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Finally, gave the truck its first run outside today, a shake-down if you will.
Observed a few issues that need fixing: 1) pulls to the left, even with the radio trimmed all the way to the right. 2) suspension is a bit mushy 3) stock steering rods bend like uncooked spaghetti Solutions: 1) tweak steering rods & check toe-in front and rear. 2) swap springs over with 4 of the 8 on the Gmaxx ( Gmaxx suspension is too hard so this is a win-win ) 3) Buy some new steering turnbuckles. Other than that the truck runs fine, brakes are nice and crisp, throttle is smooth ( no cogging ), doesnt wheelie on a hard surface ( block-paving ). Does traction roll though, so no sharp turns under throttle- need to fix my body posts as the fronts came loose. Also need to apply threadloc to prevent the kingpins coming undone. No video Im affraid, wasnt worth filming really. I have ~2 weeks holiday over the middle of April so should get some video then, and have the issues resolved to make it handle better. Laters :intello: |
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Apart from that... Pictures! More! |
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That might be a possibility I haven't thought of:lol:
I take everything I said back and claim the opposite! |
" No video Im affraid, wasnt worth filming really...I have ~2 weeks holiday over the middle of April"
I'm starting to not like you, Sir Carrot Dangler. Hehe I'm curious how she handles, what with the tires blowing off the rims on your bench test.... could be a bit of a handful eh? |
They didnt blow off though- my gluing is that good :mdr: ( no, seriously they didnt ).
Have you guys never seen spaghetti that is like fine straw, about 1-1.5mm in diameter; it bends, or should I say flexes upto about 45 degrees or more, then it snaps. I like dangling carrots though, keeps people interested... :whistle: I will post some pics up tomorrow evening of the new shell, or should I say shells; stay tuned for more tales of epic painting fail & salvation.... |
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^Indeed :lol:
Okay then, lots of pics now of how I snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, and all because Im a bit of a perfectionist, and because window tint spray is evil stuff, evil I say: http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...ulligan104.jpg http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...ulligan105.jpg http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...ulligan106.jpg http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...ulligan107.jpg All going well uptill now, achieved a *beautiful* paint effect on the hood, just what I was after. There are somethings you can do with a paint brush that you cant do with an airbrush, and viceversa, hence my love of watercolours. In hind site at this point I should have just painted the hood and left the rest well alone, backing it up with white to get a good finish. But no... http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...ulligan108.jpg http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...ulligan109.jpg I foolishly thought it would be a good idea to back the hood with dark blue first, to avoid the white showing through the gaps between the brushstrokes. Bad idea, as now you could see a distinct dark area under the front half of the hood, and lighter area where it wasnt backed ( towards the windshield ). http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...ulligan110.jpg http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...ulligan111.jpg |
http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...ulligan112.jpg
After 3 attempts to get the flame pattern on the left side to match the right side ( style wise ), I gave up and backed it all in white. Unfortunately where I had scrubbed off the previous attempts in the sink ( exactly... ), it left some fine greyish residue around the windows- this showed through clearly after being backed in white. At the same time the window tint ate through underneath the liquid mask that was actually completely dry; nasty mess around the windows on on the left side and some obvious water stains on the whole left side too. Couldnt fix it, so out with the old jet black: http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...ulligan113.jpg http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...ulligan114.jpg http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...ulligan115.jpg Little touch of chrome & that'll have to do. Tragedy really as it started really well, but Im not spending another ~$40 to get a new shell. So, I spent ~$25 instead :lol: http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...ulligan116.jpg http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...ulligan117.jpg http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...ulligan118.jpg http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...ulligan119.jpg http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...ulligan120.jpg Stock T-maxx 3.3 shell ( longer verison for newer model maxx ). Still couldnt quite get the flmaes right on the sides- difficult working with acrylics as the paint dries really fast, not enough time to work it and get the blends perfect. Also had a bit of white backing bleed through somehow on the hood- even though it was dry. Weird, but meh. This will serve on the TXT-1 and the Gmaxx, just need some longer body posts for the G. So there, I still can paint well, dont think I ever will be able to either- painting on the inside is just too different, Im so used to doing the base, then working towards the details, not the other way round... |
