Highmark
I wanna be Dave
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:
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:
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