Project: Xtreme

[BulletsRain]

Okay I got some video for all of you! Showing the speed and how this thing can climb stuff. I need to fix the antenna or something.. the throttle is always cutting out... anyways here they are! Btw... this is just using 4 rechargeable batteries.

Here is the speed


Here it is crawling a pretty steep pillow..


Crawling over some slippers

[FloydfanYodaman]

hey man this is a great project and a great thread...the progress is very well documented...very cool body as well...gotta go give it a second read...shwowzers!...good luck with finishing it all up!

[BulletsRain]

Originally Posted by FloydfanYodaman

hey man this is a great project and a great thread...the progress is very well documented...very cool body as well...gotta go give it a second read...shwowzers!...good luck with finishing it all up!

Thanks!

Still doing a bit to the body, here is some pics.. Not much else to put on the body now but mirrors.. I still need to figure out how to run the antenna either through, or around the body. I need to trim the fenders still but can't do that till i devise a way to mount it. I think it's funny when my cell phone's camera macro works better than my digital camera..

[fuzzy]

itd be cool to bend the antenna out of the truck and have it come off the back corner and make it look like a CB antenna so style and functionality

[BulletsRain]

Originally Posted by fuzzy

itd be cool to bend the antenna out of the truck and have it come off the back corner and make it look like a CB antenna so style and functionality

That's exactly what I was thinking! But when ever i bend antennas they end up all mangled and tangled... I'll make it it work somehow!

[fuzzy]

dont bend it just by hand use a block of wood or the corner of a dresser or table

[BulletsRain]

Wow it's been awhile. Once again I've let this thing sit on the shelf and haven't even touched it. Well decided to mess with it yesterday and it really ****ed me off. First off alkaline batteries suck. The range on my EP was all messed up, so I had to get really close to work it.

So I dug up my rechargeables, and charged em up. They will hold me over for awhile... but I'm really think I need to go LIPO.

Today I switched the old EP out to a newer EP with the crystal soldered to the board. It made it so much better running it around. A lot smoother acceleration and I could drive it decently.

The body is finished, I just need to trim the fenders to be able to tuck the wheels better. I have devised a way to mount the body, I just need to dig up my velcro and figure out some stuff.

MY differentials are being a PITA. My rear one is refusing to lock. So I'm breaking out the super glue. The front one remains locked until you really get some stress on it.

I'm loving this airplane motor though. It's surprised me so much. I ran it around this evening with out the body on and holy crap this thing is fun. It is lacking power though, which is why I think I might upgrade to LIPO.

I'm having a problem when I reverse though. My gears are slipping A LOT. So if I'm in a tight spot I really can't reverse.

I'm also having trouble keeping my super swampers on the dang rims. They keep coming off.

The best part of my day today, was seeing this little truck climb incline steeper than 45 degrees, that was all mulch. It was awesome. Sure it took a few times, but hey I had a blast with this thing. It's very capable.

I need more steering though. The stock steering sucks. I'm thinking maybe the HS55 servo upgrade or whatever, but I'm just not sure.

Sorry I have no pictures, photobucket is not responding for me once again...

I will have a Losi MRC soon to play with also. I love off road!

[BulletsRain]

Okay I thought I would give you all a pic of the body finished, besides fender trimming. As long as fender trimming doesn't get too drastic it will remain the same. I got to rework my mounting method though, because the first way I did it limited articulation to, well... not very much.


This little thing sure has some torque twist. I've also noticed running with no body that at full articulation it actually can get stuck articulated. Its a pain for the moment being, but once the body is on, I might make some inner fender wheels to limit it.

Does anyone have tips on mount bodies on a Xmod truck? A way that you can still have decent articulation?


I took a few videos tonight. (You have to click on the pictures)
The first is a hill climb. It's a pretty steep little hill for an Xtruck. The grinding you hear is the Motor's pinion gear slipping on the other gear... I need to figure out how to stop it. Reverse is a PITA with it doing that.


The next video (Kind of long at over 3 min) is just it running through the garden in the front of my house. It does really good.

Sorry that I moved the camera like a million times, but I had no one to hold it...


I really wonder what this thing could do with lithium. I almost wish I would of gone extreme with this project and made it a straight rock crawler/ trail rig, but oh well. I got an MRC on the way that can fill in.


EDIT
I just possibly had a great idea. I could make the chassis to where the rear articulates and the front articulates, but seperately.

It might just be crazy, but it might just work. The only problem I see is getting around the servo....
If anyone has tips feel very free to post!

[Bananabrain]

The front and rear articulating would be cool I have thought about it and tried to figure it out but its not that easy. lol

Project looks good though.

[BulletsRain]

Originally Posted by Bananabrain

The front and rear articulating would be cool I have thought about it and tried to figure it out but its not that easy. lol

Project looks good though.

