My clod build v.newbpost

[4thgenceli]

Hello, and good day to y'all.

I've been browsing around on these forums for abit now, and decided to introduce myself & my Clod (aka Clodzilla). When I received it, it wasn't in great shape. Was running with dual 22t motors, dual stick packs, one wheel wasn't attached (broken carrier).

After a bit, I finally was able to get to a running condition.




Yes, that's Grave Digger it's sitting on. It ran, but was in piss poor shape. Gears kept grinding, motors slipping, ESC cutting in and out.... :-\



I decided to do a ground up rebuild on it, as it was too top heavy from the battery packs, and I didn't like how it would run. Yes it would crawl, but it was more of a rock racer in my mind. I came to this decision after seeing a few local crawlers run and checking out the builds.

So after about 2 hours, a few beers, and some swearing, it was all torn down, ready to start re-assembly. I was kinda in limbo after the tear down, with finals and crap going on (as well as not having a clue how to attach the axles to the chassis).

Resolved the gearbox issue, turned out I had some sand and other particles in there that chewed away at the freaking teeth, allowing the pinon to slip & become bound up at times.

Finally discovered how to attach the axles..






I've decided to go with a 4-wheel steering setup using dual chicken butt servos. I have a Traxxas 3ch radio setup, and I will be doing the 3 way switch mod on the transmitter.

Front


Rear



Replaced the axles & carrier with some new ones (broken plastic pieces, bent outter shafts, etc). Went from the wheel adapters that added about 1.5" to the stance with some hex adapters. This shows the difference in width.




One problem I'm running into is the the rear steer hits the servo when it turns.


And completed (for now...)





With the body I'll be using (having issues, need either to cut off a buttload from the body, or find some extended or longer body posts so I can mount the thing). All that I need to do now to have it running is mount the ESC & receiver. I have extensions for both the servo & motor leads).

. After swapping out to the hex 12/14mm adapters, I've lost the wheel stance (and clearance) so I keep hitting the rear servo when turning). Any pro tips on how to avert this (I'd like to keep the servo mounted where it's at, and not mount it on the side of the tranny like the front servo is).


I really think I'm gonna enjoy this crawler now after all the damn work I've put into it.

[4thgenceli]

Just spent a few more hours workin on it, and it passed my initial tests & inspections. I didn't use my EVX receiver I originally had, as I didn't like the size nor the dual battery thing (yes I know I could of jumped the 1 connector and used one, but the size just was too big for this build). I scavaged the wire leads from the EVX motor & with some additional wire I wired up these 55t motors in parallel from a tazer 12t ESC (received locally from a guy who's running this ESC with his dual 55t XTM super).





Excuse the mess, I'm a horrible at soldering. I'm still learning & figuring out all the tips and tricks (in other words my motor solder points are fuglier than fugly). Gonna hang everythin up tonight, and crack at it after xmas. Just have to tidy up my wiring, and engage the motor/tranny gears.

[vn1500]

Holy cow it looks like spider-man came over and shot webbing (wires) all over !!!
Just kiddin you should see the rats nest of wire in my Berg 2.2
in the same post as the switch mod is how to put end point adj. on your third channel , do them and then limit the rear steer , by looking at your pics it seems like that may be a little excessive for rear steer angles . Remember most times the back axle drops into bind situations and with excessive rear steer angles and clod axles your asking for 1985 technology to destroy itself . just my opinion and findings with my own Super (clod axles) .

Originally Posted by 4thgenceli

Just spent a few more hours workin on it, and it passed my initial tests & inspections. I didn't use my EVX receiver I originally had, as I didn't like the size nor the dual battery thing (yes I know I could of jumped the 1 connector and used one, but the size just was too big for this build). I scavaged the wire leads from the EVX motor & with some additional wire I wired up these 55t motors in parallel from a tazer 12t ESC (received locally from a guy who's running this ESC with his dual 55t XTM super).




Excuse the mess, I'm a horrible at soldering. I'm still learning & figuring out all the tips and tricks (in other words my motor solder points are fuglier than fugly). Gonna hang everythin up tonight, and crack at it after xmas. Just have to tidy up my wiring, and engage the motor/tranny gears.

