Gener8ightion:Rona

[RockCrawlingKid]

Well with the corona virus locking us down I got back into the game. A Redcat gen 8 sounded like just the ticket.

I made a front skid for the servo using 22g sheet metal. Seems fairly sturdy but the holes are not perfect and causes some screw misalignment.

I have ordered a couple things for this truck
Today the husky link set and servo relocation mount from club 5 arrived today. I got it bolted in with no major issues. I am quite happy with it. I know some others aren’t happy with club 5’s offering for the Redcat. I am a happy camper. While the low profile servo horn took away 98% of the bump steer I was not happy with the amount of slop in the tie rod and drag link assembly. It’s gotten quite loose after a couple weeks of hard trailing. I mounted the tie rod below the knuckle and mounted drag link above. And from what I can tell it works very well. The tie rod and panhard bar run perfectly in plane together. I have eliminated bump steer and I love the proper geometry for the drag link and servo. Very happy so far.

I installed a washer on each wheel hex prior to mounting the tires. A cheap fix till I get new wheels and tires. I may have to flip the passenger side tie rod bolt.

So far so good. It made the chassis even more rigid. And tighten up the steering. Only thing I did to was to grinder d a bit away from the top side on the rearward servo hole to clear the 550can solder tab. Not a big deal. Slap some dialectic grease on it for good measure.

Currently on order and in the mail
castle 10a BEC
Holmes crawlmaster sport 13t 540
SSD front and rear link mounts
Bowhouse rc panhard drop kit
30 and 40wt associated shock oil

Probably my next upgrade will be a servo, and maybe a flysky gt5.

So far I’m very happy with this truck. Sure it ain’t fancy it just works.

 

[RockCrawlingKid]

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[xtreme4x2]

Nice! I have the same Club5 steering links and servo mount. Here's what else I have. I started my build in April when we first were locked down due to the rona haha

TRX4 GTS Long travel shocks - wht springs front/orange rear
Samix brass spring cups
SSD Aluminum knuckles
SSD brass portal cover - front/rear
Hot racing Brass diff cover - rear
InTheWorksRC Brass High clearance lower links
Redcat Underdrive - rear
SSD aluminum shock mounts - front/rear
SSD scale driveshaft - rear
SSD 2.2 D hole wheels w/C.I. foams (Soft/Med) and Pitbull Berserker tires
Club5 12mm brass hex w/extended axles - front/rear
Aluminum transfer case drive shaft
flat skid
HH 12t crawl master w/stock ESC
25kg amazon servo

 

[Timmahh]

I just got back in myself RCKid. Got out around 2012. I went with the AXE rig.
The SCXIII wasn't out in early March or I would have likely gone that route.
I will still probably grab a III. Also picked up a couple SSD Trail King kits and RC4WD Blazer bodies.

Red Cat has stepped up their game since they were still only doing 5th scale gasser stuff in 2012.

 

[Timmahh]

Did some similar mods, lowered the steering link below the knuckles and took the drag link to the top, same as you. No low profile horn, but I have pretty much zero bumpsteer now. Have a set of 8mm Treal wheel hexes otw. They should be here in a day or so and give that clearance at the tire. Will only run them on front most likely. At least for starters. Moving the Drag link does make the alignment with the pan hard way better. Almost perfect as you noted. but the pan hard setup leaves a bit to be desired over all. On my Axe the axle shift right (passenger side) through the entire suspension travel from unsprung to full compression. The placement is pretty meh. I have not seen the Bowhouse RC relocation mount. Just ordered one, hoping it puts the pan hard in a bit of a better geometry so there is some arc on the pan hard system, though to me, it looks like it will need a bit more. Just added the SSD Link mounts F and R.

the steering is way better no doubt. But before I made the link changes on the steering, I bent the left side knuckle arm. Waiting for the Treal Brass Portal Knuckles to come back into stock in a week. Going to get a set of them and their Chubs to improve the strength of the steering arms on the knuckles, as well as add some non rotational unsprung weight on the front axle. Will probably grab a set of the rear inner brass portal housing just to balance a bit of the weight around the entire rig.

