6WD Wheely King

[killbucket]

I finally got around to making up a working six wheeler RC truck. I used two pre-owned Wheely Kings from Ebay, and a few extra parts I had lying in boxes.
HPI Wheely King In 6WD - YouTube
The frame's 6mm black ABS,

CNC machined on my ShopBot. All the stock WK parts work with it, and the thing's as rigid as a bridge.

[killbucket]

The body is my ancient ClodBuster with a Wildwilly2 rollbar.


I still need to order up a full set of wheels that match. I want another black chrome set for this.


I have matching axle lock-outs on both rear axles, but I haven't installed diff spools...yet.


Rather than hook the rear-most axle to the center one, I've added a whole extra rear suspension mount, 5.9 inches behind the stock one. I didn't even have to cut drive-shafts, it works will all STOCK parts. OK, ya have to do a bit of surgery to get the top link mount to go onto the flipped 3rd axle, but that's about it outside of mating the two axles halves for the center pumpkin (a simple block-sanding job).

[killbucket]

Look inside, you can see the cut-down Harbor Freight flashlights that are going to be hooked up as headlamps. Twin Tenergy 3000mAh 7.2v packs are in series, the truck runs a EVX2 controller and a 27-turn stock WK motor at 14.4v.


Three stock Wheely King Driveshafts, three sets of stock WK arms. I've had to shorten the upper a-frame links ( Notice my drive-shaft angles in these pics, I'm running short shocks, and the 3rd axle still needs caster adjustment to correct its pinion angle).


Here's the center drive axle, and you can see it has both an input and an output shaft. This mod is SIMPLE AS PIE: Just sand the mating lips away from two axle fronts, and install them back-to-back. I drilled one side's screw holes over-sized, and used longer screws to hold the centers together. The link mounts on the axle casings do the rest.
You should note that the two lower links here need separate mounts rather than the stock twin-pivot-ball shafts, because the new output drive rests right between them. If I had tall shocks, this would clear, but hit on compression of them.


Also bear in mind, the output shaft turns the opposite direction, so the added axle behind it has to be flipped. As I said, the stock upper link bracket can be used with a bit of surgery to clear the top of the flipped pumpkin.

[killbucket]

The front axle has my own version of a "GOD" tie rod: super-thick, super rigid. Center-to-center "perfection" is exactly 6.081 inches, BTW. Servo is on the frame because the 90mm shocks don't allow it on top of the axle.

[Traulus]

looking good so far.i see you have HR lockers.how they are doing?i wanna buy aswell and want to have a feedback upon them

[killbucket]

I have three installed kits, they work flawlessly.

I have a set on my crawler. Looky- I got a Level3 lowCG Mount in there, too.

[OSRC]

Very nice on the 6x6, haven't seen any killbucket creations in a while.

[killbucket]

thanks! If you pull up my videos list, you'll see what my latest hobby is: rebuilding switchblade knives!


Here's the frames for two more, waiting on a box of axles from Ebay. One's gonna be a HD recovery vehicle.


This is the tail end, closest in the pic here. The shock towers can be angled if needed, but I'm adding a flat deck on top.


I added a "front" bumper mount to the "rear" of the frame, both ends match now.


Cheapest way to do this, use as much stock Wheely King as possible.

[BJoe]

That's cool! Kinda wish I had yet another WK to build one of those!

[killbucket]

Shop Ebay, there are a few used ones all the time, and who can't use the spare parts?

I want to design a complete replacement for the rear suspension, keeping just the axles. Mount the two on a bogey and suspend them together. It'd be fun to make stock parts serve as the components.

Another idea is a Wheely King FOFF chassis...

[BJoe]

I've got too many projects right now to even think about another WK, especiallt where money is concerned. I putting Maxx rubber on one WK, might be putting a plane outrunner on ny SCX10, buying a Telluride and making it a trail rig, buying lipos for the above products, ect on top of making car payments. Mqybe once those projects are done though!

[Traulus]

Originally Posted by killbucket

I have three installed kits, they work flawlessly.

I have a set on my crawler. Looky- I got a Level3 lowCG Mount in there, too.

thx allot.will buy them if they are good

[Gula]

Originally Posted by killbucket

Shop Ebay, there are a few used ones all the time, and who can't use the spare parts?

I want to design a complete replacement for the rear suspension, keeping just the axles. Mount the two on a bogey and suspend them together. It'd be fun to make stock parts serve as the components.

Another idea is a Wheely King FOFF chassis...

Please get a vendors star and sell some of your chassis ! I'd be interested in a FOFF chassis and the bogey suspension set up. I want to build a 8 x8 with WK axles and if you made a walking beam or bogey suspension that would make my life a lot easier !

[JatoTheRipper]

This. Is. Awesome!

[killbucket]

I will get a Vendor's star in the next few days or so. Trust me, I'm busy enough making mini guns. But the 6X6 WK is easy to like, I guess, the things are everywhere now.

I'm assembling my next one, got the fresh axle housings in from Ebay today, and I've already shaved the housings for the center, double-pinion axle.



The upper V-links shown here are nixxed, I'm converting to a four-bar, and using a spare set of lower links for all three pairs of uppers.

I've CNC'd the upper link mounts, I'll photo the assembled one. They aren't like any ones ever seen before...

[killbucket]

My plan to use a set of stock Wheely King lower links as upper links is working out, I think...

This is the view looking into the truck from the chassis' front end, so this is the front axle. The upper links mount without much fuss. This is my prototype upper link mount on the axle, I've made up a wider upper link mount, you can see one below.


To feed the rear axles some upper link, we have to do some surgery on the stock center link spacers, meaning chopping their center out once they are in place (the trans goes in afterwards, of course). Stock WK metal (sourced from lower end of these same kind of links) Balls and short screws would also work.
If I ever need these back out, needle-nose pliers will grip them well enough for removal.

Both the upper and lower links feeding the rear-most axle will need similar modification to clear the third drive shaft as it travels up and down. I used a small Jeweler's saw to lop these out.


I cloned my front tierod's dims into beefy axle lock-outs for both back axles.

A better angle shows how added tabs on the back edge hug the center housing's upper link mount. Zero slop here.


Here's my home-made upper link mounts.
The pivot point is exactly 1.37" above the axle's centerline, and exactly .350" behind it. This requires shortening the stock drive shaft outer sliders by .10".


It keeps the housing nearly vertical throughout the travel, with only about 1.5 degrees of caster change. It also adds a bit of a top "girdle" to the diff's housing once the four screws are installed.

[killbucket]

Integrity Counts: I've sold none of these. But if I sell even TWO, the funds will go toward a Vendor's Star here.

[viper6913]

If you do start to sell these ill be on the look out. Nice build.