HB Sedonas have replaced the earlier HPI Rock Grabbers, which got fitted to the Axial. The first prototype gearbox mount is in there, as is a stock AX10 frame, although this will get replaced with one of my own design.
Monday, 18 November 2013
Clod crawler project resurrected!
After quite a considerable delay, box project two is now underway again.
HB Sedonas have replaced the earlier HPI Rock Grabbers, which got fitted to the Axial. The first prototype gearbox mount is in there, as is a stock AX10 frame, although this will get replaced with one of my own design.
HB Sedonas have replaced the earlier HPI Rock Grabbers, which got fitted to the Axial. The first prototype gearbox mount is in there, as is a stock AX10 frame, although this will get replaced with one of my own design.
Thursday, 14 November 2013
Prototype Clod gearbox mount
I got the first Clod gearbox mounting assembly completed today:
This is only the first prototype - it's still not quite right, but it will serve for testing purposes. I've placed a fuller write-up on the build thread about it at ClodTalk.
This is only the first prototype - it's still not quite right, but it will serve for testing purposes. I've placed a fuller write-up on the build thread about it at ClodTalk.
Sunday, 10 November 2013
A Trike for Mark!
This was a very simple construction I put together yesterday combining a toy-grade New Bright truck chassis with some 'Knex'. It does have a serious purpose though, a friend of mine called Mark is in the process of having a full-scale trike, based on a Yamaha XJ900, converted to suit his physical needs. One of his bigger problems is going to be how to safely get on and off the thing, bearing in mind the fact that he is a full-time wheelchair user. The whole idea of building this RC model is to test the idea of creating a combined wheelchair lift and rack on the back of the trike. Call it a bit of 'brains-storming' if you want.
This model isn't exactly a proportional representation of the real thing - it's only intended to be a conceptual test-piece. In particular the top deck of the Yamaha trike is a lot shorter than demonstrated here. The idea of the fold down pillion passenger back rest is important, so that Mark can easily cross from the back of the vehicle to his own seat. The construction and form of the ramp is still being thought about, it could remain flat at all times, could fold up (which would mean the wheelchair would have to be mounted elsewhere), or it could fold at half its length, which would allow for a folded chair to be stowed sideways in the remaining gap. Different mechanisms have been suggested to enable the ramp to be raised and lowered, these include electrical, hydraulic and mechanical, this last one probably by adapting a top-handle sideways-folding car-jack.
Just for comparison, here is a picture of the real-life trike as it stands today:
I've stared a new blog about its construction here, where you will be able to read all about it as progress is made. I now have two winter projects on the go!
This model isn't exactly a proportional representation of the real thing - it's only intended to be a conceptual test-piece. In particular the top deck of the Yamaha trike is a lot shorter than demonstrated here. The idea of the fold down pillion passenger back rest is important, so that Mark can easily cross from the back of the vehicle to his own seat. The construction and form of the ramp is still being thought about, it could remain flat at all times, could fold up (which would mean the wheelchair would have to be mounted elsewhere), or it could fold at half its length, which would allow for a folded chair to be stowed sideways in the remaining gap. Different mechanisms have been suggested to enable the ramp to be raised and lowered, these include electrical, hydraulic and mechanical, this last one probably by adapting a top-handle sideways-folding car-jack.
Just for comparison, here is a picture of the real-life trike as it stands today:
I've stared a new blog about its construction here, where you will be able to read all about it as progress is made. I now have two winter projects on the go!
Sunday, 3 November 2013
ClodTalk
I've now taken up membership at the US ClodTalk forum - mainly to get a better understanding of the various modifications other folk have carries out on their own Clodbuster (and derivative) trucks. In particular I've been looking at the various steering adaptions that have been made, particularly with servo mounting and rod arrangements. My own Clod gearbox mounting 'creation' is underway again, and I intend to continue with this as a winter project.
