Papabash's Team BWD 'Low-Pro' Wedge Build Now With New LP2.0
 

NOTE: I restored the photos in this thread after the infamous Photobucket bomb. There were only about 6 or so that I was not able to restore (other than those posted by other people). Hopefully the thread can now continue to help those who are interested in keeping the mini class alive. Thanks for viewing!

I have been anxiously waiting for these to come out, and now that these bad boys are in production, I was finally able to snag one. I have to say I have been nothing short of amazed at how well my "standard" Mini Wedge performs, in fact it will pull lines that my State-winning rig couldn't even begin to do. If this low-pro version outperforms my standard wedge, I can't imagine how much fun it will be to drive! Anyway, after a couple of emails back and forth with Don, he indicated that he would like for me to do a build thread, so here goes.....

Specs so far:

Axles and transmission from new Pro Roller
Custom Motoworx "UFO" aluminum beadlocks with HB Rovers
Aluminum C-hubs
Felsenfest zero-ackerman high clearance knuckles with LCC stubs
RcBros high clearance steering arm
Traxxas overdrive mod
All aluminum tranny gears/spur
Crawler Mafia 17t Contraband Motor
Crawler Innovations Lil' Nova single stage soft foams in front, mediums out back
MIP driveshafts
Losi Mini Late Model shocks
BWD 'Low Pro' Dub cab
BWD billet motor plate
BWD motor spacer
Castle Micro Sidewinder ESC
Hitec 7954SH Servo

Enough blabbin', on to the fun stuff! "thumbsup"

Some of the major components thus far:

https://i.imgur.com/6CMDy6X.jpg

And a close-up of the main chassis:

https://i.imgur.com/pIb75du.jpg

One of the first things I did before assembling the chassis was to gently round the edges of the lower links with a deburring tool. One of those things that may or may not make a difference, but I figure the rounded edges will slide over the rocks a little easier:

https://i.imgur.com/wENTUdM.jpg

I also installed a couple of bent Axial rod ends into the rear of the chassis. Regular rod ends will clear fine, these just give a little extra clearance and make me feel better. 8)

https://i.imgur.com/anmjdII.jpg

looking good. Can't wait to see it done.:mrgreen:

Looking forward to more of this build. This chassis is sweeet, I think I will build one myself.

After installing the aluminum tranny gears, I mounted my BWD MRC Pro Billet Motor Plate and BWD MRC Motor Spacer:

https://i.imgur.com/hKTD4eO.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/0y0NdLk.jpg

Thanks, me either! "thumbsup"

As far as I'm concerned, Don is the King of chassis design! :mrgreen:

After tearing down the axles, installing the Traxxas overdrive pinion, and giving them a good coating of grease, I used button-head through bolts with nuts on the other end to make sure my gear mesh stays tight when I put it in a bind. The button-head bolts are also less likely to hang up than the regular heads:

https://i.imgur.com/cJJzPlL.jpg

That is a nice looking chassis. Get some running vids and pics up soon.

LOL! Let me get it together first! I'm anxious to get it on the rocks, but I'm taking my time with it and doing everything exactly like I want it, so it won't be a rush job, but I'll get some action shots and maybe some video up when I can. "thumbsup"

Here's a shot of the front axle ready to go on except for the servo/4 link mount. I clocked the C-hubs back, and rounded the rear-bottom and front-top edges of the RcBros steering arm so that it just barely clears the housing. This allowed me to shave a little over 1mm off the tops of the servo mounting tabs. It isn't much, but when you're trying to get the COG down as low as possible, it all adds up.

https://i.imgur.com/5lNZtnP.jpg

Here's a close up of the Felsenfest knuckle with the LCC stub axle installed:

https://i.imgur.com/LtNEerZ.jpg

Them knuckles are pretty neat looking. If for any reason my losis fail I may have to look into them.

I like them for the high clearance, and they are definitely BEEF! RcBros also makes a set for regular MRC stubs that I really like, but he has been out of stock for quite a while now. I was lucky to pick these up from BuckImod, thanks buddy!

Next step was to trim down the servo plate. I like running my servo in the middle on my current Wedge, so I trimmed the side mounts off. No sense in having the extra weight if it's not going to be used. The top mount is an old one I had, the bottom one is my new one trimmed up and ready to install:

https://i.imgur.com/GzH6JGz.jpg

Ok great!

Looking great so far PB!"thumbsup"

Thanks! Making progress, I'll get some more pics up soon.

can one of them pics be an overhead showing the electronics trays please?:)

Sure, I'll take one now. "thumbsup"

Here you go... Does this do what you need?

https://i.imgur.com/GpRr0JT.jpg

I'm using the Losi Mini Late Model shocks (part no. LOSB1289) for this build, but I don't like the way the tops of them are just drilled holes in metal tabs, so I modified them a bit. The hard mounts really limit the amount of play the shock has during articulation. By cutting it off and replacing it with the Pro shock cap, it moves much more freely with less binding. It probably wouldn't be an issue if the shocks were left in their stock position, but when outboarded (either with the Losi outboard kit or with the BWD Bomb Proof mounts) the hard mount really tends to bind up pretty badly, at least for me. First I cut the tab off with a hacksaw, then used a flat file to smooth it up. The pictures show a before and after shock, and how the top looks after cutting and smoothing. Note: I also replaced the tiny shaft ends with the ends from my donor Pro Roller shocks.

https://i.imgur.com/rCARDW3.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/Iz2NoWx.jpg

