UU's micro trekker build (I don't even know what I want to do yet) [LOTS OF PICS]

[user unrelated]

So, last week I got a micro trekker in a trade with a buddy, and I immediately was dissatisfied with the stock performance.
I set out to buy a bunch of stuff to make it better.
Here's my list of upgrades I bought up to this point:
* BWD wheel weights
* HR scale shocks
* HR 52T aluminum spur (I'm buying a 56t soon, idk why I got the 52)
* Gforce 240MAh 20C 2S
* Tower Pro MG90 micro servo
* DDT Predator 90T motor

Over time, I want to get the rest of the HR upgrades (gear case, lockouts, front C hubs and castor blocks, steering link, skid plate) mostly just 'cuz... definitely the lockers. We'll see how it goes.

I want to turn this into a nice lookin' hard body scaler, but I don't really know exactly what I want yet. I'll keep uploading pics here when I work on this thing. It'll get there eventually, but it's just fun to work on it every once in a while when I have spare time.

so here's "phase 1"
The original servo in it was roasted, so I had to improvise before my "good" servo came in.
The only thing I had was a MINI size servo... so I worked it out.
I also had some 800MAh LiPo's, those were the smallest had...
no wheel weights, crazy high COG.


now, moving on from there, I got my HR scale shocks, and aluminum spur in the mail.
I was HATING the amount of friction the HR shocks had, the softest springs couldn't even push the shafts back out.
So I investigated, and ended up tearing out the bushing and 2 o-rings that were hiding up in the bottomside.
I HIGHLY RECOMEND DOING THIS IF YOU HAVE THESE SHOCKS



so here's "Phase 2"
I got my servo, LiPo's, DDT motor, and wheel weights in (today, actually)
so I went to town and customized to high heaven!

I put a large hole weight on the back of all 4 wheels, and on the front of all 4 wheels, I put 1 small hole weight underneath 1 solid weight.
In the back of each front wheel, I wrapped up a ton of solder, and then I wrapped some solder underneath the weights on the front too.
It's nice and heavy now!
I glued some solder to some key points to add a marginal amount of weight.



I mounted the LiPo to the rear axle, and perfected my droop setup






here's the droop. I'm thinking I'm going to swap the springs front to back.




and I had some fun on my desk this afternoon


and then I noticed that the motor was getting pretty warm (because of my small spur)
so I decided to mount up a fan.



it works pretty good, but the power wires would hit the fan blades sometimes, so I made my own lexan cover



and that's all I got today...
I'll keep updating when I change things... I might be taking some video soon!

[Padapi]

I made a heat sink for the motor heat. It's a simple aluminium plate that was tick enough to fit betwen de motor and the aluminium frame of the rc. It's just drain the heat by the frame.

[user unrelated]

I was thinking about something similar. I have a ton of raw shallow-fin heatsink stock I had picked up at a surplus store, but I don't have any way to fabricate anything out of it right now.
I'm ordering a 56T spur as we speak, so hopefully that will give me more torque, and lower the heat.

EDIT:
well, I know I just shelled out $25 for a DDT motor, but I just got an idea...
instead of buying a new pinion, go brushless.
the motor costs $1 less than the spur, and the ESC is only $5.
the DDT motor works good with the fan as is, but it'd be fun to have something to experiment with.
I've been watching videos online, and it looks like it crawls like MAD!
that's what I'll do...

[DANALLY]

A lot of people have done brushless. They work well but there are almost two ends of the spectrum...all slow or all fast. If you use one of the 2000kv motors it is a grunt monster but is has no speed at all. It's fun because it becomes technical. Any motor over 3000kv (for the most part) coggs so bad you will hate it.

Just a word of warning...read carefully on the esc's. A bunch of those cheap ones don't have reverse. It's also nice to get a speed control that is programmable. I used a Micro Sidewinder esc and it is awesome due that it is infinitely programmable.

One other motor combo that is fun (and cheap) is using the Redcat Sumo motor and trany and mating it to the Losi axles. It is unstoppable and very slow. It all works with the stock esc too. I have run times on my s10 that are twice as long as any other rig I own. But you have to like the slow and no speed or bump power. Here is the post I did with a few video's.

S10 build...I'm in love! VIDEO ADDED 1-2-12

Good luck!

[user unrelated]

I got a 2000Kv motor, I like the slow grunt. What I wanted out of this thing was to perform, and look like a scaled down version of my SCX10 I used to have (but more scale, that thing had a HIDEOUS body haha). The stock motor was WAY too fast, and even one of your 90T motors is still sort of faster than what I wanted. I love technical driving... I even love technical bike-riding :p

I got a 10A CAR esc, it is fully programable, and has reverse! it was $3 more than the 6A airplane ESC I saw someone use. It even touted 12-pole compatibility, which is nice, because I had read around that not all car ESC's like the 12-pole motors. Being 10A, it leaves room if I want to try and squeeze the 10g 6A motor in there in the future.
PLUS, it's 3S compatible! So if I ever want any more speed, just pick up a $5 3S pack, and have at it... I'd be sort of afraid for the drivetrain though.
I saw someone post that the 2000Kv motor had crawling speeds much slower than stock, and top speed higher than stock. we'll see how it goes.
I can't WAIT for LiPo cutoff!

I've had some money to kick around, so something small like this is fun to work on!
I was going to buy the rear lockouts, but tinkering with brushless is more interesting to me.
I'll be keeping your 90T around, just in case ;)
I also thought you meant THE redcat Sumo... not the crawler. I used to have one, and couldn't figure out how you could use any part of that little thing to make a trekker slower!

next in the to-buy que: beadlocks and tires!

[DANALLY]

Ya I meant the redcat Sumo micro crawler. It's so slow it makes u laugh. I doubt the 2000kv is faster than stock. I did a 3200 and it was barely faster and cogged like crazy. The inrunner 2000 I tried was very slow and ran great but I promice u it had NO speed and had no bump power. It got annoying with the whine. I fell in love with the Sumo losi setup especially cause it works on stock electronics. Also the redcat Sumo has a radio system that does 4 wheel steer and the receiver and esc are one unit like the losi.

Definitely try the brushless tho. It's fun. I am in the process of building a new big block motor that is super slow. Even being 110 turn it could use more low end control. I'll post up when I have results.