scale venom help???

[AlvaCracker]

I have a tcs xtrail chassis and a venom. I was wondering if I should mount the creeper trans in the middle with both drive shafts or if I could mount it up front and link it to a transfer case to have weight on the front? I'm not sure what transfer case I should get, any ideas? Ive looked on rc4wd and they're not bad prices but are they worth the money. I'm not new to Rc but I've only had the creeper for a week. I was crawling a customized wheely king until about a year ago. Any and all advice/opinions would be nice and appreciated.

[Nvghostrider]

Seen a few scale creeper based builds with tranny mounted up front running to a transfer case. Definitely weighty but for scale it definitely adds to that weight realism. Rc4wd t-cases work awesome for the application and I'm sure you could find one in used but useable condition any number of places. What type of body are you using?

[AlvaCracker]

Alright cool. I don't have a body picked out yet but it'll probably either a full jeep comanchee proline body or a 50's Chevy body. I had a 50's Chevy body on my old wk crawler and liked the looks of it but I'm open minded and want something different. For electronics I have traxxas xl5 esc a spectrum servo and an axial 55 turn. I'm gonna be doing general trail crawling and plan on getting a tekin 35t motor.

[AlvaCracker]

Like I said, I'm going to be doing scale crawling and trail riding and occasionally pulling tug of war style. I'm not sure about gears for the transfer case. One case has 2.18:1 and the other has .75:1 ratio. So with the stock 3:49.84 transmission gearing which case would have a good balance of torque and wheel speed? Thank in advanced for all the help.

[AlvaCracker]

This is what I have so far. Need to make upper links, lower links, mount the creeper transmission up front then mount a transfer case once I get it, mount electronics and everything. Any suggestions on scale looking shocks to make it sit lower?

[AlvaCracker]

I've mounted the creeper transmission to the front of my frame and after shaving the stock battery tray I mounted it to the rear of the frame. I plan on using the battery tray to hold a 2 cell lipo and my esc. The receiver is servo taped to the open side of the transmission. I have the stock shocks and lower links hooked up and I still have to make new upper links. The chassis wobbles side to side but I hope once I get my upper links mounted it will stop wobbling. I'd post pictures but I haven't figured it out yet cause I'm new to both the forum and photobucket. Any help on that will be appreciated and I've already read the sticky on uploading photos but I'm still having troubles. Thanks.

[SStone]

When you are selecting a photo from photobucket to post here, expand the image on photobucket. On the right will be a box with different link formats... Click the one that says [img] and it will auto copy and you can paste it here. It looks like you are copying the URL out of the browser an putting img tags around it. Doesn't work with certain link formats.

And yes your axles will center and chassis wobble will go away once you get upper links and shocks mounted.

[AlvaCracker]

I finally figured out the photo issue. What do y'all think of my truck so far. Any suggestions will be appreciated. I found a body I like from ckrc.com its the 80's crawler pickup.
online photo storage

This is my build so far.

free photo hosting

pic hosting

pic upload

picture sharing

free image hosting

photo sharing

picture hosting

free image hosting

host images

picture hosting

[SStone]

Looks great so far man. Ride height is a little high IMO but you are on the right track.

[winnerone23]

Looks real good. I like ur body choice!
Couple tips.. ur links are on backwards. That short bend goes down to the ground at the axle, big bend in the air at the chassis..
Diff shocks.. a 4" shock will be plenty big an more of what ur looking for as for looks an function.
Which brings me to articulation.. a good starting point for articulation or rule of wrist is.. flex should be around a tire height, high..
If ur using a 4.5" tire, no need for more then 5" to the bottom of ur front tire. Or around that.. the 9" you have is hindering, I started there as well.

[Docwolf]

personally you can run the links how ever works best, but the shocks might be an issue. you can run them inverted like that, but watch for tire rub and binding between the shock body and axle housing. the ride height does seem high but at the same time there is hardly any weight on the chassis. I would run with what you have and then adjust once the rig is assembled. Good start so far.

[AlvaCracker]

Thanks guys, I enjoy the feed back. I chose the body because it looks like a jeep scrambler and I've never seen one on someone else's Rc. I need to get spacers for the shocks because up right theres a gap between the frame and shock top and when they're inverted the shock body hits the frame when compressed because its straight up and down.

[AlvaCracker]

Today I made a in chassis servo mount. I cut it from a paint pan using tin snips. It may be too flimsy because the metal is so thin(28 gauge I believe) but I wont know until I can afford a battery, esc, and motor for it.

pic upload

picture sharing

free image hosting

[Docwolf]

looks iffy, also, you need your horn against the opposite rail. the configuration you have now will bind and limit your travel, same idea as a pan hard bar (which it is advised you run with CMS, i don't)

example: (never mind the RS10 axles, she is on creepers right now and will going over to SCX10 soon, idea is the same)

[AlvaCracker]

Thanks for the info Docwolf. I'll make up a new steering link to reach the other side when I get the materials to make my upper links. I didn't know the horn position would be a problem but that's why I joined the forum so I can get ideas and help.

[AlvaCracker]

I cut the internal anti roll springs in half and put one half on top of the shock piston and the other half below the piston on all 4 shocks thus lowering my ride height about ½ an inch.

pic hosting
I also fixed my steering linkage to the opposite side of the servo horn like Docwolf recommended.

image hosting sites

[Exocaged]

For that steering design to work correctly you will need a panhard bar run at the same angle and as close to the same length as the drag link from the servo. As the suspension cycles the panhard bar will cycle the whole axle a little bit sideways and match the travel arc of the drag link. You will only use one upper link if you do this. Running a double triangulated system like the stock system is on the creeper doesn't work well with a panhard bar. It binds. If you just run the stock style suspension with the drag link like what you have it will bump steer.

Some people call it's panhard bar and some call it a track bar.

[SStone]

New ride height looks great man. Hope I didn't sound like a dick in my last post about it.

Your chassis mount for the servo looks fine aside from the thickness of the material. I know that has been addressed but otherwise it looks very functional.

Looking forward to more updates! We need to breathe some life back into the Venom section...

[AlvaCracker]

Sstone, its all good man. I just took it as advice. I didn't mind your opinion, I actually look for peoples opinions and you were right because I also think it looks better now sitting lower.
How should I mount my panhard/track bar? Photos with a description would be appreciated, thanks.

[AlvaCracker]

This is my attempt at a panhard/track bar. I mounted one end to the top of the C-hub/steering knuckle and the other end to the far bottom side of my transmission mount. I'm not sure if it was done the right way but I figured id give it a shot and post some pics. If its not right, please explain how I should fix it.

host images

picture hosting

online photo storage