B1G's Axial AX10 Scorpion

[TheB1GDude]

Hi all,

So quite possibly my life in RC is now complete I have dreamed of owning one of these bad boys for many years now and so finally when the opportunity to buy a nicely upgraded used one came up I had to jump at it...

What I have here is a competition level Axial AX10 Scorpion Pro-Kit (part # AX90001) which includes:

• Green Aluminum Links
• Aluminum Front and Rear Lockers
• All Steel hardware
• 2.2 Rock Lizards
• 2.2 Rockster Bead Locks

with the following improvements bolted on:

• Xtreme Racing SSG Carbon Fiber chassis
• HotRacing Alloy Body Posts
• Axial Carbon Fiber Upper Chassis Plate
• STRC Alloy Upper Chassis Mount Supports
• STRC Inboard Mount Skid Plate
• STRC Servo Mount
• Integy Steering Link
• Venom 3000 NiMH stick pack
• Novak GOAT Crawler
• HiTec HS-645MG Servo
• FlySky 2.4GHz micro RX

Now for some pictures:








Upgrades and Spare parts:



Bit of a random assortment of spares, some I have been able to use, some are just stock and have been added to the stock parts pile, the others still have me confused about how to install them, for example the alloy 3-links, looks like I have to take the axles apart which I don't really want to do

The ESC / Motor combination is what makes this so special, the precision of the Novak GOAT Crawler kit is just unbelievable, I've only driven the AX10 around the house so far but plan on taking it outside in the snow / ice a little later today.

The one thing I don't have is a body and I don't want to take it outside and roll it so I'm trying to figure out if I can get my old Stampede body temporarily mounted up on it.

Oh and I got a sneak peak at my valentines day present from the wife and it's a new FlySky GT3B 2.4GHz kit, the TX is super-flashy for 35$ so I'll upgrade from my GT2 kit to that once I get it on Monday.

Q&C welcome.

Enjoy.

[BART]

That chassis looks great. I think the link that is right below hobico in the pic is the one I was telling you about ( you would need 4 obviously).

[TheB1GDude]

I believe that's the link for the extra clearance, sucks that I only got one

Couldn't get the Stampede body to clear the battery pack so threw on this smaller scale Hummer body:



Which will do for the moment, I have been playing on spraying it black so if I did that I think it would look decent.

[Donziikid]

Looks like a great find, B1G! That Hummer body will look pretty nice painted up black.

Cheers,
Kyle

[TheB1GDude]

Thanks - thats what I figured on the Hummer, then I'll get some of the scale tool kit stuff and it should look pretty badass...

[TheB1GDude]

Few minor improvements:

1. Discovered that what I thought was a spare stock link is actually the high clearance steering link and given as how a lot people expressed concern over the quality of the Integy link I was running I decided to switch to it:



2. Tires have had airholes drilled into them, two 1/8th holes on opposite sides of the rim:



You can see the tires under load in the above photo, this is supposed to give me more grip.

3. Adjusted the ride height, the Xtreme Racing SSG Carbon Fiber chassis is insanely adjustable so I dropped my shocks to a lower hold for more lift, don't have a photo so just imagine the AX10 as before but slightly taller

Have been trying to figure out how to inboard my lower links and finally realized that I just don't have enough screws to do it, need 12 I believe but only have 6, so need to order some extra hardware.

Oh also bound it to my GT3B TX which is working out really nicely.

[TheB1GDude]

Made a few more changes to my setup:

1. Added wire weight to my front wheels:



Wire length in both rims is identical, both cuts came from same spool of wire, pre-cut sticky pads used to secure, so hopefully the weight of the rims with the wire is almost identical.

2. Installed the 3Racing carbon fiber servo plate:




This moves the servo over to the side giving me room to mount a lipo pack, don't have the pack yet but hopefully will soon then I can shift even more weight to the front of the rig.

Biggest issue with this piece was that I didn't have all of the parts it originally came with, so I had to ghetto-rig it by flipping the servo and using the stock link connected to an offset servo horn, seems to work just fine though

3. Inboarded all of my lower links, this involves moving the mount point for the shocks and links and is made possible by my lower chassis plate, it gives me some extra room when turning the wheels and obviously moves the links so they don't catch as easily.




Apologies for the crappy photos but only had access to the camera on my phone and it isn't the best.

