Enduro Kit, Jim

[AnimalHippie]

Casey, amazing work brother! Really digging what you came up with! How's the 3d printed cage hold up to tumbles? I've been trying to design a cage for the back of my Nukizer/Trx truggy with fusion 360. Learning CAD from YouTube and trail and error has been interesting. Have a couple buddies doing cool things with their 3d printers. so I figured I'd try to design something cool. I've gotten a bunch done on it but still probably have a few hours tweeking the details. Keep up the great work! "thumbsup"

 

[HumboldtEF]

I really like how JimBob turned out!"thumbsup" It looked really good out on the rocks in the video!

Can't wait to see what cool things you do to the Trail King!;-)

Thanks. I cant wait to get the Trail King going either, I'm resisting the urge to drive it without a body :x

Casey, amazing work brother! Really digging what you came up with! How's the 3d printed cage hold up to tumbles? I've been trying to design a cage for the back of my Nukizer/Trx truggy with fusion 360. Learning CAD from YouTube and trail and error has been interesting. Have a couple buddies doing cool things with their 3d printers. so I figured I'd try to design something cool. I've gotten a bunch done on it but still probably have a few hours tweeking the details. Keep up the great work! "thumbsup"

Thanks Justin. I haven't really taken a big tumble to be able to test the cage yet, I'm still babying it. But I really haven't broken much thats been printed in PETG for 1:10 scale, a few micro parts have broken though but they were very thin and meant to be light not strong. I almost always use 100% infill and try to design things a bit beefier so they have a chance of holding up.
Good luck with your cage, they can be a bit challenging.


I'm sure you've run across Lars Christensen on youtube but If not look him up, he has tons of great fusion 360 tutorials.
https://www.youtube.com/user/cadcamstuff

 

[soze]

Nice work man!

 

[HumboldtEF]

Thanks Soze!

A few little updates, I got the Brass Wheel hexs for the stock RTR wheels (they're finally in stock) to add a tiny bit of weight. The wheels are still on the light side and I dont drive it like a comp truck so it doesn't see much bashing to make me worry about rotating mass. I'm hoping for some SSD weighted knuckles to come soon as well.

I went back and changed my front pinion angle after a reminder that CV's should point to the transfer case and only universals should be parallel with the ground (though its just RC and it really doesn't matter a ton). The reason I did this originally was to get some caster up front but I found another way to get it.

Before

After

To get there I put the original rod ends back on the upper link (I had cut the rod ends down) to make it the stock length and then unthreaded each until I had the (pinion) angle I was after. I put the steering link on top of the knuckle mount (stock is below), this gets it out of the way of the pinion/driveshaft.

I had to make a new panhard bar to clear the truss on the axle. I used a straight threaded M3 rod from LURC (they sell 2 straight versions I used the long one) and bent it to clear.

The rod ends on the panhard were long angled ends from RC4WD, angled down on the chassis side and angled forward on the axle side (to clear the coil overs)

You can also see at full lock the knuckle touches the screw mounting the panhard, this means you cant simply space it forward to clear the truss (I tried spacing it out and found a lot less steering on the left side).

You can see how close the rod end is to the coil overs here.

And here we have a fair amount of caster maybe 18-20 degrees

It is a bit of a balancing act with how long the upper links are, your pinion angle and how much caster you dial in. For those not familiar Caster is achieved by clocking the C hubs like in the pic above, more caster can help with steering and providing a bit of extra grip when cresting a steep rock and turning at the same time. Too much caster can lead to the tires rubbing the links (I still have 1/4" to spare before hitting the links at full lock). I cant see any noticeable bump steer after the changes.

 

[Cesco]

That's looking awesome! Love the body choice.

 

[HumboldtEF]

I just posted up the STL file for the Lowered battery tray on Thingiverse for anyone interesting in printing one. Its the shorty version, I haven't heard anyone ask for the long version.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3859065

more info here http://www.rccrawler.com/forum/elem...dero/610336-enduro-kit-jim-4.html#post5957617

That's looking awesome! Love the body choice.

Thanks, I really wanted to make the Jimny body work. I'm very please that I got it to work out.

