Haastnooit’s Mini Crawler Adventures - Course and Crawler build

[Haastnooit]

Haastnooit’s Mini Crawler Adventures - Course and Crawler build

After I bought the Absima CR18P evo pro mini crawler a few weeks back and having my first experience with Furitek electronics I am totally bitten by the mini crawler bug again. This winter I will be working on a few projects at the same time … I am going all in, head over heels !! In order to document and share my upcoming endeavors with all the projects I have planned, I decided to make one single thread that will cover it all.

What is on the menu:

1) Designing and building a small indoor crawler course
As the weather frequently sucks this time of year in the Netherlands and it is raining almost like forever I feel I need some obstacles to do some indoor crawling/fooling around. I am currently still in the planning/thinking process and will hopefully get around to making some obstacles shortly. Adding a crawler course will definitely require some re-arranging in my hobby room, I hope I will succeed to free up some decent space for the crawler course. This will be a challenge … but I will get it done.

[edit 01-02-2025] Post 1 to 11 cover this chapter. Current status below, not finished ...

2) Upgrading the Absima Goat
Of course I watch YT and by doing so I got influenced to get myself some upgrade axles and links for the CR18P evo pro. Thanks CapeCrawlers ! When I stumbled on a discount code for 25% off I decided to get some RCAWD aluminum axles with brass portal covers and hex-extenders. Also got the RCAWD aluminum high clearance links. I already have received the parts but will do the upgrade later as I will be focusing on the crawler course first. I want to run the stock Goat on my course before installing any upgrades.


3) Building my ultimate mini crawler
Again I blame YT … I love watching 24YEP, I think his channel is really fantastic, akwardly funny and also very informative. Especially his “Roasting rigs” series is phenomenal and got me inspired to build myself an ultimate mini crawler from scratch. Also Bcochener’s builds are really nice, well documented and has very in depth video’s. Right now I am in the process of gathering all parts needed for the build. Some will be Christmas presents so I will be building this truck starting January 2025. A really nice prospect I must say … PEACE !

[edit 01-02-2025] Post 42 to ?? cover this chapter. Ongoing build at the moment ...


4) Warming up with a low(er) budget SCX24 build
Some might know or have read about this in my other threads, I share my enthusiasm for RC’s with my daughter. Luckily next to the bashing virus, we also share the crawling bug. So in order to keep a some what level playing field I have to build her a SCX24 based mini crawler to be used on the new indoor crawling course. To start this project off I bought a used SCX24 Jeep Wrangler JLU, it is in great condition and looks hardly used.

[edit 01-02-2025] Post 12 to 35 cover this chapter. Result below ...

To be continued …

 

[Jerold]

Make sure you post pics!

 

[RLB454]

Sweet! I love mini crawlers, super fun. The CR18P Goat is a great one to build off of.
I have a bone stock SCX24, a modified SCX24 Bronco, a full comp LGRP build with Furitek power (closer to 18th scale), and another comp rig based on the Meus MB24 also with Furitek power.
I agree, definitely keep us supplied with pics of your course and the Goat

 

[Haastnooit]

@Jerold and @RLB454: Not to worry ... I will post lots of pictures moving forward.

Crawler Course update

Well past week I have been thinking about the possibilities I have to add the small crawler course to my hobby room, and I have reached the point where I could say “I have a solid plan”. Because I am not really sure I would like to have a “permanent course” (plastered foam / cardboard based) in my room I decided to first make a smaller course so I can try it out. I have fears a fixed indoor course would become less challenging over time and as I have no experience running compact artificial indoor courses I don’t know if I will really like it. So in order to be "safe" I have decided I will design and 3D print a modular course that I can change and expand when I want to.

First task I tackled was freeing up space in my room. I gave it a really good thought and Tetrised all my stuff around my room in my mind, until I was able to free up a significant space for the course. I did have to make some sacrifices though, I removed the dart oche from my room and sold some of my lesser/never used RC’s.

