Rubba's TLR Comp Crawler Prototype

[Rubbaneck]

Well, well, well.... Can you believe it?


I've been working on a new set-up this year and need to share what I've been cooking up.

I started out with the stock chassis, skid and links for this project. The main purpose is to create something for those peskey breakovers that are killing us from time to time.

I turned the gearbox 180* from stock so it would hang out the side of the chassis. Making the driveshafts run down the center, instead of to the side.



Next I cut out the side of the chassis where the motor will sit. It's very close to the edges but I have not had a problem with it.





The gearbox will need to be raised up about a 1/8" to clear one of the old mounting holes that's right below the driveshaft.








Next is the bent links . I took the stock front and rear lowers and bent them about 30-40*. Then for the rears I added a 3/16" spacer to each end. Front only needed one spacer. This is something you will need to play with to make sure it measures 12.5". Bending the links a little more or less will get you there.







As for the ESC, I mounted on the opposite of the motor as far forward as possible. I had to cut out one of the supports so it would tuck inside of the chassis.




*** Doing this set-up you want to make sure you support the gearbox from tilting. I mounted my RX between the gearbox and side plate of the chassis with shoe-goo. This wedged the gearbox and now it has no movement at all. ***

[Jenkins88]

WOW!!! Sweet ride man. How did you 180 the tranny? Did you just spin the skid plate around. With the centered drives do you have a lot more link clearance now. Did you clock the front axle any? Good work you got there

[Rubbaneck]

Originally Posted by Jenkins88

WOW!!! Sweet ride man. How did you 180 the tranny? Did you just spin the skid plate around. With the centered drives do you have a lot more link clearance now. Did you clock the front axle any? Good work you got there

I just turned the tranny around and it mounted right up. No need to touch the skid.

The motor now sits on the left side (drivers side)

I do have the front clocked with 20* C's plus the stock upper link. This gets to be around 25* of goodness.

The link clearance is very noticeable now. I giggle everytime I drive this!

[666]

About time you posted this!! I have been telling people about it and they look at me like I'm nuts!~Well nothing new there, but.....

Use the macro setting on your camera, it does wonders!

[Sneed]

So the main reason for moving the trans is to center the drive shafts so you can run larger bent links...?

[Rubbaneck]

Originally Posted by 666

About time you posted this!! I have been telling people about it and they look at me like I'm nuts!~Well nothing new there, but.....

Use the macro setting on your camera, it does wonders!

Thanks Patrick, now tell them there is pics to show how it's done.

All pics are taken using my phone, you know me, no PC, Camera or cool electronic stuff. I don't even have cable TV. I'm just a eco-green dork that recycles and loves Nature

Originally Posted by Sneed

So the main reason for moving the trans is to center the drive shafts so you can run larger bent links...?

Yup, straight links dont have enough to get over the break-overs anymore.

[rob_b]

Chassis mods are cool... but its the stance of the truck/body that are just plain sick

[EeePee]

Nice dude.

Beers.

Oh hey, what hubs you running? OG DH wheels right? Not the new ones?

[Sneed]

What's your thought on a narrow version? Do you see need?

[Rubbaneck]

Originally Posted by rob_b

Chassis mods are cool... but its the stance of the truck/body that are just plain sick

Thanks Rob, I went with the OG Grappler on this just because it looks cool with the long hood and short tail section.

Originally Posted by EeePee

Nice dude.

Beers.

Oh hey, what hubs you running? OG DH wheels right? Not the new ones?

Cheers for BEERS!!!

Yup OG hubs on the DH's, Front 585

V4 in the rear with 600's

Originally Posted by Sneed

What's your thought on a narrow version? Do you see need?

I thought about that but the upper links would hit the slipper and dig shaft. I wanted to keep the geometry in the perfect position and it's waaaaaay better then before. Change the geometry design and you start to chase other problems is the way I see it.



Thanks for all the comments guys

[EeePee]

Originally Posted by Rubbaneck

Cheers for BEERS!!!