[BART]

Someone did a really nice job on those wire ties... looking good.

[Evolution]

Looks good! Is the back sort of too long though? Not sure if it's just me though.

[winner]

looks great B1G! been wanting a crawler myself, we need some videos

[TheB1GDude]

Originally Posted by BART

Someone did a really nice job on those wire ties... looking good.

lol somebody has too much time on their hands but yes the ties and the neatness of the wires really do set this apart

Originally Posted by Evolution

Looks good! Is the back sort of too long though? Not sure if it's just me though.

If you basing that statement on how the body doesn't align with the chassis then don't worry about it, the body comes from a toy RC vehicle that was much smaller in scale 1/16 I believe, I use it because I like the monster truck look it gives....

Originally Posted by winner

looks great B1G! been wanting a crawler myself, we need some videos

Crawlers are awesome I have a video of the Mini crawler in the snow but I was being lazy and the battery for this one wasn't charged, and of course now it has rained for the past few days and the snow is gone so I'll have find somewhere else interesting to film it crawling.

[winner]

Originally Posted by TheB1GDude

Crawlers are awesome I have a video of the Mini crawler in the snow but I was being lazy and the battery for this one wasn't charged, and of course now it has rained for the past few days and the snow is gone so I'll have find somewhere else interesting to film it crawling.

sounds cool, i love watching the vids of them goin to steams and creeks imo but yea crawlers look like great fun, i was going to buy one a few weeks ago but decided to buy my Blitz cause i dont like the speed of crawlers, but i have found that im im going fast enough by blitz can go over some pretty but obsicles by bounching over them at a reasonable speed. not sure how good it is for it, but it sure is fun

what all do you have in store for this? do i smell a scaler in the oven?

[TheB1GDude]

I don't know if I'll do a scaler build, certainly I'll have some fun with it but I don't ever plan on making it a comp crawler, wouldn't need much to make it one but don't have any competitions running in the local area so why bother I'll just paint up the Hummer body (which is obviously the wrong scale) and then add detail to it as I go but this is just for fun so will never be quite right

[TheB1GDude]

Just a few updates on the crawler, these are much clearer photos showing the inboarding of the lower links, you have to change the shock and link positions and you need a skid plate such as my STRC one which has the mounts to be able to do this:







Doing this not only helps with the clearance of ground based obstacles but also gives me some additional turning radius:




Installed the rear alloy servo mount in preparation for the rear steer upgrade, with all the space parts the only pieces I need to buy is the servo itself and the y-connector to power it:




The other modification I made today (which I don't have pictures of) was to cut the hell out of the foam tire inserts, what I ended up doing was cutting 1/2" off the width of them and then applying the star cut mod, the star cut mod is basically cutting the foam inserts into a star shape, the idea behind this mod is that less area of the foam is in contact with the tire making it easier for the tire to conform to various surfaces.

I haven't bother with pictures because it took me all day to do all 4 tires (around work) and they don't look that good they do however alter how the truck sits and crawls over obstacles, as I don't ever really plan on being in a competitive event this was a free and fairly easy mod to perform.

[TheB1GDude]

It snowed Sunday and yesterday I figured as I was already outside shoveling I may as well make myself a little course, so I put together about a 4ft long 1ft wide track of packed snow, I added a few dips and humps and ran the AX10 over it, I also blasted it across the fresh powdered flat top which was fun as it was kicking up rooster tails as it went.

Here are a few photos:



























Overall I am a little disappointed with how the AX10 handled my course, maybe the snow consisted of to much powder or maybe I made it to aggressive or maybe I just can't crawl for jack... actually I am inclined to blame it on what people told me would fail first and that's the tires, they don't hook up well on snow and no matter how I mod them they just don't seem to be very good....

Anyways it was a blast and I am going to get the AX10 recharged and back out on the mountain a little later today, hopefully now my snow pile has had time to sit it will be a little more compacted and easier to navigate.

[Blade.]

Nothing ever really hooks up well in snow.. The best solution to driving in snow, at this scale is 4x4. If you are running RWD your steering wheels get jammed up with snow and cause you to lose all steering.(Yes I do know that the Axial is 4x4. lol.) It won't really matter what type of tires you use, or mods that you do. Snow will always cause the RC to slip and slide. With the snow being powder, it packs up on the tires, causing it to lose it's tread. Making them into solid pucks that will cause the RC to slide.

