Peanut The Destroyer.......SW2uber Rock Racer

[Grizzly4x4]

After Nationals I switched to a GC-1 chassis for my competition crawler and my SW2ber got shelved.
Ever since I've been trying to decide how to rebuilt it cuz I love Peanut too much to not run him anymore. I was going to make him into a super when the announcement came up for a rock race. Suddenly I knew exactly what to do...

First up was to throw a pede tranny and Holmes Hobbies Revolver Black into the SW2 chassis. I had modified the chassis and skid plate to mount the tranny directly to the skid. This gives a slightly lower CG, similar to the SW3 style.

Then I threw together a set of TLT axles with RCP/MIP CVD's for the ultimate strength and reliability. The rear axle got a Gatekeeper rear link mount. I really like the triangulated lower link design of the GC-1 so I figured I make it happen on Peanut. The lower links are custom made but the uppers are original Tmaxx toe links I had lying around.

Using spare parts I made the lower link chassis mount from some rod end balls, shock spacers, and a little threaded thing from a TLT kit. Worked out pretty good. I could have made some spacers from tubing but it's cold in the garage and it's nicer to spend twice as much time digging through parts in the basement.

[EeePee]

Okay.

[Grizzly4x4]

and then....

The front end got a standard triangulated upper setup. Revo pushrods mounted in the normal holes pushed the front axle forward a little to offset the extended rear end. I'm shooting for a 55/45 weight bias on this thing since jumping will be in it's future and less technical crawling.

I installed a set of www.rcforfriends.com axle C's that I had purchased a while ago on the front end. I'm not too happy with them. They can be made to work by pulling the CVD outward and shimming the bearings and diff back in place. Next time I'd rather just use something that fits.
I really like the beef of these machined parts though!

That's it for what I got done so far. I'll work on it some more tonight.

Thanks for looking.

[Tanis]

Looking good Grizz
Do you have any weight in....I mean on the wheels Will a HH Puller motor fit in there, that would be sweetness. It won't fit in my SW3:-(.

[Cslax06]

Get rid of them tires!

Lookin good though.

[jaxcoffee]

Nice Grizz,

I think this rock race thing is going to be cool. I can see a whole line of manufatured parts and mods for this type of racing. It's going to be good for crawling! You watch.

[Tanis]

Originally Posted by Cslax06

Get rid of them tires!

What do ya mean, those things rock well, at least mine do, but not so much on rocks

[DeaDShorT]

Got COWBELL???



Nice setup, I like the rear link setup. Seems to be the thing to do anymore.

[JohnRobHolmes]

Thats how I did my 14" sw2 for the rear link mounts too I dug and dug for those bits.


What kind of voltage and gearing is gonna make that thing race?

[grob23]

that's amazing! mostly because it's different... and that was a sweet way to do the tires... I've never seen em done like that before...

[TURTLE]

How many volts buddy? As much as me?

[Grizzly4x4]

Originally Posted by Tanis

Looking good Grizz
Do you have any weight in....I mean on the wheels Will a HH Puller motor fit in there, that would be sweetness. It won't fit in my SW3:-(.

The wheels are aluminum so they have some heft to them but no, I didn't add any weight. I wanted to keep the weight off of the tires to cut down on rotating mass. This will allow it to accelerate faster.
Unfortunately the puller motor won't fit in the SW2 either. :-(

Originally Posted by Cslax06

Get rid of them tires!

Lookin good though.

They ain't the best choice I know. But I figured the extra diff clearance would allow me to blast over stuff quicker and the extra sidewall would absorb impacts. If the crawling gets very technical I'm screwed but then again, if the crawling gets very technical the Mamba 25 is going to melt down anyway.

Originally Posted by jaxcoffee

Nice Grizz,

I think this rock race thing is going to be cool. I can see a whole line of manufatured parts and mods for this type of racing. It's going to be good for crawling! You watch.

It sure was a lot of fun the last time we did it. I'm enjoying the ability to experiment with different things and setups. It's got me excited about buiulding again. I agree, I think it'll be good and I hope it catches on. We could add it on to Nationals.

Originally Posted by Tanis

What do ya mean, those things rock well, at least mine do, but not so much on rocks

See reply above. They do move out on dirt well and they are decent on the rocks if you can maintain momentum.....Peanut's got momentum.

Originally Posted by DeaDShorT

Got COWBELL???



Nice setup, I like the rear link setup. Seems to be the thing to do anymore.

We gots loads of cowbell. I think the link setup will be good.

