Bully Bible

[Erik D_lux]

I want to add all Bully parts to this thread. Please, if I missed your product, its not for any other reason than I am just getting this together and refining it. Post up in here or PM me if you want me to add your Bully parts.

The purpose of this thread will be to inform new people (and maybe even some that have been around) on building a RC Rock Crawler or specifically a Bully in this forum.

Not only should this post help people learn how to build their cars, but I would also like to post links of specific parts and where to get them.
I would like user input on this document and I will update it with new info as much as possible.

I hope this will help bring new people into the hobby and make it so its not so difficult to find information on how to join our wonderful hobby and have fun doing it.

I will try to put all the information in here. If you cant find it, please post up to let me know what information your missing and I will try an add it.
I might not be able to get everything in here. Using the “Search” feature is still going to be a very valuable tool.

 

[Erik D_lux]

Chassis

Best place to search is in the Vendors forum. Here is a list that I know of.

Y-Town Crawlers
Double agent chassis.
I think you need to PM Del Monte to order.

Dravtech
Sudu Pro
Sudo Pro 3D
The pro is available on his site at dravtech.net I think the 3D is coming soon.

5th Dimension
Dominator.
I think you need to PM Cboggs or King Gee to order

Dlux
Bounty Hunter
Dluxfab.com

RcBros Executioner v2
Available via PM

BDN Remedy chassis
Available via PM BDM

Vendors, please post up to have your chassis added

 

[Erik D_lux]

Shocks

The most commonly run shocks are either the Traxxas Big bore or the Axial SCX shocks.

The big bores come in 3.5” (tra2660), 3.7” (tra2661) and 4” (tra2662). The length will depend on the chassis so figure out your chassis first and then ask the manufacturer what length works best with their chassis.

Big bores can work in the stock form or you can do a “cap mod” where you cut off the top eyelet and drill and tap for a screw. That screw will hold a rod end on. Doing this mod will make for less binding when you set your shocks up.

www.dluxfab.com offers Traxxas Big bore shocks that have the cap mod and also offers lathing the bodies down. Lathing the bodies down reduces weight and lets the springs ride on the shock without rubbing.

The SCX shocks are usually taken from stock kits and bought “used” so your best bet is to find these in the classifieds.

RcBros carries an Egressor Delrin Shock Body which is a better version of the SCX shock. RCbros carries all pieces to run fully assembled shocks.

The most common springs to use on either shock is the Mini-T spring. LOSB1117 for the short springs (big bore), LOSB1119 for the long springs (SCX). I think the SCX can use the short ones also?

RCbros.com also carries Shock Springs that mimics most commonly used Losi Silver Spring Rate

You can use stock spring cups or Dlux Fab has no preload spring cups.

 

[Erik D_lux]

Links


Bully links will be the same lengths as Berg links.

You will need to find links for the chassis you decided on. There are lots of threads on how to build your own, the manufacturer can tell you where to source them or I, Dlux can make custom ones and supply a lot of links for a lot of chassis Dlux Fab.

Typically you want a Revo rod end for the lower links. They are strong and cheap. TRA5347
I use Traxxas 1942 rod ends anywhere I need 3mm sized rod ends (uppers on 1/8” links).

You can use a lot of different materials for links. Delrin, Aluminum and Titanium are the most common.
Delrin will be the cheapest and weakest
Aluminum can be had for cheap and can be great for upper links but typically too weak for lower links
The most common is Titanium 3/16” lower links and Titanium 1/8” upper links

 

[Erik D_lux]

Tires

Tires are usually Rovers, Sedonas, VooDoo, RC4wd Bully pin tires and some Jconcepts Ruptures.
Rovers, stick with the white or maybe Blue (harder compound).

RC4wd Bully pin tires come in one compound.

Sedonas only come in one compound, white.

VooDoo come in Gold (soft), Silver (medium), Blue (hardest, but still soft). All have their place and all work well.

If you want VooDoos that have been narrowed, PM EverettY

Jconcpets only have one Rupture compound

Foams will be a lot of preference.
You can get away with stock foam in the Rovers/Sedonas for a bit until you know what you want, the VooDoo really needs the Crawlerinnovations.com closed cell foam setup. Typically this will be a soft outer foam in the front around a 6” inner closed cell foam and medium outer foam in the rear around a 6” closed cell foam.

 

[Erik D_lux]

ESC(s)

I don’t know much about single ESC. I think you need a Punk dig bought from ?????? and your choice of ESC.

Duel ESC will give the ability to run each motor independently at its own speed as long as you have a radio that lets you. The popular ESC are a Tekin FXR, Castle creations micro sidewinder or the Holmes Hobbies BR mini. Everybody seems to have preference on their ESC so search around.

Holmes Hobbies LLC- Your Source for Power! carries his BR minis that are already "smashed" (putting two ESC's together).

 

[Erik D_lux]

BEC

Pretty much only one option IMO for this…. Castle creations 10a BEC. If you don’t use this your steering can get in a bind and then your car wont drive. You want a BEC. If you get the Holmes Hobbies shv500 servo, you do not need a BEC since it has one in the servo itself.

 

[Erik D_lux]

Servo/horn

You will find some preference here also. The popular Servos for XR10 are Hitec 7980 or Futaba BLS172.

List of good servos:
Hitec 7980
Hitec 7950 (may be a bit weak for the XR10)
Futaba BLS172
Holmes Hobbies shv500

For servo horns people really like the clamping Robitronics style but I really despise them after having multiple, multiple issues with them on my super. I suggest a non clamping style such as Air wild horns http://airwildpilotshop.com/ or a simple Hitec 55702. Either style you choose, a servo horn with 1” length usually works best for our cars.

 

[Erik D_lux]

Radio

People commonly use a Futaba 4pl, 4pk(s), or a Aritronics MT4 for pistol type radios. You can also use a twin stick with great success like the Futaba 6ex or the Specktrum dx6 or many others. I usually suggest sticking to pistol types as they are a TON easier to learn. Twin stick do have the advantages of more advanced options though.

Doing some research on the ole inter-web I found a couple of how-to videos by Harley

Programming the 4pk for Dual ESC's
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwu-Wm3dRhw

Dual ESC's 4 wheel steer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bY26rfFwlio

Go do some research on U-tube lots of info there on most common RC TX's / RXs

 

[Erik D_lux]

Motors

Motors can get complicated. I have learned a lot over time but still, when I order, I usually send a message saying "here is what I want, hook me up". Both EddieO (Team Brood) and Holmes Hobbies have great service and can help you out on a custom motor.

You can get "Machine wound" and "Hand wound". "Hand wound" to put it simply, will have more power and have better quality. If you want a hand wound motor, see above. You can also simply grab a machine wound motor off both Team Brood Racing and Holmes Hobbies LLC- Your Source for Power!

 

[Erik D_lux]

Knuckles/knuckle weights

One of the most important things when looking for knuckles is making sure you can get a knuckle weight.

RC4wd sells an 8* and non 8* knuckle. Stock will have the non 8*.

To determine whether you want 8* or non, check this thread:

http://www.rccrawler.com/forum/rc4wd-bully/gener...advantage.html

RC4wd sells a knuckle weight for each type, I believe they are the same piece.

RcBros knuckle weights brackets and weights.
http://rcbros.com/?product=bully-2-knuckle-weight-holder

As an option Dlux knuckles are knuckle weights in themselves. www.dluxfab.com

 

[Erik D_lux]

Wheels

Man, I almost dont want to go into wheels. There are a lot of options for this.

There are a couple of different types of wheels.
Beadlocks
Glue on

There are a lot of types of beadlocks. You can get anything from a stock plastic wheel of a lot of cars all the way up to a really nice aluminum aftermarket bead lock.

For crawlers, I prefer to have the flat faced wheel. This allows for weight to be moved as far out as possible and also to have as much weight as possible.

For flat faced beadlocks, I dont think there are many options. Dlux fab makes any of the "glue on" wheels a beadlock with the simple addition of an inner beadlock. RC4wd makes a beadlock wheel. http://store.rc4wd.com/Rocker-22-Lightweight-Competition-Beadlock-Wheels_p_4257.html

Glue on wheels. There must be a million out there now. Let me know if you need to be added to the list.

CrawlerInnovations.com 6 bolt wheels (not flat faced though)

5th dimension
Send PM to order?

Hulksta
Send PM to order?

Y- Town
Send PM to order?

Dluxfab.com

Dravtech.net

Krazedbuilds.com

Rcbros.com

 

[Erik D_lux]

Bully Axles

I will probably need a lot of correction in here. I am just throwing guesses around.

There are 5 different types of Bully axles in total.

There are 4 different types of Bully1 axles? These are the older and heavier versions. These axles had their down sides (weight, narrowness, extreme amounts of scrub), but they were also brutally strong. The only problems I ever heard of was an occasional axle shaft failure. Typically it was the pins in the balls of the axles. If you replaced the pins in there, you were usually good.

The first version of the Bully1 axles were the 2.2 version. These were narrow.

The second version of the Bully1 axles were the super version. These were identical to the 2.2 version only the axle tubes and shafts were longer.

The third version of the Bully1 axles were for the super version but they had "light weight" tubes. These were still very heavy but much better.

The forth version of the Bully1 axles were a middle of the road version between the 2.2 and super. These didnt seem to be wide enough for a super and not narrow enough for a 2.2.

Maybe a fifth version (I am not sure where they fit in) you had gear boxes that were typically used for supers where they threw another gear in and made it a 65:1 version vs the typical 38:1 (?) used in the 2.2 version. I think these may have also come standard on a lot of super axles too?

Finally, there is the Bully2 axles. These are RC4wd's most up to date axles.
These axles are much better than the previous version. They fix the big issues of being too narrow, too much scrub and came in lighter.

Issues with the Bully2 axles:
A small percentage have stripped their small gears. There is no fix for this as far as I know. I dont think its a common enough problem.

The steering arms are short on the knuckles. This causes a lot of strain on the servo. A shorter servo horn, a stronger servo or longer steering arms on the knuckles can help. http://x3mcrawl.com/ makes a longer steering arm or you can get Dlux knuckles.

Axle shafts have issues and are known to break. There is no known fix for this.

The upper link mounts are known to break. I dont know that there is a fix for this.

 

[Erik D_lux]

Bully accessories

Battery trays, Servo mounts, Electronic trays can all be found at DravTech | Custom RC Products or Dluxfab.com https://dluxfab.ecwid.com/#!/Bully/c/11553002/offset=0&sort=nameAsc

Hulksta Engineering makes upper link mounts

Hulksta Engineering makes Delrin tubes Contact him on facebook?

CBRB Fab makes Titanium rear axle shafts for the RC4WD Bully 2. PM him here on RCcrawler.com

 

[Erik D_lux]

save3

 

[Erik D_lux]

save4

 

[Erik D_lux]

save5

 

[travis c.]

Excellent idea Erik!

Ideas like this are what might save a forum."thumbsup"

 

[Erik D_lux]

Please, just like the other forums, let me know what I missed. It would be nice to have it all in here.

I just threw guesses around on the versions of the bully axles. Hopefully they are somewhat right. I hope a die hard Bully guy can correct a lot of it.

 

[SDheavymetal]

RcBros knuckle weights brackets and weights.

Bully 2 Knuckle Weight Holder |
RcBros Full Brass Weight |