JK on the cheap!

[autonomous]

This is where i read that axial has a new vehicle coming out in the first place:

http://www.rccrawler.com/forum/general-crawlers/477659-talked-axial-today-got-some-awesome-news.html

 

[autonomous]

If what he said is true and the Axial representative is correct on it being a "buggy" it could be very similar to that in the video! though that $h!t is an uggggly mofoo it looks like it is a beast in capability.

 

[T I N Y]

This is where i read that axial has a new vehicle coming out in the first place:

http://www.rccrawler.com/forum/general-crawlers/477659-talked-axial-today-got-some-awesome-news.html

The guy he was talking to works for axial...He would know if they were coming out with something new. And they already have a "buggy" type the exo.He's all over the map with what type they're coming out with.I think it's a bunch of wishfull thinking.on that guys part.BUT.....If I were axial I would come out with a exocaged truck of some kind.Like on a scx platform. with a hard body....LOL now wouldn't that be nice.

 

[fourspeed]

The driver looks too small for the truck, lol but i love the truck"thumbsup"thumbsup"

 

[autonomous]

Lmao I knew someone was bound to say that eventually. I agree, he's from the dollar store from a no name wrestling duo n the other guy has a dumb face mask. Ill replace him when I get to toys r us one of these days. For now I have either a midget or a young boy with a man face driving the truck. Thanks for the thumbs up tho

 

[autonomous]

Hmm after seeing this subtle post; http://www.rccrawler.com/forum/chit-chat-classics/211365-yes-you-need-external-bec.html
i am now wondering if i do in fact need a bec. My truck is cutting out sometimes when i am right in front of it but mostly when its far away. But the only thing is, i don't have to be straining the truck going full speed or doing some gnar gnar crawling, no i can be just going slow in a straight line and it cuts out. Anyway Axial got back to me about my problem thru email. The tech on the phone said it sounded like a receiver issue and i am PRETTY SURE it is. The problem is however, they want me to ship the whole damn truck to Illinois -.- I kindly explained i am able to do the repair myself and would much rather not spend $30 to ship my whole truck to Il and have no truck to play with during the duration of my truck's sabbatical. Hopefully they just send me the stuff, otherwise im gonna have to upgrade my next paycheck. Been out of work for a month so haven't been buying a thing, but finally back n ill have some cash in a couple weeks so its going to have to wait unfortunately. Kind of annoyed at the outcome tbh :-/ No love lost tho, i love my truck and Axial still makes awesome $h*t not like im gonna boycott them over this or something, just rather annoyed i was certainly under the impression i was just going to get sent what i needed, and at most have to send the malfunctioning receiver back..

 

[T I N Y]

I know this may sound odd...BUT I've had this happen several times. And I've found that it could be the way your wires are ran or the esc is to close to the antenna/receiver. In my case it seemed that the wires were doing what they call cross talking. The esc power wires of the esc itself would interfere with the signal from the receiver. Once I even had to reroute the servo wire away from the receiver.That didn't work so I replaced the servo and it never glitched again.Like I said I know it sounds weird and some guys will yell I'm crazy...But it worked for me.Ya never know unless ya try."thumbsup"

EDIT: I went back and looked at where your esc and receiver were on your truck.I don't think it's them being to close together.So maybe it's wires running to close together.like servo wire to close to power wires.

Another EDIT...lol: is your antenna sticking out of the balloon at all? If not maybe try sticking out out a bit.

 

[autonomous]

I know this may sound odd...BUT I've had this happen several times. And I've found that it could be the way your wires are ran or the esc is to close to the antenna/receiver. In my case it seemed that the wires were doing what they call cross talking. The esc power wires of the esc itself would interfere with the signal from the receiver. Once I even had to reroute the servo wire away from the receiver.That didn't work so I replaced the servo and it never glitched again.Like I said I know it sounds weird and some guys will yell I'm crazy...But it worked for me.Ya never know unless ya try."thumbsup"

EDIT: I went back and looked at where your esc and receiver were on your truck.I don't think it's them being to close together.So maybe it's wires running to close together.like servo wire to close to power wires.

Another EDIT...lol: is your antenna sticking out of the balloon at all? If not maybe try sticking out out a bit.

