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A little more done. You might also see the start of some colour coming through, once a few orders get here and I get rid of these horrid purple and green links it should pop. Going to have to do something to the gearboxes also to get rid of the grey. Might just hit them with a black rattle can for now or something.
http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050399.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050398.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050395.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050392.jpg Kieren |
:mdr::mdr: Got it running "properly" for the first time tonight, I can't wait to get it on the rocks now. Still waiting on the Super 300s and finishing the Ti links before it's a real runner, but those little motors definitely have some sting. The way I have them geared makes them feel like there is a whole lot of expo dialed in. The are really slow and smooth on the low end, but once you get them wound up they really get going. I think it should work well, but if not I have the option to play around with the curves, on either the esc's or the radio. The only problem so far with the electronics has been the bec was a bit iffy tonight. Couple times I plugged the battery in and the bec wouldn't power up, only the escs. I think it might be my solder joint where the bec is connected to the ESC, as once it got fired up it was fine. Got to love lead free solder on CC escs:no:
Kieren |
Seems like its like it's fairly light. This is without any knuckle weight, BC's and Eritex Charlotte's and completely RTR.
http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050401.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050402.jpg Kieren |
Only the rear lowers left, and I'm waiting on my next lot of Ti to come in before I can finish them. There's also a sneak peek of some knuckle weights. I heated the revo ends slightly and bent them with pliers to get the bend in the front link ends. Doesn't seem to have affected them at all, but I suppose testing will soon see about that. With the bend in the front lowers I can get every single degree the super 300s allow. Shouldn't need dig really.
http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050404.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050405.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050406.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050407.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050408.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050410.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050411.jpg Kieren |
nice work really !!
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Thank you! I am very much looking forward to driving it now, and hopefully will have some pictures up shortly.
Kieren |
Went out for a crawl on Saturday with a couple mates for it's first test drive. It wasn't 100% finished yet, but almost there. I decided to run the BCs and eritex wheels simply because I made my weights to the absolute maximum size possible and they no longer fit VP wheels. I had my old faithful firm inner, soft outer CI foams from my rovers, but I believe they are a bit firm. The other problem I had was the Charlotte's and the BCs would not play nice and I ended up pulling 3 beads (and this is after about 4 goes at mounting the things properly). The slot in the eritex wheels is simply to small to hold any bead properly IMO. So they will be getting lathed shortly.
Now for the good news. Everything pretty well performed faultlessly minus a couple loose bolts and nuts. The mini pullers and wheelspeed to boot and seem to be able to power the rig around most things with no drama's or temperature problems. They will stall in hard digs or binds, but I guess that is to be expected. The shrunk mamba micro's had no problems handling the pullers, and most of the time they barely felt warm. And finally the futaba servo is simply awesome, I was running it on 7.8v and it was only warm, but had enough power to swing the rear end of the rig around no worries. I think I only managed to stall it once, and it was really wedged in. Onto the chassis. The rollover, as expected, was excellent. Thanks to my "brilliant" driving and a bit two much wheelspeed with the pullers I tested this quite thoroughly :lol: The handling was quite good also, for everything from precise slow speed crawling to going flat out up rocks and doing backflips. This chassis will definitely be staying put with very little changes. Hopefully CrawlerX should have them released shortly for everyone to get their hands on them. Pictures, well unfortunately I was having to much fun 'testing' to take any pictures or video. So I'll just have to end with a couple I took at the end of the session. You can also see the final design for my knuckle weights. http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050412.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050413.jpg Kieren |
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Went for a crawl today at the old faithful spot. I didn't have a chance to make any panels yet. It seemed to crawl quite well, apart from a few minor things that I need to fix. The chassis held up excellently to some decent abuse, along with everything else. Video should be up shortly also.
http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050558.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050554.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050550.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050538.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050523.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050482.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050481.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050480.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050472.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050469.jpg Kieren |
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At 8mm I believe I hold the claim to the smallest berg tubes ever produced. Not finished yet, but not to much further
http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050575.jpg Also on a completely unrelated note my third hand, has suffered a debilitating spinal injury:lol: http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050576.jpg Kieren |
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wooo that's a really extrem mod !!! :oh:
:great:great work as usual !! |
Thank you! It still needs finishing, and is quite rough at the moment, but I'm getting there.
