Hustler style full droop Wheelie King

[racerrandy]

This is the one that has put me over the edge. I just have to build a tuber next time!

Awsome buggy, keep us posted.


Later,Randy

[lonewolf039]

Not much new, still waiting on parts. I have been experimenting with different rubber band to keep the shocks compressed. I have some mini-t springs on order, but for now am trying the rubber bands. The trick is to have enough tension to minimize torque twist, but light enough to let the axles droop easy. On my 60 degree, 4 foot ramp, the rubber bands make a big difference in torque twist. With the right one, it will just start to twist at the top of the ramp. Without the rubber, it starts to twist about half way up. I also have 100 wt shock oil on order, that will probably help too. I only have 60 wt right now. So many suspension tweeks to try, so little time. lol

[lonewolf039]

Well, I broke all 4 of my stock WK axle shafts, so I made up a new CVD setup with Losi LST parts. They require less work to fit, but do limit steering a little due to the weird steering arm on the LST hubs. I posted a How To here: How To: HD CVD's for WK Axles





The LST hubs widen my track width a 1/2 inch. It went from 10.75 to 11.25 inches.


This should cure my twisted axles problem, but now I am curious as to what the next weak link is. So far the only things I have broken are the axles. I have an R2 tranny coming, so once it is in I will be gearing it down a bit, and I will lose the slipper that the WK tranny has, so I'm sure I will find something to break.

I also picked up some LST Rod ends, they are pretty beefy, so I might try them on my next build.

[lonewolf039]

Got my R2 tranny today. I have to say it sure is pretty. I am using max driveshafts so I filed the flats on no problem, but drilling the holes for the pins proved to be a challenge. I dulled up a couple of drill bits just making this much hole.


I ended up using a carbide burr to carefully drill the hole, and then used my drill bit to ream the hole to the right size. I had to resharpen the drill bit about 10 times to get the 2 holes done.



I drilled new holes in my cutting board skid plate for the R2, and mounted it. I love the simplicity and looks of the R2.




Mounted in my tuber. Not much WK left now tho. Only the diffs and axle housings are original.



With an 11 tooth pinion, my crawl ratio went from 46:1 to 64:1. It has a lot more control at slower speeds, and still has lots of wheelspeed, so I might try the 10 tooth pinion tomorrow. The poor Mamba is still getting hot, I don't think it likes the 3 cell lipo.

[clarkrw3]

I have had the same problem with drilling the R2 shafts. I can't tell you how many drill bits I have gon through but I still don't have holes. You would think since it is a "rock crawling" trans and since people always mount shafts with through pins they would make them with holes. RC4WD has said many times they are coming out with shafts that have holes...we will see.

[todd1803]

Don't go crazy with the power on an R2, they apparently aren't designed for big power. One of our members just shredded the gears using a brushless system from HolmesHobbies. It also seems that replacement gears are not available. Here's what's left of his tranny

http://www.rccrawler.com/forum/showp...6&postcount=12

[lonewolf039]

todd1803 - Thanks for the heads up. I thought these trannys were bullit proof. I see that he was running one of the hyperion outrunners, it's a little bigger than my AXI, so I should be OK. If I do grenade a gear, they are 32 pitch, so I should be able to make something to work with the right pinion gear.

clarkrw3 - Have you tried a cobalt drill bit? They are designed to drill hardened steel. You should be able to get one from any tool store. I live 1/2 hour from town, so I didn't want to drive in to town just for a drill bit, so I tried the carbide burr. It worked, but it probably would have been faster to just have gotten the cobalt bit to start with.

[clarkrw3]

Originally Posted by lonewolf039

todd1803 - Thanks for the heads up. I thought these trannys were bullit proof. I see that he was running one of the hyperion outrunners, it's a little bigger than my AXI, so I should be OK. If I do grenade a gear, they are 32 pitch, so I should be able to make something to work with the right pinion gear.

clarkrw3 - Have you tried a cobalt drill bit? They are designed to drill hardened steel. You should be able to get one from any tool store. I live 1/2 hour from town, so I didn't want to drive in to town just for a drill bit, so I tried the carbide burr. It worked, but it probably would have been faster to just have gotten the cobalt bit to start with.

Good to know....I got some Metal drill bits but I don't think they were cobalt, I will see about getting some of those.

[lonewolf039]

clarkrw3 - a full set is a bit pricey, but they are great to have. They are a little brittle, so just use them for really hard stuff. Regular bits are good enough for mild steel, and are cheap.

