Softcore Sami

[OSRC]

I was kinda sorta working on putting a Sumo body on my CMX. Nothing wrong with the Bronco mind you, just looking for a refresh. And something to do while Judge Mablean doles out Justice TV-style.


Then I came across Utieh's Hardcore Sami build. I like it.... a lot!

Being that I already had a similar looking Sami in the stable to what I was building...


....I decided to go a bit more aggressive. Not as cool as Utieh's with the fancy carbon chassis and killer SSD axles and what not, so it's more a ....Softcore Sami.


My CFX was sitting on the shelf also lookin' for some love (in all the wrong places.) It's been softcored with some full option Sawback axles. Aluminum C's and knuckles, brass tubes, and overdrive mod in the front axle. Looked good in my opinion, but change is always good!



Got my little helper to join me as I sorted out the chassis...Random lady with health issues approves!


Dropped the Sumo body on the CFX and it looked pretty good. Axles look aggressive, but don't stick out too far.


Stance is pretty good right off the bat. Just needs a bit of tweaking with the link lengths and suspension height.



I like it - let's build! The Softcore Sami is born!

[OSRC]

While I had the axles off, I needed to make some changes. The servo mount on the axle flexed more than Hulk Hogan in front of an 80's TV camera. It only holds the servo on with 2 screws, and it's pretty flimsy. Only a matter of time until it gave out. Plus, it floats the servo about 5mm above the axle and it hit the motor under full compression. Dug out some 2mm aluminum and some old Axial servo mounts and made a new one.


Took a bit of spacing to get everything lined up, but now the servo mount is flush on the top of the axle casing.


With the servo back on, it's a much more solid setup. No more Hogan flex... Not a hardcore setup, but definitely in softcore range.


Playing around with shocks a bit, found I could stuff some full length SCX10 shocks in there. I was using 80mm previously and wanted a bit more droop so 4.19 tires would have some room to move around. 90mm in front, 80mm in rear for comparison.



Flex test... got plenty! Might have to limit uptravel just a bit as I'm going to get some serious tire rub, but definitely in the ballpark. Driveshaft angles were my main concern - especially with such a short wheelbase, but so far so food. No binding and the drivetrain is still as smooth as a shaved rectum.


Deciding the SCX10 shocks were a winner, I dug out a mismatched set of Icons and some 50wt oil and got them set up. Starting off with combo of white springs in back and PL dual rate springs in front. Shocks are teflon taped and green slimed - no leakage allowed if we're talking softcore.



I'll adjust ride height once it's all together, but it's just about right to my eyes. Trimmed up the fenders a bit to clear the tires, but not too much as I wanted to keep the width.


Front bumper is stock... doesn't look too bad, and decent approach angle. Not sure if I'll redo it or not. Think I will.. eventually.



Out back, I took the bumper I made for the Tamiya body and re-drilled it and tucked it in a bit. Will work fine for softcore duty.


I as on a roll, but had to quit...frantically cleaning and re-arranging the basement as 5" of rain decided to drop in 90 minutes. Water is literally spraying into the basement up through the floor. Not good!!!

[utieh]

Love the bumper!

[OSRC]

Which one? This build is all your fault BTW...

[wyd]

Looking good. Really enjoy checking out your builds.

[OSRC]

Thanks wyd, hopefully we'll meet up in person on of these days. Next time you head down to 322/pump station road area, let me know. That's definitely doable for me, and love to check out some new areas.

I'm heading to St. Pete's tomorrow if it hasn't been washed away. Can't do much more wrenching until the basement dries out.

[OSRC]

Got a bit more work done on Softcore. All of my CMX/CFX rigs have been Tamiya copper (one of the best looking polycarb colors imo) so stuck with it. I had one can left... kinda matched the wheels too, so seemed like a no brainer!


Sprayed the fenders black and the rear cover as well. Came out pretty nice! Very shiny.. I like to trail weather my rigs, so I'll beat the shine off outdoors.




Flex shot, the new shocks are working out very well. Maybe a bit too much actually. Still need to do something with the sliders, they were trimmed for the old Tamiya body and look terrible.


Took it out for a test run. Sometimes you nail it, sometimes you don't. Swing and a miss! The 4.19's are much taller than the tires I was running previously so it was geared a bit too tall. The links in the rear are just a touch too long still (not sure how I missed that) and I've got gobs of torque twist, even with the front OD. Absolute killer on a short WB truck. Performance was rather underwhelming... Looked cool as it was failing everywhere, so I got that that going for me which is nice.



Got to the top here, but it was way harder than it needed to be. Squats instead of digs.


Can see it three wheeling up my 60d ramp. My CMX can't get up here at all, so it's an improvement but it's way too soft out back.


Came back in, dropped 3 teeth on the pinion (now running a 17t) and tore apart the rear for a little re-do on the rear link geometry. Since these are technically leaf spring axles, going to have to get a bit creative.

[alexleblanc]

Nice build, love to see some mst love.

[OSRC]

The Softcore Sami is back on the road...

Got the upper link relocation bits, rear axle link, and a set of shock towers cut while I was at it. Not my finest work, I didn't have much time to work on it, but it's square and functional. Redneck 3D printing.


Shock towers and ULR installed. Made the ULR's so they can relocate the front and rear links if needed. Front seems fine, so leaving it as is - always good to have options!


Made a bracket for the upper links on the axle.. Little more triangulation with this setup.


All back together.... Also swapped over to stiffer springs - from white to green.. Maybe a little too stiff, we'll see!


Reset ride height and it's good to go!

