Everest 10 no more!

[Jeepiac]

Finally got my E10 where I'm happy with it. Been reading on here and doing my own mad experiments and finally built a really good crawler.

Started with the TCS X-Trail chassis. to Robotron for turning me onto this chassis and laying the ground work!

I shortened the upper links and used 100mm shocks. A little to much ground clearance for some, but I love the way it crawls and after crawling with some seasoned crawlers and the more popular brand crawlers they were running, I'm leaving it the way it is.

Anyway, shortening the upper links will roll the pinion angle downward and make a big improvement in steering. Best mod outta the whole build.
I used HSP lockers simply because they are dirt cheap, and seem to be holding up good so far.

Mirrored the tranny, put a 27T motor in it run by a Axial AE5 esc and a 2s Lipo. Fair speed (faster than I am) and enough power to turn the tires, even when they shouldn't. I bought a $2 project box, mounted it to the chassis, put the receiver, bec and excess servo leads in it then sealed the seam with the trusty ol' hot glue gun.
I fell in lust with the Integy wheels and had to have them Liked them so much I bought a Integy light bar and It's sweeeet! Had such good luck with both of them I bought an Integy rear bumper. It made up for the happiness the other Integy products gave me. Thankfully I went with a RC4WD front bumper. It's hell for stout and cost less than the beer can I bolted on the back.
I'm not planning on comping with this rig so I put 4 wheel steering on it using the same radio that comes with the more popular Redcat crawler
Not a good feeling radio in my opinion, but the 4 wheel steering is fun as hell, and just hitting a button to cycle through the steering modes is easy for an uncoordinated antique like me.
I accomplished extreme wheel travel by mounting the shocks on the inside of the chassis. So much that I had to do some unflexing. Tires would hit the chassis rails and then some. I used brake line cut to different lengths for shock spacers. The shocks run very close to everything around them but no rubbing or binding and even with the travel limited, it still flexes pretty good imo.
I'm still in the learning stages of RC crawlers and hopefully learning a little here and there. I'll keep tinkering with it and improving on it as I go.

Thanks to this forum and the people that make it great and a BIG thank you to Luckster for the endless help and answering the million text messages. Hope your ready cause I'm starting on the Sawback next weekend!

[tooth-less]

That is beautiful.

[Jeepiac]

Thanks! Going to cry when I roll it down goat hill the first time, but after that's out of the way games on lol.

[cabron]

pretty sharp looking for sure.

if you do like 4ws a lot like I do think about getting a stick radio.
I am using a spectrum dx7, a dx6 is good too. specially good for moas but will work with shaftys too
by using one of the joysticks for the steering you can change and proportion the steering from one mode to the other
by just shifting the stick without flipping any switches
having extra channels you could have a wireless cam on a pan and tilt setup too.
horizon hobby will mod the throttle on a stick radio for a car for free. they have good customer support
I have 6 4ws rigs all with the same radio. I get the receivers from hobbyking for about 10.00 (orangerx) so it
is very affordable

[Jeepiac]

Good info. I've been thinking about going to a stick but wasn't sure where to start.

[cabron]

in the super section they have a sticky on stick radios. I haven't read it haha but it should be helpful
if you have questions I will be more than happy to try to confuse you. I have about 5 years now with mine.
the main thing is that each joystick controls two channels. where you would turn the wheel left or right
you would throw the stick left or right for front or up and down for rear and at 45 degree one direction for
both the same way and 45 degree the other way for opposite directions

I have dreams of installing an airsoft (paint) gun and being able to fire it like a tank gun haha from a crawler

[Robotron]

Nice Build!,
that thing is Too Clean man,
it's Cool to see what others are doing with the X-trail chassis!

[Jeepiac]

I'm afraid it might not look so good after this weekend I love how simple this chassis is to build on. 90% of this thing was bolt together and go. Had to make some spacers here and there, make body mounts and some shortening of the upper links. And it ended up being a clean looking build. Well, except for 2 zip-ties that I'm not going to point out

[mowheelin]

Very nice work. Very tastefully realistic!

[Jeepiac]

Originally Posted by mowheelin

Very nice work. Very tastefully realistic!

Thank you! I just hope it still crawls good with all the added weight.

I added some more to it this morning

I also put the finishing touches on my daughters FOOFOO crawler

[Jeepiac]

We took the Redcats out for some true crawling last night. I was surprised at how well the Bronco did considering the center of gravity. If I would have chosen better tires it would have side hilled with the lower slung 1.9 rigs. Stayed upright pretty good, but would loos traction in the rear and slide. When you see 20 other crawlers and nobody is running the same tires as you, you know you might not have the best setup But they look cool
Control and crawling ability is all there somehow. But poor traction and my lack of driving ability were what hurt it the most. A friend and long time crawler took over the controls for a while and he did nothing but praise it, but he also said get rid of them tires. Nice to here someone that knows a little bit about these things say "I cant believe how good this thing crawls, you did a good job on it" This is coming from a guy that runs a really well modified Wraith. Hopefully this wasn't said cause he felt sorry for me
All in all, I'm really happy of my one off tall boy crawler and other than tires, I'm not changing a thing.
As for the kids Foo-Foo 10, it's getting 1.9's and shorter shocks. The stock Redcat did pretty good for what it is, but traction with the original tires sucks and the weight bias is way crappy.

