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Anyone else getting a Clod Buster?
- Thread starter usert_l
- Start date
I already have 2 and a extra set of axles for a custom build if i ever get around to it
There alot of fun enjoy your build
There alot of fun enjoy your build
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Oh the good old days of rc lol
BJoe
I wanna be Dave
Got mine in May, been tinkering with it off and on since.
My kit came a couple days ago. This is the first ClodBuster I ever build and the one I got is the special Black Edition. I am currently building the gearboxes. As expected the kit comes with plastic bushings, but I found out that it also has some 6x12mm ball bearings in it as well, which is nice. Anyone familiar with the ClodBuster know that the differentials are open and they spin freely. I don't like the diff to spin free like this, but I also don't want a completely locked diff. either. I want it to be something in between that has sort of a limited slip ability. What I did is adding some sticky grease (bad horsie diff locking grease) to the diff's 2 large bevel gears. I used very little, just enough to sparingly coat the gears' teeth. This grease is super sticky and not at all like the Tamiya's slippery ceramic grease used for lubrication. So I don't want to have any excess of this grease to fling around and mix with the ceramic grease, when the gears get spun up. A second thing I tried is adding a 5 x 8mm rubber O ring to the short axle shaft. What it does is it lightly squeezes the diff's bevel gears together when the gearbox is assembled. This makes the diff locking grease work better to make the diffs more sticky and less free spinning. This hack might be worth a try for anyone else looking for an alternative solution to a completely locked differential.
From my experience with Tamiya kits, I know that the kit supplied pinion tend not to be durable and can wear out fast. So I am ordering some steel 32 pitch pinion gears from Robinson Racing to replace them.
From my experience with Tamiya kits, I know that the kit supplied pinion tend not to be durable and can wear out fast. So I am ordering some steel 32 pitch pinion gears from Robinson Racing to replace them.
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BJoe
I wanna be Dave
I got bearings before starting on mine, same with my Lunchbox, Fast Eddy’s seem to have a great price on them. I’m kinda wanting to build a Dynahead next and if I do, they’re going to be the bearing of choice there too........though that kit seems to be $75 and may have nearly as many bearings as my existing 4 Tamiya’s combined
Interesting. I didn't know the Dynahead uses that many bearings. I could have bought a complete bearing kit for my Clod, but instead I bought the different bearing sizes separately, as I'd like to have some spare. I'm a little short on the 5 x 8mm, so I'm waiting on more of those to be delivered.
Another upgrade I have planned for the Clod is a set of the RC4WD CVDs. They have a wider range of steering angle, good enough that I think I will build my Clod to have just front wheel steering only.
Another upgrade I have planned for the Clod is a set of the RC4WD CVDs. They have a wider range of steering angle, good enough that I think I will build my Clod to have just front wheel steering only.
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BJoe
I wanna be Dave
I was exaggerating some, but it’s all gears from nose to tail and then 6 portal units........it has to at least have more than my Clod and Lb if not the Clod and MF-01x combined :ror:"thumbsup"
Today I tried installing the RC4WD CVDs but they don't quite fit right. Can't get the steering knuckles to bolt up with them in. I was a little bummed about that. Also, the steering knuckles have limiters on them, and can only rotate about 15 degrees in each direction. So my next build "hack" is to remove the limiters. The slots in the wheel axles where the dog bone ends go in will probably need to be modified to allow for more steering angle and not bind up easily. I wonder how wide the stock steering radius is. I'd imagine it's not much fun to drive the Clod with that limited amount of steering. Hopefully I can get this done tomorrow and see how much I can improve it.
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BJoe
I wanna be Dave
Here’s mine bombing around the living room, only steering mod is a Hudy servo arm that is longer and allows for more throw on the rear steer. That, bearings, and not using the electronics tray that it came with are the only “mods” my truck has.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dU4qDJ0jdz8
Sorry, can’t get the embed to work this morning.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dU4qDJ0jdz8
Sorry, can’t get the embed to work this morning.
BJoe
I wanna be Dave
No problem, I ended up using the outer hole on the arm I bought for the rear steer and inner hole for the front. Sent those to a friend who got me to buy this one and it shocked him with how much tighter the steering on mine was compared to his.
