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Making a Rock Rey a rock bouncer

CoolRunning

Rock Crawler
Joined
Jan 3, 2017
Messages
521
Location
DownUnner
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.
 
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.



This is all great news cool running and I'm pleased to hear your results so far , this is exactly what I'm aiming for too although I haven't locked the front just filled it with 1m and it seems pretty stiff , I'm considering switching it out for badhorsie tho and wonder if that would improve the stiffness ??

I'm sure there will be bulkheads slowly under design for it ,there is the HR link mount which will help stiffen the front bulkhead,

I'm currently looking at fabbing the front shock tower as it's going to be awhile till they are released and I would like a bit more weight over the front ,but I'm thing the front lower section that finally links to the cage will also be up for some fabbing first just to get the cobwebs blown away as it's been awhile since I last picked up my torch lol

Iv recently installed the 1410 sensored motor and that is very controllable at low speed so the pieces are finally falling into place lol

Iv seen on fb some guy who has slimed the body mounts aswell and installed ali body panels which looks really good and will definitely help with getting through tight gaps , the HR cups will be here soon and can't wait to get it all fitted as it's spent more time sitting still in the last month due to this issue ,.....anyway looking forward to the next post [emoji106]either from you or the actual postman lol [emoji23]




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As you've probably seen my RR is set up for crawling, sensored 550 can motor, mamba X motor. I locked the center but put locking diff grease in the front. Still allows for slip in binds but gives enough friction to overcome obstacles. Thing crawls like a spider monkey lol
 
I've been doing a little crawling with my locked up RR and comparing it further to the SCX10 and Bomber.

Even with the cog mad Fuze motor, the truck 'crawls' like a an absolute champ. If you've ever watched any rock bouncer vids, it's basically the same process; it's not like a super slow, 'proper' crawler but it's also not like going at it full tilt like a formula offroad truck either. You get the wheels moving slowly so it's not cogging and it's off.

The SCX10 isn't by any stretch some high end unit but it's a 4 link all round, it's got a good brushed 550 motor combo and metal rear links and the thing struggles terribly where the RR just goes without any issue.

It takes about 1/3 as long to get up a passage of some rocks or dirt or loose fill in the RR as it does the SCX10 going as slow as the RR can go. If you go into 1400hp rock bouncer 'mode' and get aggro, the RR either just screams up these obstacles like a RB or quickly scoots right off line but whilst it's different for sure, it's extremely effective.

Wet grass on a slope, the SCX10 just turns the wheels and doesn't even move; RR just cruises up without fuss.

It's also a far better bouncer than my Bomber too. I'm thinking it's likely a combination of the weight, the long wheelbase and sizable width and naturally the big tyres. It's really quite impressive.

A sensored system would make it a seriously good slow crawler. I wonder how it would go with a slick sensored system allowing fantastic slow speed control. The OEM HW ESC drag brake works great too. It's not a vice by any means but it transforms the truck.

Atm, I'm actually not sure if I will ultimately go sensored. Running a cogger motor is different which gives the RR a 'crawling' speed more akin to the bouncers but I kind of like it. Again, I'll need to monitor the reliability aspect too and think more about it as going sensored is expensive (I'd be nervous running a HW ESC which wasn't waterproof - none of their sensored ESCs are).

My son tried his Yeti on the same stuff and it was either a bash fest to get up the same thing or it just beached itself. It needs a proper 100% drag brake (as the MAX10 SCT ESC only has a 16% drag brake option - which is odd), so a new ESC is in order (wish I saw this before I bought the ESC as it's a great ESC otherwise - strange limitation!) a locker and then fancy dogbones/CVDs all of which won't be cheap (beefy CVDs like MC which won't pretzel themselves will be pretty costly by themselves).
 
I'm sure there will be bulkheads slowly under design for it ,there is the HR link mount which will help stiffen the front bulkhead,


I wonder if it's not possible to stick the SCTE 2.0 front bulkhead in there. Not checked but I think the gearing is near enough the same and will easily handle 3S.
 
I've been doing a little crawling with my locked up RR and comparing it further to the SCX10 and Bomber.

Even with the cog mad Fuze motor, the truck 'crawls' like a an absolute champ. If you've ever watched any rock bouncer vids, it's basically the same process; it's not like a super slow, 'proper' crawler but it's also not like going at it full tilt like a formula offroad truck either. You get the wheels moving slowly so it's not cogging and it's off.

The SCX10 isn't by any stretch some high end unit but it's a 4 link all round, it's got a good brushed 550 motor combo and metal rear links and the thing struggles terribly where the RR just goes without any issue.

It takes about 1/3 as long to get up a passage of some rocks or dirt or loose fill in the RR as it does the SCX10 going as slow as the RR can go. If you go into 1400hp rock bouncer 'mode' and get aggro, the RR either just screams up these obstacles like a RB or quickly scoots right off line but whilst it's different for sure, it's extremely effective.

Wet grass on a slope, the SCX10 just turns the wheels and doesn't even move; RR just cruises up without fuss.