I replaced a narrow shelve (30cm) for a wider version (50cm) and extended it across the full width of my room and relocated a bunch of my RC’s. Storage capacity increased from 3 to 8/9 1:10 scale rigs in this location. Unfortunately I dove right in with changing my room without taking pictures of the current situation. Below some older pics of the same wall which show the narrow shelving and the dart oche beside it to the left.

This is what I made of it:

The relocation of RC’s to the new shelf and selling a couple gave me the opportunity to remove a low shelve on the old storage location to make room above the surface I dedicated to the crawler course. The area for the crawler course is made up out of two “desks” which have a difference in height of about 11 cm, I figure this will be helpful for the crawler course. Again some older pictures of the wall showing the shelving to give you an idea. I removed the lowest shelf.

New situation:

I now have a stepped flat surface of about 115 x 100 cm available to accommodate the crawler course. I designed and 3D printed a single test piece as “proof of concept” to see if I can make it work on this spot.

CAD work

 

[Haastnooit]

3D print

Testing

I am confident I can make this work … I will need to step up the design work in the upcoming days and let my K1 poop out some crawler course modules !! YES !!

I am going to get some more filament ordered ASAP … See ya on the next update !!

 

[Jerold]

I like it, very creative. Like the rest of us I see your space constraints.

I've thought about building a cat track the I could also use as a crawler course. Put it in the living room and if if I don't put a truck on it everyone will thinks its for the cats.

Something like this with more lumps. Maybe the lumps are hinged on the outside edge and flip over when I'm playing and flip under when the cats are playing?

 

[Haastnooit]

@Jerold: Hahaha , Love the cat track/crawler course idea. Would be cool to have in your living

Crawler Course update

This weekend I have spent my free time working on the design for the crawler course. I have very little to almost zero experience with creating obstacles for the mini crawlers. I have a rock trail in my backyard, and laying them rocks down is the only experience I can rely on.

I decided to base the course on modules of around 200 x 200 mm and connect them with a separate bowtie piece to keep everythig interchangeable. As my surface has a step to it, the pieces that cover this step will be none interchangeable and have different dimensions.

First I started with a 2D drawing in order to determine the modules and place the obstacles. The row of 150 mm modules will cover the step. The different colored shapes will be elevated and lofted together, each color represents a different height. From bottom to top the color sequence is the same for every obstacle (blue, yellow, red, magenta), only the elevation of each color will vary from obstacle to obstacle.

I practiced the 3D modeling on the simpler and smaller squared section of 2 by 2 modules to see how everything works in AutoCAD map 2023 and get familiar with the process.

After some good practice and learning how I can modify lofted 3D objects I went ahead and started working on the modules that will cover the step in my surface. This part of the course is where I want to start and it consists of 8 modules in total. One row of modules will cover the step, and the second row will be the first row on the flat section of the raised part of my desk.

While creating the larger obstacles I learned that I need to make more smaller different shapes and combine them together to get good variation in shape and height of the obstacles. Below a picture of the 3D model with 3 different colored obstacle shapes that will be merged together.

On to the first row of modules on the raised part of the desk. These modules will be merged together with the previous row and then sliced up in to printable sections.

As you can see on the pictures of the plan and the actual 3D model I worked in a lot of changes during the modeling process.

This is it for this update. I will be working on the models again tonight and hope to have the first print files in a couple of days … Cheers !

 

[Haastnooit]

Crawler Course update

Well I have been at it the whole week during my freetime … After creating all the different single 3D obstacles I merged everything together and trimmed away the excess and overlapping parts by subtracting the big grey rectangular shape as shown on the pictures below. This is the birth of the first single big model that will be sliced up in 8 printable modules to start building my course.

To connect all modules together I decided to use a separate bowtie connector. That way I am totally free in how and which modules I want to connect to each other. While making the plan to position all connectors I also changed the dimensions of the modules covering the step. Below the “floorplan” of the modules and the positioning of the connectors.

Next I sliced up the model to produce the printable sections.

