Xenoranger's 14'r

[bRIBEGuy]

Another day, another 14'r in Cowtown.



With the build up of a few 14'rs over the past year such as Droopy (Droopy the K2-3S), the Turtle (The 2.2 Cruiser), and the Six Shocker (Six-Shock the K2-3S), we have started to drum up some interest in what I consider to be the "Funnest" class of RC rock crawling. We ran a local competition series with a small handful of guys, rotated locations and course hosts, drank some beers after, and just generally had a blast.

As a result of this, I have been asked to build up another rig for a friend...........and so begins this thread!

The build, as always, starts with a pile of parts strewn about the floor and table.




For those of you with good eyes and time to kill, you can see all kinds of fun goodies laying around in there.



Some of the "stuff" going into this truck includes:

-Clodbuster Axle parts
-Integy Aluminum Diff Spool
-Integy Aluminum Adjustable Motor Mounts
-G-Made Upper Link Mounts
-RC4WD Stainless Steel Stub Axles
-RC4WD 8 tooth Pinion
-Tamya 27t "Silver Can" Motors
-Reign K2-3S Chassis

[bRIBEGuy]

Gotta start the build somewhere, and on a clod, it's gotta be with the axles.

Tubes get stuffed up with bearings and drive shafts.



Then get mounted up to the gear cases.



It's certainly not going anywhere without gears, so in those go.........along with the aluminum diff spool and full ball bearings........



Cases got closed up, bolted up, and introduced to a very nice set of upper link mounts.



Long 8t pinions found there way onto the motors.



Which in turn, found there way onto the axles.



Knuckle parts coming out to play.



And fully assembled with the SS axles and bearings. Steering stops have been trimmed from the knuckles for a bit more steering.

[bRIBEGuy]

The best tires we've found for this class so far, have been the Proline "Maxx" Masher tires.

As such, a set got picked up and mounted up.

Rims are double narrowed HPI's.

Foams are the supper soft strips found in a stock (old model) E-maxx tire. Fronts are cut and flipped. Rears are full, and flipped.

Each front tire has 7oz of weight. Rears each have 4oz.

[bRIBEGuy]

Chassis time!

Drilled the Delrin cross beams on the K2-3S chassis for body mounts. Cut a strip of 1/8" 6061 aluminum that will one day become a battery mount.



Started to assemble it.



Links were up next.

Lower links are 8/32 steel all-thread with Revo ball ends and sleeved with 1/4" aluminum.

Upper links are 6/32 steel all-thread with Maxx ball ends and sleeved with 1/4" aluminum.



It's become somewhat of a joking tradition for me to leave the bar code sticker on the aluminum. Almost all the rigs I touch have it............LOL.

Rear upper links are a bit longer then the fronts to allow the rear motor to be rotated up a bit for better clearance.

[vipxj]

Good to see integy parts used.Nice build.

[bRIBEGuy]

Mounted up the servos (Hitec 645MG's), the axles, the links, and the Delrin skid.





Starts to look like a truck!

Wheelbase is 14 1/8". We run a maximum limit of 14.5" in our rules. It was requested that this truck have a 13.75" wheelbase, but I took a bit of artistic liberty and stretched it.

Trust me Steve, you'll like it. ;)

And now, the suspension!

Pulled out a set of nice Aluminum shocks from a Duratrax Evader buggy. Spaced out with some AX10 bits, it looks like they will work well! They have the "stiff" spring on right now, and a fairly light oil in the front. Rear shocks will get a stiffer 60wt oil for now.



It's coming together...............

[bRIBEGuy]

Got the rear shocks rebuilt, full of 60wt oil, and mounted up.





Next up was mounting the battery/electronics tray. Battery will be held in by a series of Velcro straps. Top of the aluminum has some stick-on-felt to cushion the cells a bit.
The battery sits fairly forward on the tray for better weight distribution. Behind it is now mounted a Moped V16R ESC, and Castle Creations BEC (set to 6v).

I also added a secondary electronics shelf up higher for the receiver.




Mounting up the wheels will be done compliments of a set of CPE aluminum 12mm to 14mm adapters.



With the shoes on, it really starts to look good!






Built up the front & rear steering linkages using 8/32 all-thread, Revo ball ends, and 1/4" aluminum tube again. Aluminum servo horns will put the power down.

[bRIBEGuy]

Wheelbase is 14 1/8".
Width is 14".
Center clearance is 4.25".



Cleaned up the wiring a bit, and decided to call it finished for now. Until the body arrives, and the receiver gets installed, it's pretty much paused.

[EeePee]

That's a thing of beauty my man. Way to keep the 14'r class alive.

The only reason I have my TXT axles around is because of the 14'r idea.

Maxx Mashers! Hell yeah, I agree.

[pedemaster-rc]

looks awesome bro. love 14'rs. i was about to go that route but i think i stand good at the 16'rs lol

[bullet1231]

i was thinking of doing the same thing, but i was wondering if i can use dual 12t titans from an e-revo and a 3s lipo....hmmm,,,.. wonder if ill break anything??

[bRIBEGuy]

Originally Posted by EeePee

That's a thing of beauty my man.

Thanx!

Originally Posted by EeePee

Way to keep the 14'r class alive. The only reason I have my TXT axles around is because of the 14'r idea.

I think for a sheer balance of capability and fun, the 14'rs are great. They're more versatile (and not as set-up dependent) compared to a 2.2, yet they are more of a challenge then a Super class rig. They don't take $1000+ to be competitive either...........which is nice.

Originally Posted by EeePee

Maxx Mashers! Hell yeah, I agree.

They're great shoes! Though I will admit, some of these new-school 6" 2.2 tires (HPI Carvers, Hot Bodies Rovers, ProLine Chisel) do make me curious to start playing musical tires again..........

[bRIBEGuy]

Originally Posted by pedemaster-rc

looks awesome bro. love 14'rs. i was about to go that route but i think i stand good at the 16'rs lol

16's are fun...........that's where I started with Clods some 5-6 years ago.........but I found they were still a little too capable.

You see, I went from 16'' wheelbases, up to 17"+, and found that it just got harder and harder to find "Fun" spots to drive. After a bit of practice with a 16"-18" wb rig, almost everything can be driven over. For hardcore competition, that's awesome. When we decided to do a comp series here, though, we wanted it to be about fun and versatility. A bunch of us mulled it over, and decided the 14'r class was the way to roll.

Originally Posted by bullet1231

i was thinking of doing the same thing, but i was wondering if i can use dual 12t titans from an e-revo and a 3s lipo....hmmm,,,.. wonder if ill break anything??

Those motors are fairly long, so you may need to space your links out a bit. On a 3S lipo, you will have a silly amount of power!