-Lunar Bound- Moon Buggy Build

[HumboldtEF]

I've got a few of those dlux portal transmissions, they are killer! Like you I went from a 2.low to the dlux unit.

I decided to keep the 2.low and use the Dlux Portal tranny in my next build. Looks like I'll need to wait on Capra axles shafts to get re-stocked though. BTW what motor did you use with your Dlux portal tranny? I'm assuming something on the slow side would be best like 1000-1800KV.

Looking good "thumbsup"

Thanks!


I was able to put a few bends in the ESC mount to get the clearance I needed. I cut one end loose to make up for this piece pulling the sides together and then filled the gap with my mig :mrgreen:
I thought I was going to have to move it up much higher and then space the ESC down accordingly but this works much better.

I also did a bit of work to the front servo and servo mount. before I can get to full compression up front the servo horn hits the cage, this limits travel by 5-6mm.


I filed down the VP servo mount around 2mm

Then to get the servo to actually sit lower I extended the mount points on the servo. I 3D printed a jig that uses some metal sleeves so I could use a drill bit without destroying the jig. I also found a lower profile servo horn but when I tried to pull off the VP horn I got the sense I was about to strip out the screw holding it and decided to just live with it.

I got a little bit of crawling in yesterday and I'd forgotten how much I enjoy this rig and 4WS. Unfortunately the rocks at the beach had a ton of wet sand washed up on them so the typical grip was not there. The tires got all sandy which I usually try to avoid but there was no avoiding it yesterday.

 

[Lashlee]

I decided to keep the 2.low and use the Dlux Portal tranny in my next build. Looks like I'll need to wait on Capra axles shafts to get re-stocked though. BTW what motor did you use with your Dlux portal tranny? I'm assuming something on the slow side would be best like 1000-1800KV.

I've got an 1800kv revolver in one, and 2500kv on the other two (one AR45p, two Capra axles). I can certainly use some slower motors since I tried to go higher due to the extra gearing with the 2.low.

 

[octigonwallrus]

nice work man, its funny I happened across your video on Youtube yesterday. I was like I should go over to RCC and check out the build. and here it is already brought back to the top. lol
love it man.

 

[HumboldtEF]

I've got an 1800kv revolver in one, and 2500kv on the other two (one AR45p, two Capra axles). I can certainly use some slower motors since I tried to go higher due to the extra gearing with the 2.low.

Thanks Lashlee, I think I'll go for a 1000kv revolver and if thats too slow I can try different pinions or jump up to 4S.

nice work man, its funny I happened across your video on Youtube yesterday. I was like I should go over to RCC and check out the build. and here it is already brought back to the top. lol
love it man.

lol thats funny, thanks for checking out the build "thumbsup"

 

[cooper_xl]

did you finished this?

 

[HumboldtEF]

did you finished this?

I did finish but... Then I got a great deal on a set of F10 portals

I had been considering F10's as an update and then these popped up. Getting the servo off the pumpkin and tucked behind the axle is way better for performance, looks and packaging. The old F9 axles had clearance issues with the hood and servo.

F9 on the top F10 on the bottom

It also came with the Brass F10 portal knuckle weights (120 g per side). I'm looking forward to some extra front bias which wasn't and easy add on the F9's.

I started swapping things over and had assumed the links would be spot on but no, the pinion sticks way up.

I need to order some shorter upper links and some steering links. I played around with stretching the front links a bit and really like the look but unfortunately ended up with some binding on the shock rod ends since I made it double shear and locked in its angle. So I shortened the front links even more than originally to get the shock better aligned. I also took off the offset shock caps and switched back to the normal caps which also helped improve the alignment.

I didn't get a pic with the offset caps and longer links but it was binding to the point the shock shaft was deflectinga fair bit. The shock seals got super worn and sloppy so I'm rebuilding them with new seals. Also the oil was filthy

I though I would need to swap to a different transmission and smaller driveshafts for clearance but it looks like I mostly need to play around with the links and shocks.

I guess one other area that could need tweaking is the battery tray. The servo wasn't going to clear it by 10mm or so but after swapping the shock caps (which raise the rig a bit) it looks like it will just clear. I may be limited to what I can set the pinion angle to as that determines how much clearance I have or not.

More to come

 

[HumboldtEF]

I got the link lengths figured out and ordered. I decided against shortening the upper links, I'm going to extend the lowers instead so the wheelbase doesnt shrink (as I already shortened the front end). I also ordedred a few extra links so I can hit a 12.5" and 12.75" WB.

In order to get my wheels to fit the VP knuckle weights I had to reduce the OD of the wheel hubs. The knuckle weights have a 24mm hole for the hub and the hub was around 24.5mm.
I found an old rear axle and wheel hex and bolted the wheel hub to that. Put it in my wood lathe and sanded and sanded and sanded until they were down to 23mm. I might have been able to use some of my carbide wood turning tools to do this faster but decided to play it safe.

I also 3D printed a 1mm spacer to go between the hubs and wheels again to clear the VP knuckle weights.

The VP portals have larger 8mm stub shafts and specific wheel hexes to fit them. I had already modified these to knock off the axial step at the ends (to fit my wheels) but I remembered that the drive pins provided are way too short as well. I used those anyway for the past few years and due to the short length they started to dig into the hexes on the side making less contact. This explains why they were so damn hard to remove as the drive pins had created a bump on the Inside of the hole that the stub shafts pass through. I'll try to file that down later.
These really could use a 11.5mm x 2mm drive pin instead of the 10mm x 2mm they provide. I did find some 11mm x 2mm drive pins from Element RC, I'm happy they actually call out the size unlike most parts listings.

 

[HumboldtEF]

After a long delay I finally got some parts in. I picked up some NSDRC low profile servos, VP servo horns, new links, some short Traxxas rod ends and some losi Mini T springs for the Dlux shocks.

