Traxxas Summit (from stock to super)

[Culetto]

NOTE: This is in General Crawlers because thats what i plan to do with it, see how much it can crawl, what mods are needed, etc. If the rules change or i can figure out a WB stretch it will run with the supers.

So i couldnt resist. Its all Rizzo's fault actually. No really it is, he twisted my arm or something. LOL
These are some size comparison shots for you all. Its about 15inch wheelbase so i guess i cant comp with it in super outside of local stuff yet but it should be a great basher until i can stretch it. Im having some trouble with the esc (I HATE rtr stuff. Theres always some issue. Never in my life have i bought an rtr that didnt have some issue) But no worries, if it really pisses me off it gets brushless on 6c to teach it a lesson.

The body looks CLEAN, the roll cage and fender flares are all bolted on and removable. Its got about 8 inches of wheel travel per wheel. Ill post up more pics once i tear into it and get it up and running.

These honestly arent the limits of the suspension. I could have put the wheel on top of Rizzo's Dodge scaler and it MIGHT have maxxed out. Tires are really crawler feeling. Memory foams and decent grip, should work well.

Ill keep this updated as i test it and mod it out and see what happens. Post up any feedback, questions or suggestions and i will try to get an answer for you if i can.

 

[JatoTheRipper]

I've never ever had problems with a Traxxas RTR and neither have my friends. Call Traxxas and they'll fix it. I've actually only ever had a problem with one RTR and that was immediately fixed by the company in question.

Anyway, I think these Summits don't really fit into any category other than basher when stock. Now I've never driven one and I'd love to try it, but that's just what I gather from what I see and read online. It will be interesting to see one made into a "real" crawler if you go that route.

 

[Culetto]

Well i know what the first mods are going to be.

I charged up two 2200 nimh stick packs i had from my racing days. They lasted about 10-15 minutes switching from high to low and playing around with it in the parking lot. Its pretty fast in high and way to fast to crawl with in low. There is no drag brake. Still its a TON of fun. The suspension is so supple that it rocks and leans on accelleration and braking and will pick up the rear inside tire if you pitch it into a turn hard enough on the brakes, FUN.

Although there were no glitches with the stock system i will be putting in one of my nomadio transcievers and setting that up this week. Its going to be more of a challenge than i thought since the dual steering servos both slide into slots on the reciever, could make for a fun scaler addition though.

The stock motor connectors are funny, there are 4 of them since this esc will run dual motors but they are CRAP tamiya style bullet connectors. Im sure they eat up a ton of my battery power so they will be going.

The motor itself is probably very cool for bashing around but its so power hungry at that size its serious lack of run time. Its just an open backed 775 size drill motor so its not going to be very controlable either. The motor will definatley be going. I think the Holmes Puller will be the key to this build. A few of the guys locally run them in comp rigs and with the two speed tranny i think it will be the key to this build being able to bash and crawl decently.

The esc is nice once i finally got it working, not very precise though. Theres a pretty big gap from neutral to low throttle and it has alot of punch, not very crawlable but again, good for bashing which was probably Traxxas target with this truck.

The steering wasnt bad, the dual servos do a good job of pushing the wheels around but it had alot of trouble moving the wheels if they were bound up against something. Its way above average for an RTR from my experience. With the dual servo setup that comes stock slamming a couple 5990TG's in it could be alot of fun and again it would leave the others for some great scaler work since they are waterproof and decently powered. I also noticed that the rear could be made to steer quite easily, mounting a servo would be the tough part but im working on a plan.

First round of upgrades will be electronics and batteries.
Mamba Max (or Monster if JRH suggests)
Holmes Hobbies 7t Puller motor or maybe a low KV brushless.
Upgrade it to my Nomadio Sensor 2.4 system
A crawler worthy Hitec servo (with a second in the future if needed)
Ill start with some 3cell lipos and see how they work out, it should be plenty of power.

Once i get the electronics sorted i will move on to suspension/tires/etc.

