Dr. F's Kit Bronco

[dr frankenstyle]

I was gettin' tired of re-tightening the floppy stinger after every session so i ordered a new front bumper with a better design. I like the look of the new silver sliders, so I decided to strip and polish both bumpers too.



The new front is pretty much the same size as the old one, but the stinger has a 4-point mount and the main bar inserts into the bumper and bolts thru the front.



The rear polished up pretty nice too.



Also, after some searchin' I found a drag-link that works with the Ackerman holes in the knuckles. Mine measures out at 141.5 mm (eye to eye) and I found the RC4WD link set for their Leverage High Clearance axle hits 144 mm assembled. So after a slight bend at each end for extra pumpkin clearance, it fits perfectly.




The new GRC knuckles seem to turn a bit tighter than the old set-up without needing any tweaks. Now if the weather would just smooth out. I'm ready to get some more time on the rocks.

Thanks for lookin'

jim

[B-MOW71]

Looks good Jim! I like the look of the polished bumpers. They complete the look with the sliders and them awesome looking wheels.

[Topher Builds]

Agreed! Nice touch.

I do hate how floppy those stingers can be. Both the ones I have need to be adjusted a couple times a run.

[dr frankenstyle]

Originally Posted by B-MOW71

Looks good Jim! I like the look of the polished bumpers. They complete the look with the sliders and them awesome looking wheels.

Thanks Brian. I was tired of scrapin' paint off the slow way. I think the sliders are hard anodized because the buffer wouldn't phase 'em. I'd like to polish them up too but I don't know if I want to strip that off. And I DO love those wheels too.

Originally Posted by Pant Danza

Agreed! Nice touch.

I do hate how floppy those stingers can be. Both the ones I have need to be adjusted a couple times a run.

Thank you, Sir. My buddy and I were both bitchin' about the stingers comin' loose all the time, even with lock-tite. Then his son's actually fell off of his new bumper while we were crawlin' that day. I'll put money that this new one won't get loose like that. I'll post up when I get some time with it. So far ... Me LIKEY!


Thanks for lookin', and for the comments.

jim

[Tmaxxed]

Looks great man, what bumpers are you running now? They looks great.

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[dr frankenstyle]

Originally Posted by Tmaxxed

Looks great man, what bumpers are you running now? They looks great.

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Thank you, Sir. The rear is the same Yeah Racing one that I've had all along. I got it on eBay, from gonitrohobbies, with the old front bumper. I just got the new front one, again on eBay, from racing_car_mall. It was listed as "Steel Front Bumper w/ Winch Mount Shackles ...". They were both listed for SCX10s or TRX-4s. And they all came either painted or anodized black, then I stripped (using different techniques ) and polished them. It's pretty easy with just a few tools and goodies. I've used the same methods to make various parts for a few of my builds. I LIKE shiny things.

jim

[dr frankenstyle]

Sorry for the humongo pic's, I thought maybe a mod' could re-size 'em. I'm loading the same way as always but photobummer's doing something differently.
Aaaaanyway .... I saw some 32kg servos on BangGood for $28 ea., so I ordered a couple of 'em up. They showed up today and I didn't waste any time getting one in the Bronco.



They're SPT 5632W-160's. Rated for 8.4v max and 33-kg at 7.4v, so it should step up the torque by at least 50 percent even at the 6.8v my Castle is set at for the old 20-kg one.



This is a waterproof, metal gear servo so it should hold up to a little abuse. The case is a little shorter than the 20-kg, so it fits in with just a bit more room.



It was sunny today and is supposed to be sunny tomorrow. I have to help Dave go and pick up a sail-boat, but we plan to get some time on the rocks too, so I'll get back with my thoughts on the new servo.
Thanks for lookin'.


jim

[dr frankenstyle]

It was a beautiful sunny day yesterday so I met Dave at Fassnight for some rockin'. He just got a new Cross FR4 RTR version, but out of the box ... it's helpless. Luckily for him, he also brought his Jeep.




The little Bronco was really struttin' her stuff .... hangin' on nicely side-hillin'. And the new N2R skid did it's thang on the rock points. The jerp didn't make it over on the first try. But the pony did.



The new knuckle set-up turns tighter than ever, and the servo is nice and strong. We tried to push the edges of the rocks as much as possible.




We both laughed and said "I wouldn't be inside lookin' out THAT window!"



The Bronco was able to "sloth" right up and over everything. Places where, before, I had to blip the throttle to hop over little overhangs ... it just crept right up.



I'm SUPER happy with the latest mod's so far. It just keeps on gettin' better.

Thanks for lookin'.


jim

[Tmaxxed]

Nice pics, looks like a fun spot.

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[dr frankenstyle]

Originally Posted by Tmaxxed

Nice pics, looks like a fun spot.