Kieren |
Tubes are finished
http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050582.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050581.jpg Also got some shiny power plants, however these might not go in this rig though. 30t Type S in Kr cans with a few other little extras. http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050587.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050583.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050585.jpg Kieren |
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Here's a few pictures of the rig from the social on the weekend. Thanks Steve for the pictures :thumbsup:
http://i985.photobucket.com/albums/a...g/PB050092.jpg http://i985.photobucket.com/albums/a...g/PB050124.jpg http://i985.photobucket.com/albums/a...g/PB050170.jpg Very happy with the rig so far, and am proud to say that my Crawler X chassis'd rig was the only rig to make the climb at 1:04 (thanks Jakesy for the video) It might not look like much but it proved to be quite a challenge, no matter what rig you were driving. I'm hoping for a repeat performance now at the state titles if I can make it! Cheers Kieren |
Here's some pictures of the very first set of Ras Customs wheels. Granted they aren't completely mine, but they do prove the concept.
I later realised I should have got the weight of the complete wheel, but just as a comparison here is the weights of the original wheel, and the parts that replaced it. http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050684.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050685.jpg The wheels proved to be very easy to mount, about the same, if not easier than the 'normal' style beadlock. Best part though is it will fit about about 49mm knuckle weights for even more weight under the axle. http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050686.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050687.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050690.jpg Original next to the new internal style http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050691.jpg Little bead holding test http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050692.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050693.jpg Kieren |
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It's been working great, hands down the best servo I've ever had anything to do with. No slop as far as I can tell, from what the team drivers for futaba, in the rock crawling segment anyway, have said is that the brushless motor seems to have a bit more 'give' than a normal brushed/coreless motor and that seems to help the gear life. Unless you like crashing into things I wouldn't worry about the gears too much, I've had it wedged between rocks so hard it stalls and it's still keeps going. Only thing is it does get a little warm after you wedge it a couple times. No idea on the material strength of the gears compared to hitec, but IMO it's a far superior servo to anything hitec has to offer. Just feels smoother, quicker and more powerful, compared to 7950s and 7980s.
Kieren |
Spot the difference
http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050697.jpg This might help... http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050696.jpg Kieren |
This updates a couple days old now, but I'll post up anyway.
Weight of Eritex Charlotte (light version) http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050698.jpg Weight with my parts http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050701.jpg Just to show how much room these wheels have. Note that the weights on there are already 'oversize' at 44mm compared to the standard 38mm or 40.5mm. http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050703.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050705.jpg Kieren |
Just a little project I tried to test out my new toy for the mill. Unfortunately this one will have to remain a unfinished prototype, I stuffed up the position of the bearing pockets so the mesh is too tight.
http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050706.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050707.jpg Kieren |
Your a lucky man.
Your a lucky man to have access to such tools and have the time to play like this. You are on another level from what most of us are able to accomplish in this hobby, and it is nice to see someone have the chance to take things to a whole other level in the hobby that we all know and love. I always look forward to ready through your updates sir. I wish I had the machining tools, and skills that you posess for doing this kind of work.
What you experienced with this particular project is exactly what scared me off from becoming a career machinist, because of the failure factor involved. Thinking that you could litterally spend thousands of hours working on a project for some client and end up destroying it with one tiny mistake, and having to start all over again worried me. So I became a mechanic instead. Although I do wish that I had the skills to do what you are doing I have experienced the same level of confidence working with wood. Keep up the great work and please keep sharing your projects. Have a Happy New Year 2012. |
Looks great!