At the suggestion of one of the administrators there, I've opened a couple of threads documenting the build of the 'Zilla and the Arachnid, which in part duplicate that which has already been posted here. Over there I've referred to them as the Z4 and the A1, and I've also opened another thread to cover the current work on the gearbox mount.
The threads are here:
Andy's Z4 build
Andy's A1 build
Has anyone tried this before?
This last thread brings the construction of the mount up to date, I'll write a longer post about it here as soon as I have a complete assembly assembled!
At the suggestion of one of the administrators there, I've opened a couple of threads documenting the build of the 'Zilla and the Arachnid, which in part duplicate that which has already been posted here. Over there I've referred to them as the Z4 and the A1, and I've also opened another thread to cover the current work on the gearbox mount.
The threads are here:
Andy's Z4 build
Andy's A1 build
Has anyone tried this before?
This last thread brings the construction of the mount up to date, I'll write a longer post about it here as soon as I have a complete assembly assembled!
Sunday, 13 October 2013
A year went by...
It's exactly a year since I last posted here. Apart from a few local trips out with one or other of my trucks and crawlers, very little has happened in my RC world. In the real and very much wider world our family life was ripped apart by the loss of my partner Heather, who very sadly and suddenly died of a brain haemorrhage back in February. It has been a truly heartbreaking time for all concerned. She had five children, three older boys from her first marriage, and Sean and Kala from her second. These two have gone to live with their natural father and his own third wife, and have moved away to another town some 40 miles from where I am now writing from. He and I never really got on, and he wants the younger kids to have nothing further to do with me, and strongly exerts his influence to make sure that we have no contact.
Back to RC, I still have my existing projects boxed away. I suppose it is now time to get it all out and work out what I am going to next with it all. I have spare Clodbuster gearboxes, an assortment of various useful bits and pieces, and the old (previously mentioned) 1/6 Hummer body.
The Arachnid now has bigger and better wheels, although it hasn't been out with them fitted as yet. The Axial has gained a bit more weight since the last time I wrote about it, and now has a new 3Racing aluminium upper link bearing mount on its front gearbox, being as the original plastic one wore itself away. The Zilla still runs fine, although it has now consumed yet another MG995 front servo. Cheap and cheerful as they are, and also due to the fact that it is just the upper case that fails making it easy to replace, I suppose I will just have to order another couple of the buggers.
Back to RC, I still have my existing projects boxed away. I suppose it is now time to get it all out and work out what I am going to next with it all. I have spare Clodbuster gearboxes, an assortment of various useful bits and pieces, and the old (previously mentioned) 1/6 Hummer body.
The Arachnid now has bigger and better wheels, although it hasn't been out with them fitted as yet. The Axial has gained a bit more weight since the last time I wrote about it, and now has a new 3Racing aluminium upper link bearing mount on its front gearbox, being as the original plastic one wore itself away. The Zilla still runs fine, although it has now consumed yet another MG995 front servo. Cheap and cheerful as they are, and also due to the fact that it is just the upper case that fails making it easy to replace, I suppose I will just have to order another couple of the buggers.
Saturday, 13 October 2012
Playing with the Axial
I had a quick trip out with the AX10 today, being as this has been the first day it hasn't been wet and rainy for about a week now.
Latest mods are the side panels, bonnet and roof, made from a cut-up paper folder and the lid of a tupperware container. Overall cost - less than a quid. I've got my HPI Rock Grabber tyres and black coloured Rock-8 wheels fitted now, these were really intended for the current Clod project (see below) but never mind, needs must. I've used the old Axial aluminium beadlock rings on the outside of the wheels just for effect, and have used the much heavier stainless steel HPI ones on the insides. The ESC is now a Nosram Tomahawk Reverse, this has a much better instant reverse function when compared with the previous Mtronics RV-20 Sniper, so I'm experiencing a lot less rolling over backwards when I overdo the steep uphill bits.
