Nerve's WK Crawler Build

[duleonar]

Originally Posted by Nerve

Preference, nothing more then a preference. That and I heard that the glue might eventually come free. Either that, or I have too much money



Well i felt that I would start this out with the Bender SW3. I have seen the widow before and that is pretty neato. But until I get creative and make up my own stuff, I'll just buy it.

Hopefully some comps start to happen around my area next summer and I can maybe compete with this thing.

Thanks for not taking my questions the wrong way. After posting them, I could see how they couldve been read like I was trying to make you look like a moron. THEY WEREN'T.

So far your build looks awesome, and to be honest I too would probably buy more parts rather than making them if I had the money. My lack of $ has always made me very open to being innovative. Anyway keep up the good work!!

[Nerve]

Originally Posted by duleonar

Thanks for not taking my questions the wrong way. After posting them, I could see how they couldve been read like I was trying to make you look like a moron. THEY WEREN'T.

LOL thats ok, I didnt even notice. I was going with the RCguy diff lockers for my build right from day one. If I bought new, I would have installed lockers. If I bought used (which I did) and if they were locked with goop, I would have removed it. It's just something I wanted to have in my build to make it my own. I don't want to reuse parts from the previous owners build.

Originally Posted by dulenar

So far your build looks awesome, and to be honest I too would probably buy more parts rather than making them if I had the money. My lack of $ has always made me very open to being innovative. Anyway keep up the good work!!

Thanks! I would love to be innovative like some of the guys on here. I do have a friend that works for a tool and die company and so far he hasnt come through with any custom parts for me. Orginally I wanted to see if he could make me up some titanium motor mounts for the HPI Micro. It would be nice if he could come up with some titanium crawler parts... lol.

I lack tools to be creative. I dont have drill presses, band saws, etc. I have hammers and screwdrivers and my most advanced power tool I own... my dremel!

Tonight there might be more pics...

[Nerve]

Finally received my TCS order. It only took 5 working days to my place. So from somewhere in Arizona to the Great White North (aka Ontario)... that is pretty dang good! I have zero complaints on the speed of shipping.

Anyways, both axles are now locked with RC guy diff lockers. They are all completely rebuilt and greased up. Upper link mounts from TCS are installed, wheel hex hubs from TCS installed, brand new designed TCS link/shock mounts installed (with one slight problem with the front King Bling servo mount which you will see).

Other news, the spur I installed was too large, the yokes dont work and I need Tmaxx ones.. and thats about it ..


Anyways ... enough of me yapping away .... PICS !!

ooooooo ahhhh !
Notice the TCS link mount in the centre and the TCS link/shock mounts.












If you look closely in the below photo .. there is no tab there. It has been grinded off (from the previous owner) and the new mounts still work fine.




Ut oh ... that servo mount is sitting way too high... :(
I will have to get the dremel going (next time)




This is just a rough pencil sketch to show where approx the mount should poke through.




Well thats it for now.. stay tuned for more!.

[Nerve]

..and some more photos of stuff that has just shown up.

RCP Crawlers Wheely King 2 Position Clockable Axle C (1pair)
http://www.rcpcrawlers.com/product.p...&cat=23&page=1

RCP Crawlers Wheely King CVD axle By MIP (1 pair)
http://www.rcpcrawlers.com/product.p...&cat=23&page=1

RCP Crawlers Wheely King Max Clearance Knuckles (1 pair)
http://www.rcpcrawlers.com/product.p...&cat=23&page=1

Kreepy Krawler Designs Inserts 2.2 Narrow Red (1 Pair)
http://www.rcpcrawlers.com/product.p...2&cat=0&page=1

Kreepy Krawler Designs Inserts 2.2 Narrow Pink (1 Pair)
http://www.rcpcrawlers.com/product.p...4&cat=0&page=1

[crawl rookie]

Any updates?? good job so far !

[Nerve]

Well ..... there are no picture updates. Nothing interesting enough to photograph just yet, however just a text update is about all I have.


As you saw above, I ordered in the Kreepy sqwishy foams and got them installed onto the beadlocks last night. Downed about 2 beers while making them and that helped... LOL! What a time consuming process, but not overly hard to do.

FINALLY figured out the proper lower link length using THIS THREAD (thanks Bender for posting that mass newb thread)

I found out I was about 28mm too much in my first "guess-timate". I had guessed about 70mm for the shaft part and 60mm on the uppers. So the proper length of the shafts turned out to be only 42mm and when the ball ends are figured in, it works out to 12.5" WB. Im using the Jato #5525 ball ends, so they are a little bit longer then normal. Now I just need to work on the length for the uppers.

Then I have to assemble the CVDs I bought, re-install the C hubs and knuckle, customize (cut-to-fit) the King Bling servo mount to fit with the delrin shock/link mounts I bought and then assemble the electronics and mount all the stuff up. Friday I stop by my LHS to pickup my 87T spur and some other parts that I dont remember what I ordered and a VCS shock and hardware for my Micro Rs4.

