Hey guys,,,,

Speedy,,go to the store and get yourself a lid ring from a MASON JAR,,,set the rear bead on the wheel,,,then place the wheel on something about the same diameter as the wheel and push the ring down around the front bead to work it into the bead groove in the wheel then install your bead ring and screws....or set the rear bead then grip the tire in one hand so that the ,,,ah screw it ill take a pic or two of how I set my beads and post them up on here and in the T&T thread....give me a bit.

jebster,,,Ive ran Rover Blue dots and Whites on narrow (1") and wide wheels and they work better on wides like the stock Creeper wheels or Axials,,,my wheels are stock width. The sidewall gets pulled in too much with narrows and it causes the Rovers to not want to sidehill as well,,,and I think they wad up more and dont unload as well.

is 1.5in width consider standard? that is why i'm confused. the rims i listed at CKRC are called narrow even though they told me the width is 39mm (1.5in).

The pretty standard list of narrow wheels usually go as 1" and smaller in width. A wheel at 1.5" is not what most people would consider narrow...that must be a typo on their end. If they are indeed 1.5" wide they would be fine in my book,,,now you,, may like a narrower wheel,,,ie: .75" or even a .5" wheel. I dont care for how the sidewall of the tires roll when you sidehill.

ok. i hope it is a typo because i like the look of the wheels and i wanted a width similar to the stock wheels. they are also listed as having zero offset on the hex which would help give me a little more room in the front to reposition my front shocks without rubbing the wheels.

i'm hoping to have my BTA mod done soon (using 1/4" aluminum rod to run a link like the CKRC BTA kit). hope to have pics up in a day or two.

Well when you get them measure themtrhough the package before you rip the plastic open,,,if they arent at least 1.5" wide Id send them back,,,,the Link Murdered out" wheels are good,,thats what I run

i saw the murdered out rims and they look nice and they are a better price but i'm willing to pay a little more for the look i want. if these other rims aren't what they are advertised i may go with the murdered out rims (probably in raw aluminum).

by the way, what has been your experience with ckrc customer service? i do get responses back to questions but it seems to take a long time. i'm guessing they are pretty busy. i've only placed one order with them so far and that was a good experience.

Post those wheels over in the WHEELS AND TIRES forum and ask if any one has them and if they are truely 1.5" wide.

It may take a couple of days but hey you might get an answer at least.

I havent dealt with their customer service except once and it was fine...Ive ordered multiple items from them and havent had a problem.

so, spent last night finishing up my BTA steering mod (pics below). i'm liking the way it turned out and can't wait to get it on the rock pile. i figured i could do the same as the ckrc kit but instead of spending $50 it cost me $3 for 3' of 1/4" aluminum rod. after 4 attempts and some trashed rod i have no binding at all and everything is lined up awesome. it is tight but fits if you bend it at the right points. i also add a nerf bar on the front to provide some protection to my diff lock servo and back of the steering servo. next up, 4VP chassis :)

looks good man,,,,action pics are next right?

yep, as soon as i can get out of work early enough that it isn't dark. wait, maybe i should be looking at adding lights!

i need to look into what clubs/competitions run in my area. i'm enjoying tweaking my rig and running on the rocks in the back yard but i want to see other crawlers in action. this forum has been very helpful but it's time to put mine through it's paces.

rm, i was meaning to ask you. how much steering angle are you getting out of your crawler? in some of your pics it looks pretty large. are you at 45 degrees? i'm at 40 right now and haven't hit a line yet that if feel i needed more (given a dig and my diff lock i can make some pretty tie turns).

My steering is at or so damned close to 50 degrees you cant tell the diff. Its sick to see people with Bergs take a double look when they see my wheels turn to full lock...I love my Creeper steering,,its one of the reasons I cant see goin with an Ax or LCC/LNC.

Plus,,,theres the cool factor of a shafty with ring gears competing with Bergs, Bully's, Ax's and Losi's and taking the same lines they do and some they cant. I always freak a bit when my VC takes a line that one of the $1200-$2000 MOA's run. ANd then I smile when mine keeps going while they are replacing a broken axle or link or whatever. Knock on wood though, dont wanna jinx myself ya know....does a cheap screw together desk with particle board top count as knocking on wood? I mean, it is wood right?

Yeah,,,bashing around in the back yard alone or with a couple of freinds is fine for a while but watching 5-10 guys all running the same lines with little differences in tire placement and speed runs makes you really start to think about how you drive your rig.

I just rechecked it a little closer and its right at 52 degrees,,,damn,,104 degrees or steering angle lock to lock.

wow, that's a lot of steering angle (saw your post in your thread too). i may need to get a longer servo arm to get more out of mine. wanted to get an aluminum arm at some point anyway.