http://www.modernmuscleforum.com/ima...umbleweed2.gif
Anyway, got my new steering rods in the mail & installed- pretty much zero flex & very nice looking, with heavyduty rodends rather than the soft mushy stock plastic you often find in use: http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...ulligan121.jpg http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...ulligan122.jpg http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...ulligan123.jpg http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...ulligan124.jpg http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...ulligan125.jpg http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...ulligan126.jpg http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...ulligan127.jpg http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...ulligan128.jpg http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...ulligan129.jpg Also probably gonna relocate the body posts to the sides of the chassis- way too easily bent and knocked loose in the normal locations. More asstute viewers may also notice I have a busted stubaxle; long story short- I misjudged my speed when approaching a curb, shot up & over it and into a parked car's wheel ( during testing ). Wasnt until I went to take the wheels off to fit the new rods that the damage became apparent when the stub axle snapped as I undid the wheel nut. No worries, I've finally found a 100% bullet proof and non-shite looking way of widening the track width that requires no bodging. Stay tuned.... |
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Kyosho Mad Force/Twin Force axles? Aluminum axles from RC4WD? |
I've never seen so many pictures of rod ends in one place! :lol: That's gona be a solid truck, Neil. Not that it wasn't before...
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OTT OCD :lol:
Not going for the alloy madforce axles just yet, I'll wait until I destroy the insides of the stockers first. Nah, I found some rather nice items that will allow me to use proper axle extensions that arent held in place with glue & prone to making the wheels 'waggle' as they rotate- you'll no doubt have noticed that in the bench testing video, looked like one wheel or more was on a bent axle. Final parts needed will be here early next week hopefully. |
More boring pictures- the big reveal of my cunning plan:
http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...ulligan130.jpg http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...ulligan131.jpg http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...ulligan132.jpg http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...ulligan133.jpg http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...ulligan134.jpg http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...ulligan135.jpg So, what we just saw were some Integy ( oh, God, no, noooooo.... ) SuperClodbuster stub axles; whats so cool about these is that they use a cross pin like 99% of other axles use to retain the wheel hex, rather than the annoying spline with matching splined 12mm hex ( they also use a M5 wheel nut vs the stock M4 size = beefy ). With the cross pin design I was now able to use pretty much any wheel widener or axle extension on the market designed for maxx or revo type axles; I found some nice ones from BoomRacing on ebay that give 1.5" of extra width per axle- only ~7mm shorter than my existing weak & sloppy setup. These new extensions are 7075 aluminium and fit the stub axle perfectly- zero slop in any direction pretty much. I've removed the body posts from up top, but I still need to figure out new mounting locations on the tvps- the only points suitable really are either too low or too close together, so a bit more epic custom-fab work may be required :yipi: |
Very niiiice...
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Great stuff Neil, if you are ever anywhere but the furthest possible distance from the rest of England, lol, let me know, would be good to meet up for a bash.
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I meant to tell you that I like the body. Many have seen it but like me they just don't comment. I think it looked great! When have you ever seen flickers of flames in nature ever look any certain way matching one anothe ever? Still the black looks good. And you have the 3.3 body which looks great.
The big solid axle truck looks saweet! |
Cheers Kcaz, I appreciate it.
I think if I covered the whole body with the same effect it would look stunning, but its very difficult to fade out handpainted brush strokes- this paint dries way too fast for my liking, and its still very weird painting in the inside; if I could paint the outside and not end up with a textured shell ( think: old oil painting ) it would be killer. |
Neil that is coming along nicely. I have always loved the look of the Big Joe tires but was concerned due to their sheer size and weight of putting added strain on drivetrain.
