LOSI LST XXL Conversion ideas

[jpoprock]

Originally Posted by Chadworkz

Dude, you are friggin' amazing...these parts look professionally made, seriously!

So, you got this angle iron at Home Depot then? WHen you buy stuff like this, does it come in one long strip? Then did you have to drill the holes and bend it into shape? I can't believe you were able to make such precise bends with such a small amount of material?

[mistercrash]

I traced on the aluminum with a hobby knife and punched where the screw holes are with a centering punch. I used a print out of the drawing I made of the chassis, it is pretty accurate judging at how all the holes lined up with no problems.
Yes I used the router table with a Tungsten carbide bit, the same I use for CF. BUT with aluminum, the bit needs a lot of lubrication (I used a can of WD40) so that the aluminum doesn't heat up and gum up the bit. It was pain staking work to spray some lubricant and cut for half an inch then spray some more lubricant and cut another half inch. Sometimes I had to stop and clean the bit of the aluminum that was stuck in the teeth. It was very messy and the shards of aluminum left from the cuts were very sharp. I managed to finish the pieces but the router is not the best method to cut aluminum if you ask me.
If you have someone you know who can CNC machine it that is the best way. I think I can export the drawings I made in DXF or DWG files that can be used by a machinist. I never tried to have a CNC program read the exported drawings so I can't confirm if it would work. It might.
As for the aluminum angle, yes it was bought at Home Depot in a 36 or 48 inch strip. I make the cuts I need and make the bends using a big vise and a hammer. I do it carefully so that the alu doesn't crack too much.

[mistercrash]

Made a turnbuckle for the Muggy bellcranks. I used a Traxxas Revo turnbukle with Traxxas large ball cups. I had to cut the turnbuckle to the right length so I kept the end with the left handed threads and threaded regular right handed threads on the opposite. With a hole in the middle, it was easy to adjust it to the final length I wanted.

[mistercrash]

I remember reading somewhere about the turning radius of the LSTs being to wide. Running my LST, I don't really notice this lack of turning radius so I measured it. I put the truck parallel to the curb with the wheels touching it and with the wheels turned at full lock, slowly made a U turn and once the truck was parallel to the curb again at the end of my U turn, I made a mark at the front wheel. Then I measured from the curb to the mark and got 71''. So I'm asking the other LST users here, what's your turning radius?