building 4-link. having problems.
 

ok so im building my own bent lower links however im having a problem that i dont quite understand. i thought that a bent lower link was sapposed to give me more ground clearance (ie bring the rear up more) but it seems that isnt whats happening. i do however have LOTZ of bind between the upper and lower now. maybe i have it bent wrong or installed incorrectly (angle wise) but i dont kn... if some1 could help id appreciate it...

here come the pics.
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/...220_211456.jpghttp://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/...220_211408.jpg
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/...220_211333.jpghttp://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/...220_211440.jpg

again ne help or pointers are helpful thanks.

Re: building 4-link. having problems.
 

you have to much bend in those links you could rotate the link outward or rise the upper link using the new adjustable uppers mount.
also you want need that much bend in the front any way mainly in the rear.

Re: building 4-link. having problems.
 

First, move your upper links to the top hole on the chassis. Second buy, rotate the lowers outward so they rise upward and to the outside of the upper links. Here's what I did with mine, but I wouldn't recommend it with Delrin rods:

DLuxFab Bent Titanium Lower Suspension Links Installed on Losi Night Crawler - YouTube

Chris

Re: building 4-link. having problems.
 

that actually is the rear. i have 4w steering. ill try moving the rear uppers up and rotating the lower outward when i get home from work today. thanks.

another question tho, would making bend uppers be useful at all, i mean it would give a lil more clearance for the lowers and would also lift the rear of the chassis up as well right?

Re: building 4-link. having problems.
 

Bent uppers would help to allow you to keep the lowers as vertical (most ground clearance), assuming you have enough clearance above the upper links to make it work. I might do bent uppers in the rear too, but I think up front you'll be fine without them and it's hard to do if you have all your electronics up front on the axle or the stock tray.

As far as moving the actual chassis up, that's merely a shock location and preload thing...doesn't really have anything to do with the links, whether they're bent or not. The challenge with moving the chassis up is that your COG goes up too, causing you not to be able to side hill as well and climb as well. I'm running mine as low as possible up front and as high as possible in the rear, but I have no weight in the rear at all...nothing on the axle, nothing in the wheels, and the only thing left in the chassis is the dig servo, motor and tranny. Everything else is up on the front axle. You can see it run with this setup(had rear axle weight on during this comp that's now removed) running in this configuration:

CJC Crawlers Comp #3 - Chris (Ravencr) Driving Losi Comp Crawler (LCC) - YouTube

Chris

Re: building 4-link. having problems.
 

dumb questionnot really doing with this problem but kidna related... what would it change by reversing the mounting order... like putting the uppers mounted on the outside of the axle where the lowers mount and the lowers mount on the serve/esc mount in the center. i kn id have to make different links but im doing that now neways... has ne1 done that b4 or is there a reason its not done likethat to begin with?

Re: building 4-link. having problems.
 

the stock mounting is stronger, has the rod end in double shear. could be done, but i'd be running some very stout screws. your link bend is too aggressive for your rod ends, the losi ends are too long to be doing stuff like that with delrin, i use traxxas rod ends and could get decent results on the stock setup.

http://www.rccrawler.com/forum/membe...1781-21550.jpg

those are made with traxxas 1942's made for 3mm/6-32 thread, traxxas revo ends are MUCH stronger and made for 4mm/8-32 thread. they'll both work on a stock chassis.

Re: building 4-link. having problems.
 

mabe im justbeing dumb... but i dont undersand y the end length matters... if they were shorter the link would be longer to make thatup... overall same lenght. no?

Re: building 4-link. having problems.
 

You're correct TNorton...I think he was mainly referring to strength, not length.

Chris

Re: building 4-link. having problems.
 

it affects where you can place the bend, long rod end means you have to place your bend closer to the middle, no go with delrin. shorter end and you can place the bend closer to the axle where there's more room.

Re: building 4-link. having problems.
 

That's true too, unless you bend it first then just trim the excess off making the bend closer to the rod end than in the middle. It can be achieved both ways...

Chris

Re: building 4-link. having problems.
 

true, but i don't trust losi plastic enough to trim them down, that and the traxxas ends are made of a stouter plastic. really no downside to them, but if you're going to switch to them, do it right and switch to revo ends.

Re: building 4-link. having problems.
 

Not arguing that the rod ends are better, just answering his question he asked. I use revo ends. :) The advantage of the ones he's got on there, which are the stock ones are the angles, so there's no binding.

Chris

Re: building 4-link. having problems.
 

ok that makes sence... moving the bend back gives more clearance for the bend itself. so the long flat section of the link would b longer not the end attached to the axle end.

looks like im heading to my lhs later today so ill b picking up some revo ends and possibly make a new link... currently just testing designs and making sure it fits b4 i go and make all 4.
thanks for all the info guys. ill have to get to work tonight to see what i can get done. post more up l8r.

is there alot of noticeable bind useing the revo ends?

Re: building 4-link. having problems.
 

tnorton, i'm going to have to ask you to quit with the shorthand text typing (b4, l8r, you get the idea) here if you want questions answered fully, i hate reading it and i know i'm not the only one. link design is more difficult with delrin as compared to a thinner material such as titanium. just have to account for the space of the material. to tell the truth, i build every link the same way, made a wheelbase jig and then some steel wire to mock up the length and bend in a simple way. otherwise it becomes a trig problem on the bend to get the link length down.

Re: building 4-link. having problems.
 

http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/...221_192912.jpg

ok so i made a new link, and by comparison it has a sharper angle. but if i cut at the black line and use the revo end it will still be lower and fearther back than the pervious one and "should" clear the upper link. the i could always angle them out a lil and gain some more if need be. unfotunitly i dont have any studs that are big enough to fit the revo ends so ill ahve to wait till i go to work tomorrow. (beauty of working at a harware store)

Re: building 4-link. having problems.
 

those look better "thumbsup" you'll just have to be careful drilling into the bend, i usually make the whole link first, then bend if needed. from the looks of things, you should clear like you said.

Re: building 4-link. having problems.
 

yeah i actually thought that AFTER i had already bent it. oh well will have to work around that. its only plastic and i bought 8ft of the rod so if i screw up its nota big deal.

Re: building 4-link. having problems.
 

yup, delrin is cheap enough. i tend to buy it in a pretty decent quantity when i do, think i have 20ft sitting around :lmao:

Re: building 4-link. having problems.
 

http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/...222_215029.jpghttp://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/...222_215017.jpghttp://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/...222_214913.jpg
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/...222_214905.jpghttp://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/...222_214843.jpg

ok so i made another link so icould mock this thing up and see what happened... they look good so far, as ull prolly see i also put on a set of big bore traxxas shocks with mini t shocks on them. i need to get the rear t's the front t's r too short. but thats off topic. i do need to adjust my front lower links to prolly the middle link and set my next set of big bore traxxas shocks on there but again off topic. time to test, and then make a jig so i can get perfect ones made. these are just too "thrown together" for my likeing need to make them as close to perfect as i can.