bilinvic's R1 Build

[bilinvic]

A few more changes to the R1:

Now that I have the Wrapter front end mod done, I can use the large JConcepts' Ruptures tires stuffed with Crawler Innovations Double Deuce 6.0” Standard Inner / Medium Outer Foams. I bought a new set of Gear Head RC 2.2 CAC EZ-Loc Beadlock Wheels in black Delrin and transferred the rear .500 hubs over to these wheels. The advantage to using these wheels on this machine is that there's no body work to interfere with and even more ground clearance.

New GMade Lexan panels painted Tamiya Bright Silver backed with gloss black. These panels are temporary though, I have AMF's Aluminum side panels and hood ordered with some graphics to match the PS roof.

I used the Axial Aluminum hubs up front because the stub axles are longer. On the rear I used Yeah Racing 5.5 mm aluminum clamping hexes (blue) because the GMade stub axles have a shorter threaded section. I may perform a similar mod as the front stub axles with the Axial Wraith rear axles to get longer threaded areas for the wheel nuts and greater strength.

I also picked up some 2200 mAh 3S 50C LIPOs that fit perfectly from my LHS. I will have to do some testing to see how long 2200 mAh batteries gives me so that I can have plenty of endurance for a full day of crawling with the group.

[spoo76]

Awesome build. So what makes the U4 tires just ok? with all the hype they have been getting i thought it was the new hotness like the pitbulls were. Is that compared to other scale tires or comp tires like the Hot Bodies you prefer?

Originally Posted by Sancho

Nice!
That's a lot more throw, I'm actually trying to get narrower or I would try the DravTech whatchamacallit


E-Flite 1350mAh 3S 11.1V 30C LiPo, 13AWG EC3


I've had awesome awesome luck with these, I mounted mine on the axle so they may not be to your liking, they are small but I get a solid 1.5 hrs. of slow speed crawling and maybe 1.25 on the trail at hiking speed.

I'm in the same boat. I already plan to narrow them to keep things more scale. Unfortunately the Wrapter Hubs will make things wider than Id like. you should be able to get similar steering throw with these mods R1 Steering Revisited

[bilinvic]

Thanxs spoo76. The U4 tires are very capable but weren't designed as a pure crawler tire, especially with the lack of sidewall tread and protection. I've used the Pitbulls as well and liked them a lot, in fact I may get another set of them, but this time maybe the older XOR version.

I gave the R1 another test run this afternoon with the JConcepts Ruptures; these tires measure in with a very large 6 inch diameter. For the R1, these tires threw the crawling performance off in the complicated sections compared to the smaller Rovers. I will find a new rig for the Ruptures and the Rovers will remain on the R1 for now.

.....and I broke another rear GMade stub axle, that's two this week just in testing. I have a fix that I am going to test out; fingers are crossed it will be successful.

[md666]

Awesome job as usual my friend. You really put together some great rigs!

[bilinvic]

I haven't seen anyone ever perform this rear axle mod before, so I hereby claim that this mod be called the "bilinvic R1 RSA mod"! (RSA = Rear Stub Axle). If this mod proves to be a failure after some time on the rocks, I hereby denounce the name of this modification!!! lol

Essentially, I have modified a Axial Wraith rear axle to substitute a GMade rear stub axle.

The two GMade rear stub axles that have broken have been in the exact same spot (see pics below). When comparing with an Axial Wraith axle, this section is not threaded and I would assume that this section is what will make the difference in strength; I have never broken a rear Axial axle with any of my BL powered rigs. In both circumstances, the axle broke when the R1 fell and landed on the rear wheel. My much heavier Wraith and Wroncho have landed on their rear wheels countless times and this has never been an issue.

The procedure is similar to the Wrapter stub axle mod in whereas the shaft OD needs to be 5 mm by gluing a 5 mm section of aluminum tube over the Axial axle; again, I used JB Kwik for this.

The difference with the rear stub axle is that the tang section is a larger diameter to keep the axle from coming out of the axle carrier. Instead of building the OD up even further than 5 mm, I decided I would use a 4 mm e-clip in front the the portal gear and use a FRONT bottom portal gear which utilizes a 5 mm opening with the tang cut-out vs 6 mm for the rear gear. I grooved the aluminum tube so that the e-clip would fit snugly around the section of exposed steel axle. If I were to do this again, I would simply use two sections of 5 mm aluminum tubing leaving the required space for the e-clip.

The rear bottom portal gear normally sits quite flush to the axle carrier, but is now pushed out the width of the e-clip, which causes clearance issues when the axle carrier is bolted to the main axle housing. To combat this, I used a large flat file to simply remove the difference off of the base of the lower portal gear.

The 12 mm hex hub hole is a couple of mm away from the axle carrier's bearing, so I filled this space with 4 Traxxas PTFE coated shims (5 x 8 x 0.5 mm) and the hub pin fits firmly against these.

I have only performed this mod on the driver's side rear for initial testing. If the axle doesn't break anytime soon, I will do the other side.

[spoo76]

Nice mod! Im not running the portals on my rig right now,but thought doing the wraith axles would be ideal if they ever broke. Didn't think about swapping the gears front to back. Unfortunately now the cast gears are the weak point. Hopefully some pinion gears can be made to fit. I've read one of the wraith trans gears fits, but doesn't mesh with the existing gear. hopefully another gear can be found to maks a set

[bilinvic]

Well.......the bilinvic R1 RSA mod needs some refinement! I took the R1 out for it's maiden voyage to crawl Mount Wells today. I got in just over two hours of crawling enjoyment until the RSA mod axle failed.

