Converting Raze to a Sand Buggy
 

So I picked up a duratrax raze for zilch and ran it to its death. Rod blew after 380 degrees or so of running it leaner and leaner :diablo: So now it will join the rest of my RC's and go electric.

I have read through a lot of the posts here and thought this would be something I could contribute.

Right now I have the chassis set up and finished the diffs and springs with fresh fluids... I might redo the center with diff locking putty. Mocked up the servo mount, and awaiting the motor mount and battery tray from here.

Pics are missing the wing but I was dying it black it will be added shortly.

I am also thinking of de-anodizing the aluminum parts and drilling/cutting a lot of the chassis out to let sand pass through.

I will also have to give a shout out to my local hobby shop CKRC Crawlers whom happened to have a rare set of Proline Slingshots just chilling out on their shelves. Odd but hell benefited this build perfectly. Actually the build is mostly due to those new shoes.
http://img01.imagefra.me/img/img01/1...em_bafb68f.jpg
http://img37.imagefra.me/img/img37/1...gm_7df8262.jpg

That's looking great. Will you be locking the CD to keep the unloading down?

looks like it will be alot of fun, im sure you will find sand in places you never knew the buggy had

After I filled the center with 100000 weight I thought back to myself and realized that my Caster unloads a lot up top. I want to lock it but still like the idea of having some give. I think I will try it out and see where to go from there.

You are sure lucky finding those tires...almost impossible to find these days.

Your buggy will rip in the sand w/those tires...fun to watch the rooster tails!

Every once and a while a pair will come up on eBay, Rctech.com, or RCuniverse.com I was pretty surprised that CKRC had them just sitting there on their shelf. I had to... They also have a set of 40 series paddles available still, those are no longer in production as well.

My center mount and battery tray have shipped, since tomorrow and Friday the post is closed, I should have some updated pictures by Saturday.

No word to when the new XeRun ESC's will be shipped from Kershaw Designs, but once I get that bad boy in I'll be sure to get another update.

I also have to figure whether or not I want to custom a cage or go with a body. If I go with a body I think I am going to go with something along the lines of Egyptian Hieroglyphs.

Got my parts in the mail today, so enjoy the update. I think I have decided to go with a custom cage. This weekend I will go to the craft store and pick up some balsa wood and wood glue to mock up a cage. My father owns a welder so I will eventually have him do all the welding. I will finish making sand drain holes when I get the ESC. Overall she looks pretty sound, I can't wait for her maiden voyage.
http://img38.imagefra.me/img/img38/1...em_953af23.jpg
http://img38.imagefra.me/img/img38/1...7m_a3f2100.jpg
http://img37.imagefra.me/img/img37/1...fm_09968d1.jpg
http://img38.imagefra.me/img/img38/1...8m_894a2a0.jpg

Nice...look forward to seeing it all complete

A little update.

I water proofed the servo, figured sand and snow have little in common, as well as mocked up a roll cage. Simple, but it will work.

http://img01.imagefra.me/img/img01/1...1m_9e89f61.jpg
http://img39.imagefra.me/img/img39/1...ym_a4187e7.jpg

looks good. any chance that sand vent holes could turn into sand entry holes though?

Funny you should mention this...was thinking the same thing

Looks great so far !
Suggestion, You might want to make a gaurd to attach to the rear arms to protect the rear shocks from sandblasting ?

I like where your going, but I am not too overwhelmingly concerned about the survival about the buggy, so the minor details might get left out with this one.

As for the holes as sand entry, well I thought about that briefly then decided that without a body and mudguards never mind a roll cage this thing WILL have sand everywhere, which ultimately is the goal.

Thanks for all the replies.

Almost finished building the roll cage. Turns out my fathers MIG welder isn't too good with smaller welds so I went another route. Pics up soon, I am going to plastic dip what I built to prevent rust. Looks pretty good as far, little flex and protects what I want protected in case of a roll over.

Pics of the finished cage, I also made a chassis support for the center diff mount.
http://img39.imagefra.me/img/img39/2...9m_b54c63f.jpg
http://img40.imagefra.me/img/img40/2...2m_010fd62.jpg

SO I finished it the other day, ran like a bat out of hell. I have some bald tires I use for concrete, turns out this thing has a little too much power, or the Raze was cheap for a reason... Like I said above I am not too worried about the life of this buggy so... Live and learn. I already ordered the upgraded steel helical diff rings and pinions for this and the rear diff, figured I would do both since this will most likely just reoccur in the rear next time I fire her up. Pretty fun though, geared pretty lightly and she screams on a straight with 4s. I like the set up, runs cool, and I haven't even added the motor heatsink/fan that was included yet.

Pics:
http://img01.imagefra.me/img/img01/2...2m_b54c290.jpg
http://img40.imagefra.me/img/img40/2...3m_72c3d0b.jpg

And the shredded diff and pinion:
http://img39.imagefra.me/img/img39/2...7m_47f569f.jpg
http://img02.imagefra.me/img/img02/2...8m_68a7c44.jpg

Good carnage ! Same thing happend to me after I bought a used mbx-5T. Forgot to check the diffs for propper shimming...shame on me..stock diffs were fine for nitro, but then I go ahead and add a 5s 2200kv ccneu powerplant and they stood no chance.

is that sand or metal shavings in the diff cases??? you might want to pick up some RTV and seal those up as well

I thought I had it shimmed pretty well but apparently something still gave.

Those are definitely metal shavings. Haven't been in any sand yet. All the grease you see is marine grease. I placed it around the bearings and diff ring/pinion to prevent sand and water entering.

I heard somewhere that these rings might be cast aluminum they seem pretty hard though but that might have been part of the problem.

I have also read that the Duratrax Raze is almost a clone of the Ofna hyper 7 so perhaps I have access to some stronger parts with the Ofna line if needed.

Your were probably reading my thread. :)

the raze diffs are pot metal- go with the hyper 7 gears and you wont have to worry about it.

:)

-Ben

I went with this:
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXMKJ5&P=7
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXMKJ4&P=7

Do you still have that outrunner raze?

Finished her this morning and spent a full charge on it with out a single problem. Was a bit wet outside so it made it fun for lots of drifting on the bald tires. Next up, sand!
http://img37.imagefra.me/img/img37/2...8m_28f1863.jpg

Thats cool! My son runs a converted raze with RC Monster motor mount, homemade battery tray. Hes 6 years old. Hes running the 1900kv Hobby City motor on 3s on my backyard track.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...C/IMG_8985.jpg

LOL I need an updated picture because I now have a traxxas slash radio box glued down instead of the rubber dart.

He hasnt blown up any diffs yet but when he does, Ill go with hyper 7 gears.. Thanks for that info! Nice build and keep us updated on how it does in the sand.

Looks good. I like the set up, more room with the battery up front for the ESC. I thought about that for a while but ended up sticking with my origonal set up. It is also nice to see that there are others out there with converted Razes. They were pretty popular for the price.

I imagine that you won't be needing to replace the diff ring any time soon only running 3s. 3s is probably the right speed for your little boy though anyway so more power to you.

Got any pictures of it with the body on?

I got one of those mini cams from HobbyPartz.com and took some video of the maiden sand voyage. Hope you like the buggy going back and forth otherwise don't bother watching...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IH8qcTQohS4