Arbitris' Dingo

[arbitris]

I posted most of my early stuff in another thread, but I figure I will post my project with an actual project thread.

One of my first scale runs:


Of course you can't have a thread without a flex shot!



I'm not ashamed to post my own blooper reel:


yes it's insanely ugly, but it was REALLY functionall.

Take two:


The bumper seems to catch and stop the rig more than it actually helps climb over ANYTHING

I just finished take three a few minutes ago:


Also, I pieced together the 4 link for the rear suspension. Yes it was all present in the Kit, No it was not included in the instructions. It really cleaned up some of the slop in the rear suspension.

[arbitris]

the stock tire foam would collapse under the vehicle's own weight, and twist under torque so I decided to try another new setup.

First I will start with breaking the bead, I used Hobby Town tire glue about a month ago. Using a small flat blade screw driver I was able to tear the bond 1/16th of an inch at a time all the way around the inside bead of all 4 tires. Then washed the swamp water out with disinfecting soap so I don't get an exotic infection from a random cut.

PIA but it is doable!



Then I used foam from a pool noodle (blue) and plumbers insulation tube (black).

I tried the tires on 3 different setups, first I cut the foam into strips and siped the outside edge so it would bend smoothly and give flex on the outer edge.

It was okay, but didn't fill the tire the way I wanted.

Second try I cut in strips and turned the foam inside out so the tire would cup rocks/sand as it rolled over it:

I loved this idea and tried a dozen setups with 3 different types of foam and couldn't get a final prduct.

So Finally I just cut sections off of the pool noodle, siped the inside so it would stretch and ended up using 1 5/6 of one in each tire, it's the perfect form and supports the truck wonderfully.



I also picked up a rubber gromet to split and use to get rid of the slop in the front 3 link end point. The 4 link doesn't clear up front and I ran out of time today to try to relocate the servo.
Here's where the stock servo location lands with the 4 link parts that come with the kit:

I can't believe I have been driving this through water completely spacing the fact that I didn't water proof my $100 servo!!!! Man am I happy I didn't fry it!

I also cranked the shocks put some higher gears and a brushless setup in it to see how it does a at higher speeds for a specific run this weekend. It handles poorly, even with the shocks tightened up, but oddly enough it still handles my front steps a little easier with the shocks stiff. I'm guessing it's because of the extra ground clearance.

[Tater0108]

Can't wait to see how it does this weekend with the new foam. I have been impressed with what it can do so far bud.

[arbitris]

Ha, you didn't get much time to see it run before it did a reverse swan dive into the creek and started having seizures.

I opened up all the electronics, cleaned and dried them and they are all well now. I wasn't happy about having to buy new electronics, and fortunately now I don't have to.

I do have a new radio/receiver on order. I guess it will have to wait for my next project

[arbitris]

A couple more mods, here's a minor one that has a pretty big effect, traxxas hex instead of the axial, they are about twice as thick and make a surprising difference as shown in the second picture.





Apparently on my last trip I wound the axles in fiber that filled with water and rusted lol


one more maintenance point added to the list.

I decided to dig into a 4 link in the front again. There are extra cross members included in the kit so I pulled out an extra one and trimmed it a little to fit. I still have all of my mounting points (except the battery tray I had to relocate) and cross members, but now I have clearance to actually use it.

The 3 link gives a much shorter wheelbase, the 4 link rotates the axle forward increasing wheelbase removes slop (the rubber gromets lasted half an hour before just squishing out) and improving the driveshaft angle.



The 4 link also raises the ground clearance. I'm also running smaller tires that are actual M/T tires in an effort to make a better clone of my 1:1

I was able to lower the body about half an inch compared to stock placement.


Here's what it looks like for now.

I'm also removing the 2 speed summit trans from the equasion because of the height of the motor and the center of gravity.

[Crawlorado719]

Looking better and working better. ..good work!

[arbitris]

Thanks, I know I'm sure putting a lot of effort into it.

I'm also using a Futaba S9151 boat rudder servo instead of a normal steering servo. I asked on a couple forums before trying it and didn't get any feedback so I'll post this myself, The manual says don't use it with nimh batteries because they can't provide enough amps, and to use 4.8v batteries not 6 volt batteries period. I have several hours of use and haven't had a single issue. Quite the contrary I LOVE this thing, it does EXACTLY what I tell it to, and quickly too.

[arbitris]

My first vinyal attempt.

Cheap style with electrical tape, I don't expect it to stay attached long, but I've been wanting to try it out. Wow this is easy to work with! It's just a little time consuming.



P.S. What do you think of my new sponsor?

[Airdet]

Is that sponser accepting new clients?

[arbitris]

That is definately a free-for-all sponsor, and is welcome on everybody's hood (or door). =)

[arbitris]

I snagged a couple pictures from a local crawl today.









The stock ripsaws are awesome.
Cheap mud terrain tires SUCK.

And apparently I'm abusing my steering servo, it started doing it's own thing today, or even just ignoring me until I pick up the truck and turn it upside down, then apparently it would reset itself and cooperate for another 10 feet of trail before deciding it wants to go left right straight right left straight left left straight left all on it's own.
I think next week I will try a different radio setup and see if I get the same behaviour.

[Crawl Space]

Good work so far - I really like those solid wheels, they fit the dingo and look very scale. I also like the v3 bumper. Have you found that it helps to keep your dingo from flipping backwards on steep climbs?

If your rudder servo persists in disobeying, you might try a solar d772. They are something like $20 shipped from Nitrorcx. However, they are painfully slow on anything less than 7 volts.

Hope you get it all sorted out

[arbitris]

Thank you.
I will say the solid wheels look cool, but they aren't flat/round, they wobble on their own so I won't be using them anymore (along with the tires)

The bumper doesn't actually weigh that much, it's only about 6-8 inches of quarter inch rod. I don't think it's making much of a difference on the hill climb over the weight of a 5000mah 7 cell nimh right behind it. Although I also haven't had much chance due to the tires not having enough traction to climb hills. cheap tires

I'll check out the Servo, I know the price sounds right.

[arbitris]

I have a little more information on the Servo issue. I have been researching and everybody seems to suggest using a bec. I was thinking it might be radio related but it seemed to do the same thing on another 2.4Ghz I have laying around. I have been troubleshooting what I thought was an unrelated issue on my slash, it was running SUPER slow.
Until yesterday when my batteries were drained from crawling I grabbed a backup battery and plugged it into my slash for some troubleshooting and instantly did axis donuts in 6 inch tall weeds WOW that was what I expected the setup to do! The only thing these two vehicles share is the battery, maybe that's where I should start my troubleshooting.

Long story short. I need to take soldering 101. Or start buying batteries that already have deans connectors.

[arbitris]

I have been obsessed with a deeper interior from day 1.
The wraith has full seats, the Dingo has wasted space under the seating area.

I happen to know this interior will fit nearly perfectly under the cherokee body, the cherokee fits nearly perfectly on the stock dingo chassis, and the detail of this perticular interior really spiked my interest. So I found one, and fortunately was the only person to bid on it.



There was an INSANE amount of measuring, trimming, fitting, trimming, fitting, trimming, and smiles.






Well color me happy
There isn't enough room in front or rear for a 7 cell battery, so I am running two of them tandem over the running boards, this thing is insanely heavy! and all the weight is way down low compared to where it was.

I am really glad I put pool noodle foam in the tires, there is no chance the stock axial foams would have supported this beast.

I almost forgot a shot of my favorite part. The dash.
If I were to make another one I could get a much better fit out of it without trimming too much in one direction and salvage some of the upper dash section. But I'm still happy with it.

[arbitris]

I found the problem I'm having with the servo. The connection where it's soldered to the motherboard inside came loose, so wiggling the cord would make it connect/disconnect/short on another connection next to it.

I thought this was supposed to be a top quality part, and this type of failure is not something I would have expected. The part is still new enough that the plastic protection film still covers the label.

[arbitris]

I am now using a "stock" axial AS-3 servo, and there is a HUGE difference. I had no idea what I had. Until it broke the high torque one I was using always did exactly what I told it to. No matter what. No exceptions.
ME: Turn 20 degrees left.
High torque servo: Oh the tire is wedged sideways and supporting the truck, okay let me lift the truck to turn 20 degrees left for you.
AS-3: Hmmmm, no, how about back up and try again with less pressure.

I miss my old servo already, and I'm definately going to get another high torque servo.

Also, the Traxxas 12T 550 Titan motor fits with plenty of room, -and- has noticably more torque -and- speed than the 35T Novak I have been using.

[Crawl Space]

Nice - have you looked into a solar D772? I'd recommend a hitec or savox over the solar, but if funds are limited, it is worlds better than the as-3.

I'm getting excited for the dingo build I'm planning this winter! Keep us posted.

[crazy nick]

Originally Posted by arbitris

I am now using a "stock" axial AS-3 servo, and there is a HUGE difference. I had no idea what I had. Until it broke the high torque one I was using always did exactly what I told it to. No matter what. No exceptions.
ME: Turn 20 degrees left.
High torque servo: Oh the tire is wedged sideways and supporting the truck, okay let me lift the truck to turn 20 degrees left for you.
AS-3: Hmmmm, no, how about back up and try again with less pressure.

I miss my old servo already, and I'm definately going to get another high torque servo.

Also, the Traxxas 12T 550 Titan motor fits with plenty of room, -and- has noticably more torque -and- speed than the 35T Novak I have been using.

This is great. You should definitely do more talking servo skits. Made me laugh. But the difference between a cheap servo and a good one is Jamaica to Alaska. And that goes for any r/c application be it ground, water or air.

[arbitris]

Yes I did research the Solar, I liked what I saw, and I'm probably going to order one by the end of the month.
I am going to a Comp in Deckers Sunday so I needed to buy something I knew would be here in time instead of gambling on shipping. A friend showed up with an unused AS-3 with a shiny aluminum steering horn

And thanks Nick