 

[HumboldtEF]

I just picked up a set of Beeftubes for both the front and rear. I ended up needing to do a few mods to get the REAR to work, I dont know if this an oversight on Beeftubes part or what.
EDIT: Taking down the flange is not an oversight apparently, its mentioned in the instructions if you hunt them down (It would be nice if they mentioned that there ARE instructions available and maybe even where to find them!!)


First issue, you cant just slide the stock axles in.

The inner most flange needs to be removed so it can slide in. I chucked it up in a drill and took a file to it.

The next issue, the size of the bore is too small when combined with the slightly wobbly stock spool. As the spool spins with its slight wobble the axle shaft rubs against the inside of the Beeftube insert causing it to bind.

Removing the inserts is simple, just 3 screws on each side. After removing them I clamped them in a wood jawed vice (dont use too much force or it may warp since its brass and hollow).

These come bored at 5mm on the inner side (the outer portion is bored at 5.5mm) so I stepped the whole bore up to 5.5mm which helped but I needed more clearance.

It looked like it was rubbing the inner portion so I marked it up with a permanent marker and spun it to get a mark which ended up being 4mm from the flat spots.
Then I drilled out the insert again using a 15/64" drill bit which is just under 6mm, this time I drilled from the inside and stopped about 5mm in.

Now its spinning freely. How much you may need to drill yours out is likely to vary.

Now to do the front axle, hopefully its the same as the rear.
EDIT: The front went together without any issues "thumbsup"

I can see these axles aren't bored out much at all for these inserts so its not like the holes are off from the drilling process.

 

[soze]

I thought the Beeftubes only got sold with it pre-installed in the axle housing?

 

[mikemcE]

I thought the Beeftubes only got sold with it pre-installed in the axle housing?

That’s what I was told, I put one in the front with SSD knuckles and all fits perfectly.

Hang up and Drive

 

[HumboldtEF]

I thought the Beeftubes only got sold with it pre-installed in the axle housing?

Yes that's how I got it, I just took it apart to get it to work. Its only screwed in place so removal is easy.



Now that I think a bit more about the front wont be the same, it should be less work to get... working. Front drive shafts dont have the 2 flanges so that wont be an issue. At the most is should just need a larger bore if the spool is wobbly like the rear.

EDIT: I guess the majority of folks just get the front so maybe the rear just didn't get tested

 

[gerG]

I just installed front and rear Beef Tubes Element hard axles a couple days ago. I did have to grind the inner flange, but I did not have any binding. Glad you were able to figure out a fix.

There is mention of reducing the inner flange on the rear axle somewhere on the Beef Tubes website, I saw it before I ordered them.

 

[HumboldtEF]

Good to know it worked out for you. I have a feeling its different for everyone based on how true the axle was molded.

I just found the instructions page and they do mention taking some of the flange down for the rear https://www.beeftubes.com/element-instructions.html

I think they should make this more known in the notes of the product page or mention to go to their website for instructions on the packaging. I didn't even know that they had an instructions section, I was looking at their product page for help.

Side note they mention "DO NOT TOTALLY REMOVE THE FLANGE" which of coarse I did but I see no purpose for the flange as its not locating any bearing or anything. Anyone have any insight on why they'd say this?

 

[mikemcE]

I seem to remember this from my AR60 stock housings and beef tubes.
I did see that on FB with Dan Davidson


Hang up and Drive

 

[Lashlee]

This is good to know. I should have the Beef Tubes hard front under the Christmas tree so I'll look forward to installing it.

 

[HumboldtEF]

Well I got a bit rowdy on the rocks last night testing some softer springs and well this happened

It also took the link mount with it.

This is actually the first time I've popped a link off.

Looking inside the rod end it almost appears like the rod end never threaded into it, its clean and smooth with only a small ridge where the threads dug in.

I then wondered how much thread grab these rods had. I measured them and came up with about .12mm or so of thread grab which is pretty terrible. The rod ends are to blame for that.
In comparison a Traxxas TRX4 rod end provides .32mm of thread grab, a much better number.


Rod ends used on the upper links for the TRX4 seem like a decent replacement, they have the same bend and a similar length.

Traxxas rod on left stock on right.

I decided to try out Beeftubes XXL Beefsticks as I'd like a bit more weigh down low.



I also forgot to mention I installed the SSD aluminum diff covers, I considered the brass cover but though it might be too soft (still not sure if its softer or not). Oh and now I have 3 colors on my axle lol, I'm wondering it silver might look better because of the hard housing being gray?

