xkill's 2013 build

[xkill]

For me the smash was helpful to pack everything where I wanted and it was also a challenge. And I like challenges!
It was the second time doing it and this time I went all out a tried to make all the wires as short as possible and as compact as I could.
I'm happy with it and also with the fxr's.
One of them survived having the battery on the motor side and the motor on the battery. And I even got to bit and calibrate the radio with it like that!
I was amazed!
(the party eventually killed the RX and battery...)

[DiKey]

Originally Posted by xkill

Man, you really butchered that shaft...
Even on the tubes an servo mount... You had to take your time.
Mounting the D-Lux shafts and tubes were the best mod I've done, but they are far from plug and play!
You really have to take your time to set them up.

Yes, I use small hubs in the rear because I have the wheels reversed
I have some extra locker but it has some slop. I don't want to sell because it's my spare, sorry...

Ι'm tired to fix it again 'n again.
I spent a LOT of money and time on it but the run time was much less.
Erik asked 95$ for the front short shaft and 70$ to fix mine..so it doesn't worth the money and time IMO.

[Navtrtl]

I think the smashes have their place, but I can't see myself doing it simply because I don't comp and won't notice the benefits from all the time put in it. When done right it looks amazing though. I love this bully rig.

[xkill]

I managed to get my hands in 2 full sets of Voodoo's.
I have one set Silver and one Blue.

So far, comparing with the Rovers, I'm not at all convinced by the voodoo's in the front... I like the extra height in the rear but, from my testing so far, I still prefer the Rovers in the front.
But I need to test further and do a proper break in of the voodoo's and the foams.

So, for now, I'm running rovers in the front and voodoo's silver in the back (with 6.0 comp cut and soft outer).



This is the only video I have from some competition we had last August.
This was a perfect course, unfortunately the others were not!..

[Zarizi Tech]

Didn't even realize, that this thread excists. I'll have to read this one. It's looking good!

[xkill]

Since I moved to another city, not long ago, I have been struggling for good crawling spots.
Yesterday went exploring new spots to test my rig....



Found a few spots but they are few rocks and hard to make up lines.



When I was on my last battery, and wile waiting for a toast for breakfast, I decided to hit some rocks that were next to my table...



Surprise Surprise...
Went to 4x3, with no traction on the front left...

On closer inspection I found this:



The D-Lux shafts broke on the weld...



When I got the shafts they were not ready to be fit. They had to be machined so they could fit the bully locker.
Now I can see that there was little weld left, but it was impossible to notice it.
Looking at how much weld is there I am surprised it lasted this long...
Anyway, it will be repaired and the other side will also be redone.

[josh6575]

Nice to see a bully one still rolling.

[xkill]

Rolling and kicking ass!
This is the first issue that I had in 3 years... And it was caused by a bad part.
Once it's fixed it will be the bomb prof rig that I'm used to.

[xkill]

Some little updates.
I have been running Voodoo's only in the rear because in the front they rub (in the battery mount, shocks and links), and I'm afraid of cutting them.
Because it is not by much I think that if I narrow them they will be OK.

Here's my first cut&shut
[/URL]

I have some flexible glue stuck in customs for ages so I just used normal Loctite super glue. It's not mounted it but in the hand it feels really flexible, even with this glue.

To mount these tires I got some extra wheels made.


I also got some 3D printed (from shapeways), hubs to try out.



These are for the OFNA front shafts.
With these I can make the offset that I wish and I finally get rid of the 4/40 screws of the VP hubs. I am tired of striping the heads of the aluminum screws... They are just to small. Testing will tell if they hold or not.

If I was in the US I would just buy the D-Lux delrin ones, but these cost less then the shipping alone from the US...
It sux living on this side of the lake when every cool part is over on that side...

[josh6575]

Those are some neat hubs. This is the first that I have seen them. I have a feeling that 3d printing is going to escalate the complexity of the upgrades available. I run my voodoos full width with a bunch of caster. It does not seem to hurt any. Nice work you did on that tire! I am too much of a chicken to cut up new tires.

[xkill]

It's the first time you and everybody else has seen them...
They are my design but with the obvious inspiration from the D-Lux (the mounting system is the same).

It took some deep breaths to cut them, but in the end it was very easy.
Just take your time and it a piece of cake!

[josh6575]

I like that style of hub. I have found they stay put really well if you use a long set screw to jam the drive pin then double nut the outside.

[xkill]

Finished installing the hubs.

They had to be cut a bit so they would clear the weights, but I already knew it. Like this I would cut the minimum possible to fit and therefore use the longest possible pin (more leverage = less stress on the plastic).



This was never done to get a fantastic weight loss but since I was there...





With these hubs I reduce the amount of parts that can go wrong, I reduce the slop and, the thing I like the most, no more 4/40 screws that I kept striping!

I also had some new cf wheels made:



This is what I use to transform glue on wheels to true bead locks.



All together with the 6.0 CI foams (uncut).



And on to a field test!





This is the most brutal rock I have ever crawled!!!
It's way too much grip, but the perfect place to test glued tires and plastic hubs!
One of the tires hold great but the other one (that I made in a hurry.... ) had some holes on the glue. I was a bit disappointed but not really surprised.
This rock is too much!!

I changed to my trusted Rovers





Going to my car, Surprise Surprise!
Had a hole on the sidewall of one Rover!
Like the doo, nothing a bit of glue won't fix!
Besides this I also realized that I have to cut the rear doo's!
Thin tires in the front and fat ones in the back is not good at all!!

[josh6575]

Nice job on that bead lock spacer! I bet that took some time to lay out. What material is it made out of?

[SDheavymetal]

That is a very light bead lock spacer. Nice work. How light is it?

[xkill]

Thanks.
That was for the 25mm wide wheels (1''), and it's 22mm wide.
They are made out of PVC pluming pipe. If I remember well it's 63mm wide.

The original weight is 8g and the first time I did one I got it down to 5g. This one might be a bit less (4g?), but i didn't weigh it.
It works really well, even with only 3 spacers per wheel.
20g for not having to mess with glue on wheels is something I'm happy to live with.

[xkill]

Always thinking about something else...



Anyone wanna guess what's this for?
Anyway, It will only get tested in a month time, when I get back home...

[josh6575]

I'll guess hanging some weights way down in the wheels.

[xkill]

You're very much correct Sir!
I'll test eliminating the inner foam of the 6.0 CI DD.
The foam is so dense already that I will try this. It has already been made in the super class anyway...

Another thing is that I tried to keep a true bead lock as I'm not a fan of glued wheels.

[josh6575]

I have already been there and done that. It works great for really slow crawling. When the speed is up and your making big drops it does not work out so well. It really give the knuckles a workout and is hard to keep the weights from spinning. Really makes for a bouncy ride a speed. For it to make a really noticeable difference you should try CF for the disk. I made mine at 110mm diameter. Drop it down to about 90 and use 10mm of the inner foam and it will help a lot. Also I had to cut some tuning rings to put between the channel and the tire sidewall to keep the tire from wandering side to side. This was a fun project. I hope you enjoy it.