clod - project im not 12any more!...

[carzlutt]

when i was younger i wanted a big crazy clod. but being 12yrs old....... that isnt too realistic. about 2 months ago i got this rad idea to go ahead dust off my old rc's (rc-10t, xxx, mid night pumpkin and such......) none of them were all that fun as all i really wnated to do was run over crap left in my back yard. im doing a failry big home remodel and have tons and tons of rock, dirt, stone and such all around. so i broke down and found me a good deal on a used clod. iv been geting it back up and running w/ odd's and ends i allready had. and tossed on a new battery..... now its time to make it actuly work well. im having all kinds of issues right now, nothing too big just the normal type of stuff ud expect to have to deal with when you try to make 15yr old Rc stuff work like new after being in boxes and such all this time ahhaah... i stared off buying stuff on ebay then i noticed a guy selling lots of crawler parts on ebay had this site listed for some of the tech info about his stuff up for sale. i managed to bring my self to give thissite a try and from what iv read over the last few weeks.wow ..... there is some cool guys here w/ some super rad rig's!..

any how here is my rig basicly how i got it other than the body. first thing i had to do was get as close to my real truck's looking body for the clod as i could find. so far im ok w/ how this ended up....





just for refrence.... here's my real truck... i didnt feel the need to spend too much itme geitng my clod to be 100% like my real truck just close..... im sort of close hahahah....




any how, i look foraward to spending the next few months geting idea's, info, help form the guys around here. i cant wiat till i am ready to take a afternoon up to the hills and beat the living hell out of my clod. hahaah.... with some luck ill get my real FJ-40 running by spring and get to take both the clod and the fj-40 out for some fun in the woods!

[teamtom]

Your 1:1 truck has a giant FU on the bed cover?!?!:-P

Looks good!

[carzlutt]

Originally Posted by teamtom

Your 1:1 truck has a giant FU on the bed cover?!?!:-P

Looks good!

not quiet, but im fairly sure thats what peopel in trafic are thinking when im sitting behind them at a light. seems no mater what i try i cant get my lights to not blind people.

thanks a old pic from when i first got the truck home from being painted. i should take the time to get a better pic w/ the grill in and such.

balh..... so whats the truck to not letting your wife know how much these RC parts cost? so far i told her i needed to order a few things for the clod...... befor i knew it she was asking me why i dont go ahead and order some extra windows for the house. i tryed telling her the clod parts are like 30buks, vs windows that are 3000buks. and the windows would sit in a stack for a good month if nto longer as the rest of what im doing around the house needs to get finished befor we put in new windows. i have a feeling all this is going to keep her digging around to see how much i really spend on clod parts vs. what i tell her i spend hum........ aww good times ahead i see ahhaha......

[Robb]

Your neighbor is REALLY proud of his address!

Truck looks like a good start!

[curve]

That's funny right there.

Originally Posted by Robb

Your neighbor is REALLY proud of his address!

Truck looks like a good start!

You can do like I do and just don't tell the wife how much it cost and buy her something while you're out and she want even ask.

[carzlutt]

thanks guys. i was poking around last night and wow there is so much slop in just about every moving part of this lill beast... i htink ill have to get some motovaton to take the steering all aprt and hunt around town for a good shop to get some better hiem joints and also some kind of new survo mounts. the current survo location hits the frame during mild articulaton. i only see it being a big problem down the raod if i dont address this first. ....... aww and so it begins. i cant bring my self just yet to start taking it apart iv been haivng too much fun around my property and in the house w/ it. i made a suscussfull down and back up the staris climb last night. took me a good 3-4 trys befor i got my down word assent figured out but hay..... it was better than wathign what ever bs was on the tv....

[cloddyman]

a friend of mine had that exact chassis kit and it really didnt perform like a real crawler, ill post p some pics tomoro of what i have done to it so you can see the mild change i did to it to make it really work on the rocks.

[carzlutt]

rad, cant wiat. iv been doing some research and it seems i need to reviers the order of my links and get rid of my current survo set up so that i can run a center link where my current steering pivit is.

[carzlutt]

wellp its began. i got one of these on teh way as of a few hrs ago thanks to them being in stock over at holmeshobbies.com. there shipping seemed more than fair also at under 3 buks!....


i also kind of jumped the gun and bid on one of these a few days ago on ebay. and some how won it for a desent price (70buks).


i hope that i dont regret my impuels bidding as i kind of think right now i should have bought this set up insted.


i also went around town today trying to visit some of the local hobby shops. it kind of shocked me that both the hobbytown usa's i knew of are both gone. the other shop i visited had a good amount of new in box cars/trucks and some of the normaly replaced parts like contorl arms and tires and such. but i didnt find anything there to mount battery packs or to help me w/ relocating my servo's. really bumbed me out. guess its time to break out the tig welder in my shop and get to work.

first if i paln to tear down teh wole truck, install my locked rear diff (front has been epoxy locked i have a spare diff that is also epxoy locked i plan to toss in the rear), then to build some kind of custom upper link mount and also a custom servo mount. balh balh balh.......

is it wrong to want to sit in bed and tinker on your rig? iv been worned to not do it again ahhaha......