After this step my K1 was printing nonstop and slowly but surely my crawler course comes together, below some pic of it “growing” past week …

In the next update I will post some front- and top view pics. I have reached the maximum amount of pictures per post for this one.

Of course I have already tested the course with the Absima Goat and I am glad to say I have not done bad for a first time course builder. I have been running my mini every night on the growing course and am really excited. It is quite challenging and I really enjoy discovering the possibilities and impossibilities. The breakovers are not easy at all, but luckily also not unachievable, I have to place my tires securely to be able to get on top. Also to complete the side hill over all 4 breakover modules is really difficult. Untill now I only managed to clear all modules a couple of times.

All in all the course is really technical and for sure there are also parts I wish I would have made different. But yeah … it is a learning curve, I can always print a new section or modify one if I feel like it.

The surface is a little bit slippery, I find the stock tires of the Goat to work the best in regards to the different Injora tires I have. In the future I will probably want to add some texture to the surface, and also make it look more natural. But first I am going to expand my crawler course, I will be working on some smaller modules to add to each side of the 4 breakover modules to increase the width of the course to its maximum. Due to the construction of the rack the side addons need to have a slightly thinner backwall. I will also add a row of 4 standard 200x200mm modules behind the breakover on the raised section, more on that in the next update!

See ya !!

 

[Haastnooit]

Crawler Course update

Looking back at the work done so far I feel this is a very educational project for me. I learned a lot about design and smart manufacturing by doing things not so smart. This experience will come to benefit me in future projects … I hope.

Front- and top view of the complete course as per the previous post.

Most noteworthy lesson learned is to really be critical on how to slice up big models for modulair printing. The way I chose to make the stepped modules waisted quite a bit of material and time on the supports. I could have ruled out the need for supports by redesigning the modules dimensions and introduce an alternative method for connecting these very parts.

Below a picture of one of the sliced breakover modules, 42% of time is spend on supports … !

I only noticed this when I was printing the third breakover module. This made me feel a bit less smart and a little bit “ashamed”. But as I said, I will take this as a learning point and move on.

I designed and printed 6 more modules and added them to the crawler course.

Upcoming week I will make some small modules to add to the sides and back of the raised part of the crawler course to fill in the gap to the sides and backwall. These parts are to prevent falling of the sides and getting wheels stuck in the gap between the course and backwall. After that I will take a little break from this project.

Now the crawler course is usable my daughter is urging me to get to work on her SCX24 …

 

[Haastnooit]

Crawler Course update

I filled out the complete raised surface of the crawler course area. Same process as the previous additions, so not much to say about that, pictures below show the process step by step.


Determined the needed dimensions and filled out the surface with lots of smaller obstacles.

Merged all 3D objects together and trimmed the excess parts.

Made “floorplan” for printable sections and position of the connectors.

Divided the big 3D model in smaller printable 3D modules. Ran in to limiting factor of printbed size, never felt the need for a printer wit a bigger buildplate before. Would have been nice for this project. Export STL and print …

All modules are installed … I now have printed a total of 24 modules for the course, managed to fuggup 3 modules due to stupidity, printed 1 test module for “proof of concept” and used 37 connectors. All in all I used about 6 rolls of filament (1kg) and my printer has been running 112 hours to make my first course a reality.

That is it for now as the crawler course concerns. It is time to do something different and most of all use it and learn the positives and negatives of what I have build thus far. Then evaluate future plans, decide if I want to add-on or re-do ... Lots of possibilities, I already added a wooden plank to one side to prevent the trucks from falling in the abyss. I am thinking of expanding the course that way anyhow. Also thought crossed my mind to use the screwholes in the wall to add a bridge or elevated level to the cousre in the future.


Next update will be the start of the SCX24 budget build, looking forward to that.



Catch you later !

 

[Doom!]

Love this project!

 

[Haastnooit]

SCX24 Budget build update

On to the SCX24 budget build … I had some SCX24’s before but I sold them because I hated the ridiculous small hardware that is used on them. At that time I was working on my FCX24’s a lot and really preferred the M2 hardware of the FCX24 over the M1.4 hardware on the SCX24 platform. In hindsight it was stupid to sell them, the aftermarket for the SCX24 platform is way bigger than any other platform. So much more possibilities to do a cool build.