Originally Posted by JohnRobHolmes

Thats how I did my 14" sw2 for the rear link mounts too I dug and dug for those bits.


What kind of voltage and gearing is gonna make that thing race?

I spent about an hour digging, especially trying to find that threaded piece. It was still better than 20 minutes in the garage.
I've got an 11.1V LiPo and I'm gonna try 20/84 gearing to start. So far so good.

Originally Posted by grob23

that's amazing! mostly because it's different... and that was a sweet way to do the tires... I've never seen em done like that before...

Thanks grob. That's what I'm liking about it....something different.

Originally Posted by TURTLE

How many volts buddy? As much as me?

Not near what you got brah. I'm only at 11.1V because of the Mamba25. Based on past experience I don't think the Mamba Maxx will run the Revolver Black very well with 20/84 gearing since it was having trouble with the 15/87 gears. Startup just wasn't clean, it needed lower gearing. What I lack in voltage I hope to make up for in gearing since the 25 has such a strong startup.

Thanks for all the interest guys.

[Grizzly4x4]

Progress tonight:
Got the rear steering hooked up and the rear driveshaft in. Luckily I had a full set of spare Maxx driveshafts already made up and they were long enough. I've got to run with plastic C's and knuckles in the rear since I don't have any spares of those. Hope they survive.

Front steering and front driveshaft are done. Front knuckles are TCS ones that I stole off of Guido. I stole the servo's off of my Super.

Made a simple little electronics tray. Tip of the day: Always keep some sheets of Styrene laying around.

I had a set of brand new Hot Bodies shocks laying around so I filled them up.

I decided to steal the MPI Voltage Regulator out of my GC-1. I wanted to put the Castle BEC in the crawler anyway and I know there will be no surprises since I've been running the MPI for a while. The cutouts in the SW2 chassis are perfect for the MPI, nice job Bendah.

That's it for tonight, I still need to fill the rear shocks and zip tie some stuff and then it will be ready for testing.
Anyone notice the theme here? This has been built with all parts that were laying around. With Christmas coming up I didn't want to spend much on it. So far I think I've spent about $20 on the links and antennae tube.

First run:
I got everything set up and took it for a test spin. WOW!! This thing is fast!! The Mamba25 is starting up just fine with the 20/84 gearing. It gets damn hot if I crawl it for very long but once I lay into the throttle it cools back down.
Acceleration is great, the left rear squats a little and it lifts the right front about 2" but then it gets it's boogie on. I've got some other springs to try out. It pulls some really nice tornado's on the linoleum floor thatks to the rear steer. This is going to be sooooo fun.

Thanks for checking it out.

[TURTLE]

Chrizly bear nice work, I dont think yours is going to break nearly as fast as mine will.

Going to take mine out on the rocks for the first time today, wanna guess how many parts im going to break?

Cant wait to see you break this and then throw it in a pile with all the other ones!

SO STOKED!

[Grizzly4x4]

Originally Posted by TURTLE

Chrizly bear nice work, I dont think yours is going to break nearly as fast as mine will.

Going to take mine out on the rocks for the first time today, wanna guess how many parts im going to break?

Cant wait to see you break this and then throw it in a pile with all the other ones!

SO STOKED!

Chrizly

I don't wanna even guess how many parts you break. You better not drive it too much since those parts are living on borrowed time as it is. Wish I could get away from work though and go with you.

I have a feeling the axles may survive the reasonable amount of power I've got, but the air time is gonna do some damage. Especially to those plastic rear C's.

[TURTLE]

Yeah I got plastic knuckles on the front axial lower links and many other things I can see folding in half.

[Grizzly4x4]

Originally Posted by TURTLE

Yeah I got plastic knuckles on the front axial lower links and many other things I can see folding in half.

Just don't hurt it too bad before Saturday. I wanna see it run...at least once.

[Wrecker]

Lookin good Griz.
That reminds me, I do have an extra sw2 chassis laying around.

TLT axles aren't going to hold up for long though. There's no way the diffs and cases are going to be able to stand up to the beating you guys are going to be putting on them.

[STEW<CO>]

Good stuff griz! Can't wait to see all the carnage this Saturday, hope I can win one race without breaking.

[JohnRobHolmes]

I just got some 3000 kv outrunners in for testing, and they work really well with a quark ESC. If you want a lot more wheelspeed let me know and we can work something out. It is about like the cobalt puller, maybe a bit faster

http://www.innov8tivedesigns.com/pro...roducts_id=161