The 'No Flex' Deadbolt (Pic Heavy)

[Dad,Canyoufix?]

Hello,

Gonna direct this build in a "Garage Built" fashion. Using old parts or parts made from scratch/easy to find materials that most could get their hands on whenever possible.

I got this deadbolt earlier this summer as a Father's Day gift. I have plans to use an early 90's Chevy hardbody to replicate my 93 that is in storage until we settle down in one place. Problem is, I am having a lot of fun with this deadbolt and my Ram when I should be focusing on body work. I'll get to it this winter. I named this the 'No Flex' Deadbolt as it has very little compared to what a lot find necessary or desirable, I love the thing though.

To start, I picked up some Axial 8 holes and RC4WD 1.9 Rock Crushers as they were on sale, got a set of 4 wheels and tires NIP for $60. I hear the Crushers are.... well, I hear they suck. After they broke in a little though, it seems they get better and better with every run(it isn't my driving skills increasing, that's for sure).






After replacing the windshield wipers on my wife's car, I kept the old blades to see if I could have some fun with them. Sure enough, got a free set of trailing arms and some little fender flares/caps.







Then wanted to see what I could do with the stock shocks while waiting for the right deal on something aftermarket.




Bought some BPC rings from a friend and shortly after, found the right deal on some aftermarket shocks. G-made 93 mm Piggy Back XD's. Little free dirt, less free oil, but no big deal. Set them up for about 30% up travel from ride height and about 70% down travel with internal springs, 35w AE oil inside(full). Teflon and some love, they seem to stay dry and very predictable, Internal spring diameter is a good 2mm larger than the shock shaft, so no binding.











After that, I was more focused on the Ram and it's AxialFest prep, so little was thought of or done to the deadbolt. It did come home with some Cisco Grove dirt on it though(and some G6 stickers, it's a deadbolt body, sticker it up right?)



After getting back from AF, I hated the AE-5 after driving the Ram on its AE-2 set up and new Brushless set up. So, the AE-5 is in the parts box, will likely become a winch controller if it doesn't melt down on 3s. AE-2(old faithful), welcome to your new home. Pushed the bumper back as well.








Cut up the cage a little, I like it, helps with self righting as well.



Ordered SSD D-60 housings. Made em pretty before testing them out. Also installed the level 3 CMS servo mount that has been in my parts bin for nearly 3 years. with some home made links, it seems to be cycling just fine and staying put. I am not suggesting the Lvl 3 cms or related copies, just utilizing what I already have. RC4WD, VP and the SSD kits will likely end with you keeping CMS instead of throwing it away.











Wasn't going to do a thread on this rig until the hard body was done, but I am having too much fun with the little guy and really like having it around. Plus I was editing all these pics and wanted to share!

[Dad,Canyoufix?]

Got the kiddo in bed, so it's pic dump time.

I would like to say, to most of the senior members here, I know this isn't at all new. You have seen Dingos, Honchos, and all the Jeep variations in threads like this before. Just posting what I have to date on this and sharing some pics of the fun I am having with it.

With the small tests on the flat stone mound in the back yard(contractors have yet to clear it out), I think this CMS set up will do very well. I think the design of the housing is great, fitment as well and functions as it should. With more steering, I could see this becoming a rig that can keep up with a group during an endurance or G6 style event. Might see if I can get someone to drive the little bugger next year at AxialFest2016(my son maybe? he will only be 3 and a half.. ).



















Up coming additions will be a winch, head lights/tail lights with light bar and probably something interior oriented.

[waw]

awesome.. never thought of the winshield wipers would come so handy..

[Dad,Canyoufix?]

Originally Posted by waw

awesome.. never thought of the winshield wipers would come so handy..

Bent one in a large tumble down a mountain. They are steel though, and it wasn't "kinked", so the integrity seems to still be present. Straightened it out and have been running it ever since.

[waw]

Originally Posted by Dad,Canyoufix?

Bent one in a large tumble down a mountain. They are steel though, and it wasn't "kinked", so the integrity seems to still be present. Straightened it out and have been running it ever since.

that's kinda very long drop..

I ran mine with a secondhand home-made almunium lower links


lowering the cost and keep it for other upgrades (this is the money pit)

[Natedog]

Very nice, I like your lower budget keep it simple approach. Your cut cage came out good, I'm thinking about trimming some off the back of mine, but wasn't going to go quite that far...not yet anyways. SSD axles look great, I started swapping mine last night. What kind of red paint on the stock plastic diff covers?

