Spiitz' Bully 2 build a.k.a. "Hammond"

[Spiitz Travsky]

Most of the components have arrived so I figured I should start my build thread!

More pics to come as I start building:

Axles: RC4WD Bully 2 w/RC4WD Knuckle Weights & Steering kit
Chassis: Y-Town Crawler Double Agent w/SMW skid plate
Links: DLux Ti 1/8" uppers & 3/16" lowers w/Ti sliders
Motors: HH Puller 500 Flow Crawler 30T
ESCs: Holmes TorqueMaster BR Mini Dual
BEC: Castle Creations 10A
Servo: Hitec HS-7950TH and Axial 24T Servo Horn
Batteries: Turnigy nano-tech 850mAh 3S 45~90C Lipo
Tires: Hot Bodies Rover Tire White
Foams: Pro-Line 2.2" Oversized 2-Stage Foam
Wheels: Vanquish SLW V3 GREY .700 WIDE w/SLW Hubs
Shocks: Custom 3.5" Kyosho RED CAP Velvet coated
Springs: Team Losi Mini-T Silver W/JeepinDoug Cups
Radios: Sanwa MT-4 & RX-371

[Spiitz Travsky]

I would like to introduce myself to everyone in the Bully 2 revolution community. My name is Leon Traverse, a.k.a "Spiitz Travsky".

Nobody knows it, but I have been enjoying reading everyones threads for months now because I find the MOA crawler a particularly fascinating RC vehicle.

I started tinkering with Nitro trucks about ten years ago and have been an RC enthusiast ever since. I am a technical guy that has loved electronics my whole life. I built custom computers and car stereo systems throughout childhood, and eventually got into RC.

I live in Chapel Hill North Carolina, Tarheels country, and have spent the last few years flying electric heli's and drones. I enjoy an electric powered vehicle far more than gas. Today's modern battery got me back into electric surface vehicles now that they have the run time and power I need. Bashing is what I loved to do with nitro trucks originally, so I turned my backyard into a ramp course for my Vorza basher and the kids love it.

I spend a lot of time on youtube researching random RC videos and I really enjoyed any video related to crawling. RCSparks or Ted's garage videos are great fun to watch. Somehow I ended up on the RCCrawler forum back in January where I read Samu's RC4WD Bully 2 a.k.a Koppensneller build thread.

Seeing his build thread and then watching him win the Spanish Nationals in real time was awesome! In fact all of his videos are great. He must have some really good friends to document all of his runs!

After being inspired by what I was seeing, I decided to build my own crawler, not for competing yet, but just to get into the sport. I have great geography in the woods around my house and have scouted out a number of rock quarries that are fairly local.

I decided to go with the RC4WD Bully 2 axles as they seemed like the most progressive product in a market with few options. Great product RC3WD! The build quality on these axles is fantastic.

I finally received most of the components needed for the build and plan on starting tonight! I hope everyone in the Bully 2 section will be willing to help me as I am sure I will need some.

Tonight I plan to assemble the Y-Town Crawler chassis, Dlux links, and wheels. I will update with pictures after each build session and will be looking forward to some good advice!

LT

[cboggs]

Any help you need we are here for you, so don't be afraid to ask. Welcome to the Bully2 revolution.

[Spiitz Travsky]

Thanks cboggs, glad to be here!

[Dhallmark]

You won't be disappointed with these axles. They are awesome!

[Spiitz Travsky]

If you are not familiar with these products already, and may be thinking about building your own rig, you will probably want to see the individual parts necessary to build a custom crawler.

I know it took me about a month to figure out!

Here are images of the all the components that I have sourced so far:



Vanquish SLW V3 GREY .700 WIDE





SLW Hubs & RC4WD Knuckle Weights



Holmes Hobbies Puller Flow Crawler 500's



The finish on the steel casing is stained with a funny yellowish brown residue. Tried to call HH a couple of times this week about it, but never could get a response. I don't mind the "Rat Rod" look personally as long as they work well.



Holmes TorqueMaster BR Mini Dual ESC



CC BEC 10A



CC Programmer



Hitec HS-7950TH Servo



Axial 24T Servo Horn



Custom 3.5" Kyosho RED CAP Velvet coated shocks with Mini-T Silver springs using JeepinDoug Cups





DLux Ti 1/8" uppers & Ti 3/16" lowers w/Ti sliders

Eye to Eye lengths

FU:118mm
RU: 125mm

FL: 123mm
RL: 133mm

The DLux front lower links only have one kink bend so I am not sure they will work without further bending or using some angled rod ends. I have a feeling they won't clear the motor or move freely at the ball joints. We will see.



These are the larger Revo Rod ends that I will hand screw onto the 3/16" links. I have the smaller Traxxas 1942 rod ends for the smaller 1/8" upper links as well.



Random necessities for all the wiring:











White HB Rovers with Pro-Line two stage foams



These are the spacers I picked up from RC4WD specifically to customize the YTC DA chassis for my own personal tastes:











Now that I have documented the parts, I will spend the next couple hours building what I can tonight. I will take more pictures tomorrow of the progress I made.

