24.02.2003

Finished working on the upper links today. Nice shiny aluminum links with heavy duty Kyosho 6.8 ball-ends on them. The upper links are slightly shorter than the lower ones and give the gearboxes a little tilt to add castor for better steering. I've also taken some pics with the SAVAGE shell again to give some idea of how the truck will look with a shell.

I don't have the right shocks to mount to the links at the moment (need 4" losi shocks) but I did try improvising a setup with the shorter 3" losi shocks from my Tuber Jugg. The results weren't good because there was binding. I may have to look at an alternative way of mounting the shocks to the links - either using a mounting clamp (I don't like this as there is rotational slop) or ordering a set of TTR lower links.

The first two pictures show the rear lockout I have completed. Basically the locked rear diff was giving many problems with steering so I decided to lock it out instead. The lockout "brace" is something I had in my toolbox (I think it was received in a trade) but the heavy duty links are home-made and polished to a nice shine. The third pic shows another picture of the front steering setup.

Things seem to be shaping up nicely now.

To do list: Figure out a way to secure the battery and to mount the shell, decide and execute a shock attachment method, possibly use wheel wideners... then I'm good to go!

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01.03.2003

The original idea for mounting the shocks to the links didn't work because the rodends would bind before allowing too much articulation - while they work well on my Tuber Jugg, these links were thicker causing the problems. I thought of solutions and sketched out several ideas - I picked the one which was most do-able given the tools I had (no mill) and also for best functionality - a link-clamp.

Mounting links on shocks using clamps is tricky because the depending on how you mount the shock, the force applied on the link can cause it to "rotate" and this can cause both slop and inconsistent suspension action.

To minimize this, I basically wanted to mount the shock directly above the link and also to distribute the force applied directly downwards onto it. Some guys use wire-clamps for this purpose and it works, but the clamp - more often than not - applies a force at a tangent to the link causing it to rotate more than I prefer. The 3 pics show how it looks when completed. A screw on the bottom (third pic) allows me to loosen the clamp and slide it along the link to adjust the suspension. Another screw goes through the top to capture the shock. By capturing the shock on both ends, the force is more equally distributed to the link.

Here's how the project looks now with the front end completed. I took off the original lower links and made some new ones out of 1/4" aluminum rod. The clamps seem to work very well and look great too! For testing purposes I used some old Kyosho sport shocks - which seem to match the black and silver look of the truck so far. With the optional mounting points on the top of the chassis and the adjustable lower shock mount, I should be able to tune this truck for a variety of running conditions.

2 more shock mounts to go (they are time consuming to make by hand) and then I've just got to figure out how to mount a body and how to secure the battery... those are the easy parts. lol!

I've got a H2 Hummer shell and Jeep shell in the store-room, one of them will probably end up on this here crawler.

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02.03.2003

Alrighty! Finished the remaining 2 shock mounts today and assembled the suspension together. Everything worked great. Also used some plastic to make a lightweight radio tray (see last pic) which will hold the Super Rooster and ESC - it's got a bluish tinge to it which looks really cool.

In the pics you can see the chassis without the body or electronics. I reversed the tires to gain more rock-crawling traction but I may cut the tires in the near future.

I really wanted to mount a shell on to see how everything would look so I rummaged my store-room for old shells. Here's an old basher shell that never saw much action. It doesn't look great, but it was small enough to fit on the chassis without interfering with the suspension. It makes the truck look somewhat smaller than it is but this crawler has a 13 1/4" wheelbase which is equivalent to many after-market long-wheelbase designs.

I'll probably use this shell for bashing/testing first and paint a nicer one later. I am able to make use of the front steering fully - lock to lock with the steering stops removed. Even though I am not running wideners (may do so in the future), I am able to get full steering action because the chassis is narrow so the wheels don't rub against the suspension links at full lock.

Articulation! Someone on the boards I frequent was asking for articulation pics so here they are. As you can see, the shell is small and is mounted somewhat high for a reason - this truck has quite reasonable articulation. In the first pic it has the front tire mounted on 2 clod rubbers and the rear mounted on one. The second and thid pics show the near vertical articulation the current setup has.

Initially when I completed the suspension, a quick test showed that articulation maxed out at about 60 degrees. However, moving the shocks inward just a tad increased that to what you see in the pics above. I'm sure I could move them even further inward to get more, but I think I'll try it with what I have now before making further adjustments. This shows the advantage of the link mounted system... quick adjustments can radically alter the truck's suspension setup. By moving the mounts outward, the truck will be lowered and will have more progressive suspension which might be good for racing.

Some of you guys might think I've got complicated and costly CNC machines to make my stuff - I DON'T! :)

All my parts are made from simple tools - even my drill-press is not a proper press (it's a power-drill mounted on a lousy press that doesn't work very well). I thought I'd post some pics to show you where I work... all of it is make-shift - in other words, I set everything up when I work on stuff and after that it all has to be packed back again. I really need my own WORKSHOP! lol!

What's in store for HOOF? I need to install the electronics (of course), and fashion a more secure way of mounting the battery. Cut tires and wideners are also possible options. Oh, a nice body shell will also be painted to crown my little project.

This project has been a lot of work but it has taken less time than I expected and come together better than I had originally intended - I'm one happy guy.

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