cartronicshn's Cliff climber
 

So for now this thread goes in the general section, probably we will have our one section for these rigs pretty soon8). Anyways here are some pics of mine ARTR, i will add a sidewinder esc , 2 ch radio, lock the rear steering, try a 3s, weigh the tires, not sure on the body colors yet.
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h2...R/DSC03647.jpg
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Pics next to my comp ax-10
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h2...R/DSC03652.jpg
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It is a really fun vehicle, especially for the price. Do you have other tires planned yet? I want mine to be 1.9.

So what are your overall thoughts on the rig, does it seem to be well manufactured?.........I guess what I am asking is it cheaply built or does it seem to be a pretty durable (tough) rig?

for indoor crawling the truck realy cant be beat.

Any mods planned?

"thumbsup"I was actually unaware these were 2.2 until i pulled it out of the box:lol:, that's just me, buying on impulse, but yes i want go with 1.9 maybe the losi mini claws when they are available.

DTX has a reputation of building solid bashers, i haven't owned that many duratrax products, but this one looks well bulit, i try to see it as a really cheap entry level crawler that will definetly need some upgrades"thumbsup"

For now just the basic, go for the 1.9 tires, call JRH for some motors and batt packs, and the o ring mod while the cvd come out"thumbsup"

I took out mine for a crawl, and noticed the stall, i was only running a 6 cell AA pack, imho it feels like the motors are lacking low end power and the gearing is to high, i think with thicker wiring to the motors, slower motors and lower gears it would almost make the stall go away.

Well i painted the body, my master installer Oscar(car audio), suggested a Rockford Fosgate themed paint job and he would cut out the logos, so we did it, we sell and distribute this brand among others in my country btw.
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h2...R/DSC03680.jpg
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That looks great. Like the color combination.

I see that you have a comp rig next to it. I would like to see you put those wheels on the Cliff Climber.

Those look like eritex comp heavy wheels with panther tires. I had the same wheel/tires on my Cliff Climber. It looked really odd.

Oh you did? I suppose they look odd because of the short wheelbase and tiny body. Wondering if the axles could handle the larger diameter tires with heavy wheels.

Yeah, i don't think it would be healthy for the stock axle inners....although the aluminum upgrades coming out soon should be a different story8)

I was afraid something would break, so I took them off. The CC doesn't even like my Proline eights shooter/flatirons with 4 oz all around. I've had the best luck with the stock tires/wheels with 3 oz lead in front and 1 oz in rear.

I added 1 1/2 oz of lead weights to the stock front wheels and have a 6 cell 2/3 elite pack on top of the servo, it has helped some, i am waiting on some motors from JRH and a mamba esc and it will be awesome, anyways i went to pick up the rig from the front axle with only the weight mods and the links started to bend :shock:, i can only imagine with the comp heavies on there, it would probably snap them.

So it seems like the CC couldn't be really used as 2.2 hardcore crawler because the reason is its durability? But even with the metal gear upgrades installed how about the gearing? Is it even possible that a 380 at its full potential can hold its own against 540's? I'm getting the impression that the 380 does have speed but lacks torque.

I have never experienced 380's before as far as hobby class rc's.

Fobby, first of, i would like to say you have valid questions, but the CC is an entry level crawler, it will do more or less ok in stock form, but if you want a comp crawler of some sort you have to put up the $$, for instance if wanted to put more weight and heavier wheels i would definetly have to invest in the aluminum links, better motors and possibly alumninum gears( which i am btw, as soon as i get my motors from JRH i will post up). On the motor question, i spoke over the phone with JRH and he told me the motors i am getting on 6 cell have more that enough torque not only to get the rig out of any situation but even break stuff if not driven properly.

Well i was looking around for some links that would fit my cc (i do have a lot of aluminum rod and sleeving to make them, but i didn't feel like taking the time for that:roll:) and i stumbled into my first tlt chassis, a carbon fiber penguin8), and it had the links i needed fro the front, slightly longer, enough to get the steering to work like it should8), the rear will remain stock until the bent links come out, besides the weight is in the front, some pics, sorry for it being so dark, my camera's flash died.
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h2...R/DSC03701.jpg
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Some goodies arrived:), looks like the 7t puller had twin babies:ror:
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h2...R/DSC03706.jpg

Of course the mamba controller
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h2...R/DSC03707.jpg

And where did this sweet electronics come from? well let the stickers do the talking, you are the man John"thumbsup"
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h2...R/DSC03708.jpg

Well the stock pinions didn't fit my new motors, and i was all out of 12t 48 pitch pinions, so i went ahead and drilled the first stock pinion but broke two in the process:x, so i pulled one 10t i had laying around and put it in the rear axle, left the 12t in the front axle, it worked until the front axle locked up, so now i am waiting for parts from tower, i got the aluminum gears and links and soem 12t pinions.

So could the power level of the twin mini-pullers compare to, say, a standard 55t 540 crawling motor?

