Highmark's 2020 C2 - The Fiend

[Highmark]

I started building this truck way back in August of 2019 and I have not done a good job documenting the build, but I thought I would get a build thread together for it anyway using crappy pictures I've sent my friends, or just taken along the way. You can call this a 'mostly built' thread, but at least you know the story ends alright. :ror:

The overall idea was to build something competitive that I could compete with for several years, so it needed to be competitive enough to hang, but not so far out on the fringes of the rules that it could be made illegal with a few rule changes like my old C1 car. It became The Fiend early on when Jconcepts released the Creep body because it just looks kind of evil. :twisted:

Specs:
Chassis - The Crawl Space Game Changer 4.2 (G10), front bobbed, Toyzuki Skidplate, shock towers cut and replaced with SCX-10 2 shock towers, LockedupRC panhard.
Links - The Crawl Space Comp Spec, Custom steel panhard
Shocks - Traxxas Big-Bore 3.5" shocks, Mini-T Springs, JeepinDoug spring cups
Trans / T-Case - Toyzuki 2.5 T-Case V1, G10 Motor Mount
DriveShafts - SDI
Front Axle - SSD Diamond, Aluminum offset pro-tubes and Offset Uni's, SSD C-hubs, SSD knuckles, Vanquish 6-bolt locker and ring/pinion
Rear Axle - Stock 1-piece housing and inners, Vanquish 6-bolt locker and ring/pinion
Motor - Holmes Hobbies 13t Puller 500 Crawl
ESC - Holmes BR-Mini (winch and drive motor)
Servo - Hitec 7950 programed for 180* and Hitec servo arm
Winch Servo - Low profile Savox 2251, LockedUpRC spool.
Wheels / Tires - Proline Hyrax, CI foams, LockedUpRC wheels.
Body - Modified J-Concepts creep with drop bed.


I started with a G10 Game Changer from the Crawl Space because it's a great chassis with high arches and good geometry. G10 was an obvious choice because it's bullet proof, light, and easy to work with. I got a little weird right out of the gate, and used a Toyzuki 2.5 T-case and V1 G10 motor mount because it's an awesome setup, and I wanted to:

After wheeling with Chino at Axialfest in 2018, I knew that that this truck needed an offset front axle. Chino's Power Wagon on hybrid TRX4/AR44 axles had a lower COG than most non-portaled rigs because the offset allows you to move the motor lower in the chassis. What wasn't clear at the time was which one would work best. I started with a Vanquish axle, but ended up using a SSD Diamond housing with their pro-offset tubes because the vanquish housing doesn't allow you to change the caster without moving the pinion down. The other benefit is that the SSD housing has the ink mount above the pumpkin so it takes up the same space as the driveshaft, and doesn't need to be bent around the motor as it would with the Vanquish housing.

I cut the stock shock towers off the chassis and replace them with SCX-10 II towers because it lowered the truck over a quarter inch, provided easy vertical body mounts, and looked cool.

Next up was conquering the front three link and CMS. I used a LockedUpRc Panhard mount and Vanquish wraith servo mount. This let me get the servo right up next to the spur gear to approve my steering geometry and approach angle.

Because space is really tight up front I built a custom panhard bar out of 1/8" steel using the same method Warpig uses. It involves cutting the rod to length, and soldering on two screws on either side.

Lots of custom brackets were made to get he front upper link where it needed to be. I completely shaving the stock upper link mounts and building my own. I also raised the link at the chassis as the stock setup has a ton of squat.

Many beers were consumed, but I'm really happy with the way it turned out. Zero bump-steer, lots of caster, and the steering is only limited by how much the tires dig into the frame.

The sliders were built very minimally to be light and provide a spot to put the electronics. The main tubes are 3/16" stainless steel tube.

The hard part was finding spots for all the electronics. The first thing I built was a small mount next to the motor plate which now holds the receiver.

Next where the slider mounts which hold the battery on one side, and the two Holmes BR-Mini's, an Castle 10a BEC, and a Finger-tech on-off switch on the right side. I think I might be the first to use one of these in an RC application as they're intended for 3lb combot robots (Battlebots) but they're designed to handle our amperage, tough, and light weight. They use a set screw between two copper plates to make contact, screw the screw in to turn the rig on, screw it out to turn it off. Even with the tiniest stuff available, it's still hard to find a spot for everything with decent airflow. I started with some extruded angle aluminum and cut it down to fit as needed.

The BR-mini's are held in place with the wires and have some nice heat-sink because of the big plate that the FET's are on. The BEC lives on top because I couldn't find another home for it and it's convenient.

Somewhere along the way I built an Internal Cage out of 1/8" stainless. The jury is out on if I'll use it because I have enough points without it.

Of the body mods allowed for C2, I chose to narrow the front (by cutting the fenders off the body) and to do boat sides to keep my overall height low. The rear fenders are a touch wider than the cab, and just wide enough to hit the tires giving me 2 of the 3 mods allowed.

With the body height figured out, this was also when went through the joy of putting the drop-bed together. Tell your friends, lexan drop beds are a pain.

And I'll leave you all for now with some paint. The bar work is shiny, the lexan is going to look like shit. :ror:

 

[Robotboy]

Lookin' good, nice setup! "thumbsup"

 

[JatoTheRipper]

That looks like a beast. I really gotta build a PowerWagon some day.

 

[distinctive pd]

Looks damn good "thumbsup"

 

[Highmark]

Lookin' good, nice setup! "thumbsup"

Thank you! Appreciate it.

