Working Towards Rear Steering

Well I began looking into this a couple weeks ago. I started by bidding on a few auctions and loosing, then finally I won one. I picked up a Traxxas TQ3 (3 channel radio and receiver with a yellow crystal). So while I waited for delivery I looked into the different mods that others have done to make it suit the rear steering needs of a crawler. So today the delivery arrived and I got to work. I decided to experiment with some other rc parts laying around my workbench. So I took apart my custom ridez pistol grip controller. I removed the steering mechanism and figured it was totally possible to fit that into the old red toggle switch on the TQ3. After an evening of fitting and soldering and testing. I think I have it set. Here are the pics. (oh ya i mounted a tire from the custom ridez as well).


So it can be used by your left hand thumb while driving, or by switching your right hand from steering the front wheels to the back. So far I have not worried about self centering, so it will actually hold the steering until I move it back. I will post my results when I get a servo mount and steering arms fabricated for the rear axle. Man this is getting more and more fun. Gotta love custom.

More upgrades tested at the Lake!

So since my last post, I've had a birthday and was blessed with great upgrades. I got some great narrow bead lock wheels that really add great flexibility and no more gluing!!! The rubber is the supper soft rock lizzard tires, they hug rock perfectly, I still have to fine tune the foam, its stock right now but it makes the tires a bit stiff, so I think I try cutting them, and test a few options, even testing no foams to see what works. The last upgrade at this stage has been stock HPI Savage shocks. When I first installed them they made the ride hight really high and awkward. So a suggestion from my friend Danny was to use the Savage shocks with black wheely king springs. This has worked extremely well, I get decent ride hight, and then amazing ground clearance when the wheels drop. It turned out to act like a droop setup. Enough talking here are some pics:

Danny's 4x4 scaler, Blazer body on lengthened wheely king chassis. Nice Work!

Finally Tested!

Well I got a chance to go out on some real natural terrain and put my newly built crawler to the true test and i was pleasantly surprised. Sure there are a few areas that need attention, primarily the tires, I think narrower and softer rubber and heavier beadlock rims would be perfect. But the articulation, ground clearance and center of gravity, were all where I had hoped. Here are a couple pic with the body on, (I need to trim that a bit too for the articulation).

The Crawler Build Cont'd...

So I've continued on my way to my full custom Wheely King Crawler and it is taking shape, I put the wheels on and tested out articulation and ground clearance, I am very pleased with the results take a look.....well the pics aren't posting right now, I'll try tomorrow.... :)

Starting the Build!

So after drilling and filling the last of holes on the chassis, I was able to start the build, it is very exciting. Unfortunately I only had enough nuts and bolts to do half of the truck. I'll have to swing by Eliminator and pick up some 3mm nylon locking nuts. Anyway, i've thrown in a few pictures. This is just a couple angles of the completed rear of the wheely king!

Stampede!!!

Well I got my package delivered from my ebay purchase, it came all as described, the titan 12 turn 550 stock motor is pretty much done. But a friend recommended to try my raven 17 turn v2 from my tc3 touring car. Man that motor made it rip through the parking lot. I can see tons of fun with this car, and the charger is awesome, fast and tons of options.

The crawler on the other hand is still a work in progress, but it is starting to take shape. I hope to post pics soon, to show the progress. I've hit a few design flaws, so I'll see if it will have the articulation and control that I had wanted. Oh what fun, just need to find time to finish this project.

Carbon Fiber

Well I began work on my chassis plates and motor mount for the wheely king crawler. I am really beginning to appreciate the carbon fiber parts I've seen available, this stuff is not easy to work with. I kind of happy it is so difficult to work with because in a way that suggests how tough carbon fiber really is, so it will be able to handle the abuse it will go through. But all in all things are comming together, I need to file down the cuttouts on the chassis and mark and drill holes for the braces and all the mounting holes. So by the time I have it ready my new 30 degree bend lower links should have arrived. There is nothing really to take a picture of lately, it is in a million pieces at the moment. Snow is melting outside and I can't wait to have this rock king up and running and putting to the real test out at the lake.

Also just a side note, thanks to my amazing wife for my new banner, she did a really great job!

My first eBay win!

Well I've just won my first eBay item. I have purchased items using "buy it now" which is a lot easier and it takes all the guess work out of it. But for the last couple of days I've had the top bid on a Traxxas Stampede package. The bidding closed this afternoon, and I almost lost it in the final minutes, but I bumped up my bid and I secured it. I still feel like I got a great deal. So now I will have a slightly used Stampede to run all summer, it comes with 3 batteries (1 7 cell and 2 6 cell) and a very good quality charger.

So I think I now how my complete inventory, I can honestly say I am not "wishing" to own any other rc. I am going to focus on custom making chassis and other parts from carbon fibre, to strengthen and ligthen parts.

I'm still thinking I might sell my XTM Mammoth St. I just am not as fond of the nitro as electric. I used to be the other way around until I got a bunch of batteries, now I like the quiet of running electric.

I'll let you know when the Stampede arrives, and I'll put up picks soon of my crawler king progress, its getting exciting!

Custom Custom Custom!

So I am continuing my custom work on my wheely king, and it is getting further and further from stock. I've done my first irreversible change, and changed the setup of the transmission and motor mount. I used a cuttoff wheel to shave off some mounting brackets, in order to rotate the motor 90 degrees. I've made a template out of cardboard, it seems to work well, the "footprint" is much narrower and the center of gravity will be perfect. I'm now looking at getting my lower aluminum links bent with a 30 degree bend to help with ground clearance. I am having so much work experimenting and building this crawler, It is a long way from where I began.

On another note, I'm trying to find deals on ebay for a used Traxxas Stampede XL-5 for hopefully a great deal, so that I can have some birthday money left over for possibly more crawler mods. I know what your thinking, my birthday is not for another 1.5 months but for Nat and I we usually can't wait, "thats just how we ro''. ........"yeah!"......haha

Crawler King!!

Work is progressing on the HPI Wheely King Crawler custom chassis. I am playing with chassis layouts using SteelTec (Mechano clone) It has served very useful. I feel I have the geometry very close to where it needs to be, maybe just a few more tweaks then I'll dive into carbon fibre. I'll post pics soon, the articulation is unbelievable right now, the trick seems to be the balance between articulation, center of gravity, and ground clearance.

Monday Nights

Every Monday night i get together with a group of guys at Church of the Rock in Winnipeg. We meet in the lobby of the church, setup the track felt, and get drifting!

I've focused all winter on electric rc's, to tell you the truth I've lost a bit of excitement for the gas powered. But I think its just due to the long winter. So I've taken out my Mammoth St and started pulling it apart, my goal is to shine it up and get it primed and ready for spring. I'm sure once i get a fresh tank of fuel in it i'll love it again.