CoolRunning
Rock Crawler
Ok...long post...sorry...
I really like my RR as it's a seriously awesome truck but it's limited from the factory. The lack of drag brake and the open diffs kind of soured it a bit for me. I enjoyed it as a basher/racer but that isn't really my thing I've found. I love drifting it at a loose BMX track but that is about the extent of my go fast enjoyment (rock racing up an embankment is extremely cool but you don't necessarily need open diffs or IFS for that IMO). Zooming around fast in the bush or an oval etc seems a bit mindless as well...sorry guys that like this...I found it cool at first but quickly found I like a mix of things which makes life kind of tricky in the RC world.
I also found that the open diffs made the RR far less predictable and grippy than I wanted so I locked the centre diff which was a definite first improvement for me personally. Unfortunately whilst definitely better (it went from totally useless for crawling to simply struggling at any type of crawling) the lack of drag brake meant that it was impossible to go up or down hills with ANY precision...let alone among rocks.
I watch MadRam's and bustedknuckle vids etc on YT and saw some competitive IFS rigs which reminded me a lot of the RR. I figured I've give it a go as I realised I wanted it more as a rock bouncer than only a go fast truck.
I had previously ordered two lockers when I did the centre one as they were only $6 each and decided today to add the drag brake with the stock HW WP SC8 ESC and test it out with various brake settings. I ended up reducing the stock punch of 9 (max) to 5 to give it a little more linear throttle response as it was quite aggressive on 9 (but I didn't want to reduce it too much and heat up the ESC unnecessarily) and maxed out the brake and drag brake. It holds 'ok' but not that well probably due to the weight, high gearing and motor.
It'll roll very very slowly down a 30 degree slope and if stopped it will again continue to roll but it's hugely better than before. You can now work rocks and it doesn't simply roll off or drive you totally insane so you give up this type of driving (as it's impossible without a drag brake).
I tried upping the reverse from 25% to 50% but it's like the punch setting is on max in reverse and it was terribly aggressive. 25% seems controllable.
It still crawled pretty poorly with 3WD though and would just get stuck constantly with the wheel it needed always diffing out.
I then added the last locker.
Handling on dirt at speed, drifting, off the line etc was great. The truck handles like a champ now and is FAR better than with the open diffs...for me. I'm a drift style driver and personally like the locked diffs.
Turning circle radius probably doubled over the 3WD setup with the fully locked drivetrain. I BADLY need a fast servo now as whilst it's still far better than a 3WD Yeti, the slow stock servo and the increased scrub radius has highlighted how slow the servo is and how I need a FAR quicker and more torquey unit.
Crawling was majorly improved.
There is a rock in my yard that whilst not large, makes the SCX10 struggle big time . If you don't get the approach perfect the SCX10 rolls over or digs in and does nothing to climb it. The Bomber works pretty well on this rock but again, you have to pick your points. The RR just crawled straight up it with ease. I was surprised. Stuff the Bomber rolls over sideways on, the RR just cruised over.
From the initial cruising around it's got some serious potential as a bouncer/crawler with way more high speed performance. I'm extremely happy at how these minor mods have changed the truck for the better.
Now to the concerns...will the front diff hold up? I'm honestly not sure and this will be a huge disappointment if it fails. I'm praying for a SSD or MC or VP front bulkhead to be brutally honest.
After heading towards 4 months of mostly 2S usage but about 10-15 3S packs the front diff still looked in mint condition and simply the bearings were just starting to get a touch gritty. It's hit trees and solid things at speed and cartwheeled and nose dived etc loads of times so I figure that was a pretty amazing innings.
I noticed contrary to what I expected (I must have been tired last time I opening it up) that is has helical front gears and not straight cut...hmm...though the RR had straight cuts...
I plan to solely run 2S now to keep it as reliable as possible as it's plenty fast for a bouncer so I'm rather hopeful the guys that have brutalised the BR and RR on 3S have shown it's tough but simply not long term 3S tough; though this damage 'may' simply be from use on grippy surfaces.
I'm hoping it's the high rpm 3S torture anyway that is heating up bearings and making things fail and melt with the housings. Maybe the housings opening up under load is the crux of the problem.
Now, if it is reliable over the next month I will likely consider a sensored setup as it currently cogs like crazy when crawling. I've found that if you drive it a bit like a rock bouncer and keep the wheels speed either at zero or get it moving and at a very very moderate speed (not high in any way) it just drags itself up and there is zero cogging.
I figure with maybe one of the new Castle 2800kv sensored motors and a sensored ESC (Monster X or a big sensored HW) it may end up being a lot of fun in the rocks and still be a killer rock bouncer with a much bigger range of flexibility than stock.
