RCCrawler Forums

DarkSoul · 12-28-2008, 09:45 AM

Very sharp, and nice build, I am anxiously awaiting an Aluminati chassis to do the same.

bRIBEGuy · 12-28-2008, 09:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crawlincircles

Lookin good

Thanx!

Quote:

Originally Posted by crawlincircles

That is one low rider!

Ya, a bit too low, IMO.........but hey, there is plenty of time for adjustments!

Quote:

Originally Posted by crawlincircles

So that tweaked chassis did not hurt anything in the end?

Not so much. I played with the link lengths, and everything got squared up.

It's a very rare occurrence for this to happen with a DmG chassis, and Jerry offered to fix it for me........but for now, I just wanna drive!

Quote:

Originally Posted by crawlincircles

I'm still trying to get Jerry to take my money but if he does not at least get the process started I might go the DNA slingshot route.

Slingshot is a nice chassis........very nice..........but the DMG's are almost like art, IMO. I'm glad I waited for mine.........

Quote:

Originally Posted by crawlincircles

No one else makes as cool a tuber as DMG but I think these smaller vendors get overwhelmed and freak out.

Everyone gets overwhelmed, but the holidays also steal a lot of peoples forum/shop time too. Give him a chance, I'm sure he'll come through.

Quote:

Originally Posted by crawlincircles

Anyway nice job!, let us know how she runs.

I'm hoping to do a test run today!

bRIBEGuy · 12-28-2008, 09:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkSoul

Very sharp, and nice build, I am anxiously awaiting an Aluminati chassis to do the same.

Thanx!

The Aluminati is nice.

I'm gonna try out a DcR next...

bRIBEGuy · 12-28-2008, 06:33 PM

Well, I got to drive the Nemesis for the first time this afternoon. It drew A LOT of attention and shows a ton of potential.

However, I ran into 5 issues:

1) Center Clearance is too low. At 2", it got hung up a lot, and high centered 4 times.

2) Articulation is too limited. The rig maxes out at ~30 degrees, and this hurt it's performance.

3) Shock Damping is too stiff.

4) Gearing is WAY too low for me. A 8t pinion with a 35t motor on 7.4v really puts the "Crawl" in crawler.

5) Power kept cutting out to motor/servos unexpectedly.

The first 3 issues are all easy fixes, and I posted earlier about how I predicted them to be the weak points.

The 4th point is a pain to fix, as it means tearing apart the whole truck, but it's still fairly simple. I could just go to a 3S pack instead, but I'm not sure if it would fit in the current location.

The 5th issue, however, is a bit of a mystery. About 12 times during the run, the steering would cut out, and the motor would become unresponsive. The ESC would still show it was receiving transmitter signals, however, nothing else would respond. I thought it might be the low voltage cut-off on the ESC, but turning off this feature still yielded the same results. The only thing I can think of now, is if the two servos are pulling enough power, that it is overwhelming the sidewinder ESC. I find this unlikely, but I might try wiring up a CC BEC anyway just to check.

bRIBEGuy · 12-29-2008, 11:07 AM

Man, what's going on with RCC lately? The site has been "unavailable" for the last 12 hours, and now is slow as heck. Oi...............

Anyway, played around with the electronics a bit in hopes of scaring off the gremlins. Tried removing the low voltage cut-off in case that was the issue, and low and behold...........no, it wasn't.

:(

So I figured I'd try adding in a CC BEC to give the servos some more power. Haven't had a chance to test it on the rocks yet, but so far I haven't been able to reproduce the "cutting out" issue by driving around on the carpet. My fingers are crossed that this issues is solved.

Now, onto the suspension................

bRIBEGuy · 12-30-2008, 02:06 PM

Picked up a set of Traxxas Big Bore Maxx shocks today. I figure 4 will go to this build, and the other 4 may end up on my DcR frame when it arrives.

Started off by adding some internal spring again, though this time they are a set from TCS that I apparently had kicking around. Sweet part-box find!

Damping was too stiff before, so I switched from 80/40wt front/rear to a lighter 40/25wt F/R. I think it may be a bit light in the front, but time will tell.

Shocks are "airing out" right now, so more info and pics to follow...............

ROCKEDUP RICKY · 12-30-2008, 04:25 PM

I'll bet the bec will fix #5

bRIBEGuy · 12-30-2008, 05:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ROCKEDUP RICKY

I'll bet the bec will fix #5

Most likely, I think you're correct.

bRIBEGuy · 12-30-2008, 05:07 PM

So I got the "Maxx" Big Bore shocks on, only to discover that the TCS springs might be too stiff. The truck cannot achieve full articulation without physically holding down a wheel. No good............

:(

Arg.