Other mods? A section of old silver watch chain wrapped around the front axle, this gives me about an extra ounce and a half of weight on the front end, this helps the front wheel traction slightly when the whole thing is pointing up at the sky. And I'm also now using a Futaba T3-PDF transmitter. This gives me switchable rear wheel steering, rather than the mixed setup of the old (actually newer type) 3PM-FM. I've now got mixed feelings rather than mixed steering, I've lost the proportionality of the original TX but I've gained the addition of pure RWS when I need it, and besides which it is far less clunky when going from 2WS to 4WS.
Currently on order (coming from the USA) is a new STCR aluminium motor mount/skid plate. This will allow me to move the lower links inboard of the chassis side plates, I don't actually need any extra articulation due to the tyre/cage clearance, but this will allow for less side hangups which occur surprisingly often. The link screws and the matching rod ends now bear considerable witness to the fact that this happens as much as it does!
Latest mods are the side panels, bonnet and roof, made from a cut-up paper folder and the lid of a tupperware container. Overall cost - less than a quid. I've got my HPI Rock Grabber tyres and black coloured Rock-8 wheels fitted now, these were really intended for the current Clod project (see below) but never mind, needs must. I've used the old Axial aluminium beadlock rings on the outside of the wheels just for effect, and have used the much heavier stainless steel HPI ones on the insides. The ESC is now a Nosram Tomahawk Reverse, this has a much better instant reverse function when compared with the previous Mtronics RV-20 Sniper, so I'm experiencing a lot less rolling over backwards when I overdo the steep uphill bits.
Other mods? A section of old silver watch chain wrapped around the front axle, this gives me about an extra ounce and a half of weight on the front end, this helps the front wheel traction slightly when the whole thing is pointing up at the sky. And I'm also now using a Futaba T3-PDF transmitter. This gives me switchable rear wheel steering, rather than the mixed setup of the old (actually newer type) 3PM-FM. I've now got mixed feelings rather than mixed steering, I've lost the proportionality of the original TX but I've gained the addition of pure RWS when I need it, and besides which it is far less clunky when going from 2WS to 4WS.
Currently on order (coming from the USA) is a new STCR aluminium motor mount/skid plate. This will allow me to move the lower links inboard of the chassis side plates, I don't actually need any extra articulation due to the tyre/cage clearance, but this will allow for less side hangups which occur surprisingly often. The link screws and the matching rod ends now bear considerable witness to the fact that this happens as much as it does!
Sunday, 26 August 2012
Not much movement!
I haven't got any further with the plates - I've not had much spare time lately mainly due to to the Kala and Sean being on school holidays and I've otherwise being playing with the Axial. I've been thinking a lot about chassis design - do I really want to do something a bit different or try something more original this time? I'm still not sure which way to go.
Anyway, in the meantime I've been collecting all the basic electricals I'm going to need to at least get this project properly running, these include:
A pair of S/H Gmade 60 turn motors, complete with 9t pinions and adjustable motor mounts @ £35 + £4.50 P+P
A new cheap chinese 300A dual motor output crawler ESC @ £15.00 inc postage (came with a free mini torch keyring!)
A S/H Futaba T3PDF 3-channel transmitter and receiver set, complete with rechargeable battery pack @ £16.50 + £7.50 P+P
I'm going to need a pair of servos next, probably cheap MG995/996Rs, and I still need to get the rest of the alloy axle parts from the US.
Total spent so far is about £140 - some of this was initially as spares for the 'Zilla - and since buying the Wheely King kit mainly for the tyres and beadlocks for this project as well as for the gearbox for the black TL crawler truck I've sold on the rest of it in three lots, differential lockers, 17mm wheel adaptors and wheelbase extension kit which has pulled back (£2.99 + £1.99 + £11.99) £16.97, which is getting on towards half of the initial £38 purchase cost.
Anyway, in the meantime I've been collecting all the basic electricals I'm going to need to at least get this project properly running, these include:
A pair of S/H Gmade 60 turn motors, complete with 9t pinions and adjustable motor mounts @ £35 + £4.50 P+P
A new cheap chinese 300A dual motor output crawler ESC @ £15.00 inc postage (came with a free mini torch keyring!)
