My SW3 / Added Dig with instructions & pics

[STEW<CO>]

ADDED DIG SET-UP WITH PICS & DIRECTIONS. This is my SW3 with it's 1st Bug Body. I haven't painted a lexan body in about 15 years, wow that's a long time, and it shows. I used rattle can and stencils for the graphics. I was a bit disappointed that the stencils didn't stick very well in the creases and bleed a lot, which caused problems with the clarity of the lines. I also didn't get it done in a day so the paint dried to much, which caused my base paint to peel when I tried to remove the stencils, so I had to cut with an exacto around all the stencils before trying to remove them (big pain in the butt). I tried my best, for such a long layoff, not to bad. Next time I hope to have an airbrush, which will be fun to experiment with. The masks are still on the windows, that's why it's white, and I need to throw some stickers on it. I'll try to post some more pics when I'm done.

I also included some pictures of my new link set-up which I bogarted from the GC-1, (Thanks Austin) for showing that set-up. I was needing a more neutral setting because I wanted less anti-squat and this seemed to fit the bill, triangulating the lowers and making the uppers a straight shot. I have a hyperion 3s Lipo that is skinny and tall which fits right in between the front upper links. I want to make a flat upper servo and battery mount so I can put the servo off to the side and keep the battery low in the center still. It will be tough to come up with something that won't interfere with the upper link mounts though.

I did come up with this before our summer finals event Oct 28th. I hadn't seen Cars69 thread yet, which his looks very good also. This is just a little different so it might help others who have a similar set-up. The rig handled very well at the comp, the flex is real smooth and getting rid of a lot of the anti squat helped it to not flip backward on steep inclines when you need to power up and over. I need to run it some more and tech some more to get everything out of it I can.

Sorry about the pics not being top notch, my camera is not the best.

Hope you like it, Stewie

 

[crawl rookie]

Whay are you talking about?!
thta body looks amazing for a rattle can job!"thumbsup"

i like the new link set-up and body,
the old body got pretty worn he;-)

 

[CRF450R]

Looking good Stew"thumbsup"

 

[EeePee]

You're hood is open. Or is it the trunk? Either way, it's open.

 

[666]

Seems to be the trend Stewie!

Looks hot though!

 

[EeePee]

And you left your window masks on.

 

[Grizzly4x4]

You're hood is open. Or is it the trunk? Either way, it's open.

It's the bonnet.

Looks great Stew. The paint looks good in the pictures and I like the setup. It will be interesting to see how everything works."thumbsup"

 

[STEW<CO>]

What are you talking about?!
that body looks amazing for a rattle can job!"thumbsup"

i like the new link set-up and body,
the old body got pretty worn he;-)

Looking good Stew"thumbsup"

Thanks fellas, I appreciate it.

You're hood is open. Or is it the trunk? Either way, it's open.

You funny guy you! I wouldn't have bent the hood up so much, but that darn servo plate gets in the way of every body out there, it's the only way I could mount the body low like I wanted it.

Seems to be the trend Stewie!

Looks hot though!

:lol: Thanks Bro.

And you left your window masks on.

It's the bonnet.

Looks great Stew. The paint looks good in the pictures and I like the setup. It will be interesting to see how everything works."thumbsup"

It's the bonnet.,,,:lol::lol: Thanks Griz, it did good at the finals, but I still have some set-up work to do. In fact, I think the set-up work never stops.

 

[cars69]

Stewie, Your SW3 is looking good. You might want to bring the front upper
links up one hole higher at the chassis. The rear upper links one hole lower
at the chassis. I think you might like the way it climbs that way. What I'm
saying is keep the front upper links as level as you can, and slant the rear
upper links down to the chassis a bit. It's up to you but it's not a lot of
work to try it. I like the way mine climbs the verticals setup that way.
Good luck with your rig.

Rick-

 

[STEW<CO>]

Stewie, Your SW3 is looking good. You might want to bring the front upper
links up one hole higher at the chassis. The rear upper links one hole lower
at the chassis. I think you might like the way it climbs that way. What I'm
saying is keep the front upper links as level as you can, and slant the rear
upper links down to the chassis a bit. It's up to you but it's not a lot of
work to try it. I like the way mine climbs the verticals setup that way.
Good luck with your rig.

Rick-

Thanks cars69 for the set-up tip. I'm sure I'll give it a try next comp. I liked your thread also by the way, I figured other people were going to give that style a try whether they noticed Austins' GC-1 with it or not.

