Jay-Em
Rock Crawler
This thread/how to.. is especially for those that do not have the possibility/ability to braze.
All that's needed is:
-Some soldering skill
-a soldering iron/gun with about 80 to 100 watts, lower will work, only takes longer.
-flux solder for electronics
-Circuit-board (radio shack) without circuits. Copper on one side, glass-fibre epoxy the other.
-2 turnbuckles 3mm
-4 savage/revo rod-ends with balls (3mm inner diam.)
clamp rings, usually used to connect rudder axles to servo's in boats.(I do not know the english name. The pictures should be informative..)
-steel wire between 1,5 and 2mm, depending on the strength of anti-sway You'll want.
Pics of the materials:
First cut off a piece of steel rod about 9,3cm
Then grind a flat spot on both ends. Keep them aligned!
That is our sway-bar.
Next, cut out 2 rectangular pieces from the circuit-board, about 4,5 by 1 cm(or longer if You want some adjustment possibilities), and grind them to an approximate servo-horn shape. You can even go as far as giving it the shape of Teraflexes, or Antirocks.
(yup.. i Mis-drilled, hence the following: ) Next is one of the best tricks.
Lay both rectangular pieces on top of each other and drill a 2mm hole through the both of them. (make the copper sides face each other) You can even decide to drill the other holes with 2,8 mm already, as I did.
Now put a couple of screws through the holes, tighten them, and start grinding/shaving away, to make both parts their mirorred equivalent.
-Next: Take the ring/screw/clamp thingies. Scuff one side with some 500 grit until the messing is visible, and start adding solder to that side, like so:
Then add solder to the copper side of the arms like so (make the solder really flow. WARNING!! The parts will be extremely hot hotter hottest.. don't touch them with your bare fingers for a while, unless you are not really fond of them :twisted: )
Now the hard part:
Stick a piece of steel wire through the ring thingy and the arm, rotate the ring-thingy until the screw is straight-out like this, and tighten the screw:
I even went as far as drilling a hole in my bench, so I could put the wire through all the way.
Now press the ring-thingy with something that doesnt conduct heat, and start heating the ring-thingy and the arm-thingy untill the solder starts to run and makes a nice beveled edge between arm and ring. You can "feel" the ring-thingy "sink" into place, if You do it right.
You should end-up with something looking like this:
Can You see where this is going? 8)
Next step is pretty easy. After the solder and parts have cooled, your blisters duly bandaged, and the excruciating pain of 3rd degree burns has subsided :ror: , it is simply a matter of fitting the parts together for a check:
Now take the turnbucles and rod ends, screw them together. Next, take Your Sway-bar, unscrew one end, slide the steel rod through the holes in the back-cage of The Wraith, re--attach the second arm, and find the best way to attach the rods to the axle-housing.
Here is how I did it.
I have tested it, bashed the Wraith quite seriously with an 8,5t BL Vector. It held. The Wraith's cornering has improverd dramatically, and torque-twist is also gone, despite the fact that I flipped the differentials to make the motor run CCW (as most stock motors do)
It is important to keep quite a bit of area around the ring-thingies, otherwise the copper might de-laminate. It hasn't happened yet, but one can never be too much on the safe-side. The glass-fibre is strong enough. And when it breaks? Well, circuit board is about $8.- for a 10x10" piece ,and You can make oodles of arms from it. It's very easy to cut&grind, although, given the dusty nature of it, I did all grinding outside..with a filter-mask too. Glass-fibre dust cannot be healthy.
As a finishing-touch, You can paint the arms and scribble some logo on it or put a small sticker/logo on it or something. I leave that to Your imagination.
I sprayed mine flat black with a rattle-can. looks hella-professional
Here's how it looks now:
All that's needed is:
-Some soldering skill
-a soldering iron/gun with about 80 to 100 watts, lower will work, only takes longer.
-flux solder for electronics
-Circuit-board (radio shack) without circuits. Copper on one side, glass-fibre epoxy the other.
-2 turnbuckles 3mm
-4 savage/revo rod-ends with balls (3mm inner diam.)
clamp rings, usually used to connect rudder axles to servo's in boats.(I do not know the english name. The pictures should be informative..)
-steel wire between 1,5 and 2mm, depending on the strength of anti-sway You'll want.
Pics of the materials:
First cut off a piece of steel rod about 9,3cm
Then grind a flat spot on both ends. Keep them aligned!
That is our sway-bar.
Next, cut out 2 rectangular pieces from the circuit-board, about 4,5 by 1 cm(or longer if You want some adjustment possibilities), and grind them to an approximate servo-horn shape. You can even go as far as giving it the shape of Teraflexes, or Antirocks.
(yup.. i Mis-drilled, hence the following: ) Next is one of the best tricks.
Lay both rectangular pieces on top of each other and drill a 2mm hole through the both of them. (make the copper sides face each other) You can even decide to drill the other holes with 2,8 mm already, as I did.
Now put a couple of screws through the holes, tighten them, and start grinding/shaving away, to make both parts their mirorred equivalent.
-Next: Take the ring/screw/clamp thingies. Scuff one side with some 500 grit until the messing is visible, and start adding solder to that side, like so:
Then add solder to the copper side of the arms like so (make the solder really flow. WARNING!! The parts will be extremely hot hotter hottest.. don't touch them with your bare fingers for a while, unless you are not really fond of them :twisted: )
Now the hard part:
Stick a piece of steel wire through the ring thingy and the arm, rotate the ring-thingy until the screw is straight-out like this, and tighten the screw:
I even went as far as drilling a hole in my bench, so I could put the wire through all the way.
Now press the ring-thingy with something that doesnt conduct heat, and start heating the ring-thingy and the arm-thingy untill the solder starts to run and makes a nice beveled edge between arm and ring. You can "feel" the ring-thingy "sink" into place, if You do it right.
You should end-up with something looking like this:
Can You see where this is going? 8)
Next step is pretty easy. After the solder and parts have cooled, your blisters duly bandaged, and the excruciating pain of 3rd degree burns has subsided :ror: , it is simply a matter of fitting the parts together for a check:
Now take the turnbucles and rod ends, screw them together. Next, take Your Sway-bar, unscrew one end, slide the steel rod through the holes in the back-cage of The Wraith, re--attach the second arm, and find the best way to attach the rods to the axle-housing.
Here is how I did it.
I have tested it, bashed the Wraith quite seriously with an 8,5t BL Vector. It held. The Wraith's cornering has improverd dramatically, and torque-twist is also gone, despite the fact that I flipped the differentials to make the motor run CCW (as most stock motors do)
It is important to keep quite a bit of area around the ring-thingies, otherwise the copper might de-laminate. It hasn't happened yet, but one can never be too much on the safe-side. The glass-fibre is strong enough. And when it breaks? Well, circuit board is about $8.- for a 10x10" piece ,and You can make oodles of arms from it. It's very easy to cut&grind, although, given the dusty nature of it, I did all grinding outside..with a filter-mask too. Glass-fibre dust cannot be healthy.
As a finishing-touch, You can paint the arms and scribble some logo on it or put a small sticker/logo on it or something. I leave that to Your imagination.
I sprayed mine flat black with a rattle-can. looks hella-professional
Here's how it looks now:
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