Project Mogfather Build

[GraciousOne]

Hey everyone. Before I start my build thread, I want to give a little personal history, which helps explain how I wound up with a CR-01. The first time I was in the hobby was in my teenage years. My first hobby grade RC was a Tamiya Falcon. I also wound up owning a Terra Scorcher, Vanquish, and Dyna Storm. Back in those days there were a bunch of us that had Tamiya buggies, so you would also find a HotShot II, Astute, Super Astute, Super Sabre, Wild One, Avante, or even a Blackfoot II play racing as well. So it was fair to say I was a dyed-in-the-wool Tamiya guy. My university years ate up any free time and the RC hobby became a thing of the past (although I kept all my old cars for sentimental value…).<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>
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University, a career, marriage, two young sons (3 and 5), and nearly 20 years later, I got back into the hobby with a Traxxas Slash 2wd (my first non-Tamiya RC ever). Enjoyed that truck a lot but it I soon knew I wanted a trail truck. Got a Traxxas Summit, which is an AWESOME machine, but then I soon realized that I wanted a scaler as well. About a year ago I had narrowed down my choices to the CR-01 and the SCX10. Based on the quite frankly unbeatable combination of scale looks and capability, I went with a Honcho (like 1,000,000 other people did). And, other than the inexcusably poorly designed shocks that leak when the truck is sitting still, I was VERY pleased with the Honcho.<o></o>
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However, about 5 months ago I was at an RC swap meet and saw a Tamiya CR-01 roller for sale. Being a Tamiya guy, I had to get it. $135 later I had a solid starting point for Project Mogfather.

As purchased.

Most current photo.

I'll post some of the technical details when I get more time!

 

[GraciousOne]

O.k. - a bit more about the build. I'll be adding more info on lunch breaks, etc. It came with tires off an HPI Wheely King (at least I am 90% sure that's where they came from). I'll save those for a day where mudding is the primary goal.

The tires I put on are Proline Flat Irons, a pretty common tire for sure, but I suspect with good reason. I wanted a scale-looking tire, but there are millions of those out there. I chose the Flat Iron because it looks like it will be good on rocks (largely due to the compound) depsite that fact that the edge lugs are probably less than ideal for pure rock use. I see a wide variety of terrain so I had to go with an all-rounder. I think these will work pretty well in mud and snow as well (I do make my own tire chains for the snow and ice).

I'm upgrading my brushed Slash to a Sidewinder brushless system, so I'm using the XL-5 ESC from that in Mogfather. I've read (pretty unanimously) that the XL-5 is fine for a trail truck. AND it's a good thing it's waterproof because I do not shy away from gnarly water crossings. It doesn't have a drag brake, but honestly, I feel drag brake is a matter of personal opinion on a trail truck. I've seen times it helps, I've seen people endo down hills because they forgot about, or at least misjudged how much throttle to use.

I'll be using a standard Traxxas RX, as I want to bind it to my Slash controller, and you can find them anywhere for cheap.

Savox 0231MG servo, based on a friend's recommendation. However, it BARELY fit in the servo tray - and I couldn't mount the servo "bumper" - and trust me, I TRIED.

More to come.

 

[OSRC]

Welcome to the CR club (old school Tamiya fan myself...still jonesing after one of those old Dyna Storms!)

I run very light or no drag brake at all - the CR01's planetary trans provides some natural drag braking. And the Flat Irons are indeed great on the rocks.

 

[GraciousOne]

Another quick note - there is much discussion here on the forum about the "Behind The Axle" (BTA) conversion to "correct" the Ackerman of the steering, which is in theory backward to what you would expect. The roller I bought showed signs of having (at some point) run a BTA configuration. However, as I mentioned on the main BTA thread, the SCX10 has "Backwards" Ackerman like the the CR-01, and it works fine. I also mentioned that, due to the locked front diff, a "backward" Ackerman set-up may actually work better. All this to say I will am running the stock, "backward" Ackerman setup. I admit I have not tried both configurations back to back, but OSRC said that he felt the stock configuration worked better on the trail than the BTA setup.

Obviously different people will have different opinions on this - I'm just explaining why my personal choice was to go with the stock setup.

 

[Louisbaby]

Hey man, it's awesome that you finally started the Mogfather thread. I'll be following this one closely. I'm interested in you BTA mods, if it works, I'll steal your ideas... Lol

Flat irons are a brilliant set of tires. I have a 1.9 and a 2.2 set. They a brilliant all round tire. I found if you add weight to each wheel, they even better.

 

[GraciousOne]

Hey guys. Just want to let you know that Project Mogfather isn't dead. I just have not had time lately. The latest culprit is a complete kitchen reno that involved running pipe and wire down through my garage and I have been garage-less for a month now. But today I was able to start bringing stuff back in and setting up my workbench. A few parts i needed came in to the LHS as well, so that helps.

