RCCrawler Forums

Knoc · 11-08-2006, 09:54 PM

I want to design my own chassis (I have a dad whos a machinest), but I ran into a couple questions.. Im looking at doing something in the \____/ shape. I know thats a common style and was wondering if someone could give me the lengths and heights I need it to be. I just took my Tlt out of the box, and them tvps GOTTA go..lol.. Im new to the whole crawler thing (as Im sure ya can tell), and any help would be greatly appriciated.

(Please dont move this into the noob section, Noone reads in there.

)

srfrkyle1234 · 11-08-2006, 10:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Knoc

I want to design my own chassis

Most of the time that includes coming up with your own measurements. your not going to get a definitive answer here because either 1. no two chassis are the same length (can range from 6-12") and 2. much of the chassis here are sold in the vendors section... and they dont want to give out their measurements because then everyone would replicate the chassis.

if your friends dad is a machinist, i'd say make up some drawings on graph paper. give him 2 or 3 designs. he'll most likely scan them and cut them with his equipment. then you can decide which one you like the best. i wish I had a friend that was a machinist, thats for sure.

Knoc · 11-09-2006, 12:53 AM

Ok cool. Thanks! I wasnt sure if there was a exact length it should be and such. So good to know. Thanks for the help!

JamisonWorkshop · 11-09-2006, 10:21 AM

Either way a good start is going to be right around the same size as the stock side plates. Just tweak it a little bit to your liking

Knoc · 11-09-2006, 05:12 PM

ok cool. Ill be sure to post up some pics when I get them done up. Thanks again!

toyofast · 11-09-2006, 06:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Knoc

I want to design my own chassis (I have a dad whos a machinest), but I ran into a couple questions.. Im looking at doing something in the \____/ shape. I know thats a common style and was wondering if someone could give me the lengths and heights I need it to be.

Read the bold portions of your post. You want to design your own chassis, then ask for someone to build it for you.

I don't get it or have I been here too long?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Knoc

(Please dont move this into the noob section, Noone reads in there.

)

Why not? It's a n00b type question. Did you use the search feature? If so, what did you search for?

Move this to the n00bie section.

Wrecker · 11-09-2006, 07:10 PM

Just build one with a ton of holes to adjust everything first. Then once you figure out which holes you like the best for the various components (shocks, links) after crawling with it, then design another chassis that incorporates just those holes.

USATorque55 · 11-09-2006, 07:13 PM

I laughed when I read this thread, because my one of my first topics ever started here was exactly this.

Guess who gave me trouble?

Bulu Design w/ stock tranny.

We all learn, we all realize that somethings such as building a TLT aren't set in stone, you can choose what you want and make it however, there is no easy way to design one of these trucks from scratch with no experience.

If you want some help with your chassis, feel free to e-mail me or PM me, I'll help you out.

toyofast · 11-09-2006, 07:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by USATorque55

I laughed when I read this thread, because my one of my first topics ever started here was exactly this.

Guess who gave me trouble?

Bulu Design w/ stock tranny.

I didn't even have to click the link

But since you have been here long enough you too have even seen threads like this often. After the 100th thread even you can say, "enough, why can't people search?".... Right?

All someone has to do is go to comps or get togethers and handle peoples rigs. 99% of the people I have delt with are fine with you touching and feeling their crawlers, hell most will even let you drive them if you ask. Just look at pictures, ask simple questions about them. Don't go asking right away how they built it or if you can get the measurements so you can copy their design or rip off a vendor here on RCC.... that's not right.

The TLT based chassis currently available on RCC through the vendors is cheap. Spend that $60'ish dollars and wait 2-3 days to get it and toss things on it. Or spend $20-30 in supplies, 3 weeks trying to figure it out and in the end spending $60'ish bucks for one already being sold. Trust me, if you have to ask for all the important information...you are already over your head. If you do decide to take it upon YOURSELF to build a chassis, most likely in 1 month you'll be ordering a chassis from one of our vendors.

