Project: Madbull Redux

[suicideneil]

So, we have come full circle it seems; won this a few hours ago:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...=STRK:MEWAX:IT

And to power it, that kind fellow Lutach donated me one of these systems:

http://www.hobbywing.com/english/Art...?ArticleID=426



I was really suprized that someone would donate me a whole system like that- looks like all those years of Flaming noobs/ being a kind & helpful member of the forums has paid off

Its a Hobbywing EZrun 35amp esc, programme card & 9T 4300kv 36-50 sized motor, should be enough to make the Madbull rip along at a decent pace I reckon, though the gearing is fixed ( 17tooth pinion ) making adjustments kinda.... hard.... not sure on the theoretical speed at the moment, got to crunch some numbers and work out if this will be 'fast', or 'self destructive' ...

[lincpimp]

That 9t motor on 2s lipo should do about 30... Fun stuff, I have a dual motor 4wd dual gearbox tamiya double blaze and with some 12t titans and 3s lipo it does 30 or so. Stole some duratrash shocks off something and threw them on, made a world of difference over the tamiya friction shocks!!!

Looks like fun, gotta love the cheap tamiya stuff, almost wish that was all I ever got into in this hobby!

[nitrostarter]

Really old school stuff! Love it!

I picked up a HPI RS4 MT the other day as a roller for little to nothing. It runs pretty well with the VXL system I had laying around. Just trying not to trash it as parts are scarce...

[_paralyzed_]

lutach, lutach, lutach....... It rings a bell but I don't seem to remember.......

Where has that guy been?

[suicideneil]

Hmm, he hasnt been around much lately has he?...

Anyways, got fed up waiting for my madbull so emailed the person I bought it from; apparently they had issues with getting their paypal payments so it was only posted out yesterday I get the feeling if I hadnt contacted them they'd have never told me there would be a delay- guess whos getting 1* feedback for not bothering to communicate issues with my order

Never mind, I tracked down some gearbox ratio info & tyre diameter measurements, so thanks to some spiffy mathes I now know that the madbull will do a stonking 45mph with the 4300kv motor and 2s lipo

It will come with a 6 cell nimh pack, and I have 32 nimh cells left over from before I went lipo/ A123, so I can assemble some packs to play with while I decide on what lipos I buy. Hopefully I'll be able to post some pics tomorrow with any luck.

[suicideneil]

Tomorrow, next week = same thing..

Anyway, picture dump & observations:


We like big brown parcels dont we?


Huh?


Hmm, looking a little worse for wear than the ebay advert & crappy photo had implied...


ZOMFG


Ugh, what is this sh!t? The reason I was so pissed is because new shells cost £30/$50- luckily I found one for £15 but it was sheer luck. The ebay advert just said 'normal wear & tear'- it gets worse though...


Heres a wicked transparency to show how much slop there was in the steering mech; the rod has been replaced with a bent bit of wire that didnt fit properly/ wasnt even close to the right shape. Another impossible to replace part as it only comes in a parts bag costing £15


Suffice to say I wasnt impressed.


Yet more missing pieces- there is a whole section of the 'mechanism deck' thats been removed to make room for the Mtronics esc. Fine, but that missing piece tied into the servo mount piece to stop it from flexing excessively..


Anyway, I tore it down and gave it a good clean in the sink, came up much better ( not that you can tell ).

[suicideneil]

I went around an installed a load of shims & washers to prevent the shocks from popping off in the event of a crash or bad landing.


The shocks had been 'upgraded' to oil filed items- not sure what the fronts are from, but the rears are a pair of E or T-maxx shocks- oh man, these things are horrible, no wonder we all upgrade to 1/8 buggy or truggy items. These were also a bit too long really compared to the stock shocks, so I opened them up and put some fuel tubing on the shaft to reduce their extended length- worked like a charm and it sits alot better now.


Motor, installed just fine with the stock 17t pinion and mounting screws.


Esc is tiny, I still need to make a little mounting plate for it to secure it inside the chassis properly.


The suspension is so basic compared to even a Rustler; one piece plastic arms & hingepins, caster and toe-in/out changes as you compress the suspension, plastic steering rods- its so wonderfully low-tech


Theres the new shell, havent decided on a paint scheme yet.


And there it is.

