Mini Super

[MRCrackhead]

Well I had two tubes on hand and decided to turn a problem into an opportunity.

Since I needed to re-cut the ends to match the VP scale c-hubs, I took a long hard look at the rig and decided to move the center point.

I shortened the short side a bit extra, and left a bit more on the long side tube.

Here's the rear axle, which is essentially a "before" photo.



Now the bulk of the drivetrain is more centered in the vehicle.

This should help balance the rig better, and affords more clearance on the motor side.

Now the links can be made to tuck in even tighter which should help steering.

Not happy about my mistake, but I'm happy with where it has led me on the build, overall.

 

[MRCrackhead]

Shaved the tires, tweaked the lower links a bit, and narrowed the rims from 1" to about .75"

Now the VP scale knuckles max out against the hubs.

That should be just the right amount of steering with a very handy built in steering stop.

At 9-1/8" track width, the inside tire is rubbing the lower link, but not hard into it. Should work just fine.

 

[MRCrackhead]

The other set of tubes arrived yesterday, so I rebuilt the rear axle today.

I don't really know any better than to run zero caster in the rear. No clue what positive or negative would do in that case.




With a narrower track width and no caster, the steering is not as impressive as the front.

The tires get into the shocks and links pretty hard at full lock. The tires will turn; but there's definitely some rubbing.



I would imagine the need for a steering stop out back would be less critical; but I'll have to ask some Super guys about that.

It could be made to steer to full lock, which gains the natural steering stop; but I'm not sure it's worth the effort for rear steering....need to talk to some smarter folks about that first.

 

[MRCrackhead]

Here's my first attempt at steering on the rig.

I've never attempted this type of setup before; but it seems very simple and effective.



Neutral



Right



Left



The geometry looks good to me, everything stays very parallel; so I think it might work well.

The rear steering is setup basically the same as the front.

Back to work....

 

[89redranger]

And it just keeps getting better and better...

What spacers are you using just inside the upper shock balls? I need something similar, but am not having the best of luck finding anything.

 

[winnerone23]

Look up traxxas 5355 or 5355x.

It's what I use as well.

 

[89redranger]

Look up traxxas 5355 or 5355x.

It's what I use as well.

Thank you sir! I'll be snagging some of those.

 

[RICrawler]

Looking killer Kev... I run that steering setup on my Berg, super Berg and the mini, always works great."thumbsup"

 

[MRCrackhead]

Looking killer Kev... I run that steering setup on my Berg, super Berg and the mini, always works great."thumbsup"

Thanks Bob.

I'm glad to hear it's a tried and true setup.

I've actually been looking at it, and may have a slightly better "version" of the current setup.

Mini is no measure of the amount of work.....haha....many other things to get done before I bother "polishing the edges".

For now, I'm more than happy to know it will work.

 

[MRCrackhead]

I've been losing a lot of peaceful sleep lately trying to decide where the heck I'm going to fit the electronics.

I've pondered many different ideas.

In the end, it's a mini, and it's very cramped.....everywhere.

I've given in to my least favorite, but most reasonable option.

I made up a skid, which was necessary to avoid hanging up on the lower cross bars anyway.

I plan to stuff the rx, bec, and twin Br's in there.

I swapped the two aluminum cross tubes for some delrin tubes I had laying around.

Tapped some 2mm countersunk bolts to hold it all together.




The angles look a bit extreme at ride height, but.....



.....they match the lower links at full compression to ensure a smooth ride over sharp objects.

 

[chris.martell]

I really dig that steering setup Merc. I'm going to try something similar on my mini

 

[89redranger]

I love the skid! Transfer that idea over to some more of your sweet hand formed aluminum with some speed holes though and it'd be a killer.

 

[MRCrackhead]

I really dig that steering setup Merc. I'm going to try something similar on my mini

It looks good to me, and RICrawler swears by it, so I'm gonna run with it!

