Highlands comp truck

I did install Vanquish Products four link plates front and rear so I'm not using the stock three point system.  I think the torque twist I am seeing is a by product of all propeller shaft driven cars, including 1:1 size.  I am pretty sure this is one reason that on-road race cars use belt drives because they don't have the rotation torque in the lateral axis.  If it wasn't for the crazy articulation in crawlers I am sure someone would have made a belt drive system for them.  MOA solves the torque twist issue and also gets the motor weight low and on the axles which is good.

I am thinking to use dual Goat 3S with Ballistic 21.5 turn motors on my AX10 like Squirrel did.  I already have a 4PK so I can do some nifty programming like dig and even different motor speed front/rear.  Getting it all installed nice and clean on the XR10 chassis will be a fun challenge.

I did install Vanquish Products four link plates front and rear so I'm not using the stock three point system.  I think the torque twist I am seeing is a by product of all propeller shaft driven cars, including 1:1 size.  I am pretty sure this is one reason that on-road race cars use belt drives because they don't have the rotation torque in the lateral axis.  If it wasn't for the crazy articulation in crawlers I am sure someone would have made a belt drive system for them.  MOA solves the torque twist issue and also gets the motor weight low and on the axles which is good.

I am thinking to use dual Goat 3S with Ballistic 21.5 turn motors on my AX10 like Squirrel did.  I already have a 4PK so I can do some nifty programming like dig and even different motor speed front/rear.  Getting it all installed nice and clean on the XR10 chassis will be a fun challenge.
[/quote]I fully understand we all have are own opinions and want different things for different reasons but there are so many better power options out there for a moa truck. Dual brushless is the least favorable setup you can put into one in most cases. A brushless motor hasent seen a podium finish in crawling in years (Losi excluded). Id say the number of people trying to use a twin brushless setup are 1 to 1000 vs brushed in moa application. If you just really like the idea for some reason that is definitely fine but if you want the best  performance you can get your hands on I would check out some of these links. This combo would give you more wheel speed,torque, gearing options, reliability, less weight and size, and massive low end control all while costing less than the 2 goats.

http://www.rpphobby.com/product_p/csem5900.htm

http://holmeshobbies.com/product.php?productid=420&cat=17&page=1

http://www.cheapbatterypacks.com/product/568/Elite-850-148-V-4S-pack.aspx

Got my new rear axles made today. They are 4130 chromoly with a 6mm bearing. These should hold up against bending or snapping.

Chromoly!  Wow, very cool.  Did you fabricate them yourself?

Thanks. I did make them myself. I am going to be offering them for a lot of different applications very soon. I'm working on getting some axial lockers out to customers then on to the axles.

Finally got my front axles done today ;D. These should be the last piece of the truck I need to finish it off now. I have new frame plates cut and gonna try to cram it all together tonight



These are a front universal stub from an xr10 axle pressed back onto my custom inner axles. Now I have xr10 axles  with the berg tang on the end and 6mm. I will also be selling the 6mm inner for xr10 owners also

Those are seriously beefy.  Were the original axles 3 or 4 mm?  What was the reason to make them 6 mm?  Have you broken them before?

The stock XR inner is 5mm at the bearing and 4mm along the shaft. These are 6mm all the way down. These particular ones are special because they have the berg end on the inside and xr10 outters so I can run the XR knuckles and c's on my berg. I have seen a few failures of the stock axles on the xr10 so I figured since I did the hard part here already it would be easy to make some bulletproof axles for the Xr also. My main goal there will be to eliminate all that slop the stockers have and beef up the shaft to fight twisting.

I am using Axial blockers on my AX10 and never really looked into the slop.  I think there is just a tongue on the axle that fits into a slot on the center part if I recall (it's been a while since I built mine).

One thing that I developed recently is a leak in one of the shocks.  This really sucks for me because we only crawl in the house and shock oil on the carpet, pillows and sofa is a bummer.  I am running the Axial aftermarket aluminum shocks and I read that they are a little notorious for leaking.