I upgraded all the plastic & bronze bushings to ABEC 9 bearings- only 10 bearings in the whole buggy. They feel much much smoother than the bushings that were coated in sticky black gunk and grit. Gotta programm the esc yet, gonna do that with the junk Acoms radio temporarily just to test it out and hope its got some kind of usable range for the time being- new speky rx will have to come next month, so too the lipos.
Left to do:

buy new speky rx
paint shell
esc mount
Make new steering control rod

[bigboi146]

i like the way the rear shocks are mounted. This is turning out to be a cool project despite your missing pieces. Cant wait to see a video of this thing under bl power!

[redshift]

Never took a close look at a Madbull, very similar to a Hornet. Kinda like a Hornet on 'roids. I'm sure you'll get it fixed up proper and have some retro fun!

[suicideneil]

Took a little while, but here is the first video; its a good one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xnajXvofc8




I love this buggy so much, just gotta sort out one or two more niggles to get it running 100%. Tyres need gluing to the rims, servo horn needs some attention as its not a low-profile design like the original ( need a futaba servo horn that isnt feeble and liable to snap ). I took the buggy out on friday and had about 50 minutes of on/off running time, then after one last tree jump it landed awkwardly and broke the servo horn. The footage I got that day was terrible so I took the buggy out for another run on sunday; much better result. I shot some good onboard video and some great video by holding the mini camera in my mouth using one of the supplied mounts- much better than mounting the camera to my head or the tx, but you do get some nice heavy breathing in the video as a result- cant be helped, but I'll breath more quietly next time

I think I may look into getting some different rims and tires though as these all-terrain stockers are pretty naff in the grass and leaves, need something more like mulchers or bowties I think, though Im open to suggestions for sure ( 12mm hex , ballbearings on the front wheels inside & out- think: rustler I suppose ).

Enjoy

[redshift]

"I shot some good onboard video and some great video by holding the mini camera in my mouth using one of the supplied mounts"

Didn't know they included a tongue clip..

Looks like fun, I bet the tires never blew off under stock power. Cool to see older vehicles modernized, we'll see how long the Tammy holds up!

Oh, and wash your cam.

[Kcaz25]

Fun video. I wish I had my bash buddy maxx done.

[Semi Pro]

Originally Posted by suicideneil

I love this buggy so much, just gotta sort out one or two more niggles to get it running 100%. Tyres need gluing to the rims, servo horn needs some attention as its not a low-profile design like the original ( need a futaba servo horn that isnt feeble and liable to snap ). I took the buggy out on friday and had about 50 minutes of on/off running time, then after one last tree jump it landed awkwardly and broke the servo horn. The footage I got that day was terrible so I took the buggy out for another run on sunday; much better result. I shot some good onboard video and some great video by holding the mini camera in my mouth using one of the supplied mounts- much better than mounting the camera to my head or the tx, but you do get some nice heavy breathing in the video as a result- cant be helped, but I'll breath more quietly next time

I think I may look into getting some different rims and tires though as these all-terrain stockers are pretty naff in the grass and leaves, need something more like mulchers or bowties I think, though Im open to suggestions for sure ( 12mm hex , ballbearings on the front wheels inside & out- think: rustler I suppose ).

Enjoy

you cant beet badlands for running in the grass, and a big plus is they last forever

[suicideneil]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ix7cmolVnjs

It snowed overnight, so I took the old Madbull out to have a play in the white stuff- most of which had turned to slush. Nothing too exciting as the blasted left-rear tyre came unglued from the rim yet again, but drawing pictures in the snow is always fun, especially with an overpowered 2wd buggy...

I cut some slots into the treads on the stock chevron tyres ( to emulate masher 2ks ), didnt really help much due to the left-rear coming unglued again- did have a look at some 30 series & similar sized tyres and some 1.9" rims, but everything is really narrow compared to the stockers, not too keen really..

[suicideneil]

Forgot to post some recent pics:


stripped splines from inside the wheel hex- hard to find replacements and they aint cheap either..




Scalped shell from a few too many flips.






Nothing a bit of CA glue & epoxy resin couldn't fix though.







Bit soggy after today's run. The only waterproofing I did was to cover the balance plugs with some tape, didnt want a short circuit caused by a clump of salty snow after the gritters had been out earlier in the day.