Finally got it running!

[RcRock-Guru]

Well I finally got the thing together. SO thought I'd give you guys an update. Here's some pics.

[RcRock-Guru]

Heres some with its clothes on!

[skyjacker_rc_club]

looks cool too bad you already want to drop the body.

[DirkDigler]

I like what you've done. My only constructive feedback would be about the ride height. The canti links are very long and seem to not be keeping the chasis centered over the axles when articulating. The first picture says it all. The weight of the chasis is going to pull the rig over onto it's side. I know low riding ain't cool but it's effective. Possitioning the suspension links correctly will also help this.

[RcRock-Guru]

I havent really noticed any problems with it flipping onto it's side, but I do think that the COG is a little high. I'm going to be making a tube frame for it soon, and will be fixing alot of problems with it.

[RcRock-Guru]

I also might try throwing on some shorter cant. links when I get the chance

[toyofast]

It looks really sharp I like the way it looks.... but (there's always that but)... It does seem to 'look' like it's sitting high, the chassis that is. You've got quite the driveline angles going on at the tranny side it appears too. It almost looks like you have your rear axle aimed at the ground, have axle rotated forward giving you bad angles.

I think once you get that thing lowered a bit more and driveline angles taken care of, it'll handle bit better.

[RcRock-Guru]

The driveshaft angles arent bad, the reason that the back axel looks angled down is because it is. I moved the bottom links back to lengthen the wheelbase and havent gotten around to making longer upper links. Guess I'm to lazy.

[skyjacker_rc_club]

i think you guys are confused i have seen his car in action and it kicks ass i would say its one off the best txt-1 out thier.

[DirkDigler]

I'm sure it is. However, improvements can always be made. We are all here just trying to help out. We are only looking at 2 dimentional pics so it's hard to give a good evaluation of how good it crawls. It is noticeably tall. Possibly too tall. No matter what type of truck, 1:1 or radio controlled, a higher center of gravity will allow the rig to roll easier. You can see in the first pic how the weight of the rig is pitching out to the side. It looks as if the chasis is pushing the front axle away, sideways.

[skyjacker_rc_club]

i guess its hard to tell form the pics. not

[DirkDigler]

I've always thought it to be funny how people point out drive shaft angles in an rc crawler. Does it really matter what the angle is at? It's not any of us drive these things down the highway at 70mph and worry about driveline vibration and prematurely worn u-joints.

Anyway....I love the red FJ40 but I still insist that it will perform better if it were a bit lower.

[RcRock-Guru]

I will probably take off the cantilever links and cut them down as soon as I get some spare time.

[toyofast]

Originally Posted by DirkDigler

I've always thought it to be funny how people point out drive shaft angles in an rc crawler. Does it really matter what the angle is at? It's not any of us drive these things down the highway at 70mph and worry about driveline vibration and prematurely worn u-joints.

I'd yes, it does. Reason being... give your truck some bad angles and it won't roll very smooth. It'll have small lurching motions as it forces the u-joints to roll over each other, plus with the bad angles it'll allow the joints to pop off more often under hard/severe use. Why risk breakage happening sooner? If you are able to lessen the driveline angles then do it, if not then let it go. How many 1:1 crawlers run bad angles on drivelines? Not too many since it causes binding and more forces upon the pinion flange, u-joint, t-case and entire drivetrain...right?

I used to always blow out my front slider right at the u-joint near the axle...untill I re-did my angles and I have yet to blow one out, it rolls along very smoothly. My angles are nearly flat now at rest, even at full droop the change is very minior.

[skyjacker_rc_club]

ya dirk can mod cars but these are the kind of thing you need to know if your building a car from the groung up. the drivangle is not at a bad angle its just a werd pic but you make a good point. see dirk you learn some thing new every day.

[DirkDigler]

Well,
I wouldn't say I learned anything new. I've been running short wheel base Jeeps my whole life and always had to contend with bad angles. I did slip yoke eliminators, high pinion diffs, lengthened wheel bases, etc, etc. Believe me....I understand driveline angles as well as anyone. I guess I wasn't very clear. Of course, excessive, very extreme angles that will bind, are bad. I just meant angles that were moderately bad. It just doesn't matter with these little trucks. I've just had several people comment on my angles. Mostly 1:1 crawler guys. They say, "Wow, look at those drive line angles!" Of course, if you scaled the truck to 1:1, they would seem excessive but I have never broken one or twisted one due to to much of a bad angle. Mine aren't even that bad.

[RcRock-Guru]

I agree with everyone, yes to much can cause binding which = BAD, but on the other hand with the drivshafts we are using you can run pretty extreme angle sand not risk breakage.

[Gimbal]

Looks sweet dude

[jordanator62]

could u take a close up pic of the shock mounts on the chassis, that would be super dooper radical. lol