Hopefully I finish this before the big fat jolly guy shows up..

[Nerve]

Just another smalll update. I will try and take some photos tonight of my progess.

I have the RCP CVDS, Maxx knuckles, 2 postion axle C's installed now and all I have to say for anyone else looking to that same thing .... make SURE you have the 2 small shims on either side of that carrier assembly in the diff !!!

It took me about 2 freakin hours to figure out why those RCP parts weren't turning smoothly. So then I ended up tearing down one of the diffs to check on that shim (I knew one diff was missing one of them) and it was that diff. Rebuilt it making sure the 2 shims were present on either side and bingo ... worked perfectly. It was amazing to see how much it throws off your axles not having that .02mm thick washer.

The RCP CVD, knuckles and axle C's .... amazing! They are very well constructed, well worth the cash. Definately worth the upgrade.

Other then that I finally got my maxx yokes installed on the trans, next up was the maxx half shafts to fit. I might have to play around with the lengths of the shafts. One appears to be a hair longer then the other.


Its coming along...very slowly.

[Nerve]

Its picture time (as I said I was going to post them tonight).

Now that I have a " half a roller " built.... lets see who on here (that means you guys.. the pro's) can find out XX number of things wrong with my setup so far... ROFL!

If anyone has followed along with my pointless rants above, I spent some time calculating the lower links to get it out to 12.5" and for the uppers I just centered the axles to about what I thought was 0 degrees and used a digital caliper to come up with my upper link size number. So if its a little bit less then centred, it could very well be.

So without further adieu ..... pics :P











Look very closely on the photo below. You can see where my pinion yoke comes off the axle (barely) and you can see inside the SW3 where the other yoke is on the pede trans. To me it looks like I need to angle up the pinion some more.




This photo you can see the turning ability of the RCP parts....




Upper link shaft parts are 27mm and the lowers were 42mm (both are approx). Both upper/lowers were made using the Jato #5525 ball ends (28mm overall) and I think they were 22mm from eye to shaft?. At least I thought thats what I was measuring.

Uppers approx overall length: 83 millimeter = 3.267 inch
Lowers approx overall length: 98 millimeter = 3.858 inch

Flex "looks" to be somewhat decent, somewhere around 45-50 degrees range, but unless im wrong it looks like what I have now is putting a bend (strain) on the shock shafts.

[Nerve]

Another question while I have your attention ...

Im looking for something to "properly" mount the upper shock to the SW3 chassis ..... would these do?

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXMHY2&P=7

I would like something that is 3mm thread so I can use those suspension stays that came in the Sw3 kit.

[Nerve]

Another blah blah blah blah blah update on my build ....

The post above, those screws wont work properly. Someone else on another r/c webpage informed me of that. Basically he told me to stick to the fuel line tubing trick. So thats what I will end up doing.

The photos above that last post, I have lowered the rig to around 3" of ground clearance (it was about 3.75" before) and increased the size of my upper links and now it looks like its sitting a heck of a lot better and I have access to more shock mounting locations as well.

I have to rebuild 2 of the Traxxas big bore shocks I recently bought, 2 of them rebound fairly quick and 2 of them I have to pull hard on the shock shaft to get it to come out all the way. Look some someone goofed up when they were making them up at the factory. It sounds like its trying to push a pocket of air.

They were going to get rebuilt anyways to put my own fluid in. So its not a big issue. Just, I didnt expect to rebuild them before they were even mounted to the chassis .... :(


EDIT: Friend of mine made me up a Jowetts Kustom centre servo mount for my WK.

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e3...cture001-1.jpg

Servo mount is below:
http://www.jowettskustom.com/freebie...rvo_mount.html



Hmm thats it ... go back to what you were doing before... lol.

[Nerve]

another update..

Sorry to say, that Jowetts custom servo mount that my friend made up for me. It lines up 100% on the printout, but doesnt line up 100% on the axle. I compared the printed drawing to the King Bling mount I have that I know fits and I can see how much smaller that drawing is compared to it.

Needless to say, that same friend that made up this servo mount is going to redo a completely new plate to fit 100% properly.

New pics of what I got done today.

Reworked the upper links
Clocked the axle to raise up the pinion / driveshaft angle






This one is out of focus a bit, but it will be sitting just over 3" when completed.



This photo below you can see the new pinion angle I have.

[Filibuster]

Originally Posted by Nerve

The RCP CVD, knuckles and axle C's .... amazing! They are very well constructed, well worth the cash. Definately worth the upgrade.

Hey Nerve, nice setup, curious to see the end result

Is this RCP CVD - C-hub - knuckles giving that much improvement over standard setup ? I am considering it but I believe the knuckle arm will hit my RCGuy servo mount (when turning left) which in the end, will not give me the added value of the kit:-( Did you have this problem ?

I already had to dremel it a bit (servo mount) so the stock knuckle can have more throw...

