servo and then around the tranny (or however you choose to route it):


It's a tight fit, but it works. Lastly, I decided that the stock wheels and tires just weren't going to cut it. I had a set of Swamper XLs stuffed with CIs on RC4WD Raceline Monsters waiting for a turn on something, so this seemed like the right time to break them out. Here's how she looked after I was done with this latest round:






Once I had it all together, it was time to take it out for a test:
https://www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&vid...ByI&feature=vm

I must say that I'm pleased with how it's coming along. Some initial observations on performance at this point:
-- Overall, this definitely works better as a bouncer than as a pure crawler. The high COG limits it on steep climbs, and the long WB means that the center skid comes into play a fair bit. The SSD aluminum axles and UCFab TAs look great, but all that metal tends to grab the rocks, even with the SSD skids. Fortunately, with plenty of power on tap, a bit of speed was able to carry it over and across most of what I threw at it. But there's a good chance I'll shorten the WB from the rear to help with breakover.
-- The Puller Pro 3500 on 3S plus 2-speed tranny is insane. It will do a back flip from a standing start on pavement in high gear even with the spare hanging off the back trying to act as a wheelie bar, lol. In low gear, it seems just about perfect. So I'll just think of high gear as the Bomber's ludicrous mode.
-- Overall, I'm very pleased with how the suspension setup is coming along. The dual RC4WD Kings at all four corners are very smooth and provide excellent damping. After swapping to softer front springs, the front feels pretty good, but the rear is feeling a bit soft. I'm thinking that stiffening up the rear springs a bit will be the next move.

I had one big fail at the end of the session. I snapped both RC4WD Extreme Duty XVDs:


I don't completely blame the XVDs, because they've held up fine in my Skeleton (narrowed to SCX width) with a Puller Pro Stubby on 3S. In the Bomber, I put them under extreme duress. The combination of insane power, giant (and very sticky) tires, and abusive driving in harsh terrain places a ton of stress on a rig. I've broken lots of parts there stress testing various rigs, so the XVDs have plenty of company. Fortunately, I was able to pick up some of these at my favorite LHS:


And I was back in business in no time.


I'll be curious to see how the Wraith Universals hold up to similar treatment.

Here are a few other random thoughts, in no particular order:
-- I am seeing the transfer case clearance issue with the centered rear axle. The Junfac shaft clears by a bit from the current resting ride height out to full extension, but it makes contact a few mm from full compression. This will be more of an issue with a shortened WB, so I may well end up switching to an OCP rear axle.
-- Even with the giant Swamper XLs (5.8" OD), this rig hangs up a fair bit. I'm not planning on running such tall tires indefinitely, which has me leaning toward shortening the wheelbase. But I want to get in some more run time before making that decision.
-- Thank goodness for my DeWalt cordless gyroscopic driver. With the dual shock setup and rear sway bar, I have 18 screws to remove to get clear access to everything inside.

[Bmxreeves]

What are you planning to run on the 3rd channel on the stock radio? Could I run a servo winch on it? Sorry if I'm kinda hijacking your thread...


__________________________
1.9 Ibex tuber - The Merica ibex.

R.I.P Dave Mirra
Cheers Jacob

[new2rocks]

Originally Posted by Bmxreeves

What are you planning to run on the 3rd channel on the stock radio? Could I run a servo winch on it? Sorry if I'm kinda hijacking your thread...

No worries. For the third channel, I'm planning to run an ad in the classifieds. In all seriousness, the stock radio requires quite the complicated procedure to adjust channel 3, so I switched to a hacked FlySky GT3C (one of my 3 go-tos) instead. It's more versatile, easier to program, and has a display to show you what you're doing. So my stock radio will be looking for a new home shortly (along with a few other stock parts that I'll never use again). If you have the patience to follow the programming instructions for the 3rd channel with the stock radio, you could use it for a winch.

[Bmxreeves]

Originally Posted by new2rocks

No worries. For the third channel, I'm planning to run an ad in the classifieds. In all seriousness, the stock radio requires quite the complicated procedure to adjust channel 3, so I switched to a hacked FlySky GT3C (one of my 3 go-tos) instead. It's more versatile, easier to program, and has a display to show you what you're doing. So my stock radio will be looking for a new home shortly (along with a few other stock parts that I'll never use again). If you have the patience to follow the programming instructions for the 3rd channel with the stock radio, you could use it for a winch.

How hard would it be? Maybe run it through castle link.


__________________________
1.9 Ibex tuber - The Merica ibex.

R.I.P Dave Mirra
Cheers Jacob

[new2rocks]

Originally Posted by Bmxreeves

How hard would it be? Maybe run it through castle link.

pp. 4-5:
http://manuals.hobbico.com/tac/tacj0300-manual.pdf

Castle Link is for programming compatible ESCs and the CC BEC. It doesn't work on radios.

[Bmxreeves]

Originally Posted by new2rocks

pp. 4-5:

http://manuals.hobbico.com/tac/tacj0300-manual.pdf



Castle Link is for programming compatible ESCs and the CC BEC. It doesn't work on radios.

Duhh I knew that! Thanks a lot. Love your bomber btw!


__________________________
1.9 Ibex tuber - The Merica ibex.

R.I.P Dave Mirra
Cheers Jacob