Jesterhead's R1 Build

[Jesterhead777]

First hobby grade R/C for me, so I figured I'll make a build log on it. Plan to get some nice options parts throughout this next year, so I'll probably keep it going.

On order:

Tekin FX-R ESC
Tekin T35 Pro motor
Savox 1283SG servo
Spektrum DX3C
Castle BEC

Already got a roller built, so here's a few photos of the build:

Had an issue were the wheel axle was binding up when the knuckles were hard over either way. Had to take a file to it and clean up some burrs to get it to turn without binding.

I hear lots of people saying that the R1 likes to pop the shafts like crazy, but they look pretty good to me. I noticed GMade had a new pg 14 stapled into the instruction manual. Looks like the shafts have been redesigned slightly from the old pg 14 underneath. Maybe this change toughened them up a bit.

These links were a pain to thread together, but man! They look and feel pretty beefy!

Starting to look like a crawler now!

 

[Jesterhead777]

Shocks up next!

A lot of people saying that the G-Transitions leak like a siv, but mine have been pretty dry so far. I made sure to tighten them with an actual wrench instead of the silly little tool they supplied. About a quarter turn more than their tool let me seal them up nicely!

Showing off the flex! :roll:

Started spraying the lexan body panels, just going with a simple orange and while pattern. I Build/paint scale models, so this was one of the few parts I was totally comfortable/familiar with!

Got my lipo locally, and the BEC shipped separately from my main electronics order, so these are the only guts I have for the rig yet!

Post office is holding my main order, so I'll run over and grab them before I head to work tomorrow.

Going to dig into soldering everything up this weekend! Wish me luck!!

 

[supermoturd]

Looks good!

 

[Jesterhead777]

It's like Christmas morning up in here! Electronics are here!

Picked these up before work. Can't wait to get home to tear into everything!

 

[Jesterhead777]

Well, got this rig all buttoned up tonight! Not the hottest soldering job I've ever seen, but it works! I foresee myself redoing the wiring on this in the not too distant future.

Nothing burned up and no LiPo fires, so not a bad first day! :ror:

Here she is:

Got a little happy with the soldering iron, and mangled my ESC....

Whoops! :roll:

ESC functions fine, and the damage is just cosmetic. But still! This thing hasn't even seen dirt yet and it's already showing damage. :ror:

Ran one pack through it just cruising around my apartment tonight, a few things to note:

-Drive shafts: Wow, everyone was right. I popped the rear shaft THREE times just putting around! Though I think the E clip was worn out/no good. All three times it was the rear shaft, the front shaft worked great the entire time. I've replaced the rear E clip, so maybe that will toughen it up. Either way, I have a feeling I'll be ordering the Jun Fac hardened shafts soon.

-Links: These love to loosen up quick with mild use. I'll need to hit these up with some lock-tite.

-Turning radius: Yikes! this thing handles like the Canyonero from The Simpsons. Might be able to squeak a little more outta this servo once I tune my transmitter up properly. Rear steering kit is looking more and more promising now.


The FXR +35T seem very smooth, with plenty of power to crawl. If the weather clears up tomorrow, I'll be able to get out to really dig into the R1.

Any tuning tips you guys suggest for the R1?

 

[BadWagon]

Hey bud it's looking good so far.

Get the battery relocation kit and move the battery to the front axle. You'll also want to add weight the front tires. I have my shocks in droop mode to lower the cog.

The derlin skid and bent links are also a great upgrade. I'd scoop up new tires as the big horns aren't very good tires.

Have fun with it.

 

[Jesterhead777]

I'd scoop up new tires as the big horns aren't very good tires.

What tires would you recommend? I notice lots of people running Jconcepts Rocx on their R1s. Are these generally considered the best tire for crawling? Or does it really depending on the situation/terrain?

 

[supermoturd]

I am digging the orange. I picked up a can of orange paint myself. And yes the steering is aweful on these things. There is a knuckle mod you can do. And you should play around with repositioning the front links to make sure you have a good caster angle (you want your steering servo to be parallel to the floor instead of tilted forward) 4WS and the 7 degree c-hubs are really the only steering upgrades that gmade/junfac offer since they discontinued their dig kit. You could do what some of us have done and squeeze transmissions/dig units from other manufacturers (viz. Axial and RC4WD) into your rig.