Yep they are leakers. Most shocks like to weep a little but the Axials like to run fluid out of them. Losi crawler shocks and most of their shocks for that matter don't leak very bad or at all in most cases. If its making a mess around the house thats all the more reason to take it outside and get on some rocks. Our local crawling series is getting ready to start back up soon. You should drag it out and come play for the day. There is a class for everyone and very laid back competition.

Well I finally got it all done and together. I still have a little minor tuning to do and make a few small things for it but she is a runner now. Even needing some link tweeking still it far outperforms what I had hoped for it. I think it will be ready for the upcoming season and allow me to have a good shot at getting the my championship title back.

Am I seeing that right?  It looks like you have some serious turning angle.  It almost looks like the universal joints couldn't turn at that angle.  You've also got some crazy articulation going on there.
What wheels are those?  It looks like Vanquish Products center hubs but I don't recognize the wheels.
Where does the battery go?  Do you have a body for it?

I also wanted to ask where you got your wire shrouding and heat shrink.  I have been getting mine from Perfect Regulators (http://perfectregulators.com/), but I find it a little expensive for the lengths they sell and the amount I have needed.

Nope you are seeing right it turns like mad lol. In one of the pics above you can see where the black universal piece was clearanced for a little more turning angle with the new inner. It has a pretty good amount more possible but I just cant use it all. I would be into the links and shocks to hard with the tires. The flex looks deceiving in that pic above it just clears a tire and not a lot more. Still more than I usually run though. The fronts wheels are losi and the rears are some I make.  I made  a solid comp face for both of  them and the rears work with vanquish hubs. The odd disk you see is just a spacer . I was trying a 1/4 wider track width in the back. I get all my shrink from a buddy that runs a battery store.

http://www.cheapbatterypacks.com/Products-Listing/65-Shrink-wrap.aspx

Chris is a great guy to deal with and shipping is in the 1-2 day area .

Thanks.  It looks like Cheapbatterypacks has shrink tube big enough for batteries also.

You didn't mention where you get your expanding nylon braid servo wire protection.

Have you run the truck yet?  I know the weather has gone rainy around here so maybe not.

Thats odd there is a whole paragraph missing from my previous post? Anyway the loom comes from mcmaster. I usually order about 100 ft in a couple different sizes once a year or so. I love that stuff and use it on most all my stuff and some customers cars also. And ya Chris has shrink you could put over your head huge stuff. Some of the best batterys you can get for a crawler also. They are good people and are very active in the crawling world. Ive been putting in about an hour or so a day for practice since I got it done. We run and comp them rain or shine. I do need to get some different tires on for the wet slick rock before the season opener in Gold Hill. I will have my pins done soon and run those for our first couple comp spots.

I will be taking a pair of these that I already made and doing a lil narrowing on them. They are a Hotbodies khaoos truggy tire with a white dot rover sidewall. I am taking about a 1/4" out of the width now.





And some foam tuning lol

You can cut tires and make them narrower and change the sidewall?  I assume that you have to use glue to do that, but does it really hold up?  I mean, you built 6 mm axles that can put out some serious torque so I would imagine that you would just shred glued together tires.

;D The tires always trip people out lol. It takes years of doing it and experimenting with different things to make it work. The ones I do now don't come apart anymore but I cant say they were all successful. When I did my first set probably 10 years ago for a pulling truck they flew apart like a retread on the highway. Now they hold solid and I have ripped the tire itself before the bond breaks. In all the sets Ive done for people they have had no failures to date. The narrowing of the carcas is way more tricky to pull off than modding a sidewall also. You have to cut perfect to make it work out right. That tire i pictured above takes about 2 hours to make per tire and costs about $100 a set so they are not for everyone but for those seeking the most performance possible they are worth it. The ones pictured below have the center of one tire and sidewalls of a different tire seamed at the edge of the pins. Uber hard to make

Oh it's not that hard, quit yer bitchin!

If I make them for you or me no. But to make a customer pay over $100 for a set they gotta be spot on. I hate the glue for the most part. After a few hours with your face over the fumes you get a haze over your eyes and they start wanting to glue closed ;D