PTI Goliath?

[NWDave]

After doing a lot of research on what starter crawler to get, I stopped at my LHS and picked up a PTI Goliath. My first want was a Wheely King, the second option was to build up a TLT from kit form. With either of them I would've had to buy a lot of parts to make them rock worthy. The only mistake I think I made was getting the 55T motor, due to the lack of gear reduction with the PTI center gear. It sounds like I shoulda got a 75T motor!

Does a larger 90 or 93T spur fit in the chassis, and is there a smaller than 12t pinion in the 84 pitch gears?

[Skeeno]

I have an 87t spur in mine. I had to dremel a bit of the lower skid make it fit.

[NWDave]

I'm about 1/2 way done with the assembly. To fit an HPI 90T spur gear, the biggest I had on hand, I used 4 Traxxas shock pistons as spacers on the center skid. With the spacers, there may be room for a 93T or a 96T spur. With the 90T spur installed, there's about .10" clearance on the chassis side plates. I'm running an RRP 12T pinion on the 55 turn lathe motor.

The hardware that comes with this kit is really lacking, very cheap. I'm replacing the butter soft pot metal phillips head screws, with socket head screws as I build. Overall, I'd rate it maybe a 7.5 out of 10 so far, I hope the performance will make me think more of it.

[jetboat]

use a gd600 with a 5mm pinion and the 55t will be just fine.

[NWDave]

So the boss on the front of the gear box needs to be trimmed off? Also, got a line on the 5mm pinions?

[Natedog]

Originally Posted by NWDave

So the boss on the front of the gear box needs to be trimmed off? Also, got a line on the 5mm pinions?

Not sure about trimming the gearbox, but here's sources for 5mm pinions:

http://holmeshobbies.com/home.php

http://rc4wd.com/

[NWDave]

Thanks for the links. I'll run the truck first, and see if I need the GD600 or not.

[toomessedup]

the front of the gd 600 does need a little trimming to fit flush on the motor mount or you can widen the motor mount hole. the pti is a great crawler. mine will go just about anywhere any one elses will go. i would say that the gear ruduction is a must have

[K_B]

Originally Posted by NWDave

I'm about 1/2 way done with the assembly. To fit an HPI 90T spur gear, the biggest I had on hand, I used 4 Traxxas shock pistons as spacers on the center skid.

Great minds think alike That's exactly what I did when I shoehorned a 90 in there.

You will definitely need a gearbox. Even with a 75T lathe in there, it will most likely be lacking. If you wanna get really fancy, RC4WD make a very nice all-alloy/steel gearbox, but it's twice the price of the GD.

[jetboat]

GOLIATH build up...sort of

There are some pics showing what i did to mount the gd600 also a shot of using fuel tubing to limit travel. No action shots because eitehr the weather has sucked or in the case of this past weekend I forgot the crawler when i went to the farm (where the course is) but should update it with pics after this weekends GTG

[NWDave]

Thanks for the pointers guys! What are you guys running for battery packs? I see a standard 6 cell stick pack won't fit in the stock chassis.

[K_B]

This is a 5-cell SubC pack that will fit:
http://www.unitedrc.com/store/produc...andId=7&ID=205

This one won't have as much runtime but it will have a little more zip:
http://www.unitedrc.com/store/produc...andId=7&ID=219

However, I've used 6 and 7 cell 2/3A sized packs (like ones for the RC18T) and they'll fit just about anywhere and their light, but they only have about half the runtime at best.

[NWDave]

I saw some 4 cell sub c 1600Mah Trinity spec packs at my LHS. I may grab one and see if it'll work. Running on just 4 cells may help slow the motor down some too.

[K_B]

Four cells will most likely be gutless. I hear the 5-cell pack alone is a little lackluster in the punch department. It'll slow the truck down, but the lack of voltage will kill your torque as well.

[toomessedup]

i cut a piece of aluminum to lengthen the battery tray so that i could run a six cell stick pack. i get about an hour and a half of run time out of a 3000mah nimh pack

[NWDave]

Where do you put the body mounts then, if you run the 6 cell pack flat? I'm running my motor towards the rear, and my battery tray if you will up front.

I just ran the truck for the first time, with a standard Pirahna 1900Mah 6 cell stick pack. It does have some poop, lots of torque! I'll have to see if I can program the reverse delay out of the Dynamite Tazer ESC I'm running. It works fine for fast basher trucks, but I can see it being a disadvantage here!

One big problem I can see, is the stock steering. The steering linkage has the snap on ball sockets, and they simply have too much tension on the ball ends for even the HiTec 645MG servo I threw in for steering duty. I'll have to switch the whole setup over to the hollow ball rod ends and screws, like the suspension links have.

[jetboat]

2s lipo....works perfect rc18 packs fit also

[NWDave]

Haven't evolved to the Lipo level, charger wise that is.

[NWDave]

I went to my LHS, and the owner's wealth of experience helped me with my steering binding issue. I simple had to give the ball cups a firm squeeze with a pair of pliers, and they freed up, like magic! I bought an aluminum servo arm that had a little more length/throw to it, and the steering now works like a charm. I threw the stock Red Rock tires on some HPI mesh wheels I had, and used the HPI hex adapters which give me 1/4" more track width on each side. Got a 6 cell pack Jerry rigged with zip ties on top of the chassis, but I need to get some smaller packs made up.

[Skeeno]

Originally Posted by NWDave

I saw some 4 cell sub c 1600Mah Trinity spec packs at my LHS. I may grab one and see if it'll work. Running on just 4 cells may help slow the motor down some too.

I have that 5cell pack that I don't use any longer. If you want it, PM me and I'll give you a killer deal on it.