Great crawl spot pics and looks like fun too!

What was so much better about the AE-2 over the AE-5?

[MaFoDes]

Love your windshieldwiping links man! (looked for a hard hands clapping emoticon, did not find it. Love homebrew creativity )

I run the AE-5 on 3S. No issues... What is it you did not like about it? (Just like Natedog was asking )

[Dad,Canyoufix?]

Originally Posted by Natedog

Very nice, I like your lower budget keep it simple approach. Your cut cage came out good, I'm thinking about trimming some off the back of mine, but wasn't going to go quite that far...not yet anyways. SSD axles look great, I started swapping mine last night. What kind of red paint on the stock plastic diff covers?

Great crawl spot pics and looks like fun too!

What was so much better about the AE-2 over the AE-5?

Thank you! I like putting a little effort into reusing the junk before buying new. Fun part is trying to make it perform as good or better than stock.

The paint is tamiya gold with tamiya trans red over it. Took those picks because I know for a fact, no matter how thick the paint is, rocks will win

Originally Posted by MaFoDes

Love your windshieldwiping links man! (looked for a hard hands clapping emoticon, did not find it. Love homebrew creativity )

I run the AE-5 on 3S. No issues... What is it you did not like about it? (Just like Natedog was asking )

Thank you as well! The wiper arms seem to get some interest, maybe raise a few eyebrows, very fun.

My dislike of the AE-5 is it's on/off reaction to the trigger. I tried dialing it in, with a different rx and tx that allows that sort of thing, to no avail. The starts and stops are just too harsh. The AE-2 with a BEC and a Castle Link has soooo much more to offer. I can dial up the servo with the BEC, adjust the drag brake and deadband on the ESC and just dial it in to where I want it and still run smooth on 2s or 3s.

My AE-5 is likely destined to become a winch controller or sold for funds to buy something to help the steering out. Just got a new 1" horn from RPP that matches the diff covers(not on purpose, just bought what was in stock).

This horn helped make pan hard and drag link closer to parallel and gives me more throw on the drag link.

[Natedog]

OK thanks, paint turned out great color, but yes it's temporary lol.

[Big Bill]

Looking great,I also like the use of wipers arms. I have been thinking of cutting the back half off of my Deadbolt as well, once it flops over on the lid your screwed. Removed the light bar and that helped a little, but needs more. As for the AE5, I was going to change it out when I installed my Spetrum but left it in as it works OK sort of. I have to agree about the throttle and brake being like an off- on switch. Although I was able to dial in a ton of steering with it. I have gotten used to it a little and have just be waiting for it to give me any problems and toss it for the Tekin. Nice photos of your different crawl areas, really like the first shots. I have said it before but these Deadbolts just work, every little change makes it a little better. Kind of reminds me of the early SCX-10 kits and the first Honchos.

[Dad,Canyoufix?]

Originally Posted by Big Bill

Looking great,I also like the use of wipers arms. I have been thinking of cutting the back half off of my Deadbolt as well, once it flops over on the lid your screwed. Removed the light bar and that helped a little, but needs more. As for the AE5, I was going to change it out when I installed my Spetrum but left it in as it works OK sort of. I have to agree about the throttle and brake being like an off- on switch. Although I was able to dial in a ton of steering with it. I have gotten used to it a little and have just be waiting for it to give me any problems and toss it for the Tekin. Nice photos of your different crawl areas, really like the first shots. I have said it before but these Deadbolts just work, every little change makes it a little better. Kind of reminds me of the early SCX-10 kits and the first Honchos.

Cutting the cage has helped with self righting the rig. Not that it flops much anyway . Looking into more steering options. Might see what I can do with fabricating some out of steel. Would really like to buy some more SSD stuff though, so I may wait and see what they come out with.

[Dad,Canyoufix?]

Update! Got some new shoes for the deadbolt! I am a fan of RC4WD's 4.19" version of he MT Baja Claw. Run it on my Ram with CI foams and really like their performance characteristics. Unfortunately, I don't have another set of CI's, but I have plenty of stock foams floating around to experiment with.

First though, a thorough test run. CMS and suspension geometry worked very well, held up well, so I don't see any needed changes there. Only thing I saw that I didn't like was the expected tire roll. With this rig only being around 6.5-7 lbs though, I don't know if CI's are a must have right now (will definitely be ordering some in the future unless I stumbled across a mystic foam combo, I highly doubt it...).





























