New R1 build

[MrAMath]

Just picked up my R1 kit from my LHS yesterday. Little bit of a snafu as the distributor first sent it to Utah rather than my Oregon store.

Gonna be my first foray into 4ws and dig. Funny, those bits arrived before my kit did.

I plan on posting some photos as I go. The manual seems pretty good so far.

Stuck on my DX5 Rugged for controller and just threw in an inexpensive GoolRC 35T and ESC from Amazon, thinking I'll upgrade that in the future. I'd also like to use the stock tires.

What do you guys run for foams? Not exactly wild about the fact the foams aren't connected in some sort of circle inside the tire.

Might try the dual cantilever shock setup later, just for kicks you know.

 

[MrAMath]

Kit plus some upgrade parts. Rear steer, dig, shock stabilizer, and high clearance links.

 

[soze]

This is one of those kits that I always thought looked cool, but it's a much older platform now, and I keep holding off on trying it out.

 

[JatoTheRipper]

Good to see another R1 build. I also wanted to build one, but never got around to it. Good to see this cool truck still gets some love though.

 

[MrAMath]

It was the first kit I really liked but I let a friend talk me into Axials....many Axials. I used a return credit to get it. I'll try to post a photo tonight of it sitting on top of my Bomber. The frame is so small.

I don't like the mix of plastic gears and no slipper clutch. Gonna have to be careful.

Here are some more photos...

 

[soze]

I see you have a dual servo setup. I had heard of this kit's steering deficiencies. Is there any reason for that? Is it the knuckles? Width of axles? CVDs?

Why wasn't there a way to increase steering without having to do the rear steer?

 

[MrAMath]

I had forgotten about the steering until you mentioned it. The axles are open dogbone at the knuckle. It seems the portal axles are fairly thick so there might be some interference c-hub to knuckle.

I think there's a post where someone ground a little on the c-hub to increase the steering but it was in response to crazy thick aluminum knuckles. I think it was on a GS02 or GOM as well.

Interestingly, this is the first kit I've had that doesn't come with servo arms. At least they weren't in the axle bag or any bag since.

I'll snap a photo tonight showing lock to lock steering range.

 

[soze]

The GS02 stock plastic knuckles are actually fine. Same with the GOM. Not sure about the aluminum ones though, as I haven't used them.

I just checked out the R1 Mod thread sticky in the section. Some useful info. I might give this kit a try down the road with different axles. How wide are these axles? Would the TRX4 or MST CFX-W axles be wide enough?

 

[MrAMath]

It looks like the R1 axles are about an inch longer than the stock TRX4. But the R1 chassis is about the same width as the TRX4 front suspension width. So I'd say the TRX axles would fit and not rub. I have 15mm extensions on my TRX (so hex to hex mine are wider) and the tires rub the front bumper on full turn. The R1 doesn't have much to rub on.

The TRX4 also seems to have between 5 and 10 more degrees of steering. Rough estimate with my math teacher eyes.

 

[MrAMath]

And as promised, a Bomber wearing a R1 as a hat.

 

[MrAMath]

More progress. Still have to finish how I want to control the dig and cut down the rear drive shaft. I still can't believe how tiny the chassis is. I'll try to take a full flex photo tonight just cause it's cool and all.

Planning on using a sprung servo horn for the dig as to not burn out a servo trying to lock the axle. Unlike the Vanquish series that have many locking points, the R1 dig can only lock every 180 degrees. Sitting stopped somewhere, there might be a bit of time before the lock actually engages. The rear tires have to turn some before it happens.

Different tires. Clockwise from upper left, BFG from my RR10 (with a little Axialfest dust), Injora mounted RC4WD Baja Claws, Injora wheels and tires, and Stock R1

Left to right: Baja Claw, RR10 BFG, R1, Injora

As it sits this morning. Sometimes I don't exactly follow the directions

 

[Brake Weight]

Those stock tires with a dual stage foam will outperform and of the other tires.

 

[MrAMath]

Still working on which foams to use. Posted those photos mostly as a size comparison.

I was looking through the Crawler Innovations site last night and was thinking about some of the double deuce hard/soft and then adding some tuning rings. Possibly trimming the rings a bit for some good squish on the tread and just a little sway during side hill. I've actually been thinking about that for some time now. Also maybe taking the single stage and cutting a deep V into them. But this is a thought for a different forum.

 

[Brake Weight]

Double Deuce FTW. No tuning rings because these R1s aren’t that heavy.

 

[soze]

LOL, your thread might push my over the edge and finally pick one of these up. So far I've gathered that should probably get the delrin skid for the relocated link locations, junfac driveshafts, and then there are a number of different steering improvement options which I'm still sifting through.

 

[Brake Weight]

Mine has OG scx10 axles. May get it off the wall now with some renewed interest.

 

[MrAMath]

Have to trim more of the rear drive shaft to accommodate the dig. 10mm more tomorrow. But. It moved! Drove it around my kitchen a little with just FWD. Clicked through all the steering modes.

Just gotta say I can’t believe how tiny it is. Gonna have to read the sticky about leaky shocks. Or get some PL and forget about it.

I’m still worried about the plastic gears and no slipper.

 

[soze]

I've read to just flip the shocks upside down. I really want to see what can be done with the steering angles though. Would be nice to get it to at least 45deg. Bonus if you're able to get 45deg front and rear with 4WS!

BTW... booo with photobucket. All I see is a bunch of watermarked blurry images!

 

[OSRC]

BTW... booo with photobucket. All I see is a bunch of watermarked blurry images!

Ditto, I've just started noticing that on a few threads.... what's the deal with that??

 

[MrAMath]

New photobucket terms of service. It just effects free accounts. After 25mb of bandwidth per month, the photos are blurred. I noticed them last night but too late to start over. I might go through and edit adding direct photo links while I find another host. I heard imgur is good.

Soze: 45 degrees might be reachable. The first contact is a support on the backside of knuckle. I wonder if the metal knuckles have the same support. I also wonder if this can be sanded off. Might just have to try it.