[jim_w]

Damn nice looking rig Jeepiac Awesome job.

[Jeepiac]

Originally Posted by jim_w

Damn nice looking rig Jeepiac Awesome job.

Thank you! I'm beginning to figure out I like building these things Playing with them is just a added bonus.

[Jeepiac]

Well the Big Blue Bronco is getting shrunk I love the way it looks, but I'm not into shelf queens and that's about all it is. Crawles really good as long as you don't get it off camber. The high cg just sucks So, shorter shocks and 1.9's. Bought a really nice set of CNC wheels that should be here soon and now to build more body mounts and it'll be what it shoulda been in the first place. Pulled out the 27T and dropped in a 20T and wow! This thing gets with it. Got my Sawback for slow technical crawling, now I'll have one for jumping over everything Think it's finally going to be a comp worthy crawler So much for not changing a thing lol. I guess learning how good a 1.9 rig like my no flex having Sawback can crawl has taught me that big tires and gobs of ground clearance aren't always the best setup. I sure hated taking off them purdy wheels though. Oh well, I guess they can go on my future Wraith

[Jeepiac]

Finished ruining the looks of the Big Blue Bronco, but WOW it's glued to the ground. CG is among the lowest I've seen, and I switched out the motor for a 20T to gain a little wheel speed. I found a Monte Carlo body and painted it similar to my 1:1 Monte. Kinda goofy looking, but it's one of a kind, plus it's way more of a comp crawler with the lower stance. Going to add a light bar and some scale goodies as soon as I figure out where to mount everything Introducing the Monte Crawler

[cabron]

as long as you get a chuckle or two when you go to bed, all is good

we are here to stretch the boundries of fun

[Jeepiac]

I just got back into RC in January after a 16 year absence and I think I've already had my share of chuckles, and I haven't had this much fun for a lot of years. Getting in with a bunch of good guy's like the KCRC bunch has been a great help in filling the fun and chuckle quota, and I'm sure at the next comp the Monte will get it's share of chuckles and push the fun boundaries

[MountainStorm]

Looks like you are having fun and learning stuff first hand which is the way to go. I really like how you painted and dressed out the Bronco. Hope that shell gets some wheel time on another chassis later on. Like you I started out tall with tons of flex and little by little moved toward what I guess is "more realistic" ride height and travel and as many have learned height is no real advantage to a crawler. Getting the weight where it helps you out is the deal. Nice work.

[Jeepiac]

Originally Posted by MountainStorm

Looks like you are having fun and learning stuff first hand which is the way to go. I really like how you painted and dressed out the Bronco. Hope that shell gets some wheel time on another chassis later on. Like you I started out tall with tons of flex and little by little moved toward what I guess is "more realistic" ride height and travel and as many have learned height is no real advantage to a crawler. Getting the weight where it helps you out is the deal. Nice work.

Amen on the fun and the learning! I'm the type that sets back and watches everyone else go through an obstacle and how they have their rig setup. Not to mention I'm a question asker. Building a Sawback that has a lot of weight and droop, and very little ground clearance educated me quite a bit! Not bragging, but that thing has crawled circles around several SCX10's and I think it's impressed a few people along the way
I don't know if it's just the guy's on the crawling end of things or what, but way back when I was racing RC nobody helped anybody. Your setup and tricks were a secret. I was always the oddball that tried to help people when I could. Seems like all the crawler's are giving pointers and recommendations on how to pick an approach, what to buy and how to build, and mainly how to have a blast! Now after learning a little about tire size and ground clearance I have a $160 worth of 2.2 aluminum wheels and tires just collecting dust, and that's going to end up causing me to buy a stinking Wraith and that's going to mean I'll have to buy a brushless setup and a ton of vanquish stuff
Maybe I'll chop up the Bronco and put it on the Wraith when I get it

[MountainStorm]

I'm pretty much doing everything solo so learning is taking a lot longer...but the few times I have crawled with friends there were no secrets being held back...we all just wanted to use whatever was working for whoever however and somehow get that going on with our own rigs so we could find even harder lines and do even crazier things. I'd shave my Rovers and then I'd have to shave my buddy's Rovers...then he'd get some Voodoos...and I'd build a new chassis and he'd rework his chassis and on and on. Friendly competition and open sharing makes driving well the real edge...if everybody has capable rigs and only one guy is making the line that's when the fun begins. King for a day till everyone else figures it out.