AX10 Pitman & idler steering

[Shayne82609]

Here's my steering system. A bit different, thought I would give it a try. The servo mount is a piece of 1" aluminum angle I picked up at my local Menard's. Trimmed it and shaved it to fit 2 standard servos. Its screwed down to the stock mount locations, as well as one bolt and spacer to the outer "battery mount" locations.

The left servo is a Hobby City HD-9150MG. Its has plenty of torque, its super quiet, moves like a Swiss watch, and will suck enough amps to trigger a computerized receiver's low volt throttle cut (theres a story to that one, trust me). Its a little taller that a standard servo, but it works great in this setup. After 1/2 hour of crawling, its just a little above ambient temp.

http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/store/uh_viewitem.asp?idproduct=6334

The right servo is a housing and output shaft of a MG995 that's been filled with BB's and hot glue. Its just there to hold the idler arm. If I ever felt the need to crush something with my steering I could replace it with another 9150MG.

Both of the servo arms are standard aluminum off shelf parts. All of my rod ends are Traxxas Revo parts with 8/32" all tread holding them together.

Steering knuckles are CKRC high steer knuckles. These are some quality peices, highly recommended, even if your using an otherwise stock setup.

http://www.ckrccrawlers.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1467

Heres an Ackerman shot. Seems to work quite well. "thumbsup"

The whole thing moves effortlessly. No bind points anywhere (unless you consider the tires hitting the springs a bind point), and has very little flex. The little bit of flex that is there is very tolerable, and gives it a little bit of squish room for impacts.

Give me some feedback folks.

Thanks,

 

[calikingcrawler]

I like it."thumbsup"
Very inventive.

 

[T600]

if the other servo does not do anything why dont you make a shaft to hold the servo arm instead of having a servo taking up space?

 

[calikingcrawler]

if the other servo does not do anything why dont you make a shaft to hold the servo arm instead of having a servo taking up space?

It is holding weight in it. Fighting torque twist."thumbsup"

 

[T600]

how, i dont get it?

 

[Shayne82609]

how, i dont get it?

I'll admit the whole thing is kinda esoteric. Yes, the dummy servo could be replaced with a steel block holding 2 bearings, a shaft, and a matching arm on the end of it (if the dummy behind the radio would get off his butt and build one).

What I was after when I built this is symmetry. Everything is as symmetric left to right as possible. I can put the working servo on the left or right. A dummy servo was a simple (and quick!) solution. Filling the dummy servo with weight helps to balance the weight so the dummy servo weighs about as much as the working servo.

I was working on the front end of my 2wd Dodge truck (1:1) and looking at the steering and had the thought "why wouldn't that work on a AX10?"

Dunno if this helps. I think I might have confused myself in the process.

 

[oldhippie]

The only reason to do it is to get double servo power. It is outside the box thinking for sure, which is cool.

 

[gunnar]

Yea! throw a couple 400+ in/oz servos on there and move some rocks around.

 

[calikingcrawler]

Only one servo is fictional.

 

[MadForce]

Wow nice! It reminds me of the stock Madforce steering setup. You say this servo is an amp sucker, have you tried a cc bec? You can probably go with twin servos with this bec plus it's super cheap. My guess is you can also squeeze a 3s 2200+ lipo on top of that.

 

[Shayne82609]

Wow nice! It reminds me of the stock Madforce steering setup. You say this servo is an amp sucker, have you tried a cc bec? You can probably go with twin servos with this bec plus it's super cheap. My guess is you can also squeeze a 3s 2200+ lipo on top of that.

It has a CC BEC on it. Can't run without it!

 

[Shayne82609]

Yea! throw a couple 400+ in/oz servos on there and move some rocks around.

I've thought about adding another one of the 9150MG servos. But I already have some flex in some parts I don't think are supposed to be flexing. As it is, I have enough steering torque to move the chassis if one front wheel is bound. I think if I added more, it would start breaking wheels or axle housings. So I'll leave it as it for now, and run it till it breaks. Then figure how to make it better.

 

[gunnar]

That servo isn't too strong, if your bending parts now, I'm surprised. I might have an axle housing fix for you next week, just waiting for the steel to get here. Is the servo torquing up off the mount? Might have to run a strap over the top of it. Looks like everything else is plenty beefy, except for the plastic C's.

 

[Beest]

I like. I like.

 

[SDheavymetal]

Thanks for the post. I really like this set up! I do alignments for a living and that is a cool setup! I need to rig a idler arm so I can put by Lipo up there! OUTSIDE THE BOX

 

[Shayne82609]

Thanks for the post. I really like this set up! I do alignments for a living and that is a cool setup! I need to rig a idler arm so I can put by Lipo up there! OUTSIDE THE BOX

I wrenched for a living for about 15 years too. Finally got out of it and into mechanical design, more fun.

I've thought about trying to put my battery up front, but if I make a idler block out of steel and add steel washers to my wheels as beadlocks, I shouldn't need much more weight up there. I'm planning on changing the trans around soon too. Another old mechanic thing, that driveshaft really shouldn't be at that bizarre angle. Near straight ones live longer. That will make room in the chassis to park the battery down on the bottom plate next to the trans.

Just plans of what to do next.

I am planning to add a second link across the bottom of the two servo horns. This will eliminate almost all of the flex I have in the servos. The servo mount seems to keep the servos good and solid. So its just the outputs that move a bit.

Thanks for the input everyone "thumbsup"