Redcat Camo X4 info, mods, tuning thread

[bgredjeep]

Still waiting on parts, but it moved under power today. Rear mip shaft is in and worked out great with the longer drive hub. Waiting on the dogbone for the front. The aluminum i needed for the brace/ battery mount showed up a few mins ago so I'll get started on that this weekend.

I didn't push it on the test run since I only had 1 screw holding the entire front end but it looks like it'll work fine. The slipper is really tight. I had to back the nut well off the locking portion to get it to slip at all. I'll mess with that once I finish building.

 

[bgredjeep]

Did a little more on the camo today. As of today it's basically ready to run other than the front dogbone. I also have metal trans gears coming, but nothing else i need a far as parts.

Today I made the chassis brace and got the battery tray mounted.

Once that was done I decided to try something a little different. I had ordered some yeti knuckles and carriers to see how much effort it would be to mount them on the camo. Spoiler alert, it pretty much bolts right in.

I needed the larger outer bearing (5x11x4) and that's it. The axles do fit, but I think redcat uses the inner bearing to retain the cvd pin so I'll pick up some yeti shafts before I try to run this setup. The only thing I'm not sure about is if the yeti uses longer axles than the camo (i don't know how wide the yeti is). This should open up a lot of aftermarket options for the camo.

Please ignore the long adapters. I removed them after the pic was taken. Lol

 

[Gula]

Get some 2M diff "glue" that should help your tight LSD quest.

 

[mtnwheeling]

Nice work, you're pretty crafty with that plate aluminum!



I was also considering the Axial gearbox, but after doing some gear calculations the top speed would be around 17mph on 3s, a little too slow for me. That SCX10 gearbox has a 2.6 reduction while stock was 1:1 (not considering pinion & spur ratio).



What is the 24mm drive hub you speak of? Am I missing it? Didn't see it in the pics. Just an extension for the rear output of the gearbox.

 

[bgredjeep]

I was also considering the Axial gearbox, but after doing some gear calculations the top speed would be around 17mph on 3s, a little too slow for me. That SCX10 gearbox has a 2.6 reduction while stock was 1:1 (not considering pinion & spur ratio).



What is the 24mm drive hub you speak of? Am I missing it? Didn't see it in the pics. Just an extension for the rear output of the gearbox.

Yeah, I was doing some math on the gear ratios yesterday and it looks like the overall drive ratio is right at double of stock (~16:1 vs 32:1). With the tires I'm running and the 56/13 gears i think it'll run around mid 20s mph with my 3800kv motor on 3s. I think I can fit a 15t pinion for a little more, and worst case maybe step up to a faster motor. 3s was borderline uncontrollable before so I think it'll work out.

I didn't really consider the gearing before I started. I was seeing a lot of people run a 3 gear trans in the Bomber and figured it would be a good fit. Main difference i think is I could fit a much bigger pinion in the Bomber if I used this trans.

Here's the drive hub I mentioned. Just a cheap option to extend the rear output (driveshaft) a little since I had to mount the trans further forward

https://www.miponline.com/MIP-X-Duty-Drive-Hub-24mm-x-5mm-1-18114

 

[bgredjeep]

I got the camo running yesterday. The front driveshaft i ordered (87mm) was just a little too short, but I was able to add a spacer in each drive cup to keep the shaft centered and it worked fine. A 5mm longer dogbone would have worked better.

Initial impressions, I only ran it for a couple minutes, but it feels like it torque strears worse than before. That's likely the result of 3s rpms on the motor and the lower gearing. The speed wasn't bad, but not as fast as stock (on 2s) for sure. It also seems a lot quieter than stock which is nice. I'm sure a metal spur on the axial trans would change that.

I'm going to try fitting a 47t spur from associated. I ordered the spur and slipper pads so we'll see how that fits once those show. Just the spur will help a lot, but it'll also open up options for larger pinions without cutting the chassis more.

I started to grab a video, but 10 seconds after I started to film the rear driveshaft came off. I need to pick up some blue loctite and hit all the driveline screws.

 

[bgredjeep]

I was also considering the Axial gearbox, but after doing some gear calculations the top speed would be around 17mph on 3s, a little too slow for me. That SCX10 gearbox has a 2.6 reduction while stock was 1:1 (not considering pinion & spur ratio).

I solved the gearing issue to my satisfaction. It's not going to run as fast as stock, but I think it's going to be a more balanced ratio than stock.

I swapped to a wraith slipper clutch which uses common 3 bolt spur gears. Space is limited for the gears since I set the trans so far back. I didn't want to trim the chassis at the lower link mount (where the pinion sits) so it took a few tries to find the right spur and pinion combo. I landed on 50/17 which puts the final ratio at ~22:1.

It should be solid on 3s. I did a quick test on 2s and it's a huge improvement from the first test after the swap.

 

[bgredjeep]

Today, from the "just because" files. Yeti front suspension adapted to the camo. It's just a bit more than bolt in, but not much. It took some trimming of the arms, and I had to open up the outdrive holes in the diff housing for the larger axial parts. Other than that it's pretty much just assembly.

Here's a list of the parts I used (minus some misc hardware I had):
Ax80106 knuckle carrier
Ax31110 knuckle
Ax31182 locker
RPM70472 arms
Gpm yeti cvd driveshafts

 

[ferp420]

Today, from the "just because" files. Yeti front suspension adapted to the camo. It's just a bit more than bolt in, but not much. It took some trimming of the arms, and I had to open up the outdrive holes in the diff housing for the larger axial parts. Other than that it's pretty much just assembly.

Here's a list of the parts I used (minus some misc hardware I had):
Ax80106 knuckle carrier
Ax31110 knuckle
Ax31182 locker
RPM70472 arms
Gpm yeti cvd driveshafts
/QUOTE]
Not surprising being a yeti clone and all but thanks for documenting it

 

[meatmonkey]

Good job retrofitting the Axial parts. Do you gain any wheel travel from the swap?

 

[bgredjeep]

Good job retrofitting the Axial parts. Do you gain any wheel travel from the swap?

Yes. I didn't take any travel measurements before, but its more for sure with the longer arms.

Looks like right at 3" of travel in the front end with the current setup.

 

[bgredjeep]

I made a new skid for the camo this weekend. I got a 6x12 piece of .090 6061 aluminum from McMaster. Quick paper template traced out, transferred to aluminum, cut, bend, etc.

Non-pro tip. 6061 does not like to bend. The small bends in the bottom of the chassis worked ok (took a good effort in my buddy's 48" finger brake). When I tried to bend up the very front of the chassis to finish it off, I snapped it clean. Lol. If you want to bend 6061 more than a few degrees, anneal the material on the bends line so it will actually bend.

I the front of the skid is doubled up because of the issue I just described.

 

[mtnwheeling]

I like what you are doing with your X4, especially the Axial bits. Keep us updated!
I sold mine and made a fully independent one with the cage, sort of a KOH build. Handles way better and parts availability is great....Slash 4x4 lcg.