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Thanks T' It's an OLD city Park in Springfield, MO. There's a few hundred feet of rock outcroppings along a stone walled creek. Across the creek is the picnic area, so we often have spectators of all ages. It's a great place to spend an afternoon, especially for us RC'ers. The local club has some of their comp's there in the summer. If you (or anyone) ever get near there, drop me a PM and maybe we can go crawl there. Hope ya get your radio issues clear up. I'm not up on many other brands. I use TQ's in most all of my rigs.
Rain's comin' back tonight .... ... maybe more crawlin' next week.


jim

[Tmaxxed]

Originally Posted by dr frankenstyle

Thanks T' It's an OLD city Park in Springfield, MO. There's a few hundred feet of rock outcroppings along a stone walled creek. Across the creek is the picnic area, so we often have spectators of all ages. It's a great place to spend an afternoon, especially for us RC'ers. The local club has some of their comp's there in the summer. If you (or anyone) ever get near there, drop me a PM and maybe we can go crawl there. Hope ya get your radio issues clear up. I'm not up on many other brands. I use TQ's in most all of my rigs.

Rain's comin' back tonight .... ... maybe more crawlin' next week.





jim

I think I got all my radio issues figered out. I just need a servo reverser for one of the diff lock servos. So I ordered one of those and a HW1080 since my drag brake seemed to go away when the radio died and now I can't adjust it. I figured I might as well get a better ESC anyway.

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[Tmaxxed]

By the way, I run a BEC set at 6 volts for my servo and the HW says it has a 6 volt BEC built in. Would that be fine to run with my Hitec 7955TG or would it still need the BEC do you think?

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[dr frankenstyle]

I like running a separate BEC for my steering. It lets me up the voltage AND it lets the servo get all the amps it wants without drawing it thru the receiver. And that leaves the 1080's at 6v to run the micro servos and receiver without toasting anything.


jim

[Tmaxxed]

Originally Posted by dr frankenstyle

I like running a separate BEC for my steering. It lets me up the voltage AND it lets the servo get all the amps it wants without drawing it thru the receiver. And that leaves the 1080's at 6v to run the micro servos and receiver without toasting anything.


jim

Cool, thanks.

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[dr frankenstyle]

You're quite welcome, sir. I'm full of helpful advice (some say .... other things ).
I got some 10-wt shock oil in the mail today. Swappin' the juice and goin' to the 30 rate springs really freed up the suspension action. Can't wait to get out on some rocks to try things out. My road-side rock spot has almost 2-ft tall weeds growing all along the road. Maybe by the time the rain goes away again the state will mow it.


jim

[dr frankenstyle]

I shot a few short videos on my rock pile today, so I thot I'd share a link. This climb gets near the 60-degree mark at the steepest point. I wouldn't wanna be ridin' inside it. Enjoy ... and feel free to laugh, and comment.

https://youtu.be/p7FUOhMI_8Y

Here's the pretty much the same climb comin' up the hill at you.

https://youtu.be/e07exLA0YbQ

And from the other side.

https://youtu.be/hVnNuC7-7-o

I'm still smoothin' out the drivin' and video'ing thang, so bear with me. I'll try to do better. Thanks for lookin'.


jim

[Tmaxxed]

Nice vids, looks like your bronco crawls great!

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[B-MOW71]

I just watched your videos on the Tube before I came here. Nice climb shots!

Driving looks smooth to me. You should see me trying to drive and film at the same time!

I need a rock pile playground like that at home to do testing on!

[dr frankenstyle]

Originally Posted by Tmaxxed

Nice vids, looks like your bronco crawls great!

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Thanks T' I just wish I could walk and vid' as smooth as it crawls.

Originally Posted by B-MOW71

I just watched your videos on the Tube before I came here. Nice climb shots!

Driving looks smooth to me. You should see me trying to drive and film at the same time!

I need a rock pile playground like that at home to do testing on!

Thanks Brian I tend to do one or the other .... and I usually kinda slack on the "other" when I'm doin' the "one".
Funny, around here rocks seem to grow up out of the ground, so we pick 'em up to keep from tearin' up mower blades, and often pile 'em up. 10 yrs ago my yard was a jungle of brush, vines and rocks lying everywhere. I joked that I lived on 10 acres of dirt with 25 acres of brush on it. After cleaning up the yard, I had a convenient rock pile when I started RC crawlin'. I've moved it, constantly add to it and re-piled it at least twice. I've even had friends "donate" unusual rocks to it here and there. We usually cuss at the rocks, but this pile has been a friend .... and it's an easy walk from the comfy chair.
Over 7 inches of rain have fallen at my house in the past 2 days, so even the rocks are soakin' up water. When things dry out I'll try to get some better vid's.
Thanks again, guys.


jim

[mass-hole]

How is that servo working out? I like that it can go up to 8.4V, unlike the go-to DS3225 that only seems to be good up to 6.8V. Could actually run it at the 7.4V setting on the HW1080 and my MMX.