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Old 04-03-2014, 11:19 PM   #1
Quarry Creeper
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Isanti, MN
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Default It"s alive!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, I am seriously getting back into crawling this time. For now I fixed up the old gopher tube chassis TLT based crawler.

I won't be doing much crawling yet as she needs new battery packs and I've been getting no hours most weeks at work due to it being gander mountain's slow season. I'm working on getting a new job here. Once I do I'll get new packs, and once I rebuild my cash cushion in my bank I'll see about getting an SCX10 Jeep variant of some sort.

I won't be coming to any gathering until I start making more money as I have to pinch every penny as I am living off of a dwindling savings here.

Once I do get crawling I'll probably hang out at gatherings but I have no plans to compete. I was never very good and it just isn't worth the entrance fee right now. Maybe I'll enter the scale comp once I get more practice and a new rig. I'm sure I could improve my driving as one of the reasons I sucked so much was that the Taylor's Falls gatherings were the only times I got to drive on rocks. I had to stop coming when my dad refused to take me because I sucked and wouldn't set up a "Practice Course" using the pile of "Firewood" we had which was really a bunch of soggy, rotten, slug covered logs. The crawler got put away and forgotten. Well, now I'm back and I don't have a job that wears me out so I hope to start taking my crawler on hikes!

Update: I might be getting crawling sooner than I thought. Hours are picking up at work and I apparently had 3 days of work this week, but when I called to get this weeks hours someone screwed up and said I had none. I'm not in any trouble though. They said it wasn't my fault I was given bad info and they knew I wouldn't just skip work as they knew how badly I need hours.

Last edited by theTman; 04-04-2014 at 12:06 PM.
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Old 04-04-2014, 03:33 PM   #2
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Default Re: It"s alive!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Welcome back djjiz.
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Old 04-05-2014, 01:05 PM   #3
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Default Re: It"s alive!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Quote:
Originally Posted by djjiz View Post
Welcome back djjiz.
Why are you welcoming yourself back?


I did some work on the gopher and managed to fit a stick pack under the front hood thingy. I moved the ESC from under the hood to being mounted upside-down under the roof plate. I then made a makeshift battery sling out of an old shoelace (Velcro was too loose) and then use a second shoelace to secure the battery LOL! It works nicely and looks fairly tidy. I'll get pics once I get my hands on the new servo plate my dad is making for me (He works at a tech school as a machining teacher's assistant and can make stuff on the side). I'm just going to have a typical flat servo plate instead of that vertical servo mount.

I also put the receiver and ESC in fresh balloons with the necks filled with grease and ziptied 3 times. The servo has it's case's seams sealed with super glue, just need an o-ring for the output shaft now.

I spent several hours yesterday tearing apart my crawler to clean out all the old broken down grease out of my axles and tranny and packed them full (excess squeezed out when I closed up) of some nice red lithium grease stuff my dad recommend. Everything turns smooth, is half as noisy, and all that grease will keep water at bay. I also took this time to clean the crawler up as it had a lot of crud in the chassis I couldn't get at with the tranny in it. I topped off the oil in the shocks as well.

Once I get the new servo plate I just have to mount the plate, servo, and upper front links and she will be done besides needing an 0-ring if I want a waterproof servo. I'll hopefully be able to drive her Thursday.

Last edited by theTman; 04-24-2014 at 01:24 PM.
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Old 04-08-2014, 10:08 PM   #4
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Default Re: It"s alive!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

T-man it's been so long since I last saw you I'm sure I won't recognize you. You must be al grown up by now?

Welcome back!
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Old 04-08-2014, 10:12 PM   #5
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Default Re: It"s alive!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Stormin2u View Post
T-man it's been so long since I last saw you I'm sure I won't recognize you. You must be al grown up by now?

Welcome back!
yep, 23 and in college. I'm a lot less annoying and awkward now too LOL! Nothing like real world experience to iron out the social kinks that come with Aspergers syndrome (AKA High Functioning Autism). Most people can't tell I'm different now days. I'll still probably give big baller crap if he is still around
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Old 04-09-2014, 05:36 AM   #6
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Default Re: It"s alive!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow, that sounds like you've mastered your universe congratulations!
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Old 04-13-2014, 10:09 PM   #7
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Default Re: It"s alive!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've got a 6 cell nmh you can have if it helps.