No real advantage to snow crawling. Well... Except when you flip over it won't damage the body.

However, if the surface it ice. I'd suggest making either studded tires or chains that are removable(chains on the front wheels, it will help with both steering and drive).

Almost the same concept as a 1:1. Just a huge weight difference.

[BART]

That thing looks great man.

[TheB1GDude]

Originally Posted by Blade.

Nothing ever really hooks up well in snow.. The best solution to driving in snow, at this scale is 4x4. If you are running RWD your steering wheels get jammed up with snow and cause you to lose all steering.(Yes I do know that the Axial is 4x4. lol.) It won't really matter what type of tires you use, or mods that you do. Snow will always cause the RC to slip and slide. With the snow being powder, it packs up on the tires, causing it to lose it's tread. Making them into solid pucks that will cause the RC to slide.

No real advantage to snow crawling. Well... Except when you flip over it won't damage the body.

However, if the surface it ice. I'd suggest making either studded tires or chains that are removable(chains on the front wheels, it will help with both steering and drive).

Almost the same concept as a 1:1. Just a huge weight difference.

Yeap just going to stick to crawling on rocks Tires are two expensive to modify and I can't be bothered to scratch build chains....

Originally Posted by BART

That thing looks great man.

Thanks dude it's coming along nicely....

To hopefully lower the COG and make the crawler a little more stable I have adjusted all of my links and the shock mounting points, this is how she sits currently:



Definitely lower than before but I noticed in doing so that I have a bit of lean on the body:



It always leans to the right, I'm hoping it's just a shock low on oil but we shall see....

[TheB1GDude]

Oh wanted to add that I recently picked up on of these bad boys on eBay:




It's a Punk RC Dual Steering Computer, I didn't really read before I purchased so unfortunately with my current TX that only has an on/off 3rd channel I don't get access to all of the functionality from the computer however the guys who built it thought of this and gave you an on board switch that allows you to set which two of the three modes you want the computer in.

Here's the overview from Punk RC's web site:

The Punk Rock Crawling Dual Steering Computer gives Dual Steering and Rear Lockout Control on the Fly. Compatible with all classes of competitions.

The Punk Rock Crawling Dual Steer Computer is truly one of a kind. It gives you competition steering for any class of crawler. Just plug the PRCDSC into your receiver and your front and rear servos into the PunkRC Dual Steering Computer. It does the rest. No more thumbing with a toggle switch. Do all your steering with a single wheel. There are three steering modes selected by your transmitters 3rd (or any other extra) channel.

Mode 1, Normal Four Wheel Steering - this mode alone is worth using the PRCDSC.

Mode 2, Rear Steering Lockout – this mode is useful in competitions where rear steering is penalized. Use it only when you want.

Mode 3, Crabwalk Steering – this mode adds a new level of control.

This unit will work with any dual servo vehicle.

Also, this units will work with a three position or two position 3rd channel switch. If using a 3 way toggle, all three modes are accessible. A non-centering knob will also work. If using a 2 way toggle, the user may use a either normal and crabwalk or normal and lockout modes. This is done with a switch on the unit.

I have tested it on the Axial by switching the front servo between the front / rear computer leads and I can see what it does when I turn my 3rd channl off / on but currently do not have a rear servo so will probably end up cannibalizing one of my other rides for one

[TheB1GDude]

Well I was on lunch and I figured what the hell I'll see if I can get the rear steering stuff setup. So I pulled what is at least a 10 year servo from my Losi XX and started to assemble my parts, I would like to point out that I did not purchase the official $30 rear steer kit from Axial my system consists of a bunch of mismatched stock parts

Here is the result:



I will try to take some better pictures later today but hopefully you can make out the servo sitting on the rear mount right over the center of the axle, right by that you can see the stock steering arm.

The picture below shows the temporary mounting of the Punk RC Steering Computer:



When I get my lipos mounted over the front axle this will sit on top with the RX and ESC but for the moment this will do.

When I turn the ESC on the steering computer gives me four wheel steering, when the 3rd channel is turned on I can either lock out the rear wheels or go into crab steer (which is how I currently have it setup) turning the 3rd channel off goes back to 4WS... cool right