Just for kicks, I'm now rebuilding the original "Long" Big Bore shocks now with a "sprung" set up to see how that works out.

bRIBEGuy · 01-01-2009, 11:52 AM

So a few overdue pics.

Setting up the Maxx Big Bore's............

And getting them mounted up.

The extra length gave me the extra center clearance I was looking for.

The set-up was still to stiff though, and I had the constant "advice" of my girlfriend to give up on the "Droop", and go back to a regular "Sprung" set-up. I figured what the heck, and started the shock-build process all over again.

Out came the Traxxas "Long" Big Bore shocks again. This time they get 20wt oil in the front, and 30wt in the rear.

A dip into the parts box retrieved a set of short springs from a Duratrax Evader...........and they fit perfectly. White soft springs in the front, and yellow medium springs in the back.

Center clearance is now a little higher, damping is a little lighter, and flex is a bit better. Sounds like it's almost ready for some more testing........

bRIBEGuy · 01-04-2009, 09:54 AM

Alrighty.........round two of testing is set for 3pm this afternoon.

Fingers crossed...............

Jake · 01-05-2009, 01:01 PM

Hey nice rig

sooo how did round 2 of testing go

or

JP

bRIBEGuy · 01-05-2009, 05:45 PM

Round 2 of testing went fairly well.

I drove the truck for all of 2 minutes, and then launched straight into a competition.

The Good:

The DMG frame is very well built, and performs great.

I have virtually no torque twist with the sprung set-up, and the truck feels very well balanced.

The Bad:

I'm not sold on the R2-D tranny. The Gear ratio is WAY too low (yes, I realize I can...and will, fix this). My main issue though is that the dig sticks in the locked position really badly until you tap reverse. Not a big deal normally, but in a competition setting, its a HUGE pain. I think I got 10+ points yesterday as a result of this.

I lost a set screw out of my front drive shaft part way through the final round, leaving me in not-so-full-time-4wd.

Overall, I am quite happy with the rig. The suspension can still use a bit of tweaking, and at 9.25", I feel the truck is a bit too narrow. When my new rims/tires arrive though, this should help.

I managed to still place a respectable 4th, however, so things are definitely progressing well.

A few pics from the comp:

bRIBEGuy · 01-25-2009, 12:22 PM

Time for an update!

I'm still waiting on some teflon bushings for the R2-D tranny in hopes of solving the "sticking" issue. Until these show up, I'm not going to bother pulling the tranny to re-do the gearing. When I do, I'll bump up a few teeth on the pinion, and install some nice splined MIP drive shafts I picked up.

After over a month, my Mayhem Competition Double Phatty rims finally showed up. The quality of them is nothing short of phenomenal, and I think they look just pimp with the Aluminum DMG chassis. I'm running 4 bearings in each front rim, and two in each rear.

While the rims are great, and widen up the trucks stance to 10.25", not all has been peachy. The Hex is machined deep enough that the stock aluminum MIP CVD hex bottoms out and causes the rims to bind against the aluminum knuckles. I added a 1mm washer on the hex, and it seems to have solved the issue.

Tires are now a set of HPI Rock Grabbers..........stock foams in the rear, and Trinity "soft" memory foams up front (which I think will end up being too small and soft). I'll find out today, as we're running another comp this afternoon.

And now some pics.......................

crawlincircles · 01-25-2009, 06:25 PM

The mayhem's look good and all but do they come with a mini air gun to take out and put back all those screws?

Every time I see a set I wonder how many beers it would take to get through 128 of them!

I just started my DcR build this week. Its a little bit of a challenge being new to it but fun also. I am still waiting on a bunch of parts to get here but am hoping to have a runner by next weekend.

Oh and I saw your last post in the DMG thread and wanted to tell you that I think its very nice of you to put Jerry's kids through college

Be sure to post some pics of the other builds when you get them going.

Chris

bRIBEGuy · 01-25-2009, 09:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crawlincircles

The mayhem's look good and all but do they come with a mini air gun to take out and put back all those screws?

Every time I see a set I wonder how many beers it would take to get through 128 of them!

I with they came with an air gun! The worst part was finishing all 4, and realizing I forgot to put weights in 3 of them!

176 screws is WAY too many to threadlock and install in one day!

And sadly, it was WAY too early for beer........so it took 3 cups of coffee.

Handicrawler · 01-26-2009, 10:02 AM

How did those tires work out for you in the competition? A fellow was running them at our comp this weekend and won. Love the build, I love my nemesis chassis and am looking forward to building another one!

bRIBEGuy · 01-26-2009, 07:46 PM

Tires worked really well. I thought the uber-soft front foams and higher GC might hurt me a bit, but the rig drove stellar. I managed a smooth 4th place finish.

