My new crawler!

[What's_nitro?]

Maybe it's "HOT" merchandise???

[TDC57]

I've been burned TWICE!!! this year! I wouldn’t do it unless it's through PayPal!..

My two cents..

[What's_nitro?]

Hey- You'll never guess what came in the mail yesterday...

I'll give you a hint: I was up until 3:00 AM building it!!! (I started at 11:00 PM)

Check it out! http://s52.photobucket.com/albums/g4...view=slideshow

[What's_nitro?]

A couple points:

->It came with the bent links, a nice surprise.

->The articulation pictured is about an inch less than maximum.

->I "discovered" that new chassis layout when I took the screws out of the top plate and it swung down! The SWs will go at either end, the battery goes in the center, and the Rx goes somewhere else... Probably on the side of the chassis plate. I'll have to make a little cage for it...

[lucias]

Nice!!! Keep us posted with some more pictures once you get the electronics in.. I am still planning on ordering one when they come back in stock.

[What's_nitro?]

I will. I need to pick up a couple 45T motors (or whichever are closest to 1000kV) and the 3s battery pack.

What capacity should I look for? How many watts does a "typical" crawler setup use? Would this pack be sufficient? http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXVKS9&P=7

[What's_nitro?]

I think I'm going to run NiMH with this one... I just came up with another layout that I think is PERFECT!

My camera is dead right now, so no pics until tomorrow night (work AM). I hate to leave you in suspense, but believe me it is worth the wait.

[lucias]

Let me see.. let me see..

[What's_nitro?]

Here you go!

New chassis plate position:

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g4...g/DSC00261.jpg

Everything fits so nicely with this setup. With the plates the way they are, they serve as a full-length skid plate as well.

Battery pack on-board:

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g4...g/DSC00260.jpg

The pack is going to be an 8 cell NiMH (those cells are mock-up only) in an offset 5x3 configuration.

Modified Futaba radio:

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g4...g/DSC00264.jpg

Modified, in that I turned the right stick 90* CW. I had to extend a couple wires and do a bit of dremeling inside. All is well and I can switch it back without issue if need be. The 6EXA has some nice wing mixing programs built in. I plan on trying to set this up so that I can have front OR rear dig- while moving forward OR backward- all just by moving the stick. The SWs go on separate channels. Vertical travel controls F/R throttle. Horizontal travel controls proportionality of throttle to the F/R motors. Also, only moving the stick horizontally makes the F/R wheels spin opposite, so I should be able to crab-walk too! Now I just need that 4WS upgrade!

SO if the stick is moved into the:

Top- Forward on both F/R.
Bottom- Reverse on both F/R.
Top/Right- Forward w/variable rear dig.
Top/Left- Forward w/variable front dig.
Bottom/Right- Reverse w/VRD.
Bottom/Left- Reverse w/VFD.

Cool, huh? I hope it works! I plan to use a Futaba S9156 for the steering servo.

[TDC57]

Wow she's a thing of beauty!..

It will be shame for you to go through the agony of scrapping it up for the first time so you better send her my way for a week or two! , I'll send it back nice and broken in..

[What's_nitro?]

Thank you, sir! Hahaha, I can handle breakin' 'er in. It'll be on a big wood pile, so scratching will be kept to a minimum for now. 'Probably gonna be a few weeks until I've got all of the parts anyways.

[johnrobholmes]

I would recommend hanging a lot more stuff on your axles. You are gonna have some hella lean when you get on side slopes.

[What's_nitro?]

Hmm. I'll see what I can do. Maybe a 4s2p NiMH pack??? () With one pack per axle to evenly distribute weight. I know it makes sense based on physics, but I think it makes the truck look like crud when people put battery straps around the axles.

[johnrobholmes]

Look like crud or crawl like crud, your choice

[What's_nitro?]

Good point!!