PTI/Losi Night Crawler Build

[rik]

i posted this a couple of days ago on http://www.eparccrawlers.com. i figured i would post here as someone may get a kick out of it. cheers!

here's the original post:

so i left the first comp thinking..."uff the pti, i need to build a more comp worthy crawler". Losiredcatcrawler pointed out that the pti and the NC pretty much have the same setup as far as links and drive shafts go. on wednesday i bought a NC chassis/tranny/link setup from Tin Soldier, and got to work right away. here's what i've done so far.

This is what the PTI looked like before doing anything, as you can see the the motor is way up there. not the hot setup. so the CG is way too high. also everything on it is aluminum. again raising the CG.



first thing i did was rip the front axle off the PTI and mounted it on the NC links, giving me this...



now i knew that the PTI axles would work, i now needed drive shafts. I decided to go with stampede drive shafts. (my poor stampede is in pieces) i took the drive shafts apart and they slipped right onto the output from the tranny. i used two set screw on each yoke to hold them on. i got away from needing new axle input shafts because of the design of the pti input shafts. (no yoke needed there) they are pretty much a direct fit for the stampede shafts. (OGmicromonster from rccrawler.com) below is a pic of the lower links mounted and the drive shafts going to the axle.



the biggest problem i faced so far was the mounting of the upper links. there was no where to mount them. so today i machined upper link mounts out of steel. i made 6 of them. (only need four, but ya just never know) these are the 2 extra i have. the one on the right shows how the mounts are secured to the axle. the one on the left is a side view showing how the link mounts to it. i used m3x.5 screws to hold it all together.



here is what the upper links look like mounted to the axle. it appears that the links will hit the mounts but they do not. (boat load of trigonometry figuring that one out.) you can see where the rear steering is "locked out" on the right. also, when i got done machining the mounts i plated them with black oxide so they wont rust. that is why they are, well, black.



so now all the axles are mounted and are very solid. the drive shafts are on. though, i DO need steel yokes. i just used what i had to make sure every thing works before dishing out $. shocks are mounted. i think i need slightly shorter shocks, but i cant be sure till i have it out for a few test runs. everything moves very smoothly. here is how she is sitting now. the electronics were hooked up about 15 minutes ago. it runs damn good. i think it looks a hell of a lot better too. and the CG is about 2 inches lower.



on monday i am gonna spin new lower links. i am not too fond of the delrin ones. also, new lower links will give me that tiny bit of clearance i need for the stampede drive shafts. all in all it runs 10x better than the pti. i am very happy with it. all of this is being done so i can get DIG. though, i gotta get an LCC tranny first. i also plan on getting new axles. this will be a work in progress, so i'll post as i mod.


i'd just like to thank Losiredcatcrawler for taking the time at the first comp to look at the PTi and point me in the right direction, and Tin Soldier for selling me the Chassis/Tranny/Link setup. Very Much Appreciated.

[rik]

i just posted this at eparccrawlers.com, and just wanted to post here as well...

so i got the electronics mounted good enough to take the rig on the rocks. it's a night and day difference from the old pti set up. all around it is sooooo much better!!! i did some more work on it. i spun new steering linkages today. below are the before and after pics of the steering...

this is how the steering linkages used to look(actually this is the rear, but the front had the same links)



these are the new links i made. they are made out of 6mm (.236") 6061-T6 aluminum. the top link is a straight link. the bottom has a 22* bend on both sides. i aimed the bottom link upwards to gain more clearance. each link is tapped for an M3x.5 screw.



here's a pic of the electronics mounted up. esc and rx are held on by 3M double sided tape. (strong stuff too!) the battery is held on by velcro... i drilled a 3/8" hole in the battery tray to route the motor wires from the esc to the motor.the wiring still needs to be shortened to proper length, but it'll do for testing purposes.



and finally, here's a pic with my old rockstar body mounted on it. stupid me trimmed it to 12" in length when i first got. (no comp use for this one!) **side note** this body is fxxking ugly!!!!!



this steering set up is just temporary as i am going to move the servo up a little and rotate it, then move the bottom link to the top of the knuckle and mount the top link to the bottom one off centered a little. pretty much the same as the LCC, i think. though i cant do any of this with out aluminum knuckles. i am going to use TLT knuckles from TCS. (idea from K_B @ rccrawler.com)

thursday night i will be picking up my rod ends from trains n' lanes, so friday i will be spinning off my new lower links. will post pics friday or saturday night...

[Harley]

Did I miss reading where you are going to take care of the DRASTIC gearing differences?

[4xFord]

I was wondering how your going to get dig with the LCC trans. The trans only provides freewheel.

But as it sits now it looks like a fun sportsman.

