Project Bummer - buildup and crawling pics!!!

[cman_1500w]

Figured I'd start a new thread on my latest project. This is a Tamiya TLT I got a while back from Kaetwo. It came with a Hummer body. IMO, Hummer's ain't cool b/c of independent suspensions and well .....they ain't jeeps. BUT what about a Bummer? Ever heard of that Hummer Conversion from Tatonka products? Take a Bronco, Suburban or any full size truck and this kit will convert it to a hummer look alike with all the benefits of solid axles. Sounds cool to me! Here's some inital pics of some Bummers I found on the internet.






And some pics of the TLT I am starting with. It's a pretty good platform to start from but knowing me I can't leave well enough alone, lol.







These are dual 27:1 gear reductions with a motor attached to each one. Each motor/reduction drives an axle. Not your typical tranny setup but this method, if it works, should give me a lower center of gravity. I tried em and the motors are just too slow and too weak so I need to try some Lathe motors instead. I've also got a Traxxas Stampede tranny to try out as well.



Performance will be key but so will scale appearance. I'm thinking lockers, working winch, front/rear bumpers with towing attachments like D-rings or tow hooks, and rocker guards, spare tire and maybe a roof rack. I'm even thinking about an exoskeleton cage for it but I'm not sure.

Electronics gear will be a waterproof speed control from Mtroniks, Hitec servos for front steering and winch, lathe motor, 3000 Orion NIMH batteriesand Traxxas TQ3 radio 3ch radio with switch mod on 3rd channel for the winch. I'd also like some lights on here eventually but we'll see.

This rig is intended to run over all sorts of different terrain such as rocks, dirt, mud, water crossings and anything else. This will be a true off road vehicle and will get used like one ;)

[Plays_with_Toys]

All I am getting is really slow to load red x's

[mrwonderful]

i second that.

[cman_1500w]

Dang I guess Image shack doesn't work with the new site anymore. I re-did the pics. Let me know if they work now. Sorry.

[pinkfloydman]

yup they work, pretty sweet, cant wait till its done

[cman_1500w]

Here's an update on the chassis. I came up with this design so I could have the lowest possible center of gravity. It uses a 4 cell battery mounted under the tranny. I looked at lots of pics of other people's chassis designs and came up with my own. I used .090" thick aluminum for the sideplates in these pics.



In this pic you can see that the battery was going under the tranny. This places the heaviest item on the car EXTREMELY low. The battery actually sits below the top of the tires! The top of the motor is still only about 1" above the tires. I only get about 2.5" of clearance under the tranny though.



Tight fit for the tranny!





In this pic you can see that the tranny is held in with some aluminum rods that I drilled/tapped. On a Stampede these mounts support the rear independent suspension arms. These cross braces screw into the tranny at the hinge pin mounts with 4mm screws. It seems plenty strong but I'll also be adding more bracign at the top of the chassis.

[cman_1500w]

After some testing with the chassis it turned out the battery under the tranny wouldn't work. It gets hung up too easily. Although the clearance was scale and the weight was super low I wanted more clearance and performance out of it. So here's a list of what I did next.

-Cut the bottom of the chassis for more clearance. Right at 3" now.
-Moved the bottom links up.
-Added 4" shocks front and rear. The front are Losi and the rear are Stampede shocks.
-Added some angled aluminum across the top of the chassis and some braces.
-body posts
-made some upper link/servo mount for the front
-upper link mounts for the rear.
-Imex G-Hawgs cut to look like TSL's.
-narrowed rear pede rims painted black
-moved drag link to top of knuckle


Gave it a good workout at GV Lake last Saturday. Here's pics.














Then at the end of the day the axle shaft broke ......guess it's time to upgrade to those chrome moly shafts I've always wanted





Here's a shot of how I cut the tires. They are Imex G-Hawgs. I cut two slits in every lug to make em look like TSL's. Wheels were also narrowed and spray painted black.







Overall I'm impressed with what this little guy can do! It doesn't crawl as well as my bigger Xfactor crawler but it's still TONS of fun because it performs like the real thing which is cool. I still gotta build a real battery holder, mount the winch up and make bumpers and a skidplate. More updates to come.

[Plays_with_Toys]

Hey are those the gear reduction units from that robot site? How do they feel (durable or weak)?

[cman_1500w]

Plays_with_Toys: Not sure what site you mean but Kaetwo did get em from a robot site. They feel strong to me.

The gears inside are plastic but I don't see that as a problem. The pinion for the motor is pressed on. So if you wanted to swap to a Lathe motor you'd have to find a way to press it onto em. The reductions are about as heavy as a whole motor. Main problem with these is the motor they come with. They are weak as hell and aren't suited to crawling so Lathe motors would be needed for a crawler. I swear they max out at like 100rpm's or so. With the reduction it was super slow.

[Plays_with_Toys]

They are 12v 256rpm motors, designed for big robot wheels, that's why they suck. They are slow and don't have enough voltage going to them.

[mike]

Dang thats a pritty nice truck. Is that a hard body? And how tall are the G-Hawg tires?

[cman_1500w]

Originally Posted by Plays_with_Toys

They are 12v 256rpm motors, designed for big robot wheels, that's why they suck. They are slow and don't have enough voltage going to them.

Dang I was pretty close on the rpm's, lol! I only had 7.2V going to em. maybe on a puller with EVX they'd be cool. :? I dunno. I'll find some use for em someday.


Mike, thx for the compliment. That's a lexan body by pro line. The G-hawgs are 4.75" tall too. ;)

[pinkfloydman]

nice, lookings good and like the real thing....just with 44's haha

and what kind of shafts are you using?

[cman_1500w]

Thanks pinkfloydman! Yeah 44's sounds about right!

I'm using lengthened pede sliders. The way I have the tranny set up I had to lengthen the pede sliders. I sleeved it with some cut pede sliders using CA glue. Wasn't hard to do and it seems to hold up fine.

[KidWithAcrayon]

Wow! That looks sick! I can't wait to finish mine so we can go crawling together. That would be lots of fun. It looks awesome! When you were taling to me about the mini-tsls, I thought you meant your kong tsls (there mini-tsls to, lol) ...

Question:
How much flex are you getting? And do you think you need more/less?
What wheels are those?

[cman_1500w]

Thanks Kid! Now all I need are real life size TSL's and I'm set! lol!

Wheels are Pede Rears, and just guessing I'd say it gets about 60-70degrees articulation which seems pretty good

[Grizzly4x4]

Very nice cman, those tires just bing it all together

What brand are the blue shocks in the first pics?

[cman_1500w]

Grizz, yeah the tires really make the look I think. Would be even better though on a bruiser! ;) The blue shocks are from duratrax I think. They came with it when I got the truck.

[sambo2366]

that truck is sooo sweet I love the look man! can't wait to see it in action! one of these days i'll get off my rump and get mine done!!!your tires are just sooo awesome, they bare little resemblance to the j/g hawg/dawgs (never can remember what they're called).
to some up.... sweet truck man!!!

[garynjr]

Do you have any pictures larger then thumbnails? It is kind of a tease not to be able to see it. Looks promising! THanks...