I love the skid! Transfer that idea over to some more of your sweet hand formed aluminum with some speed holes though and it'd be a killer.

Well, I've got a template if I need to add some bling to the build later on...lol.

I figured this lexan skid would slide better than aluminum.

If it can take the abuse, it's likely better, and lighter, as a slider.

If it breaks, then it's bling with "speed holes".....hahaha

 

[MRCrackhead]

I've been beating my head against the wall trying to fit a battery in this rig.

My 350 nano-tech sportsman batteries just seemed huge.

I ordered half a dozen 450 nano-tech batteries, which despite their name, are actually smaller.

They didn't seem to fit either. On the front axle they were higher than the tires; and on the skid they took away any adjustability of the front uppers.

So I've devised an unusual solution.

I started by ordering some different batteries, and fabbed up this mount.



It uses an existing case bolt and will hold one of the batteries.



Here's the rear axle mount.

It's slightly different due to the steeper case angle.



I'm going to run two 180mah 3s batteries in parallel, which will give me 360mah total.

I could have put the second smaller battery on the skid.

That would have pushed the smashed electronics package further back in the chassis, and the battery is much lighter.

So I decided to put it on the rear axle, and keep the electronics further forward.

Here's what I wanted to see: Battery well below the tires to keep with my super low profile pattern.

Forgive the ghetto rubber bands, I'm still in the build phase....lol

 

[MRCrackhead]

Progress on the wiring.

I decased a brand new BEC, and damaged it in the process.

I was a bit hesitant to wait for another BEC, so I just left this one alone for now.

The BR's are wired together in parallel, with jumper wires, so I wouldn't have to make a Y-harness for the batteries.

With the battery in the rear, I'd be running long wires to it either way, so I figure this is just simpler.

One Br runs up front, the other out back for battery connections.



Here you can see there's plenty of room for the rx on the back of the skid.

I'm still waiting on it's arrival, after ordering the wrong one......ooops.



I'm getting close to having it wired.

I need to solder battery connections and both motors.

I also need to shorten the BEC wire, just ran out of time today.

 

[MRCrackhead]

Stayed up late tonight to finish up a couple wiring projects.

I made up this handy little Y-plug.

Now the BEC can feed both servos.



Finished up the wiring. Just waiting on the receiver.

I still have to solder all the batteries, but the big project is done.

Now to make some axle shafts for this rig and get some gears in the cases.

It's getting close enough I'm getting anxious.....hurry up postman!

 

[winnerone23]

I can't wait to see this powered and in the rocks..
Is going to be hard for Anyone to top!

 

[MRCrackhead]

Sometimes I get so focused on one thing, I forget to step back and think.

I spent a bunch of money on a receiver for my MT4 to operate this rig, and now I wait for it to show.

Meanwhile, I've had this sitting here all this time, with a receiver.

Anybody think this could be the better option?

Both sticks return to neutral position on their own, which would be the way to go for throttle and steering.

Read the pistol and twin stick threads on the Superclass board; but they were mostly no help in regard to this radio or my MT4.

 

[chris.martell]

I think the 6ex would allow you to use the full potential of your rig. I do for see headaches with the learning curve, but if the 6ex is anything like my dx6i was programming is almost endless which offers options....... and you like options Merc.

 

[MRCrackhead]

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush they say; so the twin stick receiver went in the rig.

I made up all 4 axle shafts and tossed in the gears.

This rig is a runner!

Don't get me wrong, there's a ton of work to do yet; but I drove it around the house and it's really cool.

The twin stick driving will take some getting used to; but I was able to program the radio to give me 4ws on one switch, and single stick throttle with adjustable overdrive for cruising between gates on the other switch.

Flip the switches off, and it's mind melting time.....lol.....I'll need some practice.

I didn't actually solder the batteries yet, just tossed on one of my sportsman packs to take it for a test run.

These pictures are for Winnerone23......he said he wanted to see it on rock...hahaha