A S/H Futaba T3PDF 3-channel transmitter and receiver set, complete with rechargeable battery pack @ £16.50 + £7.50 P+P
I'm going to need a pair of servos next, probably cheap MG995/996Rs, and I still need to get the rest of the alloy axle parts from the US.
Total spent so far is about £140 - some of this was initially as spares for the 'Zilla - and since buying the Wheely King kit mainly for the tyres and beadlocks for this project as well as for the gearbox for the black TL crawler truck I've sold on the rest of it in three lots, differential lockers, 17mm wheel adaptors and wheelbase extension kit which has pulled back (£2.99 + £1.99 + £11.99) £16.97, which is getting on towards half of the initial £38 purchase cost.
Wednesday, 4 July 2012
Clod twin vertical axle/gearbox plates
These took a fair bit of thinking about and some very careful drilling and filing to produce - here we have the first stage of my twin verticle plate axle/gearbox mounts for my second Clodbuster-based crawler project.
They were cut out of a length of 1/8" wall 2" x 1" aluminium rectangular box section. I've drilled the mounting holes for the axle tube screws, and now have to either drill or hand cut the centre holes for the axle tube spigots. This size is bigger than the capacity of my pillar drill (and I don't otherwise have a drill bit of this size) so I would need outside help if I choose to drill them.
The right hand plate has been slotted and also recessed at one point to accomodate the moulded ribs on this side of the gearbox assenbly, and has been carefully hand-trimmed to fit the counter-gear area of the box. There's enough clearance to allow for a couple of coats of paint if I later decide to do the whole thing in black, which is my usual style of finishing things.
The original diagonal strut mounting positions have been reproduced through the plates for added anti-rotation security, and there is a bit of trimming still to do in order to allow the original gearbox half clamping hardware to be accessable, or else the tube mounting hardware will have to be modded to allow for assembly of the tubes after the two gearbox halves have been completely assembled. I'm not sure which is the best way to go with this as yet - I've still got to consider servo mounting and this may affect matters.
The tops of the plates are probably higher than they will end up, but this will depend on my eventual choice of centre-chassis design. The lower front corners will later be radiused, although I intend to fit a 'ramming bar' here to prevent damage to the plastic gearbox itself.
More work to do as time allows...
They were cut out of a length of 1/8" wall 2" x 1" aluminium rectangular box section. I've drilled the mounting holes for the axle tube screws, and now have to either drill or hand cut the centre holes for the axle tube spigots. This size is bigger than the capacity of my pillar drill (and I don't otherwise have a drill bit of this size) so I would need outside help if I choose to drill them.
The right hand plate has been slotted and also recessed at one point to accomodate the moulded ribs on this side of the gearbox assenbly, and has been carefully hand-trimmed to fit the counter-gear area of the box. There's enough clearance to allow for a couple of coats of paint if I later decide to do the whole thing in black, which is my usual style of finishing things.
The original diagonal strut mounting positions have been reproduced through the plates for added anti-rotation security, and there is a bit of trimming still to do in order to allow the original gearbox half clamping hardware to be accessable, or else the tube mounting hardware will have to be modded to allow for assembly of the tubes after the two gearbox halves have been completely assembled. I'm not sure which is the best way to go with this as yet - I've still got to consider servo mounting and this may affect matters.
The tops of the plates are probably higher than they will end up, but this will depend on my eventual choice of centre-chassis design. The lower front corners will later be radiused, although I intend to fit a 'ramming bar' here to prevent damage to the plastic gearbox itself.
More work to do as time allows...
Monday, 7 May 2012
Second thoughts...
