3D printed crawler?
 

Are there any capable crawlers that I can 3Dp rint? My idea is to source parts that better be metal, like bearings, diffs etc. and print the rest myself.

Re: 3D printed crawler?
 

If you’re looking at a real crawler, durable and tough, no you really don’t want to print.
Unless you’re capable of printing nylon , nothing is really strong [emoji123] enough. I’ve printed loads of parts in PETG.


Hang up and Drive

Re: 3D printed crawler?
 

I made a sporty 3d printing it.. PETG would be functional but break if the rig falls etc.. Nylon will most likely do the job. I ended up getting the chassis cut in carbo fiber, everything else is printed beside the gears and axles

Re: 3D printed crawler?
 

I guess that says it all. I´ll get a proper one. Thanks

Re: 3D printed crawler?
 

I have been working on a rancher from 3dsets and even though they have designs for the axles and transmission I have decided to use hobby grade parts in those places instead of 3d printed due to durability concerns. To get any strength out of the 3d printed parts you have to try to get the layering to work for you instead of against you and often on something like a gear on a shaft it wont be possible to get strength in both axis and you will either have a shaft that will easily shear along the layers or teeth that will align with the layers and shear. Items like frame rails can be printed on their sides with max perimeters and be very strong but will also weigh more then conventional parts. The 3dsets rancher gains a lot of it's strength in the body from being a unibody style that parts bolt to but is also quite heavy.

Chris

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...4536/yeep2.jpg

Re: 3D printed crawler?
 

I've got loads of printed stuff on my RC cars. The crawlers take the least abuse.

If you are smart about materials and layers you can make stuff less ductile than aluminum and more durable. I print for an industrial environment as part of my day job. We make stupid steering stuff from cheap crappy materials.

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Re: 3D printed crawler?
 

I also have numerous parts. I did a skid for my 2.2 wraith with PETG, yes it worked, no it didn’t like tumbling on rocks. I’m not sure what is stronger than ABS or nylon.


Hang up and Drive

Re: 3D printed crawler?
 

Like CLM I also have been working on a 3-D sets project. I started with the Landy and later started working on the Bug. I have enjoyed both projects but certainly wouldn’t recommend anyone taking them on or something comparable for performance reasons. Once complete, the Landy will certainly be a shelf queen or novelty I bring out every once in a while and even in that case It will be more of a trail queen at best. It has ball bearings but I’m not doing any other serious upgrades. I may take the same approach as CLM on the Bug and fit on real axles and other parts but again this will just be for fun and it will likely come out to be more of a rally car then a crawler. Most of what I print for the cars it’s just for fun and cosmetics. I’m working on several bodies and they look pretty nice as well but again nothing I will put on a truck that I expected to perform well.

I’m glad I took on these projects but also did so knowing what I planned for them to be in my fleet. However, in working on my flat chassis I’m finding a lot of utility for 3-D printed parts and a lot of the flat chassis manufacturers have 3-D printed sections like rock sliders and other components as part of the products they sell. Has a few way more knowledgeable people stated above, with the right materials, settings and orientation you can certainly get strong parts. My Game changer 4.2 is almost entirely CNC machined or 3-D printed.

Re: 3D printed crawler?
 

I see no reason you couldn't do a c1 style rig with the Landy or Rancher if you do a 'bulletproof' mod and throw metal links under it. if you break things well.. you can just print new ones. It's not like it will be hard to get replacement parts for it ;)

Re: 3D printed crawler?
 

I too have done a 3dSets model (Landy) and may do the Bug at some point.
As designed the Landy could be a decent scale/trail rig, though a bit slow for my taste. A slow crawl guy I am not...
The Landy Wagon is seriously on the top-heavy side so it would not exactly be a comp-worthy rig.

I am using the modified transmission that skips some gears so it is a bit faster and less suited for performance crawling.
Since the stock suspension and gearing are not really suited for tough crawling anyway, the speed boost is worth it for me.