To all the cr01 faithful - project mogfather will return!!!!

 

[xxkalladorxx]

Hey, lookin great.

And this truck did run BTA. Worked great. =-)..

Look forward to more updates.

L8TR....

 

[Louisbaby]

Hey dude, any update on this one?

 

[GraciousOne]

Uhhh,... not much. I've fallen into the trap that many of us do - having too many project vehicles. I first did the upgrade on my 2wd SLash to the low cg chassis and a SW3 brushless system. Then recently bought a TT01D to try out drifting. So Mogfather has been on the backburner for months. HOWEVER, it is a project that may have been delayed, but it will not be abandoned. Mogfather will return!!!

 

[GraciousOne]

Hey guys. With all the renewed CR-01 activity, including a couple new build/mod threads, I am slowly chipping away at Mogfather again. I didn't mention before that I went with a 35T Boost brushed motor from RC4WD. I like that it's rebuildable, but I am worried about the bearings. To be honest, I think I'd rather have bushings in a truck that will see lots of mud and water (which this one will). Oh well, we'll see how it works out.

As I mentioned in one of the other threads, I made an asiatees order last week for what hopefully will be the last odds and ends I need. One of the key items is the TopCad skid plate, which seems to have a pretty flush bottom so it won't snag as much. I'm planning to countersink it so the fasteners fit more flush. We'll see how that works out. Planning to paint over the blue anodizing, or try to strip it off first.

I do have the truck mocked up, I just need to start doing the final assembly and wiring. Planning to use a Castle BEC, as several friends have told me the Savox servo I have is a thirsty beast.

As for the body, I'm giving the inside a sand with 400 grit sandpaper (except on the windhield and light lenses) to ensure a good bond. Used to do this when I painted my old Tamiya buggy bodies and it worked like a charm. Progress will be slow, but there will be progress!!!

 

[Measuredpath]

I look forward to the little goodies left to add to this build

 

[GraciousOne]

Hey all.

Finally got to do some painting! Just started with the "side plates" - i.e. the gas tank, and rear fenders. It is the first time I've painted polycarbonate in, oh, 20 years. I am using the Tamiya spray cans. So I was taking my time to do everything right. Even though I sanded the inside of the lexan with 400 grit to promote adhesion, the finish is perfectly clear from the outside. Also, one of the most valuable tips I found was to let the spray can heat up in a bowl of warm/hot water ahead of time. Very even spray and great pressure.

Not surprsingly, the paint job didn't turn out perfectly. There was some overspray on the outside edges where the external masking had lifted up a bit (my own fault), and a bit on the other size of the small screw holes that I had foolishly not taped. Not too concerned, though. It IS a trail truck, and I intend to use it as such, so the body will not be perfect for long anyway. Also, I purposely chose to start with those smaller parts to make mistakes on, so the next things I paint (the main body and the BRZ body for my drift car) will turn out better.

Just wanted to share, as I know it's been ages since I've had anything to say about Mogfather!!!

 

[OSRC]

In the summer, I usually put the paint cans in the sun for 30 or so minutes. works like a charm. Of course, beings that it's 20 here, can't imagine that would work out too well up there right now.

 

[new2rocks]

Keep it coming. We need some pix. :thumbsup:


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[GraciousOne]

I know it's been a long time, but I'm finally working on Project Mogfather again! I'm going to be painting the TopCad skid plate black and doing some wiring - BEC, LEDs, etc."thumbsup

I'll keep you guys posted.

 

[GraciousOne]

Here we go! Finally got Photobucket working right. So here's the update. The shocks are re-built and mounted, all the linkages are hooked up, I modded the battery tray to fit my 5200 lipo, I have my trusty (and free) XL-5 ESC bolted down, and I pretty much have the wire routing figured out.

I painted the TopCad skid plate black, and it literally couldn't have turned out worse if I'd tried. No matter, it's going to be scuffed to hell soon enough anyway. I did countersink all of the fastener holes so that I can use flush head screws, so it's that much smoother on the bottom.

Keep those CR-01 project trucks coming, folks! More to come!!!

 

[GraciousOne]

Easter weekend has been busy with family stuff, but I got the motor wires soldered on last night, and was messing around with pinion mesh/mounting as well. The Robinson Racing pinion is quite a bit beefier (larger, not just stronger) than the stock Tamiya pinion, and can interfere with the gearbox if you're not careful. Easy to remedy, as you can mount it further down on the motor shaft, it's just a bit of fiddling. Also, I don't have the thin spacer that fits between the motor and the gearbox. Obviously, it's not essential but I do like them as they do prevent crud from being sucked into the gearbox through the motor. Learned that from my buggy days. I'll just fab something up.

Cheers.