jebster's xr10

[jebster]

so, i finally jumped in and got an xr10. this is technically my 3rd crawler: i have a venom creeepr (jebster's creeper) and i got my son an exceed maxstone 16 (exceed rc maxstone 16 upgrades and tuning?).

pretty basic so far: xr10, fxr, punk dig, cc bec, wantAsummit true-3pos adaptor (i run a 4ch traxxas tq-4), 55t venom (it's what i had laying around), 7950 servo, hr rovers. can't run it yet. one of the steering turnbuckles in the kit wasn't threaded so i left axial a message get a replacement part.

i plan on fabbing up a front axle batter mount (too tight for the batteries i have in the chassis). after that i'm not sure. here are a few pics as it stands today.

[NMLJ]

Looks good. I had same problem with one of my turnbuckles. You might as well just dig thru your spare parts bin and make a solid steering rod and shave the axle for clearance.

[jebster]

Originally Posted by NMLJ

Looks good. I had same problem with one of my turnbuckles. You might as well just dig thru your spare parts bin and make a solid steering rod and shave the axle for clearance.

i probably will switch over to a solid drag link sooner or later but i would like to run it awhile first. i am going to find an old turnbuckle to use while i wait for the replacement from axial.

[stelerzman]

nice job, if i were you i would thing about the after market gears. i am running HR gears, that would be the first thing you should upgrade to. stock drive gears tend to fail in the rear. FYI.

[jebster]

Originally Posted by stelerzman

nice job, if i were you i would thing about the after market gears. i am running HR gears, that would be the first thing you should upgrade to. stock drive gears tend to fail in the rear. FYI.

i've been reading all about this in the forum. i don't comp and given the venom 55t motors i'm running i doubt i'll be stressing the gears that much but when they do fail i will upgrade. probably do the vp motor plate and possibly transmission case at that time too. i'm also not a big fan of the body so i may upgrade to a bodiless chassis at some point. i do like the underground crawlers viper. all i need is more $$$!

[jebster]

i almost forgot. i will be making a new steering arm on the knuckle like many people have done to improve the steering lever angle. don't want to burn up my 7950!

[jebster]

got my new turnbuckles from axial today. i'll give them a thumbs up on service.

last night i cut out a new steering arm to get better leverage and i also made a front axle battery plate. i don't comp (more of a backyard basher) so i decided to hang the battery over the front edge of the axle. works good. i will use some 90deg angle aluminum and make a top cover that will bolt on over the top of the battery. the good thing about this is if i change battery sizes (mainly height) i'll have the top cover slotted so i can adjust it.

too much snow to run it around outside but was having a lot of fun driving over everything in the basement. can't wait to get it on the rock piles in the back yard!

a couple pics of the battery plate and steering arm:

[jebster]

i was curious. what is the highest capacity lipo battery people have been able to fit into the stock chassis? with my new battery plate location i'm still limited on the length of the battery (about 70mm) but i can get a wider and taller battery that what i already have (1250 mah 2s pack i used in my my venom gpv-1). given i'm just a basher i'm looking more at runtime than high power.

[jebster]

i've been looking around this forum and haven't seen anyone putting a battery on the rear axle. i'm thinking about taking the saddle pack from my venom creeper and making a rear axle battery plate for my xr10. with that 4200 mah lipo i can bash around all day long without running out of juice. i know that will throw the weight balance off but given i don't comp i'm not too worried about that.

if anyone has mounted a battery on the rear axle i'd appreciate some links for pics of how they did it.

[jebster]

i got some more work on my rig done. got the body painted and ready. came out ok but i like bodiless rigs so i'll probably switch out someday. i had trobule with the factory rear body mounts so i made a new mount and used some of the extra posts in the kit.

after that i decided i would give the rear axle battery mount a try. i replaced the rear servo mount bracket with a new piece. then i made a plate that goes from side to side with slots for battery straps. at the bottom of the plate i mount a 90deg bracket to support the batteries from the bottom. if i don't want to run with the rear battery all i need to do is take off 3 bolts. i'm really happy with how it came out.

did some measurements on weight. with a small front pack i'm at 5lb 11oz with a 60/40 weight balance. with the rear saddle pack it weighs in at 6lb 2oz and has a 53/47 balance. some of the places i run don't have much for vertical climbs so having a more even balance works pretty well. i do want to get vp slugs so i can make some additional adjustments if needed.

all i need is for the last of the snow to go away so i can get it out on the rocks. in the mean time here are some pics from the workbench.

[Xcrawler]

Nice Job! How about a pic of how you mounted that front battery holder.....I like the cleanliness of it. I got some 3s 800mah lipos on its way and that's where its going.

[jebster]

i'll try to get some pics from different angles tonight. it has a tab i bent down that connects to the upper link bolt and the shock mount. it wedges against the axle and transmission housing for additional support. i ran it at full speed into a workbench leg (by accident of course) and didn't do any damage or break anything loose. not too bad.

[jebster]

does any have measurements (length, diameter) on vp wheel weights? my brother is a machinist and may have access to stainless rod and could cut some for me if it is the right size.

[jebster]

so, i'm having some trouble with the stock shocks. i've been building shocks for years and i can't seem to get 2 of the 4 shocks to stop leaking. the leak is around the shock cap. i did have some troubles bleeding the shocks but i'm pretty confident i got that right. before i wrap some teflon plumbing tape around the end i wanted to see if there were other tricks out there. i've seen a lot of posts about leaks and it appears the solutions in many cases it to just try again. i'm going to do that but if there is some advice on how to do things different i'm open to suggestions.

[aircooled67]

plastic caps?

[jebster]

yes. the stock plastic caps. by the way, who's the vendor that makes the modified shock caps with link end? maybe i'll just go that route.

[aircooled67]

its a easy mod to do if you hava caps. if you find out who sells them done let me know

[skipxor]

Originally Posted by jebster

so, i'm having some trouble with the stock shocks. i've been building shocks for years and i can't seem to get 2 of the 4 shocks to stop leaking. the leak is around the shock cap. i did have some troubles bleeding the shocks but i'm pretty confident i got that right. before i wrap some teflon plumbing tape around the end i wanted to see if there were other tricks out there. i've seen a lot of posts about leaks and it appears the solutions in many cases it to just try again. i'm going to do that but if there is some advice on how to do things different i'm open to suggestions.

Be sure not to tighten the cap really tight. They will leak (the bladder will get sucked into the shock housing and make a horrible mess). I found this out the hard way at a comp.

[skipxor]

Damn nice looking build by the way!! Keep it up!!

[jebster]

Originally Posted by skipxor

Be sure not to tighten the cap really tight. They will leak (the bladder will get sucked into the shock housing and make a horrible mess). I found this out the hard way at a comp.

thats what was happening to me when i built the shocks. took a few attempts to get them together and bled without that happening. i'm going to tear them down again and will give tighten the caps even more than before.