my 4x4x4 clod crawler project

[ClodMaxx]

so, a tamiya clod buster was my 'real' hobby-grade level electric r/c. i got it about 8 years ago. i don't have shots of it back then, but it looked kinda like this:


that was fine for a while, but after a few months it was in dire need of upgrading. at that time, the only real chassis upgrades were the ESP clodzilla and the JPS frame. i chose JPS. one day i was wheeling around and i heard a 'crunch', and it no longer went as fast... i stripped some teeth in the front transmission. i didn't feel like tearing it apart (getting to the tranny in one of these a huge PITA!) so i threw it in a closet. there it sat for about 6 years.

last fall i decided to give her (all my r/c's are female...:005: ) a facelift. i said, 'Gentleman, we can rebuild her, better than she was before. Better, Stronger, Faster!'. thus began the crawler transformation project.

she now looks like this:




now, it's not a competitive level crawler by any means. the front bumper alone will prevent this - it'll hit the rocks before the tires do at certain angles. but i do have a 4 channel radio and dual hitec 645 servos on the front and back bumpers so it's a fully proportional independent steering beast.


i also have a custom 12 LED light kit that i have hooked to the 4th channel, and can flip the lights on or off from the radio.

[ClodMaxx]

it also has dual 55t lathe motors, an 8 cell matched IB4200wc battery pack from SPC, fully locked diffs (a must) and an oooooold tekin titan speedo. 8 or so years ago, this and the super rooster were the 2 big bad boys at the top of the ESC food chain. she still works great!


i also have JPS machined aluminum wheels with some old (hardly used) proline tires, of which i've forgotten the name. they've been out of production for a long time, and are one of the best large tires with bite...


the largest part of the project was getting more articulation. before, this was the most it had (granted, i had a few bent cantileavers that didn't help, too)


i had to move 2 lower links in front and 2 in back to then become a newer crawler design, where they mount to the top of the transmission. in this shot, the arm circled in green is in the new spot - it did exist in the lower circled green area. the next shot after this shows how much articulation it now has. not nearly as much as a stick crawler, but a lot more than what she had!



i also went through and replaced all the bolts (most were bent) with hexcrews AP (armor plated) screws. i had to replace the cantileaver bearings with more modern flanged, rubber sealed versions as the originals were just shielded, and were shot.

i have it geared with stock transmission gears, and 9t pinions. i'd say it has brisk walking speed at WOT, but not much will stand in her way! :027:

[Dagger Thrasher]

Sweet!:018: That's one beautiful Clod...even if it isn't a comp rig, I bet it's still very capable. For some reason, I've always wanted a Tekin Titan...just incredibly beefy and powerful ESCs.
The LEDs look great on there too...and if you're interested, those tyres you'd forgotten the name of are Proline Giant Tracs.:027:

Awesome Clod!:004:

[nativepaul]

She is a beauty, thats the best looking Clod I've seen,

Where did you get those body mounts? or did you make them? I could use something similar for my Scale buggy project.

[ClodMaxx]

thanks guys!

it's a lot of fun to work on, as well as drive. i thought of making it a comp crawler, but there are no comps in MI, lol. the way it's built now suits the areas i drive in quite well.

dagger - thanks for jogging my memory on the Giant Trac's! i've been trying to think of that for a long time, lol.

nativepaul - the body mounts came with the JPS frame. i'm sure you can find them here, be be forewarned: paul at JPS is verrrrrrrry slow at getting orders shipped. his stuff really is nice though. because of the height of the body mounts, there is a lot of leverage on them if you flip over. they're only held in by screws that mount from under the frame and into the mounts... i've had to replace bent ones more than once.

this is the only truck i have that isn't brushless, and i've thought seriously about putting the new novak crawler kit in it. but i would need 2 systems, which would put the price tag at $500 for just the 2 systems... i don't need it that bad! she has plenty of torque as it is for all i need. plus i love the spacey sounds that lathe motors make. :027:

[RCShocker]

That is quite IMPRESSIVE.

I seem to be learning more about your talent on a daily basis now. I'm doing just a bit of searching these days.

That's one of the best job's that I have seen done with a light kit too.

If you dont mind, what range of investment does that kind of build up require? Surely not 6 million if you catch my drift. I caught yours. That's like 60 million nowadays you know.

I'm sure those sexy wheels alone were a pop. Once again, very nice job Scott.

[ClodMaxx]

thanks shocker!

i honestly have no talent in this hobby... at least none compared to others on here that do some amazing transformations (hint: look for one 'transformer' on here as an example! :003:). i appreciate the kind words though!

the custom light kit was done by maxxlights. i also had to track down a pico switch from dimension engineering to enable my radio to turn the light system on and off. the lights are tough, and guaranteed not to break (or if they do, i have to take a picture of the carnage and send it with the broken lights back to them, and they'll replace it free lol).

i honestly don't remember how much i have wrapped up in it (i purposely don't keep track of that for any of my trucks... talk about a 'shocker'! :eek: ). the clod stock kit was around $250, the JPS kit was probably at least that much, the JPS wheels (which is where i went wrong... the center hub, which is where all the lateral force is held, is only about 2mm thick. and it's aluminum, so it bends easy) were probably $200. at one point i did have 2 esc's, one to power each motor, and a battery for each too. when i turned it into a crawler last fall i found i only needed the titan to power the 2 motors. last fall i added a $35 hitec 645 servo, 2 lathe motors that were about $30 total, the 4 channel radio and light kit. then $50 for a JPS rear bumper, and some adjustable motor mounts, tranny mounts for the suspension links and pinions from rc4wd.com. prolly other stuff i'm not thinking of at the moment, lol.

[jnev]

Sweet trucks man!! Great work on them.

Well doesn't someone like shiny aluminum a lot...:005:

[ClodMaxx]

thanks RC - LOL, all that shiny aluminum is now caked with dry mud. i had a bit too much fun a few weeks ago after a big rain. i avoided the big puddles of water, but had a lot of fun spinning around in the muck. too bad i can't take a hose to it... :005: