New Build "Navy Cut" prelim shopping list

[Orph3o]

Hi all,

Long story short... Nitro Off road racer here, Now leaving downtown and can not fire any engine around except at the track.
Sold all my nitro bashers, kept my racing kit for a soon to start 2012 season and... just got bitten by Crawling...

Got a MRC pro, having a lot of fun upgrades are on their way. Kids want to play too (they never liked the track though, too noisy, too competitive).

Will keep on working on the MRC, will get a micro for the kids... but Dad wants a big toy.

I stopped smoking a month ago, I was a heavy smoker... I was smoking Player's Navy Cut, and this was a "hobby" that was costing me over 400 per month.

So... Decided that instead of burning it in tobacco, I would use the money this summer to build myself a kick ass crawler.

I fell in love with the XR10 when the first pics were released a couple years ago in my RC mags. Since then, it has always been "something I wanted to do".

I have spent the past three weeks reading, comparing, learning as much as I could.
I am now hoping you will take this "list" and tell me what's wrong, what's not necessary, what's plain stupid... and I'll work from there.

I plan on ordering by "phases", roughly a month of smokes.
After three months I should be able to play with it.
after 6 months, this should be a great crawler, and hopefully it'll be driven by a decent crawling pilot

Here is the list, Please be sure to comment, all help is more than appreciated!

The Navy Cut!
STAGE1
- Axial Kit
- Servo (HS7950 (edited))
- Servo Horn alum (Robotronic)
- Axial Stage III
- HB Sedona *2
ORDERED SHOULD BE IN by APRIL 19TH.

STAGE 2
From Holmes Hobby
2*Motors HH Crawlmasters 16T
2* Tekin FXrs
Bypass Servo and CC BEC/Solder Couplers/Y harness
Crawler innovation Double Deuce foam*2
Vanquish P incision axle transmission case
2* Pinion 13t
2* Pinion 14t

STAGE 3
Futaba 4PK (400 second hand)
OR
4PL new (250)
From BWD
Servo Mount; elec tray; XR steering arm; XR rear Brace.


At this point Navy Cut should be performing OK!


STAGE 4
Vanquish P FRONT:
DH Pro Comp II + Rings + Hub710 + Hex585 + Weight *2 + Screws *2
Vanquish Rear:
SLW V6 Respun 1inch + Hubs 475 and 600 + Rings + Screws


STAGE 5
Vanquish P Lockouts/Steering/Chubs (Zero Ackerman, Here I come)
Vanquish P Bronze bearing kit
Vanquish P incision motor plate 2*
Vanquish P XR10 Brass Knuckle
RC4WD 2x Hardened Gear Set

Should be going amazing now!

Stage 6 (315$)
VP XR10 Front and Rear Links
VP Front Axle
VP Rear Axle


So... here is the plan!

Let me know what you think, order of things, components etc... Thanks!

Thomas, Montreal Canada.

[pastrana#199]

Welcome fellow canadian. Looks pretty good but one thing I would change is get a really super strong servo. 7950 hitecs are quite popular but it you want the best the 7980 is the way to go and is also my choice.

[Orph3o]

Originally Posted by pastrana#199

Welcome fellow canadian. Looks pretty good but one thing I would change is get a really super strong servo. 7950 hitecs are quite popular but it you want the best the 7980 is the way to go and is also my choice.

Nice to meet your hey
Do you use it with a bec on the servo or on the escape as a whole? This is a very hungry servo

[leather]

Your "shopping list" made my wallet jealous. Wish I had a 400 a month payment I could use for something else. Congrats on getting healthy, your kids will appreciate it later on.

[HARDKNOCKZ]

Its hard to say what to buy when. Id say run it til it breaks & upgrade from there. Definitely get at least a 7950 or equivalent. The BRXLs are KILLER ESCs but BIIIG. If ya plan on changing chassis anytime soon...ya may run into some space issues. 45t motors are a good start & ya cant go wrong with either Holmes or Brood. I didn't see anything about a steering link...may have just missed it but a Chaotic setup would be wise. Most importantly...have fun.

And congrats on kickin the smokin. Ive never dabbled myself but 4 bills a month sounds HUGE!!!

J.D.

[Orph3o]

Thanks, I'll update the servo, and no I didn't have steering link hop up.
I'll look into this starting with your suggested chaotic setup.

