Shape_Shifter Builds a Sawback

[crazy nick]

Originally Posted by Tinrabbit

I'm off like superman to Wally World!!

Cool grab me some and drop it off for me on your way home.

[Shape_Shifter]

I mounted a 2 axis gimbal with a Gopro rig to my bumper. It works super sweet but does make the truck top heavy, even with all the lead in my wheels LOL.

I used it at the Bayside Scale Adventure event yesterday. The event was awesome and I will post more about it somewhere else. I took gobs of video from my Sawback and I also got some aerial footage from a quadcopter. All of the video is going to the organizer of the event but here are a few still images. Notice that no matter how far the truck tips, the camera is always perfectly level. Gimbals are sweet! (The Sawback can go wherever an SCX can go, BTW)





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Here is how i is mounted and short test video in front of my house. Since the camera is always level to earth, the more of the stickshifter you see - the steeper the climb. Inversely, the less of the windshield you see - the steeper the drop off.




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIWS...HPHAJyR1LkTzTg

[bryco13]

That's so awesome, I've mounted mine in the bed but you definately don't get the feeling of the angles your going up or down that the gimbal'd setup provides. Nice work!

[Shape_Shifter]

Originally Posted by bryco13

That's so awesome, I've mounted mine in the bed but you definately don't get the feeling of the angles your going up or down that the gimbal'd setup provides. Nice work!

Thanks!

Here is a short video segment from the adventure. I will have a few more clips that show the camera getting bonked by low bridges, scraped on rocks, and rolled in the dirt as soon as I can get them posted.

[ToyotaKing88]

That is pretty dang cool! Gives you a really neat point of view from inside.

Sent from my Phoneamathingy

[Shape_Shifter]

Here's another segment. The camera and gimbal get bashed on this one.

[Shape_Shifter]

How to wrap your axles instructional video.

[crazy nick]

Videos are great! Your driver kind of freaks me out though, looks like I robot a little lol

[Shape_Shifter]

Originally Posted by crazy nick

Videos are great! Your driver kind of freaks me out though, looks like I robot a little lol

Kinda like these robots?

[crazy nick]

Yup

[Shape_Shifter]

Made some sliders out of solid bar stock today.

[JatoTheRipper]

I'm thinking of making plastic sliders. Did you notice any performance improvement after the addition of the sliders?

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

[Shape_Shifter]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

I'm thinking of making plastic sliders. Did you notice any performance improvement after the addition of the sliders?

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

I made these as low profile as possible but they actually reduce performance. Sliders reduce ground clearance and the outriggers get caught on stuff. I am going to add some flat tub like plates between the outriggers to keep rocks from getting caught between them.

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by Shape_Shifter

I made these as low profile as possible but they actually reduce performance. Sliders reduce ground clearance and the outriggers get caught on stuff. I am going to add some flat tub like plates between the outriggers to keep rocks from getting caught between them.

When you build the Sawback kit, you are instructed to install two brackets per frame rail. They look like body mounts on full-size vehicles, but they don't serve any purpose on the Sawback. I always found them to be getting hung up so I uninstalled them after my first run.

I do prefer plastic sliders over metal. Plastic seems to slide more easily over rocks than metal.

[Shape_Shifter]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

When you build the Sawback kit, you are instructed to install two brackets per frame rail. They look like body mounts on full-size vehicles, but they don't serve any purpose on the Sawback. I always found them to be getting hung up so I uninstalled them after my first run.

I do prefer plastic sliders over metal. Plastic seems to slide more easily over rocks than metal.

Those brackets are what I mounted the sliders to. I didnt see any scratches on the brackets to indicate they were snagging. But yeah, they are just another thing to get hung up in the wrong conditions.

As far as plastic sliding better than metal, I'm not sure I agree witht that. IMO, plastic can "catch" and gouge which means friction. Brass is fairly hard and will slide before it gouges. Nothing wrong with plastic ones though. You could put the SCX sliders on there....

[Shape_Shifter]

For people that think a Sawback cant keep up with an SCX10, watch my Sawback and a bunch of SCX10s take on the same obstacles in this video. It's all about choosing the right line...

Its a long video and worth watching but my Sawback is featured at:

0:33 (1st gate)
3:44 (gets winched DOWN a sharp turn)
8:40 - 9:30 (I follow the truck that ultimately wins this event over a gate)
12:00 (I get through a tough crevasse and the SCX behind me dorks the gate)



This is a fun and capable truck!

[Shape_Shifter]

I finally got around to making a functional anti axle wrap traction bar. This is the design that some full size jeeps and leaf sprung trucks use.

I just cut up a block of aluminum and drilled and tapped two 3mm holes on one end and a 4mm hole in the other end to take a Traxxas Revo tie rod. I connected at the chassis with some spare Gmade frame spacers (the thin figure-8 shaped ones) and sandwiched them around the Traxxas ball end. No perfect but extremely functional.

A much simpler way to fab this would have been to not use the two ball-ends at the axle and, instead, just make the aluminum block be as long as the ball-ends are now, then just drill a hole straight down through the block. Then just put the long vertical axle screw thew the block then the axle like it is now. Next time, that's what I'll do.

[JatoTheRipper]

Nice work. They don't bind the suspension at all? It seems like they would cause some bind.

[Shape_Shifter]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

Nice work. They don't bind the suspension at all? It seems like they would cause some bind.

I actually installed it wrong. One of the stupidest things I have ever done in 30+ years of RC... I'll post when it's fixed.