My servo horn is modified (ofcourse) to be 1 1/8" long hole to hole. Now I want a stronger servo,,,,,:shock:"thumbsup"

i'll have to see what length servo horn i can find. i'm also looking to get a stronger servo. been looking at the hitec 7955tg. for the price and torque you get it seems like a reasonable choice.

had a present in the mailbox today. my new 4VP chassis. started the install but didn't get to spend much time on it. minus one issue with the nose of the chassis interferring with my BTA steering (which AB Designs has offered to send new parts no charge :mrgreen:) it is fitting up awesome. can't wait to get this thing assembled and on the rocks!

Lookin good.... so how did you do comping today?

ok. put the kids to bed early and spent the evening getting my crawler up and running. 4VP chassis, custom made aluminum backbone (adds a little extra strength to the chassis, ties the top of the transmission to the chassis plates and gives me a little room to mount things), BTA steering mod, front diff lock option, dig unit, rear axle saddle pack. i still need to get some lexan to cover things up but i'm loving it! low CG (although a little wide in the middle) and plenty of articulation. once i get the short nose pieces on this thing is going to look as awesome as it runs. a few pics on the workbench. hope to get on the rocks tomorrow.

and adam, i still haven't gotten my creeper out to a comp yet. still needing to research places in my area.

All I can say is wow!!! I thought about rasing the doors like you did, but I wasn't sure how it would look. That think just looks pissed off!!! Totaly awesome. That short nose looks a little diferent but not a bad temporary fix. I'll be sure to get those cut next week as soon as I get paid and send it out to you. I love it.

no rush on the short nose replacement parts. i'm looking forward to getting them but i'm planning on having a blast with this thing on the rocks. sweet chassis! you came up with a winner in my opinion!

this is my first crawler and i'm loving it. i missed the time years ago when i could just tweak and tune an rc car. but i'm definitely addicted now. the wish list is growing: brushless motor, aluminum wheels, new tires, new servo and bec, 4/5 channel 3-position module (i have a tq2.4 4 channel radio and want the 3 position dig versus 2 position i'm running now; somebody in the electronics forum is putting together something)... all i need now is a second income!

oh yeah, and some lights. the days are getting pretty short!

Sweet build dude... I like your alum fabwork... very clean... looks like a "fun" wiring project too :ror: ...

If you go brushless, might I suggest the dirt-cheap HobbyKing route... 35A Turnigy ESC and a 1000kV outrunner for $40 is a good place to start if you're strapped for cash and still wanna experiment... Tons of torque and good wheelspeed, also very efficient and easy on batteries... With the right timing and punch setup there's very little cogging and good low-speed control... I get about 35-40 minutes out of a 1300mah 3S... and that's with 4WS and a cooling fan for the ESC (which it doesn't really need)...

Just one more suggestion - flip your shocks upside-down... Won't make a big, or even a noticeable difference, but every little bit helps... "thumbsup"

speedyg, you have a build thread on here, right? i think i saw your outrunner combo you mentioned. looked sweet. did you have any mounting issues with the outrunner as far as space? i was thinking about getting a novak 18.5 brushless given i already have the goat esc but that would be $80 compared to the $40 you mentioned for an esc and motor. i'm thinking it over.

i appreciate the compliment on the aluminum. a hacksaw, vice, a couple files, drill press and a whole lot of patience is all it takes! ;-) i do miss growing up and having access to my dad's machine shop but i can't afford that kind of equipment for a hobby.

oh yeah, wiring is fun. i have a servo stretcher to get the diff servo working (the tq2.4 doesn't have EPA on the 3-5 channels). i'll have another 4/5 channel model i'll be adding in and then a bec. things are getting tight in there. plus, adam (ab designs) has got me thinking about lighting. maybe a light bar on top and a pair mounted on the rear link plate to provide rear lighting. lots and lots of wires!!!

that brings me to a question that i might have to go to the electronics forum for but i thought i would add it here. i planning on getting the castle 10A bec. do i have to get the castle link to set it up? i know it is only $20 but that is money i could spend elsewhere. wouldn't be as bad if i had other castle equipment i could use it with but i don't. i'm going to end up spending $40 to get a $20 piece of equipment working.

and see my review on my build thread: http://www.rccrawler.com/forum/venom-creeper/253234-chappy4os-venom-build-thread.html

lol sry just had to do that,

awsome lookin build man, love the custom fab. can't wait to see more

As far as I can tell, you'll need the Castle Link to program the output voltage only if you want to change the output voltage from 5.5V to something else (5.5V being the factory default)... Maybe you have an RC buddy that has one you could borrow...? The C.L. software is free to download ...http://www.castlecreations.com/downl...html?subId=696

As far as my build goes - I'm still waiting for a new set of tranny gears since mine stripped about three teeth off an 8341a gear a while ago... I hear it's not an uncommon problem with these trannies... The motor I have (Turnigy AerodriveXP 1000kV outrunner) only cost me $14 or so... Since you already have a brushless ESC...... Only thing is, you'll have to make an adapter plate for it to go from the motor's 19mm mount screw spacing to the Creeper's 24mm spread (seeing as how you're handy with the tools of the trade this should only take you a 1/2 hour like it took me ;-))...