Anyhow … I am back where I started, I even have another JLU as I had before. Funny thing is I sold my old one for 85 euros (which I bought used for 75 euros) and now I bought this one used for only 60 euros. Money wise the SCX24 platform is treating me nice thus far … This will probably change, but plan is to keep this build cost effective and don’t go overboard.

I will replace the stock body with a 3D printed Pinched Toyota body that just finished printing. The body is a free STL and can be found on thingiverse.

File location: Pinched Toyo Body and Sliders for HR SXTF14GAC LCG Chassis SCX24 by TeamTays - Thingiverse

I printed the body, grill and bodymount in PLA, the sliders are printed in PETG. First task for this build will be preparing the body for paint and add a primer. I don’t know what the final color is going to be yet. Will see …

The stock SCX24 electronics are really underwhelming in contrast to the Absima Goat, therefore I will be upgrading the ESC and servo. The throttle delivery of the stock ESC is very jumpy, you need to give throttle when you try to clear an obstacle else the truck will stop moving forward. Also low speed control is not what you would like. I found a really good black Friday deal on Amazon for the Injora MB100-R80 ESC (18 euro) so I ordered one to replace the AE-6 2-in-1 ESC.

Another electronics weak point is the servo, that will get replaced by a Yantrs or Flashhobby 11kg servo I ordered from Aliexpress. Of course the flimsy steering links need to be replaced as well, for that I found a complete brass link set (BDX) for the whole truck on Aliexpress. The servo and links have not been delivered yet.

For shocks I hope I can use some spares I already have. I got some 40mm shocks I never used on my 1/18 Glacier and Hilux builds. Two colors to choose from, black or blue. They use bigger hardware so I will have to see if I can make this work.

I have several Injora wheel and tire combos I can use, the white deep dish wheels are the ones I will use for this build. Not sure about the tires though, stock tires are 54mm and the Injora crawler tires measure 62mm. They look a bit too big, guess I will be looking around for some smaller tires soon.

Fun times lay before me … catch you on the next update !

 

[Doom!]

Another fun project to follow.

 

[Haastnooit]

SCX24 Budget build update

This is my first 3D printed body I worked on, so I have no previous experience to back me up. This will be a learning process figuring out what exactly is needed to turn a FDM printed body in an acceptable result. I expect I will need to do several body’s before I will be completely satisfied and have a solid work process dialed in.

So with this first body I will be establishing my baseline. In order to get rid of as many layer lines as possible I will add 2 layers of primer to the body, before applying 1 or 2 coats of the final color. Before and between the coats of primer I will sand the body with 220 grit sandpaper.

Fresh 3D printed body. Some pronounced layer lines visible depending on the angle of the light source, the pictures do not really show them. But believe me they are there … the driver side and the hood are the worst.

First time sanding. Smooth edges make the body look way nicer and I eliminated a lot of layer lines. Quite the difference, but some of the tiny edges and surfaces are very hard to reach when sanding.

First coat of primer. Bare in mind the pictures are really zoomed in, I can now see things my naked eyes can’t see. The body looks way better in real life. The grey primer shows the remaining visible layer lines better than the white surface of the print.

 

[Haastnooit]

Second time sanding. I spend another evening meticulously sanding down the rough patches and remaining layer lines as best as I could. This will have to do, luckily it is a crawler body which does not have to look pristine. If needed I can hide rough spots with weathering or a special paintjob.

Second coat of primer. I need to give the final coat of primer some more drying time as the first coat, I rushed the sanding a bit and the paint was not completely dry and hard everywhere. Meanwhile I have to decide what the final color will be and also decide If I want to do something “special” with the paintjob or add weathering.

During the sanding and painting I also have been working on fitting the body to the chassis. This required some custom parts and mods to the chassis. More on that in the next update … catch you later !