If the RCP knuckle arm is slimmer and farther outside compared to the stock one, I might be OK

[Nerve]

Oh yeah its noticeably more turning radias then stock.

Once I get my rear axle back from my buddy that's making up the custom servo mount for me, I can take a picture with stock vs the RCP parts.

I was sceptical at first as well. But once I got them lined up you could see how much more they turn. It might only be slightly farther, but they do turn more then stock.

Yeah, I have the King Bling mount and yes you would be 100% correct. It would be pointless to use that mount w/ the RCP parts. Which is why my buddy is making up a custom mount for me in the centre.

The RCP parts at full extend will touch that one screw head that holds the C-hub to the axle. Im considering either bending the front rod that connects both sides OR installing the Axial bend ball end parts on the front so that the rod will clear the axle "pumpkin" with ease..

Originally Posted by Filibuster

Hey Nerve, nice setup, curious to see the end result

Is this RCP CVD - C-hub - knuckles giving that much improvement over standard setup ? I am considering it but I believe the knuckle arm will hit my RCGuy servo mount (when turning left) which in the end, will not give me the added value of the kit:-( Did you have this problem ?

I already had to dremel it a bit (servo mount) so the stock knuckle can have more throw...

If the RCP knuckle arm is slimmer and farther outside compared to the stock one, I might be OK

[Nerve]

Man i hope you guys love photos ... LOL. I know this build has enough of them.

Havent had much time to fiddle with the crawler due to Christmas gift buying and get togethers and such, but I had some free time tonight to work on it.

So as my update ...

1) shocks dont have oil in them yet
2) the rear links / shocks have screws that are way too short to lock them in. So I need to stop @ Brafasco tomorrow.
3) no rear drive shaft. Tomorrow i'll slice it shorter.
4) no electronics installed (obviously).
5) no rear knuckle to knuckle rod.

BUT ......... it is basically in a roller form right now. Which is nice.


Enjoy.

[Scattman]

Very nice build thread.

[Nerve]

Finally got around to snappin some pics of the current state of the rig.

Now that the holidays are done I finally have free time to fiddle with these things again... LOL.







This photo below ... the back end isnt lower then the front, it is actually level ... HOWEVER when I was holding onto the measuring tape and snapping the photo.. I didnt notice that I didnt have the camera level in the eyepiece.










Lookie who has a Losi Grappler body now ...






That is about all for now.

The longer M3x25 button head screws came in so I was able to lock everything down now. Keep in mind also, with those articulation photos above... there is NO oil in the shocks just yet. So I imagine that once I get around to filling them, I should lose a bit of articulation movement.. heh. Because right now it seems on the high side of having too much articulation.

Also I had to add, that I'am going to redo the front link from wheel to wheel and make one identical for the rear (as you may have noticed its missing and im currently in a 3 wheel steering).
The longer link shown on the front is a hair too short and I wanted to make it my own..

Anyways .. enjoy ..

[Nerve]

Originally Posted by scattman

Very nice build thread.

Thanks!

[Nerve]

Just updating my thread with the most current photos and basically a 100% complete rolling chassis. I finished off the links this morning and tweaked them in order to align the front end.

Next week I should have 2 mounting plates ready for installation to hold the Rooster / RS310 inside the chassis. Once I have those ready, then I will work on the electronics and then I just need it to warm up so I can paint up my grappler.


Friend of mine suggested to lock down the rear with a bolt going into the pumpkin with a link. I came up with this:






This is the front link rod that I had to put a bend into to clear the WK's pumpkin.






Top view sitting on its side (un-aided)



Lower view




The next 2 photos show the extent of the turning ability of the links with the RCP Axle C's & Knuckles.






Thanks 4 lookin

[coolkidjf7]

Wow, I posted once a couple of months ago. Now it's at this! Nice build man. May I suggest a castle creations sidewinder ESC, unless you already picked up the rooster. Also could you measure how wide the ball is on those jato rod ends (metric please )? I'm building up a TVP chassis and wanted to know so I can cut the skid plate to get double triangulated links.

Thanks

EDIT: those Jato ends accept 6- 32 thread right?

[Nerve]

Originally Posted by coolkidjf7

Wow, I posted once a couple of months ago. Now it's at this! Nice build man. May I suggest a castle creations sidewinder ESC, unless you already picked up the rooster. Also could you measure how wide the ball is on those jato rod ends (metric please )? I'm building up a TVP chassis and wanted to know so I can cut the skid plate to get double triangulated links.

Thanks

EDIT: those Jato ends accept 6- 32 thread right?

LOL Yeah this thread has been around since I think September?

I had already picked up a rooster when I was buying parts for this thing back in October.. LOL. I would like to get some use out of it and then possibly consider the upgrade to the Castle ESC.

part number #5525. There is some specs on Towerhobbies I believe. I'm heading out of the house shortly, but if you wanted some other spec's that aren't listed I can get them for you later on.

8-32 thread is what I used and it fits fine.