Newbie's try at a X Crawler

[turtleshuffle]

Well first off I have been a lurker for about a year now. I had a rc car when I was in high school but my intrested seemed to drift away but it has came back 11 years later. I finnaly talked my wife into letting me get a crawler, I told her she could play with when I'm not :-P I had been looking at RC4WDs, Rock Force, and the X Crawler. I decided on the X Crawler because of the sale that Hobby People where having, $329.99 and thats cheaper than what I have seen on Ebay. I have read posts on here about the problem with link mounted shock mounts, so I decided to try some fabbing of my own and copy what the Clod drivers are doing. If you have any suggestions I am all ears. I am still trying to decide on what type of motors escs to run. I want to run a dual escs and 4 wheel steer. I bought a 6 channel FM Airtronics VG6000 radio for pretty cheap to use on the project. Here are the pixs hope you enjoy. Also I have heard that there are replacement axles for the earlier ones that brake on the first climb??? How do you tell if the axle is the newer version. I noticed while putting mine together that one axles had a recessed screw head on the axle shaft where you connect the lower 4 link and the other axle didn't have this recess.

[crawlman]

Nice looks great. I just ordered some integy custom 190mm link form rc boys in ebay. They have the shock mount on the top so it will be able scrape on rocks.

For motors I have the novak rooster crawler esc and novak 55t motors. I went 8.4 volts and went from the stock 9 tooth to an 11 tooth to get some wheel speed.

Also looking for new Tires with a little more height kinda lookin at RC4WD rock crushers the are narrow and tall.

Nice to see another fellow X crawler

[turtleshuffle]

I see that you have bought both of them on ebay, hehehee. Let me know how you like them when you get them installed. As far as tires go, I haven't gotten to run mine yet waiting for electronics, what are your impressions of the stock wheel/tire setup? Only thing I can notice is that they seen alittle "over inflated", maybe the foam is to hard. Did you cut them in a star pattern as seen in the instruction mannual??? Also my rig weights 10lb with out electronics, what servos are you running???

[crawlman]

The HSC-7955TG is the powerhouse of the bunch and was specifically designed for use in large monster trucks like the Traxxas T-Maxx, & REVO, Associated RC10MT, Losi LST, Large scale aircraft, 1/5th scale buggys and trucks, Large scale boats and anything that needs TONS of torque!
Features:
4.8-6V Operation
Operating Speed to 60 deg 0.15 seconds
333 oz/24KG of Torque at 6V
Size 40x20x37mm
Coreless Carbon Brush Motor
All Titanium Metal Gear Drivetrain

Yhis is what im using x 2 front and rear steer a bit pricey but well worth it YOU can go with less torque but might burn servos. You wont be burning these .

As for the tires I havent cut the foams I will do this tonight. As for tire height they are 6 1/2. I think they need to be a bit taller about 7 1/2 would be better just to get a little more clearance under the axels JMO.

By the way is that an amercian bulldog you have??? I own an english bulldog at 103 pounds he is a monster........

[turtleshuffle]

I decided to go with Airtronic 94780m servos. Also made my own links using the "Homemade Links Thread" on here, bent them to get more clearance and mounted the lower links inboard of the chassis to clean up the outside from hangups. Now I am trying to decide on what esc/motor combo to go with. I am thinking about 2 Mamba Maxs or 2 Monsters with Holmes Hobbies Crawlmaster brushless outrunners. I'm leanning towards the Monsters because of the size/weight of my build and I wanna run a 4s lipo. Someone correct me if I am wrong, but with batteries, Volts=power/speed and Amps=run time??? Crawlman thats Odie the Olde English Bulldog, he's a meat head thats one year old and weights 114lbs.

[m&mkrawler]

Its nice to have pics to look at to help my build..Thanks

[turtleshuffle]

Got my motors and CC BECs in from Holmes Hobbies. I have to say it was an absolute pleasure doing business with him. Top support, excellent products, and the absolute best customer service I have ever delta with!!!

Electronics:

Airtronics VG6000 radio
2x Castle Mamba Monsters ESCs
2x Castle BECs
2x Holmes Hobbies Crawlmasters 3014 850kv
2x Airtronics 94780M servos
lipo battery

For my first crawler this thing runs as advertised and no broken axles yet!!! *Knocks on wood*








And I just got a call from CKRC, that my new project is shipping today!

[m&mkrawler]

sweet....

[corychapman]

hay am i the only one out there who has bent the x-crawler chassis were the the upper and lower links conect

[revo-4tec-mike]

wow how did that happen? got any pics?

[turtleshuffle]

Only thing I have broken so far are the stock lower shock ends, replaced them with traxxas ones.

[m&mkrawler]

Team LERK

Hey guys...can I ask if anyone has left the shocks in place and crawled..? Thats not my plan but I'm curious to know if it even crawls and if so...how does it perform...?

[turtleshuffle]

I remmber a couple of people trying but they kept getting hung up if the mounts where outside the diameter of the tire.

[revo-4tec-mike]

i have had lots of problems with the lower mounts hanging up so what i did is move the mounts down to the end of the rod right next to the rodend, reverse and countersink holes on mounts near motors, added hpi savage shocks and used stock springs then adjusted 4 link mounting points to lower ride. ill tell you that it got rid of the hang up and slill flexes as easy and far as the stock shocks did with no hang ups.

[dyecocker]

i have had my chassis plates bend from the links loosening, i just took them off and hammered them flat again. i did move my links inside the chassis and replaced the screws with capeads so they dont catch the rocks

[hackersracing]

save time and money and get a punk computer - it does everything your attempting to do with a 2 esc setup plus you have no idea how much more you can do. i have 3 (xtm build - hustler build) and an extra from a trade. tattookenny lead me to them and he even did a build with one.

the link http://www.punkrc.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=2

laterz
hacker

[i2oadsweepei2]

I did the same thing Revo~Mike did and moved the shock mounts down within the diameter of the tire and used Cen GST shocks.

Dyecocker: After you moved the links inside the chassis did you have any clearance issues with the motors? I was thinking of wider chassis spacers or doing some creative bending on the links. Anyone??

The punkrc computer is pretty cool. I almost bought one a few times. But have made do since. I already have a dx6i, so I thought I would wait till it's in the budget and get another rooster crawler esc.

I am currently rebuilding my front axle (gears). I just brazed the other three gears so there should be no issues

Kev

[revo-4tec-mike]

for the link to motor clearance i just used flat head screws and used a counter sink. also i did some creative bending.

in the future i want to weld pad eyes on the links to bolt the shock to instead of using the aluminum blocks that were provided.

[dyecocker]

i dont have any motor rub, but it is close. but also i an using the stock shocks so i dont have that mount to worry about. i have the shock mounts just out of the reach of the motor.