crt5 Exo clone

[Duuuuuuuude]

I decided to start my winter build a bit early. Again.

Anywho, I started with a Jammin CRT.5 Pro roller kit and cut an extended chassis plate for it. Wheelbase is now 12.5". The plan is to build an Exo style buggy. Why not just buy an Exo? A couple reasons...one is that I had most of the expensive stuff already (electronics), another is that I've been beating the ever lovin' crap out of a CRT.5 ($100 shipped!) that I did a brushless conversion on for a couple months now and it has been bulletproof minus one lost screw in the front knuckle. The drivetrain is super beefy and should handle just about any motor I throw at it. Lastly, I've got the need to build something.

Here's a size reference. CRT.5 on the left, Exo clone in the middle, SC10 on the right.



The chassis plate is T6. I machined a shorter front shock tower, and did a little hacking on the rear tower as well. I'll more than likely cut a new one later on.



Once I get the cage worked out I'll do some more shaping to make it pretty.



I ditched the front upper a-arms in favor of some more solid straight links. I'll replace those with turnbuckles at some point. IIRC the stock arms are the only real weak point on these things.



Leftovers!



Time to start some doodling and draw out some cage work.

[CheapTwin]

That Chassis looks beefy but plastic braces are more for looks than function so if Your going to beat the Cr@p out of that buggy make a top plate to be on a safe side. If You can find Bart's Parts SCRT-10 aluminium front arms they're well worth the price.

[Duuuuuuuude]

I plan on making a top brace to help tie it all together. I'm not a fan of aluminum arms....had too many bad experiences with my old Tmaxx. Plastic is fantastic. Having said that, I've got something special in mind for the rear arms IF I can pull it off.

[Duuuuuuuude]

Woohoo! I didn't screw up! Much!


I didn't like that the shocks would be behind the axle and the rear shock tower had to be so tall. I could have taken the easy route and made a little bracket to move them forward, but I thought I could do better than that, so I spent the better part of the day making these...



Still not quite done yet...need to find the proper drill for the pins, clean a few spots up, and round some corners off, but I think they'll do the trick.

[CheapTwin]

Niiice !
I've never broken a front arm on my SCRT's, I had an impression that rear arms break if i don't use captured hinge pins with uprights but I've only snapped one from where the swaybar attaches, still got captured pins for my basher.

[Duuuuuuuude]

I've managed to make a little progress. I also tore apart a friends scrt to test fit the center dogbones, which do fit, so I'll have to add them to my list of parts to pick up.

I also found out that I could buy an entire SCRT roller, factory fresh, for about $100 and had all of the parts I still need to buy for this CRT5. Poo.

Anyway, got the arms on, though they still need a bit of finish work, and got the new rear shock tower on as well. It too needs more fleshing out and finish work, but I'll save that until I'm done with the cage, which I gathered materials for today while I was out running errands.






I also learned that you should not try to cut hard anodized parts with a bandsaw. For my efforts, I was rewarded with a small shower of sparks as the anodizing ground all of the teeth from the blade.

[CheapTwin]

Rear end looks SOLID

Originally Posted by Duuuuuuuude

I also found out that I could buy an entire SCRT roller, factory fresh, for about $100 and had all of the parts I still need to buy for this CRT5. Poo.

Is that a Shop deal ? That's great source for spareparts, chassis plate and diffs alone make more than that !

[Duuuuuuuude]

Originally Posted by CheapTwin

Rear end looks SOLID



Is that a Shop deal ? That's great source for spareparts, chassis plate and diffs alone make more than that !

I think that was either from Ofna Warehouse of their ebay store, not sure which. Somewhere I saw a bunch in stock for $100 + shipping.

And yeah, its awesome for spare parts.

[drywallguy]

Yes, that is from the warehouse. Everything is the same as the CRT.5 but the chassis and center shafts.
Are you still using the dish wheels on your CRT? I'm searching for something better looking. Something that won't look huge on that short chassis. Or just spend $40 and get the SCRT chassis and shafts.

[Duuuuuuuude]

Originally Posted by drywallguy

Yes, that is from the warehouse. Everything is the same as the CRT.5 but the chassis and center shafts.
Are you still using the dish wheels on your CRT? I'm searching for something better looking. Something that won't look huge on that short chassis. Or just spend $40 and get the SCRT chassis and shafts.

The new chassis I cut is 1/4" shorter than the SCRT. The dog bones just barely fit.

This rig will get sc wheels and tires. The dish wheels are sitting in a box. The other CRT5 that I bash runs 2.2 wheels and buggy tires. Bigger than stock but not goofy looking.

[STEEL_CITY_CRAWLER]

looks really good! i bet i know what ESC is going in that! also, does anyone have a link to that scrt deal?

[Duuuuuuuude]

Originally Posted by STEEL_CITY_CRAWLER

i bet i know what ESC is going in that!

Well yeah, I'd be in trouble if I didn't.

I've finally made it to the fun part of the build....tubework!



I decided to try something different this time around to keep things as clean and neat as possible. Basically I brazed in some solid 1/8" rod into the brake line, then drilled and tapped it for 3mm screws. Now all of my uprights bolt right onto the plate using flush mount screws.




And...a rough to-scale sketch of the design. Its in pencil and more or less acts like a work mat on my bench, so its always getting revised and tweaked. I've already changed things up twice since I took this pic last night.

[ColquittCustom405]

so you like having your hands on tube huh? (snickers)



Is it even cold there yet? it was 80 here in Albuquerque today. Nice "winter" build so far.

[Duuuuuuuude]

Originally Posted by ColquittCustom405

so you like having your hands on tube huh? (snickers)



Is it even cold there yet? it was 80 here in Albuquerque today. Nice "winter" build so far.

You know I do.

We had a couple night near freezing, then back up to the 80's during the day. Awesome fall weather.

[frdtrkguy]

Hey, you actually have RC skillz! I didn't think you ever left CC

J/K rig looks good, especially the rear arms

[Duuuuuuuude]

Originally Posted by frdtrkguy

Hey, you actually have RC skillz! I didn't think you ever left CC

J/K rig looks good, especially the rear arms

I don't always get out of CC, but when I do, I come out swingin'.


Thank you sir. I hope to have more tubework done tonight.

[erikstarcher]

Originally Posted by drywallguy

Are you still using the dish wheels on your CRT? I'm searching for something better looking. Something that won't look huge on that short chassis. Or just spend $40 and get the SCRT chassis and shafts.

I put a set of RPM Slingshots on one of my CRT.5's, along with 1/16 Summit tires.

[thumperc25]

Very cool

[Duuuuuuuude]

A little more progress.





I'm not happy with a couple of the bends, but everything in front of the shock tower is cosmetic anyway so it doesn't matter much. I decided to retain the stock bumper because it will bounce back when I lawn dart it or hit nose first into the face of the big doubles at the track.

Speaking of track, I slapped some sc wheels with Calibers on them last night after the races and tossed the CRT5 out to see how it'd do. The thing was just brutal in the straights, but the good grip and short wheelbase made for some really slow corners. And it looked a bit silly. But it was fun, so who cares.

[Duuuuuuuude]

Its starting to look like something. I'm excited!