Up until that time though, the R1 performed exceptionally good and it's very low CoG definitely made a difference compared to other crawlers I have.

For now, I am going to go back to stock R1 rear stub axles since they are only $10.00 a pair and take no time to change. If they fail/snap too often, then the R1 Portal axles are history and I would likely replace them either new SSD Diamond axles or perhaps VP Currie F9s.

FYI, a 2200 mAh 3S battery gave me two hours of continuous power and when I swapped it out, it was at 3.71 v for each cell, so probably another 10 - 15 minutes left. Gotta love brushless efficiency!

I'm looking forward to getting the R1 out again....after seeing the performance of the R1 today, one of the guys out with us today mentioned that it was the Formula One of crawlers; I'll take that s a compliment!





Oops....

[spoo76]

wow, so what broke this time? the clip? I dont think Ive read about anyone breaking the rear axle stub at all let alone as much as you. Some CreeperBob titanium axles/stubs may be needed!

[bilinvic]

When I opened the axle carrier up, the section of aluminum tube behind the e-clip (that goes into the lower gear) had deformed and was completely off the Axial steel axle section, The e-clip was good.
Maybe I was just unlucky in testing to break two stub axles, because the one side that still has the stock axle performed perfectly yesterday!

[spoo76]

Has it always broken the same side stub while the other was always fine?

[bilinvic]

No, one each side so far. I'm going to use the Axial aluminum hexes that fit inside the wheel's axle opening as I feel these distribute the load better than a plain 12 mm hex. I'm also using two of the Traxxas shims between the hex and the axle carrier outer bearing so there isn't any room for flex in this millimeter of space.

[bilinvic]

....and yet another new look for the R1. This time with AMF Racing aluminum body panels and Gear Head RC Poison Spyder graphics to match the roof panel.

[spoo76]

looks killer

[jamesthe1v]

very cool and thanks for the pics and details

[bilinvic]

Took the R1 out for a serious 5.5 hour crawl today; and it performed very good...no broken axles on some very rocky terrain.

One hiccup though; the rear passenger side wheel and axle came straight out of the portal axle, together in one whole piece. An axle carrier bearing blew out which allowed the stub axle to slide straight out. I figured my day was done...but I decided to push the axle back in and it took some work trying to align it with the lower gear tang opening, but the axle stayed tight for the remainder of the day with no further issues despite three of the four bearing were disintegrated!

Today I tried the ProLine Flat Iron XLs on the R1 and their performance was just as impressive as they were on my Wraith.

I do have to get some more weight up on the front axle because I noticed a number of times that I probably could have pulled off a knarly line if the front wheels would have fallen down into place where I required some more traction.

[spoo76]

Nice. From looking at it when apart I'm willing to bet with some careful work its possible to clearance the stock insides for the big bearing mod like the Wraptor front

[spoo76]

Curious to see if there is any carnage inside other than bearings

[bilinvic]

I took Portal axle apart when I got home and there was no other damage. I replaced the bearing, greased everything up and reassembled. VP Currie F9 XR width axles are looking better and better now!

[bilinvic]

I'm gonna try out some new shoes for the R1 again...this time its ProLine's Interco TSL SX Super Swamper XL tires. A buddy of mine uses these tires on his Wroncho and it is very impressive what these tires can conquer!

I stuffed them with CI Double Deuce w/ medium outers. Wheels are Gear Head RC 2.2 CAC EZ-Loc Beadlock Wheels, Delrin.

I have also ordered a RC Bros knuckle weight kit for VP knuckles. I just received this kit for my DMG Wraith and it's so nice that I ordered another for the R1.

[bilinvic]

Big changes for the R1....out with the Portal axles, in with bullet-proofed Vanquish axles. I felt like I was always having to "baby" the portal axles and it was kinda stressful. These replacement axles have proven themselves time after time and now I don't have to worry.

The parts:

VP Wraith Axles; Grey
VP Diff Covers; Silver
VP Axles Trusses; Black
VP Scale C-Hubs; Black
VP Wraith Knuckles
VP Shock/Link Mounts; Gret
VP Wraith VVD V1-HD 4mm Stubs
Beef Tubes in Front Axle
Axial HD Bevel Gear Set 43T/13T (Rear)
Axial HD Bevel Gear Set 38T/13T (Front)
Axial Rear Axle Shafts
Fast Eddy Bearings
Locked UP RC FI Spools

These were stolen from my Wrocho Bug....which means I have to get some replacements....hello SSD!!!!

I replaced the upper links with the HD R1 lower bent links with Traxxas link ends (short ((E-revo)) and long ((Jato)). These need to be bent links in order to clear the drive shafts while the suspension articulates.

I'm not too keen on the driveshafts going from one side to the other, but the movement is still very linear and no binding whatsoever.

I replaced the ProLine Powerstroke shocks's dual stage springs with single rate springs from the ProSpec shock spring kit.

I will have the RC Bros knuckle weights likely tomorrow.

I also fabbed up new front shock mounts to get them below the impact zone when the inevitable flip happens!