NN rebuild
 

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NN chassis
Clod Axels
Integy 55ts w/ 8T pinions
Hitec645s - 4WS
BHA steering in front - TTR Aggressor
TQ3 w/ Independent RWS
Tekin RB2
TTR CVD's
Hot Bodies 4" shocks w/ limit straps
Moabs on narrowed beadlocks

First thing was to redo the electonics. I relocated the ESC to the bottom plate. Next a new mount for the reciever. Just a slab of plastic secured to cross brace with 1/4 wire guides. Have also recently added independent rear steer, so I needed a new wire layout. To keep everything organized, I used the same wire guides. The battery still fits forward in the bottom plate.

Besides the electronic changes, I have extended the wheelbase 1/2" to the rear, making the wheelbase 16 1/2". Trying out the Thunder Tech BTA system. Tight fit. Easy to install. I think I have seen people build bent links for the servo link. It seems that the servo body needs to be shimmed down to bring the horn more in line with the drag link connection. We'll see how this compares to the old standard setup. Moabs on beadlocks narrowed to
1 7/8" topped off the transformation. 4" of belly clearance, 2" clearance at diffs. 15" wide to outer tire edge. 16 1/2" WB.

Lastly, body on. I use several depending on the occasion. All are well used though. For the next mod, I want to redo the body mounts to the top of the bodies. Less to hang up on.

nice rig like the steering mount you made.

Are those shoe lace & ring terminal limiting straps??.....NICE :)

Always have liked your rig, looks great. I think it's funny that I have the same two bodies for mine, have to keep it Toyota 8)

ps. Best limiting straps ever :-P

very nice rig, looks even better with the fj body, one question how do you hold the battery down in place? i have the same chassis are you using velcro?

Thanks for the comments guys. I just got back from it's first run with the new setup. The independent rear steer is the best mod I have done. A must have. The Moabs are great of course. And the BTA steering seems as good at steering as the stock system, and is out of the way. I am curious to see how the Thunder Tech system holds up.
You guessed it, the limiting straps are shoelaces and ring terminals. I heated and stretched the laces to get rid of any flex. Once I got them into the threaded terminal cap, I lit the end on fire and squished the melting plastic so it can not be pulled through, and then crimp the terminal. They pull the shock up about 1/8" into its travel. I still have plenty of articulation, but less stress on the shocks.
And yes, that is velcro to hold the battery. All electronics are held by velcro.

Today I changed the rear steering to fully proportional, with the info from Dan-Mels thread,
http://www.rccrawler.com/forum/electronics/42336-great-tq3-mod-fully-proportional.html

It makes the rear steer even better. I think I lost a tiny bit of range at the steering limits, but still have a good turning radius. The lack of self centering is not an issue for me. I used a small round servo horn, notched for grip, and sprayed with truckbed liner.

I also reinstalled thr front skid plate that I had on the first setup. It allows the BTA steering to function without any hangups. I will be creating a newer version of this skid plate in thinner material. It would also work to protect the revolving type brushless motors.

Finally got around to adding the topside body posts, so I needed a new body. I went with the Jeep body with my aluminum rocker panels. The side mount posts are still there under the body to allow me to run my other bodies, but now it is smooth along the sides to eliminate hangups. I burnt up another rear servo, so I have gone back to a servo saver for the rear. The way the rear wheels are forced to turn in certain situations seems to overload the rear servo. So I hope this helps. This is my third Hitec 645 on the rear. I am thinking of going to the 1/4 scale servos. I have also remounted the Red Rocks. They are my "basher" tires. They work OK for the terrain around here. The Moabs are superior, but unless I am in a competition, the Red Rocks still perform very well. The width is right at 15" with the Moabs or the Red Rocks using the RC4WD widener/adapters. The Maximiser rims are narrowed to 1 1/2".

