Venduro X4.2 Dumpster fire build

[HumboldtEF]

From my giant pile of spare parts I've been assembling an unholy abomination that I've coined the Venduro (X4.2)


HPI Venture chassis rails, Element Enduro Axles and links, Axial SCX10.2 skid and kit tranny, TRX4 shocks with Enduro springs, Junfac drive shafts (front is too short but working)


I ordered up UCFab's Enduro servo on axle mount to make the steering simple, plus I dont have any servo on axle setups on 1.9"s so this will be a nice change.

I had to drill new holes for the skid (I 3D printed a jig)
The SCX10.2 tranny is mounted reversed to put the motor forward a bit, this pairs well with the Enduro axles which allow the diffs to be flipped.
I also had to make up a spacer because the Venture chassis is wider than the SCX10.2 skid

Now this is what got me excited even though its nothing all that special. Winch down built into the front crossmember :mrgreen:
A winch down is a chassis mounted winch that has the line connected to the front axle so the front suspension can be forced down on steep climbs.


At first I was just going to tear down the winch, design a new housing that would mount to the crossmember but then I realized the beauty of 3D printing could make this all one piece "thumbsup"

The support rib near the pinion allowed me to drill a hole to fasten the winch line.

I've had an AE Tophy rat body for a while and finally decided to use it, its a 1937 international harvester.

I'm working on designing some rock sliders and bumpers at the moment, then I need to pinch the rear so I can clear the tires.
The body also needs some protection because its pretty thin :roll:

 

[HumboldtEF]

I got the sliders made up, printed with PETG.

Hard to see but they angle up a smidge

The body slots into a groove in the sliders

I also printed up a battery tray thats based off my Venture battery tray. After I had it in I realized with it in place I lost the opportunity to do some raised rear upper link risers so I scrapped that battery tray.

Original battery location (sitting on top of RULR's)

I designed up some RULR brackets that I can insert in the stock upper link location, it also mounts to the sliders. For those not familiar rear upper link risers (RULR) are used to get more anti squat out of the suspension/link geometry and can help with steep climbs. Most stock crawlers dont do this because of packaging (lack of space) but some do.

Installed on the passenger side

My new idea for the battery tray is to design one that sits longitudinally something like this (this is not the new tray). Its gonna sit a bit higher than it would have but with the flipped tranny and servo on axle setup theres no room up front for a battery.

Like I mentioned before this body is very thin so I'm still trying to decide whether to keep the bed sides and reinforce them or to just make my own bed sides. I'm also likely going to chop the rear of the bed off, not a bob just cut off.

 

[soze]

Very nice! I see you're using a suck-down winch or at least look like you are! I've been doing the same thing on my Enduro, but mine is a "static" fishing line. Still allows for articulation though.

 

[HumboldtEF]

Thanks Soze!
You're correct, I guess I didn't exactly spell that out. For those not familiar this winch down setup has the winch mounted on the chassis with the line connected to the front axle. When the line is pulled in it forces the front end down helping with steeper climbs when the suspension has likely unloaded and fully extended (up front).

I didnt realize it was also called a suck down but google confirms it.

Very nice! I see you're using a suck-down winch or at least look like you are! I've been doing the same thing on my Enduro, but mine is a "static" fishing line. Still allows for articulation though.

So how does that work? Does the line keep it at droop height?

 

[soze]

You're correct, I guess I didn't exactly spell that out. For those not familiar this winch down setup has the winch mounted on the chassis with the line connected to the front axle. When the line is pulled in it forces the front end down helping with steeper climbs when the suspension has likely unloaded and fully extended (up front).

I didnt realize it was also called a suck down but google confirms it.

What are you using for the winch servo? The only reason I didn't use a dynamic suck-down using a servo winch was the concern if the added weight of a servo up high was going to negate the value of making it dynamic rather than just static and sucked down full time. The only time it's hurt me being static is when there are straight head-on breakovers. Otherwise, the axle is still able to articulate enough for me to maneuver out of those situations.

 

[HumboldtEF]

Oops I was editing my post as you replied, I just added this:

So how does that work? Does the line keep it at droop height?

The winch guts are from a RC4WD 9.5 CTI (non mini I think). I dont think you need much power to do a winch down so you can just go small to save weight.


I can weigh it next time I tear it down if you'd like.

 

[soze]

Oops I was editing my post as you replied, I just added this:








The winch guts are from a RC4WD 9.5 CTI (non mini I think). I dont think you need much power to do a winch down so you can just go small to save weight.


I can weigh it next time I tear it down if you'd like.

Yeah, my fishing line is just tied to my shock brace and the top of my axle. It's in the center so that the axle can still articulate one side up, and one side down, but the front is compressed (not all the way) full time when the axle is level. It's a dramatic difference on some of the steep climbs I do.

I also like this better than pen spring mods for the shocks or limiter straps, as it allows for less limitation of the articulation of the axle when articulating one side up/down.

And there you go folks... that's the secret sauce of my steep climbs. LOL

I'm not going to embed the video here, because I don't want to pollute your thread, but here's a link to where you can see it in action. - https://youtu.be/Ia028vBzb1w?t=49

The other Enduro in the video runs the "ghetto suck-down" (what we call it) as well.

 

[HumboldtEF]

The battery tray and rear shock towers are done.