I have broken axle shafts, some u-joints and one steering linkage as well as one transmission gear. :D

I have no regrets and highly recommend the 3dSets models.... as long as you know what you are getting into: a good 3d printing project and build of a custom trail rig.
If you want a seriously capable crawler, avoid them like the plague!

Although I gotta say I am sure some of the folks are good enough to replace the running gear with hobby-grade parts and do pretty well.
The aforementioned "bulletproof mod" parts should improve durability quite a bit but I figure filament is relatively cheap and each time I print a part the quality and strength get a bit better.

Only thing that really kills me is how LOUD the gears are.

Re: 3D printed crawler?
 

Dugans did a much better job of explaining how I felt about the 3dsets project than I did. I also have absolutely no regrets about either one and I may even build a second bug that I will modify. I found it to be incredibly satisfying that you print nearly every part and get to see how the components come together. I think it comes down to the point that you can modify these heavily or you can purpose build something for performance like one of the builders kits or one of the numerous flat rail platforms out there.

CLM, I hadn’t thought about approaching upgrades like you would on the CC01. That makes a lot of sense. And you are absolutely right, something breaks and you just re-print it. I think at some point I just started viewing this as a very complex 3-D printing project and not as much as one of my rigs that I would take out for a long hike on the trail. That may change up as other projects progress and I look for something new to work on.

Re: 3D printed crawler?
 

Which version of the Landy did you build? I went with the full sized wagon. It was a lot of printing and was the most complex, and large scale 3-D printing project I had taken up to that point.

Re: 3D printed crawler?
 

I have another 3d printed build I am working on not from 3dsets. It's a 1.9 scale HMMWV from Cults3d by Antnesh. I have serious plans of making it a non-competition 1.9 trail truck and bashing the heck out of it. Knowing this Anton and I came up with drop in tmaxx diff carriers for it and I am working out what transmission to use in it. Yes it is independent suspension like a real hummer and yes she is a fat large pig.. but I know in real life I would love to have one so there lol.. P.S. Hush about the color.. it was supposed to be desert tan.. turned out to be tan skin.. spray paint will fix that! lol

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...r_exterior.jpg
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...r_interior.jpg

Re: 3D printed crawler?
 

I actually did the 2 door wagon first and was impressed by many aspects of it- but not the amount of weight up high so I went ahead and got the pickup version.
The pickup is much lighter and far less top-heavy.

They are fairly complex builds and I give full props to the folks that made the designs- well past my skill level- so I don't mind paying twice.

But my first real 3d printing project was a Series 2 Land Rover body for my TRX4- less complex and glued together rather then bolted but I had to figure a lot more out by myself.

Re: 3D printed crawler?
 

clm - that looks great, man.
I look forward to seeing it finished at some point.

Re: 3D printed crawler?
 

That looks sweeeeeeet. Wish I had the files to print it myself...and a 3D printer (which I'm almost ready to pull the trigger on).


~ More peace, love, and kindness would make the world a much better place

Re: 3D printed crawler?
 

Thanks guys! And yeah the files for the hummer are not very expensive on cults3d.com and Anton is quite helpful when you get in a pinch. I started my initial printing on it within a day or two of getting my 3d printers actually, the hummer is built quite like a full scale hummer with true body on frame design and actually feels quite robust. Although I must admit is is quite fiddly at times. The 3dsets models on the other hand are easier to print for the most part but deviate a bit from full scale being more of a unibody style construction. This does however make the main chassis/body quite stiff. The 3d sets models tend to feature an inner and outer body and the 'color' pieces seem to be more of a covering and additional stiffening which would allow changing the color quite easy.

P.S. a bit of weight down low and the soft top Rancher would not be that bad really.. ;)

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...10260/lean.jpg

Re: 3D printed crawler?
 

Hmm I do wonder weather these would be considered tub chassis for a class 1 type build.. It would be next to impossible to install a c channel chassis into one. It's not like the build really gives any advantages.. in fact probably more disadvantages than anything.