My PimpStick

[voodoooffroad]

Well I couldn't wait any longer to buy a torsion or stick type chassis for my berg axles, so I made my own.
The backbone and front is a PimpCane copy and the rear is a stick variation. I tried a full torsion chassis first, but wanted more flex.
The front holds the rig level torsion style without needing springs or shocks on the rear susp. I was origionally going to add one shock on the rear to control dampening, but the natual drag in the teflon impregnated aluminum hiem joint seems just about right



Flex is right where I like it



And it's got a ton of ground clearance




I've only been doing this RC thing for about two months, but I have competed in 1:1 rock crawling for several years.

I entered my first fun/comp this past weekend on the Rubicon at the Marlin Crawler Roundup, and took first place

There were much better drivers there, but I had the only Berg and the only one running Panthers
I just want to say thanks to everyone on this board for all the great writeups and info. I feel I built a pretty capable rig thanks to all of you.

[ecoli]

First place sounds pretty capable! Good job on the build. You could get even more/longer clearance in the rear by making your straight links into high clearance ones.

What's your electronics set-up?

[voodoooffroad]

Originally Posted by ecoli

First place sounds pretty capable! Good job on the build. You could get even more/longer clearance in the rear by making your straight links into high clearance ones.

What's your electronics set-up?

TekinFXR
Elite1500 8 cell split pack on the front axle
Hitec 7995 steering sevo
CC BEC
JR sub micro servo w/mini swtches-ft/rr dig
TQ3 modded
integy 55T motors 12tooth f&r

I like the straight links to help the rear motor slide over rocks(it would sometimes hang up when I was running a full torsion chassis with no links)

[run2jeepn]

Originally Posted by ecoli

First place sounds pretty capable! Good job on the build. You could get even more/longer clearance in the rear by making your straight links into high clearance ones.

What's your electronics set-up?

It may sound like a good idea, but really those Links help slide those rocks past that Motor. See with a Stick or Pimp Cane Design. You either need to Flip the Rear axle(Pimp Cane) or Run Links(Stick). With out those straight links. It leaves the motor wide open to snag rocks. But also those Links mounted like that to the Backbone. Weakens it at that point. Once the Links Max out during Flex. All that Rear Flex gets put all in that one mounting point. Just keep an eye on it. Congrats on the win also.

[Josh87]

Looks good. How is it mounted in the front? We need some more pics. I hope eventually somebody makes a pimpcane designed for the bergs..........

[voodoooffroad]

Originally Posted by run2jeepn

Once the Links Max out during Flex. All that Rear Flex gets put all in that one mounting point. Just keep an eye on it. Congrats on the win also.

Thanks run2jeepn, I studied your work quite a bit when building this.

The links don't actually max out. The backbone hits the gear case and the motor. I put a plastic block on the motor to limit the flex in that direction.

The comp was more of a fun comp. I'm not sure how I would fair against some of you heavy hitters out there.

[voodoooffroad]

Originally Posted by Josh87

Looks good. How is it mounted in the front? We need some more pics. I hope eventually somebody makes a pimpcane designed for the bergs..........

It's just a piece of aluminum angle with a gusset mounted to where the stock upper link mount was. I'll try to get a better pic.
The mount could be better, it's the part I'm least happy with in the build.

[ecoli]

Originally Posted by run2jeepn

It may sound like a good idea, but really those Links help slide those rocks past that Motor. See with a Stick or Pimp Cane Design. You either need to Flip the Rear axle(Pimp Cane) or Run Links(Stick). With out those straight links. It leaves the motor wide open to snag rocks. But also those Links mounted like that to the Backbone. Weakens it at that point. Once the Links Max out during Flex. All that Rear Flex gets put all in that one mounting point. Just keep an eye on it. Congrats on the win also.

Ah, makes sense I always ran my clod set-up with full 4-link just because it was the way to do it, didn't even think of the motor catching. My berg is somewhere in the mail...

[voodoooffroad]

Here's a couple pics of the rear susp. I mounted the pivot as low as possible to try and reduce axle "swing"





In the second pic you can see the little block on the motor that limits flex in that direction.

I don't have a good pic of the front mount, but it is similar to the rear except the backbone is bolted directly to it with two screws.

[BIGBIRD]

hmmmm i have seen that before..... like the rubicon marlin roundup rc crawl. this is Rick from canada. nice to see you here. and that thing works insane. unbelivable climbing power....

[voodoooffroad]

Thanks Rick. It was a great time, and thanks for letting me use your tools I see your poking around over here on the Berg fourm
Take it easy, Phil.

[oberon crawler]

Looks good man, it's very similar to mine except the BB is square instead of round and mine has front links and my rear pivot is at the top.
I think you'll find it drives great and you'll love the GC.
It's good to see some new ideas in chassis design, keep up the good work!

[voodoooffroad]

Originally Posted by oberon crawler

Looks good man, it's very similar to mine except the BB is square instead of round and mine has front links and my rear pivot is at the top.
I think you'll find it drives great and you'll love the GC.
It's good to see some new ideas in chassis design, keep up the good work!

Wow, they are very similar. I didn't realize you had the front locked out.

I do indeed love how it drives and the GC

Thanks, but It's just two different designs I sort of copied and combined

[oberon crawler]

Originally Posted by voodoooffroad

Wow, they are very similar. I didn't realize you had the front locked out.

I do indeed love how it drives and the GC

Thanks, but It's just two different designs I sort of copied and combined

Yep, most ppl don't notice and think it's just a like any other stick, mine has no springs or torsion at all so it's completely limp, yours would be the same and i think it's an advantage, I know everybody thinks that thier own chassis is better than all the others but I can't wait to run it against as many bergs as possible to see how it stacks up.

I locked the front out because it was the best of the two ways i could think of to totally eliminate axle steer on the front. (I read here that axle steer is one of the main issues with sticks so i wanted to design it out right from the beginning) Really there's no reason why you need two pivot points on a stick and there's no reason to run springs (i might eat my words in future but i'm sticking to it now).

I'm also struggling to see how 4"+ of GC can't be a huge advantage over 3" and i expect our c of g is as low as a plate chassis rig with a 3" gc.

Don't sell your self short, you've made a good design that's not just a simple pimp stick hybrid. TCS sticks have springs and a pivot at the BB axis. Yours does not. Pimp canes have a twisting force when articulated. Yours is different.

[voodoooffroad]

Thanks. It really seemed to work well at my first comp, for all of the reasons you stated. Of course every other rig was a shafty, so I think I had an advantage from the start. I to would like to see how it stacks up against other Bergs

[frdtrkguy]

Bring that thing out to a Reno BPRCA comp, id like to see it perform

[voodoooffroad]

Originally Posted by frdtrkguy

Bring that thing out to a Reno BPRCA comp, id like to see it perform

I'd love to. When is it? how do I get a schedule or something for nor-nev or nor-cal comps??