Time will tell I guess...I'll report back how it goes.
I really like my RR as it's a seriously awesome truck but it's limited from the factory. The lack of drag brake and the open diffs kind of soured it a bit for me. I enjoyed it as a basher/racer but that isn't really my thing I've found. I love drifting it at a loose BMX track but that is about the extent of my go fast enjoyment (rock racing up an embankment is extremely cool but you don't necessarily need open diffs or IFS for that IMO). Zooming around fast in the bush or an oval etc seems a bit mindless as well...sorry guys that like this...I found it cool at first but quickly found I like a mix of things which makes life kind of tricky in the RC world.
I also found that the open diffs made the RR far less predictable and grippy than I wanted so I locked the centre diff which was a definite first improvement for me personally. Unfortunately whilst definitely better (it went from totally useless for crawling to simply struggling at any type of crawling) the lack of drag brake meant that it was impossible to go up or down hills with ANY precision...let alone among rocks.
I watch MadRam's and bustedknuckle vids etc on YT and saw some competitive IFS rigs which reminded me a lot of the RR. I figured I've give it a go as I realised I wanted it more as a rock bouncer than only a go fast truck.
I had previously ordered two lockers when I did the centre one as they were only $6 each and decided today to add the drag brake with the stock HW WP SC8 ESC and test it out with various brake settings. I ended up reducing the stock punch of 9 (max) to 5 to give it a little more linear throttle response as it was quite aggressive on 9 (but I didn't want to reduce it too much and heat up the ESC unnecessarily) and maxed out the brake and drag brake. It holds 'ok' but not that well probably due to the weight, high gearing and motor.
It'll roll very very slowly down a 30 degree slope and if stopped it will again continue to roll but it's hugely better than before. You can now work rocks and it doesn't simply roll off or drive you totally insane so you give up this type of driving (as it's impossible without a drag brake).
I tried upping the reverse from 25% to 50% but it's like the punch setting is on max in reverse and it was terribly aggressive. 25% seems controllable.
It still crawled pretty poorly with 3WD though and would just get stuck constantly with the wheel it needed always diffing out.
I then added the last locker.
Handling on dirt at speed, drifting, off the line etc was great. The truck handles like a champ now and is FAR better than with the open diffs...for me. I'm a drift style driver and personally like the locked diffs.
Turning circle radius probably doubled over the 3WD setup with the fully locked drivetrain. I BADLY need a fast servo now as whilst it's still far better than a 3WD Yeti, the slow stock servo and the increased scrub radius has highlighted how slow the servo is and how I need a FAR quicker and more torquey unit.
Crawling was majorly improved.
There is a rock in my yard that whilst not large, makes the SCX10 struggle big time . If you don't get the approach perfect the SCX10 rolls over or digs in and does nothing to climb it. The Bomber works pretty well on this rock but again, you have to pick your points. The RR just crawled straight up it with ease. I was surprised. Stuff the Bomber rolls over sideways on, the RR just cruised over.
From the initial cruising around it's got some serious potential as a bouncer/crawler with way more high speed performance. I'm extremely happy at how these minor mods have changed the truck for the better.
Now to the concerns...will the front diff hold up? I'm honestly not sure and this will be a huge disappointment if it fails. I'm praying for a SSD or MC or VP front bulkhead to be brutally honest.
After heading towards 4 months of mostly 2S usage but about 10-15 3S packs the front diff still looked in mint condition and simply the bearings were just starting to get a touch gritty. It's hit trees and solid things at speed and cartwheeled and nose dived etc loads of times so I figure that was a pretty amazing innings.
I noticed contrary to what I expected (I must have been tired last time I opening it up) that is has helical front gears and not straight cut...hmm...though the RR had straight cuts...
I plan to solely run 2S now to keep it as reliable as possible as it's plenty fast for a bouncer so I'm rather hopeful the guys that have brutalised the BR and RR on 3S have shown it's tough but simply not long term 3S tough; though this damage 'may' simply be from use on grippy surfaces.
I'm hoping it's the high rpm 3S torture anyway that is heating up bearings and making things fail and melt with the housings. Maybe the housings opening up under load is the crux of the problem.
Now, if it is reliable over the next month I will likely consider a sensored setup as it currently cogs like crazy when crawling. I've found that if you drive it a bit like a rock bouncer and keep the wheels speed either at zero or get it moving and at a very very moderate speed (not high in any way) it just drags itself up and there is zero cogging.
I figure with maybe one of the new Castle 2800kv sensored motors and a sensored ESC (Monster X or a big sensored HW) it may end up being a lot of fun in the rocks and still be a killer rock bouncer with a much bigger range of flexibility than stock.
Time will tell I guess...I'll report back how it goes.
