Project: Cold Fusion...it's almost finished!

[Dagger Thrasher]

Hey guys!

I haven't posted here in a while, but I thought it was about time I did. Some of you might remember that a while back (about a year ago or so), I posted about my project Wild Dagger which I was hoping to turn brushless one day. It's designed for out-and-out handling, speed and looks.

Well.

I've done a LOT of work on the truck recently, and as I've been able to get a job...it's nearly ready to roll. Here are a few pics, although I'll try and get some better ones soon:

This is the truck with the chassis half-assembled, and with the suspension fully extended due to there being virtually no weight on it:


Front: (that's a sweet tin weighing the suspension down lol)


Side:


And with the shell on:


She still has some work needing doing...namely the chassis is waiting on some custom cross-braces made from Delrin to arrive. Once they get here, she'll be fully built. I won't go into all the specs etc, because I could be here for e a while lol!
As for power...well, this is the good bit. I already have the batts; they're two 8-cell 4500mah Elite stick packs, soldered end-to-end. LiPos would have been nice, but would have needed a chassis re-design and most importantly, would have been too expensive. Maybe one day! As far as motors and speedos go...well, I just ordered two Mamba Max 5700 systems from Mike (as recommended by Shawn Palmer himself)! The batts will be hooked up in parallel and will then split off to each controller in order to keep the voltage to each controller the same...and it'll also mean that the rear motor will be able to suck some serious current with less voltage drop when it's accelerating. I did some calculations using Brians *excellent* calculator, and it could reach a theoretical 55mph! I'm scared.:036:

Hopefully the truck will be running by the end of next week, and I can't wait! Like I say, I'll try and get better pics when all the gear arrives. Thanks for looking.:027:

[smhertzog]

Nice setup! very unique.
I've got to see a video of that when you get it running:018:
What are the suspension and drive train based on?

Sweet WD man!

I have a blackfoot extreme myself with a HV maxx and 14 cells. I got to tell you, I really like the Wild Dagger/Twin Detonator/Blackfoot Exterme platform. It is a very good overall truck and the gearboxes are nearly indestructible!

Are those R2C2 arms?

Bye:018:

[aqwut]

looks great man... I didn't know that was a MT like that...

[jagboy]

Very cool. Did you design the whole thing?


JB

[Dagger Thrasher]

Thanks guys!

Smhertzog: I'll be sure to get a vid of the first test run...in fact, I've already got a cameraman lined up, lol.
The drivetrain uses Wild Dagger gearboxes with a rear diff that's been modified to take the stronger TNX spider shaft. Then she uses hardened steel outdrives, and MIP RS4MT CVDs to transmit the power (which I'm not entirely confident in lol). These then hook up to the wheels via Thundertech Racing Clod-Maxx adaptors. The suspension uses R2-C2 arms, with Lunsford toplink turnbuckles, stock C-hubs and 7075 XSpede knuckles. The shocks are UE SuperShocks, mounted on custom 5mm aluminium towers. The toplink mounting points have also been altered to improve geometry.
It's never going to take a lot of abuse, but the suspension is very lightweight...so I'll just have to try not to crash it! My main concern is whether the drivetrain is going to hold up.

Cemetry Gates: You have 14 cells and a HV system on your Blackfoot?! How does she run? What kind of other mods have you done to her?

Jagboy: Well the truck is based loosely on the Dagger's design so I can't say I designed the whole thing...but there is a lot of custom modification going on in it. The chassis (it isn't complete in the pics as it's missing the battery supports) was conceptualised by me, and then a friend of mine put it into CAD and improved the design as well as stylised it. The shock towers are basically my design, but just stylised by my friend (www.demonicdesigns.moonfruit.com).
There are a lot of other little changes and improvements too...but it's taken a looong time to get it to this stage lol!

Does anyone have an idea as to what the runtime of this system should be? I know it should be in the 10-20 min range, but I've only seen reports of single systems being used in smaller trucks/buggies. Do you think 15 minutes would be attainable with these batts (given that both systems are effectively being fed off one 9000mah battery)? The final drive ratio would be 18:1, just for reference. Thanks for any help.

Originally Posted by Dagger Thrasher

Cemetry Gates: You have 14 cells and a HV system on your Blackfoot?! How does she run? What kind of other mods have you done to her?

She runs great!

It has ofna dogbones, hardened diff outdrives, M2k's, wheelie bar, 20t pinion, chassis had been modded for 2 batteries, and a jeep body.

Bye:018:

[Serum]

Awesome man!!

Only one question that went thru my head whan i saw that suspension geometry; why didn't you used Revo shock with soft springs?

great, great looking!

[Dagger Thrasher]

Cemetry: Sounds like you've done some ideal upgrades there...I never imagined someone would put a HV-Maxx in a BFX! Nice work!

Serum, thanks! Revo shocks, being only 3.5" long wouldn't have offered anywhere near enough suspension travel for the size of the truck. The thought did cross my mind a while ago, but the UE shocks are much more up to the job IMO.

After reading some other topics on the 5700 motors, I gotta say that I'm a bit worried about the motors possibly overheating. I really hope they don't, because there's no way I could afford to replace them right now. Then again, Shawn did say that there would be no problems with heat...so I hope he's right!

[neweuser]

Originally Posted by Dagger Thrasher

Cemetry: Sounds like you've done some ideal upgrades there...I never imagined someone would put a HV-Maxx in a BFX! Nice work!

Serum, thanks! Revo shocks, being only 3.5" long wouldn't have offered anywhere near enough suspension travel for the size of the truck. The thought did cross my mind a while ago, but the UE shocks are much more up to the job IMO.

After reading some other topics on the 5700 motors, I gotta say that I'm a bit worried about the motors possibly overheating. I really hope they don't, because there's no way I could afford to replace them right now. Then again, Shawn did say that there would be no problems with heat...so I hope he's right!

Very nice work! Was the machining spendy? Or was your friend doing it as a favor type thing? You guys did an awesome job!

[coolhandcountry]

Nice. I see some improvements on that truck. It was sweet before and sweeter
now. What system you plan to run in it?

[Dagger Thrasher]

Thanks guys, your comments really mean a lot to me. :)

My friend did the bits of CAD work as a favour, and then he sent me the DXF files to get plasma-cut over here in the UK. I found a great place that cut both the chassis plates for £45 (4mm alu, 6061) and both shocks towers for £15! The plasma finish is a bit rough so it needs a bit of treating, but after that it looks fine.:018:

What system you plan to run in it?

Coolhand, thanks dude. I just ordered two Mamba 5700 systems to run in it...but after reading recent posts on the 5700 motor, I'm worried that they might overheat. They'd be running on two packs of eight 4500mah Elite NiMh cells (wired in parallel to create one 9000mah batt). I was assured by Shawn that heat wouldn't be a problem, but I must admit that I'm dubious. Does anyone have a prediction about the runtime that I should expect? Like I say, I'm guessing in between 10-20 mins, but having never run them before...I really don't know lol!:032:

:)

[Serum]

If you use two of them, i don't think you need to worrie. The shoulders divide the mass, it's like the 5700 is on vacation.

[Dagger Thrasher]

Thanks Serum, I hope you're right. I've bought myself a temp gun to keep an eye on the temperatures, and it is pretty cold outside lately. I'll let you know how I get on. :)

Can't wait for the video. Very nice job!