nascarkeith
Rock Crawler
First, let me start by saying, I know there are better crawlers out there, there are better ways of setting up the batteries, and the RTR electronics are considered junk by most. Ok we all understand that so lets move on."thumbsup"
My brother has driven my crawlers and wanted one for himself. I have 2 TLT scalers and a Pajero. He enjoys those but doesn't have the time to build up a TLT based rig because of his work. He looked at the Pajero but didn't want to spend that much money. His R/C stash is made up of a Slash, 2 batteries, and a charger so he didn't have electronics and stuff laying around that he could use. He called and asked me about the Cliff Climber after he saw the $119 price on Tower. I had actually been looking at them myself after seeing some of the builds on here and seeing the really cheap price. I told him that if he bought one, I would.
We placed our order with Tower Tuesday. Not long after the order was placed I realized that I misread and that a standard 6-cell battery would not fit in the battery box. After talking with the bro we decided that these were budget builds and we would make them work. They came in today. My initial impression out of the box was good. The Cliff Climber looked like a cool little R/C. Then I popped the body off, oh crap! These things are smaller than I thought. I was afraid the battery deal was going to send me looking for batteries in the morning. Then :idea:! Zip tie the batteries on top of the body posts.
It worked! With the battery placement worked out I cut off the stock connectors and replaced them with Dean's. Then, I drilled new holes for the body posts and mounted them about 1/2 inch lower than stock.
After that I went and conversed with the family while decaling the body. The stock body is actually pretty cool. Kinda old school Bronco'ish. I went with the racer theme with the decals and to be different cut the 2 off the numbers and just went with 17. An orange 17, an ode to the Daryl Waltrip Tide car maybe.;-) I also plastered the back window with decals. I saw someone's elses truck done like that and liked it. Thanks for the inspiration whoever you are.
With the conversation over and the body decaled it was back to the kitchen table to work on the chassis. Since the stock battery tray wasn't being used I relocated the electronics into it so they would be lower and help with the center of gravity. Then, I cleaned up the mess of wires and zip tied the motor and servo wires to the top link so they wouldn't be floppin' in the breeze.
With that done, I added some weight to the wheels. A whopping 3/4 of an ounce to the front and 1/2 an ounce to the rear. I'm visiting Mom for Mother's Day and working out of a toolbox so that is all I had with me.
Since I had things up and running I figured it was time for some pillow crawling. I was impressed. I was hoping that it would be kinda fast for a crawler and it is. The standard batteries are so heavy that it almost compresses the springs completely so it has a really low ride height and is basically working a droop set up but still has plenty of flex. When you gun it full throttle the back end squats like a monster truck. I bet it will tote the front wheels over some rocks if you hit it right.
A couple things I still need to get to are removing the axle bumpers. Then, I will probably break the plastic linkages and need to make some new ones with some threaded rod and ball ends. Next time I place an order from Tower I will probably order a set of stiffer springs to help with the weight of the batteries. Eventually it will probably need stronger servos.
No its not a super comp rig like a berg or AX10 and no its not a wicked realistic looking scaler like a High Lift or SCX10 but for a $119 basher its a ton of fun. I feel like I got my money's worth and can't wait to get it outside and do some crawl bashing tomorrow."thumbsup"
My brother has driven my crawlers and wanted one for himself. I have 2 TLT scalers and a Pajero. He enjoys those but doesn't have the time to build up a TLT based rig because of his work. He looked at the Pajero but didn't want to spend that much money. His R/C stash is made up of a Slash, 2 batteries, and a charger so he didn't have electronics and stuff laying around that he could use. He called and asked me about the Cliff Climber after he saw the $119 price on Tower. I had actually been looking at them myself after seeing some of the builds on here and seeing the really cheap price. I told him that if he bought one, I would.
We placed our order with Tower Tuesday. Not long after the order was placed I realized that I misread and that a standard 6-cell battery would not fit in the battery box. After talking with the bro we decided that these were budget builds and we would make them work. They came in today. My initial impression out of the box was good. The Cliff Climber looked like a cool little R/C. Then I popped the body off, oh crap! These things are smaller than I thought. I was afraid the battery deal was going to send me looking for batteries in the morning. Then :idea:! Zip tie the batteries on top of the body posts.
It worked! With the battery placement worked out I cut off the stock connectors and replaced them with Dean's. Then, I drilled new holes for the body posts and mounted them about 1/2 inch lower than stock.
After that I went and conversed with the family while decaling the body. The stock body is actually pretty cool. Kinda old school Bronco'ish. I went with the racer theme with the decals and to be different cut the 2 off the numbers and just went with 17. An orange 17, an ode to the Daryl Waltrip Tide car maybe.;-) I also plastered the back window with decals. I saw someone's elses truck done like that and liked it. Thanks for the inspiration whoever you are.
With the conversation over and the body decaled it was back to the kitchen table to work on the chassis. Since the stock battery tray wasn't being used I relocated the electronics into it so they would be lower and help with the center of gravity. Then, I cleaned up the mess of wires and zip tied the motor and servo wires to the top link so they wouldn't be floppin' in the breeze.
With that done, I added some weight to the wheels. A whopping 3/4 of an ounce to the front and 1/2 an ounce to the rear. I'm visiting Mom for Mother's Day and working out of a toolbox so that is all I had with me.
Since I had things up and running I figured it was time for some pillow crawling. I was impressed. I was hoping that it would be kinda fast for a crawler and it is. The standard batteries are so heavy that it almost compresses the springs completely so it has a really low ride height and is basically working a droop set up but still has plenty of flex. When you gun it full throttle the back end squats like a monster truck. I bet it will tote the front wheels over some rocks if you hit it right.
A couple things I still need to get to are removing the axle bumpers. Then, I will probably break the plastic linkages and need to make some new ones with some threaded rod and ball ends. Next time I place an order from Tower I will probably order a set of stiffer springs to help with the weight of the batteries. Eventually it will probably need stronger servos.
No its not a super comp rig like a berg or AX10 and no its not a wicked realistic looking scaler like a High Lift or SCX10 but for a $119 basher its a ton of fun. I feel like I got my money's worth and can't wait to get it outside and do some crawl bashing tomorrow."thumbsup"
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