starting another 1/6th Willys

[reddevildemo]

I agree with Tommy, looks like a factory color to me as well. Love it

[SpeedyDad]

I've seen pictures of Navy Jeeps in almost that exact color. It just looks right.

[BigSki]

Originally Posted by SpeedyDad

I've seen pictures of Navy Jeeps in almost that exact color. It just looks right.

That's the personal issue I have with the color- it looks too much like a Navy Jeep. I've been busy with the correct details to make this a CJ, not an MB variant. I spied another slightly lighter shade of a Tamiya metallic blue in the HS today, maybe I'll respray it over the weekend.

[ZoSo]

I like the color
.....does look navy though

[BigSki]

Small update time. I got a hood hinge built and installed.



I got the overdrive ratio Disruptor transfer case, here's a cross member/skid plate to keep it nice and safe. The drive shaft angles look good and there's plenty of clearance, one less thing to worry about.



Here's a few more pics of the t-case installed. I gave the drive train a bench top 'power up' to test the wheel speed, it looks like it's very close to the Orange Jeep ( which isn't exactly quick!) so it should be ok for the trail. I switched out the under drive R&P's and installed some stock ratio gear sets to speed things up a bit. I can still go to the over drive ratio if I need a bit more wheel speed.

[BigSki]

Update: I got a motor mount figured out, then I moved on to the steering. I really wanted to use a bell crank style of steering to mimic the original steering used on flat fender jeeps, but after trying a few mock ups it became quickly apparent that I didn't have enough space inside of the engine compartment to make it work correctly, the way the firewall is molded in the body was pushing the servo so far forward that it just wasn't going to work without some major body alterations. I settled on a vertical servo mounting plate, very much like the CMS kits use on the SCX-10.

So after a bit of work, I made a temporary mount for the battery and electronics and took the chassis out for a spin through the yard! It seems to work ok, it was definitely a motivational moment for me to see the chassis moving under it's own power for the first time. I got a few minutes of video, once I get it edited and hosted I'll make a link.

[BigSki]

[Big Mike]

It runs!!!!

The leafs look real good. There's definitely still room to gain a lot of weight.

The hood hinge is well done. The hood sits in the right spot when it's open as well as closed! (mine doesn't. The hinge sorta binds but it does it's job)

Solid motor mount. No flex there.

Those are Traxxas yokes? Are you just mocking up with those or keeping them? I keep trashing the plastic Axial yokes, you guys were right. Ginger's right foot gets heavy and "pop" the plastic ears open up. I've used up all the extra shafts I had laying around. Always the transfer shaft too, the hardest one to remove. Surprisingly my shrink-wrap and epoxy graft on the rear shaft has been bulletproof!

Full MIP driveline is coming soon. A new Wraith kit and a random Ebay score for a transfer shaft. Then Ol' Blue will be truly finished...

[BigSki]

I'm trying like crazy to keep the weight down, I'm afraid that this one will break the 20LB. mark. I'm happy with how well the gearmotor works, the 550 motor is torquey. The whole thing is really quiet as well. Now that I'm motivated again I can see some good progress getting done this week.

The shafts/yokes going from the Disruptor to the axles are E-Maxx shafts. Iuse the same ones on the orange jeep without a single issue. The shaft from the gearhead to the Disruptor is a severely modified MIP, it has no slip joint, but it doesn't need one on the Blue Jeep. I have a similar setup on the Orange Jeep, but that one has splines just to make removing the trans a bit easier. There are 2 different P/N's for the E-Maxx yokes, one is for the older 5mm style and then the newer 6mm style. They are made for a shaft that has 2 flats, which doesn't work with the Axial based stuff so I open the holes to a full 5mm, then I cross drill the pinion shaft to accept the Traxxas style yoke screw that has a pass through pin.

[snydercj7]

So talk to me about your 550 motor vs a 45 or 55 turn. I am working on a similar set up. My axles have the 43/13 gears, my disrupter case is the 2.?:1, and I have a RC4WD planitary transmission.

[BigSki]

The planetary trans is going to kill your wheel speed when coupled with the underdrive Disruptor t-case. Your motor will be spinning at very high RPMs and the jeep will barely be moving.

The 550 motor came with the planetary GRU that I'm using, so I did the math and realized that I needed to use the overdrive ratio Disruptor t-case along w/ stock ratio ( 13/38??) ring and pinion to keep the Jeep at a walking pace at full throttle. The 550 that came with the GRU isn't exactly made for RC use, it doesn't offer adjustable timing (the end bell in crimped in place) and I have no idea of how many winds it is, the tech guy at Roboticmarketplace couldn't even tell me!

