New owner of an AX10 Deadbolt - confused about a few things

[TK4ever]

I just finished putting a decent connector on the ESC (Tamiya, seriously, and it came with a Tactic TX and servo unlike what's on Axial's website), and, coming from off-road buggies and truggies, I'm not sure about a few things:

The suspension - there's basically no damping. Is this normal? Am I supposed to use my own oil (I didn't check if there was any).

Servo - it's so slow, 0.17 at 6V (I hope it's 6V...) se is it a problem for a beginner? I have one lying around that's same torque but 0.12s, or should I get something in the 15 to 20kg range as a priority?

Anything I should do out of the box to make it better?

Steering EPA seems a bit far, is this desirable in crawlers?

Thanks guys!

 

[Ninomaniac]

The Tactic tx is better methinks.
Torque has priority over speed. If you want something cheap, one of the many 20kg servos off ebay or aliexpress will do. I have a couple of JX PDI somethings, 10-15$ each.

If it's a tactic TTX300, you can adjust endpoints too. Max them out just before the servo starts suffering. You need as much as possible in a crawler. If it has dogbones, that may limit how far you can go.

Suspension damping is less critical IMO than in a vehicle that needs to be able to handle speed, try it out and then see if it's too springy and should you add thicker oil. Don't expect too much from Axial shocks, they're crap.

 

[TK4ever]

Yah the Tactic is a great remote, I've a few from my Arrmas, never had a problem. I'll set the EPA, weird that it's not out of the box.

Servo: torque it is then, <20$ for 20kg at hobbyking sounds nice at the moment. I have a metal horn but it runbs the control arm, it's too long. I need to find one with sized like a standard plastic one, or van I reverse the mechanism as I've seen done?

Shocks are now filled with 35wt (it's the thinnest I had around). It's different but still a bit bouncy in the front where there's less weight. Any suggestion on the shock mount position (car side). I'm thinking the make the front ones more horizontal so they are softer a bit.

 

[Mike Flea]

First off, get rid of those plastic steering links and get aluminum, and get a better servo. You can get a Savox SA-1231S, 444oz, at most hobby shops for around $69. When you start binding up on rocks with them 2.2's, those plastic steering links are going to bend and flex, and any added weight you add up front isn't going to help.

 

[Fumey]

I had one of those- they’re pretty fun. I think I ran my shocks in the position you have yours in in the picture. I also flipped the link mounts on the axles upside down to lower it a little bit, and put the rear upper links in the highest holes and the front upper links in the lowest holes on the skid.

Is that a Sidewinder 3? If you run Lipo you should make sure the software has been upgraded on that. There was a bug that would run lipos down past the low voltage cut off.

 

[nightcrawler48]

Looks like you've got an Axial Aluminum servo horn there. Try connecting the steering link to the other hole and see how that works. The horn will still be too long but if everything else looks okay you might cut the horn shorter so there is just the one hole there. Distance from servo spline hole mount to first hole should be 20mm and to the second hole 24mm. Not many aluminum horns shorter than what you've got. And, I find Axial horns excellent quality. A little more money but I've never striped a spine or broken one of those horns.

Just thought of something else. If the main link is mounted above the steering knuckle connection arm (which kind of looks like it is in your picture), it will be too high and cause interference. The manual shows it mounted below the steering knuckle connection arm which should give the clearance you need.

 

[Ninomaniac]

I'm using the inner hole on a similar horn on my wraith, I cut off the extra bit. Shorter lever = more force, smaller angle of movement. Also I mounted the servo backwards, filed off a bit off the top of the horn for clearance, shimmed the servo mount... not directly applicable to your rig but just to let you know that you have to play around to get things right

You'll probably want to upgrade to metal links all around down the road. But steering first.

Not sure how the BEC on that ESC is but you may need an external one.

 

[TK4ever]

You need as much as possible in a crawler. If it has dogbones, that may limit how far you can go.

The dogbones are indeed binding a bit at full turn. Should I limit the travel of the servo or am I doing something wrong? I ziptied the front arms together for added rigidity but I don't see how that could be the problem.

 

[Ninomaniac]

Well, depends. As long as they don't pop out and you're willing to tolerate some additional wear and tear it should be OK. They can be replaced with CVDs for more steering angle!