RCCrawler Forums

Del Monte · 06-03-2008, 05:51 PM

My dad has been running his prototype Banana rig for a few months now, with basically my leftover spare parts and running gear... Pede trans, TQ3, stock axles, etc. He's been driving a lot more lately and putting in some respectable comp finishes, so it was time for a rebuild.

With the West Coast Crawler Challenge less then a month away, we decided to go full-out and build the ultimate comp-worthy rig.

With the pede trans out of the way, there's plenty of room for the Ax-10 trans and VF dig. Even with the 2" skidplate, everything tucks nicely inside the chassis.

Up next was the links... We went with axial 70mm threaded links for the lowers, and 65mm links for the uppers. Using axial's offset rod ends from the AX80005 linkage set, we're able to triangulate the lower links a lot more without binding, and eliminate a lot of axle steer.

On to the shocks...
The fronts are Revo's set up 50/50 with 60wt. oil and use cut TLT springs on both sides of the shock piston. This keeps the front end from unloading to much on the big vertical stuff, but still allows for some decent flex.

The rear shocks are Revo's with a cut down TLT spring on top of the piston. The spring is cut very short, maybe 1/4 of the length of a stock TLT spring. We used 100wt. oil, but only filled the shock about halfway up. As the suspension twists and moves further from the chassis, the shock piston hits the oil and slows down dramatically. It makes for a very smooth cycyling suspension that reacts quickly for big vertical launches, but is slow and controllable in the twisty crawling stuff.

We also decided to step up the electronics. Thanks to RCP, my dad will be competing in style with a DX3R, and crawling smoothly with a Mamba Max/55t and 3s lipo

Losi Rock Claws will provide plenty of traction to get this rig up and over anything.

So far in two days of testing, this rig has easily conquered everything we've thrown at it. Its by far the best handling rig I have ever driven. Somehow, its making MY comp rig look pretty bad... but I haven't started my WCC updates yet

Stay tuned for more updates, and come see this rig in action at the West Coast Crawler Challenge at Lake Wohlford June 27-29th

BoNuS LiNe · 06-03-2008, 06:58 PM

sweet rig , clean design nice and simple cheers

rc4x4crawler · 06-03-2008, 07:17 PM

Your dads rig is looking good Jake. What do you think helped the rig the most compared to his old banana set up?

BR4x4 · 06-03-2008, 07:37 PM

Looks really great man.

Sweet Setup.

Del Monte · 06-03-2008, 07:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rc4x4crawler

Your dads rig is looking good Jake. What do you think helped the rig the most compared to his old banana set up?

Moving the lower links in helped a lot. We're trying the parallel uppers setup in the front too, and so far it seems to work great. I may try that setup on my rig too.

rc4x4crawler · 06-03-2008, 08:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Del Monte

Moving the lower links in helped a lot. We're trying the parallel uppers setup in the front too, and so far it seems to work great. I may try that setup on my rig too.

Oh so like 2 in. wide on the axle too for the uppers?

KRAWLR4life · 06-03-2008, 09:05 PM

Looks good Jake... giving me some reference on my build

swell searcher · 06-04-2008, 07:52 AM

nice job... any issues with the chassis side lower link bolts bending or coming loose? looks like alot of force/leverage would occur there...

quattros · 06-04-2008, 01:03 PM

Jake looking good

One ? how much weight in the wheels

Nabil · 06-04-2008, 01:17 PM

instead of you sending me that other chassis, can i just send you a box of parts and have you put it together?

pretty please?

Del Monte · 06-04-2008, 03:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by swell searcher

nice job... any issues with the chassis side lower link bolts bending or coming loose? looks like alot of force/leverage would occur there...

Hasn't been an issue yet, and my comp rig is set up similarly. I'll probably add a brace between the two bolts to strengthen it up some more.

Quote:

Originally Posted by quattros

Jake looking good

One ? how much weight in the wheels

The fronts are around 18oz. total for the wheel/tire/weights, and the rears are around 10oz.

Quote:

Originally Posted by e-hills4x4

instead of you sending me that other chassis, can i just send you a box of parts and have you put it together?

pretty please?

haha, sure
Building them is half the fun

rc4x4crawler · 06-04-2008, 04:58 PM

Hey whats the ground clearance on that rig?

Del Monte · 06-04-2008, 05:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rc4x4crawler

Hey whats the ground clearance on that rig?

This one ended up a little taller, 2 3/4" in the front, to almost 3" under the back. It still sidehills amazingly well though

rc4x4crawler · 06-04-2008, 06:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Del Monte

This one ended up a little taller, 2 3/4" in the front, to almost 3" under the back. It still sidehills amazingly well though

Ya right now i'm trying a little higher ride height about 3.25 in the rear and 3 in the front. It sidehills great still but i'm not to happy with the ups and downs as much. I think i'm gonna try some 3 inch shocks and lower to about 2.5-2.75 and try it.

Del Monte · 06-05-2008, 09:34 PM

Got a new Grappler all painted up... in the brightest yellow I could find

This rig keeps impressing me. Its almost scary good for a rig we really haven't tuned yet. I'm liking it so much that I'll probably steal it tomorrow night for a shakedown run at RCP's Friday night fights

Hildy · 06-06-2008, 03:07 PM

Last pic is cool

I have been impressed with the Banana's and the various videos I watched.

How would you compare this truck to your old Falcon comp rig? I remember reading good things about that truck and alot of wins

Rockpiledriver · 06-06-2008, 03:18 PM

Looks great Jake!

Btw, did you get my message about the stickers?

axelsnapr · 06-06-2008, 03:49 PM

Look'n great Jake!.....Now we've got Mike to worry about too??!!:-(.........