 

[Culetto]

I've never ever had problems with a Traxxas RTR and neither have my friends. Call Traxxas and they'll fix it. I've actually only ever had a problem with one RTR and that was immediately fixed by the company in question.

Anyway, I think these Summits don't really fit into any category other than basher when stock. Now I've never driven one and I'd love to try it, but that's just what I gather from what I see and read online. It will be interesting to see one made into a "real" crawler if you go that route.

Im not a big fan of RTR stuff anyway, if i could have gotten it in kit form i would have.

It seems quite capable stock. The tires hooked up well. As expected its too evenly balanced to crawl up much right now. It wouldnt compete with a super but its honestly far far better than my AX10 was when it was stock. We shall see. LOL.

 

[Greatscott]

Its about 15inch wheelbase so i guess i cant comp with it in super outside of local stuff yet but it should be a great basher until i can stretch it.

Why can't you compete with this in the super class?

Rule Book:

2.1.3.3 - Super class minimum overall bodiless dimensions​

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must be 12” overall length,
3” overall width, & 3.75” overall height.​

o​

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2.1.3.4 - 2.2 class minimum overall bodiless dimensions must be 8” overall length, 3”
overall width, & 3.75” overall height.​

o​

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2.1.3.5 - 1.9 class minimum overall bodiless dimensions must be 6.75” overall length,​

2.5” overall width, & 3.25” overall height.

2.2 - Class 1 - Super Crawler Class:​

•​

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2.2.1 - No limits on wheelbase, vehicle track width or height.​

•​

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2.2.2 - No limits on tire type or size.​

•​

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2.2.3 - No limits to steering configuration.​

•​

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2.2.4 - Super class bodiless over all dimension of the complete chassis must be at least 12"overall
length, 3" overall width, and 3.75" overall height​

•​

​

​

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2.2.5 - If at any point during a run your vehicle falls out of these vehicle specs for any reason you will​

be required to take a touch penalty and correct the problem.

 

[dieselfuel]

the 09 super rules (not released yet) state a 16" minimum and 18" maximum WB.

 

[Culetto]

Its about 15inch wheelbase so i guess i cant comp with it in super outside of local stuff yet but it should be a great basher until i can stretch it.

Why can't you compete with this in the super class?

Rule Book:


2.1.3.3 - Super class minimum overall bodiless dimensions

must be 12” overall length,

3” overall width, & 3.75” overall height.
​

​

o ​

​

2.1.3.4 - 2.2 class minimum overall bodiless dimensions must be 8” overall length, 3”

overall width, & 3.75” overall height.
​

​

o ​

​

2.1.3.5 - 1.9 class minimum overall bodiless dimensions must be 6.75” overall length,
2.5” overall width, & 3.25” overall height.

2.2 - Class 1 - Super Crawler Class:
• ​

​

2.2.1 - No limits on wheelbase, vehicle track width or height.

​

​

• ​

​

2.2.2 - No limits on tire type or size.

​

​

• ​

​

2.2.3 - No limits to steering configuration.

​

​

• ​

​

2.2.4 - Super class bodiless over all dimension of the complete chassis must be at least 12"overall

length, 3" overall width, and 3.75" overall height
​

​

• ​

​

2.2.5 - If at any point during a run your vehicle falls out of these vehicle specs for any reason you will
be required to take a touch penalty and correct the problem.
​

​

​

​

​

the 09 super rules (not released yet) state a 16" minimum and 18" maximum WB.

Im sorry, Yes Diesel is correct, i was basing it on the 2009 rules. If that rule changes or doesnt end up being used i will definatley run it with this chassis. If it does im formulating an evil plan to stretch it and give it 4ws.
​

 

[rockbuggy]

I think it's dumb to have a maximum WB on a super!!

 

[666]

I think any regulations on super are dumb.

