The CrAwLL BLACK
Rock Crawler
Hi everyone,
At our cANZ comp in March I made the debut of my first MOA rig. It's a bit of a change from the dual motor shaft driven rig I've been comping with for the last 3 or so years.
It was a well kept secret from pretty much everyone and has actually been a long time coming.
As soon as I saw Yoshi's DD Chassis I sent my paypal payment to him. I was in the first batch of sales in Sept last year :-o
Since then I have been stockpiling parts along with Splat, as we planned to build our rigs at the same time.
There have been a few hold ups along the way that delayed the build which was originally planned for completion in time for the cANZ Jan comp this year.
And as it was, I rushed to finish the build off the night before the comp. This resulted in some less that stellar results, but even so, it was still a huge step in the right direction.
Details:
For the full document with clickable links:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0AiXNa3TL9NSXdF92QVVESUx5ZkNxMDVRMW5jaE53WkE&output=html
On to the fun part:
Start receiving parcels....
The first task was to visit my good friend Dan at Hulksta Engineering so he could work his magic:
He got busy with his mill and cnc and busted out some fantastic results
Then it was time for some wrenching:
Added some brass inserts for a bit more security.
NOTE: I'm running front cases at both ends of the rig.
I quickly made up some basic CF parts myself by just using the original parts as a template and busting out the dremel and sanding drum:
TCB's Battery Mount
NOTE: A lot of work for only a 1g saving over the Rowdy Racing mount. But CF is just cooler 8)
I also made a 3mm CF spacer to put under the VP front upper link mount on the axle. You can see it here on the right axle.
The Rear axle is on the left and the upper link mount is left standard.
My CF fabrication just kept on going:
CF steering arms by TCB:
CF steering arm by Hulksta Engineering:
Then over to more traditional materials for my electronics tray:
NOTE: The tray has actually been trimmed quite a bit so should be under 1g now. Not pretty, but functional. ;-)
Time for some electronics:
Dual Tekin FX-R's smashed and packaged nicely.
I was very surprised at how much weight was lost doing this smash :shock:
Repackaged the CC BEC:
NOTE: I removed the capacitor and the heatsink plate, and re-routed the wires out the same side
Then mounted it under the servo
On the rear axle I shaved the shock mount so I could locate the shock further back. I use a longer screw on the lower link and put the shock on that.
Then some more Hulksta Engineering magic 8)
Dan made me some sweet beefy Ti rear shafts to fit the front housing. You can see that they also space out the hex a tad more to give back a bit of width on the rear.
Then, I gave Hulksta this:
And he made me these:
NOTE: My first attempt at glue on tires....and it shows
And then it was time for Hulksta to chop up, bend up, and thread up some Ti goodness.
NOTE: Uppers are the 2nd attempt. First were too long and had both motors clocked too high.
Right now the rig is in pieces again as I am replacing some rod ends and tuning the shocks. Also, I'm adjusting the upper link lengths to get the motor clocking right.
As I reassemble I'll take more pictures during the process so you get an idea on the chassis assembly and the tweaks I'm making to it along the way.
In the meantime, here are the pictures of the truck as I ran it at the comp in March.
Yup, that's 1671g (3lb 10oz) RTR :shock:
I ran it like that at the comp. Verts were just awesome, but my shock and geometry tuning was out for any off-camber stuff.
Teflon skid
I put a spring in the body to ensure it returned to centre
I must say a big thanks to the following people:
Dan at Hulksta Engineering.
Thanks mate, without your help I'd still be working on this thing.....and it wouldn't be anywhere near as cool as it is now.
Also a huge thanks must go to Dan's wife for not getting upset when I turn up at 10pm and stay until 1am working on things with Dan.
Nec,
Thanks for supplying me bits and pieces under the impression they were for Splat's XR-10. It was classic watching your reaction when I unveiled the rig at the comp and you had no idea it was coming....and then the realisation that the bits you had been dropping around to my place were for my rig and not Splats....
Sorry mate. But thanks for your help ;-)
IttyBitty on RCC,
Thanks for the tips on tuning the suspension and geometry on the DD. It has improved significantly since the first outing, and now with a bit more information will only get better.
