ECX Temper rock crawler

Been waiting for this:D

So what are you using to cut all of this?.

And is that a lazy Susan and a foam brick? I love it. I've just retired a two tier LS from my kitchen the other day because I'm moving soon. Guess its not getting tossed after all. Thanks yet again Jon for another great idea.
 
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The straight cuts so far have been a scroll saw attachment for my cordless drill. The finer straight cuts will be with a hobby saw (similar to a small hacksaw) and xacto knife. Regular wood files and sandpaper seem to work really well for cleanup and smoothing.
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image.jpeg image.jpeg image.jpeg image.jpeg Progress! Keep in mind that this is just a prototype so far and I'm not paying too much attention to fit and finish (and I don't have all of the right tools for the job.

Initially I tried the shallower cuts for the arm balls, but decided there would be too much arm interference. Trans mount will be interesting. I ended up shaving the entire thing down to about 7 mm, but didn't do any relief cut to set the trans down. This makes the stick screws too short. Since I picked up an entire Temper hardware set, I found some longer button-head screws to use instead. Hopefully the countersink will be enough.
 
Installed it and ran it a little last night to work out some anger from a disappointing football game. It works. It crawls different, and some break-over angle is sacrificed. Might be better once I get the top links in. Currently will hit the shock in front if twisted and turning.
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One more picture before I get to working in the top links. This picture illustrates the difference a few mm in wheelbase can make. It's high-centered, but I could crawl all the way over this rock with the stock skid with the triangulation mod. I am liking this set up now, the more I run with it. I think the shocks are a little too soft currently - TOrque twist is still there, but a little more I think because the shocks are leaned back more like stock. I'll tackle shocks after the top links...
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Got the rear 4-linked last night (still need to work on final shock placement), and gave it a quick run - it still works! Hope to get the front done tonight, or maybe tomorrow after the kiddo goes to bed. I'll at least get pics up of the rear set-up tonight.
 
Finished it up last night. I like the way it crawls now. Feels more predictable? I do have suspension collisions between the tires and shocks at full-lock and twisted (on the bench), but it doesn't seem to cause issues in use. My last high-center spot (pic above), I can now sort of scramble over, I think because the front is settling down better. Torque twist is still there, but less. It should be noted my shock position is stock at the top (unlike the pics shown), but outboarded at the axle.
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Awesome work man! I'd love to see a video of it crawling! How did you join the two arms together? Also what did you wrap the lower control arms in?
 
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@Tyork_tex The arms go together with the "all-thread" that holds the ball-ends on (sometimes it comes out with the end, sometimes not. Careful use of needle nose pliers gets them out ok.). Scratching the anodized from the arms is likely to happen unless you are extremely careful. My bottom arms are wrapped in spiral-cut wire loom - much like the stuff used in the auto industry, but smaller for robotics applications. It happened to fit perfect, and is pretty slick on the rocks.
 
Wow man that thing looks so much smoother, and predictable. I'm going to check at work tonight and see if they have n e scrap wear board. your results may very but I found that my temper crawled better with weight in the front wheels only, and definitely had more torque.
 
I'm really digging your links Jon. I need to get back to making some trusses. How's the servo plate working out for that? I'm affaid of trying to mount the ball studs like that again. I'm sure if I didn't try to grind them down with power probably would have avoided them ripping out like they did.
 
So far, they're holding up great! I used the same studs I had cut down for the original skidplate mod, and while they are a little short, they've help up great - and I haven't been gentle in testing. I added some weight up front (still didn't get the sizes - been sick most of last week) pictures in the next post. Even with the weight, I haven't ripped them out. I really want a new body though, just haven't decided what to get...
 

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