Krakkers F-10 TAG. new ground.

[Krakker]

Well, the UTA steering took a dump during testing today. Didn't have much thread in the rod end anyway, but it pulled out and ruined the day.
Oh Well, I was going to change back to a standard setup anyway using the the new laid back design. I gotta get more steering back now that these wheels are doing well.
I did sipe the Chisels, and they are 10 times better. I think they'll grab better than the Rovers, but I'm gonna sipe a set of them too and see what works for what I'll run on around here.

[lil' lucifer]

any pics of your siped Chisels

[Krakker]

Originally Posted by lil' lucifer

any pics of your siped Chisels

Yeah, here's a few. Siping them has made a big difference in how pliable they are now. Almost every section has a 4way cut in it, I also cut deaper into some of the "shallow" grooves and added cut lines in to the block sections around the outside of the tire. I'm really happy with the way they are grabbing (and hanging onto) the slick surfaces. (like walls, wood furniture, etc.)
The Rovers only have certain areas that you can sipe (basically just deapening their lines) where as the Chisels you can work with just about every tread grabbing surface. I'm going to still sipe the Rovers, tho. Every little bit helps. I'm 100% certain tho that a pair of siped Chisels are better stock white dot Rovers.

:test done using Proline oversized memory foams:

[BADASSPONY]

Awesome build man!! This really make me wish all my parts would get here to finish my Bully build.

[Krakker]

Got a chance to get some testing in on a pretty difficult rock. It's just enough to mess with the 12.5 wheel base and the under cuts leave it up to try, try and try again.
All and all I'm pretty happy with the sipe job and mixing the Chisels and Rovers.
Now all I need is to get the Krakker Jax, chassis done.

[Krakker]

Went crawling today at a new park that's close to being finished. I've been hoping and encouraging the city counsel to build something like this and low and behold, it came about as part of a project that's been going on now for the last 8 years.
There's "3" city blocks of man-made granite sections that are scattered along a small waterway meant for the public. Talk about "CRAWL CITY"!!!
My daughter and an NSCA member and I went there this Sat and crawled for about 1 1/2, till I stripped a new JR clamping servo arm in my Bully. I also ended up smoking my dig servo. Yeah, yeah, it's old school, but I really liked the way it fit the space I had for it. the HS-55 just wasn't up to the task, so I ordered a new RC4WD Rocker Dig, and I picked up a JR-241 metal gear servo for the mean time. It should hold up WAY better and it just might stay IF I like it well enough.
anyway, here's some pics of the day, it was pretty dirty and sandy all over but the EX's did pretty good (especially in the wet areas) since I siped them and made some custom foams for them. Best tire so far out there has been the heavily siped Chisels.

[slowngreen]

Lucky!!!!

[Krakker]

I finally got around to getting the servo mounted behind the front axle. Pretty easy job actually. I plan to make another one for the other Bully, and will maching a solid spacer for the front that will include an extra hole into the axle. (like what 53willy's did)
I wasn't happy with the bent link flopping around, I found the short arm would shift and give the steering a bit of a wobble effect. So for now till I find if I like it, I'm running a strait steering link with an arm from the servo to the knuckle, and putting the arm in the center. Here's the pics of the new mock up. Now I got to get it reinstalled, I'm attending my first comp this Sat. since my accident back in Dec. Hopefully i'll get a chance to test it out with out the rain and knock some of the rust off.

[Krakker]

Picked up a new clamping servo arm for the Hitech, from "Racers Edge".Part # 10384HA. ($11.99 at my local Hobbytown.) Has a smaller body than most but still has the 2 set screws to hold it tight. It's also pretty thick compared to the the last one I had. I like the fact that its about the same narrow width as the stock Hitech arm.
I milled and shaved the edges of the upper link support to get full throw out of the arm but it's protected now from smacks if it rolls over. (I'm sure that'll never happen tho.)

On another note, I'm going to be running the Eritex comp heavies up front and the Dirty Dozens in the back to reduce the weight directly on the axle shafts. I'm now working on some brass weights that will fit snug over the outer knuckles and hold with some set screws and a small dimple ground into 2 opposite sides of the knuckle.

Switching to the light weight gear cases and lighter wheels has forced me to revamp some of the foam setups as well, but I like the direction things are going in. I'm heading down to this Sat's comp site and try out the new motor combo nad see how the 35T front and the 45T rear work out on verticals. Seems pretty fast running 13T pinions on both.

[Krakker]

With the new servo location, I need some protection for the bottom of the case. I just cat a piece of Vinyl (that I've used before) slightly larger than the servo bottom. I included a bend in it as well and it tucks up front and wedges between the servo and the axle. It's glued on with some liquid electrical tape after I scratched and goughed up the surface so it would hold. It took a pretty good beating yesturday during testing.
I gotta say, this is one of the BEST mods (the whole steering servo BTA thing that is) for a compitition worthy Bully that's pretty easy to do.

Thanks 53Willy's, for proving out the 86Jeep mod on these.

[Krakker]

Got to thinking today (yeah, I know) and decided why not. I sliced the bottom of the TAG chassis at a slant and bent the rear links. ( I did this procedure pretty ghetto with my vise and a grill lighter since my heat gun is nowhere to be found)
To compensate for the added length needed due to the bend and raising the lower link location to the lowest upper link hole I installed some "long" Revo rod ends. I can always trim them back if needed to get the right angle at the rear axle.
I"m also redoing the electronics placement and putting the reciever on the skid. I used to put the longer batteries (2170mah 25C's) through the back lower links but with the skid tilted now, I have to use the smaller batts (1500MAH 25C's) and they fit down through the top of the chassis at the front. I may redo the skid at some point but for now it'll do.
Here's a spy pic after I put the links back on.

[slowride1]

looks like the new tag now