Project: My Wife Cannot Know

[new2rocks]

This is insane. I love it!

[Alpha Male]

Thanks.

Two down, one more servo set up to go.

http://vid601.photobucket.com/albums...pseeeec12e.mp4

[Alpha Male]

I've given up on having moving pedals on this build. The idea is solid, but the configuration I have made up doesn't work well enough with a micro servo and a standard servo is too big for the space I have available. The pedals will still be there and the driver's feet are attached, but they won't move. There are enough moving parts on this truck anyway.

As of now, the metal Toyota emblems are on, tailgate letters painted to look molded in and the body has just gotten a coat of matte clear. Tomorrow I will permanently assemble the cab parts and mount the body to the chassis. Then I can clean up my wiring, re-install the roll bar and add a few of my scale details....and she's a runner!

[new2rocks]

Originally Posted by Alpha Male

I've given up on having moving pedals on this build. The idea is solid, but the configuration I have made up doesn't work well enough with a micro servo and a standard servo is too big for the space I have available. The pedals will still be there and the driver's feet are attached, but they won't move. There are enough moving parts on this truck anyway.



As of now, the metal Toyota emblems are on, tailgate letters painted to look molded in and the body has just gotten a coat of matte clear. Tomorrow I will permanently assemble the cab parts and mount the body to the chassis. Then I can clean up my wiring, re-install the roll bar and add a few of my scale details....and she's a runner!

This was definitely a great idea, and sorry to hear it didn't work out this time. I was thinking about this today and was thinking that another way to do it might be to have a cam-shaft style arrangement for all 3 pedals instead of push rods and servo horns for each one. I would think that a single cam-shaft could operate all 3 pedals off of a single servo, and you could drive it with a pulley and small belt to achieve either gear reduction or increase depending on what you need. But that's just a wild idea, untested and beyond my current fab skills. Your build is still awesome and am looking forward to seeing more.

[Alpha Male]

When I started this project I wanted to buy all the upgrades and cool parts I could find for the TF2 from the beginning so I could have just one fabulous truck. I put tons of money into it. I read all of the information I could find about the rig and chose the mods I thought would work. I even planned it out so that my driver would be super articulated and animated on the trails. The whole thing has been one failure after another. None of my bright ideas worked the way I had planned.
It turns out that the cool bumper I put on the front is terrible for going over obstacles and the rear, bumper-mounted winch sticks way too far out for convenience....boat anchor.
I had to have a full interior, so the body sets way too high and looks goofy.
I shortened the driver so that his feet could articulate with the pedals, but when that didn’t work it left me with a disproportionate character in my driver’s seat.
Since I cut the doors off to see the driver, the rocker panels are too weak and the joint between them and the Styrene floor I made doesn’t seem to hold as well as it should.
The gear shifting servo idea worked well until I assembled the cab interior – with GLUE - but now it doesn’t work right.
I tried installing the inner fender/core support, but I butchered it.
Attaching the cab to the bed looked like a good idea at first but now it interferes with my battery placement.
My magnet body-mounting idea didn’t work out well either, so the body isn’t solidly mounted to the chassis.
The worst thing though is the mod I made with the transfer case – at least I think that’s what the problem is. I took my truck out into the front yard for a shakedown run last night and the front end skips, bounces and sways when I give it throttle, presumably because of my attempt at overdrive in the front. The truck is also gutless. I tried to climb over a few small rocks around my flower bed and the thing stalled. Stalled! I thought it was the battery so I switched it and it did the same thing. Hopefully, when I rearrange the transfer case back to the stock configuration it will be better.
What a mess.
Sorry for the rant.

[nsimps]

No need to be sorry, we've all been there and that's what we're here for! I can't tell you how many times my plans just don't go well at all.

I'm not much help in the technical dept. but keep at it. Things will start to come together!

[tokdl]

Agreed, I'm sure many of us have started a project with a totally different outcome in mind only to not have it work out like we planned. It's time and money consuming but at least you tried. Sometime I just have to take a break from something I'm working on just to get fresh perspective and relax a bit. I still think you had some awesome ideas. Maybe some day you'll get them operational.

[new2rocks]

^^ I second the last 2. That was the story of my first 2 crawler/scaler builds (though neither were nearly as ambitious from a scale perspective). After working through the kinks, I was able to get both to a place that I really like, even though quite different from what I thought. There's still some great stuff to work with in your build, and I will probably be borrowing some ideas and inspiration when I get to the scale stuff on my current TF2 build. So don't get too down on yourself. :thumbsup:

[Alpha Male]

Thanks for the encouragement, you guys. I think that once I get the truck performing like it should , mechanically, I will start a new body and just learn to live with the screw mounts on the cab and body posts in the bed. At least it will stay together when I drive. The steering wheel will still turn with the front tires.

I did have one idea that worked out ok. I added a rectangle of metal under the bed and added magnets to some accessories. They can be taken in and out or moved around:

http://vid601.photobucket.com/albums...ps97ea079a.mp4

[new2rocks]

FYI - I just posted videos on my thread showing where I've gotten performance-wise with my setup, and I've been posting my setup changes step-by-step so folks can keep track. It's pretty good at the moment, and there will be some more updates in the coming couple of weeks. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions or I can help with anything.

[Alpha Male]

Thanks, I will check it out. Goodness knows I can use all the help I can get with my set-up.

[Alpha Male]

Well, I rearranged the transfer case so that the normal input/output drives are correct and whatdayaknow - the stalling and erratic driving behavior disappeared. I crawled around in my front yard and enjoyed the smooth, predictable truck that I had been expecting.

I'm still going to have to figure out the best way to mount the body and work out the battery mount, but I feel a lot better about how the truck is turning out, now.

[Alpha Male]

I still have to finish with the bully mod on the front knuckles. Plus, I need to install the helical gears up front, axles and scale bolts, now that it is running well.

I have another Bruce Lee character, and I will swap bodies so that my driver looks less...foreshortened.

[Alpha Male]

[Alpha Male]

....a few more for fun.

[new2rocks]

Glad to see you're back in the saddle. The world's a better place already...

[Alpha Male]

Thanks, brother! I have decided to just embrace my situation

If the truck is going to look jacked up, then screw it. I'll put on tall, nasty tires and flip both the front and rear bumper mounts over to raise them up high to meet the body.

Now, my approach and departure angles are much better and everything fits really well together. I think it looks kind of mean.

[stevem50]

it looks mean. it might not have been the original plan but its turning out awesome, sometimes our projects have a mind of their own and dictate to us how they will turn out...

[new2rocks]

"Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it."
-- Michelangelo

[Titus1]

I see your rock sliders sit a little low with the lift, I found by flipping them upside down they hug my cab real nice, food for thought anyhow. Strange I did the over under mod with know apparent problem, although I seem to remember someone saying they had issues with one of the screws being to long and binding in the tc. Great looking rig dude!!