[Spiitz Travsky]

BTW, that large 6s Venom hard case battery is for my Vorza basher. I wouldn't try to use that on this rig! Not sure how that ended up in the shot.

I will be trying out the Turnigy nano-tech 3s batteries for Hammond.

They are only 55mm long for having 850Mah. I want longer run times for the type of crawling I will be doing at first.

[cboggs]

Going to be one nice crawler with those parts.

[Rckcrwlr]

Welcome to the Revolution...

It's great to see that Samu inspired you...

[Spiitz Travsky]

I stayed up pretty late last night trying to get the chassis, wheels, and suspension put together.

The two stage foams looked huge to me. I was not sure if I could get them to fit at first.



The foams went in really easy to my surprise but getting the beadlocks on was pretty tough.



One of the vendors on RCC, Mountain Storm, makes an acrylic tire press that would probably make the job a bit easier.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIgN...MpW93run0j_3LA



Building the YTC Double Agent chassis went smoothly even without instructions. Luckily there are a number of other DA/B2 builds on RCC that have good pictures to use as guides!



The build quality is excellent. Feels very rigid but still light weight.



The SMW skid plate and YTC tongue came with the chassis as part of a special Krawlfreak was running when I got them.



I think they work really well with the overall design.



I especially liked the engraved YTC logo on the electronics plate, Very classy.



I spent the next hour or so getting the links setup.



The ride height was a little more than I expected. It looked more like an AT/ST than a crawler to me, but what do I know.



Maybe I can peak over rocks like this but not so sure about crawling over any...



I was worried the DLux standard front lower links were not going to be ideal for clearing the motor or allowing for good articulation. As I suspected, I will need to make custom FL links to achieve the proper clearance.



As it sits right now the FL links are out boarded with little movement in the ball joints. I suspect two bends will be needed to allow clearance and proper movement.



I have about 12' of 3/16" Grade 5 Ti Rod from McMaster-Carr to use as needed.



Picked up some tools to thread the rod, but I will have to visit my friend's shop to use his hydraulic press to bend the rods. He has various size mandrels that can be used to make different bends.



Had some RC4WD Spark Ti 4" shocks sitting out that I tried on Hammond to see how the ride height would look. The DA is designed for 3.5" shocks so I was not surprised that it was sitting too high.



Compressed to where I would like it to sit the shocks measured 3.5" almost exactly. The Velvet shocks should be a good fit.



I threw on the wheels just to see it rolling.



It had no problem doing a hand stand so that is good.



The last thing I wanted to finish tonight was getting the RC4WD brass knuckle weights bolted on.



I am very impressed with the B2 axles precise tolerances. The knuckle weights were equally well made!



The weights went on without issue. Took about 5min.



They look pretty good IMO. Might pick up another set and mod them to add on to the lower front half. I could then put the remaining weights on the lower back half as well.



I was pretty tired at this point so I called it a night.



Let me know what you think of the build so far. Maybe somebody has some ideas for the front lower links.

[ROWDY RACING]

Looking good, get the proper length shocks on it and then evaluate the link situation, most run straight front lowers.

[Tossedman]

Looks good man. Like your "shop in a closet".

[Spiitz Travsky]

Yeah, wife and kids own most of the house space. No garage so I make do with a big closet.

The tool table has caster wheels so at least I can drag it out when needed.

[CrawlrKing]

As RR stated, put the shocks on before modifying any link... If you can bolt a 540 motor on the front, you'll be able to see how it has to be cleared too... But all in all, coming along nicely and the gray on the wheels shines thru...


From iPad with Tapatalk

[Zarizi Tech]

Looks definately a really good start there Leon!

Pleased to see all the pics in there Keep it up!

[Rckcrwlr]

Looks great. I like the Hand Stand...Now that is balance..

[Erik D_lux]

Your links are on backwards in the front. Also, you can twist them when the bend is on the axle side and that should put your bend/link exactly where you need it.

[Spiitz Travsky]

Thanks Samu!

Erik, I flipped the links around as you suggested. it definitely works better but the rod ends are bound. Maybe some angled rod ends would be enough?



The shocks are amazingly smooth. Completely blown away by them.



Added a little bit of spacing on the front shocks to clear the servo.





It was rubbing without the silver spacers





Please let me know if a should be connecting the upper links any differently on the inside chassis. I did not know if it was better to have them wide or narrow.





I will be bolting on the HH motors to see how it clears in the rear.



I think the front motor should be ok.

[josh6575]

If you can get ahold of one of those servo mounts that brings the servo over to the gear case. It will allow you to move the front axle link shock mount in to the inner holes. Also allowing you to put the bend in the lower links up. This will get the links real close to the motor and gear case. Allowing full steer without touching anything with the tires. Nice parts list and a clean build!

[ROWDY RACING]

I run the front uppers towards the outside at the chassis and the rears to the inside at the chassis.