.....

Del Monte · 06-07-2008, 11:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hildy

Last pic is cool

I have been impressed with the Banana's and the various videos I watched.

How would you compare this truck to your old Falcon comp rig? I remember reading good things about that truck and alot of wins

I really liked my Falcon rig, so I used it as a starting point for my suspension geometry. With the Banana, I gained 1/4"-1/2" of ground clearance, and the CG is still lower.

This rig cruised through last night's Friday night fights with a perfect score... and a new fanclub

Prepare for world dominaton

speed goat · 06-09-2008, 03:53 PM

Hey Jake Do you like the rockshocks or the Revo shock set up better ?
Did you get those 2 things we talked about in yet?

06-03-2008, 05:51 PM	#1
Del Monte Y-Town Crawlers Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Not Hesperia Posts: 2,481	WCCC Top banana build My dad has been running his prototype Banana rig for a few months now, with basically my leftover spare parts and running gear... Pede trans, TQ3, stock axles, etc. He's been driving a lot more lately and putting in some respectable comp finishes, so it was time for a rebuild. With the West Coast Crawler Challenge less then a month away, we decided to go full-out and build the ultimate comp-worthy rig. With the pede trans out of the way, there's plenty of room for the Ax-10 trans and VF dig. Even with the 2" skidplate, everything tucks nicely inside the chassis. Up next was the links... We went with axial 70mm threaded links for the lowers, and 65mm links for the uppers. Using axial's offset rod ends from the AX80005 linkage set, we're able to triangulate the lower links a lot more without binding, and eliminate a lot of axle steer. On to the shocks... The fronts are Revo's set up 50/50 with 60wt. oil and use cut TLT springs on both sides of the shock piston. This keeps the front end from unloading to much on the big vertical stuff, but still allows for some decent flex. The rear shocks are Revo's with a cut down TLT spring on top of the piston. The spring is cut very short, maybe 1/4 of the length of a stock TLT spring. We used 100wt. oil, but only filled the shock about halfway up. As the suspension twists and moves further from the chassis, the shock piston hits the oil and slows down dramatically. It makes for a very smooth cycyling suspension that reacts quickly for big vertical launches, but is slow and controllable in the twisty crawling stuff. We also decided to step up the electronics. Thanks to RCP, my dad will be competing in style with a DX3R, and crawling smoothly with a Mamba Max/55t and 3s lipo Losi Rock Claws will provide plenty of traction to get this rig up and over anything. So far in two days of testing, this rig has easily conquered everything we've thrown at it. Its by far the best handling rig I have ever driven. Somehow, its making MY comp rig look pretty bad... but I haven't started my WCC updates yet Stay tuned for more updates, and come see this rig in action at the West Coast Crawler Challenge at Lake Wohlford June 27-29th Last edited by Del Monte; 06-08-2008 at 01:54 PM.

06-03-2008, 07:17 PM	#3
rc4x4crawler Rock Crawler Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Rancho Cucamonga Posts: 520	top banana Your dads rig is looking good Jake. What do you think helped the rig the most compared to his old banana set up?

06-03-2008, 07:37 PM	#4
BR4x4 Pebble Pounder Join Date: May 2008 Location: SoCal Posts: 157	Looks really great man. Sweet Setup. Last edited by BR4x4; 06-03-2008 at 07:48 PM.

06-04-2008, 04:58 PM	#12
rc4x4crawler Rock Crawler Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Rancho Cucamonga Posts: 520	ride height Hey whats the ground clearance on that rig?

06-06-2008, 03:49 PM	#18
axelsnapr Quarry Creeper Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Apple Valley, CA Posts: 409	Look'n great Jake!.....Now we've got Mike to worry about too??!!:-(..............

06-03-2008, 06:58 PM	#2
BoNuS LiNe Quarry Creeper Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: no more lockers Posts: 400	sweet rig , clean design nice and simple cheers

06-03-2008, 09:05 PM	#7
KRAWLR4life RCC Addict Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: So Cal USA Posts: 1,109	Looks good Jake... giving me some reference on my build

06-04-2008, 07:52 AM	#8
swell searcher varcor.org Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: 757 Posts: 1,073	nice job... any issues with the chassis side lower link bolts bending or coming loose? looks like alot of force/leverage would occur there...

06-04-2008, 01:03 PM	#9
quattros Quarry Creeper Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: San Diego Posts: 212	Jake looking good One ? how much weight in the wheels

06-04-2008, 01:17 PM	#10
Nabil no talent hack Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Redwood City Posts: 2,479	instead of you sending me that other chassis, can i just send you a box of parts and have you put it together? pretty please?

06-05-2008, 09:34 PM	#15
Del Monte Y-Town Crawlers Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Not Hesperia Posts: 2,481	Got a new Grappler all painted up... in the brightest yellow I could find This rig keeps impressing me. Its almost scary good for a rig we really haven't tuned yet. I'm liking it so much that I'll probably steal it tomorrow night for a shakedown run at RCP's Friday night fights

06-06-2008, 03:07 PM	#16
Hildy Rock Crawler Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: central PA Posts: 679	Last pic is cool I have been impressed with the Banana's and the various videos I watched. How would you compare this truck to your old Falcon comp rig? I remember reading good things about that truck and alot of wins

06-06-2008, 03:18 PM	#17
Rockpiledriver I wanna be Dave Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: SoCal Posts: 5,027	Looks great Jake! Btw, did you get my message about the stickers?

06-09-2008, 03:53 PM	#20
speed goat Pebble Pounder Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Evanston Posts: 187	Hey Jake Do you like the rockshocks or the Revo shock set up better ? Did you get those 2 things we talked about in yet?

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