For a while, I've been wanting to design and print an RC car.
I checked out the Open-RC designs and thought the open f1 was super popular, and sifting through the remixes for the better designs would be an arduous task, not to mention boring and unchallenging. So I looked at the open truggy. I wasn't a fan of the proportions and saw within the videos that it was very fragile, breaking after it hit something small.
So I decided to design and build one from the ground up*. (Minus any off the shelf components)
I took inspiration from the Traxxas Bandit, RC10B#, and HPI Rush, since they were nimble little buggers.
I did not want to design and print a transmission, due to the most obvious reasons, so I picked one up from eBay from the Bandit/Rustler/Slash then modeled it and threw it into the assembly.
I did not want the inherent flaws of a 3D printed chassis, so I opted for a belly plate/chassis plate and cut it out of a 1/8" 6061 T6 sheet/plate, and put a bend for that classic 2wd buggy front sweep.
I had the shocks laying around from upgrading my Granite to 1/8 buggy shocks, so I threw them in there, along with some bits and bobs from eBay and Amazon.
The rest of it is 3D printed, including the suspension arms, steering linkages, suspension mounts, shock towers, electronics tub, spindles, hubs, etc.
The parts were all prototyped in PLA, then I threw together a ramp and started bashing to find the weaknesses. What parts failed, were then printed in PETG, and if those failed, then it was on to TPU, since some would need a little more toughness and compliance.
The front suspension mount in TPU does not affect steering or anything, but allows forgiveness when I clip the curb or land wrong, putting a lot of torque on the hinges. Aside from that, the only other TPU parts are the rear hubs, which take a hell of a beating. I've replaced and redesigned those the most.
Right now it is running on a 12T brushed motor, powered by an XL5 and juiced by a 2S LiPo.
It does a cool 30-35 mph and it a blast to run around.
I will eventually post the final design, BOM, and maybe a build guide. Maybe also design a body to help save the poor rear shock tower from taking so much of a beating when I jump it going at speed.
Let me know what you think and if you'd be interested in building one.
Oh, and I'm calling it the Thrush. Not after the disease, but the nimble ground dwelling bird.
I checked out the Open-RC designs and thought the open f1 was super popular, and sifting through the remixes for the better designs would be an arduous task, not to mention boring and unchallenging. So I looked at the open truggy. I wasn't a fan of the proportions and saw within the videos that it was very fragile, breaking after it hit something small.
So I decided to design and build one from the ground up*. (Minus any off the shelf components)
I took inspiration from the Traxxas Bandit, RC10B#, and HPI Rush, since they were nimble little buggers.
I did not want to design and print a transmission, due to the most obvious reasons, so I picked one up from eBay from the Bandit/Rustler/Slash then modeled it and threw it into the assembly.
I did not want the inherent flaws of a 3D printed chassis, so I opted for a belly plate/chassis plate and cut it out of a 1/8" 6061 T6 sheet/plate, and put a bend for that classic 2wd buggy front sweep.
I had the shocks laying around from upgrading my Granite to 1/8 buggy shocks, so I threw them in there, along with some bits and bobs from eBay and Amazon.
The rest of it is 3D printed, including the suspension arms, steering linkages, suspension mounts, shock towers, electronics tub, spindles, hubs, etc.
The parts were all prototyped in PLA, then I threw together a ramp and started bashing to find the weaknesses. What parts failed, were then printed in PETG, and if those failed, then it was on to TPU, since some would need a little more toughness and compliance.
The front suspension mount in TPU does not affect steering or anything, but allows forgiveness when I clip the curb or land wrong, putting a lot of torque on the hinges. Aside from that, the only other TPU parts are the rear hubs, which take a hell of a beating. I've replaced and redesigned those the most.
Right now it is running on a 12T brushed motor, powered by an XL5 and juiced by a 2S LiPo.
It does a cool 30-35 mph and it a blast to run around.
I will eventually post the final design, BOM, and maybe a build guide. Maybe also design a body to help save the poor rear shock tower from taking so much of a beating when I jump it going at speed.
Let me know what you think and if you'd be interested in building one.
Oh, and I'm calling it the Thrush. Not after the disease, but the nimble ground dwelling bird.
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Seems like 3D is limitless. I hear 3D CNC'ing alu. will become the rage soon.