Splat,
Thanks for coming around and wrenching on rigs together mate. Certainly made the time more enjoyable watching you muddle your way through this hands on mechanical stuff :lmao:
Cheers,
Mike
At our cANZ comp in March I made the debut of my first MOA rig. It's a bit of a change from the dual motor shaft driven rig I've been comping with for the last 3 or so years.
It was a well kept secret from pretty much everyone and has actually been a long time coming.
As soon as I saw Yoshi's DD Chassis I sent my paypal payment to him. I was in the first batch of sales in Sept last year :-o
Since then I have been stockpiling parts along with Splat, as we planned to build our rigs at the same time.
There have been a few hold ups along the way that delayed the build which was originally planned for completion in time for the cANZ Jan comp this year.
And as it was, I rushed to finish the build off the night before the comp. This resulted in some less that stellar results, but even so, it was still a huge step in the right direction.
Details:
For the full document with clickable links:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0AiXNa3TL9NSXdF92QVVESUx5ZkNxMDVRMW5jaE53WkE&output=html
On to the fun part:
Start receiving parcels....
The first task was to visit my good friend Dan at Hulksta Engineering so he could work his magic:
He got busy with his mill and cnc and busted out some fantastic results
Then it was time for some wrenching:
Added some brass inserts for a bit more security.
NOTE: I'm running front cases at both ends of the rig.
I quickly made up some basic CF parts myself by just using the original parts as a template and busting out the dremel and sanding drum:
TCB's Battery Mount
NOTE: A lot of work for only a 1g saving over the Rowdy Racing mount. But CF is just cooler 8)
I also made a 3mm CF spacer to put under the VP front upper link mount on the axle. You can see it here on the right axle.
The Rear axle is on the left and the upper link mount is left standard.
My CF fabrication just kept on going:
CF steering arms by TCB:
CF steering arm by Hulksta Engineering:
Then over to more traditional materials for my electronics tray:
NOTE: The tray has actually been trimmed quite a bit so should be under 1g now. Not pretty, but functional. ;-)
Time for some electronics:
Dual Tekin FX-R's smashed and packaged nicely.
I was very surprised at how much weight was lost doing this smash :shock:
Repackaged the CC BEC:
NOTE: I removed the capacitor and the heatsink plate, and re-routed the wires out the same side
Then mounted it under the servo
On the rear axle I shaved the shock mount so I could locate the shock further back. I use a longer screw on the lower link and put the shock on that.
Then some more Hulksta Engineering magic 8)
Dan made me some sweet beefy Ti rear shafts to fit the front housing. You can see that they also space out the hex a tad more to give back a bit of width on the rear.
Then, I gave Hulksta this:
And he made me these:
NOTE: My first attempt at glue on tires....and it shows
And then it was time for Hulksta to chop up, bend up, and thread up some Ti goodness.
NOTE: Uppers are the 2nd attempt. First were too long and had both motors clocked too high.
Right now the rig is in pieces again as I am replacing some rod ends and tuning the shocks. Also, I'm adjusting the upper link lengths to get the motor clocking right.
As I reassemble I'll take more pictures during the process so you get an idea on the chassis assembly and the tweaks I'm making to it along the way.
In the meantime, here are the pictures of the truck as I ran it at the comp in March.
Yup, that's 1671g (3lb 10oz) RTR :shock:
I ran it like that at the comp. Verts were just awesome, but my shock and geometry tuning was out for any off-camber stuff.
Teflon skid
I put a spring in the body to ensure it returned to centre
I must say a big thanks to the following people:
Dan at Hulksta Engineering.
Thanks mate, without your help I'd still be working on this thing.....and it wouldn't be anywhere near as cool as it is now.
Also a huge thanks must go to Dan's wife for not getting upset when I turn up at 10pm and stay until 1am working on things with Dan.
Nec,
Thanks for supplying me bits and pieces under the impression they were for Splat's XR-10. It was classic watching your reaction when I unveiled the rig at the comp and you had no idea it was coming....and then the realisation that the bits you had been dropping around to my place were for my rig and not Splats....
Sorry mate. But thanks for your help ;-)
IttyBitty on RCC,
Thanks for the tips on tuning the suspension and geometry on the DD. It has improved significantly since the first outing, and now with a bit more information will only get better.
Splat,
Thanks for coming around and wrenching on rigs together mate. Certainly made the time more enjoyable watching you muddle your way through this hands on mechanical stuff :lmao:
Cheers,
Mike