I enjoy getting out with the group. They help keep reality in check. Thank you Diablo Crawlers!!!





So for the front, I have 2 stock RC4WD MT foams and half of a PL TSL 4.3" memory foam. The rear has the two RC4WD foams only.



I was also playing with the idea of a topper for the Deadbolt. I have given up on the idea that this will be my second scale replica of my second 1:1 toy, so game on, deadbolt body is here to stay (it's fun to have a rig to just do whatever with).

[Postclanker]

Topper looks great Jesse
You were right....lots-o-pics ...we like pics

[Dad,Canyoufix?]

Originally Posted by Postclanker

Topper looks great Jesse
You were right....lots-o-pics ...we like pics

Thank you! Glad the pictures are liked! I also have a short clip of the Deadbolt and its tire roll before new foam set up at Rock City. That topper was a fun idea to help make a popular body and a growing in popularity cage modification stand out from the others. Really gonna try to make it to the New Years Crawl with both rigs ready to go!

Video is of a place where weight distribution and line choice come in handy. I kinda let it guide it self a little far to the drivers side, but know in that spot, if I try to stay over to the passenger too much, that hole will swallow me up and my rig will find itself stuck all crooked and in a bind. Enjoy!

http://youtu.be/hPg5aLGs0ZA

[STANG KILLA SS]

your screen name is awesome

[Dad,Canyoufix?]

Originally Posted by STANG KILLA SS

your screen name is awesome

Thank you! My creativity has its moments, wish the word awesome represented a majority of them

[Dad,Canyoufix?]

Got my Deadbolt out for a spin this morning while the family slept in. Main objective was to test new foams, strength of topper when pinned against rocks and possibly get some video and start building some camera man skills. Thankfully, all was achieved but I did lose my servo in the process.

Servo that failed me is some old china make I have had sitting idle for a couple years now. It seemed to be doing well in the deadbolt, but for some reason, shorted out and started over drawing from BEC, really weird. Fan on ESC, supplied power by BEC, would slow and the servo would not turn to the drivers side. Still went to passenger full lock, but had no interest in any movement to the driver side. It got hot and is now seized up. New servo time I guess, gonna give the tactic TSX55 and TSX57 a shot. They aren't super servos, but anything above 150 oz is plenty for my small tire rigs( I don't weight my wheels any more). I have a TSX45 also waiting on the gear. So I have a range of them to try out and choose from.

Foams, wow, I really thought I found a Band-Aid with the double stock foams and proline inserts, would see improvement but would still look for CI's. If the foams stay nice though ( I don't go mudding or submarining anymore), I don't see the need to replace them.

Topper survived great, got some scratches, pined it up against rocks, survived some bouncing, and even a good roll over ( to test durability of course).











Video, So the first clip of my little mini movie was too long. Will work on getting a better mount (using rocks to prop up my phone is cheap, but doesn't yield very good results), and keeping scenes active and attractive. Not really one of those music video guys, but I really wanted to play AWOLNATION's "Burn it Down" to salute my now expired servo. The failure happened about 10 min after last clip of video. Still had 3.9V per cell

https://youtu.be/yZAz_KQVsSg

Few pics taken after breakdown.

[k goodrich]

Try running the claws backwards.

[Mike Flea]

Very nice work, I like the Look of cutting off the back of the cage, and the addition of the topper .

Maybe I overlooked it, but where did you get the Topper?

[Dad,Canyoufix?]

Originally Posted by k goodrich

Try running the claws backwards.

I really don't have a problem with them running the correct direction. In our groups, the Ram and Deadbolt make it where the others do without having them backwards. Maybe it is my ignorance, but I have never seen the need to swap em.

Originally Posted by DLeeTT

I'm just jealous of the terrain you have to crawl on...

I had no idea what was waiting for me in CA, this group of guys and the terrain available to us has made the move so fun and quite pleasant.

Originally Posted by Mike Flea

Very nice work, I like the Look of cutting off the back of the cage, and the addition of the topper .

Maybe I overlooked it, but where did you get the Topper?

Thank you! I really appreciate it!
Topper is made from an old Power Wagon Cab. Bought the body as a spare, but it ended up having holes in it and cracking not long after receiving it, so it was kinda used for parts and fun. Really liked the idea of adding a hard top cab, but wanted to use what I had laying around to make it happen, while still trying to make it look somewhat clean, not a messy addition.