I'm not trying to be rude but honest. If you have fab skils and the tools at hand, do it. If not, just pony up and buy a chassis.

Knoc · 11-09-2006, 08:42 PM

I wasnt asking for EXACT measurments of everything. Just more or less the length of a normal sized (12-13inch wheelbase) chassis. (From front to rear) More or less of a base to start from. Im not looking to "steal" any ones design. (Hense the idea I wanted to create my own desing). If I wanted to steal there design, Id buy one of theres, copy it and sell it the one I bought. But Im not a dick like that, nore even want to. I just didnt want to design something up, and get it wrong by a few inches. Im sure you guys can understand. I dont have any comps or anything around here. To be honest with you, Ive never even seen a Rc crawler in person. My "Local" track is 2 hours from here. So I dont have that option.

And oh yeah, I did use the search function, and didnt find much of a answer. I always use the search function (Hense my 10 posts), so I dont really appriciate getting grief for a simple question. You dont have anything to contribute to the thread besides pretending your a mod, then dont post anything and go on your way.

Knoc · 11-09-2006, 08:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by toyofast

If you do decide to take it upon YOURSELF to build a chassis, most likely in 1 month you'll be ordering a chassis from one of our vendors.

I can gurantee I wont. When I make mine, if something isnt right, Ill just go and make another one with the fix.. Not really brain surgery. I appriciate the offer of help though USA. Ill keep that in mind.

toyofast · 11-09-2006, 09:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Knoc

I wasnt asking for EXACT measurments of everything. Just more or less the length of a normal sized (12-13inch wheelbase) chassis. (From front to rear) More or less of a base to start from.

It sounded like you were asking for near exact #'s to work from. A 10", 12" or even 15" WB based rig can all have the same chassis. It's all about what your chassis is made for. Comps? Scale? Basher? How long are your links? You have asked a question that can have 100's of answers.

Take your axles, place them on your workbench, mock up the transmission about where you'd like to see it in the chassis, build a cardboard template and go from there. Simple.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Knoc

Im not looking to "steal" any ones design. (Hense the idea I wanted to create my own desing). If I wanted to steal there design, Id buy one of theres, copy it and sell it the one I bought. But Im not a dick like that, nore even want to. I just didnt want to design something up, and get it wrong by a few inches. Im sure you guys can understand. I dont have any comps or anything around here. To be honest with you, Ive never even seen a Rc crawler in person. My "Local" track is 2 hours from here. So I dont have that option.

The common design of \__/ is from our Original Bulu series, the Bulu1. It's been copied to death. Anytime some tosses up that shape it amazes me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Knoc

You dont have anything to contribute to the thread besides pretending your a mod, then dont post anything and go on your way.

If I was a Mod I would have moved this into the n00bie section without giving it a second thought. Since ORCRC got everyone hooked on TLT axles back in 2004 I have seen threads like yours many, many times.

Here, I searched and came up with a lot of threads to thumb through.

1st, searched for "chassis" in only the TLT section:
http://www.rccrawler.com/forum/searc...earchid=445713
2nd, searched for "custom chassis" in only the TLT section:
http://www.rccrawler.com/forum/searc...earchid=445715

Not that I have time to look at the hundreds of posts but I'm sure you can find something within all that mess. If not, find a chassis that you like and PM that person with a couple questions.

I have said it many times before.....

Treat RCC as a research paper.

slugbugg · 11-10-2006, 05:17 AM

Hey KNOC, good luck on your chassis.

I'll be building my own also this winter (once I find my hacksaw and clean my files-

).
I'm still getting stuff together and looking at various setups to see what features I want on mine.
There isnt a specific design I've seen that I'd want to copy but there must be a best overall chassis dimension formula.
I have a pretty good idea/image in my head of what I want so far but since I have all winter to build it I'm in no rush.

Anyway the cool thing about designing your own is you can totally personalize it.Since your dad is a/the machinist it shouldnt be to much of a problem.I'm assuming he'll be using a CNC machine to cut it.