What else do you need to get this going?
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Old 04-14-2014, 12:02 AM   #8
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Default Re: It"s alive!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm just working on the new servo plate still. I got 6 of the 8 holes drilled but 3 are a little off. Luckily I can bump up the drill-bit size slightly to enlarge the hole and still have it work. The only holes left are 2 for the servo posts. The 3 holes that are off are because I was using the 90 degree servo mount plate I had been using as a drill jig, but the vertical part of the plate interfered with drilling 3 of the holes. I was able to get one hole for screwing onto the axle, one hole for a upper link, and one hole for one of those little nubs on TLT axles that fit into holes on servo plates. The 3 holes that mirror them had to be done more roughly. I used a hammer and an old screw to make divots in the middle of the other 3 holes and then did my best to hit the mark without the other plate to guide me.

! have 2 really old 3300 Nimh packs that might still be good. I got them for the XXX-T back in the day, and they got recharged several times throughout the years as I used them occasionally in my airsoft gun, hence they still work. I haven't had a chance to run them down fully so I'm not sure how well they still work. I'll test them once I get this plate finished and mounted in the crawler so I can get her fully assembled.
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Old 04-14-2014, 01:24 AM   #9
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Default Re: It"s alive!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sounds good.

This is a 1600mah 6 cell thats pretty small. I can mail if you want to try it out. No charge.
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Old 04-14-2014, 08:04 PM   #10
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Default Re: It"s alive!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, I got the crawler all back together with the new servo plate. I ended up drilling out those two nubs on the axle that usually help align the servo plate and put screws through them to provide 4 points for the plate to be bolted to the axle. I also changed out the 2 main screws that go into the axle with some slightly larger and more coarse screws as the holes were a little stripped out. I also replaced the screws that mount the servo to the servo posts, the screws that mount the posts to the plate, and the screw that connects the steering linkage to the servo arm. I had to shorten the steering linkage as well. Everything is now solid and tight. The crawler as a whole has become more sturdy I have found.

I took it for a half hour run in my yard and into our woods. It was powering through woody stemmed brush like a champ and I was able to get through many nasty snares in my woods run without touching the crawler. I only had to touch it when I was starting to leave the woods and I started getting radio interference of some type. I am still using the 8-10 year old 27mhz AM radio that came with my RTR Losi XXX-T way back when LOL! I think there was a correlation between the crawler getting jittery and small planes passing overhead. There is a small non-commercial airport a few miles away. I think maybe the plane's radios somehow interfered. I have some fresh batteries in the radio, nice ones too, so that isn't the issue.

I think I might be good for battery packs. I spent a half hour outside running it pretty hard and when I decided to go inside it still hadn't started weakening from voltage drop so I think it still had quite a bit of power left. I haven't tested the second pack.

I have decided to name this rig "MacGuyver" as it was originally built with many parts stolen from other things, I rebuilt it and improved it using just stuff I had lying around (didn't buy anything new). It even has a battery harness made from 2 old shoelaces LOL! Also, like MacGuyver it is old and outdated XD.

I'll get pics tomorrow after work, hopefully outside on a rock.
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Old 04-15-2014, 04:12 PM   #11
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Default Re: It"s alive!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here are some pics taken today of it all finished:
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Old 04-15-2014, 05:59 PM   #12
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Default Re: It"s alive!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, the crawler is out of commission again for the moment. It managed to unscrew the lock nut holding on it's driver's side rear tire and the nut got lost in the yard. I tried using a metal detector but there is too much gravel in the soil that is causing false readings. I'll have to go to the local hardware store tomorrow.


Update: I got 3 new lock nuts so I have a couple spares. I used loctite when putting them on and also found I could turn them significantly farther by using a rachet for more leverage versus the nut driver I had been using. I also waterproofed my servo and took the rig out for a spin in the snow, slush, and some shallow puddles. She handled it all just fine. I'll stay out of mud though as I hear it can kill a motor if you can't disassemble it and clean it.