For the esc, I don't think I'll change chassis this year (enough already, and I plan on building a second MRC for the kids after this one) so they could be good. Call me a sucker but... I was recommended the Tekins esc. Went to their website and couldn't stand the visual assault and gimmicky presentation. IT gave me the impression of a cheap product. I know (from this forum) this is not true, but the red/skulls/flame stuff with icons and lines just totally ruined it for me.

Other thing is that I believe I will not have to run a BEC with the BRXLs, but I may be wrong, or could be wrong now that we are aiming at a stronger servo.

[eisman]

Welcome to the addiction. I noticed your wheel choice listed two hub sizes for both front and rear wheels. Is this just so you can experiment with different widths? don't forget that if you have the same size hubs front and rear on the XR10, the rear axle will be narrower than the front. A 710 hub up front will put you pretty wide. I'm using 585 hubs on my front DH2s and I'm pretty happy with the width, but soon I'll be changing things up a bit. Have fun!

[HarleyRider]

Orph3o, sounds like a good plan you have there for a kick a** comp rig. A few sugestions if I might and this is from personal experence and from what I have seen at local comps.

Move step 5 up in your list. While the XR is a good base for a comp crawler the stock trans gears are "bad" at best. My front end ones went out 2 mins into my frist comp. So if your going to want to play while you build then get those RC4WD gears in there.

Holmes makes great motors, run them myself! Take a look at the 16t 2012 crawlmaster team motors. The 5 segment armature they have will give you alot more low speed control.

For the radio, the 4pl and 4pks are both great radios and both will be more than ample in crawler needs.

I ordered some of the Vp XR10 front and rear, upper and lower Ti links when I was running the stock XR chassis. They are great links, but got my rig out of specks with wheelbase length. Thought it was something I had done and had severial people look at it, no answer to it that we found other than milling down the length of the links.

Lastly, with all your going to be putting into this already, go ahead and add a phase and spring for a aftermarket chassis. When I changed out the stock XR chassis for a T1E Rockshow SS chassis it was like night and day in the way the rig handled. Allowed for more adjustability to let the rig do the work instead of having to fight it.

Good luck with the build and welcome to the madness!

[Orph3o]

Hey Eisman,
yes this is to experiment...honestly I had a hard time understanding VP wheels... read a lot and was still pretty confused about the difference between hubs and hex spacers... was thinking maybe the spacer was "inside" the wheel and the hub on the axle etc...
I spent a couple hours trying to read and understand.
VP could make a little effort to make this whole thing a little less esoteric. A simple combo pack would be amazing (saying, 585 on DH2 and weights, choose your colors, here it is... Now you can customize). Or at least a functional drawing...

I will have to experiment many different things. Based on my truggy experience, offsetting wheels have a tremendous impact on overall stability and cornering, however, as this is crawling I need to assess what "widht" I can handle in what type of lines/settings.

This is all new to me, just trying to have this rig the best "learning" platform, and hopefully going out for comps when I'll have sharpen my driving/setup skills.

This year is just building and learning, I'll keep the comp. by Truggy racing (just received my new Novarossi Clocked Mill... can't wait to test it).

I'll try and update this thread with my ongoing progress.
Thanks!

[Orph3o]

Ok Guys, updated to HS7980.
I have seen that this is an oversized servo. Will it fit with the BWD servo mount I planned to order
XR Servo Mount

Also, I was thinking about having the CC BEC on the Servo as the HH Esc seem to be having a very strong BEC by themselves.
I will use HH servo bypass. What BEC settings should I use for this servo only BEC (Voltage).
Also, how do I set voltage on this?

THanks!

[eisman]

You need the castle link to adjust voltage on the bec. It can also be used on the BRXLs. I would recommend just using the Castle 10 amp bec for all your servo voltage needs. Check out Harley's wiring diagrams in the stickies, they are easy to understand.
With regards to the VP hubs, all you need are the hubs. They have the hex built into them. Once you figure out what kind of width you want to run, it's not hard to choose the right hubs. They are offered in 1/8" incriments. Don't forget to take into consideration knuckle weight and clearance for steering when deciding on hubs.

[eisman]

I don't know about the 7980 and the BWD mount. I'm not using either of those. I run a 7950 and find it suits my needs well.

[HARDKNOCKZ]

While I DO run a 7990...a 7950 is more than enough & is the more popular choice. The 7980 & 7990 ARE oversized & it usually takes a little fab work to get em in there square & you'll also find that servo guards aren't readily available for the big fellas.