Bknight · 11-10-2006, 08:02 AM

i ran into the same problem trying to make my own chassis. buy some cheap cutting boards and jsut start cutting chassis, once you find one that works ok, turn that into your chassis an make it out of some sort of metal

dieselfuel · 11-10-2006, 08:52 AM

hey good luck let us know how it goes.

rockmike · 11-10-2006, 10:33 AM

heyknoc keep searching and learning.Abetter question would have been do i setup a 70/30 link split or like a 60/40 or maybe a 50/50 whats the ideal link config. for doing?? mimic the stock chassis size make it alittle wider be sure to desighn a lay down tranny the first time.just my 2 cents.hope this helps.

Knoc · 11-10-2006, 02:47 PM

Thanks fellas! I appriciate the kind words. Ill be sure to keep you guys posted on the design I go with.

srfrkyle1234 · 11-11-2006, 05:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by toyofast

The common design of \__/ is from our Original Bulu series, the Bulu1. It's been copied to death. Anytime some tosses up that shape it amazes me.

So your like an RC god?

Not.

slugbugg · 11-11-2006, 06:17 PM

Watch it srfrkyle1234 you got to give him credit for making the original most common design out there.

He's kind of like the guy who found fire and it's been COPIED ever since.

xjman · 11-11-2006, 08:54 PM

The Bulu is defentally a copied chassis. Good platform from what I understand

Buiding your own chassis, this is what I did. I have a 3D cad program so I designed what I wanted in that.
I printed it out with measurements and built it out of wood(I chose wood because I could make it exact dimentions and thickness because of the army of tools my family has collected for wood working over the years).
I placed my axles where I would want them to be and worked with what I had, I found out that it didnt work as well as I thought it would. Its really much harder than you can imagine to create a chassis that is great all around. Most of the vendors have years of expierence with RC and 1:1 wheelin that helps them create the chassis they offer.

I'm not saying you can't do it, just dont underestimate the dificulty of doing that. Just because you have a machine shop at your disposal doesnt mean its going to be an enjoyable journey to creating a chassis.

11-08-2006, 09:54 PM	#1
Knoc I joined the Band! Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: RcFanatics.net Posts: 380	Custom chassis measurements?? I want to design my own chassis (I have a dad whos a machinest), but I ran into a couple questions.. Im looking at doing something in the \____/ shape. I know thats a common style and was wondering if someone could give me the lengths and heights I need it to be. I just took my Tlt out of the box, and them tvps GOTTA go..lol.. Im new to the whole crawler thing (as Im sure ya can tell), and any help would be greatly appriciated. (Please dont move this into the noob section, Noone reads in there. )

11-10-2006, 05:17 AM	#13
slugbugg Newbie Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: state of disbelief Posts: 28	Hey KNOC, good luck on your chassis. I'll be building my own also this winter (once I find my hacksaw and clean my files-). I'm still getting stuff together and looking at various setups to see what features I want on mine. There isnt a specific design I've seen that I'd want to copy but there must be a best overall chassis dimension formula. I have a pretty good idea/image in my head of what I want so far but since I have all winter to build it I'm in no rush. Anyway the cool thing about designing your own is you can totally personalize it.Since your dad is a/the machinist it shouldnt be to much of a problem.I'm assuming he'll be using a CNC machine to cut it.

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11-09-2006, 12:53 AM	#3
Knoc I joined the Band! Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: RcFanatics.net Posts: 380	Ok cool. Thanks! I wasnt sure if there was a exact length it should be and such. So good to know. Thanks for the help!

11-09-2006, 10:21 AM	#4
JamisonWorkshop Quarry Creeper Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Maryland Posts: 319	Either way a good start is going to be right around the same size as the stock side plates. Just tweak it a little bit to your liking

11-09-2006, 05:12 PM	#5
Knoc I joined the Band! Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: RcFanatics.net Posts: 380	ok cool. Ill be sure to post up some pics when I get them done up. Thanks again!