 

[Wrecker]

Lookin good Stew. "thumbsup"

 

[iwantoffroad]

where did you get your links from

and your setup looks really good

 

[STEW<CO>]

Lookin good Stew. "thumbsup"

Thank you Richard.

where did you get your links from

and your setup looks really good

Thanks IWO. My links are a mixture of many different ones. The delrin lowers are custom made from http://www.finish-line-rc.com/ He can make a whole set for the SW2 or SW3. My rig is a 60/40 set-up, which if you aren't familiar, the back end is 60% longer than a 50%-50% set-up and the front is 40% shorter than the 50%-50% set-up. Dan has the measurments for 50/50 or 60/40 for the SW's. They cost around $40 + shipping which isn't bad compared to regular links at $5-$9 for a set of 2. If you have a servo mount that is different than the stock SW or you change the mounts like I did (the top of the servo mount method) the links will need to be longer, so you would need to measure to get your length correct upon ordering.

My front uppers are Traxxas Jato 61mm #5538. They are extended quite a bit to reach my 40% front, so any thing from 61mm to 65mm would work. The rear uppers you could go with Traxxas T-Maxx 96mm #2338 or T-Maxx 105mm #2339 which you need to cut each thread end down slightly so it doesn't bind into the ball end (rod end)when turned in all the way.

Just a reminder, Traxxas and other manufactures measure their turnbuckles (links) from end of rod to end of rod and not from hole to hole on the rod ends (some rod ends are longer than others). I will usually measure from point A to point B to get the length I need, then head to the Hobby store with a tape measure and find the links that will work for me.
Hope this long winded reply helps:lol:
Stewie

 

[STEW<CO>]

This is my dig set-up for my SW3 using Traxxas Stampede half shafts.

I started by cutting the rear shaft going to the axle to the length I needed, leaving some space between it and the tranny shaft, to allow compression of the suspension. The tranny shaft is full length.
I used a dremel with a cut wheel to widen the narrow grooves of the splines on the shafts to match the wider grooves on the shaft ( this is so the the dig will engage with every 90 degree turn instead of 180 degrees.< advice from Bender). Then I tapped the long shaft from the tranny for a 8-32 piece of all thread.

After bottoming out the all thread in the tranny side shaft, I cut it at the length I wanted it to go into the axle side shaft. I then removed it and chucked it in a drill, while spinning it in the drill I used a file to take the threads off on the section that sticks out from the tranny side shaft so it would slide easily in the axle side shaft. In the picture it looks like there is thread but it is smooth.

I found some 5/8" plumbing flex tube at Home Depot that the female shaft fit into with very little bit of space around it (not quite snug).

I then cut the flex tube to the length of the axle side shaft (the smaller one). I also cut two 1/8" pieces of female shaft to use as caps in the flex tube. You will notice in the picture that the 1/8" piece of shaft on the right (I will refer to these as caps or end caps) has the splines cut out, this needs to be done to both pieces, I did this with the dremel and a small cutting bit. Some may find it easier to do with an exacto knife. The female shaft can be cut at this time also, it needs to be cut a 1/4" or slightly more shorter than the flex tube. This is so it will fit inside the tube, between the end caps, which I'll explain in a later step.

The next step is to glue one of the caps into the end of the flex tube. This is a crucial step requiring you to get glue on just the cap and the very edge of the flex tube and no where else.
Remember when I said that the flex tube was slightly larger than the female shaft, trying to fill that gap up with glue without having it run into the tube is a pain in the butt, but can be done. Make sure the cap is flush with the tube on the end.
I used thick CA glue but would suggest using 2 part epoxy, this is because the glue needs to be thick so it won't run and strong as can be. So far the CA has held up. Make sure to let it dry fully before continuing to the next step.

Next step is to put the female shaft into the tube and then glue the other end cap into the end of the tube. Again very crucial not to let glue run down into the tube, because it will ruin the smoothness of the inside of the tube and possibly glue the female shaft to the tube, both being very bad. :lol:
I actually had this happen, I quickly yanked the cap & shaft out and cleaned the inside, put every thing back in place and let the cap glue dry. There was a little roughness when spinning the female shaft inside the tube but all is good. At this time let the glue dry for as long as possible.

This pic is of the finished tube on the shafts.

