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Prophet's Bully 2

prophet

Rock Stacker
Joined
Apr 11, 2014
Messages
74
Location
Hobart
G’day everyone! Little bit of history before we begin the build, or more to the point re-build.

First up, I’m very new to the comp crawler scene. Been playing around and building crawlers for 5 years now (several scx’s, a couple wraiths, a couple steel tubed rock bouncers, 8x8’s 6x6’s, tundra……..the list goes on and on! Lol), but only recently pulled the trigger on an MOA build. So as a disclaimer, forgive my newbness to this form! Lol

I only got into RC due to my son. He is now 5, but at 14months old was diagnosed with severe Autism, Sensory processing Disorder and has an incredibly rare Chromosome duplication. It just so happened that RC trucks became his ‘special interest’ and acted like a key into his mind, his world. And so we turned RC into a therapy aid and teaching tool for him. And we have bee able to do some amazing things through this tool. So the more I can learn about these things the better. And with that knowledge I’m able to teach him as well.

After going through various types and styles of RC we’ve found that the technical challenges of MOA rig driving, combined with the area we visit most to drive our rigs has been the most beneficial to him. We live right next to a river with kilometres of river rock formations to crawl.

So with that in mind, we started building up some rigs. And this is where I now need some assistance. There aren’t any clubs or comps here where I live for these rigs. So there is little to no information or other people to run with and bounce ideas off. The only club here in the state I live (Tasmania, Australia) the one and only crawler club run 1.9 scale class 1-3. That’s it. No 2.2’s, Sporty’s or MOA. So while we don’t comp them we still want to be pretty serious about it.

Being that I like to build things for myself, about the only parts I bought for this rig were the axles, steering links, knuckle weights and tires. Most of the rest of the parts I already had floating around, or I made myself.

While I’m reasonably happy with the way it turned out (to my limited knowledge it works ok) I’d like to get it more ‘comp worthy’ like the ones I keep finding myself watching on Youtube. So putting out the call for the comp drivers to throw me some input on how to improve this rig.

Here's a vid of it early on with my first set up on this chassis. Just so you guys can see how it performs and any tips or advice you can suggest for improvement.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlsiJPerAD0

And pics on how it stands now.

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Curently this is the parts list and how it sits.

Front axle – bully 2
Rear - bully 2
Bully 2 knuckle weights
RC4WD mini wheel wideners (I like a wider track width)
VP slw’s raw with red rings, .475 hubs
Voodoo Gold dots front and rear.
Crawler Innovations double deuce foams soft front medium rear.
Chassis I made myself from 2mm Carbon fibre. 3 piece design.
Links are VP titaniums from an old wraith. Rear lowers are delrin.
Pretty much all ends are Jatto.
Battery tray I made myself using a wraith trans dig servo mount and a scrap of carbon fibre.
Traxxas big bores with gold springs
Savox 1256TG servo for steering. (I gave the little fella my 7950 for his rig)
Novak rockstar 35turn in motor saver front and rear
The smash I made from to SV3’s I had no other use for. It’s big and heavy compared to a mini smash, but at the time I did it to save cash. It works, but it could be better.
Castle BEC and spectrum SR410 reciever.
Spektrum DX4Rpro radio.

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So that’s about it there. Already on my list of things to change are the wheels – have some lighter weighted ones on the way. G10 3 piece beadlock. I’m not so fond of glue. Lol
The motors again work for now, but would like input on something better. The little fella has a couple Holmes Hobbies torquemaster experts 35turns in his. Best motor I’ve ever had the pleasure of using so far. They were in mine originally but I needed to get his going when he fried his 55tirn Intergy’s. I was considering getting another couple of them for me, but I see here that people are either going for the puller motors or brood. What are people thoughts on this. I’d like to specifically know the reasoning behind people preference and choices on motors.

The chassis is another point. I already had a few sheets of CF leftover from some other projects, so had a crack at making my own. Again it’s like the motors, it works to a point. But could be better. I had a BWD Mantis when I first started out on this journey, and had my B2’s on that. First time I drove it, it was awful. That ended up being user error on my part and a poor initial set up. Second run was a lot better. But after a couple more packs I wanted to tune the rear a little more to suit my driving and there isn’t really I lot I could do with the back of it.