After that, it was a simple matter of screwing the cap on from one of the Losi Pro Roller aluminum shocks. The diameter and thread pitch are the same on both shocks, making this an easy mod:

https://i.imgur.com/KoaSzfo.jpg

My plan was to set this chassis up as close to possible to my "standard" Mini Wedge, so that it would be easier to compare the two in a head-to-head battle. After doing a "dry run" of installing the shocks on the Low-Pro chassis, I was surprised to see that it sat considerably higher than my Mini Wedge. I remembered that Don had told me he used 3/8" pen springs inside his shocks to limit travel, and now I know why. "thumbsup" By using springs rather than solid limiters, the shocks are able to "stretch" out to almost their full length when articulated. Here's a comparison of a "regular" shock, and a limited shock along with a section of the spring I used:

https://i.imgur.com/9pcuW1w.jpg

To start out, I installed the silver "soft" springs from the Mini-T Rear Shock Spring Set (LOSB1119) on the front shocks, and left the stock orange Mini Late Model springs on the rears.
After limiting the shocks, the "Low-Pro" now sits virtually level with my other Wedge:

https://i.imgur.com/tR8LKrn.jpg

Very Clean Build Papa!.... When I built my first low pro I did the same cap mod to the Late Model Shocks,but never did the limiting spring. The stance on your rig looks perfect!.....I thought I was out of the 1.9 game,but I just picked up another Low Pro and a MRC Pro Roller. I'm going to do it up after christmas.:mrgreen:

This is a really nice build up... I just love that chassis. Good job man and keep up the good work."thumbsup"

Thanks, so far I'm pretty stoked about this. Glad you're getting back into the mini's, they're just way too much fun to give up!

Thank you sir, I'll try my best!

Looking good. "thumbsup" Excited to get my build going soon. I limited my shocks on the MRC Pro and it worked great. Kept the truck low and stable.

Truck is lookin good man. Killer shock mod too. I would have be err ought to do that. "thumbsup"

Thanks, I can't take all the credit for the mod, though. I thought I had seen something about it a while back, but never could find it, so I decided to just try it and see what happened.
I don't know, I'm getting old, maybe I just dreamed it or something. :oops:Now....... what was I doing?

Thanks, I was mostly concerned about loss of articulation, but so far it doesn't appear to have lost enough to matter.

Perfect work on the shocks and limiting springs buddy! Looks near perfect for base line setup!

Don

Really great looking build. I noticed you running less caster in the front of your low pro. What is the motivation of that? I will also be curious to see how you setup your electronics. If I could make a minor suggestion? I have been really proud of my skin/esc storage trick and no one seams to like it nere as much as me. Take some lexan. Heat it up and wrap it around a motor laying on a board or whatever. You put one on the motor side and one on the other side to stash your esc or whatever. It works great with this wedge sedtup and gets your stuff nice and low. No pride in authorship.

Thanks Don, I'm anxious to get it out on the rocks and start tuning! Darn job just seems to keep getting in the way............ :roll:

Thanks Rick, I'm really not running less caster, I just hadn't adjusted the front upper links yet. I replaced the Traxxas rod ends on the servo end with some short Axial ends and it's just about perfect now.
I'll check into your Lexan tip, I think I remember seeing that.

awesome thank you.:mrgreen:

Finally got some more done today, I spent a good amount of time trying to figure out how/where to mount the battery. This little guy is t-i-g-h-t! On my standard Mini Wedge I run the battery on the front links, it's tight but works well. On the Low-Pro, there simply is not room there. I considered mounting it on the back links, or even the 4-link plate, but no room there, either, and mounting it on one of the electronics plates would put it way too high in the air. If I were going to run a body I think I would mount it to the side of the transmission, opposite the motor, but running bodiless, I don't want to have to remove a side panel everytime I change the battery out. After exhausting about every possible location, I think I came up with the answer. It's not ideal, but I think it's the best compromise I could find with the batteries that I run (ThunderPower 325mah/45C 2 cell lipo).

I relocated the front electronics mount by securing it with the screws that hold my front links to the chassis. It simply replaces the nylock nuts there. In order to do this, I first had to clearance the bottom back edge a bit to clear the front driveshaft. Then I put a small patch of Velcro on the front edge:

https://i.imgur.com/vmGntK7.jpg

Next, I cut a piece of double-sided Velcro, like you use to wrap around extension cords and stuck it to the patch I placed on the bottom of the electronics plate:

https://i.imgur.com/DB12p0C.jpg

Mounted the tray in it's new position, put the battery in, wrapped the Velcro strap around to secure it, and it's good to go!

https://i.imgur.com/T2dIZMG.jpg

When I make the "hood" for the cab, I will connect it on the front, and leave the back loose so I can hinge it up to access the battery when needed.
And, yes, it looks like the servo rubs the front of the cab, but you can squeeze about half a hair through there. "thumbsup"

Thanks for the tip on battery placement. I was wondering if it was possible to get a battery up front. "thumbsup"

And....................... (drum roll, please)......................


It's a roller! :mrgreen:

https://i.imgur.com/vhRBXC2.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/CqkzsJU.jpg

Kinda sexy, ain't she? 8)

It's possible, but it's not ideal. In order for the upper links to clear during articulation, the battery has to be pointed up in front rather than lay flat. This raises the COG a bit, but It's the best I could come up with. Here's a picture to show what I mean. I really don't think it's raised high enough to be a problem, since the back of the battery is low:

https://i.imgur.com/X7nRC77.jpg

This shot shows the battery in relation to the rest of the chassis:

https://i.imgur.com/ays7Tg8.jpg

Hey Dave what screws did you use for you shocks?