That looks like a beast. I really gotta build a PowerWagon some day.

Thank you sir, I've got a few days off next week so we'll see how it does. PW's are excellent comp bodies. "thumbsup"

Looks damn good "thumbsup"

Thanks man! Hopefully I'll see you out in Vegas in November.

 

[Highmark]

I made a big push to have this truck done for SORCCA Nationals which was scheduled back in March, then Covid happened and I realized I had some time to get into the details. One thing I enjoy building is metal grills like the one I did for my Power Wagon: http://www.rccrawler.com/forum/1-9-scale-rigs/600035-46-power-wagon-2018-axial-festing.html and I thought this would be a challenging way to expand my skills, as this would be many times more complicated than the PW grill.

I started by buying the biggest drill bit I've ever owned and properly mucking up a hole like a big idiot:

This produced a horrible result after 20+ minutes, even after using progressively bigger bits:

I was then reminded by folks who actually know what they're doing that a stepper bit was the correct tool for this application, and after a trip to Home Depot and low initial investment I found myself capable of making big holes in metal.:

Because I'm silver soldering this together I had to think ahead as to how the pieces would go together without melting. My idea was to make the horizontal middle sections extend off each side piece so that each side always had one solid piece that wouldn't melt while soldering:

I then made a Ying for my Yang and using the human equivalent of a CNC made each side roughly similar. With limited tooling comes much manual labor as they say:

I also built a mount that ties into the existing servo mount to keep in place:

Next I started on the complicated part, each of the grill's slats. On my PW, I simply cut small recesses to hold each slat in place while I silver-soldered them, but because a Willy's grill has an angle in the middle this isn't possible. I started by straightening a wire coat hanger, removing the coating, cutting it in half and silver-soldering the pieces to the sides of the grill to form the rounded bezel:

Next I cut a chunk of delrin, roughly the width of the opening in the middle:

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Then I drilled some holes where the slats would go:

Like they say, if you love something, cut it in half:

It matches the curvature of the top part of the grill:

When clamped together, this holds everything where it needs to be:

Slat time (also made from abused coat hanger)!!

I did a quick trial-run to see if I wasted my time:

At this point in the adventure, much butthole puckering occurred, and rightfully so as it turns out. I had hoped because of the wonders of the Smith Mini Torch that I use to build this stuff, that the delrin would survive the silver-soldering, but it melted fusing itself around the slats. Worse so, the lower cross-member(?) was way off in this picture, and I had to solder the top header off, heat each slat evenly to remove the lower brace, clean it all up and then solder it back on. Not a fun process.

I soldered the slats to the top cross bar to keep them in position, then used my big torch to remove the bottom cross bar by heating it all at the same time. The results were really gross and took awhile to clean up:

But it all worked out :

I cleaned it up, and gave it a two day bath in some white vinegar:

And et voilà, it's done and will now rust on the front of this truck until I need to service the servo:

Hope you all enjoyed what was likely the most involved post you'll ever read about a grill on a toy truck. "thumbsup"

 

[4RunnerKid]

this thing is rad 8) great job on the build

 

[OSRC]

Awesome build as usual - fantastic metal work!! Carry on sir!

 

[Highmark]

this thing is rad 8) great job on the build

Thank you - apprecaite the compliment. "thumbsup"

Awesome build as usual - fantastic metal work!! Carry on sir!

Many thanks! We're almost there - I'm working on the interior and a few other details and we'll be ready to roll!

 

[4wd4ws]

Hope you all enjoyed what was likely the most involved post you'll ever read about a grill on a toy truck. "thumbsup"

I most certainly did! "thumbsup"

 

[durok]

Absolutely kick-ass!

Lovin' the heavily modified Creep... all that metalwork, wowzers.

"thumbsup"

 

[Topher Builds]

Wow this is rad. Awesome work all around. Lots of good ideas and execution in here.

Well done!

 

[Szczerba]

Ah ya!!! Looks like a rewarding build making all those cool bits yourself! Looks mean as usual too!

 

[Highmark]

I most certainly did! "thumbsup"

Glad you liked it "thumbsup"

Absolutely kick-ass!

Lovin' the heavily modified Creep... all that metalwork, wowzers.

"thumbsup"

Thanks! Still have a few things to cut up on the creep, but getting close!

Wow this is rad. Awesome work all around. Lots of good ideas and execution in here.

Well done!

Thanks a lot, it's been a lot of work but I think it will be a performer.

Ah ya!!! Looks like a rewarding build making all those cool bits yourself! Looks mean as usual too!

Thanks sir! I guess I'm still a little old-school at heart. I do enjoy the build.

 

[HumboldtEF]

Really nice job with all the metal work, that grill is a nice touch "thumbsup"

So is the Warpig link method done so you can use a shorter screw or is it a size issue? I'm just curious

 

[Highmark]

Many thanks! The Crawl Space links are 4mm which is pretty tiny, but I needed a bit more clearance to clear the pumpkin on the driver side at full compression and the 1/8" rod barely clears everything. The smaller 3mm rod-ends also help it clear the back of the servo horn. Tim runs those links everywhere so I think it should hold up.

 

[R2j]

Nice work Jon! Favorite part is the grille."thumbsup"

 

[Highmark]

Thanks! Appreciate it - that Power Wagon you did a few moons ago was a big inspiration. "thumbsup"

 

[Downfall]

That front end is killing it. Nicely done!

 

[stimpy]

Looks real nice that!.. Do you know what your finished weight is without a battery in?.