...on using a twin vertical plate (TVP) method for mounting the Clodbuster gearboxes onto the chassis:
The two plates would stand about 50 mm apart and be equidistant from the centreline of the truck. The left-hand one as demonstrated here will also act as the inner servo mount. I haven't trimmed the top bit yet as there is a wide range of choice when it comes to determining optimal shock and link positioning, the best locations won't become apparent until the whole build is further advanced.
The lower edges of the plates will act both as skids and as protection plates for the gearbox casings, and also mount a lower heavy-duty crossmember to act as a primary bumper, which may itself incorporate some kind of skidplate.
As made in cardboard here, the plate has had a hole cut in it to match the outer diameter of the inner end of the axle housing. Another option would be to actually sandwich the plate between the gearbox assembly and the housing. This would necessitate widening the differential to ensure drive is fully maintained, but would also widen the truck by the corresponding amount. (I intended the final width of the truck to be 12.5 inches in keeping with 2.2 class competition regulations, it is this size already, so doing this would require further modification beyond what I already envisage if I wish to maintain this standard.)
I'm now awaiting delivery of the first pair of aftermarket aluminium (Hot Racing) axle tubes, which are coming from the USA. I have material to make the plates from, but will need the new parts to determine exact dimensions prior to engaging in actual production.
The two plates would stand about 50 mm apart and be equidistant from the centreline of the truck. The left-hand one as demonstrated here will also act as the inner servo mount. I haven't trimmed the top bit yet as there is a wide range of choice when it comes to determining optimal shock and link positioning, the best locations won't become apparent until the whole build is further advanced.
The lower edges of the plates will act both as skids and as protection plates for the gearbox casings, and also mount a lower heavy-duty crossmember to act as a primary bumper, which may itself incorporate some kind of skidplate.
As made in cardboard here, the plate has had a hole cut in it to match the outer diameter of the inner end of the axle housing. Another option would be to actually sandwich the plate between the gearbox assembly and the housing. This would necessitate widening the differential to ensure drive is fully maintained, but would also widen the truck by the corresponding amount. (I intended the final width of the truck to be 12.5 inches in keeping with 2.2 class competition regulations, it is this size already, so doing this would require further modification beyond what I already envisage if I wish to maintain this standard.)
I'm now awaiting delivery of the first pair of aftermarket aluminium (Hot Racing) axle tubes, which are coming from the USA. I have material to make the plates from, but will need the new parts to determine exact dimensions prior to engaging in actual production.
Tuesday, 24 April 2012
First thoughts...
...on servo locations. Having looked at practically everyone else's take on this matter, and taking behind-the-axle steering into consideration, I've figured that this is probably the best place to put them. As you see it here the servo is balanced on an allen key and a plastic servo plate, supported by an out-of-sight body post. I really want it lower, I can't do this with out either cutting plastic (which is a waste of potential 'Zilla spares) or using the aluminium axle tubes which I haven't ordered yet. Oh well. Next...
... and on a chassis design:
Just a bit of scribbling really, but something like this might work. Is that cereal packet empty yet?
... and on a chassis design:
Just a bit of scribbling really, but something like this might work. Is that cereal packet empty yet?
Tuesday, 17 April 2012
Box Project Two
The produce box that previously held the parts for the Black TL01 build is seeing some more use and now contains the start of another project:
Since I built the 'Zilla I've been occasionally buying a few spares for it as and when they came up cheaply on t'bay. I've now collected (just about) enough parts to build another pair of Clodbuster axles. First thoughts were to build them up stronger and with better steering and then fit them to the Z, but then again it is what it is already and I also fancied building a 2.2-class sized crawler (albeit with 4WS) with a width and wheelbase of 12.5 inches.
This will have to be another budget build, and I'm going to be careful with money. It was to this end that I originally bought the heavily-discounted HPI Wheely King Crawler conversion set, obviously for the beadlock Rock-8 wheels and the large diameter Rock Grabber 2.2 tyres it contained, amongst the other pretty things also found within.