The rear cover had one minor issue I decided to remedy, it hangs down past the plastic axle housing just a hair. Enough to get caught on the rocks. So instead of waiting for the rocks clearance it it I took a file to it and made it flush myself.

The extra weigh from the Beeftubes was noticeable, I was able to climb with ease a particular area that it use to reach its tipping point at. Though I'd like to add a little bit more weight. I also need new link mounts so I ordered SSD's brass version. I'm trying to avoid getting the brass knuckles which seem like a bit too much weight to me.
I'm also thinking of swapping out the metal transfer case gears for the plastic ones, those metal gears are solid chucks of steel and super heavy.

This is good to know. I should have the Beef Tubes hard front under the Christmas tree so I'll look forward to installing it.

Just keep in mind this was only for the rear, the front went together with no issues or modifications "thumbsup"

 

[terrible]

I've had some similar issues with the stock rod ends. I'm going to buy a pack of them and try boiling for a few minutes before installing them. But I think the best solution would be links with heavier (deeper) threading.

 

[HumboldtEF]

Turkey day came and left and well JimBob put on some weight Lots of Beef though not much Turkey.


It started with the Beeftubes on Post #87



Then I picked up the Beeftubes XXL Meat sticks

It comes with some fatty lower links and delrin uppers, I was unsure whether I'd use the uppers but in the rear at least you need to because of the bent lowers. It my first time trying "high clearance" links and they seem really useful, not sure why I never tried them before.

I swapped links mainly because I discovered how little the stock rod ends hold threads (.1mm of grab).
I noticed the Element RC has Factory team high clearance links too, just get some better rod ends if you go that route.


Because the bent rear links leave the driveshaft and pinion exposed I extend the rear upper links with some TRX4 rod ends on both ends of each upper link. These rod ends are 3.5mm longer, I stopped at the end of the threads and rod, you can go farther.

This tilted the pinion and driveshaft up out of the way. It looks a bit extreme but its not too far off what a CVD should be. CVD joints prefer pointing at the other end where universals like equal and opposite angles though with RC it matters far less than in the real world.

This angle on the diff left a very square edge on the diff cover as the first thing to drag, out with the file again. I'd rather file it down myself then wait on the rocks to do it.

I also got a set of SSD's Brass lower link mounts to replace my cracked one.

As I mentioned earlier I'm trying to avoid throwing the brass knuckles on and I think I've gotten to a point I dont need them. This does leave me hoping that someone will make aluminum knuckles though, We have the C-hubs so Halfway there.



I tested out a set of the JConcepts Landmines and they did awesome with old JimBob. I switched back to the MTR's to compare and the Landmines have just a bit more grip on the rocks. Both sets are running pretty soft foams.

The balance feels much improved, It was already good but I always want to go a bit steeper. Its able to better keep the nose down on steeper climbs and its not so porky that it has to bash its way up some harder lines like my portly TRX4 :mrgreen:.


I'm really happy with JimBob right now "thumbsup"

The only thing I'm thinking after trying them is another set of Landmines so Jimbob can keep them, they felt pretty awesome.

I've had some similar issues with the stock rod ends. I'm going to buy a pack of them and try boiling for a few minutes before installing them. But I think the best solution would be links with heavier (deeper) threading.

I have a feeling the issue is the inner diameter of the stock rod ends. The only way to get more bite is with a different rod end. Really the TRX4 rods were a great match, the do have a smaller ID which is good and they're very close in length so shouldn't need too much fiddling around with the lengths.

 

[antigacho]

I just posted up the STL file for the Lowered battery tray on Thingiverse for anyone interesting in printing one. Its the shorty version, I haven't heard anyone ask for the long version.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3859065
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thanks for sharing it would be useful

 

[HumboldtEF]

Now that I'm an owner I'm just discovering this thread. So much great intel. It's good to know for instance that when my tie rod sits on the u-joint it is not alone.

I just posted up the STL file for the Lowered battery tray on Thingiverse for anyone interesting in printing one. Its the shorty version, I haven't heard anyone ask for the long version.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3859065
[/url]



thanks for sharing it would be useful

No problem I'm happy to help "thumbsup"

 

[terrible]

Bringing this one back just to say I'm printing your shorty battery mount. I think it will work well in my jeep project. Nice work!