Dez's Creep

[dezfan]

Well, I finally received my Venom Creeper. I've been waiting for this to arrive for a while now and it was finally delivered tonight.

I tore into it and started to build it. I'll build it stock so that I can review it, then I'll start to mod it.

The Creeper comes well packaged and everything appears to be very high quality.

After opening up the instruction book and getting all of the bags sorted, I started building.

First thing you build is the tranny. This thing is huge and overly complicated IMO, but it appears to be well made and went together fairly easy. One thing I found out pretty quickly is that the plastic Venom used is difficult to thread. I have a sore hand and I'm only half way threw the build.

Here is a shot of the internal Creeper tranny gears.



Here is the tranny fully assembled after 16 screws!:eek: I posed it next to a Axial tranny for a size reference.





After you assemble the tranny, you assemble the lower links and then attach them to the tranny.







After attaching the lower links to the tranny, you add the chassis plates and the battery tray. Again, overkill on the screws! 10 screws attach the tray to the chassis plates. Plus there are 6 more screws attaching the front and the rear caps of the tray!





At this point I was ready to call it a night, but I figured I would mount one of the tires and build one of the bead-locks. The tires look and feel really nice. Not sure they are comp worthy from looking at them, but they will make great 2.2 Scale tires as they look similar to Micky Thomson Baja Claws.:thumbsup:

The wheels look very nice and the bead-lock rings and anodizing look to be top quality. Only real complaint is the 2mm hardware! After all the heat that Axial caught for their use of the small hardware, Venom turns around and does the same thing.:mad:





Well that's it for now. I'll post more pics and info tomorrow.

[cartronicshn]

Wake up Dez and finish the build, seriously though, it's looking good, i am thinking of getting one of these or maybe the new axial, i have to build on a budget this year

[sniders1975]

Dez wait untill you get it out on the rock's I have a red one also & my oppinon is out of the box it works better than a stock ARTR nice truck

[Harley]

Dez, this is the creeper forum. I think you accidentially posted a picture of your Tamiya 3 speed transmission.

Originally Posted by dezfan

Here is a shot of the internal Creeper tranny gears.

[dezfan]

Ok, spent some more time on the Creeper this afternoon. I assembled the the upper links and ran into a small issue. Venom shorted me one of the bent rod ends.

This is something that I have had an issue w/ the Venom kit. Items like ball ends should . In the Axial kit, there were several extra rod ends. I wish I had a few extras.

Anyways, here are a few pics.



The missing rod end!:(



The rod ends attached to the chassis.



After building the upper links, it is time to build the drive shafts. This is an area that Venom has hit a home run. Very nice quality CVD style drive shafts.:thumbsup:



Attached the tranny.



Now it was on to the axles. Starting w/ the diffs. They went together very easily and everything looks to be made of good quality materials.



Did have one issue, had a metal piece lodged in one of the diff gears and it was a bear to remove it.



Another shot.



Then the diffs are installed into the axle housings.



The front axle went together w/o issue. The locking mechanism worked like a charm. Here the finished axle. The rear axle I'm having an issue w/. I don't think I have the locking mechanism aligned properly. I'm going to pull it apart and find out the issue.



Another thing I really like about the Venom's axles are the included CVDs! They provide a ton of steering! The axle Cs are indexed and allow the axles to be clocked.

Check out the steering!



Well that's it for now. I'll probably head back down this evening for another build session.

[dezfan]

Well I finished tearing down the rear axle and rebuilding it. Not sure what the problem was, but the diff locking mechanism is now working and everything is turning smoothly.

Added the rear skid, lock outs, hexes, and mounted the rear axle to the links.




Up front, I found a rod end to use until Venom can get me the replacement, added the skid, steering linkage, servo mount, and the front hexes before mounting it to the front links.



Front and rear finished.




I then went to work on the shocks. I think the shocks are really nice quality for plastic bodied shocks. They are threaded and make spring adjustment very easy. The internal/external springs are very soft and the overall feel is smooth. I think in the stock configuration, they will work very well.






And here is the rolling chassis and the mandatory flex shot.





I'm still trying to decide which body to use. I'll get the electronics installed and test it out ASAP.

