The French Canadian Bomber (First-time Build)

[Jboucher]

OK, so I just remove the outer ring and push more

I just didnt want to crush or break them.

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[Brake Weight]

I don't think that'll happen. CI foams are the shiznit. The firm inner foam can tear a little bit it'll just be chunks. Not in half.

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by Jboucher

I have my eyes on a set of Hyrax with Proline wheels
But i figured i would put the money on the mechanical side first since the stock tires aren't so bad.

I also need to start saving for the HH Crawlmaster Pro 550...

Fair enough. The stock tires will work fine.

I have the HH Puller Pro 3500kV in my Bomber. If you can swing brushless I would highly recommend it! A big, heavy rig like the Bomber is unleashed with brushless power.

CI foams are difficult to install. I was afraid to fold the grey, inner foams because I thought they would rip. They don't, but it does cause slight damage which I don't like. I also sometimes think CI recommends foams that are too large for the tires, but it's hard on his end to recommend one foam that will work for everybody.

[Jboucher]

Progress !
Well small step but at least i got revenge on the CI double deuce foams.

Decided to just ignore all caution and just folded the foams then stuffed them inside.



I've read a lot of build threads and didn't see many side by side wuth CI foams vs Stock so i hope this can convince any new member to buy CI foams. It's night and day.


Will be working on axles soonish.

In the meantime, i bought scale accessories, T-Bone skid plates and now im looking at Onetoomany RC front lights with HeyOK U4 rear lights and controller...

[NWKENT]

Great that the CI foams worked out for you, I'd NEVER run stock foams again..drivability is MUCH better with the CI's..one can run a more gentle suspension setup with these foams..

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[Jboucher]

Big update this morning.
I worked on the axles last night until 2am
Really impressed by the quality of the VP parts and the ease of installation.
I'll be honest the longest part was sanding the rear shafts for the Beeftubes but it seemed to work out really good.

Improvised workbench on the kitchen table


Ring and Pinion with Locked up RC FI Spools



This is where i got a bad feeling but kept going since i was too eager to have something finished.
The gear mesh seems off but i tried everything, swapping housings, torqued / unscrew every bolt, swapped bearing around...
It turns fine but every few turn there is a bit of resistance and noise. The pinion seems to move a bit back and forth as well but since i followed every steps of the manual, i move one thinking it would get better after it's all bolted down.

Do you think i might have to start over ???

Anyway, i move on to the steering components and shafts

First up Beeftubes !
I didnt take a picture but its brass up front and aluminium in the rear. The front axle with VP parts and beeftubes is suprisingly heavy !
When they say these things are tight, they aren't joking... I had to tap the tubes into the housings with the back of my screwdrivers and sometimes kinda hard...
But after that, its super well engineered, all the holes line up, no bind at all with stock and VP parts.


Front axle VP c-hub / knuckles / bushings
Absolute charm to install, very tight and it bolts into the beeftube, i don't think i can break these ever.



Rear axle VP clampouts
The beeftubes were a bit of a pain here since you need to file down the lip of the axle shafts to clear the tubes. I don't have a grinder so it took a lot of time to do manually at 1am...



But in the end it's all done and i can move on to the links !


Still new to the build threads around here, are my pictures too small ?
I'm using the ''medium'' thumbnail from IMGUR.
I can change it to ''large'' if needed.

[Jim85IROC]

Originally Posted by Jboucher

This is where i got a bad feeling but kept going since i was too eager to have something finished.
The gear mesh seems off but i tried everything, swapping housings, torqued / unscrew every bolt, swapped bearing around...
It turns fine but every few turn there is a bit of resistance and noise. The pinion seems to move a bit back and forth as well but since i followed every steps of the manual, i move one thinking it would get better after it's all bolted down.

Do you think i might have to start over ???