What springs are you running on your hotbodies shocks? I have the stock springs on mine and need something stiffer, or at least in the rear. Do you have a link to the springs?
Thanks!

hey dystance, i had one 645 on my nn but changed for a tower pro with metal gears, the difference was amazing much more power and they are like $25-30 shipped:shock: .
Out of curiosity, have you checked if the lower link shock mounts hit/rub against your motors? they do on mine:x , i noticed a couple days ago, it seems the shock mounts kinda move around the link and at full extesion they rub slightly, i'am getting another b/l from JRH for this rig, that will fix this particular problem since the revolver motors are way smaller.
BTW i also have the same bta aggressor i think, how do you like it?
I will borrow your topside body post idea;-) , hope you don't mind.

TxCruzr,
the springs are from the stock Tmaxx shocks. I got a cheap set on ebay. I used the spring retainer and bottom cup as well as the spring.

cartronicshn,

Do you have a link for where you get those servos? I want to try them when I blow the next 645.
Is this the servo you use.
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXANT5&P=7
If not, do you have a link to the right one? Thanks.

I have not noticed any rubbing on my setup. I will look it over but I think I have free movement.

The Aggressor setup seems to work well. Definately helps the approach angle.

No worries on idea borrowing, that is what this is all about. The top body mounts work great. I used a small piece of rubber from a bicycle tire under the 1/4 inch wire retainers to make the mount secure. The rubber piece allows the mount to be tight and still have some give to it when you roll.

here you go,this is a buy it now price:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...ype=osi_widget

Thanks, great price, I'm ordering 2.

how many oz torque are they i didnt see it wrote anywhere..

Stall Torque (4.8V) : (13kg/cm) = 180.401 oz-in
Stall Torque (6.0V) : (15kg/cm) = 208.155 oz-in

Does this seem right? Sounds strong. I got these numbers from the conversion calculator at the site below.

http://www.linengineering.com/flash/Calculator.swf

that's about right i'am not 100% sure but i think they were raeted at 222 oz on rcmart, like i said not 100% sure, i do know that they are much more stronger then the 645.

So with all this snow on the ground, I have had a bit of cabin fever. Thought I would update this thread with the current state of my rig. Been playing with the suspension and steering setups, added a new ESC, and gave it a new look.

First, I'll go over the steering. The BTA clearance is great and it allows full range of motion. It tucks up in there nice and tight.

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g2...d/IMG_0512.jpg

The Thundertech BTA steering had a bit of play or slop as it moved back and forth. So I drilled out the holes and used bigger hardware. I used thin teflon washers at all friction points to help keep things smooth. I still need to grind down the bottom edge of my lower shock mounts to prevent rubbing.


http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g2...IMG_0483-1.jpg

At full turn to this side, you can see (above) that I had to cut away a small portion of the gearcase to allow full throw. I also had to shim the setup down a tiny bit to keep the screw from hitting the motor case.

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g2...d/IMG_0520.jpg

I use my 1/16th thick ABS skidplate to keep from hanging the BTA parts up on rocks. People may diss the skid plate, but it works better for me. I have used it both ways and I prefer using the skid. Shave your own axles:flipoff:
Besides the slop in the system and the minor clearance issues, the setup works great. The problems are minor and easy to correct. Overall, I give the Thundertech system a thumbs up.


For the rear steering, I flipped the link to the top of the knuckles, made a custom tie link, and used panhead screws to maximize clearance. The link is bent to avoid hitting the gearcase at full turn. This setup had good departure angles and improved clearance.

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g2...d/IMG_0508.jpg
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g2...d/IMG_0523.jpg

The change to the suspension involves limiting the articulation. To do this I made a new set of limiting straps. My last setup pulled the shocks down a bit, but as the geometry changes during flex, the shocks were extending to their full travel, giving 70 degrees plus of flex.

First picture show shock at full articulation / extension. This is approx 6mm short of full travel.

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g2...d/IMG_0704.jpg

Second picture shows shock with rig on flat ground.

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g2...d/IMG_0702.jpg

This leaves me with around 60 degrees of articulation. The picture showns full flex. Still looks like plenty to me.

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g2...d/IMG_0697.jpg