I have to say that this was an easy build for the most part, the instructions were very easy to follow and took about 5 hours to build. That included rebuilding the rear axle, removing the odd metal piece from the diff gear, and mounting the tires on the bead locks.

Things I didn't like. I think the amount of hardware used on the tranny was excessive. 16 screws just to assemble the tranny and this doesn't include the motor screws. The battery tray also used 16 pieces of hardware.

Speaking of hardware, when will the manufactures learn? Those damn 2mm bolts used on the wheels! You would have thought that Venom would have learned from Axial's use of them and moved to 3mm hardware. That said, the Venom wheels and tires were some of the easiest to assemble that I have even built. If it wasn't for the 2mm hardware, I would score them a 10.

The tires and foams are also very nice for kit tires. Now it Venom would come to their senses and price their wheels weights somewhere in the realm of reality. I mean really, $50.00 for lead weight!? That a quarter of the total price of the entire kit!

Come on Venom, this is an area that needs to be addressed.


I plan to test it out stock and see what needs to be addressed. Then the mods will start!

[ktmkurt]

Very nice write up. Thats basically how my build went except it
took me about 10 hrs build time.

[88_Pathy]

Haha me too

[nwnewbie]

so for a beginner to rc crawling and no kit expierence how would you rate this kit stock for stock to the axial?

[dezfan]

Originally Posted by nwnewbie

so for a beginner to rc crawling and no kit expierence how would you rate this kit stock for stock to the axial?

I would rate it a 8.5 for ease of building. If it would have included some basic tools, thread lock, and larger hardware for the wheels, it would have scored even higher.

I'm a big fan of the Axial, but at this time I think the Vemon has a slight advantage. The ability to lock/unlock the diffs, the included CVDs, the tires, and the shocks are better IMO.

Now this opinion is solely based on assemble, I haven't had the chance to drive it, so that could change.

[cartronicshn]

Hi buddy, any updates on this rig, any drive time on it?

[ktmkurt]

Originally Posted by nwnewbie

so for a beginner to rc crawling and no kit expierence how would you rate this kit stock for stock to the axial?

I am also new to crawling, not new to RC.
I think it is good for a newbie to get a kit.
That way you have to put it together and
can understand how everything works.

[sniders1975]

I think that out of the box the venom works better than the axial it has a true 4-link setup,lockable diffs,better shocks w/soft springs,cvd drive line,& the axels are like a 1/2 in wider,This truck crawls very nice stock as dez will find out!!

[dezfan]

Originally Posted by cartronicshn

Hi buddy, any updates on this rig, any drive time on it?

Hello Carlos, nothing to report just yet. Installed the steering servo and receiver, but I'm waiting for the motor and a few other items to come in the mail.

My extra Mamba Max is acting up, so I need to send it in. I guess I'll steal the Sidewinder out of the Slash for a while.

After I get the parts, all I need it for the snow to melt and I'm golden!

[rckcrawler]

Nice looking build, waiting to see what mods you have planned.

[dezfan]

Well after I run it stock(so I have a base line for comparison) I'm going to lose the stock chassis and battery tray and replace it w/ a new JP Custom Rcs chassis, I'm going to use the Venom tires on my Wreckluse(MT Baja-ish) and replace them w/ a set of Panther Cougars tires and some experimental foams. Nay also replace the wheels. I don't want to at this time, but w/ Venom decision to go their own way on the beads, I may have too.

I also have a few ideas to help reduce that stupid hang up point on the bottom of the tranny, and I'll probably replace the rear lower links w/ a nice set of bent links for added clearance.

All in all, it should be a sweet little rig when I'm done.

[coolkidjf7]

Is the tranny worth it? Seems like a build with just the axles might be boss

[dezfan]

Originally Posted by coolkidjf7

Is the tranny worth it? Seems like a build with just the axles might be boss

I'm not sure just yet, I have a Axial tranny standing by just in case, the axles are slick!

[zipher]

this is a sweet looking crawler. i think im going to buy one. or a berg. descisions descisions....

[aaugman]

Originally Posted by zipher

this is a sweet looking crawler. i think im going to buy one. or a berg. descisions descisions....

you need to decide if you want a shafty or a moa. I'm going with a berg myself. i think the concept of no drive shafts is awesome.