I had the same issue with mine when I assembled them. I took the diff cover off, and slowly loosened each bearing cap screw one at a time. Loosening one of them made that goofy notchy feeling go away. Ultimately I determined that I didn't have those caps seated properly, or had some sort of uneven torque that caused the axles to bind slightly in the locker. I removed the 2 caps, re-seated the differential (and verified smooth movement), then installed the caps (re-verified smooth movement), then tightened them evenly, being careful not to overtighten. The end result was a nice smooth movement. I would expect that your situation is similar. Make sure there's no junk preventing the bearings from fully seating in the diff housing, and make sure that the caps are fitting properly, then make sure you torque smoothly and evenly.

[Jboucher]

So i do have to take everything off and start over ?

I used blue locktite on all the screws in the stage 1 parts...

So just to make sure I understand and dont mess up again, how do I make sure the mesh is good?

No sound? Complete free spin?
Should I order a shim kit? Which size?

It's my first kit so I expected problems but i dont want to break anything on my first run later.

[84yoda]

When I build axles, I always build them first 100% then take them apart and loctite everything. I would pick up some shims, amain is a good source for that. The carrier (locker and ring gear) shouldn't have any side to side play and pinion gear shouldn't have any in or out play. This is something you will have to mess with since everyone has different tolerances. The carrier shims are 10mm ID and pinion is 5mm ID. Pick up the shim kits that have 0.1/0.2/0.3mm included. I like my gear mesh to have a little crunch and zero back lash so when everything is broken in, the gear mesh is perfect.

[Jim85IROC]

Originally Posted by Jboucher

So i do have to take everything off and start over ?

not necessarily, no. Pull the diff cover off, and loosen the 4 cap screws a half turn and see if that notchiness goes away. You need to identify the source of the problem before you get worried about taking it apart again.

If this was a mesh issue between the ring and pinion that required shimming, you'd likely feel it throughout the turning. Because you feel it in one part of the rotation, I'm guessing it's the axle to locker interface that is binding, just like it did for me, and that indicates that the pinion & locker is not seated properly in the housing, which is likely because there's crap between the bearing and the housing, or one of those caps isn't seating properly.

[Jboucher]

Well i just bought 2 shim kits from Locked Up RC. Its designed for the Bomber bearings 5mm and 10mm.
It's going to cause another week of delay but oh well...

I'll try the bearing caps like you mentionned but keep in mind i'm using the FI Spool and not the stock carrier.

Maybe i need to use the kit gasket on the FI spool ?
There was no side to side play when i put it in but maybe that 1/16 inch gasket is enough to move the ring gear in a better position to the pinion ?

I guess i can assemble the links and start painting the wheels while i wait.

[Jim85IROC]

I don't think this is a "side to side play" issue. If there's binding between the axle shaft and the locker, it indicates that the locker/pinion assembly isn't fully seated into the housing.

Before you throw more parts at the problem, spend some time loosening things to troubleshoot the source of your problem.

[JatoTheRipper]

Are you using the HD ring and pinion gear? It appears that you are, but it's difficult to tell from the photos. The standard, sintered metal gears do often have rough spots when you first install them. That quickly wears away. But this has never been the case with HD gears in my experience.

It sounds like something is not rotating true. Shims will only make it tighter and then you might be be able to turn the axle at all.

Are all of the screws holding the ring gear to the locker installed straight and tightened evenly?

[Jboucher]

I just changed the pictures to a larger format for visibility. Will keep this one for the rest of the build.

I do remember now that i have some play on the pinion. I can pull it out or push it in. If i pull on it, the mesh is better but still noisy and rough every couple of turns.
It was binding like that without the axles shafts or beeftubes so i guess it's ring & pinion related.

I will recheck everything tonight starting with the bearing cap bolts then the locker and then the bearing seating inside the housing.

[Jboucher]

Another quick question for the veteran builders out there.

On the front axle, if i pull on the axleshafts, they come out about 1/2 inch and it makes the bearing pop out of the vanquish knuckle.

Is this normal ?
Maybe it will stop once more components are installed.

[Jboucher]

So after rebuilding both axles, I got about the same results.

I think my plastic housings might be warped and I decided to stop giving a f*ck...

I will run it until the gears either smooth out from friction or a bearing blows apart.
Then I'll get a set of vanquish OCP or F9.