 

[Jesterhead777]

I am digging the orange. I picked up a can of orange paint myself. And yes the steering is aweful on these things. There is a knuckle mod you can do. And you should play around with repositioning the front links to make sure you have a good caster angle (you want your steering servo to be parallel to the floor instead of tilted forward) 4WS and the 7 degree c-hubs are really the only steering upgrades that gmade/junfac offer since they discontinued their dig kit. You could do what some of us have done and squeeze transmissions/dig units from other manufacturers (viz. Axial and RC4WD) into your rig.

What is the actual benefit of the 7 degree C-hubs? Other than just being aluminium, and tougher than the stock plastic ones.

 

[BadWagon]

The 7 degree c-hubs give you more throw (steering angle). So far I haven't found the steering to be an issue, but I'm sure it will.

 

[BadWagon]

As far as which tires, well that's a discussion to which I doubt you'll get a solid answer. I went with the RC4WD 2.2 Rock Crusher XTs. They aren't as good as a full on comp tire, but they are sticky and look wicked. Just a big burly tire. I'm digging them so far, but again I haven't really crawled much with this rig yet.

Here's a pic of my R1 right after the initial build. I've since relocated the battery, and added bent links and the derlin skid. I've got the rear steer kit and DH comp wheels to put on, just waiting on the hubs to arrive.

 

[supermoturd]

What is the actual benefit of the 7 degree C-hubs? Other than just being aluminium, and tougher than the stock plastic ones.

The 7 degree c-hub offers two advantages. First, it provides a positive increase in caster angle, which orients the front wheels in a way that facilitates enhanced steering effectiveness. In addition, the gain in positive caster angle allows the angle between the front driveshaft and the input shaft (pinion shaft) to the differential to be reduced. This is accomplished via installation of the provided front, upper suspension links, which are longer than the stock upper links. The reduction in the angle between the driveshaft and pinion shaft (pinion angle) results in a decrease in the rotational resistance of the drivetrain as well as a reduction in the stress at the u-joint between the driveshaft and pinion shaft. I chose not to install the replacement upper links, which bought me some additional positive caster at the expense of a reduction in pinion angle. I felt that the tradeoff was worth while due to the fact that my pinion angle was not all that bad to begin with. In fact, I chose to further improve my caster angle (again at the expense of more favorable pinion angle) by shifting the mounting points of my front upper links rearward on the chassis. The overall result was a noticeable (albeit modest) improvement in steering performance. The Gmade R1 suffers from abhorant steering performance and is nearly undriveable without the addition of front dig and/or four-wheel steering.

 

[Jesterhead777]

Thanks everyone, some really great advice!

I'll probably grab the bent lower links, delrin skid plate, and the hardened drive shafts from Jun Fac pretty quickly.

This is accomplished via installation of the provided front, upper suspension links, which are longer than the stock upper links.

I noticed them in photos form Gmade, but I didn't realize that they were upper links before now. I get it now, thanks!

Those Rock Crusher 2.2's look really great on the R1. I think I might have to grab some in the not too distant future.

The weather has been awful around here lately, so as soon and the rain lets up, I'll be getting this truck out! There's a lot of development around where I live, so I've spied a few nice looking spots to crawl!

 

[supermoturd]

The weather was glorious down here in Portsmouth today.

As for tires, I have the Hot Bodies Rovers, which fit the Gmade wheels nicely.

 

[Jesterhead777]

Had the body panels off this to locktite the upper links, so I can get this thing outside.(Man! what a pain to work on! I'll have to looking using zipties or super gluing the nuts onto the inside of the body cage in the future). Just as I was finished, I looked out and noticed that we had gotten 15cm+ of snow! Looks like I'll have to let the weather warm up again and melt the snow before I can even see any rocks to crawl on!

 

[SLYKY09]

i like the G1 awesome build.