 

[Haastnooit]

SCX24 Budget build update

While the body was drying I have been working on the chassis preparing it for mounting the body. I first looked in to replacing the bouncy friction shocks. I wanted to use some 40mm oil shocks I have that are intended for FMS cars, but the bigger hardware (M2) meant I needed to drill out the shock mounts on the axles. I judged this to be a “no go” because I feel this would significantly weaken the axle mount and make it prone to fail.

I decided to stick with the stock shocks for now and install some longer shocks later. To be able to install longer 40 mm shocks without changing the stance of the truck I designed and printed some simple shock mounts for the chassis. They have mounting holes for the stock shocks (34mm) and for the longer 40 mm shocks. I kept the shock position vertical like stock.

On the front the shock mounts are part of the electronics tray and there are no mounting points on the chassis rail for a separate shock mount. So I attached one of the 3D printed shock mounts to the stock shock mount and used is as a drill guide to mark the position with a 1mm drill bit. Removed the drill guide and drilled some 1,5mm holes freehanded, then clipped off the stock mounts with side cutters.

When installing the stock shocks, one of the bolts broke on me. Perplexed … as I did not apply any real force when tightening them down. With this breakage I now have no choice but to order some new shocks for this build.

In order to keep the momentum going I grabbed the Injora 40mm oil shocks I bought for my future ultimate crawler build and ordered a second set.

In the process I also ended up adding a chassis brace to the rear of the chassis

Done fiddling with the shocks, next I will look in to fitting the body on to the chassis.



Thanks for checking in !

 

[Jerold]

SCX24 Budget build update

While the body was drying I have been working on the chassis preparing it for mounting the body. I first looked in to replacing the bouncy friction shocks. I wanted to use some 40mm oil shocks I have that are intended for FMS cars, but the bigger hardware (M2) meant I needed to drill out the shock mounts on the axles. I judged this to be a “no go” because I feel this would significantly weaken the axle mount and make it prone to fail.

I decided to stick with the stock shocks for now and install some longer shocks later. To be able to install longer 40 mm shocks without changing the stance of the truck I designed and printed some simple shock mounts for the chassis. They have mounting holes for the stock shocks (34mm) and for the longer 40 mm shocks. I kept the shock position vertical like stock.

View attachment 406571

View attachment 406572

View attachment 406573


On the front the shock mounts are part of the electronics tray and there are no mounting points on the chassis rail for a separate shock mount. So I attached one of the 3D printed shock mounts to the stock shock mount and used is as a drill guide to mark the position with a 1mm drill bit. Removed the drill guide and drilled some 1,5mm holes freehanded, then clipped off the stock mounts with side cutters.

View attachment 406574

View attachment 406576

View attachment 406577


When installing the stock shocks, one of the bolts broke on me. Perplexed … as I did not apply any real force when tightening them down. With this breakage I now have no choice but to order some new shocks for this build.

View attachment 406578


In order to keep the momentum going I grabbed the Injora 40mm oil shocks I bought for my future ultimate crawler build and ordered a second set.

View attachment 406579

View attachment 406580


In the process I also ended up adding a chassis brace to the rear of the chassis

View attachment 406581


Done fiddling with the shocks, next I will look in to fitting the body on to the chassis.



Thanks for checking in !

Did the tall mount keep the ride height? I tried the Injora 39mm shocks and laid them down as much as I can. The ride height was still too tall for me.

 

[Haastnooit]

@Jerold : Yes, in theory the taller shockmounts should keep the stock ride height. The added mounting points are elevated 5 mm compensating for the difference in shocklength between the stock (34mm) and Injora (39mm) shocks. However the stifness of the springs will also influence the actual stance of the truck, making it look lifted or slammed.

I already changed the shockmounts multiple times ... see update below.


SCX24 Budget build update

The Pinched Toyota body that I use was designed for the Hot Racing LCG chassis which has a angled skid, therefore the included sliders are not usable for the stock chassis. In order to fit the body to the stock chassis I had to make some replacement sliders.