I got new (11mm) drive pins for the wheel hex.

The shorter rod ends are for the Dlux shocks, these drop the overall length by about 4mm (2mm on each rod end). I'm tyring to make up for removing the offset caps which reduce the lenght by 11mm. I realize now I could have kept the offset caps if I had turned the shocks upside down and hadn't switched links. Oh well too late now.
You can also see I had to remove a little bit of material from the rod end on the axle side as VP put the mount holes too close to the body of the axle. Maybe their shock rod ends fit but not the Traxxas rod ends.

I worked up a 3D printable skid for the servo. The rear servo would be a pretty bad snag point.

I used longer screws for one side of the servo and I was able to mount the skid with those and 2 nuts. This fits what I assume would be the lowest hanging low profile servo (based on where the mount tabs are). I checked a HH low profile servo and it sat 2-3mm higher. I might work up a shorter skid for that servo down the road.
Since theres not a ton of room to access the nuts its best to back the screws out a bit, get the nuts started then tighten the screws while holding the nuts. All you should need to do at that point is snug the nuts up a bit with a wrench or needle nose pliers. Oh and using a regular nut might be helpful as you dont really want the extra resistance of a nylock.

This is meant mostly for the rear servo but I may use it up front too. I pointed the rear pinion up a bit but not as much on the front axle as I like to maintain some caster. Anyway I may need to alter the design a bit for the front servo skid as it will hang a bit lower due to the pinion angle.

The servo was just barely hitting the battery tray so I raised it up 1mm with a thicker spacer.


The new axles leave me tons of room between the axle and hood so I may work up a grill like I had originally envisioned. I'm considerering trying to make a diffused LED strip for it.

 

[B-MOW71]

Nice to see some progress on this cool build. Nice choice on the F10 axles. They look much better and should perform even better!

 

[cooper_xl]

good stuff!

 

[HumboldtEF]

Nice to see some progress on this cool build. Nice choice on the F10 axles. They look much better and should perform even better!

Thanks Brian!

good stuff!

Thanks Cooper!

I got the grill designed and fitted after a few prototypes.
I didnt want to do it but I drilled out the threads on the mount tabs that hold on the hood. That was the only way I was going to get the grill mounted, my idea of using a nut on the bottom of a long bolt didnt work as it would end up inside the headlight bucket. So I used a longer bolt that goes through the hood, hood mount tab and threads into the grill.

I used some older Axial headlight lenses (from the 2.2 Wraith and some 5 light bar kits)

I've been staring at it up close for maybe a bit too long. I'm thinking it needs something else as it just looks like a floating grill and lights. Maybe I need to take a step back or take it outside and see it in a different light.
Anyway I may design another that adds some tube work to it wrapping around the sides and bottom of it. I may print the grill separate so it can be a different color filament or so it can be painted.
I also though about using a smaller headlight or breaking up the grill with a badge or some other accent.

Any design suggestions would be welcome.

I still need to order some 12v LEDs as I only have warm white LEDs and the light bar is a cool white (blueish) and it would be nice if they didn't clash.
I didnt end up testing any diffused LED accents, I just went with something I know works.


EDIT: I also printed a few in gray which looks decent. This print wasn't cleaned up so there's tons of stringing.

 

[tedo]

absolutely amazing. The grey grill does separate it from the body panels. I like the black better though. color the lenses blue or yellow would look cool.

 

[bgredjeep]

The grill gives it a more european trial buggy look vs a typical comp crawler.

 

[high plains drifter]

Like the black grill better... clear lenses look great but yellow would also work well. Would look great with some tubing around it to frame it in and make it look less vulnerable... even if it's not structural/ simply for aesthetics.

 

[HumboldtEF]

Thanks for the input guys.

I do have some yellow lenses I can try out. Only bummer is the alignement posts on the yellow lenses arent straight with the pattern in the lense like the clear ones, It'll need a small tweak to straighten it out. Although on the plus side yellow lenses would mean I wont need cool LEDs to match my light bar's color temp.

I added some tubing that wraps around the bottom, man tube work (lofts) is such a hassle in Fusion 360 even for the tiny bend on the sides. Again this print isnt cleaned up yet so theres lots of stringing. I'm liking this a bit more. The next thing I think i'll try is to make the grill separate and print it in black

EDIT: here are the yellow lenses

 

[JimrC]

following this in the background, looks awesome so far

 

[HumboldtEF]

I've got the grill where I'm happy with it. I made the center a separate piece and decided to paint both pieces. I incorporated some tabs so they can be glued together.

I'm gambling a bit with the silver paint which is Tamiya PS 12, not really meant for PETG. I used a Tamiya TS primer first, hopefully that allows it to cure fully.
For the black I used an automotive trim black also with a TS primer.

I added in the headlights to my light harness. The sleeving is a bit of a pain to work with. I found you have to sacrifice some length on the smallest size. When sliding it over the LEDs it unraveled but if I held onto the end and scrunched it up to make it expand I was able to get it started and push an intact portion over without it falling apart. Then the hard part is cutting the frayed end down with flush cutters making sure not to actually cut the wires this time.

 

[twade984]

Haven’t checked in on this in a while, it’s looking good

 

[HumboldtEF]

The PS-12 seems to have cured okay although I handled it while it was still tacky and put some finger prints in it. I'm cleaning it up so I can respray a few spots.

 

[high plains drifter]

The PS-12 seems to have cured okay although I handled it while it was still tacky and put some finger prints in it. I'm cleaning it up so I can respray a few spots.

Waiting for paint to fully cure before touching requires the ultimate patience lol. Project looks fantastic... love the grill and surround/ tube aesthetic... and painting the grill black = perfection.