Diablo, an Arizona Crawler Text & photos by Jay Kopycinski

Carey Johnson (aka Link) lives in Chandler , Arizona in a valley surrounded by sand and rock. He had been an RC fan for many years, when crawling caught his interest in the summer of 2006. The Clod based rig you see here is his first entry into the crawling world, and he named his first build, Diablo. Stuffed under a Parma 1972 Chevy C-10 truck body you'll find a carbon fiber NN chassis from The Crawler Store. With a wheelbase set at 17”, Carey has setup his rig from climbing and crawling the rock mounds and notchy crags on the nearby Phoenix comp courses. Linked to the chassis is a pair of Clod Buster gearboxes housing plastic-welded differentials to lock the axles together. Slow speed motivation comes via two Revolver 1000kv brushless motors spinning 8T pinions. Hot Bodies threaded blue aluminum shocks keep the tires planted and control suspension flex.

Carey typically runs Proline Moab XLs on narrowed Proline 40 Series wheels, but sometimes runs full-size 40 Series Moabs on custom machined aluminum rims. RC4WD adapter/wideners handle the chore of getting the wheels on the Clod axles. To keep his crawler headed in the right direction, a Hitec 5995 robot servo pushes Thundertech Racing behind-the-axle steering components. Out back, a Hitec 645 and a Crawler Store steering kit help reduce the turning radius on the locked truck.

Low center of gravity is vital on a rock rig such as this. Carey improved its stance by adding some custom built knuckle adapters that hold three Integy 4200 sub-C NiMH cells per knuckle, keeping the powerplant weight down low. Deans wet noodle wire snakes around the chassis to get the juice to a pair of Mamba 25 speed controllers and then to the motors. An MPI voltage regulator steps the full battery voltage down to a level that's a little more servo friendly. Finally, a Spektrum DX3 radio set provides three channel control for throttle, and front & rear steer.

Carey competed part-season last fall in the PARC ( Phoenix Area Rock Crawlers) comp series and he's ready to go the full winter/spring season starting soon. For his first Clod crawler, he's done it up right!