Going to grab either some brass rod or brass tube and make up a full set of links. will make a copy pan hard bar, but will also experiment with a bit different shape for a pan hard. I think an entirely different link design can help the drag bar setup. Can't hurt to try. only thing that can happen is I waste some brass.

 

[RockCrawlingKid]

Ya honestly with the mount and link I have a touch more bump steer than just the low profile horn. It actually worked quite well at alleviating it. But still I absolutely hated the angle the drag link was at. This works. My only complaint with the club5 system is that the tie rod is a touch short, it has to much bend in it pushing the bar further away from the axle, and the rod ends while they provide lots of motion are not really that well suited for a tie rod end. I’m going to make some bushings to replace the balls and hopefully stop the tie rod from dropping so much. Another note is the panhard with the HD rod ends is a bit to long pushing the axle to the passenger side to far. My geustimate would be about 2-3mm. I might try and shorten the rod ends. I’ll run it like this till I test the bowhouse rc panhard drop. I know I’m being nit picky with this but with a few tweaks I’ll get a proper 3link geometry. Now that bunpsteer is fixed I need to get the panhard bar closer to level at ride night to alliveate the side to side shift. Also I’ve now broke a cva portal input. I have one left. I’ll be ordering replacements through warranty as well as one of the upgraded sets. Can anyone chime in on their experience with the HD ones stock in the axe or better yet the chromoly upgrade. I don’t intended on running brushless in this rig I’ll be sticking to the stock motor till I fry it then I’ll drop in the Holmes. As it stands 3s with the 17t pinion is to fast. And evidently to powerful.

 

[Timmahh]

I already did shorten the rod ends on my pan hard. I was seeing about 1/3rd inch of movement in my axle in the stock setup ( more than 1/4 inch, not quite 1/2 inch shift through the entire suspension travel.

FWIW, I only got about 2 mm off each rod end, and it was too much. The shift started happening at full unsprung wight, so essentially it introduces a 2nd shift point.
If you can slice off about 1.5mm per rod end, it will lessen the axle shift but only a little. The Big Issue on the pan hard I can see it is was designed and setup incorrectly. The pan hard should have been designed around the 1/2 travel mark of the suspension. It appears they designed and applied it with full travel, thus the pan hard only has 1/2 of the arc it should travel in being used, (the bottom 1/2) which causes the all right shift of the axle. At least on my Axe.
That Bowhouse RC Pan hard Drop mount should improve that a bit. Problaby wont be able to correct it, but it should make it better.


If your Gen 8 was from the early production runs, I heard they had some plastics and even a few issues on the cvds. Heard Customer Support was very good with these issues.

Other than a broken stock slider and the ben't knuckle arm, so far everything has has held up.

 

[RockCrawlingKid]

I would really love to get my hands on some spare front cva’s or the upgrades. I can’t find any anywhere I have one gear left and it probably won’t last long. I assume my truck is the old model as it doesn’t have the updated axle housings


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[RockCrawlingKid]

Well today was a carnage day. Broke the hex drive in a wheel and twisted the club 5 link down.

It’s hanging really low here..

Gave it a flip

Now the bend is angled up and away from the pumpkin. Hopefully this works good. I smashed the tie rod quite often and it was definitely a detriment to today’s run.

Edit:
I’m super happy with the servo relocation I ran two 3000mah 3s through it before the hub popped. The steering is much more precise. All this stiffening and tightening has really shown the weak side of the stock servo. It at one point the servo just stopped working till I powered down and let it cool.


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[RockCrawlingKid]

50$ Canadian pesos later I have two sets of replacement pinion inputs on the way. Expensive but only ones around. He wanted 90cad for the chromoly plus 15$ shipping so I didn’t bother. That’s a regret for another day


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[RockCrawlingKid]

More carnage again today

Seems I’m finding the weak spots... maybe I should go back to 2s lipo lol


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[Timmahh]

My right side knuckle arm is bent to piss right now. going to go with a set of the Treal Knuckles and Chubs.

 

[RockCrawlingKid]

My right side knuckle arm is bent to piss right now. going to go with a set of the Treal Knuckles and Chubs.