I attached the angled sliders to get an idea of what needed to change to set the body where I wanted it to be. I had to dremel the angled sliders some to get them to fit over the screwheads of the lower/upper links.

Made the V1 flat sliders focusing on pushing the body forward so the front wheels would fit the wheel wells correctly. I also had to drill out the access holes to the mounting screws, I made them too tight and the shaft of my screwdriver did not fit.

With the V2 flat sliders I corrected the total length of the slider so it would fit the cab properly. I also finalized the position front to rear and added some height so the body would clear the front shock mounts. By adding the height to the V2 slider it conflicted with the screwheads of the front upper links and I was not able to install the sliders flush to the chassis rail. So a V3 slider was born which has an added “cutout” to the backside (or inside) of the slider to clear the screwheads of the upper links.

With the V3 flat slider the body is finally mounted in the correct position front to rear and clears the stock electronics tray (with stock ESC) and front shock mounts vertically. Unfortunately there was some considerable side to side slob between the sliders and the body which I did not noticed before. I tackled this issue by making the V4 sliders and adding 1mm to each side.

All in all fitting the body was a very time consuming process ... but fun though. If anyone else also wants to use this body with the stock chassis hit me up and I will give you the STL file for the sliders. Next I removed the front bumper and added a chassis brace to the front. Also installed the brass link set to the chassis. The steering links will be replaced together with the servo.

As said it was quite the process to fit the body to the chassis. And when done I was not happy with the results, there are some issues to deal with. First, the rear shocks interfere with the bedsides of the truck. The bed cannot be placed on the chassis with how the shockmounts are configured now, no good. Second the stance of the truck looks a bit “lifted”, I want to have the truck look more slammed.

Both issues can easily be fixed by angling the shock position, this will also add some more flex to the chassis. Win-win-win in that department … but in order to add more shock positions I also need to change the battery plate on the rear of the chassis and the electronics tray on the front.

On to the battery plate. I made a new 2 piece design with more positions for the shock mount and “integrated” a separate angled battery plate using the same mounting holes as the stock plate. Hopefully this angled plate will also bring the COG down a bit.

It took me some iterations to get the angle of the battery plate right. On the V1 version the front of the battery plate sat high, on the V2 I had it so close to the motor the Velcro strap did not fit properly and distorted the battery plate some. Below on the first picture the V1 version installed with the battery way up in the air and on the second picture the final V3 version where the batteryplate is almost touching the rear of the motor.

I attached the shocks one hole short from most forward and the bed now clears the stock mount perfectly … success !

I looked in to applying the same design principle to the front shock mounts and electronics tray. But found that a simpler single piece design gave me the best option to lower the ESC plate the most. Somehow I managed to miscalculate or make an error when creating the 3D model because the V1 version was 1mm too wide, the V2 was spot on. I made use of the extra holes I previously drilled in the frame rails.

The stance of the truck is much better with these changes. I printed a complete spare body to be able to work on the body placement while the OG body is drying.

I think I can lower the body an additional 2.5mm, I will print some modified sliders and test it out. A few tasks remaining: electronics, wheels & tires and finishing the body.



Cheers, see ya on the next update !

 

[Jerold]

@Jerold : Yes, in theory the taller shockmounts should keep the stock ride height. The added mounting points are elevated 5 mm compensating for the difference in shocklength between the stock (34mm) and Injora (39mm) shocks. However the stifness of the springs will also influence the actual stance of the truck, making it look lifted or slammed.

I already changed the shockmounts multiple times ... see update below.


SCX24 Budget build update

The Pinched Toyota body that I use was designed for the Hot Racing LCG chassis which has a angled skid, therefore the included sliders are not usable for the stock chassis. In order to fit the body to the stock chassis I had to make some replacement sliders.

View attachment 407313


I attached the angled sliders to get an idea of what needed to change to set the body where I wanted it to be. I had to dremel the angled sliders some to get them to fit over the screwheads of the lower/upper links.