2019-09-26
I want to give this one last try so a 3rd rebuild is coming up.
I read a build thread where the guy had a rough spot like me and ended up using the stock gasket to move the ring gear 1/32'' and it fixed it. I also went ahead and decided to pop a full kit of Fast Eddy bearings for peace of mind.

Then i move on knowing i at least tried.

[Jboucher]

Success !
The 3rd rebuild was a good idea after all. Between the Locked Up RC shims (pinion and Ring gear) and the new Fast Eddie bearings, i was able to get rid of the binding. Still a little noisy but its smooth.

God news, i am making progress at last and moved to the links.
Bad news, i finished at 2am and i feel like shit at work...

Kit links with RPM end and brass balls in axial size (no slop) and SSD M4 spacers.
For those wondering, yes you need spacers, see picture on the right.


Easy and fast to build


Last part was the trailing arms with the kit plates. I had to stop there since it was 2h00 AM and i couldn't find my 3mm nut driver...


Pretty happy with the progress and hopefully it was the last time i wait 7 days for parts...

Next up mounting the links and the T-Bone racing skids (front and rear).

[Jboucher]

Another update from last night.
I got all the links mounted along with the servo and steering links.

Links went on pretty quick, those RPM rods and brass balls are quite nice. They add a little weight and golden bling !


VP goodness : Servo mount and tabs to protect that nice Savox 1231sg.



I ran into an issue here with the Stage 1 knuckles / c-hubs. There is only 1 tab on the knuckle and the plastic one has 2. So in the end the kit screws are way too long for the steering links.
I had to use leftover SSD spacers to fill a little bit of the gap but its still ugly... I will have to buy new screws with the proper lenght. It's a shame VP dosen't include hardware for the price of the stage 1 kit...


I also think i choose the wrong servo horn. 24mm seems a bit too long and it might rub on the Diff cover. Should i buy a new one (20mm) ?

It feels really good to be making progress. I didnt get enough time to install the T-Bone Racing skids but i will try to get rid of it tonight so i'm done with the axles and i can move on to the Transmission and Motor.

[Jboucher]

Major update from the last 2 days. I took a lot of pictures so enjoy or be annoyed :P

First up the T-Bone Racing skid plates. I'm not a fan of skids but this one is 3D printed in black nylon and it looks really good. It's also super slick so it should slide on rocks.
It's mounted with a bracket in a very unusual way but feels really solid. The front skid doubles as a bumper to protect the steering links and servo.






The rear skid is a bit smaller but uses the same type of mount with a bracket.



Next up the Transmission and transfer case. Nothing special here except Fast Eddie bearings.





On to the motor, again not much except the Axial Racing aluminium motor mount and a Robinson Racing 11T pinion. I wanted the Vanquish but it was backordered...
The Titan 21T 550 fits perfectly but i hope my wires are not too short. The 11T pinion should lower the heat a little bit since i plan on running it on 3s.




Next up the drive shafts. No special parts here, just the standard kit. I am looking at the GPM racing aluminium driveshafts in red, haven't bought them yet, way overbudget already...




And finally the front, skid and rear are reunited ! It looks like a truck now at last.


I will be working on shocks and then the dreaded paint job.

Still haven't fully decided on how to paint it. Reproducing the stripes of my mustang is a hell of a job for my first RC truck. Especially the double lines on the sides and the pinstripe on the hood...

[Jboucher]

Question for the Bomber owners out there, I am building shocks and my kit is missing 1 part tree #AX80033 so I have to wait for a replacement or skip the variable rate piston since im missing 2 sets.

What are you using for the pistons?
Soft, medium, firm or variable rate?


I also installed the Receiver and ESC in the little box. Using the R4FG from Radiolink that came with the RC4GS transmiter and the Hobbywing Quickrun 1080 ESC. It sits nicely on top of the receiver box with 3M tape. The wires are a bit long but i will do cable management later.



Should i plug the battery and do tests runs at this stage to check on the drivetrain ?

Thanks