[wyd]

Originally Posted by OSRC

Thanks wyd, hopefully we'll meet up in person on of these days. Next time you head down to 322/pump station road area, let me know. That's definitely doable for me, and love to check out some new areas.

I'm heading to St. Pete's tomorrow if it hasn't been washed away. Can't do much more wrenching until the basement dries out.

Kinda of late notice but a bunch of guys are going to Pump Station Rd tomorrow at 9am to do a trail run. Seems like it will be 8 to 12 guys going. Will be doing plenty more in this location from now til probably thru November at least.

[wyd]

Wow that thing turned out awesome. Looks fantastic. You have some bad ass crawlers for sure.

[OSRC]

Originally Posted by wyd

Kinda of late notice but a bunch of guys are going to Pump Station Rd tomorrow at 9am to do a trail run. Seems like it will be 8 to 12 guys going. Will be doing plenty more in this location from now til probably thru November at least.

Sorry, I couldn't make it, I had organized a run at Green Lane @8:30. I'd be kind of a jerk if I no showed... Thanks for the invite, I'll be down sometime this summer for sure!

[wyd]

Originally Posted by OSRC

Sorry, I couldn't make it, I had organized a run at Green Lane @8:30. I'd be kind of a jerk if I no showed... Thanks for the invite, I'll be down sometime this summer for sure!

I will try to give you better notice next time. Probably a good thing to show if you set it up.

[OSRC]

Went out yesterday once the heat died down and did some testing with the new suspension. Still has some twist, but it's not nearly as bad as it was. Definitely able to transfer more motion forward and it climbed better. I'm not a suspension guru by any means, but I'm now in the ballpark. The rear axle ratio is a fairly high 2.29, and with a short WB I think TT is going to be part of the equation no matter how much tweaking I do. It's all good though, I'm pretty happy with it overall.

Lifting that front wheel...this is a 60d ramp, zips right up there now. Struggled before, so at lest I'm headed in the right direction.



Came back in and did some more tweaking. Whipped up some quick trays, ditched the stock plate and moved the battery and electronics down onto the sliders.


About as low as I'm going to get CG-wise.


With such a short WB, it wants to go nose up on steep climbs. I have brass tubes in the axles and weights in the wheels - pretty much the only options for Sawback axles. I added a few grams of weight on top of the axle. Debated going with a CMS, but frankly it's just moving more weight up high and didn't see the point.


Drilled 2 new holes and tucked the rear bumper in a bit further. Has a killer departure angle now.



I'm thinking the ride height is a bit too high. Using somewhat stiff springs, so it's not compressing much. I'm thinking about adding 5mm spacers inside the shocks to lower it down a bit. Not sure yet, I'll do a trail run first and see how it does.



Ready or testing round three! Only thing I'm thinking of adding is a simple 2D interior - something light.

[OSRC]

Went out right after writing this and did a quick test...moving the electronics was a total win. Little Softcore tended to endo coming down steep inclines -no more! I thought moving the weight further forward would make it worse, but it's apparently so much lower it added stability. Huh. More stable all around... Very happy with it.

Found an interior that looks like it may work and was was about to start hacking, then the kids woke up. Time to go make pancakes!

[durok]

Good to hear the tweaking is providing performance results... really an excellent build thread!

[OSRC]

Got an interior in the Softcore Sami... I dug around a bit in my stash and found an old Proline CGR body that had seen better days. Turns out the interior was a perfect fit inside the Sumo. Just trimmed it down length-wise and it pretty much fell right in. Clears the battery and electronics no problem. Driver is a little short, but looks ok to my eyes.


Boy...up close those wipers just look.....awful. No more close up shots!



Pretty much done...resisting the urge to add any other scale details. With a short WB, I don't want any more weight up top.

[JatoTheRipper]

Damn this CMX has grown! Looks good.

Wait...aren't you camping? Are you posting from your tent?

[OSRC]

Was. Got home last night in the monsoon, home today to dry out/re-provision and back at it tomorrow at another site for another few days.

[OSRC]

Trail day (finally) for Softcore Sami! Spent about 4 hours in the woods on one of the most humid days of the year. Sorry for some of the blurry pics, the humidity was wreaking havoc on my phone.

First stop - test rock....


Made it! Wasn't easy, still wants to lift the front wheel quite a bit.... Utieh put a swaybar in the back of his, I'm thinking I'm going to end up doing the same. Think it will help on steep climbs quite a bit.


Was running with a TRX-4 and turns out the little Sami can hold its own. We couldn't do the same lines of course, but we pretty much went the same places.


Today we chose the paths less traveled and went out exploring..


Interesting what you find in the woods. Nice little hippy hangout, complete with stone totem pole.



It's like a scene out of Indiana Jones out here. Been a wet summer, and the rocks are all moss covered, with a ton of weeds and overgrowth.


It was very wet - rained last night and with the humidity, nothing was dry. The Prolines were not all that happy with the conditions.... traction was pretty scarce. I had the punch control turned way up too for whatever reason, and I forgot my programmer making for very soft launches... Not the best for muddy running.


Some cool nature finds - tree that grew around a rock....and the strangest moss covered rock I've ever seen. Vertical moss???



And a couple of posers



All in all, I've very happy with the performance. 4 hours of wheeling and nary an issue. For such a short WB truck, it does really, really good! The interior added some weight up high - killer on such a short WB truck - so I took a bit of a performance hit, but I can live with it. Maybe. A swaybar in back is the next mod for sure, and maybe a little more rear link tweaking.