Having already used the gearbox in the TL, some of the body mounts on something else and with the other unwanted bits back on the dock of t'bay this set of round things should end up costing me the worth of about £20. So far I've stuck four ounces of lead (which is all that I had left after putting some inside the TL's tyres) in each of the wheels and have now painted the (nice and heavy) beadlock rings matt black.
The (new but s/h) Losi Competition Crawler (LCC) shell came with its masks and stickers from a guy named Carl who frequents the UKRCRC (United Kingdom Radio Controlled Rock Crawler) website forum for a tenner posted, all I can say is thank you very much!
Also to this ultimate fiscal end the Z and this one (name???) will have to share my Novak Rooster Crawler speed controller, and probably the Z's batteries too. An initial thought is to modularize these components for easier swapability in the future.
One of the axle tubes/C-hubs is already broken so I'm going to have to replace this, aluminium ones are a natural choice here for strength whilst being not too expensive, these (at least some varieties) are importable from the USA in pairs without attracting any customs duty.
Beyond that I'm not quite sure how I'm going to go about the chassis construction.
Brain-storms ahead!
Watch this web-space...
Since I built the 'Zilla I've been occasionally buying a few spares for it as and when they came up cheaply on t'bay. I've now collected (just about) enough parts to build another pair of Clodbuster axles. First thoughts were to build them up stronger and with better steering and then fit them to the Z, but then again it is what it is already and I also fancied building a 2.2-class sized crawler (albeit with 4WS) with a width and wheelbase of 12.5 inches.
This will have to be another budget build, and I'm going to be careful with money. It was to this end that I originally bought the heavily-discounted HPI Wheely King Crawler conversion set, obviously for the beadlock Rock-8 wheels and the large diameter Rock Grabber 2.2 tyres it contained, amongst the other pretty things also found within.
Having already used the gearbox in the TL, some of the body mounts on something else and with the other unwanted bits back on the dock of t'bay this set of round things should end up costing me the worth of about £20. So far I've stuck four ounces of lead (which is all that I had left after putting some inside the TL's tyres) in each of the wheels and have now painted the (nice and heavy) beadlock rings matt black.
The (new but s/h) Losi Competition Crawler (LCC) shell came with its masks and stickers from a guy named Carl who frequents the UKRCRC (United Kingdom Radio Controlled Rock Crawler) website forum for a tenner posted, all I can say is thank you very much!
Also to this ultimate fiscal end the Z and this one (name???) will have to share my Novak Rooster Crawler speed controller, and probably the Z's batteries too. An initial thought is to modularize these components for easier swapability in the future.
One of the axle tubes/C-hubs is already broken so I'm going to have to replace this, aluminium ones are a natural choice here for strength whilst being not too expensive, these (at least some varieties) are importable from the USA in pairs without attracting any customs duty.
Beyond that I'm not quite sure how I'm going to go about the chassis construction.
Brain-storms ahead!
Watch this web-space...
Saturday, 31 March 2012
So you want moving pictures?
The last set of pics were actually 'stills' in more ways than one, the camera automatically generates a single image file each time you begin shooting a video (for easier later identification of the clips in a folder perhaps?), and the Arachnid was waiting for the camerawoman (Heather) to say 'go' each time we started filming one. So nothing was moving in each of the pictures that I've already posted further below.
This next set of images are (IMO) the best individual frames extracted from the (moving) video footage we shot:
This next set of images are (IMO) the best individual frames extracted from the (moving) video footage we shot:
Thursday, 29 March 2012
Tuesday, 27 March 2012
Scorpion Spider gets out!
I had a trip to the rocks at Weston sea-front today with the Scorpion Spider. Actually it isn't exactly that, scorpions are not spiders and spiders aren't scorpions. Both are arachnids though, that's what it'll have to be. Andy's Arachnid.
Friday, 23 March 2012
First Savöx
The winter fuel bills are paid, spring is here, and I finally had enough money to get the first Savöx SC-1256 TG servo for the Spider/Scorpion. That's 'TG' for 'Titanium Geared'. It's rated at 20Kg/cm @ 6.0v, which is somewhat better than the last attempt with 17Kg Power HD HD-1501MGs. These ones have orange centre cases and labels as well, which all fits in very nicely with the overall colour scheme!