All the new and unique things about the truck is just great to look at. What is the deal with the new gear box? Lower gearing or just stronger? |
Metal
Heck you might as well just machine a custom gearbox out of aluminum and rid any chance of flexing which can destroy your nice steel gear setup? Your work has been impecable so far so I am sure making a new gearbox is not that far out of reach for you.
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I know what your saying, but at the moment the machining is just hobby stuff, so if I stuff up it's not to costly to have another crack. That's quite funny you should say that, I'm terrible making anything out of wood:lol: Thank you, happy new year too you too. Quote:
I was making the gearbox mainly to be more compact. It still uses all the original gears etc just a different housing to hold it all together. Quote:
Happy new year to all! Kieren |
I forgot to put these updates up so here's a few pictures for any onlookers...
Here's a few pictures of my trip to north NSW. For the most part I could only look at majority of the rock seen on the trip, that said though of what I saw quite a bit was man made rock walls, which can be pretty much all the same. However I did find a couple natural formations (only got to drive on one though), so it wasn't all the same. One thing that I noticed on all the rock down there was a large decrease in grip compared to my usual spot, but then again sandpaper is a decrease in grip compared to my normal rock :lol: First spot I actually drove on was a rock wall at Fingal Head/Tweed Heads. Wasn't a whole lot here that was actually drivable due to the nature of the rock, but had some fun anyway. http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050598.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050601.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050603.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050605.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050612.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050613.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050617.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050622.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050623.jpg Kieren |
http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050625.jpg
http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050627.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050630.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050631.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050633.jpg Look out for more shortly. Also sorry no video as I still haven't got myself a decent video camera. It's on the wish list though so hopefully shortly. Kieren |
Those with a keen eye might have noticed I've gone to pinks all round. I found this work a lot better in allowing the rig to transition from one rock to the next. Also I'm still running the same electronics as before. The servo is as brutally powerful as before and I don't know what I'd do without that much power and speed sometimes. The mini pullers sometimes lack in the power department but otherwise have proved to be quite a good all rounder motor. They can suck a battery down mighty fast though if you get them locked up a few times. The smashed mamba micros have been powering the pullers fine too, with no heat troubles whatsoever.
I know a few were interested in the durability of the rear axle set up, so I'll comment there too. The tubes have been smashed and bashed with no consideration, but have still come back for more. Sure I haven't driven straight off a 3-5ft cliff, but I try to avoid that on principle anyway! With the gearbox shave, I'd highly recommend it if you feel comfortable in hacking a berg axle up. I think I have touched the lexan cover perhaps 5 times now out of one comp and numerous practice sessions, and never got hung up on it or the motor. There is a picture in the next lot of photos showing just how much clearance it gives you. Anyway enough talk time for RD2 of pictures. This time from Ballina, I think the actual spot was near Rose beach, but I couldn't be 100% sure. I took a lot of pictures here so this is just one half. http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050635.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050637.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050638.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050639.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050640.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050641.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050642.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050643.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050645.jpg Kieren |
http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050656.jpg
http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050657.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050659.jpg I spy with my little eye... http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050660.jpg RD 3 coming soon... Kieren |
After a while of getting a feel for the rock, got out some tennis balls and set up a course and had a mini comp between the old man and myself. It really comes down the driver when your both running the same rig, makes you learn anyway. The camera died about halfway through the first course I think so I didn't get many pictures of the two course we ran. I would have really liked to get some video of this as there was some decent little gates that took a bit of thinking about. I think I finally need to give up being scrooge and just buy a GoPro. That way I should be able to film and drive at the same time.
RD3, again at Ballina See if you can follow this :lol: http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050661.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050663.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050664.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050665.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050667.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050668.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050669.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050670.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050671.jpg Kieren |
http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050672.jpg
http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050673.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050674.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050675.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050676.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050677.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050678.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050679.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050680.jpg Kieren |
http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050681.jpg
http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050682.jpg http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/P1050683.jpg Thanks for looking and happy new years:party: Kieren |
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