Custom competition rig

[steamboatbob]

Hey guys just my latest rig it have in the works but I need to have this up and running for next seasons competition which starts in feb so I do have my work cut out for me.

basis of this rig is a 6*6 with 2 front steering axles and 1 rear

I will not be using a passthrough axle instead I have gone down a different path

body I will be using is an m977 hardbody which I purchased on ebay

chassis is a 6*6 ALTD888 chassis please note that the tyres on here will be changed to flashpoint military tyres once I get my hands on them




this is the body as I have it there is a lot of work to go into it to get it to fit. I need to remove about 4 inches 120 mm off the rear bed and chopping out the front cab to make an interior etc but lots of fun ahead that I can forsee




I will put up a few more pics soon but as for now I got stuff to do for this and if you want to see any particular part of it then ask and ill endeavour to take a photo of it for you

here is the drivetrain in all its glory the idea behind it is to have all the weight up over the 2 front axles but having the axles independent of each other and at the moment in its testing phase it works quite well, both of the front axles have had burly tubes installed and had the narrow xr mod done to them so the steering is very good at the moment, and on a side note the mdf board is just for a template atm as I will be getting a friend to make me one in steel I just need to know where my electronics are going

[fla_cracker]

So I assume all the Tcases are 1:1? If so, are you planning any more gear reduction than the tranny and diffs?

Looks cool so far.....keep it up

[mikro383]

I like the dual front steer axles, subscribed

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

[steamboatbob]

thnx guys for the likes and comments

yes the Tcases are 1:1 but I will be using a high turn motor and hopefully squeeze a small 11t pinion on the motor. so it wont be a very fast truck, but as I now have to prep for Christmas I wont get much building done until boxing day when I hope to get it to the next stage of being powered and hope to have a vid by new years of it running with out the body mounted.

[jthellfire911]

So your gonna have 2 front steer axles and 1 rear axle?

[steamboatbob]

Originally Posted by jthellfire911

So your gonna have 2 front steer axles and 1 rear axle?

yes that is the plan I saw a vid of the multi axle rig that DMG made which was the initial inspiration for this but it evolved from there.

[steamboatbob]

well I have been playing around with the chassis layout (just moving things around slightly to get everything working as it should ).

got all the electrics fired up and took a rolling chassis video it is not doing anything exciting but shows you the proposed turning capabilities the 4.75 wheels rub on the chassis so when I change these over to 4.15 the whole thing will improve its turning circle I only have 4 flashpoint tyres here atm and im waiting on another 4 to come from my local hobby shop,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2spd...ature=youtu.be

now the front axle is not working properly in the vid and the second axle snapped the bolts holding the burley tubes in but this has now been sorted.

now the next on my list of things to do is to rotate the servos as the bind on the axle atm but I will have to grind a section of the chassis rails to make this work . and then mount the cab onto the chassis.

[DaJester]

In your video it seems as the front drive tires are forcing the rear to slide, is that do to the lack of weight on the rear axle?

[steamboatbob]

Originally Posted by DaJester

In your video it seems as the front drive tires are forcing the rear to slide, is that do to the lack of weight on the rear axle?

upon looking at the video I would have to agree with you in part yes the rears do slide slightly but as you said I think also this is due to weight. but as I will be adding a lot more weight to it (none more than necessary)

the chassis with no electrics weighs around 3.1kg but the hard body I have for it unmodified weighs in at 1.4 kg so all up it is at 4.5 kg or about 9 pounds and most of that is over the front axle and there is hardly any over the rear so I will sort that out when I get to the real hard core electronics as I need to add lighting and a winch to it all.

[MaFoDes]

Nice! Even though i don't want a 6x6 or 8x8 myself, i have a sweet spot for seeing them.
9 pounds doesn't sound all that heavy. I know who build a 8x8 and it weights around 20 pounds.

[steamboatbob]

Well got stuck into it today first sent the drawings off to a friend of mine to recreate the mdf plate in 1.2mm aluminium ( he has a water jet available to use)and got stuck into the body work by cutting out the bottom of the cab to accommodate the gearbox and removing all the little boxes on the back of the cab that will not be necessary took a fair while but a sharp blade and a bit of patience got it in the end, these bits have been removed so to cover up all the unsightly drivetrain and electronics that would otherwise be seen. this photo shows what it will look like when completed but there will be a cover on the back of the engine bay which will also house my sound unit.




in this pic I have been trying to get the body to sit where I want it to so I can sort out the body mount system which will be similar to a flip your lid type for a honcho, the blue things are wheel wideners which are perfect for sorting out the height I need

[DaJester]

Looks great!

[rude_k9]

Like the duel front steering.What a crazy body.Looks cool. keep it up.

[psn]

nice build so far

what is an ALTD888 chassis?

[steamboatbob]

Originally Posted by psn

nice build so far

what is an ALTD888 chassis?

simple answer is, the 2 chassis rails are made locally in Australia by a bloke that calls himself ALTD888, he does a std version a 4*4, a 6*6 and an 8*8

[steamboatbob]

now onto the fun stuff of bodywork I went down to the local Hobby shop ended up with a bit of paint, rust powder, blades, etc.

and played around with a piece of the truck till I got the right look I was after

now this is just an undercoat of brown topcoat of Tamiya light sand highlights of rust with humbrol weathering powder and a final topcoat of matt clear
after playing around with colours I got to be heavy handed with the knives and hacked away a large section of the bottom of the cab to allow the cab to be hinged off the chassis and not get any real problems from doing so this was done with a few 20mm "L" brackets from bunnings I still have to mount the cab onto the brackets but suffice to say im happy with where they sit for now. as you will note I have also cut the doors out ffrom the cab to allow me to put an interior in there a little bit easier and also to get scale points for having hinged doors




doors cut out

now I got some nylon airplane hinges from my LHS and they seem to handle the load of the hinged doors quite effectively I just wish I wasn't so eager to do it and realise that the doors only open a small amount so I have had to hack away a small angle on the hinge side of both doors to get them to open nicely :clap:


and this is where I leave you guys tonight and impart the fact that I have a solid day of building ahead of me tomorrow

[steamboatbob]

ill just let the pics speak for themselves but basically started with Tamiya redbrown as an undercoat, then used 2 coats of Tamiya Light Sand then brushed on some humbrol Rust weathering powder to get the rust streaks and then used matt clear as a glue to dust on the weathering powder to make some of it stand proud and then coated it all again in Tamiya matt clear,


Tamiya red brown







Tamiya light sand



Rust effect







and prefitted back onto the chassis









till next time gents

[rcdriftmasterj]

Hello! Great work! I know you got the body on eBay, but I cannot seem to find it. Is there anyway you can post more information or a link for it? Thanks

[steamboatbob]

here is the link and the seller got it posted to me very quickly. very happy with it

1 10 8x8 Scale Military Cargo Truck Plastic Body Shell Unpainted | eBay

[steamboatbob]

due to my main computer busting a pooper valve I wont be able to post any pics for a short while but the build goes on as my deadline is getting closer