[Harley]

Originally Posted by 4xFord

I was wondering how your going to get dig with the LCC trans. The trans only provides freewheel.

But as it sits now it looks like a fun sportsman.

It's a Night Crawler trans which has no dig function. Right now it's going to be a rocket ship since it has no gear reduction.

[rik]

i hear ya guys.. as far as the gearing. i slapped my hpi gru in and it took care of that issue. she has a ton of torque. and as far as the dig goes, i will be using the RC4WD dig tranny with the sealed disconnect. it will JUST fit in the losi chassis. though i will have to machine a new tranny mount/skid plate to accept this tranny. this will give me the three position tranny i desire. engaged, free-wheel, and dig. and if still needed, i will put an RC4WD GRU in it as it is way smaller in size. thanks for taking a look and giving input.

here's another update...

so i spun two sets of lower links today. again, i used 1/4" diameter 6061-T6 aluminum rod. i used traxxas revo rod ends. to connect it all together i used 8-32 set screws. i polished the links to give it that nice new look for the rocks...

here's a pic of 2 links assembled and two completely unassembled.


here are two pics of the front links assembled on the rig. one side view and on bottom view. you can see in the side view the ground clearance gained. not much. but any little bit helps, right?



and finally the whole rig assembled with the new links..again, one side view and one bottom view.



the new links are exactly the same as the stock ones, just aluminum and a lot more durable. every thing bolted right up with no complications.. all in all i am very pleased with the out come of this....

[rik]

so today i spun my upper links. after i got done with them a machine opened up and i hopped on it and put a nice little finishing touch on all four upper links. check it out. one of a kind, baby.

here's the two rear. (i assembled the fronts and forgot to take pictures.) all four uppers are the same and look like these two


here's the truck as she sits now. no more crappy delrin links...


here's a close up of the front while articulated...


i spun the links on a lathe. (spot drill, drill, tap, and polish) then put them in a fadal (CNC) and wrote a program to mill the flat and then engrave the clubs site address. i think these came out great. unfortunately, it is raining outside. so i set up a course in the house. they performed great. i am extremely happy with them... especially, with the site address of them.... pimp shxt.....

...

[rik]

this is some more work i did at the end of may. figured i'd post it. as others have mentioned, the pti forum isn't doing too well. this is the post on eparccrawlers.com

so i did a little work on this build over the last week or so. i did a semi-droop set up. first, i ripped the springs off and the rig sat too low. which made me realize that i needed internal springs. so i looked through my junk box and found that the stock mini-t springs fit right inside of my shocks. i clipped 3 or 4 coils off to achieve the ride height i wanted. and today i met with tin and got a set of axial bead locks and rocks claws. i took it out just before the rain. droop and tires/rims performed very well. though, the droop will take some getting used to. heres everything mounted up.





funny thing is everything matches. body (which was painted well over a year ago), chassis, and shocks are blue. rims and links are chrome/polished aluminum. and the rings and body stripes are orange. the wife looked at it and laughed. she said it almost like i planned it.

also here's a list of parts i used on this thing. (so far) i think i used a piece from every rc i own! ..if fred sanford built a 2.2, it would be something like this.........
-Losi Night Crawler chassis and tranny
-HPI gear reduction unit
-PTI axles
-HPI Nitro dogbones
-PTI shocks
-Losi Mini-t shocks used as internals
-Traxxas Revo rod ends
-Traxxas Stampede drive shafts
-Axial bead locks
-Losi rock claws
-Pro-line memory foams
-Pro-line Rockstar body
-Clod Buster wheel nuts (mine were too small)
-soon to have Tamiya TLT aluminum knuckles
-soon to have an RC4WD Dig Tranny

C'mon....how white trash is that????

i've been since running this set up and it's great. at the end of february i'll be getting the RC4WD disconnect tranny for dig and the knuckles if i can find them. i also, plan to make some rear lockouts.

[S_C_I_P_I_O79]

Serious looking crawler there. So that stampede shaft to PTI input has held up without any issue? Well done

[rik]

Thanks man. Yea, haven't had an issue yet. Its been in some pretty good binds. actually I've had an issue with the traxxas steel yokes I installed on the tranny. Darn pin came out of the yoke and drive shaft came off. Stampede shafts on steel stampede yokes. I was surprised that's where the failure occurred.

[2manyprojects]

Awsome!

[rik]

Originally Posted by 2manyprojects

Awsome!

Thanks man! i just scored a RC4WD dig tranny from a fellow member here on RCC. So that will be goin in this rat next. then...i'll have me some DIG.