The best way to learn IS to comp. 1st time I ran a crawler was in a comp. You have experienced guys standing next to you...seeing what your rig is or isn't doing. You'll also have their rigs to fondle & compare in person. Don't worry about your skills or the lack there of. Everyone's a beginner at some point.

J.D.

[Orph3o]

I'll go 7950 for now... enough complexity already...

I'll try and find comp around here, not sure if I'll find any in Quebec, but I guess Vermont might, they have rocks over there

[rjsl59]

check with BWD he has a mount for the 7980 and 7990, I got one from him but it's not on the website. The one you have on your post #9 is the regular one. This one moves the servo out a little more and there is no messing around making it work or fabricating one.

[eborgie]

That crawler budget is a hell of a bonus to quitting smoking.

[Orph3o]

Originally Posted by eborgie

That crawler budget is a hell of a bonus to quitting smoking.

I realize that...
The thing is, I never stopped FOR the money, it was part of my "taxes". I only thought "for a full year, I'll put this money in my real hobbies" not because I needed super luxury stuff, but because I felt this would motivate me.
When I did this shopping list, I thought I would have my crawler ready in september, at least this was the plan in my head. Phases were in place to break down the whole thing.
I am a perfectionist, when I start something I tend to try and do it as good as possible (that lead to many frustrations in my life though), so this list was my "perfect list", and the time to make it happen was "open".
The "Phases" allowed me to have fun and drive it very quickly, the other phases focusing on performance/reliability.

What I didn't know was... how much smoking was costing me. I can say 4 notes, I can say this is what I pay for my 1:1 car+insurance, hence being a lot of mullaz but it was for... Smoking, and after 25 years in the smoke "hobby" I can tell you that money was not an issue, not even a family discussion.

Back to the topic...
Did this list, took my "non smoker allowance" and started looking at "completion" dates.
I was AMAZED... I can have the whole three first phase no later than mid April (yes in three weeks) and the WHOLE thing by mid July...


So yes, this is a "hell of a bonus", I feel a bit ashamed of it but as I said... I have not "quit" for money, this is just another benefit.
As a sidenote, this "I keep the smoke money" is a one year deal with the family, an idea of the wife to "show and motivate" me. I'd better enjoy it as much as I can

[losiking1]

Welcome to another avenue of this great hobby. Props for kicking your other "hobby". When you get the axle cases you will need the link mounts also.And if you plan on trans cases and motor plates you won't need their bushings as they have oversized bearings included. I have a few pics posted on "My Axial/VP10" build thread. Sounds pretty close to what you are planning. I have the CF chassis for now but plan on a YTC chassis of some sort. Read all the builds you can. You will learn so much. Enjoy!! I'll be watching this build progress.

[Orph3o]

Originally Posted by losiking1

Welcome to another avenue of this great hobby. Props for kicking your other "hobby". When you get the axle cases you will need the link mounts also.And if you plan on trans cases and motor plates you won't need their bushings as they have oversized bearings included. I have a few pics posted on "My Axial/VP10" build thread. Sounds pretty close to what you are planning. I have the CF chassis for now but plan on a YTC chassis of some sort. Read all the builds you can. You will learn so much. Enjoy!! I'll be watching this build progress.

Thanks a lot for the bushing advice! I read about the oversized bearing but I guess... this was lost in the process!
I'll try and find your builds, have to start somewhere

[Orph3o]

Ok, Stage 01 is ordered (from a canadian vendor, RX kit box is too big to go unnoticed through US custom

Now onto Stage 02!
Question about Holmes Hobby my friends, I tried contacting John (through site's form) without much luck.
- Harley's guide suggests the handwound motors. Would there be an improvement going team motors instead?
- Are they coming in with wires? connectors? Same question with BRXLs
- Planning on using 3S 800/1300msh. Overkill?
- Are there any brushless options for the XR?
- Was told BRXLs are really large, Tekin FX-R would be smaller... I felt from reading the BRXL that they were amazing, is the size factor worth the difference?
- If using BRXLs do I need a BEC at battery level? just Servo Level? none? (Servo will be a 7950) (eisman pointed to a battery level esc, just wanted to make sure there were not other options).

Thanks a lot, as soon as I have all answers on this stage 2, I'll order it