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I havent had a lot of time to tinker with the truck lately due to work, but I've got nearly 2 weeks off for easter now so I **will** ( so long as it doesnt start raining again ) take the TXT-1 ( wrong thread brushless wonder LOL ) and shoot some video. I got my steering issue sorted out ( truck pulled to the left even with full trim applied ); turns out I didnt account for some funky changes I made internally. I had to swap the gimbles ( sticks ) over since this tx is setup for mode 2 operation ( left stick = throttle & rudder ), but speky decided to be gits and left out/ removed the spring-return mech that would normally recenter the stick when you left go ( on the vertical axis ). I swapped over the gimbles and reconnected the 2 sets of leads, but the 2 potentiometers ( throttle & rudder ) plug into different spots for either stick.... long story short > throttle trim is now done with the trim button for the rudder, and steering trim is done with the button for elevators ( instead of ailerons, since this is a plane/heli radio ). Got it figured out though, and also modified the sticks for ground use- left stick only moves up and down now, and right stick only moves left to right. Heres a few pictures:
http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...ulligan136.jpg http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...Muligan137.jpg http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...Muligan138.jpg You can see on the left stick I just used a tiny screw with a large flat head and screwed it down into a conveniently placed hole; this stops the smaller inner gimple from moving side to side. On the right stick I had to use 2 more of those random screws ( yay for saving random screws from broken appliances :mdr: ) in holes in the gimble and the gimble frame, then glued them together with JBWeld to prevent the out gimple from movong up or down. Turned out really well and there is pretty much zero movement where I dont want it on the gimbles. Video will be coming soon I promise, along with action pics- just gotta convince the weather & future brother in law to help me ( or I'll have a word with my little sister and she'll convince him- shes a bit feisty... :lol: ). |
Why'd you do that spectrum will make all axis self centring for free...
Locking the other axis means you can't use it for 4wd and independent 4wd... |
I'd have to send the radio off, cant be doing with hassle like that really. Since this radio will service the Gmaxx and TXT-1, no need for independant front and rear drive, and independant 4ws on the TXT-1 isnt really needed- this aint a crawler after :lol: I might look into regular 4ws for tight turning circles though, depends if I think its worth while for handling- this thing tips quite easily, so it would only be any use at low speed, and low speed aint my idea of fun.
I still have the laser 6 radio that has fully operational self-centering sticks, so Im not without options if I fancy a tinker. :smile: |
**dun dun dun**
<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/T3geuq89uFw&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/T3geuq89uFw&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3geuq89uFw I'll let the video & description speak for itself :yipi: |
Nice one!
Love that truck! But is it really leaning to it's right that heavy everytime you touch the throttle? Anyways: Need! More! Videos!:yipi: |
It does lean a bit, but it isnt actually that bad compared to stock- a few more tweaks to the suspension to come shortly, gonna make it handle alot better & give it more upwards travel too.
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I love the part where you are driving thru the flowers! Truly the definition of a monster truck!
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LOL What was that smokey substance after the 4wd went out? Looks great! I laughed when the wheel fell off lol. I would have liked to have seen more speed but I realize its not a speed demon by nature. It is huge btw!
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:lol: Torque-steer much?
Great vid! You just need to find some harder foams and/or tape those tires. Oh and some JB weld on the hexes.....and some unobtainium axles! :mdr: |
Yeah, that little puff of smoke was just me twitching the throttle, kicked up a little puff of dust. I do plan to do some speed runs in the next video, was gonna this time but the wheel bolts kept undoing after about 1 minute of running ( the threads go 'the wrong way' so undo as you run forwards, unlike maxx axles where the nuts tighten as you run forwards... :lol: @ funny wording ). It does accelerate well but the torque is kinda crazy yeah, hard to keep it going straight- must get some better foams yes :yes:
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Ahh the beast lives!
(and then loses a leg) lol Mulligan the doggy taunter hehe good vid Neil and congrats. |
Great job Neil... looks like a whole lot fun.. what's the final weight on that big boy? Did you record the temps on the CC 1518 after the run?
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Cautious driver :lol: Drive test I guess ! I hope :mdr:
This MT is really beautiful, but is the ground clearance enough for your driving style ? |
Fairly cautious for the first time out, wasnt sure if the prop-shafts ( aka emaxx drive shafts with a yolk at each end ) would hold out as they are stretched to the limit for length, and wasnt sure either if the cursed 3905 spec slipper would hold out either; glad to say they both worked fine.
