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Phase I (continued)

Update!
Basically I've mounted a basher body on the truck for now and I've completed the radio tray. I ran the truck with 8 2400mah cells and it wheelied so much it really ended up on it's back more than staying on it's tires. A custom wheelie bar solved that problem great!

The GPM universals also failed regularly. I think they might work fine for a stock jugg, but this modified one just has too much articulation and the universal joint wasn't designed for this.

Thanks to guys like Hangar747 (Simon) and Scott, I've managed to install traxxas sliders with Tamiya yokes on the rear as well. These seem to be a lot smoother and holding up well!

Basher Body

This was a beat up body that came with the truck. I cleaned it up a bit and repaired some of the cracks. It should be good enough as a basher until I can find another truck body to go on. In the seconf pic you can see the rear view. Here's the first shot of the wheelie bar - but more on that later... I think the body is a wee-bit high, but as it is it just clears the wheels at full articulation. The short wheelbase gives it a nice scale look.

Completed Battery Tray & Off Body shots

Here's the battery tray made out of aluminum and some clear plastic. I run 8 2400mah cells and it's really cool. First time I'm running 8 cells in series and it's more than sufficient for this rig. You can also see the Super Rooster and Futaba PCM receiver in the pics which are all mounted on clear plastic.

In the pic of the side view of the truck, you can see that the electronics are mounted as low as possible in the frame, but they are still pretty high... all this leads to a truck that likes to wheelie. The suspension works great though and when all fours are on the ground it soaks up bumps wonderfully! I need to change the 80wt oil out with 100wt oil though. Also check out the custom suspension on the front and rear ends.

And it's ZE WHEELIE BAR!

Here are some good pics of the wheelie bar setup. It's mounted to the axles where the upper axle mounts used to go. The bar is made of 2.5mm L-channel aluminum and it's 15cm long from end-to-end.

The wheels are RC aircraft wheels I picked up at the LHS. Without the crossbrace, the bars actually have some side-to-side sway. I didn't like this and hunted for something to use as a crossbrace. EUREKA! The spare link from the Tamiya steering link set I had lying around fit exactly! It makes the whole setup very rigid - I can hold the truck by the wheelie bar with no problems!

Performance Report
The truck has a lot of oomph when launched from stop and it steers great because of the shortened wheelbase. However, it also sends it's front wheels sky high excessively and ended up on it's back very often. If you look at the scratches on the top of the frame, thats off a flip on tarmac! (OUCH!)

With the wheelie bar, I can now accelerate the truck out from stop without fear and it wheelies for 5-10 feet easily. When I want the wheels down, just let off the throttle and it's easily controlled.

The suspension is wonderful and soaks up rough terrain easily. I'm going to try some jumps next! (Update: tried some jumps but the traxxas sliders didn't survive them... they literally twisted off the universal ends! I guess I'll have to look for some tougher solutions.)

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19 July 2004 - the beach frame has been sold and the truck is now due for a complete new chassis and design. Check it out here in Phase II!