RCCrawler Forums - The Mothership - 8x8 Clod MAN Crawler Hauler

Hey Guys, seeing as this thing is finally finished I thought I'd put it up for you lot to see.

Didn't know if this was the right spot for it. It definitely is large, but the scale can be debated!

The build was slow, nearly a year, with lack of motivation mostly being the cause. It doesn't get very exciting when you've got to drill and tap 48 holes to make links...

Anyway, the background on this project was this. Some time ago I built a trailer to tow behind my scaler. On the trailer would be my 2.2 rig and I could wheel them out to the comp site together, no need to carry. Problem was, that the scaler didn't weigh enough, and the trailer would get stuck on rocks or ruts - it didn't take much for it to stop forward progress.

So I thought there had to be a better option to get all my gear out to the comp site? And the 8x8 Hauler was born.

First concept was this:

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/f...nblack/8x8.jpg

The plan was to run 4 clod axles with 40 series tyres, 8 wheels steer and a loooooong tray capable of three crawlers. I toyed with a few suspension ideas, but with a general direction of trying to make it an outlaw class crawler (super class) but with a tray and a few extra axles, I went with four-links x4. I wanted to be able to carry three (yes, ambitious) trucks, so the end result meant about 1300mm long - equating to roughly 1/8 tatra size.

So with plans in place, the parts hunt begun!!

4x MG995 servos
4x 85t integy motors
Revo rod ends throughout
6mm alloy links
4x 9t pinions
8A BEC
1x FX-R speedie to start
Nomadio radio gear
8x RC4WD 17mm hexs
8x Axial 8 spoke 40 series wheels
8x Moab XLs
8x Wheely King shocks
lots of aluminium.

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/f...k/IMG_4265.jpg

Then the slow build...

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/f...k/IMG_4087.jpg

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/f...k/IMG_5204.jpg

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/f...k/IMG_5206.jpg

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/f...k/IMG_5207.jpg

Took 4 hours to wire...

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/f...k/IMG_5321.jpg

Dig switch!!

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/f...k/IMG_5325.jpg

This should give you a bit of and idea of scale.

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/f...k/IMG_5328.jpg

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/f...k/IMG_5352.jpg

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/f...k/IMG_5353.jpg

Tray is hinged at the back and two pins at the front hold it down. That way access to the electrics is pretty straight forward.

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/f...k/IMG_5354.jpg

Wiring bundle. All four servos are wiring into an external 8A BEC. All the + and - wires from the servos are wired directly to the BEC so the potentially high currents aren't passing through the Rx. Only the signal wires from the servos go into the Rx. The two front axles run off a y-lead, and the rear two run off a separate y-lead on a separate channel.

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/f...k/IMG_5358.jpg

Suspension configuration. 8x Wheely King shocks running 80w oil and a bit of fuel tubing to give some form of shock resistance. I chose full droop to keep the weight down - especially when its loaded.

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/f...k/IMG_5359.jpg

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/f...k/IMG_5361.jpg

Got the body mounted. It a 1/14 Thunder Tiger nitro MAN truck body, but it doesn't look too out of place on an otherwise 1/8 truck. The neat thing about this body is that its a hard body and comes with a few neat detail extras.

Some vid.

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/f...wlerHauler.jpg

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/f...lerHauler2.jpg

At this point I was running a single FX-R, which was working fine, but after a couple of runs up the steps it would hit the thermal cutout. So I went searching for a solution...

In the meantime, I made up an exo cage for the body. No point having a nice body if it gets smashed up the first time it rolls, and with a truck this large it will probably do some damage.

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/f...k/IMG_5381.jpg

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/f...k/IMG_5382.jpg

Found a cheap solution for my speed controller woes... two el cheapo speed controllers. One powering the front two motors and the other doing the back. So the dig switch came out, and the FX-R went back into the scaler. So far this setup is working very well. The lack of drag brake is noticable, but forgivable. It doesn't get hot at all and was a neat solution for AU$40.

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/f...k/IMG_5401.jpg

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/f...k/IMG_5412.jpg

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/f...k/IMG_5413.jpg

And finally, the paint!! The box behind the cab is removable and is for storing tools. So not only do I not have to carry trucks, I don't have to carry tools.

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/f...k/IMG_4429.jpg

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/f...k/IMG_4434.jpg

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/f...k/IMG_4432.jpg

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/f...k/IMG_4427.jpg

I think that covers most of it!! :D Thanks for reading.