Introduction to rock crawling and my Mini Rock Crawler (Lots of pics)

[Demodude]

I've been itching to post my MRC that I picked up on craigslist. I'm new to crawling but not to r/c. I used to race during my highschool years back in 1988 or so and haven't touched rc since. I'm getting an education in all that has changed since then: Lipo, brushless, 2.4ghz.... It's all great to a guy that loves to tinker like I do.
So I picked up this MRC that has a TCS Edge chassis, Novak Mongoose ESC, Flat Iron tires, Hitec 645 servo. I bought from a kid whom really had the thing set up really really wrong. The weight was up too high, the steering was horrible-rubbed the tires, torque twist was insane, the tires slipped on everything, it would flip over if you looked at it funny... Off the bat I learned the front driveshaft was cracked/broken, the beadlocks were not beadlocks and I missed the broken one on the inside of one wheel and the amount of glue on the tires was overkill.
It's not a bad situation as I paid very little for the whole package. I quickly found this site and fab'ed a rear battery plate/4 link rear setup which took out all of the torque twist. I flipped the shocks, rearranged the electronics, installed wheel wideners (junfac), replaced the driveshafts, lowerd and limited the shock travel. Finally the truck could actually climb. Yet the weight of the Edge chassis being steel really wanted to flip backwards too easliy so I orders the Bizarree Carbon side plates which really helped the cog stay low. Also got some HB Rovers with mem foam in the front and med foam in the rear and I can't believe some of the pitches I've been able to climb. Also did the Overdrive Mod and it's amazing how the front end just pulls enough to get over the edges. This thing is unstoppable! I have a Bronko body that should be here in a few days and I'll update as soon as I get it painted.
I need to hook up with a crawling group here in SoCal so if you want a newbie in your group hit me up!!!
Now for some pics- first the rig as best as I could make it- then my carbon frame.
I also stripped the paint off the TCS Edge chassis and popped out the Aluminum panels which made it look much better. I'll be selling it on ebay soon.

[Demodude]

So, I need to add some aluminum cross braces so I can take off that huge ziptie.
I am running limited shocks front and rear. Internal spring limiters in the front which allows more articulation when it's needed.
How do you guys like the clearance? It's at 2", I get hung up once and a while yet I don't want the cog to get up there too high.
I am also running .010 ligature wire to secure the shock retainer cups. It's a cool little mod, Just dirll a tiny hole in the retainer cup, run the ligature wire through and twist, cut the excess and you'll never loose one and if you have cut or short springs with some droop- the cups stay with the springs.
I also did the outboard shock setup with a trip to the hardware store.

Please comment on what you think as this is my first crawler. Anything that is glaringly obvious that might help my setup.. I feel I've learned quite a bit in this last month from lurking. Thanks all!

[winnerone23]

Looks to be a good start.. main thing that jumps out at me is that rear drive shaft hanging in the dirt to get ruined.. make the rear uppers longer to get it up in the air so its the same shape as ur rear lower links.. so just how it is, just up in the air.. then go 4 link in the front as well..

[Demodude]

I had the rear axle tilted back a bit to have a better angle initially but the rear path of travel was doing something weird. I could remove the shocks and the rear wouldent compress, it just stayed suspended like a spring. I know I would need to play with the link lengths when I get a bit of time. I've also though about running links either above or below the battery tray.

Thanks for your imput!

[rnemovr]

The binding in the rear when tilted could be due to the arm angles (mind you my crawling experience is from full size and I am new to the RC world). If the arms to not the same angle they will fight each other.

[Sh0rtBus]

Something that stands out to me is the limiters for the shocks. Rather than have them on the outside, put them inside the shock bodies. Might not make a big difference, but it shold change the way the shocks are limited a bit.

[Demodude]

Originally Posted by rnemovr

The binding in the rear when tilted could be due to the arm angles (mind you my crawling experience is from full size and I am new to the RC world). If the arms to not the same angle they will fight each other.

I think I found the culprit, The airplane ball links that I used don't articulate to a very wide angle. I might remake the links with the Traxxas ends.

[Demodude]

Originally Posted by Sh0rtBus

Something that stands out to me is the limiters for the shocks. Rather than have them on the outside, put them inside the shock bodies. Might not make a big difference, but it shold change the way the shocks are limited a bit.

I have fuel tubing inside front and rear shocks for limiters. The fronts have 1/2" of pen spring in the inside to allow extra articulation when needed. The rear pen springs just limit the travel at the last bit of twist when I don't want the rig to flop around. I'm currently happy with 40 weight oil inside the shocks. Currently the articulation is limited to 1/2" above a wheel in height which is working great.

I've run the new setup indoors and am waiting for the body before some real crawling so I dont damage the carbon or esc, rx, etc.

[Demodude]

I improved the rear driveshaft angle a bit. Looks better but I'll need to get the Traxxas rod ends to get it perfect. Also cleaned up the rats nest and added temporary chassis cross braces via some pen bodies and zip ties.

I decided to go to my little spot that I've been crawling to try the new chassis and setup in real world situation. I'm very happy with the proformance gain with the lower slung setup. I really breezed up most of the lines that were previously hard, downhill proformance improved as well. These are very long pitches up boulders that had been cemented in place along a riverbed. I managed to break it loose a few times and come crashing down on the new carbon fiber but, not a scratch.
The one difference I noticed between the Flat Irons and Rovers was clearance. The pumpkins really hung up on some of the sharp rocks that jutted out. Is there any taller tire that compares to the Rover?? The traction of the rovers was quite good.

When I got back to the office: a nice suprise- my bronko / bronco body showed up. I'm thinking for color black with silver accents and a white roof!

Sorry no pics of the outdoor crawling, forgot the camera....

[Demodude]

Be kind, this is the first body I've painted in 15 years! I'm stoked! The black is metallic but it didn't show in the pics well. I'd like to do another body with the main color silver and the accents black with a white roof. Those rollbars were super hard to mask and I still didn't get it right but I'm happy!

[winnerone23]

Looks sick, I really like that body!

Knowledge time.. what's the reason behind the front wheels bein B side forward an the rear tires bein A side forward? Traction?

[Bigdrewbowski]

Are those Prolines true beadlocks?

[Demodude]

Originally Posted by winnerone23

Looks sick, I really like that body!

Knowledge time.. what's the reason behind the front wheels bein B side forward an the rear tires bein A side forward? Traction?

Yes, So far so good, Haven't tried the normal way yet

[Demodude]

Originally Posted by Bigdrewbowski

Are those Prolines true beadlocks?

Yes, I got them off RC-Recycler for $47 including the front wheel weights. The beadlocks had some chipping of the paint so I just sharpied them.. I might strip the paint off at some time and polish them to a chrome finish.

[Demodude]

Originally Posted by winnerone23

Looks sick, I really like that body!

Thanks man!

[elsewhere]

Looks sweet!

Just me tho, I'd cut out the grille and above the battery and
slam it...

[winnerone23]

Originally Posted by Demodude

Yes, So far so good, Haven't tried the normal way yet

Oh ok, so no reason behind it from ur side of it? I have learned from 2.2s that the B side bites better then the A side.. so there for, the idea behind some ppl mounting there front ab backs the way you have them is so that the front bite before or more then the rear.. just thought I would ask an see if we had heard similar things..