I've also put the 'Zilla's wheels and Giant Trac tyres on it, I think the slightly excessive width of the Gmade Ultracs had something to do with the premature failure of all its earlier steering servos, although to be honest the Pro-lines aren't much slimmer. Rumour has it that fitting the Gmades to Maxx-sized offset wheels narrows them by as much as an inch, so maybe that's something to think about later on.
I'm still in two-wheeled steering mode though. I still have one spare HD-1501 here, but I suspect that if I put it on it won't last very long, which is a bit of a waste of a perfectly good servo that will be fine in a less demanding truck. I'm going to try a couple of runs out like this and think about possibly getting a bit of weight into the wheels before I go any further. In the meantime I'll have to save up another £53.99, or even more if I want to go to the heights of something like a Hitec HS-7950TH (35kg @ £100+).
Hopefully I'll get some outdoor photos done very soon!
I've also put the 'Zilla's wheels and Giant Trac tyres on it, I think the slightly excessive width of the Gmade Ultracs had something to do with the premature failure of all its earlier steering servos, although to be honest the Pro-lines aren't much slimmer. Rumour has it that fitting the Gmades to Maxx-sized offset wheels narrows them by as much as an inch, so maybe that's something to think about later on.
I'm still in two-wheeled steering mode though. I still have one spare HD-1501 here, but I suspect that if I put it on it won't last very long, which is a bit of a waste of a perfectly good servo that will be fine in a less demanding truck. I'm going to try a couple of runs out like this and think about possibly getting a bit of weight into the wheels before I go any further. In the meantime I'll have to save up another £53.99, or even more if I want to go to the heights of something like a Hitec HS-7950TH (35kg @ £100+).
Hopefully I'll get some outdoor photos done very soon!
Thursday, 8 March 2012
Up the rock-path!
First test run. Let's see how well it can climb a pile of rocks.
I haven't yet fitted any wheelweights and I didn't trim the foam inserts in the tyres to allow them to flex a bit more. I had intended to use the 35t Integy motor that was bought for Army Truck but when I came to fit it to the new gearbox it turned out that the motor shaft was a bit too long, and consequently it fouled on the countergear. Rather than trim it down, which I feel I might end up regretting being as I do a lot of swapping of parts between trucks, I decided to fit a normal silver can RS540SH motor instead.
I don't think it did too badly. Please excuse the gaps where I fetch the truck from the top each time - there's no room to turn around up there right now and I didn't want to drive it back down the slope because the tyre cleats just get filled up with moist dirt and this then costs me grip going back up the rocks next time around.
Direct link to vid:
http://youtu.be/6rjXPmK3aFA
I haven't yet fitted any wheelweights and I didn't trim the foam inserts in the tyres to allow them to flex a bit more. I had intended to use the 35t Integy motor that was bought for Army Truck but when I came to fit it to the new gearbox it turned out that the motor shaft was a bit too long, and consequently it fouled on the countergear. Rather than trim it down, which I feel I might end up regretting being as I do a lot of swapping of parts between trucks, I decided to fit a normal silver can RS540SH motor instead.
I don't think it did too badly. Please excuse the gaps where I fetch the truck from the top each time - there's no room to turn around up there right now and I didn't want to drive it back down the slope because the tyre cleats just get filled up with moist dirt and this then costs me grip going back up the rocks next time around.
Direct link to vid:
http://youtu.be/6rjXPmK3aFA
Tuesday, 6 March 2012
Introducing TL-01 'Black Truck'
I now have another running (or should I say - crawling) TL-01 truck:
The HPI Wheely King gearbox conversion works fine, although there turned out to be one complication I hadn't foreseen. The mounting holes on the gearbox are not diametrically opposite relative to the output shaft. This means that, as it turns out in practice, the motor shaft is closer to the spur gear by the equivalant of four teeth on the drive pinion.