Thanks Tiny actually doesn't sound weird at all, i know from wiring car stereos when you have an external amp it is smart to wire your power one one side of the car and your audio rca's on the other, otherwise just like you said, there's cross talk and you'll hear your alternator whine through your speakers- when you rev the engine it actually gets amplified thru the system, pretty funny to hear actually.. lol
Ill definitely look into the placement of wires i didn't even think of that, awesome. And yea i have the receiver wire coming out of the balloon probably 6"

 

[T I N Y]

Thanks Tiny actually doesn't sound weird at all, i know from wiring car stereos when you have an external amp it is smart to wire your power one one side of the car and your audio rca's on the other, otherwise just like you said, there's cross talk and you'll hear your alternator whine through your speakers- when you rev the engine it actually gets amplified thru the system, pretty funny to hear actually.. lol
Ill definitely look into the placement of wires i didn't even think of that, awesome. And yea i have the receiver wire coming out of the balloon probably 6"

Exactly! not everyone has wired a car stereo before so I didn't use that as an example....lol

 

[autonomous]

Ran the truck today, it is basically non functional receiver and/or transmitter is completely fried. Luckily, IRS.gov, says they deposited my tax return money, so soon as that gets in that will be the first thing i buy, probably at my LHS and hopefully not crazy expensive..Anyway I made a VERY short Youtube video off footage i shot a few days ago here's the link if anyone wants to check it out it is only 1:15; Axial SCX10 Rubicon Unlimited Articulation Test - YouTube

 

[autonomous]

Before the truck crapped out:

Yes, that is a very large utility light fixed atop my cage, but it does a great job lighting up the way as of now :lmao: If you can see i fashioned a e-brake out of a short piece of wire and heatshrink

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Enjoying the view

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Sand, and snow for that matter was basically frozen and quite slippery, did some donuts tried to do the Olympics rings (its that tine eh?)

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I like lights :mrgreen:

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[autonomous]

Ok well first off, I got a new radio/receiver the Futaba 3PRKA FHSS it cost me 70 bucks AT my LHS - same as online (Brownies is awesome), I haven't much gotten to use it but just around the house While my other receiver was pretty useless over time even in the house i see no problems as of yet with the new system.
I plasti dipped both the receiver and ESC and also used dielectric grease AND ballooned them both-> I want ZERO water problems!
I also weighted my front axle with 2oz of flexible, cuttable, steel weight (specifically, for one of those boy scout wooden derby cars), i believe the manufacturer name was Reidel? cheap and works great!
I used felt from the craft store for rear floor mats, and maybe i will be doing a soft top in the future not sure..

Weights, i fit what i could on the actual axle housing, and the larger majority i placed on top of my servo. All 2OZ are on my front axle "thumbsup"

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^ :roll: Gonna need some new axle guards soon every picture i put up they like half in damn size :shock: and i haven't even touched em with a grinder..that's straight rock v aluminum..

Ok here you can see the weights atop my servo as well as that i moved my battery to be placed laterally between the front shock towers and motor/trans

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Ok, here you can see i cut a hole on the non hole side of the balloon to run my ESC/Antenna wires out of that side, and my Servo/LED wires out the other side. I felt this best to battle interference (cross talk)-->(i plasti dip'd both open ends of the balloon to make sure it was watertight). Antenna is run toward the back where there is absolutely no electronics or wires- I want maximum range

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Floormats:

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Honestly, i'm not an upholsterer, and if you look at the front foot box area of the Rubicon the corners and curves are a nightmare. If i had the stickers before they were put on obviously it'd be as easy as tracing, but alas it was an RTR and no extras were given, i did my best at matching the rear ones..

I never did get too great a shot of the handbrake i fashioned so i took a picture while i had the cage off - this is a CLOSE UP obviously it looks a lot better when at a normal distance and not under a microscope. I also did some black accents in the dash area with a paint marker. The stock seats are driving me absolutely crazy, i saw someone the other day said they looked "cartoonish" i think this oddly sums up how i feel about them. Have not quite figured out what to do on that end, i've considered upholstering them but to do all the corners and make it look at least better then now seems a daunting task, i've looked at some aftermarket seats also but being they're sculpted into the floor and the center console and all that i don't think that will be an option. I'm most likely going to have to just deal with it if/until i get a new body with a different layout. If anyone here has done something interesting with the interior please let me know and feel free to post on this thread..