Electronics aren’t my strong point, but I’m learning as best I can. I can see the advantages of the mini’s over the full sized ESC. But what are the advantages and disadvantages of each one? Sidewinder micros or Br-mini’s ect. What and why?

So excuse the epicness of a first post in a build thread, just wanted to make sure i covered as much as i could.
 
Welcome! Very nice rig "thumbsup"

One thing I would change - use the inner mounting hole on the servo horn. It will give some more power to steering and will avoid the bind and stress when you are turning left. B2's knuckles have very short arms so the servo horn can be short.

Here's mine

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Welcome! Very nice rig "thumbsup"

One thing I would change - use the inner mounting hole on the servo horn. It will give some more power to steering and will avoid the bind and stress when you are turning left. B2's knuckles have very short arms so the servo horn can be short.

Thank you. And cheers for the tip! I've always used the longest/furthest away mount on servo horns to get more steering throw. It's never occurred to me to change that. "thumbsup"
 
Today i began the first stages on this rig's overhaul.

New wheels should be here next week. Placed an order for some new motors today. (Holmes Hobbies torquemaster expert 40turn) Coming in to winter soon here so probably not a lot of opportunity to drive it, so about the perfect time to get it up to scratch.

So i took the front axle out this morning:

11154630_10206643722911343_8032956559267143902_o.jpg


I've been looking at the build threads using the nordic crawler CF stuff for these axles. Thought about ordering it, but for now to just place an order for them alone isn't viable. (exchange rates for AUD to USD suck right now!) However i've been staring at the Sudo Pro chassis........might just have to pick one of them up. "thumbsup" And then get the Nordic stuff with that order.

But i had some time to kill today so i had a crack at making a Carbon Fibre servo mount myself.

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Servo mounted in:

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Don't think it turned out too bad.
 
Great video Proph and really smooth driving mate."thumbsup"
Amazing area to crawl you have there...will have to bring the pro rig over that way for sure sometime this year.

Hope you end up getting the Sudo Pro chassis, it has been my favourite from them all. Mine is in transit so can't wait to get that going.:)

Looking forward to hearing about what you think of the new 40t's your going to install. I can't offer any advice at all in regards to motors, the 35t's i have now are just amazing, but after seeing and reading about the Team Brood motors, i'm going to try a pair of their 30t stubbie's to see what their like eventually.

Excellent work on the servo mount mate, looks like it works a charm."thumbsup"
 
Cheers for the props on the vid mate!
I've been looking at chassis consistently for a fair while now. I'll re-use my mantis as a second rig, but other than that don't want to go back there. Ideally i'd love a Chaotic Crawlers Chassis. Shame they don't make 'em any more. But i'll be keeping my eye out in the classifieds. "thumbsup" If not then come next pay i'll throw an order in for the sudu.

The Holmes motors are my 'go to' motor. And oneten had them cheep this week so picked up a pair just to loose the fading rockstars installed now. But i reckon i may go with a nice pair of puller 400's in the end. I hear the Brood's are the very best, and from what vid i've seen, and threads read and such they appear to be the pinnacle. But also have the price tag to match. Since i'm not going to be formally comping it, not sure i can see any justification in pulling the trigger on a set......again unless there's a reasonable bargain in the classifieds. "thumbsup"
 
The HH 400 puller's sound great, but you know for only around $30 more you could have a pair of Brood hand wound Genesis motors?"thumbsup" Gives you the option to choose the light weight can for an extra $5 also.;-)

Team Brood Racing :: Crawler Motors :: Handwound Motors :: Genesis

:cry: Comparing prices and using currency converter to get AUD figures.

Puller 400 from oneten $139.99Aud Each.

Brood (used form link above lightweight can and bearings addd as options)
$195.36Aud each.

I see $60 bucks difference and $120 across a pair. And then there is shipping from the US to here. "thumbsup"
 
But anyway that's food for thought. ;-) Long way to go before i pull the pin on permanent motor choices. The HH 40turn are to get me through till i decide.