[4thgenceli]

Originally Posted by vn1500

Holy cow it looks like spider-man came over and shot webbing (wires) all over !!!
Just kiddin you should see the rats nest of wire in my Berg 2.2
in the same post as the switch mod is how to put end point adj. on your third channel , do them and then limit the rear steer , by looking at your pics it seems like that may be a little excessive for rear steer angles . Remember most times the back axle drops into bind situations and with excessive rear steer angles and clod axles your asking for 1985 technology to destroy itself . just my opinion and findings with my own Super (clod axles) .

The axle with the ESC mounted to it right now are the rear. I haven't shaved down the pegs that allow for them to travel as far as the fronts. Not sure how much they have now, but it's not nearly as much as the front axles have.

[vn1500]

Originally Posted by 4thgenceli

The axle with the ESC mounted to it right now are the rear. I haven't shaved down the pegs that allow for them to travel as far as the fronts. Not sure how much they have now, but it's not nearly as much as the front axles have.

wow , i didn't know you hadn't increased the angle , what offset are those wheels?

[4thgenceli]

Originally Posted by vn1500

wow , i didn't know you hadn't increased the angle , what offset are those wheels?

I honestly have no clue what the offset is....:-\ (total newb answer, I know).

Regardless, I have it fully assembled (just need to do something about my rear steering servo hitting the wheel, think I found the answer is a completely new steering setup). It drove all of 2 feet before stopping because the motors lost contact with the gears (I think the mesh or something else is off, as they're making one HELLUFA racket when moving.

[4thgenceli]

Sorry for all the images vanishing, photobucet is being a PIMA right now. I have them all on my own gallery, just updated all the links.

Regardless, it's running. I took it out with a local crawler to Papago and it did quite well considering this is the first crawler I've built. It took to the rocks and terrain quite well, drove places it never could of before, and didn't roll over as often as it used to. The TQ3 3rd channel steering is working, however I need to redo my linkage and turn the servo horn due south instead of where it's centered at now. It kept up and went where this other crawler went with ease, except the occasional back flop always scared me (I don't have a lid to protect it yet). The escalade body I have will not cover the whole chassis & electronics. I also ended up replacing those wheels, as they are WAY too firm. Coming down off an obstacle, the whole thing would bounce it's way down. I put a pair on that are softer, wider, and provider better traction for getting into places it shouldn't be going.

What's on my to-do list?

1. Fix rear steering. A friend is cutting & tapping a piece of alunimum rod scraped from the old chassis to make the steering link. Once the rear steering is corrected, I will be reversing everything and making that the front steering (as all the electronics are on that axle).

2. Secure a better mount for the battery. Right now It's zip-tied onto the chassis, with a velcro strap joing it. It works, but bouncing up/down obstacles it likes to slip out and fall.

3. Fab up my wheel adaptors. I originally went with some 12mm -> 14mm adaptors (12mm on the spline, 14mm over the 12mm), however during my test run the torque just straight blew out one of the plastic adaptors. I ended up going back to the extensions I had on there before for my crawling excursion. I will be building a set of these here.

http://cgi.ebay.com/12mm-to-14mm-Whe...ts_Accessories

I am working on figuring out how to make those, as I have the 12mm for the spline, and 14mm for the wheel. I just need to make the 12mm fit into the 14mm part, secure them together, and keep the 12mm from slipping off the spline. If all else fails, I'll buy a set of those. I'm thinking though, grub screws thru a few points of the 14mm part going into the 12mm hex will keep the 2 pieces together. Then a small piece of hollow tubing placed over the axle, and an acorn nut (or similar) threaded onto the clod spline shaft will keep the 12mm hex on the spline and not sliding off.


Lastly...A LID!!! Gotta protect those things somehow...:-\


Here's how it stands now (note those are the old wheels and hexes, I'll post a new picture when I get home). A couple zip ties, some plastic conduit, and it's all hidden

[4thgenceli]

Lil' crawling video.

http://ourlewisfamily.net/gallery/di...album=10&pos=0


Heading out to pickup a new body for it today, and will be securing the axles to the chassis the proper way (with the nylon nuts, right now it's just temp'd with some screws).

[kasper]

Nice vid looks like its coming along nicely and welcome to the site and enjoy your new toy

[4thgenceli]

Thanks

I've been lurking here for a long time, but decided it's time to get down w/ the sickness of goin slow.