I brought the shock towers inwards so I could get the shocks as close as possible to the chassis to help clear the bed (hopefully)

I was a bit worried the battery tray was gonna sit higher with the raised upper links but I think I've struck a nice balance straddling the links.

at full compression

Moving the shocks or the rear upper links changes the clearance so I slotted the battery tray at the back so it can be adjusted up or down to fit the setup.

 

[soze]

I really love how much 3d printing you're putting into this build.

I finally designed my first piece and printed it out. I still don't fully know what the heck I'm doing, but I got lucky and measured everything correctly on the first try for my chassis brace/body hinge for the UMG10. I extended the wheelbase for it from 288 to 305,and I wanted to try to take a different route instead of chopping off the rear fender like most people do when extending the UMG10.

It's definitely fun to start incorporating 3d printing into the build.

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

 

[HumboldtEF]

I really love how much 3d printing you're putting into this build.

I finally designed my first piece and printed it out. I still don't fully know what the heck I'm doing, but I got lucky and measured everything correctly on the first try for my chassis brace/body hinge for the UMG10. I extended the wheelbase for it from 288 to 305,and I wanted to try to take a different route instead of chopping off the rear fender like most people do when extending the UMG10.

It's definitely fun to start incorporating 3d printing into the build.

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

Thanks, I was thinking about doing some metal work but decided to keep things light and 3D print instead. Its starting to feel like a bit of a comp (or cheater) rig.



Good to hear you're getting into designing "thumbsup"


I wanted to go over my design process a little bit for those who are getting into designing.


For the rear of this build, the RURLs, battery tray and rear shock towers were all designed in sequence. Since I often dont know what a part might look like and how it will connect to the next part I like to just place some mounting holes on this first part. I will then finalize its design and move on to the next part and so on.

So I put 2 mounting holes in the RURLs to mount the battery tray in the front. the tray pivots on these 2 holes/fasteners. Then I carved up the first battery tray prototype to clear the links, got it to sit as low as possible and transferred these alterations to the new design.

Next I needed to roughly locate where the rear of this would mount to the rear shock towers. I had an old crossmember installed that I had designed that could be used to reference the location of the new part (shock towers/brace).


To sum up: You dont have to design everything at once, you can design mounting solutions for unknown parts in advance and simply transfer that to the new part.

 

[dezfan]

I like it!

 

[alexleblanc]

You’ve got me convinced that I need to get a 3D printer. Perfect for custom builds.

 

[OSRC]

Very cool build...love the mish-mash of parts and all of the printed solutions! "thumbsup"

 

[HumboldtEF]

I like it! ����

Very cool build...love the mish-mash of parts and all of the printed solutions! "thumbsup"

Thanks fellas!

You’ve got me convinced that I need to get a 3D printer. Perfect for custom builds.

Yeah I had no idea my printer would lead me down this road but its been one hell of a handy tool "thumbsup"

Last night I started printing up a cage for the rear of the body, this will likely be overkill and a little heavy so for now I'm just printing this in PLA as a test.

 

[soze]

^^^ That cage..... is what I want to learn how to do eventually.

I guess what I want to know is... how will you position and slice it to print out nicely?

I think positioning things for printing is still something I'm learning.

 

[HumboldtEF]

^^^ That cage..... is what I want to learn how to do eventually.

I guess what I want to know is... how will you position and slice it to print out nicely?

I think positioning things for printing is still something I'm learning.

This model is made up of 9 separate peices. the lower section has a front, a back and separate sides, the roll cage is broken into 4 peices and theres a separate body mount that will also serve as a shock tower brace. Its all designed to screw together.

The only way to print that nicely in one peice would be to use a SLS printer like Shapeways has.

As I design I try to keep in mind how each section will print and break it up accordngly.

Oh and for the round cage peices I'll add a flat to the side going down on the print bed for better adhesion. Doing nothing may work but I've had a few pop loose without some extra flat added. Then this flat spot can be sanded out though I try to have it face a direction thats hides it too.

 

[HumboldtEF]

I made up a tiny little bumper to match up with the nose. Its screwed on from the front but I've incorporated some fog light lenses into it. After its screwed on I can snap the lenses in place to cover up the screws. I also cut 5/8" off the front of the chassis rails. I think I'll be cutting the rear soon too.

I also got the body mounts finished

I splurged and picked up a set of SSD C hubs. I cut off the panhard mount because its just in the way. touched it up with some paint.

I'm really liking one aspect of the servo on axle setup, being able to dial in more caster than usual. with a CMS the panhard mount is the limiting factor.

Oh and I got the electronics in too. Is a bit weird but this will be my first time using a HW 1080 :shock:. It just barely fits on the rock sliders.
Beeftubes BT663MG servo (because It was convenient) seems to be doing great so far, no external BEC.
The winch is a gutted RC4WD 9.5 cti with a gutted RC4WD controller. I pulled the controller out of is plastic case, conformal coated it, shortened and simplified its wires and wrapped it in heat shrink.
I'm using a SRS6000 that I could never justify using anywhere. I just decided it needs to go somewhere regardless of how many channels I'm using (until that day I need to steal it).
Radio is the DX5 Rugged.

EDIT: the cage just finished printing

The inner portion is pretty thin.

Theres one body mount in the middle

 

[durok]

Oh wow...

Your bumper, shock / body mounts, and cage are things of beauty!

Absolutely incredible, sir.

"thumbsup"

 

[soze]

I love this build! That printed cage area is turning out pretty good!

 

[Downfall]

This way cool ��