Can't wait to see what you do with this pig!"thumbsup"

 

[po' riggity]

I'll be watching this too! Looks cool and different.
Scott

 

[rednck21]

we got a couple of these in at work friday and they are very cool....perfect basher material. ive heard people are having problems stripping the lockers by slamming them in and out while under power, so FYI"thumbsup"

 

[Culetto]

we got a couple of these in at work friday and they are very cool....perfect basher material. ive heard people are having problems stripping the lockers by slamming them in and out while under power, so FYI"thumbsup"

Ya i read something about that on the traxxas boards. I dont know why anyone would do that, on the flip side i would have thought traxxas would have expected it being that so many people beat the crap out of their (insert any traxxas model here). But oh well.

The stock electronics package might be in the for sale section soon. Its not much use on a comp rig but for a scaler the waterproof stuff and the 4ch radio should be pretty sweet. I havent decided if im going to use it in my own scaler yet though, lol.

 

[NeXt559]

im still a skeptic about the summit's abilities as a comp crawler. but i'll be following this thread. post vids asap please"thumbsup"

 

[Culetto]

I think it's dumb to have a maximum WB on a super!!

I think any regulations on super are dumb.

Can't wait to see what you do with this pig!"thumbsup"

I know there is alot of debate on this right now. I half agree and half not. I do think there should be some limits. However i dont think they should be restrictive. Personally i like 14-22 as limits, just my humble oppinion.

 

[Greatscott]

I think rear-steer would go a long way to make this competitive. And now, find a way to stretch it a couple of inches...

 

[523revo]

sounds like an interesting project. Ive always thought the summit would be a blast to drive but had doubts about its crawling ability.It sorta looks like my revo and scorpion's love child, now theres an idea lets start cross breeding trucks:idea:

 

[Culetto]

I think rear-steer would go a long way to make this competitive. And now, find a way to stretch it a couple of inches...

Rear steer and a stretch are being worked out. Due to the costs involved ill be working out the electronics first. The stretch and rear steer should be easy enough. I also have a plan to overcome the independant suspension without locking it out.

 

[JohnRobHolmes]

I bet you could tie the rockers together for some real crawling. You could make it forced articulation pretty easy I imagine, and that would keep the diffs high when it flexed.

 

[Culetto]

I bet you could tie the rockers together for some real crawling. You could make it forced articulation pretty easy I imagine, and that would keep the diffs high when it flexed.

Oh sure, just tell everyone my idea. LOL. Great minds think alike i guess. "thumbsup" (Actually my plan was to add another rocker to the other end of the shock mounts and then tie them all together on a forced style setup. It should keep the weight even on all 4 and still move if it needs to)

So when are the Pullers going to be back in stock so i can get this beast moving like it should?

 

[Culetto]

Well the stock ESC amd motor were just too power hungry so i took them out. The locking diffs and lights didnt work, i found out once i started pulling all the electronics out that one of the wires on the little board that links the 2 servos together hadent been soldered on. I also really didnt like having to run the stock radio so basically all the stock electronics except the servos came out.
Once i got the little combo board figured out i realized that i had to have a BEC in this rig to power all the servos and lights. Unfortunatley the Nomadio V2 transciever doesnt have a seperate BEC slot, it also raised a problem with the dual steering servo setup (i decided to leave it in for now). So after a little thought and some soldering i got it all figured out. Both servos were wired into one plug and a female futaba radio plug was wired inline with them. This allows both servos to operate off of one channel and the BEC to power them both and powers the reciever and other accessories. The red lead was removed from the esc plug.

On a bonus note if you want to change which diff locks first just change the plugs from A to B on the T-Lock board.

While i wait on some gear i ordered (including the mamba max) i threw in a quark procar33 to make sure it all works. The OG has good power in something this big. It actually doesnt weigh much more than my 2.2 comp rig in its stock form. In high gear its entertaining and in low gear its very crawlable. The esc overheats pretty fast though. I dont have a fan i can throw on it but once my MMax gets here it wont be an issue.

And a couple more pics in the sunshine. Hopefully i can get someone to bring a video camera out next time we crawl to shoot this thing.