Also a note on lighting... If you decide to get anything from HobbyKing you might as well look up these...

http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/s...ip-White_(1mtr)

And for an added "cool" effect you can add one of these to switch 'em on and off... Ya know, since you like wiring stuff and all... :mrgreen:

http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/s...trolled_Switch_

Hope all this helps... Keep up the good work! "thumbsup"

Jeff you can order the CC BEC 10amp from Holmes Hobbies preset to what ever voltage you want. I have a link of my own cuz if I change servos I may need it.

i hadn't thought about needing the link if i end up changing servos and want to go from 6.0V to 7.2V. it's nice that Holmes Hobbies will set it up for you but i agree that the extra $20 to have future options isn't a bad deal.

that lighting looks pretty cool. i would have to see if i could make it work for my needs.

i need a little clarification. outrunners aren't sensored, right? i know for the inrunner (like the novak 18.5) you need it to be sensored to help on the low end control. $14 for a motor to try out brushless sounds pretty good to me.

I've never seen a sensored outrunner before, I think it's mostly because they're made for planes (spinning a prop slowly seems pointless i guess)... As long as your ESC has adjustable timing advance, it should work okay... I have my advance set at 3.25 degrees, and under the right throttle conditions it turns real smooth and crawls at half the speed of my 2S Rooster/55t in my AX without cogging...

The Turnigy ESCs are really quite impressive considering the amount of programming options they have for how inexpensive they are... I've got three now (18A, 35A and 60A), and all use the same programming card and have the same features... This is the one I'm using in the Creeper...

http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/s...SC_35A_CAR_ESC

so, got about an hour on the rocks this afternoon (i'll post pics later) and the beast is doing aweson. the 4VP didn't alter balance or cg in negative way and has added a lot of shock/link flexibility. in particular my front end always felt pretty soft so getting the shocks a little more vertical has given it a more solid response without changing springs/oil.

one issue to pop up. when i was engaging my dig it was slipping on occassion, which has never happened in the past. i had to shift the servo a little to fit the new chassis and this changed the dig servo link alignment some. i'm hope the issue is the new linkage angle is prevent me from getting full engagement. i'll be playing around with it tonight. that does lead me to a question if it is the worst case: has anyone stripped out gears in their dig unit?

I've not stripped out any dig gears though I did notice that the longer I used the servo that came with the dig the more I started having issues with it not fully engaging or slipping. I ran it for about 2 months in the prototype and 3 weeks on the production version and I started having a similar issue last week. I had to adjust the endpoints and that helps alot but I did notice that the servo doesn't seam to throw as well as it use to and the cheep plactic servo horn I'm running is bending and flexing alot so it might be just the case of upgrading the servo and the horn a little bit.

Hey Jeff,,,yeah bro anytime you change the location of something with a linkage its going to affect the throw,,even if the move is very slight. Moving something like a dig servo or steering servo 1mm one way or another can affect the throw positive or negative by any number of degrees. Remember,,drive angle on linkages are exponential. Re-calibrate your dig servo with your radio and all should be fine. I dont think you really need to worry about stripping the dig gears,,,thats the stout end of your trans.

glad to hear it is most likely the engagement. i'm running a tq2.4 on my creeper which means the 3-5 channels don't have EPA. i've learned to tweak via servo horns and linkage lengths but it is a pain. maybe if i come into money i'll upgrade!

ok. so it was the linkage and not the dig itself. moved the servo a little and everything is working good.

cut out some bodies panels and painted them. then i realized i grabbed a fluorencent green! :cry: oh well, i'll see what they look like once the paint dries. if i don't like it lexan is pretty cheap.

here are the pics from running around the yard earlier today...

nice job, looks good... I like the clean wiring too "thumbsup"

Them bateries on the back look like they should be a jet pack :)... that would be cool, a jet powered creeper. I ment to ask you, did you have any problems with the doors hanging up on the rocks with the spacers behind them?

the doors did catch a couple times but not alot. i just back it up and take a little different line. the rock piles i'm climbing have some pretty narrow and pointed rocks so even if the doors were flat against the side of the chassis i would still catch on occassion. i like having my esc and receiver where they are at so i'm ok with the compromise.

maybe someday i'll look at making some skidplates that curve in towards the bottom of the chassis, similar to the original kydex plates i made (see first couple pics in this thread). but no rush, just having fun with the creeper as is.

so, fluorecent green it probably not a good color. oh well, i'll get some more lexan and try again. i'm considering getting some digital camo decals instead of painting the next set of panels. i saw freqeskins woodland digital camo skin for the xr10 and like the pattern.
by the way, i used the stock creeper battery tray posts to hold the rear of the top cover down. got the idea from adams 4VP thread. works good. didn't get out on the rocks today but posted a few pics from the workbench.

rmdw, your pipe skid plate got me thinking. i ran by the hardware store and they didn't have the right sized pipe. when i got home i found an old length of stainless steel rod. i came up with skid rods that i hope prevent the rear axle from catching on sharp edges. it is also pretty light and easy to clip on. a couple pics below. i'm thinking about doing something on the front axle but i have less room to work with.