[jagg]

Originally Posted by carzlutt

is it wrong to want to sit in bed and tinker on your rig? iv been worned to not do it again ahhaha......

How'd you get it that close to the B room ..............The only time mine make it out of the basement is on a direct route to go out side.

[carzlutt]

well tachnicly i dont have a bed room. my house is being 98% rebuilt right now. i have my bed set up in the dining room. does that make a diffrence? ahhaaha..

oh oh.... i hit a ace, home depot, lowes, and a local famly ran non chain hardwear store looking for 1/4" alum tube. no luck. only home depot has 1/4" solid alum rod. i need to make new drag links and didnt want to have to go w/ buying something im nto sure would fit. figure making one out of tube would be easy. anyong have a sugeston? if i dont find any i guess ill have to buy the solid rod and drill/tap it as needed. seems like a bit of a pain but if its all i can get local.. it will do.

[cloddyman]

yeah everytime i even walk in the house with one of my crawlers i get the look, to get it in the bedroom without being taken out at the knees would be un heard of, lol....
oh yeah here is a pic of the crawler that i redid with the same chassis as yours....



i tore the whole thing apart and recreated a chassis and link setup that would allow the most amount of flex and articulation. And i must say its got flex!

[CD13]

Buy some 1/4 in tube and some all thread that will fit inside it and slide one inside the other.Then you have threads to screw the tie rod ends onto.
My stuff is in the spare room and I would throw her out if she gave me the eye

[carzlutt]

i cant find alum tube. where do you guys find it localy?

[CD13]

Brake line,about any auto store

[carzlutt]

isnt automotive break lines for the most part steel?..... i mean that seems fine but i was trying to stay with mostly alum just for grins and kicks.

thanks!....

wow this site rocks, i just found this, basicly what i figured i would ahve to do if i bought the solid stock....

http://www.rccrawler.com/customlink.htm

[CD13]

yea it will be steel but its up to you how you want to do it.either way is good,alum. looks nice but its gonna get scratched up anyway

[carzlutt]

ok been a busy week....... heres some pic's of the fun.

took some shots of my clod so i can remember what it started life looking like... as its about time for the over haul....



nbot so good looking w/ out its body


so many things wrong in thsi pic....




gee.... i wonder why the servo binds up when the suspenon is compressed.. things freaking up way tooo high....


wow thats some top nothc build quality....


and the jungel gym


and the questongs start....... being that my links are mounted to teh ends of the C part of the axle tube's ..... does this mean my axel tube's are more likely to break in this area?


now this is classy.... love the use of scrap alum and zip ties here...... def going in the trash can soon.


and my work shop, here is the view if u walk in and take about 5 steps then look to your right......


and here is what u see if u look to your left, this is one of my few project cars. the shop is much larger than what i took pic's of but u get the idea... iv got the ablity to cut, weld, bend, roll, eat what ever jsut about any meteral on earth.. and a fridge full of beer for the times i need help thinking.....


and now for the ity bit of fun i had today....




so i took the fun pics after i was done spreading this..... new load of joy.. its a parking lot in a bed.....


wow i wish i had a truck like this!.....


u can see part of the side of my shop and well me standing there after being confused it took under 12seconds to unlaod all that unfun....


so after abotu 4hrs in my bob cat i was able to take a break to get a drink and run over all the fun mini hills i made. my wife took the keys for the bob cat and decided to run into a tree and move some of the extra dirt form other projects we have going on. u can see her in the cab of the bob cat and my clod doing hot laps on some asphault!...... who had more fun?.....


wellp, now i sit and wiat. w/ a new raido system on the way and a new ESC also in the mail. its almost time to unbult my clod and start reworking everything. im trying to keep myself from doing it but....... i may brake out the tig welder for building some new clod parts...... but im trying to not have to weld any thing on the whole truck... seems a bit uber over kill....

i need to make a list and get other odd's and ends on the way like some motor mount plates so i can start playing w/ gearing and posibly even some gear reducotn units and oh on and on and on.........

my back hurts..... wonder if i could teach my clod to bring me a beer?....

[carzlutt]

well i got my esc today, wow this thing is small. only thing im worried about is that there is no talk about being able to operate dual motors properly. ....... its almost time to start the tear down... iv been thinking of picking up a set of motor plates and some diffrent pionos so that i can try and make this thing a better crawler, as of now it can hardly climb up any thing more than 2" tall, kind of lame when i see others get there rig to go up steps and such.... maybe some gear reducton units would help?.... eihter way its fun fun!

['83 chevy]

That esc has a 12t limit. What turn are the motors? You want them wired in parallel,so to to see if it will handle them do this. Lets say for example, 2 55t motors wired in parallel is seen by the esc as one 27.5t motor.(2 27T seen as a 13.5t etc.) You will want to upgrade those motors at some point anyway, as their turn might be too low for crawling.