Name of the game haha. I’ve got ssd aluminum front portal housings and a set of stock ones in the mail from amain. It will be a while till I get them in Canada

 

[RockCrawlingKid]

Well with Rona out of commission I decided to boat side it. Used 22ga sheet metal. Turned out pretty good. I’ll be doing a full set of fenders and what not but this is where I’m at today.

 

[Timmahh]

Holy bigass pics. lmao Had to minimize my screen to next to nothing to see them.

I thought about some flat pan mettle (aluminum) and bending a set, but the KYX sliders looked pretty good and were cheap enough.

 

[RockCrawlingKid]

Holy bigass pics. lmao Had to minimize my screen to next to nothing to see them.

I thought about some flat pan mettle (aluminum) and bending a set, but the KYX sliders looked pretty good and were cheap enough.

Thanks I reformatted.


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[Flamnpede1]

Well today was a carnage day. Broke the hex drive in a wheel and twisted the club 5 link down.

It’s hanging really low here..

Gave it a flip

Now the bend is angled up and away from the pumpkin. Hopefully this works good. I smashed the tie rod quite often and it was definitely a detriment to today’s run.

Edit:
I’m super happy with the servo relocation I ran two 3000mah 3s through it before the hub popped. The steering is much more precise. All this stiffening and tightening has really shown the weak side of the stock servo. It at one point the servo just stopped working till I powered down and let it cool.


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Sorry to see the carnage! However, what you have shared is the exact reason I sent that setup back. I knew that there was going to be issues when running the setup out in the wild, especially with the way the front link flops up and down and hangs so far out in front. The other issue I had was the tire rub after bolting the links on the knuckle and didn't feel like dropping more coin on wideners and etc for an already funky setup. Last but not least I noticed issues with the steering radius when driving around inside and found the stock setup to have a tighter radius.

Hopefully you will find a happy medium with that setup and still be able to use some portion of it. I also bought a tire combo with club5 dual stage foams and the freaking foams were 10mm too narrow for the tires he paired them with. As for me I have eliminated anything designed and made by club5 from my shopping lists. Happy wheeling!

 

[RockCrawlingKid]

Sorry to see the carnage! However, what you have shared is the exact reason I sent that setup back. I knew that there was going to be issues when running the setup out in the wild, especially with the way the front link flops up and down and hangs so far out in front. The other issue I had was the tire rub after bolting the links on the knuckle and didn't feel like dropping more coin on wideners and etc for an already funky setup. Last but not least I noticed issues with the steering radius when driving around inside and found the stock setup to have a tighter radius.

Hopefully you will find a happy medium with that setup and still be able to use some portion of it. I also bought a tire combo with club5 dual stage foams and the freaking foams were 10mm too narrow for the tires he paired them with. As for me I have eliminated anything designed and made by club5 from my shopping lists. Happy wheeling!

Idk I’m happy with the club 5 stuff. Everything is very well finished and the fit of the mount was superb. While I agree the tie rod could use some more work I think it’s a good set up. I twisted it up and it works fantastic. Just enough clearance at the pumpkin lock-lock and it sits higher than the axle centreline. Works great. Ymmv


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[RockCrawlingKid]

Got the fender kick panels roughed in and brazed on. New tub of flux showed up today so I got right to the heat )

I’m pretty sure these square corners I put on the leading edge will get hung up but idk I’ll try it.


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[RockCrawlingKid]

Well some parts came today. I swapped the deans out to xt60 connectors. Amazing! Connector and imo far superior to the deans plug. I love soldering these, in all my years of rc this truck was the first deans plug for me. I know right? I ran ec5 and ec3 in all my old rigs so xt60 was a no brainer to me. Soldered in a Holmes 13turn crawlmaster sport 540, and a 10amp CC BEC. Still dead in the water till my ssd aluminum portal knuckle housings show up from amain. I tried an epoxy repair job on the king pin mounts but they were far beyond salvageable... I ordered a quad hands deluxe base off amazon tonight hoping to step up my brazing game as my 5in vise and some welding magnets can only do so much. Does anyone have any experience using a quad hands for brazing rc related goods?


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