My R2-D bushings showed up today too, so I'm hoping to get a quick rebuild in this week before next weekends comp.

eclipse9 · 01-26-2009, 09:48 PM

hey
great biuld im kinda going toward your way and kind of copying you lol
so do the wheels touch the chassis during full articulation?

bRIBEGuy · 01-27-2009, 05:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eclipse9

hey
great build

Thanks!

I'm really happy with it so far.

Quote:

Originally Posted by eclipse9

im kinda going toward your way and kind of copying you lol

That's fine by me!

Quote:

Originally Posted by eclipse9

so do the wheels touch the chassis during full articulation?

Nope. Everything is smooth with no conflicts.

01-25-2009, 06:25 PM	#55
crawlincircles Quarry Creeper Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Boise Posts: 229	lookin good The mayhem's look good and all but do they come with a mini air gun to take out and put back all those screws? Every time I see a set I wonder how many beers it would take to get through 128 of them! I just started my DcR build this week. Its a little bit of a challenge being new to it but fun also. I am still waiting on a bunch of parts to get here but am hoping to have a runner by next weekend. Oh and I saw your last post in the DMG thread and wanted to tell you that I think its very nice of you to put Jerry's kids through college Be sure to post some pics of the other builds when you get them going. Chris

12-28-2008, 09:45 AM	#41
DarkSoul Pebble Pounder Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: San Jose Posts: 197	Very sharp, and nice build, I am anxiously awaiting an Aluminati chassis to do the same.

12-28-2008, 06:33 PM	#44
bRIBEGuy Rock Crawler Join Date: May 2004 Location: Calgary Posts: 807	Well, I got to drive the Nemesis for the first time this afternoon. It drew A LOT of attention and shows a ton of potential. However, I ran into 5 issues: 1) Center Clearance is too low. At 2", it got hung up a lot, and high centered 4 times. 2) Articulation is too limited. The rig maxes out at ~30 degrees, and this hurt it's performance. 3) Shock Damping is too stiff. 4) Gearing is WAY too low for me. A 8t pinion with a 35t motor on 7.4v really puts the "Crawl" in crawler. 5) Power kept cutting out to motor/servos unexpectedly. The first 3 issues are all easy fixes, and I posted earlier about how I predicted them to be the weak points. The 4th point is a pain to fix, as it means tearing apart the whole truck, but it's still fairly simple. I could just go to a 3S pack instead, but I'm not sure if it would fit in the current location. The 5th issue, however, is a bit of a mystery. About 12 times during the run, the steering would cut out, and the motor would become unresponsive. The ESC would still show it was receiving transmitter signals, however, nothing else would respond. I thought it might be the low voltage cut-off on the ESC, but turning off this feature still yielded the same results. The only thing I can think of now, is if the two servos are pulling enough power, that it is overwhelming the sidewinder ESC. I find this unlikely, but I might try wiring up a CC BEC anyway just to check.

12-29-2008, 11:07 AM	#45
bRIBEGuy Rock Crawler Join Date: May 2004 Location: Calgary Posts: 807	Man, what's going on with RCC lately? The site has been "unavailable" for the last 12 hours, and now is slow as heck. Oi............... Anyway, played around with the electronics a bit in hopes of scaring off the gremlins. Tried removing the low voltage cut-off in case that was the issue, and low and behold...........no, it wasn't. :( So I figured I'd try adding in a CC BEC to give the servos some more power. Haven't had a chance to test it on the rocks yet, but so far I haven't been able to reproduce the "cutting out" issue by driving around on the carpet. My fingers are crossed that this issues is solved. Now, onto the suspension................

12-30-2008, 02:06 PM	#46
bRIBEGuy Rock Crawler Join Date: May 2004 Location: Calgary Posts: 807	Picked up a set of Traxxas Big Bore Maxx shocks today. I figure 4 will go to this build, and the other 4 may end up on my DcR frame when it arrives. Started off by adding some internal spring again, though this time they are a set from TCS that I apparently had kicking around. Sweet part-box find! Damping was too stiff before, so I switched from 80/40wt front/rear to a lighter 40/25wt F/R. I think it may be a bit light in the front, but time will tell. Shocks are "airing out" right now, so more info and pics to follow...............

12-30-2008, 04:25 PM	#47
ROCKEDUP RICKY Old guy Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Northwest Arkie-saw and we got ROCKS! Posts: 7,548	I'll bet the bec will fix #5

12-30-2008, 05:07 PM	#49
bRIBEGuy Rock Crawler Join Date: May 2004 Location: Calgary Posts: 807	So I got the "Maxx" Big Bore shocks on, only to discover that the TCS springs might be too stiff. The truck cannot achieve full articulation without physically holding down a wheel. No good............ :( Arg. Just for kicks, I'm now rebuilding the original "Long" Big Bore shocks now with a "sprung" set up to see how that works out.