I swapped in the 10 tooth pinion, and my crawl ratio is 70:1 now. The Mamba 25 runs a lot cooler now, and the control at extremely slow speeds is awesome. It still moves at a real fast walk, so the wheel speed is still good. I can still do burnouts on my shop floor, lol.

[clarkrw3]

I guess that 13 tooth pinion may be too much, however, I am running a 3013 outrunner.

[dittohead]

I drilled the output shafts on my R2 with a regular HSS but and its still as sharp as new. Slow down on the drill speed and use cutting oil. I use rapid tap brand cutting oil.

[lonewolf039]

Originally Posted by dittohead

I drilled the output shafts on my R2 with a regular HSS but and its still as sharp as new. Slow down on the drill speed and use cutting oil. I use rapid tap brand cutting oil.

That is good to know. I used the lowest speed my $50 drill press had, which is not very slow. I should have used cutting oil, but didn't have any at the time.


I ran the snot out of my tuber this weekend, on some real rocks, and let my daughter drive it. It is working really good, the switch to 100 wt shock oil let me get away with not using any springs at all. There was a little torque twist during extended steep climbs, but not bad. I am still looking for a light spring that will fit inside my Big bore shocks. No luck yet. The only ones I have found are way too stiff. I also found that by letting the kid drive it, she really got the hang of throttle control. She has driven my nitro trucks before, but they seem to encourage WFO. With the crawler, she was really getting into seeing how slow she could crawl up a rock, and was getting really good with the throttle. Unfortunately, my Mamba 25 went up in smoke. It has always run hot, but it never shut down so I wasn't too worried. I checked the amperage, and with the 70:1 gearing, I was running around 5-8 amps, with the occasional spike up to 12-14 amps when bound, and getting almost 45 minutes out of the 2100 mah pack. It should not have been too much for the Mamba 25, so I am not sure what the problem was. Anyway the Mamba will be sent in to CC for repairs, and I have a Mamba Max on order. Unfortunately, I didn't get any action shots, as I forgot my camera, but here is a picture of the fried Mamba.



As you can see, the center FET's got hot enough to burn the sticker. I was using the lowest timing, and normal current control, but it never once cut out on me, except for the battery cutoff.

[todd1803]

Originally Posted by lonewolf039

I am still looking for a light spring that will fit inside my Big bore shocks.

Have you tried RC-18 springs?

[Natedog]

Ballpoint pen springs...from the clicker type retractable pens!

[lonewolf039]

I thought about using pen springs, but haven't tried them yet. I might give them a shot next time I pull my shocks apart. I actually bought a pair of rc18 springs, but I managed to lose them somehow. I have been looking for weeks now, can't find them anywhere. I think they are the same size as the mini T springs tho, and the mini T springs are too big to fit the big bores. No springs have actually been working very well, and I get full droop when I get high centered.

I am now using the Phoenix 25 that was on the Axi before it went in my crawler. It doesn't even get warm, and has even better starting and low speed performance. It doesn't have reverse, which sucks, but now I am thinking there must have been something wrong with my Mamba 25. With the low amp draw, it should never have gotten so hot.

[lonewolf039]

I put together a little movie of my crawler with the Phoenix 25. It has super slow speed control, the motor just barely ticks over but has tons of power. I just wish it had reverse. The R2 tranny is pretty loud, but makes it sound really cool at slow speeds, and screams when WFO. I ran for most of a battery pack, and the controller was barely warm.
http://homepage.mac.com/lonewolf039/iMovieTheater8.html

[genki]

Looks awesome.....great builds never stop!

Also big ask but would you happen to have a template for your motor adapter, I have the same motor but am stuck on getting it mounted to my R2 tranny?

[2Crawlers]

That thing runs HARD! I wanna see some more video. Nice build.

[Mac10]

I drilled both of my shafts on my r2 with a cheap skil brand drill bit.
it was hard to get started but once it started it went right through, just had to go slow with it.

[lonewolf039]

Genki, I am on the road for the next few days, so I can't get any pictures, but what I did was draw a line on a piece of aluminum, and marked off the center, 19 mm for the Axi, and 25 mm for the motor mount, all measured from the center. Drill the center 1/4 inch or so, drill the holes for the motor 1/8 inch, and drill and tap the motor mount hole for 3mm. When I get home I can get you a picture if you want.

2Crawlers, thanks, I am hoping to get some more video up soon.