11-09-2006, 07:10 PM	#7
Wrecker [HOONIGAN] Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Grand Junction Posts: 4,269	Just build one with a ton of holes to adjust everything first. Then once you figure out which holes you like the best for the various components (shocks, links) after crawling with it, then design another chassis that incorporates just those holes.

11-09-2006, 07:13 PM	#8
USATorque55 Quarry Creeper Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Westchester Posts: 370	I laughed when I read this thread, because my one of my first topics ever started here was exactly this. Guess who gave me trouble? Bulu Design w/ stock tranny. We all learn, we all realize that somethings such as building a TLT aren't set in stone, you can choose what you want and make it however, there is no easy way to design one of these trucks from scratch with no experience. If you want some help with your chassis, feel free to e-mail me or PM me, I'll help you out.

11-09-2006, 08:42 PM	#10
Knoc I joined the Band! Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: RcFanatics.net Posts: 380	I wasnt asking for EXACT measurments of everything. Just more or less the length of a normal sized (12-13inch wheelbase) chassis. (From front to rear) More or less of a base to start from. Im not looking to "steal" any ones design. (Hense the idea I wanted to create my own desing). If I wanted to steal there design, Id buy one of theres, copy it and sell it the one I bought. But Im not a dick like that, nore even want to. I just didnt want to design something up, and get it wrong by a few inches. Im sure you guys can understand. I dont have any comps or anything around here. To be honest with you, Ive never even seen a Rc crawler in person. My "Local" track is 2 hours from here. So I dont have that option. And oh yeah, I did use the search function, and didnt find much of a answer. I always use the search function (Hense my 10 posts), so I dont really appriciate getting grief for a simple question. You dont have anything to contribute to the thread besides pretending your a mod, then dont post anything and go on your way.

11-10-2006, 08:02 AM	#14
Bknight Quarry Creeper Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Reno Posts: 448	i ran into the same problem trying to make my own chassis. buy some cheap cutting boards and jsut start cutting chassis, once you find one that works ok, turn that into your chassis an make it out of some sort of metal

11-10-2006, 08:52 AM	#15
dieselfuel I wanna be Dave Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Henderson/Las Vegas, NV Posts: 5,032	hey good luck let us know how it goes.

11-10-2006, 10:33 AM	#16
rockmike Rock Crawler Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: pasco,Wa Posts: 639	heyknoc keep searching and learning.Abetter question would have been do i setup a 70/30 link split or like a 60/40 or maybe a 50/50 whats the ideal link config. for doing?? mimic the stock chassis size make it alittle wider be sure to desighn a lay down tranny the first time.just my 2 cents.hope this helps.

11-10-2006, 02:47 PM	#17
Knoc I joined the Band! Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: RcFanatics.net Posts: 380	Thanks fellas! I appriciate the kind words. Ill be sure to keep you guys posted on the design I go with.

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11-11-2006, 06:17 PM	#19
slugbugg Newbie Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: state of disbelief Posts: 28	Watch it srfrkyle1234 you got to give him credit for making the original most common design out there. He's kind of like the guy who found fire and it's been COPIED ever since.

11-11-2006, 08:54 PM	#20
xjman Rock Crawler Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: In the basement Posts: 929	The Bulu is defentally a copied chassis. Good platform from what I understand Buiding your own chassis, this is what I did. I have a 3D cad program so I designed what I wanted in that. I printed it out with measurements and built it out of wood(I chose wood because I could make it exact dimentions and thickness because of the army of tools my family has collected for wood working over the years). I placed my axles where I would want them to be and worked with what I had, I found out that it didnt work as well as I thought it would. Its really much harder than you can imagine to create a chassis that is great all around. Most of the vendors have years of expierence with RC and 1:1 wheelin that helps them create the chassis they offer. I'm not saying you can't do it, just dont underestimate the dificulty of doing that. Just because you have a machine shop at your disposal doesnt mean its going to be an enjoyable journey to creating a chassis.

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