I'm just using it right now because it's what I have to use. I run a HH 35T torquemaster in my orange Jeep. It's a great motor, I just have cooling issues when the weather gets hot because there's no air circulation under the hood, the FXR will go into thermal shutdown after some hard running.

My suggestion to you is, if you want to keep the Disruptor and under drive R&P's, switch out the planetary GRU for an AX-10 trans. That is basically what I have in the Orange Willys, it gives great slow speed throttle control and it will go at a walking pace at full throttle.

[snydercj7]

Well damn.. I really thought I needed to gear deep to move one of these pigs. Good thing I am doing research after I bought the parts. Looks like my crawl ratio is about 115.45 with my current set up. If I changed out for a .75:1 transfer case it would be 39.72:1.

[BigSki]

I just went through and did the math for the gearing on the orange Willys, I used that for my baseline for the way I geared the blue Willys.

AX-10 trans, ratio- 2.6:1
spur and pinion (87/14)- 6.2:1
Disruptor t-case- 2.18:1
underdrive R&P- 3.31:1

overall reduction ratio- 116.3:1

So after seeing that number, you would probably be ok with your original drive train setup. I run the orange Willys on a 35T Torque Master on 3s.

[snydercj7]

So many variables, HH is saying the 30'ish:1 would be good for the Revolver motor. I will have to talk to him, I would prefer not to rebuy some thing if I don't have to. The only issue you had with the 35T on 3s was heat on a hot day right? If the radiator were opened up and a fan installed that could resolve that issue maybe?

[BigSki]

Originally Posted by snydercj7

So many variables, HH is saying the 30'ish:1 would be good for the Revolver motor. I will have to talk to him, I would prefer not to rebuy some thing if I don't have to. The only issue you had with the 35T on 3s was heat on a hot day right? If the radiator were opened up and a fan installed that could resolve that issue maybe?

I would follow exactly whatever HH recommends, the guy knows his stuff! I saw his recommendations to you, if you go with a brushed 540 size motor I think that your gearing will be ok.

Yes, my only issue has been the FX-R going into thermal shutdown because the motor was drawing sooo much current because the motor was over heating. This happened during some mud running and another day I was just trail riding at full throttle for about 35 minutes straight. The motor got so hot it blistered my finger when I touched it.

If you ask ZoSo and his crew, they seem to have no issues running similar setups in the desert in the summer time... go figure! Reddevildemo runs a puller motor in his w/o any issues so it could very well be something that I'm doing wrong. I do plan on opening up the grille to get some air movement under the hood to see if I can stop the thermal shutdown problem.

[Big Mike]

Originally Posted by BigSki

I would follow exactly whatever HH recommends, the guy knows his stuff!

X2 The man when it comes to electric motor technology. I wish I had the $$ to ask about an electric bicycle...

Originally Posted by BigSki

Reddevildemo runs a puller motor in his w/o any issues so it could very well be something that I'm doing wrong. I do plan on opening up the grille to get some air movement under the hood to see if I can stop the thermal shutdown problem.

10t Cobalt Puller. Great motor for the .75:1 transfer case. I use a 14t pinion 87t spur. The range of speed possible from a single-speed transmission is pretty amazing, from a very slow creep to about 10-11 mph on the top end. Enough torque on tap to pull wheelies on carpet and rip plastic Axial yokes apart. They are on the discontinued motor page now though, and out of stock

[BigSki]

A bit more progress.






I keep going back and forth about whether or not to keep the CMS style of servo mount or attempt a bell crank system for the steering. The servo mount is completely in the way of the grill but if I go to a bell crank system mounted off of the round cross member, it would put the pivot point just about in the center of the chassis, making a very short drag link.

[snydercj7]

This thing is looking so good it is making me inappropriately aroused.

[BigSki]

Originally Posted by snydercj7

This thing is looking so good it is making me inappropriately aroused.

T.M.I...........................

[BigSki]

I got the body mounted and took it for a spin over the short 'proving grounds' in the yard.





The leaf springs seem a bit too stiff, I'll give them a chance to break in but they might need to be remade with a thinner spring steel to gain some flexibility.

I did discover that the 550 motor that came w/ the GRU is not really up to the task of moving this Jeep around. It draws a crap load of amps to run it, it kills a 2200 3s in about 20 minutes and today while running aroun in the yard, I tried to climb a small grassy hill and it just about stalled out the motor. I'll dig out a HH TorqueMaster 35T and give it a try.