01-01-2009, 11:52 AM	#50
bRIBEGuy Rock Crawler Join Date: May 2004 Location: Calgary Posts: 807	So a few overdue pics. Setting up the Maxx Big Bore's............ And getting them mounted up. The extra length gave me the extra center clearance I was looking for. The set-up was still to stiff though, and I had the constant "advice" of my girlfriend to give up on the "Droop", and go back to a regular "Sprung" set-up. I figured what the heck, and started the shock-build process all over again. Out came the Traxxas "Long" Big Bore shocks again. This time they get 20wt oil in the front, and 30wt in the rear. A dip into the parts box retrieved a set of short springs from a Duratrax Evader...........and they fit perfectly. White soft springs in the front, and yellow medium springs in the back. Center clearance is now a little higher, damping is a little lighter, and flex is a bit better. Sounds like it's almost ready for some more testing........

01-04-2009, 09:54 AM	#51
bRIBEGuy Rock Crawler Join Date: May 2004 Location: Calgary Posts: 807	Alrighty.........round two of testing is set for 3pm this afternoon. Fingers crossed...............

01-05-2009, 01:01 PM	#52
Jake Rock Crawler Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Arrowhead Diggin Posts: 622	Hey nice rig sooo how did round 2 of testing go or JP

01-05-2009, 05:45 PM	#53
bRIBEGuy Rock Crawler Join Date: May 2004 Location: Calgary Posts: 807	Round 2 of testing went fairly well. I drove the truck for all of 2 minutes, and then launched straight into a competition. The Good: The DMG frame is very well built, and performs great. I have virtually no torque twist with the sprung set-up, and the truck feels very well balanced. The Bad: I'm not sold on the R2-D tranny. The Gear ratio is WAY too low (yes, I realize I can...and will, fix this). My main issue though is that the dig sticks in the locked position really badly until you tap reverse. Not a big deal normally, but in a competition setting, its a HUGE pain. I think I got 10+ points yesterday as a result of this. I lost a set screw out of my front drive shaft part way through the final round, leaving me in not-so-full-time-4wd. Overall, I am quite happy with the rig. The suspension can still use a bit of tweaking, and at 9.25", I feel the truck is a bit too narrow. When my new rims/tires arrive though, this should help. I managed to still place a respectable 4th, however, so things are definitely progressing well. A few pics from the comp:

Sponsored Links

01-25-2009, 12:22 PM	#54
bRIBEGuy Rock Crawler Join Date: May 2004 Location: Calgary Posts: 807	Time for an update! I'm still waiting on some teflon bushings for the R2-D tranny in hopes of solving the "sticking" issue. Until these show up, I'm not going to bother pulling the tranny to re-do the gearing. When I do, I'll bump up a few teeth on the pinion, and install some nice splined MIP drive shafts I picked up. After over a month, my Mayhem Competition Double Phatty rims finally showed up. The quality of them is nothing short of phenomenal, and I think they look just pimp with the Aluminum DMG chassis. I'm running 4 bearings in each front rim, and two in each rear. While the rims are great, and widen up the trucks stance to 10.25", not all has been peachy. The Hex is machined deep enough that the stock aluminum MIP CVD hex bottoms out and causes the rims to bind against the aluminum knuckles. I added a 1mm washer on the hex, and it seems to have solved the issue. Tires are now a set of HPI Rock Grabbers..........stock foams in the rear, and Trinity "soft" memory foams up front (which I think will end up being too small and soft). I'll find out today, as we're running another comp this afternoon. And now some pics.......................

01-26-2009, 10:02 AM	#57
Handicrawler Quarry Creeper Join Date: May 2006 Location: Matthews Posts: 264	How did those tires work out for you in the competition? A fellow was running them at our comp this weekend and won. Love the build, I love my nemesis chassis and am looking forward to building another one!

01-26-2009, 07:46 PM	#58
bRIBEGuy Rock Crawler Join Date: May 2004 Location: Calgary Posts: 807	Tires worked really well. I thought the uber-soft front foams and higher GC might hurt me a bit, but the rig drove stellar. I managed a smooth 4th place finish. My R2-D bushings showed up today too, so I'm hoping to get a quick rebuild in this week before next weekends comp.

01-26-2009, 09:48 PM	#59
eclipse9 Pebble Pounder Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: hercules Posts: 124	hey great biuld im kinda going toward your way and kind of copying you lol so do the wheels touch the chassis during full articulation?

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Thread: DMG Nemesis Comp Build