Next up will be Playing with the wheels when they arrive. Should be able to shed some weight from what is there now.

then replacing the chassis/links......

Then ESC's ....make a new smash with smaller ESC's instead of the stupid big SV3's currently there.

Then i can worry about making a motor choice."thumbsup" So time to think on it yet.
 
:cry: Comparing prices and using currency converter to get AUD figures.

Puller 400 from oneten $139.99Aud Each.

Brood (used form link above lightweight can and bearings addd as options)
$195.36Aud each.

I see $60 bucks difference and $120 across a pair. And then there is shipping from the US to here. "thumbsup"

Ah the dreaded conversion...how could i forget something like that!:oops::roll:
 
Woot!!!! Wheel turned up today! Thanks BigStu for being so easy to deal with!!

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My first thoughts about these were: I like them.
My second thought was: I hate blue. But i still like them.
My third thought was: I wonder what the weight comparison between the SLW's i'm currently using Vs these?

Single SLW (Gold dot):

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Full Set: (fronts do have stick on weights in them so the results may be a little biased. :roll: but that 6x7grams weights over two wheels. 84grams total. Results do still speak for themselves. "thumbsup")

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Silver dot Single:

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Silver dot Set:

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Gold dot single:

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Gold dot Set:

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I decided i liked the design of the Silver dot set better. Little fella wants the others. lol Now to do something about the blue.....8)
 
That's better!"thumbsup"

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On another note, i threw some money at some dude last night. Think he might throw me back a chassis at some point. "thumbsup"
 
Woot!! New cans arrived during the week. Although a little slower than the rockstars that i was using, these should serve nice for now.

So got them soldered up, put some bling sheathing on the wires to keep it all nice and tidy. Still waiting on the Carbon fibre motor guards to arrive. Once here they will go in in place of the BWD delrin ones.

Rear axle:

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While working this axle over i started to do some stuff to the shocks. I was previously running full length gold springs on the big bores. I was getting a lot of rub on the springs from the tires. So using parts on hand i've dropped the spring size down and got a reasonable tension on there. Once she's up and running again time will tell if this is too hard or too soft, but i've got options here to play with.

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I replaced the bottom spring holder from the original one to one from a set of junfac piggy backs. They fit the bent rod end better as well as the spring fits nice on them as well. The top of the spring is held by the middle spring holder on a stock set of SCX shocks. Fits perfectly over the barrel. The spring itself is from an eagle racing drifter. Once i set the springs up on that i didn't have use for the 20 odd extra ones leftover. :roll:
So to me at the moment they feel good in hand, time will tell if they work out well on the rig. But with heaps of different rate springs that will now drop in there easily i can tune this to my liking when she's ready to roll!

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Waiting on bullet connecters for the other end of the motor wires. Also will need the chassis (which should arrive this week) to get the right length of wire.

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Also go the front axle looking a little better. Again new motor installed, wired up and (hopefully) looks neat! Have done the same to the front shocks as well.

Also have run the weights together on the lower mount point. Got some new hubs on the way so i can loose the wheel wideners. I've read somewhere on here that the VP hubs will work this way with just the smallest amount of filing to them. So will give that a go and see if i can't get it to co-operate. "thumbsup"

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Still working on the electronics tray for the front.
 
A couple more parts arrived today.
Got some more SLW Screws for the hubs. Some 4mm male and fe-male bullet connecters to finnish up the wiring.

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Also some bigger hubs arrived as well. Vanquish SLW 0.725" (or 18.4mm).
Now instead of running a small hub with the RC4WD mini wheel wideners i just need the hub. Also just eyeballing there isn't really much material at all that needs to come off the front hubs to make clearance of the wheel weight set up.

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Considering that the hubs don't fully cover the hex in the first place (see pic of rear axle) it seems that there is going to only be very minimal filling of the hubs needed.

11059352_10206812845979314_4755582797305394981_o.jpg


Also digging through the parts drawers i found some alum flanged hex nuts. Slightly lighter than the steel and a bit more bling!


Rear axle:
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10927829_10206812844979289_31924767329330588_o.jpg
 
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