First Rock Crawler attempt - "King 4x4"

I can't find the one where a guy used the original Mammoth towers, but found this one where a guy uses Mammoth ST towers for a $10 chassis, looks quite good too.

[MetalMan]

Jeez, and I thought my chassis was of minimalist style! I bet that Mammoth ST shock tower-chassis would work well with a droop setup...

Maybe, droop has only just gotten popular in the last 6 mos or so, before then it was just a novelty.

I believe the guy that made the original Mammoth shock tower chassis used TLT axles, but I might be wrong. One thing I know, they were the standard blue anodized ones, and did look pretty sweet.

[MetalMan]

It's time for an update, since a lot has changed.

Behind the axle (BTA) steering has been custom-made for the front. This helps remove the steering link clearance issue, and it will also keep aluminum servo horns from bending when the hit an object.

New bent rear links give A LOT more clearance in the rear.
This was accompanied by relocation of the rear shocks, you can see how/where they were relocated in the pics.

NiMh battery removed from the front, and a new battery tray was made for the rear. This keeps the battery out of the way, but doesn't really raise the CG.
I might need to add some weight to the right side of the front axle, since there isn't much weight there anymore.

NARROWED AXLE housings. With the MSD Top Gun beadlocks, the truck was as wide as it could be without wideners. I basically cut almost an inch off of the front and rear axles, and used fiberglass and epoxy to hold them together:



And now for the rest of the pics:

[MTBikerTim]

That thing is hideous .


I like it. It looks tough. Those linkages and wheels aren't going to break in a hurry.

[suicideneil]

Thats something abit different, interesting setup and mods.

[MetalMan]

Originally Posted by MTBikerTim

That thing is hideous .


I like it. It looks tough. Those linkages and wheels aren't going to break in a hurry.

I call it function over form . And a limited budget...

[ClodMaxx]

good stuff - i like it a lot!

did you decrease the width for comp-worthiness, or was it just too wide with the new wheels?

[MetalMan]

Both. If I were to ever go to a comp, it would help, but just for general crawling it also helps.

[MetalMan]

Another update:

I grew out of the first chassis, and with the design of a chassis from Offroader5 on RC Crawler, I was able to modify it and build what's called a body-less crawler - think of a tube chassis, but without tubes. The chassis and motor/spur gear mount took at least 8 hours to make, and then all of the suspension added another 4-5 hours. The crawler has awesome clearance now, and should crawl well especially with the delrin center skid. The addition of a Sidewinder ESC over the Mamba 25 should also help smooth out the delivery of torque.

[MTBikerTim]

That looks awesome. Looks capable too. A question though, the centre drive shafts, how do they cope with the articulation without binding. I've seen lots of these and I'm impressed that the full articulation can be reached without the drive shafts binding.

[MetalMan]

The driveshaft angles don't really change much when the crawler articulates. But even if they changed more than they do, it wouldn't be an issue since they're slider shafts.

Thanks for the comments!

[MTBikerTim]

I suppose they wouldn't change too much would they. That is really a sweet looking chassis metal man. I'm surprised you haven't made it 4 wheel steer.

[MetalMan]

Some day it would be nice if I could enter this crawler into a competition, so I tried to build it around those rules. Unfortunately rear steer isn't legal, but I'd have a hell of a time mounting another servo. This chassis really makes it difficult to mount everything!

nice work metalman. you got skillz.