Tomy's SCX10 Deadbolt

[Tomy]

I received an Axial SCX10 Deadbolt a few weeks ago and have slowly started to modify the truck towards a competitive Class 2 rig.

First off I put the wheels in boiling water to remove the tires from the RTR rims. It took about 30 minutes of boiling before the glue got brittle enough so that the tires could be removed.

I then made a set of beadlock wheels. This is my first take on a solid delrin wheel and I wanted to test how to combine lathe and cnc router machining. So certain things have been done in the lathe and others in my hobby cnc. It took a few trial and errors before I learned how to center the work piece switching it back and forth between the lathe and the cnc. But now it's working well enough.

Here's the delrin wheel with SLW hub installed:




And here with alloy beadlock rings. Black or stainless hardware?






I have also been working on a metal front bumper. My first thought was to make one out of aluminum using aluminum soldering rods (like Alumiweld or TechnoWeld). So far I have not had 100% success with these rods. Some joints have turned out good while others are brittle. It's seems to be a long learning curve for me and I am leaning towards settling for steel bumbers and silver brazing.

Here's a pic of my alloy bumper which never really worked out:




And after a few days of frustating failures with soldering alloy I made up this bumper from steel. Not fully happy with the dimensions yet so I'll likely make up one more.

[T I N Y]

I vote black hardware. It gives a little more contrast to the ring / wheel combo..

[RiderZ]

Nice skills on the wheels.Good job.I say black hardware too.

[Tomy]

Thanks.

I am also leaning towards black hardware. Just to try all available options, I will still make a beadlock ring in black delrin and see how that looks.

I got a few new bumber ideas I will start working on next. Also some rock sliders for the sides are in line to be done.

[Tomy]

A few low quality pics of my side armor idea. The body runs inside the side armor and makes for a low profile and clean look. It also makes it possible to correct the side line of the body, which at least on mine bends inside towards the center right behind the front wheel and does not look good at all. By adjusting the position of the side armor you can match the arc running along the upper part of the doors.

Final side armor will be made from metal to get the extra reward in scale points for metal parts.

[djjiz]

Very cool idea on the rub rail.

[Tomy]

Thanks, djjiz!


Got the rub rail fabbed up in aluminum:




Also made a pair of SLW compatible hubs as I was lacking a pair for the new wheels:

[Tomy]

Started to work on a steering/cms/panhard setup. Having studied the panhard for a while, I figured I better start with the knuckles first, as the panhard bar needs to line up with the drag link. Several hours and lots of trial and error later I have these hi clearance knuckles. They won't restrict steering throw at all. The stock dogbones are still in the front axle so I need to pick up a set of cvd's to make use of the full potential of the knuckles.

[Tomy]

I'm now working on a CMS/Panhard setup and would appreciate input from those of you who have experience with this.

Here you can see my steering arm lengths. Any concerns there?




This is where I plan to mount the servo. I am thinking as high as possible is good? This is to allow for as much axle movement as possible. Eyeballing it it looks as if the draglink may hit the frame rails though. Should I lower the servo a little to avoid this? Will there be enough flex then?




And this is how all the links would run with my current plans. All good?
Red lines are drag link and tie rod and yellow line is panhard bar.

[DickyT]

Originally Posted by Tomy

And this is how all the links would run with my current plans. All good?
Red lines are drag link and tie rod and yellow line is panhard bar.

That looks like it should work well, angles are good. I look forward to seeing what you come up with to connect it all

[Tomy]

Originally Posted by DickyT

I look forward to seeing what you come up with to connect it all

Yes, that's the tricky part. I hope to figure something out.

Thanks for the input!

[Tomy]

The first piece of the CMS/Panhard puzzle is ready. A CMS mount with height adjustability for both the servo and the Panhard bar mount.

The next pieces of the puzzle will be trickier to figure out.

[Tomy]

Here are the missing pieces of my Panhard puzzle. I am pretty happy with the outcome. I designed some vertical adjustment possibilities into the parts so it is very easy to have the Panhard bar angle match the drag link angle. So far there is no lateral adjustment. I might look into that later sometime.

On to the pics and missing pieces of the puzzle:

Here's the axle Panhard bar mount with height adjustment (sorry for the blurry pic).




And this is the axle mount. It consists of three separate parts. To make it into one single part would have been too complicated for me and the equipment I have.






And here some pictures showing an overview of the setup. All thread links are used for mock up purpose only. I will later make links from stainless rod or titanium rod.

[skerb]

Originally Posted by Tomy

Thanks, guys. I appreciate your kind words.

I ran into an issue when I made my steering arms too long because I needed a really long servo horn to get full steering on the cvds.

[Tomy]

Originally Posted by skerb

I ran into an issue when I made my steering arms too long because I needed a really long servo horn to get full steering on the cvds.

That's good to take into consideration, too. I have two holes on my steering arms so there is room for a bit of adjustment.


I played around a little with the front linkage setup last night and found I can get full suspension movement on the passenger side. On the driver's side movement is limited by the panhard bar hitting the chassis rail 2-3mm before the suspension bottoms out. I think a slightly bent panhard bar can solve this.

[Oz Bruiser]

Hey mate great to see some 1.9 wheels and to see you messing with a scaler. Ill be watching with interest.

[Tomy]

Originally Posted by Oz Bruiser

Hey mate great to see some 1.9 wheels and to see you messing with a scaler. Ill be watching with interest.

Hi Ben!
I think I indeed enjoy the building process more than driving. It's nice to have something to tinker with in the evenings.

[Oz Bruiser]

Originally Posted by Tomy

Hi Ben!
I think I indeed enjoy the building process more than driving. It's nice to have something to tinker with in the evenings.

I understand my friend. I hope that this new project gives you some tinkering and tweaking time. Is great you taking some time out for yourself.

[Tomy]

Got the truck back on its feet again. Not sure what to do next. I could wire it up and go out driving or start working on bumpers and grill. We have an event coming up in a few weeks so perhaps I try to get some more details done before taking it out on the trail.


A flex shot. I think there's enough of flex for a scaler?




Side profile showing the DIY rub rail and wheels.

[PlayingDirty]

Awesome work! Did you happen to weigh the wheels before installing the tires?