Made the V1 flat sliders focusing on pushing the body forward so the front wheels would fit the wheel wells correctly. I also had to drill out the access holes to the mounting screws, I made them too tight and the shaft of my screwdriver did not fit.

View attachment 407314


With the V2 flat sliders I corrected the total length of the slider so it would fit the cab properly. I also finalized the position front to rear and added some height so the body would clear the front shock mounts. By adding the height to the V2 slider it conflicted with the screwheads of the front upper links and I was not able to install the sliders flush to the chassis rail. So a V3 slider was born which has an added “cutout” to the backside (or inside) of the slider to clear the screwheads of the upper links.

With the V3 flat slider the body is finally mounted in the correct position front to rear and clears the stock electronics tray (with stock ESC) and front shock mounts vertically. Unfortunately there was some considerable side to side slob between the sliders and the body which I did not noticed before. I tackled this issue by making the V4 sliders and adding 1mm to each side.

View attachment 407315


All in all fitting the body was a very time consuming process ... but fun though. If anyone else also wants to use this body with the stock chassis hit me up and I will give you the STL file for the sliders. Next I removed the front bumper and added a chassis brace to the front. Also installed the brass link set to the chassis. The steering links will be replaced together with the servo.

View attachment 407316

View attachment 407317


As said it was quite the process to fit the body to the chassis. And when done I was not happy with the results, there are some issues to deal with. First, the rear shocks interfere with the bedsides of the truck. The bed cannot be placed on the chassis with how the shockmounts are configured now, no good. Second the stance of the truck looks a bit “lifted”, I want to have the truck look more slammed.

Both issues can easily be fixed by angling the shock position, this will also add some more flex to the chassis. Win-win-win in that department … but in order to add more shock positions I also need to change the battery plate on the rear of the chassis and the electronics tray on the front.

On to the battery plate. I made a new 2 piece design with more positions for the shock mount and “integrated” a separate angled battery plate using the same mounting holes as the stock plate. Hopefully this angled plate will also bring the COG down a bit.

View attachment 407318


It took me some iterations to get the angle of the battery plate right. On the V1 version the front of the battery plate sat high, on the V2 I had it so close to the motor the Velcro strap did not fit properly and distorted the battery plate some. Below on the first picture the V1 version installed with the battery way up in the air and on the second picture the final V3 version where the batteryplate is almost touching the rear of the motor.

View attachment 407319

View attachment 407320


I attached the shocks one hole short from most forward and the bed now clears the stock mount perfectly … success !

I looked in to applying the same design principle to the front shock mounts and electronics tray. But found that a simpler single piece design gave me the best option to lower the ESC plate the most. Somehow I managed to miscalculate or make an error when creating the 3D model because the V1 version was 1mm too wide, the V2 was spot on. I made use of the extra holes I previously drilled in the frame rails.

View attachment 407321

View attachment 407322

View attachment 407323

View attachment 407324


The stance of the truck is much better with these changes. I printed a complete spare body to be able to work on the body placement while the OG body is drying.

View attachment 407325

View attachment 407326

View attachment 407327


I think I can lower the body an additional 2.5mm, I will print some modified sliders and test it out. A few tasks remaining: electronics, wheels & tires and finishing the body.



Cheers, see ya on the next update !

I like the battery trays, much better than stock. And the vertical shocks are better. When I angled my shocks they don't settle as well as the vertical position.

You might want to look at a motor upgraded. I went through a few then went to Furitek.

 

[Haastnooit]

Thanks @Jerold . I especially like the lower ESC tray on the front of the chassis.

The slight angle in the shock setup I have going on right now does not effect the smooth operation of the shocks. I have not encounterd any problems when cycling the suspension. I think the shock angle is quite conservative on my steup, I have seen much more aggresive (layed down) angles on other rigs.

As I planned this build to be a "budget build" I am going to try the stock motor first. I hope replacing the ESC only will solve the "stalling issues" I experienced when driving over an obstacle with the stock setup. If not I will put in a bigger brushed motor ... this will mean I have to redo the battery plate to make room for the bigger motor.