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That's about all i've got for now, i've been kind of busy with work- a good thing, and it seems every other damn day its been snowing here.. so hopefully ill be able to do some range tests and some crawling with the new batt layout and front weights and ill see the improvement :mrgreen:

And finally a little update about my receiver warranty issue with Axial, after a couple weeks they have decided to go ahead and send me a new receiver and some shock fluid without me having to send my whole damn truck, nor any parts over to them, i am quite happy about this-at least ill have a spare radio for a future build- never a bad thing. So if you do have a problem and need to contact Axial the phone call will be picked up relatively immediately. And the follow up emails will be answered but it does take quite a bit of time for them to respond (clocked at about a week per response)- i imagine they're quite busy which is understandable. At least they responded and didn't just pretend i didn't exist.
Another snow storm tonight but hopefully within the next few days ill get to run the truck and continue modding as always :twisted:

Keep on trucking..
Mark..

 

[KuyaMark]

awesome truck bro, very nice! How did you make the undercover if you don't mind me asking? I'm from NY as well and I want to run my SCX10 in the snow!

 

[autonomous]

awesome truck bro, very nice! How did you make the undercover if you don't mind me asking? I'm from NY as well and I want to run my SCX10 in the snow!

Hey man thanks for the compliment if the "undercover" youre talking about is the black lexan under the body and on the frame i wish i could take credit for it but it's actually called the PL-C Floor Pan and Pro-Line makes it, i bought it from RPP, Pro-line has since discontinued it but RPP does still have some stock -> Pro-line PL-C Floor Pan 12.3” (313mm) Wheelbase Clear Body for SCX10/Honcho
Just make sure you get the 12.3 in wheelbase version if you have the same truck as mine as this is the one that fits the Rubicon SCX10, they make another one which is 11.4 inches i believe and this is for the smaller SCX10 which i believe is the dingo body. Also, a heads up with it, there's ALOT of cutting and modification needed to fit under the Rubicon body, not sure about the other bodies-plus i don't have stuff in the stock locations so the cut lines that are provided were just completely wrong. Just take your time and trim it little by little.. look up some youtube videos on installing it they give you some pointers that helped me out..
Good luck with running the truck in the snow! as long as the snow isn't too soft and the truck doesn't sink in more then a half inch or so its completely a blast..we did just get quite a bit of snow so i hope the conditions are right for you..i plan to hit the powder on the weekend!

 

[autonomous]

Soooo got some goodies :ror:

Got myself a good 'ol Bulldog winch

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Got a companion

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Put in an air compressor, fishing rod, and "tool box", put a the last felt mat in the very rear of the truck, and strapped down the fuel line. I put the fishing rod on straps so it can be removed for those fishing trips by the lake "thumbsup"

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I put tool box in quotes, because it was originally a seed selling box of sorts for a dollhouse, and i re purposed it "thumbsup" you can also see the fishing magazine on the dashboard.

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Re-painted the fire extinguisher with much nicer oil base Testors paint, also painted the Oh Sh*t handles, and a store bought soda can.

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3 1/2 ounces on the front axle also have an ounce on the rear now

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Winch and controller

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Current underbody shot, i've got the winch and ESC on a Y deans splitter to the battery

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Same wheels just painted the beadlock rings and center hub spinners

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I also bought a Castle BEC but im waiting till i get a new beefy steering servo, and the Castle USB link so i can raise voltage from stock 5 to whatever the servo can run, already waterproofed it. The scale accessories i got from Michaels and AC Moore, its dollhouse stuff but works for me. Compressor, winch, BEC and the 7g weights got from LHS. Till next time.. i do have a music wire and pen spring to be made into a whip antennae

 

[autonomous]

Painted my tool set and cleaned up body lines

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Detailed the compressor, painted the rest of the fuel cell red, painted the fuel line pick up flat black with a red end "funnel", and hard to see but also painted beside the rear seat on both sides flat black - ideally i want to paint the whole interior flat black, but being the stickers are all on and im not about to tape everything off, ill settle for what i can get :mrgreen:

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Amazing what a $20 set of paint and brushes can do with some time and patience "thumbsup". The body lines were done with a Sharpie super fine oil based marker, and a thinner soaked paper towel (to clean edges)