It's also a far better bouncer than my Bomber too. I'm thinking it's likely a combination of the weight, the long wheelbase and sizable width and naturally the big tyres. It's really quite impressive.

A sensored system would make it a seriously good slow crawler. I wonder how it would go with a slick sensored system allowing fantastic slow speed control. The OEM HW ESC drag brake works great too. It's not a vice by any means but it transforms the truck.

Atm, I'm actually not sure if I will ultimately go sensored. Running a cogger motor is different which gives the RR a 'crawling' speed more akin to the bouncers but I kind of like it. Again, I'll need to monitor the reliability aspect too and think more about it as going sensored is expensive (I'd be nervous running a HW ESC which wasn't waterproof - none of their sensored ESCs are).

My son tried his Yeti on the same stuff and it was either a bash fest to get up the same thing or it just beached itself. It needs a proper 100% drag brake (as the MAX10 SCT ESC only has a 16% drag brake option - which is odd), so a new ESC is in order (wish I saw this before I bought the ESC as it's a great ESC otherwise - strange limitation!) a locker and then fancy dogbones/CVDs all of which won't be cheap (beefy CVDs like MC which won't pretzel themselves will be pretty costly by themselves).
Yes before I even had mine locked up it was climbing rocks, hills, obstacles, Vetter unapproachable with my fully built bomber and SCX10 II. The bomber just rolls every time and attend to wheelbase just isn't right but RR will make stuff look easy in current situations that by not using its wheel speed. I had my front locked and snapped a front axle pretty quickly period I'm going to dip fluid and also hoping someone makes something that can handle a locked front

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Cheers geauxktm for the feedback.

I have to say that your breakage was surprising. I would not have expected the front axle or uni/driveshaft to break simply because it's very beefy and heavy duty. Have you had any bad crashes or cartwheels across the ground?

I've run mine into trees and rocks and logs and nothing has broken a driveshaft yet. I figured the diff would be the weak link here...I wonder if anyone else has broken an axle etc.

Could you let us know if it was the axle stub that broke or an actual universal or the plastic driveshaft?

Yes before I even had mine locked up it was climbing rocks, hills, obstacles, Vetter unapproachable with my fully built bomber and SCX10 II. The bomber just rolls every time and attend to wheelbase just isn't right but RR will make stuff look easy in current situations that by not using its wheel speed. I had my front locked and snapped a front axle pretty quickly period I'm going to dip fluid and also hoping someone makes something that can handle a locked front

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Funny how super long pointless quotes kill a thread… :ror:
 
Thanks for the thorough and informative posts, I've been looking at the RR for my next rig.




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Did some actual crawling tonight at a spot where you have to be careful with a proper crawler. Lines our Bomber and SCX10 do carefully, the locked up Rock Rey was able to go surprisingly. It made every single bit of the crawl area, even where the SCX10 and Bomber have actually failed to go though it often used a shed load more wheel speed to do it (it was a times far more tricky where the crawlers can go super slow and carefully). Didn't get to much cogging surprisingly as with the punch level dropped down you can run with a tiny amount of throttle and even just get the wheels spinning slightly the whole way up a climb if it's tricky (the SCX10/Bomber have to sometimes do the same thing).

Nothing got hot, it took some decent tumbles but was so much easier to recover mid roll unlike the Axials that go into mad spins as they roll down a hill.

I think I need: new tyres as the Yeti with PL G8 super swampers had some serious grip in comparison (it's also now got a locked front) and a WAY stronger servo or some aluminium steers bits...the steering goes every which way but straight when you going up a hill spinning the wheels moderately with a full locked up RR. I think it might be the steering rather than the servo but I've got to start somewhere I guess.

My son was really surprised how the Yeti and RR have gone from totally hopeless at going anywhere that ever resembles crawling to being pretty handy rock bouncers. The drag brake makes a huge difference and I would not go back to not having a drag brake on these trucks now. Basically it's essentially the same as using a brake but with simply reducing the throttle instead of going back for the brake and once you let go, your truck doesn't decide to roll down a hill or crash in the middle of something tricky.
 
Nice one cool running , what percentage do you have the drag break set to ?

It does make a really capable crawler /bouncer when set up right Im still going to keep it open in the front though ,
Iv got some hudy super diff grease to put in there when I switch to the HR diff cups and heavy 12:9 screws .

I initials set the mamba x to 100 percent and it sheared the diff screws I'm in the process of doing a slow tear down , doing some aluminium body panels and taking my time savouring the designing element of it , once that sorted tho I'm going to try the drag break again but do it 10% at a time and test then a bit more and so on lol.

That's good that it doesn't seem to over work the motor aswell ,
Iv noticed quite a bit of slop in the steering rack too I think the bushes are starting to wear against the screw shaft creating slop once I do the final strip down I'll see what there is maybe some brass bushes would be more suitable .