Yup OG hubs on the DH's, Front 585

V4 in the rear with 600's

Yay, beers!

Looks like the same wheels on the back as the front?

I'm just not cool enough to tell the difference with all these VP wheels out now...

[guidetti_angelo]

with new driveshaft position is tranny smoother, do you feel the truck is a little faster ?

[Rubbaneck]

Originally Posted by guidetti_angelo

with new driveshaft position is tranny smoother, do you feel the truck is a little faster ?

No speed difference but the way the suspenion cycles is a lot smoother because you can get more articulation.

[Jenkins88]

Im still chasing the idea of spinning the tranny around. When you spin it do you simply just drill out the skid to make holes for the mounting screws since the skid only has the holes on the one side when it comes stock. Im really interested in doing this because Im tired of the shafts hitting the links so easy esp. when I clocked the front it gave me even less clearance.

[Del Monte]

Looking good Rubba!

Are you bringing that thing to WCC this year?

[highlandcrawler]

Originally Posted by Rubbaneck

No speed difference but the way the suspenion cycles is a lot smoother because you can get more articulation.

I like everything you have going on I especially like how you still used the lcc shafts and didn't have to convert over. Do you feel a difference with the motor that far off center? When i did that with my chassis it was way to heavy to the one side. Sidehilling was a 1 way thing for me with that setup. That coupled with moving the heaviest assembly in the vehicle up seems like it would amplify the problem. Do you tune your shocks different on each side? My setup was on a 1.5" wide skid though so maybe my skinny frame was giving me the handling characteristics I saw. Anyway really like seeing people pushing the stock setup to the limits like this. Keep up the good work

Edit: How is the durability of the nylon nuts? Do the threads still hold if you take them in and out a few times?

[losikid]

I thought this was gonna be like a pre-release proto type crawler (like moa).

Anyways looks good

[C*H*U*D]

Originally Posted by Rubbaneck

... you know me, no PC, Camera or cool electronic stuff. I don't even have cable TV. I'm just a eco-green dork that recycles and loves Nature

Does this mean there will be no videos?

[kwkride]

Originally Posted by C*H*U*D

Does this mean there will be no videos?

Here's a video from the Central States Challenge.

[Rubbaneck]

Originally Posted by Jenkins88

Im still chasing the idea of spinning the tranny around. When you spin it do you simply just drill out the skid to make holes for the mounting screws since the skid only has the holes on the one side when it comes stock. Im really interested in doing this because Im tired of the shafts hitting the links so easy esp. when I clocked the front it gave me even less clearance.

All I did was turn the tranny around 180* and used the two screws in the center. Then Shoe-goo my RX between the tranny and chassis plate.

Originally Posted by Del Monte

Looking good Rubba!

Are you bringing that thing to WCC this year?

No barbie events for me

Originally Posted by highlandcrawler

I like everything you have going on I especially like how you still used the lcc shafts and didn't have to convert over. Do you feel a difference with the motor that far off center? When i did that with my chassis it was way to heavy to the one side. Sidehilling was a 1 way thing for me with that setup. That coupled with moving the heaviest assembly in the vehicle up seems like it would amplify the problem. Do you tune your shocks different on each side? My setup was on a 1.5" wide skid though so maybe my skinny frame was giving me the handling characteristics I saw. Anyway really like seeing people pushing the stock setup to the limits like this. Keep up the good work

Edit: How is the durability of the nylon nuts? Do the threads still hold if you take them in and out a few times?

I just raised the ride height about ten more turns on the heavy motor side. As for performance it has no funny buisness on the side hills. If it did I wouldn't be running it and go back to stock.

Originally Posted by losikid

I thought this was gonna be like a pre-release proto type crawler (like moa).

Anyways looks good

moa This here is the roots of crawling. Having a shaft is priceless!

Originally Posted by C*H*U*D

Does this mean there will be no videos?

Originally Posted by kwkride

Here's a video from the Central States Challenge.

Thanks Jim for posting the Video.