 

[autonomous]

So, i ran the truck earlier today and man i did not know or could imagine how much difference weighting the truck in the correct places really makes. I was just absolutely amazed at the steep rock faces of boulders i was able to get up when i would just spin my tires at the bottom previously. I wish i had more pictures and i tried taking a video but driving with one hand is extremely annoying when you're trying to do complex crawling. I have a "rock course" i do at the local beach basically its the ruin of a concrete wall and its not at all in a wall shape its been eroded to sh*t and really torture tests the truck. In the beginning of the "course" i was not even able to get up on to the top of the wall (its kind of ramp shaped), but now while it is difficult i made it up. Then on an off camber part where there is a dip on the driver side wheels and the passenger side wheels have a huge hump (the truck looks like this from the rear / ) i was able to go over easily and the truck barely tipped! I ended up putting an oz 1/2 in the front wheels plus the weight i had already put on the axle and i was just amazed!!! Also, now that i had plugged up my wheel breather holes the trepadors are much less inclined to completely fold over themselves on off camber situations, so this is definitely a big improvement, and with the added weight they still "crush" along the rock for increased contact->more grip. So i have not had any negative affects with plugging the wheel holes i can confidently say! Anyway enough blabbing heres the few pictures i took, they arent on the rock wall but a farely steep boulder i scaled with little effort ;-). If you wanna see the rock wall i am talking about, you can see it in the youtube video i posted (showcases the off camber dip i mentioned) and possibly in the pictures i posted. The video was before i did the weighting so the truck is much less balanced as now..

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I actually just realized the rock wall is in the background of the above picture!
Pretty much directly behind my truck in the distance, you can see how ragged it is..

Rear tire doing a good job of crushing onto the rock

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Fishing rod came loose, and i lost a hammer out the toolbox AND then toolbox came loose shortly after this picture

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Need to figure out a better way of securing all the scale details or i wont have any left I tend to be a little rough on the truck and after rolling it off a few boulders, taking a dive onto the roof from the 3' rock wall, the loctite glue i was using met its match. Bought some velcro square pads i figured it would work well with the felt mats i put in the truck, shall see if that holds up any better. Well now im gonna dissamble tranny and axles make sure all is well, sip the tires a bit more, mount my scale accessories part 2, and probably put in my bec. Till next time, Happy Crawling!

 

[autonomous]

Tore into the truck this weekend and it was almost all good news all around the truck, i am very meticulous. When i come back from crawling and trail running i do give the truck a fresh water bath then proceed to lube up all my metal parts.

This is after i "serviced" the rear axle

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Front locker and bevel gear. All that brown looking grime came from just the front axle housing/axle/gears but i did manage to get them completely spotless. Bearings on the locker still spin silky smooth here.

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I first coated all the metal parts including bearings with this teflon silicone lubricant -> really fantastic stuff it coats the parts excellently and it is waterproof (got it at lowes), and then thoroughly coated everything in that blue looking stuff in the ziplock which yes, is marine grease.

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Lubricated and greased, front axle ready to roll

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So the reason why it is almost all good news is the front outside bearings do have some resistance, i tried bombarding them with wd40 hoping if it was rust or debris it would be dissolved but this didn't do much to help. It really is not bad at all it just isn't silky smooth like the rest of the drivetrain. I did not soak them however because the resistance was honestly so light that even my meticulous (anal) self did not see a justification of wasting what little bit of wd40 i had on soaking them. Anyways i did also take apart my tranny and all the bearings and gears are in tip top shape! so considering how often i drive in water like there was no metal on the truck and take the truck in snow mud, dirt, sand, whatever the hell is in front of me, spending the little half hour or so after runs to give the truck a quick clean and lube really paid off and i am thoroughly content 8). Now i had previously packed my tranny with marine grease probably sometime in early January and it had blackened a bit but the axles were completely stock lube/greased so i was happy to see little rust/wear... the stock axle grease did have a grey color to it which i do attribute to gear wear but overall the gears weren't chipped and looking at it, wear was not visible, and they turn and mesh with ease. So i am confident with this servicing i did i'll be able to run the truck as is another 6 months before even having to take a look at it again ..That is.. if i didn't have upgrades in mind :roll:!! If you did notice i do have the driveshaft still attached to the axle so if anyone is wondering it still can be serviced with it still attached. I did not do this because i was lazy, i actually threadlocked the set screw with supposedly "removable" thread lock. I tried heating up the screw with a soldering iron, hammering the screw while turning it and i cannot get the damn things loose, further more the head is now stripped so short of extracting the f*cking thing it is staying on there permanently. Ill have to go and get some penetrating pb blast one of these days and try that