Last edited by theTman; 04-18-2014 at 03:09 PM.
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Old 04-19-2014, 02:33 PM   #13
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Default Re: It"s alive!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hooked up my Mamba max to my computer and updated it's firmware. I found they have some new settings and some have special crawler specific options like 213% drag brake. I also took off my tires and foams as they are sealed and the air pressure inside the tires had dropped to significantly below outside pressure and the tires were caving in some.

I decided to test out the crawler with a sprung suspension setup instead of the droop setup is has been running. I only have 80 wt shock oil so I left the oil in the shocks. I also only had the stock springs that came with the shocks. I found that the oil was rather thick for this setup which I expected, and also that the springs were too stiff causing one wheel on an axle to stay suspended in the air when it could reach the ground with a softer spring. The crawler still managed to not roll on a 45-50 degree slope with it at full shock extension. I can't afford softer springs and lighter shock oil at this point in time, but later I think I might convert this rig over to a sprung setup. The extra clearance was working great and it had better traction as well.

Has anyone else in our group run a sprung Gopher in the past? I know EtypeR ran a gopher way back in the day and this thing was made upon some of his recommendations. The droop setup was his idea. EtypeR, did you ever try a sprung gopher?
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Old 04-19-2014, 06:03 PM   #14
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Default Re: It"s alive!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It would sit way to high with springs.
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Old 04-19-2014, 07:39 PM   #15
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Default Re: It"s alive!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So I should stick to droop setup? I might need to get some fresh inner springs as some of the shocks are having trouble compressing the last few millimeters and they are not consistent with each other. It is running the very soft internal shock springs from TCS back in the day. I have some medium weight internal springs from them as well that are fresh, but I fear they may be too strong. Each of my wheels weighs 11 oz. FYI. probably 2-3 lbs of unsprung weight per axle with a little more up front from the servo and thick aluminum servo plate. The axles are also packed full of grease so that adds some weight.

Should I eventually change the weight of oil in my shocks to something lighter or heavier? 80 weight seems possibly a little thick, though this is only from my impressions from manually tweaking the suspension and some very mild crawling on some small decorative rocks in my yard. I live out in farm country that is flat in places and woody in others, but nothing great for crawling. Maybe I should wait until I can get out to taylor's falls before I think about changing oil weight.
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Old 04-19-2014, 07:53 PM   #16
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Default Re: It"s alive!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I really have no idea how I had my rig setup anymore. I bought springs from the hardware store, and also had a assortment pack from fleetfarm. And I probably ran 80 or 100 weight, but that was 5 years ago.
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Old 04-19-2014, 08:32 PM   #17
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Default Re: It"s alive!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

yeah, maybe the oil weight is fine. I'm still a little unsure about the current springs inside the shocks. I guess they will be alright for a while. It's not like I plan to compete with this old dinosaur lol! the last 5mm or so of shock travel not always fully compressing isn't that big of a deal.


Update: I took apart the shocks to check out the soft springs and try some medium springs. The medium springs were too stiff and the suspension couldn't totally extend.

I found that the soft springs were not worn out after all. As I was rebuilding the shocks with the soft springs I realized the cause of my issues. Back when I built this thing 6 years ago I didn't know that I needed to bleed the air bubbles out of the shock oil and top the oil off before closing them up. I was suffering from an air spring like effect. Now the shocks are fine and don't make a swishy sound when I cycle them.

I also put them back on upside-down as I found it reduced the stress on the shock mounts. The washers on the screws that serve as top shock mounts had been hitting on the fatter top mount part of the shock as the shock has to angle outward as it goes toward the axle. The upper mount has more room for the shock to tilt at an angle than the lower mount, but the upper hole on the shock couldn't make use of it. flipping them around improved this.


I also adjusted my steering linkage setup so that I can turn as far as possible without touching my lower links with my tires. I had moved my linkages to the second hole further from the axle on the steering knuckles because I found the linkage between both knuckles was hitting the axle case and limiting travel. I now see that this served to limit steering travel to prevent tire grinding and still allowed maximum possible range of motion. I forgot that was why I had set it up that way LOL! My radio doesn't have adjustable steering endpoints fyi.

Last edited by theTman; 04-20-2014 at 08:32 PM.
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