I'm really looking at making my DTX my next 2.2 comp rig (with the metal-innard upgrades, of course)

those little motors have way more low end and speed than the stockers, to much for stock internals in the diff for sure, and i only tried them on a 6 cell 2/3 nimh pack:shock:, i can only imagine the speed on 3s lipo:shock:

Well i received some goodies for my C.C.8), bearings, aluminum links, aluminum gears and pinions, i will put them on tomorrow and post up the results"thumbsup"
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Well i had installed most of the upgrades and took it for a test drive, but i had a cheap am radio and it had all kinds of glitching, so i put away the truck while i got some spektrum receivers, and i took it out for another drive today and was pleasantly surprised, no glitching"thumbsup", only insane power from the jrh motors8), i did feel that the start up was kind of abrupt for these motors, i have to play a little more with the mamba settings though, and will get some vid tomorrow.8)
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Thanks for the comment chevy"thumbsup", i have been driving this rig, and it is a lot of fun, i also lowered the body a bit and it looks better imho, i still owe you guys a video, i will get it as soon as it stops raining for a
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Aghh...carnage, again:-(, the only gear that is not available yet in aluminum is the weakest link now, the main gears can't take them JRH motors:lol:, i have to order some extra mains now, and the C.C. will be out of commision for a while:-(, to bad as i was really enjoying it, oh well....
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Don't worry. I received some samples of the metal main gear that you are talking about. They have ALOT of running on them and still look like new. I am running 454's also.
How many cells are you using? I recommend 5 cells with the stock plastic main gear. That worked very well for me.
Also, the metal main gears ARE SOLID METAL! Nice and heavy and super durable.
J

Thanks for the good news, time frame for their availabilty? as for the cells, i know i am abusing the gears, i am running 8 cell 2/3 packs:shock:.

:lol: I tried 8 cells at first but quickly found that was too much. Especially with a drag brake.
I will check into when the gears will be available. Should be soon but will post when I have something more solid.
5-6 cells seem to work very well.
J

Excited to hear about the metal main gear. I only chewed one of the small teeth on the idler so far, but it was enough to know this thing needs some heavy metal.
I don't have the 454's, but 45T 370's and an ad-on gear reducer. It was enought to chew nylon.

I been having some issues, not sure what to try first, anyways, i have some questions about the start up of these motors, they are not smooth at all, also i have experienced when the rig is in a bind and give the motors some throttle(not full) the esc will shut off, it's a mamba 25 JRH said would be fine with these 2 motors and a standard servo, at first i thought it might be the 2/3 packs didn't have enough juice so i tried one of my 4.4 mah maxamps packs and got the same result, any ideas?

I haven't used this rig that much because of the startup problems, any ideas might be helpful, remember i am running a mamba 25 with 2 454 motors, if you look at the video the start up is all jittery and as more power is applied it becomes somewhat stable, i also have a 995 tg servo and i am running a 40mhz 4ch radio, i have tried a spektrum radio in it and same deal, so we can rule radio glitching out.

Video is being uploaded right now

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h2...h_MOV04008.jpg

I am still hoping someone has any ideas of why the jumpiness of this rig with these motors, i have also played with esc settings everthing from punch control, timing, etc. and no improvement, lmk your ideas, i am really dissapointed on this rig for the amount of money and time i put into it and i have maybe ran three full packs on it:-(

I am running the Cobalts as well with 11t pinions and a Novak Rooster Crawler Edition ESC with 2 1600mAh Duratrax NiMH packs in parallel for 7.2V. I am also using the stock receiver and don't seem to have any issues. I happen to be running the mamba ESC on my Losi mini Baja with a 5400 kV Mamba brushless with a 3C Lipo in it. With the stock Losi crap radio it is very glitchy from startup. I thought it might have been my radio, but it may have been the ESC. I played with all variety of settings using the CastleLink USB programmer, but still it can jump strangely from a standing start.

I would find someone with a different large ESC and see if you can wire some plugs to isolate the ESC component alone using of your gear and the other ESC. I can start mine on a steep climb with just a hint of juice and no jitter.

I am also running 2.2 M2K somethings that are way bigger than stock with like 3 strips of lead per tire in front and 1.5 strips per tire in the rear. Haven't blown the nylon internals yet, but my shopping cart at Tower is full of the metal stuff.

What exactly is your doing again ?

I am that someone with a bunch of bigger esc;), what i was trying to make sure was that this esc wasn't going to work with these motors, and i was trying to cover all possibilities since this is the combo i got from JRH, and as for what it is doing, it is very glitchy form start up and the glitch does fade away with more throttle.

yeah ive been wanting to try the 454 on 5 cells, and rooster crawler. but ill wait to see if the motors are what causes the jittering cause damn there expensive.
yeah i was curious what folks were doing about the larger shaft in the 454s

also im confused, are 100% metal gears available, or is one of the gears not available in metal? only stock plastic.

I don't think the main gear is yet available in metal:cry:

Well i found out the horrible jittering i had before(see video) was because i was running 48 pitch pinion on my c.c. because the duratrax pinions had to small a bore for the 454 and regular 48 pitch pinions worked well with 454 and they looked liked they were meshing properly:roll:, i finally got some novak pinions with 1/8" bore and they fit nicely on the motors and these are 0.6 pitch and these also actually mesh properly and don't bind, i have installed a 11t on the back and 12t on the front. I know have stall, but i will weigh the tires down and put up a new vid"thumbsup"

Glad you got it figured out. Hopefully you can get some use out of it now.

I just started reading this and saw you were using 48p pinions early on; that can lead to some funny noises down the road LOL Robinson Racing makes metric pinions with a 1/8" hole down the 12 teeth.

Love the Rockford theme "thumbsup" DOWN WITH PLASTIC GEARS !!!:flipoff: