BMT's Sportsman Creeper

[Badmuthatrucker]

I got real curious to see what these Creepers were all about, so I did the obvious thing and got one

I had this big idea of seeing what an out of the box (but with wheel weights and shock tuning) Creeper would do. So, I built it up box stock, along with a Hobbywing crawler b/l combo and a Futaba S9542 servo. I had some STRC Wheelyking diff locks laying around so I opened them up to fit the Creeper axles and used them instead of the factory diff centers. They may come back out. I also slipped in some 3Racing CR01 sliders.

In all it's fresh build glory




So, with 2 weeks or so to it's first comp (which is tomorrow) I decided to improve some stuff.
I fitted Hot Racing knuckles, C's and lockouts. I also got a Venom skid plate to cover up that square leading edge of the tranny.
I did the heatshrink binding mod to the CVD's, and reconfigured the steering to high mount. I used RC10L3 servo mounts to get drag link clearance.
With all those linkages out of the way I removed the axle skids and shaves the mounting points from the housings.







Still plenty of work to be done. I guess I haven't really started. But, all in good time.

[208BrAnDo]

Looks great bro and good luck at the comp!!

You should look into the stage2 suspension for your next mod, very beneficial...

[Badmuthatrucker]

Thanks, I will do CKRC, isn't it?

[208BrAnDo]

Yes, they make the kit and its top notch. I went with a DIY mod like lots of other guys here.

How'd it go 2day?!

[Badmuthatrucker]

Originally Posted by 208BrAnDo

Yes, they make the kit and its top notch. I went with a DIY mod like lots of other guys here.

How'd it go 2day?!

Terrible! Although, I wasn't expecting to go too well on kit tires.
The comp was on large chunks of slate around the footings of a bridge, so it did a lot of sliding off the course sideways and landing over turned in holes that I couldn't drive out of. But, it was a test day... and even though I pointed out, it still did better than my Pro class Berg... That's a whole separate story of epic fail If it had been on sandstone I might of gotten better results. I'll post some photo's up or a link to a video when the camera guys upload them on cANZ.

However, I learned more in the parking lot than on the rocks today. I had the secrets of the two other Creeper drives bestowed upon me so I set about copying and tweaking their set up. This is the outcome of a couple of hours of parts scavenging and reconfiguring after I got home.



I still have to make cross braces for the top of the chassis, wire in my BEC and mount up my old big baller Hitec servo. I have a set of Chisels freed up to go on, but I'm waiting for my Nova foams to arrive. I'm lazy and want to avoid mounting the new rubber to have to pull them back off in 3 or 4 days to fit the new inserts.

Anyway, the results of my reconfiguration are about 1/2" extra belly clearance over stock, a touch more flex and longer upper links... 3Racing CR01 bent links actually, but with Traxxas rod ends at the inner ends of the front links correct the caster/pinion angle. **Edit**... Seems to be a home brewed Stage 2 I have going on here...

I also decided to go a 45t on 3S because the Hobbywing just didn't have the smooth way down low.

[Badmuthatrucker]

Here we go... Photos by nec

[Abavuso]

It's good to see other's out there comping with the creeper... I get crap when I got to comps and people see me running my creeper... then they see it crawl and the smirks disapear. I love it... the creeper is a definate winner with the correct setup... I found best set up for my driving style is full droop in the front and soft springs in the back... Each front wheels weighs about 13oz(wheels, rubber, and lead), rear wheels 7oz - Running rovers(White). My only sugestion for your stage two home brew is to mount the rear shocks on the outside of the chassis and put the end on the axle in the back on the outside of the lower link mount with the lower link in it's original mount... helps with the tourq twist and stabalize the rear.

Awesome start, I love it!!!

Originally Posted by Badmuthatrucker

Terrible! Although, I wasn't expecting to go too well on kit tires.
The comp was on large chunks of slate around the footings of a bridge, so it did a lot of sliding off the course sideways and landing over turned in holes that I couldn't drive out of. But, it was a test day... and even though I pointed out, it still did better than my Pro class Berg... That's a whole separate story of epic fail If it had been on sandstone I might of gotten better results. I'll post some photo's up or a link to a video when the camera guys upload them on cANZ.

However, I learned more in the parking lot than on the rocks today. I had the secrets of the two other Creeper drives bestowed upon me so I set about copying and tweaking their set up. This is the outcome of a couple of hours of parts scavenging and reconfiguring after I got home.



I still have to make cross braces for the top of the chassis, wire in my BEC and mount up my old big baller Hitec servo. I have a set of Chisels freed up to go on, but I'm waiting for my Nova foams to arrive. I'm lazy and want to avoid mounting the new rubber to have to pull them back off in 3 or 4 days to fit the new inserts.

Anyway, the results of my reconfiguration are about 1/2" extra belly clearance over stock, a touch more flex and longer upper links... 3Racing CR01 bent links actually, but with Traxxas rod ends at the inner ends of the front links correct the caster/pinion angle. **Edit**... Seems to be a home brewed Stage 2 I have going on here...

I also decided to go a 45t on 3S because the Hobbywing just didn't have the smooth way down low.

[Badmuthatrucker]

Thank you - and I see your logic. No rear steer to foul on the links so might as well put that triangulation back. Thanks!.

I guess I'm lucky and crawl with a good bunch of guys who seem to want the little Creepers to do well. Besides, they're all to busy with their Berg Vs Losi tribal poo - slinging over in Pro to get another war going

[wheelchair2]

Badmuthatrucker, so where is your battery riding? Are you happy with your shocks? If you read through my posts you'd discover my build took much longer than I had hoped for. The more I worked on it, the more I wanted to sell it. After finally getting it to run, I want to change it. I want a roll cage instead of the body, I want different shocks. I went with the CKRC driveshaft unpgrades, but they still pop off. I need some weight up from and I might be happy.

[Badmuthatrucker]

Up until 4 pm yesterday, I had a small LiPO at the front of the battery tray. From now on it will be on the rear axle (when I make a mounting plate for it, that is)

I'm reasonalby happy with the shocks, they don't leak. That seems to be a rarity these days.

[rmdesignworks]

Originally Posted by Badmuthatrucker

Thank you - and I see your logic. No rear steer to foul on the links so might as well put that triangulation back. Thanks!.

I guess I'm lucky and crawl with a good bunch of guys who seem to want the little Creepers to do well. Besides, they're all to busy with their Berg Vs Losi tribal poo - slinging over in Pro to get another war going

Hey BMT,,lookin at your pics above of your mods,,,have you since done anything with your rear upper links? Seperating them at the axle and raising them up at the axle? Looks very familiar otherwise...

[Badmuthatrucker]

The rear uppers are CR01 bent lowers from 3Racing too. They just kink "outwards" rather than downwards to get around the shocks.

I'll post up a different angle tonight after work

[Badmuthatrucker]

Ok, a better shot of my tweakage so far....Looks badly aligned, but my camera just cracked out some weird arse fish eye effect.

[Abavuso]

Just out of curiosity, why bend the upper links that way? I don't understand that. Also if you plan on using a DIG eventually those rear uppers bent like that might get in the way. The dig unit adds about 3/4in to the back of the trans.

[Badmuthatrucker]

I didn't bend them, they came like that I had them laying around waiting for a purpose. We don't run digs in sportsman so that won't be a problem.

What they do do is clear the up bend in the lower links at full flex. The fronts do too, but the motor gets in the way for laying them flat.

[Abavuso]

Ok, i understand what you did now... I tend to forget there's a sportsman class as my local club is still small and no one runs a sportsman class... Very good idea for the setup.

[Badmuthatrucker]

We had 16 Sportsman rigs at out last regional comp. It's quite popular here. However much I like channel mixing and gadgetry, I personally prefer the simple "It steers, it goes, it holds on a hill. Where's the rocks?" approach.

[Abavuso]

I hear you on that. That might be why I tend to do better in the 1.9 class than the 2.2. I do like the dig to help get around tight corners though. I was considering getting into supers but I was shown one last comp that took 6 ch and had a million function... Too much for me. I think it would be nice to have rear stear allowable fir sportsman class as long as it only turned at the same time as the front. That's just my opinion though.

[rmdesignworks]

Originally Posted by Badmuthatrucker

We had 16 Sportsman rigs at out last regional comp. It's quite popular here. However much I like channel mixing and gadgetry, I personally prefer the simple "It steers, it goes, it holds on a hill. Where's the rocks?" approach.

X2,,I think Sportsman is sick...its the only class where a 4-6 year old kids and 50+ year old men are on a level playing field. Im building another 2.2Pro rig soon but I am not giving up my Sporty. Besides the Sportsman class is the mechanics/drivers class. You arent gonna get beat by a 5.5 pound MOA, but you might get beat by a bone stock,straight out of the box AX or CREEPER,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

[rmdesignworks]

Originally Posted by Abavuso

I hear you on that. That might be why I tend to do better in the 1.9 class than the 2.2. I do like the dig to help get around tight corners though. I was considering getting into supers but I was shown one last comp that took 6 ch and had a million function... Too much for me. I think it would be nice to have rear stear allowable fir sportsman class as long as it only turned at the same time as the front. That's just my opinion though.

Ive heard people at our comps talking and I think a 2.2 Unlimited class would be sick,,,,build it whatever way you want within size/wheelbase restrictions and run what ya brung. Im thinkin a Creeper with front dig, rear cutting brakes and rear steer on 3S,,,,,,,,,MMMMMMMMM! CARNAGE