I needed to make a new rear servo plate to fit the dig servo and my Mamba Max esc on. I used 3" wide plate aluminum, also from Home Depot. My old servo plate was used as a template for the new one ( marking of screw holes and sizing). I used a dremel, drill and a lot of filing.

Finished product.

Mock up of where I wanted the Mamba and dig servo. This servo was a jr mc35 micro servo with 40 oz of torque at 6 volts, plenty for dig. I used velcro to mount the Mamba so as to make it easier to remove the servo plate (for maintenance of the axle).

Unfortunately I forgot to take pics of some of the steps from here on out but I will try to explain those steps instead.
These pics you can see where I cut out a 1/2" x 4" strip of .032" thick sheet aluminum (also from HD). I formed this around the tube to use as part of the actuating arm. You can see where I had crimped the piece down with a pair of pliers in the above pic. I had to do this so that when the ends came together it would tighten around the tube and hold firm. I also used a brass ball stud and rod end from from the original TLT kit.
I drilled a hole to fit the ball stud and then backed it with a nut. Once completed, I can loosen the nut and move the aluminum piece up or down the tube for fine adjustment of the dig and the actuating rods and then tighten it firm to the tube. I used 4-40 all thread in the end of the rod end.

Alright, this is where I was trying to get done and forgot pics for individual steps, but I'll try to explain.
The servo was mounted where I wanted it so the next step was to put the tube on the shafts with the shafts mounted and find where I needed my strut (this is what I'll call the link and rod end that comes off the servo plate). I found this by sticking the 4-40 all threaded rod from the tube thru the rod end on the strut and marking the servo plate where it kept it in-line with my servo and the tube. I then used a piece from the TLT kit to hold the strut by placing it and marking the holes to drill.
The actuating links will be different lengths for different rigs so you have to figure that out on your own rig.
I centered the tube on the shafts so that equal parts were on the front and rear shafts, then with the 4-40 rod thru the strut, I moved the strut back toward the rear of the servo plate as far as the rod end on the strut would let it go and then marked the strut rod for drilling and mounting the strut to the TLT piece on the servo plate.
I then cut the 4-40 rod (tube rod) coming from the tube up thru the strut to length, so I could fit a rod end on it. I used 4-40 all thread again for the link from the servo arm to the tube rod.

Hopefully by looking at these last pics you can get an idea of what I tried to explain. The pics show the dig working as it should.

I will probably use a rubber o-ring over the rear shaft at the yoke to create some minor locking of the rear axle when dig is actuated, like some of the other guys on here.
I could easily make a positive lock of the rear axle by drilling a hole thru the rear shaft right where it meets the yoke section and putting a roll pin or some type of pin thru the hole. The pin would need to stick out on both sides of the shaft by about a 1/16" to 1/8", then I would use a dremel to grind two opposing notches on the back of the dig tube. When the dig tube is actuated, it would slide back into the pin and the pin would lock into the notches on the tube creating a locked rear axle.<(got that little pin trick from Lone Wolf's dig)

Well, this was just an idea I got from looking at everyone else's digs and copying to try and do my own. When it worked, I thought I would share it for those that don't know how to make them.

Hope this helps someone out there. Peace, Stew

 

[jeepcj578]

nice writeup on the dig, "thumbsup" looks good

 

[JUSTGOINGSLOW]

I think the bug looks great and the idea for the dig awsome

 

[STEW<CO>]

nice writeup on the dig, "thumbsup" looks good

I think the bug looks great and the idea for the dig awsome

Thanks fellas, I'm glad you liked it."thumbsup"

 

[STEW<CO>]

Went to Red Rocks last Saturday, beat the crap out of my rig and the dig without any problems, except my $130 jr front servo smelling like an electrical fire. I hope it lasts for a while longer because I don't have a back-up.

I thought the dig was acting up at one time because it wouldn't engage on steep inclines, but it turns out my rear driveshaft was loose and ended up coming off, "Dote". It was causing to much bind because it was loose, but when tightened up, it was fine. The caps have held onto the tube with just ca glue, no problems so far."thumbsup"

 

[levi steele]

thats a smart dig idea and cheap"thumbsup"

 

[STEW<CO>]

thats a smart dig idea and cheap"thumbsup"

Thanks levi. It is cheap, mostly spare links and a few parts from your local hardware store. The servo was the most cost at $20.

I did see a similar set-up that SparkyJ created out of delrin and the maxx shafts. It looked awesome and professional, I don't know if he will post it though, because it was one of a kind workmanship.