What a NP Drag it is Getting Old-

[Timmahh]

Thankfully for RC, its all the spills, all the thrills, and generally none of the hospital bills. lol


Here is 1 of two No Prep Drag Builds I am currently getting onto.

New Bandit VXL as a Donar Rig
Started out assembling the RedShift Chassis kit from Chuckworks RC first.
So far it has been a pretty straight forward build. A lil pushing and tweaking to get her together.

Build includes
ChuckWorks RC RedShift Drag Chassis
VXL Bandit Tranny in RPM black cases on the 3* rear blocks installed reversed.
Hot Racing Diff housing with Kracken 500k silicone diff oil.
Hot Racing Steering Bellcrank
2075 Bandit Servo for Steering
Fast Eddy Ceramic Bearings Throughout
DRC Zero Degree Front Bulkhead, Shock Tower, and Bumper
RPM Lower Front A-Arms
TRX Steering Carrier Blocks
STRC Hinge Pins
Atomik Aluminum Front Bearing Carriers in Red
Atomik Aluminum Rear Stub Axle Carriers in Red
DRC Rear Shock Tower Mount in Red
DRC Rear CF Shock Tower
Maclan MMax Pro ESC and Maclan 4.5t motor
PL F11 6bolt bead locks (will be buying some 12 bolt Beadlock rings)
PL Hoosiers in rear
DE Racing Accelerator Front Rims and Tires
PL Body Mounts (unless I figure out a better option)
Cheap Red Aluminum Chy-Na shocks ordered that I will rebuild and create functioning works of art out of.
Set of Red Aluminum Adjustable Turnbuckles for Wheely Bar Adjustments made easy.



Here she is in pretty much Slider condition. Everything is new.

 

[cooper_xl]

nice chassis! FRP ou CF?

 

[Timmahh]

nice chassis! FRP ou CF?

Chuck said it was a Composite ,material. Believe he said it was his own mix, but I may be mistaken.
Its quite stiff, yet still has some flex. Just a little bit.


Put the wheels on and the rear did have some toe out happening, so I swapped the rear arms (had them opposite to start). Moved the shocks from the stock mount positions inward to where the tower now mounts to the rear upper part of the chassis, laying them down a bit more then drilled them for shock mount locations.
Now the rear Toe is gone and zeroed out and the shocks don't rub the rear wheels.
I went ahead and added the wheelie bar, that came with the Kit. Need to get wheels for it and get them installed.
Also got bearings in the front wheels and got them on, need to get a thin inner spacer with these wheels to make them work better on these TRX Stub shafts, so I may just move to a Tmore normal front wheel.

 

[Timmahh]

 

[Timmahh]

put the bandit front wheels on. These may be a bit small, but I plan on getting a bigger O-rings for them, which will bring them up a bit.
Getting the Wiring finished up when I get home tomorrow and she should be ready for body mounts and body, and a new Battery.

Will be running my Drag Cars on my Old Nomadio React radio gear.





Think I may have found a body I will run on this one.

 

[Timmahh]

Motor and ESC are ready to install, with a few options for gearing.
TA 48p pinions in a JConcepts Pinion Puck and I have a few 48p Spurs diffent tooth counts for gearing options.

Maclan MMax Pro 160a ESC with a Maclan 4.5t Drag Tuned Motor will be this gals heart and soul.

 

[Timmahh]

And Installed

 

[Timmahh]

 

[Timmahh]

 

[Timmahh]

Made sure my old Nomadio React was bound to the Rx, then fired up the Maclan. Everything worked right away, except it was running in reverse due to the mid motor (reversed rotation now). I made sure my Radio was flat (every thing set to stock with 100% EPA on St and T/B chnls,) and first calibrated the radio to the ESC to ensure full access to 100% throttle ability. Then used my phone and the Maclan smartapp which I downloaded, and tied into the ESC and reprogrammed the motor rotation to be CCW, so she had forward drive.

Made a vid on the calibration of the Maclan ESC, bit different than most, but not really, you hold the brake full on when you power up the esc to go to Calibration mode.

As far as programming, you have options. lol Besides wiring direct to the ESC off your smart phone (requires a mini USB - mini USB cable) and program from the Smart App (not knocking but I do LOVE the direct Bluetooth option on my AXE setups), you can USB to mini USB direct to your windows computer/tablet etc. Or use the Maclan Pro programming box. I have the programming box, but may never need to use it, though I am sure I can do more with it than just program this sweet ass 32bit ESC. lol


Also ordered a different front bulk head for her, and another body to choose from. FE Bearings should be here Friday, and the new bulk head, CF Shock Tower, and CF Front bumper/support pieces around the same time. Also ordered some drag specific front wheels. I went with the DE Racing Accelorator front wheels and the DE Racing Gambler 6 spoke front rims in black.
Need to get a set of 80mm links for the wheelie bar to finish that up.


Quick vid of the Maclan ESC Calibrating process.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChuL9wrDrXM

 

[Timmahh]

I also did a walkthrough and build tips vid. I was trying to do an assembly vid, but was unable to stop the interruptions. lol
So I just put it together, and decided this walkthrough with my thought and tips would be good for now.

As I add the rest of the parts I have coming for her, I will try to get vids and show a bit more details of the build at that time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6IcbQrgGBM

 

[Timmahh]

Stopped at the local traxxas seller and picked upa set of links to set the wheelie bar. Both ends were long ends, so I put a set of bent ends on the bar side, and short ends on the mount side and they are just about right. Now I need a set of wheels for the wheelie bar. May grab a set of the DRC in Red for it.