It's all very positive and looking forward to finally getting where it should be lol

This is my panel work so far mocked up with cardboard and aluminium tape to keep every thing where it should be
[emoji106]
8f81b12c81390fa54eedff354fe28bd2.jpg

Planning on installing the vp 1" led in the front for more light [emoji4]

More to come when I get some more time [emoji16]
Ps don't apologise for the long post it's more interesting than a few lines and an insight into what everyone is getting up to [emoji106]


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Cheers geauxktm for the feedback.

I have to say that your breakage was surprising. I would not have expected the front axle or uni/driveshaft to break simply because it's very beefy and heavy duty. Have you had any bad crashes or cartwheels across the ground?

I've run mine into trees and rocks and logs and nothing has broken a driveshaft yet. I figured the diff would be the weak link here...I wonder if anyone else has broken an axle etc.

Could you let us know if it was the axle stub that broke or an actual universal or the plastic driveshaft?
You are well come but dam the text to talk was slacking on that response. At least important parts were able to be figured out. It broke because it was locked up. Are you saying yours is locked up as well on the front? It was also quite slow because I put a gear two down and I believe the high torque Servo was robbing power because it really was slow cogging truck that lost everything that was fun about it. Drastic difference with swap to high torque servo, front and center difs locked, went from stock 12 to a 10 tooth, and a couple other things that do not affect the performance but I did throw that Currie on the rear and it has to be the whole problem...... ( just kidding)
I am not he person who knows what's best or figures out what's best to make a truck perform better. That being said everyone smarter than me said they weren't locking the front because it would cause the universals to break and sure enough with my underpowered rock Rey going easy one broke. I am about to start a thread and hopefully some of the Goodfellas on here can guide me in my helper in the right direction to get this machine as fun as it was stock and back on top of my favorite to drive list. Sorry guys I bet there is 7 or 8 threads saying exactly what I'm about to ask but I do have a little bit of a different issue and need help in a couple areas

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Yeah my RR is now totally locked up.

I've just added a 444oz servo and the stock 3A BEC with a cap seems happy. Zero glitches on 6v even when I put it in a bind using my hand and forced it. I got the servo quite warm testing it under load!

I've noticed that my truck has loads better grip and pulls FAR harder in a straight line now (the difference even with stock tyres compared to the open front/centre setup is frankly huge). I thought it was the tyres and foams being too soft making it unstable but it was the servo. It rips now.

I'm extremely happy with the truck overall. It bounces, rock races, and goes where my stock RR simply would not go. No more of that crazy out of control pirouetting RR when it didn't have enough traction (I found it was especially like that with open diffs and the stock servo).

I've had a close look at the front pulling it down twice and cannot imagine it breaking easily. The unis never seem to give any problems with other guys on 3S; in fact it's one area that I have not even seen mentioned needing an update. They are really beefy and extremely heavy duty compared to say the the WB HD driveshafts.

Have you shunted it into a rock or tree that could break something?

I imagine something was definitely up with your truck as locking diffs definitely doesn't slow the truck down; something was binding up the drivetrain, a bearing had locked or a setting was changed. Any odd noises or heat anywhere? ESC and motor cool?

My truck is over 3 months old now and not a single thing has broken or failed apart from the servo horn and RX that died. Everything mechanically is tight and smooth and quiet and it screams. Just bought all new bearings to freshen it up as it's had a lot of lipos through it. Since I've locked the diffs it's probably had 20 lipos run and it's often drag racing a Yeti. I'm starting to feel confident it will be reliable locked up.

I'm using the stock gearing.
 
Hey Willyg, definitely let us know how your custom panels turn out. I don't like the stock bodywork and am thinking flat aluminium panels ATM. The shaped ones seem like a great idea.

I'm running 100% drag brake with 75% brake force. It very very slowly rolls down an incline and is a great slow controlled decent speed but doesn't 'hold' on a hill like a vice. It'll definitely stop but once it's too steep it starts the slow controlled roll. I'm finding out the drag brake ok for driving around fast as that is how my Bomber has worked.
 
Hiya cool running,
Yeah man the panels are coming out ok , a bit more difficult than I first envisioned lol , lacking tools and a vice suitable , but hey we make do lol.

I think my drag break might do this too as I was hoping for a solid hill hold but first testing proved this would not be the case [emoji20]

This is the first attempt and my turbo torch gets it very hot very quickly and I melted the aluminium so going to make a better one but it's a good start the durafix stuff holds well too just need to get my method down a bit better
4df8d1a38fc7a80acd6bdcde9dd9fba8.jpg
lots of grinding to do otherwise lol


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hello it will be better if you do four or more slots on your lower part an four or more tongues on the upper part than you assemble you bend the tongue an then you braze . you can screw the tongue if you want, hidden in the air entry . When I use this type of braze, I use a cooling paste that you put between two or more brazzes and it avoid them to melt I put a vid of one of my chassis in alu but some brazes have to be repair with epoxy
https://youtu.be/RTNFijYzBIg
 
Hi lipid,
Yeah cool tip man never thought of that so it locks the hem together when brazing , I like it

I did it again as I was happy with it I'll post some pics once it's done [emoji106]

Nice rig by the way [emoji106]


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