Yea... I thought of it at like 1 in the morning when I was tired, and then realized it wouldn't work since thy kind of already do that... lol

I've deciding that the Montero body is too limiting. I would have to hack the fenders up a lot, and I just don't like the body that much anymore. So I'm selling it, and going to make a custom body.

I also had a problem with the pinion on my motor coming loose from heat, and then my motor pretty much unglued itself from the cradle. It gets hot....
So I remounted the motor to where it sits flat with the chassis, and I added a 8 tooth pinion instead of 13. I've noticed a difference in torque and the gears do not bind now in reverse.

Hopefully the body turns out good. If anyone wants the montero body PM me. It keeps mocking me....

Only pic for right now

[BulletsRain]

Got started on the new body.... BTW if a Mod is reading this, could I get the thread title changed to Project: Xtreme? If not, no big deal.

So far I have the hood cut out and the front skid put on the truck. I had a small skid originally, but I went bigger a wider. The skid has saved me from a few front hits, but it also limits me if I ever want to climb up steep rock. Oh well, that's what angles were made for! Just gotta hit the rock at the right angle.

I just got done running this truck for a hour and I planned out some more things.

1. I need Lipo's or Li-Ion and maybe some more FET's. I need more power and I need to lose the weight of the 4 AAA's. This truck flips too easy.

2. Possibly bigger tires, but I need soft tires with good grip. I like my Aoshimas and might stick with them, but if anyone knows of some good tires, that aren't monster truck tires let me know.

3. I actually need to limit my articulation, because it gets stuck if it articulates to far.
In this pic it would be stuck that way if I moved forward.


4. Possible battery relocation, but not with AAA's. This is a maybe... probably won't do it, since I get high centered more on the front and rear axles (I know there not axles but you know what I mean.)

5. Tire weight up front.

That is all the plans for right now...
Here are some pictures

Here is how it looks after the hour outside. I'd say 30 minutes was rock crawling, 20 minutes crawling dirt hills and small rocks... then 10 minutes curb climbing. (Mini Mall crawlin rofl)


This right here is how the front headlights are going to look. Still a Work in progress.... I might update it in a hour with the finished hood....


The skid


Seriously Feel free to comment. I feel like I've posted the last 3 times in a row... Am I really that scary?

[dreamingISdrifting]

No, your not scary we just dont like you =P....Jk I would recomend these tires http://cgi.ebay.com/URETHANE-SO-REAL...e#ht_500wt_928 they are softer than aoshimas and look real too, they are also bigger, but they are smaller than iroks.

[BulletsRain]

Originally Posted by dreamingISdrifting

No, your not scary we just dont like you =P....Jk I would recomend these tires http://cgi.ebay.com/URETHANE-SO-REAL...e#ht_500wt_928 they are softer than aoshimas and look real too, they are also bigger, but they are smaller than iroks.

Thanks for that link. I like the http://cgi.ebay.com/URETHANE-SUPER-S...1#ht_621wt_704 better because they look like a better tread pattern for crawling and such. They sure are bigger though... might need wide axles... I'll look into that on down the road a bit.

[BulletsRain]

Update

I hate to double post, but it's an ^ Update. Sorry, I just work on this truck a lot...

The hood


Mocked up front. I know it looks funny now... but once the rest of the body goes on I don't think it will.




Btw... I put 11 copper BB's in each front wheel (Might add a few more later). I can tell it helped climbing already. The Front stays down more.
I decided to put 8 BB's in each rear, and guess what, no more articulation problem for the moment. I'll test it out tomorrow. Wish I had fast charging lipos...

[BulletsRain]

~ Little update ~

I decided I didn't really like the look of the hood. It was too steep of an angle, and the nuts I used for headlights seemed too big. So I got a new idea and will try to work on it today a bit more. Basically I'm going to make a new hood and move the lights further forward off the hood.

I got the front fenders mocked up for now.

[Bananabrain]

Awsome.

Now it just needs a super charger. lol

[BulletsRain]

I ditched the hood I had made. It was too ugly. I'm thinking about ditching the fenders maybe. I painted the skid and fenders black.
Working on a roll cage right now.

[BulletsRain]

I thought I would show progress of the roll cage. Still have to do the lower sides and finish up the back.





Sorry for the low light conditions.

[BulletsRain]

Started realizing that my skid could attach to my tube body, but it would stick out past the aoshimas and I wouldn't be able to crawl very well. I dug out some old tires... I think if I sip them they could be decent. What do you guys think?
The only thing I worry is that the tires make the wheel base too wide. I could try to make it narrower, but not sure.
It gives it more clearance though

[Bananabrain]

I like the tires & the roll cage is starting too look good too.

Kinda gives it a redneck mudder look.