I was gonna check temps, but when I touched my hand to the motor quickly I noticed it wasnt very warm at all- held onto it & it was barely 'luke warm' at most... ~100-110*F maybe? Lipo & esc were both cool = :smile: Ground clearance is about 1.5" or so, not much at all, but I dont intend to do any kind of real crawling with this truck, just powering over stuff like lumps & bumps etc as seen in the video ( next time may take it down the woods where there are alot of gravel banks and stuff to scramble up, proper FOFF style :yes: ). |
Small project within a project here; how to make 12 to 14mm hex adaptors ( for when you cant simply install larger hex drives ):
http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...Muligan139.jpg Start off with a standard 14mm hex ( these being HPi savage items from ebay for dirt cheap- I have 17mm ones on the Gmaxx & they fit perfectly ), drill out the center with a 10mm drill bit. Then, using the edge of an eliptical file, file into the corners, leaving a couple mm before you reach the edge. http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...Muligan140.jpg Now take a small flat file and and work away at the area inbetween each notch, keeping parallel as possible to the outside edge on each side. http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...Muligan141.jpg You will end up with this. Note: do not overtight your vice jaws as you will crush the hex ( since it has no insides to resist the forces placed on it ). http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...Muligan142.jpg Now turn the hex on its side in the jaws so that you can apply a bit more clamping pressure, and work away at each inside edge again with a small flat file, filing upwards as it were. http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...Muligan143.jpg Dont be tempted to take away too much material at once, and keep rotating the hex to work each inside edge evenly, checking the fit on the 12mm hex every so often. You will end up with a very thin walled ( 1mm ) hexagon, that should be a press fit over the 12mm hex; may need to tap it on gently, but it shouldnt need hammering on- remove more material it it feels too tight, and be sure to work from the front and rear to keep the inside edges level front to rear ( dont want a smaller opening on the front vs the rear for example ). http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...Muligan144.jpg http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...Muligan145.jpg The finished hex adapter after about 20 minutes work. This isnt exactly precision engineering, but there is very little wheel wobble once installed, just need to take your time & work each inside edge evenly to prevent the hex fitting off-center. :) |
20 minutes? For one adapter?
Wish I had the patience for sth like that:oh: |
Patience is a virtue :lol:
But yeah, I've been looking at some custom PC builds over on the Bit-Tech forums; metal, wood & plastic working skills that would make even the Candyman himself drool no-doubt- makes my efforts and level of concentration look rank-amature at best :cry: Anyway, finally got around to taking some 'completed' photos during daylight hours- still gonna make a few suspension tweaks shortly to improve upwards travel and prevent bodyroll, but this is how she will rock out now shes done & road tested successfully: http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...Muligan146.jpg http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...Muligan147.jpg http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...Muligan148.jpg http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...Muligan149.jpg http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...Muligan150.jpg http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...Muligan151.jpg http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...Muligan152.jpg Long, low & wide :yes: |
Wow, definately one of the nicest MTs I've ever seen!
How did you get that matte black on the shell? Special colour and shell treatment or just painted from the outside? |
Love it... great stuff!
So what are all the measurements? wheelbase, clearance, track width, etc. :) |
Painted the shell on the outside- if you skip back a page or two you'll see what happend exactly with my painting attempt :oops:
Ah yes, specs: Weight = 13lb 10oz ( without battery ) Total length = 24" Wheel base = 18" ( currently, will end up a little bit shorter after I've tweaked it ) Track width = 20" ( outside edge of tires ) Total height = 10" Groundclearance = 1.5" ( under front and rear axles, center is a tiny bit more ) |
Neil,
You have created a master piece. I love the stance you gave it. Neil, e-mail me your address so I can send you a gift (brasuca2478@hotmail.com). I've been wanting to do that for a while, specially for mentioning some of the things I've done for the Hobby, but most important what you've done for it. Regards, Luciano. |
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