[rik]

These are 2 post from eparccrawlers.com

#1
so the post man brought me a rc4wd dig tranny today. i got it from THE DOC here on rcc.. so finally i'll have me some dig. this will enable me to have 4wd-free wheel rear-locked rear. tonight i am gonna sketch up a mounting plate. i will be able to use the stock skid and just attach the mounting plate to that. actually, this will be much easier that i originally thought. the tranny itself fits right in between the chassis plates. no slop at all. the below pics are mock up only. nothing is bolted in. i just wanted to see how she will sit. the tranny will be raised around 3/8" from where it is now, so the motor clears the uppers. i did notice that with this set-up the drive shafts will no longer come close to making contact with the uppers, which is nice. still have to order the servo mounting plate from rc4wd... anyway the pics...








#2
well, last night i said screw it and made the mounting plate. i used a piece of white delrin. will make the final version out of black delrin or aluminum.

here's the basic plate attached to the stock skid...


and mounted to the tranny..


all trimmed up....


and finally mounted...


this took me about 1 1/2 hrs from drawing the print to the last pic. i still have to get the servo mount. then make a new rx/esc/lipo plate. if ya notice the front of the skid is "hanging" down a little. i have to shorten 2 of the 4 screws that attach the stock skid the the chassis plates. then she'll be flush...

i test ran this after bolted up and wow. its great. i like the locked rear for obvious reasons. but, the free wheel on the rear,...thats where it's at..pulls her up and over some pretty steep verts..though i had to enable the dig by hand. still gotta get the servo mount...

[rik]

i looked around at servo mounts for the RC4WD dig tranny and found that RC4WD wants $26 shipped for it and CKRC wants $21 shipped for it. So i figured i'd make my own. made it out of 3/16" 6063 aluminum angle i had laying around.

First i drilled the mounting holes and trimmed up the one side to contour to the tranny..


next i cut out the part that holds the servo and drilled the 4 holes to attach the servo to the mount..


test fit to make sure everything line up before cutting the mount off the 8'' piece of angle.


now to hack it off



a little polishing and another test fit



put it all together


and throw it in. this was the tricky part. i still have to make a new battery tray to mount the lipo, esc, and rx on. but thats another battle for another day. also, i am going to make a nice aluminum link to go from the servo to the disconnect. i used an old link from my clod just to see if it works........and it does. quite nicely too.. i really like the free-wheel. and, i'm diggin' the dig

[Jslick]

Looks good Rik, so are you going to comp this season??

[rik]

Originally Posted by Jslick

Looks good Rik, so are you going to comp this season??

does howdy doody have wooden balls?

answer: yes

see ya on the rocks!

[Jslick]

I like the work you have done to craft this into a comp rig. I have some lightly used rovers if you would like them. Great, bring your hybrid and your "A" game. This is going to be a great season.

[rik]

Here's another post i posted on EPARCC....

Aluminum Steering Knuckle Upgrade...

Well after a lot of contemplating i bit the bullet and tore into the steering on my rig. At the season opener i broke a knuckle on the 2nd gate of the 3rd course. Here's the low down..(note: credit for this mod goes to K_B over on rcc)

i ordered a set of TLT aluminum knuckles from ckrc. at first when mock mounted, it appeared that they weren't even close. The ears kept hitting the C's on the axles when turned. So a little filing took care of that. Now they turned. But, there was no way of mounting them as, height wise, they were too short. So i drew up a quick sketch of some bushings for mounting. I drilled, then reamed, the C's to .313". The bushings i turned on the lathe have a .312 diameter hub with a .500" hub. there is a .258'' reamed hole through the bushing, to accept the .257" hub on the knuckle. This bushing keeps the knuckles centered both horizontally and vertically. also, gives it a lot more strength. i made four of them for the front, 2 on each wheel. I also used HPI RS4 dogbones as they are a tad shorter than the stockers. The drive cups had to be ground down. then I threw them on the lathe to drill/ream the hole a little deeper. A band saw and a small file helped me make the two notches deeper...
heres a pic of the bushings and knuckles.


Then i made a new servo mount out of 3/16" aluminum angle. (forgot to take pics) so no more servo flex....
I also spun some new steering links. i bent the connecting link to give some more clearance. man, i love me some new shiny links. (this pic show old servo mount)


here's a pic of the new knuckles, steering links, and new servo mount. (hard to see the mount)


and all put back together. oh, and i glass beaded the orange anodize off the bead rings. (Gonna do the insides tomorrow, then the chassis is next)

[TheB1GDude]

Great rebuild! The custom links with the CNC'd site links are an awesome touch!

[Jslick]

Looking great Rik, you have put a lot of work into this. The rovers should do you well. I have other foams if the double duce I gave you are not working well enough.

John