 

[Timmahh]

Got a few things today, so got them done.
Was not sure if it would work without any modding or if it would fit right up, or not even work at all. But I had to try. Glad to say I was able to get the Drag Race Concepts Zero Degree Front Bulkhead, Shock Tower, and Bumper installed on the Chuckworks Redshift setup with just a little bit of modding.
Added RPM Front Arms, and STRC Hinge pins where I could during the process.
Had/still have to adjust the front turnbuckles and pull out the measuring thingies to set things correctly, but I eyed it into a close for now position.
I did have to make one small modification being the front of the lower chassis plate needed to be filed just a little bit so the DRC bulkhead could slip all the way back into place and the lower bolt holes lined up. Took off a smidge and everything lined up. getting the shock tower over the top plate on the chassis was just a little trick of sliding one side on and into position, then closing it into position like closing a door. Had to get the tower past the top plate screw nubs. Went together without any major tweaking, just a little push and everything was in place. Did have to push things a bit to get all the screws into place and then tighten them up and everything was set and locked in place like it should be.
From there it was a simple build out with the rpm arms and stock bandit parts. Turnbuckles do need to be adjusted outward a few mm each side to get the castor setup. Will do a full setup once I do the rear end things I want to get done.
Thinking about adding aluminum f & r carriers in red to help maintain the bearings, tolerances, and longevity.
Overall I'm pretty happy with it as I am starting to near the end of this build.

 

[Timmahh]

Took a little time and added a few thin shims to the steering posts so they work better. Bellcrack was a bit tight. I may add a few more just to free it up a smidge more. Some other pics of the process. Next will be the rear end.
Have the DRC Rear Aluminum Mount and Shock tower in my cart ready to get on the way. That leaves shocks if I decide to upgrade, then its ready for the body.

 

[xirtic]

Looks great!! I would definitely order the aluminum front blocks and bearing carriers front and rear. I have found that the RPM pieces flex and let the bearings get crushed/tight when tightening the wheel nut. I switched to aluminum, and the binding went away. That said, I have been happy with the RPM front arms... Rear arms are Custom Works adjustable toe units.

Xirtic

 

[Timmahh]

Looks great!! I would definitely order the aluminum front blocks and bearing carriers front and rear. I have found that the RPM pieces flex and let the bearings get crushed/tight when tightening the wheel nut. I switched to aluminum, and the binding went away. That said, I have been happy with the RPM front arms... Rear arms are Custom Works adjustable toe units.

Xirtic

Thanks. Its really close at this point. Ordered the rear DRC Shock tower mount and CF shock tower and a set of PL Body Mounts, they'll be here end of the week I think. Body should be on its way and here anytime.



That is what I have read and figured on the stock/rpm plastics, and if one were to think things through the process at hand, it seems the stock or rpm pieces would be a weak point in keeping things rigid and solid. Especialy at speed.

My only question is TRX Gear at 30.00 a pair, or a knockoff like STRC/GPM or similar. Had decent luck with non TRX gear. One knockoff company on Ebay is Atomik. The prices are cheap, just unsure on their quality.

 

[xirtic]

Thanks. Its really close at this point. Ordered the rear DRC Shock tower mount and CF shock tower and a set of PL Body Mounts, they'll be here end of the week I think. Body should be on its way and here anytime.







That is what I have read and figured on the stock/rpm plastics, and if one were to think things through the process at hand, it seems the stock or rpm pieces would be a weak point in keeping things rigid and solid. Especialy at speed.



My only question is TRX Gear at 30.00 a pair, or a knockoff like STRC/GPM or similar. Had decent luck with non TRX gear. One knockoff company on Ebay is Atomik. The prices are cheap, just unsure on their quality.

I have Atomik on my No Prep build.... The quality is surprisingly good. For the front blocks i had to drill them out to 1/8" to get the pins thru.

I also have Atomik on my wide slash basher build. Holding up great.

I do keep the RPM arms though. They hold up well.

Xirtic

 

[Timmahh]

Good to know. I can get a full set of Atomiks for less than the cost of a pair of TRX carriers. My main concern is aluminum quality and bearing fit. and tolerances being tight. One nice thing about the RPM stuff is there is little or no slop. But sometimes, the plastic is a bit too soft.

I put RPMs on the f and put the rears on today. Not too fond of how easy it is to strip out a shock mount hole.

I'll give them a try and see how they hold up, but the Stock Traxxas arms may be a better option at the end of the day.

 

[xirtic]

Good to know. I can get a full set of Atomiks for less than the cost of a pair of TRX carriers. My main concern is aluminum quality and bearing fit. and tolerances being tight. One nice thing about the RPM stuff is there is little or no slop. But sometimes, the plastic is a bit too soft.

I put RPMs on the f and put the rears on today. Not too fond of how easy it is to strip out a shock mount hole.

I'll give them a try and see how they hold up, but the Stock Traxxas arms may be a better option at the end of the day.

A lot of the time with rpm arms I will put the screw thru but use a longer screw and then a washer and nut on the back side. I had a screw pull out of my rpm basher shock tower... Just did the longer screw and washer/nut to get it snug and it cannot pull back out.

Xirtic

 

[Timmahh]

A lot of the time with rpm arms I will put the screw thru but use a longer screw and then a washer and nut on the back side. I had a screw pull out of my rpm basher shock tower... Just did the longer screw and washer/nut to get it snug and it cannot pull back out.

Xirtic

Yep. Figured that's what Id do. but shouldn't have to. I get they are a bit more forgiving than the 'stock' trx parts, or at least used to be.
but you should be able to set a screw in it and get it beyond snug without spinning out...

May just sell the rest of the new ones I have and go with stock trx parts.