EDIT:
Axial also sent me shock oil and a new receiver maybe 5 days ago while their response wasn't the fastest they did get me the new receiver and oil within a week "thumbsup". So i did rebuild the shocks not completely but did grease up the o rings with dielectric, clean em up and threw oil in em. Haven't run them yet and considering they were running dry for who knows how long id imagine the o rings are pretty shot. But hell maybe i can get one run out of em with actual dampening it'll be cool to see the difference!

 

[autonomous]

Started off Friday night, ran into some wiring problems with the BEC. Wanted to have the truck all ready fired up to roll for my hike in some low level mountains in Jersey on Saturday but anyways just finished it it all up today (Sunday). Wiring problem was, i had programmed both my ESC and BEC thru the castle link i had picked up Thursday (changed my reverse speed to 50%/upped BEC to 6v respectively), and at first i was getting only ESC beeps. So figured that one out, the esc wasn't getting power fixed that. Now ESC had power and i had steering but not throttle. After going crazy for about an hour thinking i had somehow fried a part, just changed a setting on the transmitter and voila all systems go! Man that feeling can never be overstated! So to summarize, basically i picked up a budget Hitek Analog servo which does put out a not to paltry 12.4kg, it is noisier then my digital but certainly way powerful i did a little power test and moved a 20lb weight about an inch :ror: Finally installed and wired up the BEC to max voltage of my servo: 6v. I installed servo extension wires so i could dip the whole Receiver and not have to worry about using both dielectric grease and a balloon, still be waterproof, and remove components when necessary. Mounted my Winch with actual screws not a mix of servo tape and super glue lol -> although i knew previously this was temporary i was actual able to lift up the whole truck by the winch without it coming loose, however a few minutes getting bashed around on rocks finished it off... And lastly, i threw in a 24T pinion, really just for sh*ts and giggles wanted to see the speed/torque difference and i do plan on going two motors for extra torque, and possibly go 3s within the month On with the pictures then.


Receiver, BEC and Light controller all in the rear box definitely getting tight in there, i'll probably shorten any unnecessarily long wires. I "painted" on the plasti dip on the servo, tried dipping it but it was entirely too thick, just sealed the cracks, screws, and filled the inside with dielectric grease - not too much on the gearing though. Also dipped the winch casing screw heads, and vent holes, yea i know they're vent holes for a reason, honestly i don't run it very often maybe once or twice in an outing if that i'm more concerned with inner gears getting rusted because I DO get the truck wet almost religiously and there are still cracks for water to get thru i'm sure, just took care of the more general ones.

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Why is the ESC in a balloon? I was afraid to dip the whole thing and have it overheat because the heat sink was completely insulated. So i dipped as much as i could but the control board was still visible aka water will get to it, so dielectric grease and a balloon till i can pick up a more dipper friendly ESC or a waterproof one!!


Hitek HS 985MG, not the best out but, it is metal geared, ball bearing, already comes water resistant, 12kg, and is still a hitek. I dipped the Winch screw nuts black so they're less visible, and you can see my weighting system, not the most pretty but with the little space on there the function is spot on. Bumper's been beat to sh*t but i'll most likely run it till i have nothing left to mount to..For plastic it surely is a tough mudder

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Body on, hood/front panel lines. Painted wheel on the Transmitter to match my truck wheels.

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Final shot after everything, the winch screws are now barely visible..

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Also remounted my accessories with velcro, should be flexible enough for impacts and tacky enough to keep everything down

 

[autonomous]

I am having one issue, my lighting. I cant remember if i ever dipped my led controller but i'm pretty sure i have not so its very likely its gotten water damage, before i added bec & servo this Friday, my rear leds would be full brightness and the whole front end wouldn't light up. Then i wired just the two front yellow lights they turned on but super dim (rear led still correct brightness), now after everything i have no rear led, and the front yellow led is super dim still..