Still want to go to servos mounted to the axles then independent rear steer on mine though
Before I forget, here’s the servo and arm I’m using"thumbsup"
https://www.amainhobbies.com/spektr...gh-torque-low-profile-servo-spmss6230/p449417
https://www.amainhobbies.com/hudy-1...n-23tko-jr-sanwa-airtronics-hud293504/p179871
Still want to go to servos mounted to the axles then independent rear steer on mine though
Before I forget, here’s the servo and arm I’m using"thumbsup"
https://www.amainhobbies.com/spektr...gh-torque-low-profile-servo-spmss6230/p449417
https://www.amainhobbies.com/hudy-1...n-23tko-jr-sanwa-airtronics-hud293504/p179871
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I cut the limiters off the knuckles, so that give them about 10-15 degrees more steering. The dogbone shaft and axle drive cup do bind up at the max angles. I modified all the axle drive cups to eliminate the binding. All this extra work is probably not necessary, as the stock AWS steering setup isn't that terrible. But I decided to do it anyway.
The kit uses ball connectors that are made from brass I think. Probably good and strong enough for most people. I decided that I would use separate 6mm pivot balls and steel M3 screws instead.
The kit uses ball connectors that are made from brass I think. Probably good and strong enough for most people. I decided that I would use separate 6mm pivot balls and steel M3 screws instead.
Getting an Airtronics servo for steering duty. I decided to get the ERS-963. It has 282 oz-in torque spec, should be good enough to turn the Clod's giant tires with authority. By the way, I tried putting one tire on the wheel today. It was pretty hard to stretch the rubber, and make it fit on the rim's grooves. The Clod's tires are by far the biggest I've ever seen in any RC car. Do you really need to glue the tire and rim together? They seem to fit tight enough as is.
For motors I am getting 2 HH TorqueMaster Expert 27T. For some time I thought about sticking with the kit motors, and keep this build under a smaller budget. But given that these Mabuchi motors are very low cost, I probably would want to upgrade them soon. The HH Expert 27T will probably have similar speed to the kit motors, but they put out more torque and higher efficiency. Hope the kit ESC can handle them without issues. We'll see.
For motors I am getting 2 HH TorqueMaster Expert 27T. For some time I thought about sticking with the kit motors, and keep this build under a smaller budget. But given that these Mabuchi motors are very low cost, I probably would want to upgrade them soon. The HH Expert 27T will probably have similar speed to the kit motors, but they put out more torque and higher efficiency. Hope the kit ESC can handle them without issues. We'll see.
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BJoe
I wanna be Dave
I’m not sure if I’m going to glue mine, since they were a PITA to get on the rim and I don’t want to scratch the finish. The Holmes motors are something I would consider too, though I’ll probably do shocks and axle mounts for the servos before that. I am impressed with how strong the servo I have is and how easily it turns all 4, probably will get a 2nd one for the rear axle when I do that mod.
Been working on the body for a few days. I didn't paint it, but I did some touch up in some areas like the door handles, signal lights, and tail lights (there are stickers included in the kit for this that I didn't know). I don't like the chrome look too much on the super charger and roll bar. I was going to sand the chrome finish off these plastic parts, and paint them. But I found that you can use oven cleaner to strip the chrome off plastic parts. I bought a can of Easy Off Heavy Duty oven cleaner from Home Depot, and it did the job. I had to leave it overnight, for it to completely dissolve the chrome off all the parts. I painted the super charger black, and the roll bar red. I think these parts now look better and enhance the black/red color theme of this kit. On the headlight clear lenses, I used a little bit of epoxy around the edges to sort of glue them in place, so they stay more secure.
That's it for now. I have the HH motors but still waiting for the pinion gears, because of shipping delay.
That's it for now. I have the HH motors but still waiting for the pinion gears, because of shipping delay.
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ScaleLifeNewbie
I wanna be Dave
I use Tapatalk. It’s an app you download on your phone and you access the forums through there and can post pictures. Super easy to do and it’s free.
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