The effect of this is that with gearbox fitted to the 23 tooth mounting holes on the chassis, the drive meshes perfectly with a 19 tooth pinion fitted to the combined motor and gearbox assembly. This is in fact very good for this particular conversion because it gears the truck down even further.
I did the build with the 'speed tuned' gear set incorporated into the rear gearbox, this combination now gives me very good wheel-speed for the low speed driving that the truck is intended for. This set-up also means that I still have the option of swapping out the speed-tuned set for the standard items if I want to gear it down further again.
The bodyshell comes from a Nikko 'Street Beast' (see picture in sidebar), as found at a car boot sale minus its controller for £1.50. I'm going to need to reinforce the truckbed where the bodyposts come through it because the material is a bit thin here, but otherwise it's a pretty good fit. The wheelbase of the chassis is a bit longer than that of the shell, which possibly spoils the aesthetics slightly, but at least this keeps the whole thing as short as possible to reduce hangups caused by the rear of the body grounding out etc.
I'm also going to need to do something in the front bumper area. The original item locates and retains the 'U' shaped bar which holds the front arms on (on TL-01B Baja's only - narrow track touring car TL-01's have screws here - just like on the back ends of all of them). As it stands the bar is free to completely pull out in a forwards direction if it gets caught up on something whilst driving in reverse. I did though have a pair of Baja chassis end plates kicking about, so these are now mounted on both ends.
(If you haven't come across these bits before (maybe because you've only seen TL-01 cars and they don't have them) they look a bit carbon fibre-ish and they clamp the major chassis/gearbox halves together on the rear of the buggies - they fit the fronts of any TL-01 just the same - if you trawl down the page a bit you can see one in the photo below the one of the cracks - it's lying in the box in front of the chassis.)
The HPI Wheely King gearbox conversion works fine, although there turned out to be one complication I hadn't foreseen. The mounting holes on the gearbox are not diametrically opposite relative to the output shaft. This means that, as it turns out in practice, the motor shaft is closer to the spur gear by the equivalant of four teeth on the drive pinion.
The effect of this is that with gearbox fitted to the 23 tooth mounting holes on the chassis, the drive meshes perfectly with a 19 tooth pinion fitted to the combined motor and gearbox assembly. This is in fact very good for this particular conversion because it gears the truck down even further.
I did the build with the 'speed tuned' gear set incorporated into the rear gearbox, this combination now gives me very good wheel-speed for the low speed driving that the truck is intended for. This set-up also means that I still have the option of swapping out the speed-tuned set for the standard items if I want to gear it down further again.
The bodyshell comes from a Nikko 'Street Beast' (see picture in sidebar), as found at a car boot sale minus its controller for £1.50. I'm going to need to reinforce the truckbed where the bodyposts come through it because the material is a bit thin here, but otherwise it's a pretty good fit. The wheelbase of the chassis is a bit longer than that of the shell, which possibly spoils the aesthetics slightly, but at least this keeps the whole thing as short as possible to reduce hangups caused by the rear of the body grounding out etc.
I'm also going to need to do something in the front bumper area. The original item locates and retains the 'U' shaped bar which holds the front arms on (on TL-01B Baja's only - narrow track touring car TL-01's have screws here - just like on the back ends of all of them). As it stands the bar is free to completely pull out in a forwards direction if it gets caught up on something whilst driving in reverse. I did though have a pair of Baja chassis end plates kicking about, so these are now mounted on both ends.
(If you haven't come across these bits before (maybe because you've only seen TL-01 cars and they don't have them) they look a bit carbon fibre-ish and they clamp the major chassis/gearbox halves together on the rear of the buggies - they fit the fronts of any TL-01 just the same - if you trawl down the page a bit you can see one in the photo below the one of the cracks - it's lying in the box in front of the chassis.)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
