Outcast Outcast is getting custom towers and bracing

[Jimbobjr]

Trying to beef up my oc without too much weight. Going with 1/4 carbon fiber for the towers and aluminum bracing with an integrated 16mm carbon fiber bulkhead/ tower to bk/t brace tied to the chassis bracing. Best would be to run the brace on the chassis floor but I just can't figure out a good way to do it...
Going to be a while, I only get to work a couple hours a week.
Have the towers pretty much done. They are nice and thick and weigh a less than the originals. Made a little fixture to hold them down.

Works great, don't know why I haven't done this sooner.
Loosing the wing so I can use my bracing system. Going with the t bone bumper wheelie bar. Its lighter than stock too...leaving the big t bone front bumper on. If I ever learn to drive this thing I will switch to the typhon t bone front bumper.
Chassis will stay stock for now. If I still bend it with this setup I will try making one or just buy one from m2c. Got a set of the copperhead 2 tires so they may end up on here or shockwaves to save a little more weight.
My kraton ended up so heavy I'm trying to go lighter on the oc.
Jim
Btw, finding 1/4 (around 6mm) sheet carbon fiber is very hard. 5mm is a piece of cake, Amazon, eBay, banggood what ever. 6mm forget it. It’s an arm and a leg but the towers need to be 6mm imo. Found a really nice company called https://www.elevatedmaterials.com/. Beautiful, dense, lots of layers and brutally tuff.

 

[BashingBrian]

They look amazing..!!!

Dare I say nearly unbreakable..??!!?

 

[joostin420]

They do look amazing

 

[Outcastblxnut]

Those are bad ass

 

[Just a Basher]

Wow....That looks amazing.

I kinda want some.

 

[arrmadillo]

Sweet, nice fab!

 

[bicketybam]

Beautiful work! You should make more and sell them ?

 

[Jimbobjr]

Thanks guys, I thought the towers will be protected by the truck body. Skidding on the roof should not wear the carbon down. That one of its downfalls is lack of abrasion resistance. I don’t think I’ll break them but we’ll see. There are some really nice carbon ones on ebay made by someone called Xtreme Racing. They are 5mm though but are just beautiful.
Kind of a learning curve machining it. They make special end mills for milling (or routing) this stuff. I don’t have any but will buy some for future use. Also drilling it is tricky. Your drill needs to be freshly sharpened or when you break through the far side will try to delaminate and blow out which is just awful. Best to use carbide, hss just wears out almost instantly.

 

[BashingBrian]

@Jimbobjr ... if you use a scrap piece behind when drilling and clamp the two together ? it shouldn't blow out..??

 

[olds97_lss]

@Jimbobjr ... if you use a scrap piece behind when drilling and clamp the two together ? it shouldn't blow out..??

Or even a decent piece of wood as a backer when drilling would help.

Almost turned into a woodchuck joke. lol

 

[Wmorgan]

I'll take 3 sets and 1 for a Typhon. How soon can you ship? I need them for the weekend bash!! ?

 

[Jimbobjr]

It’s been slow with this project. I took a detour and had to get the Kraton back together. Towers are done, changed the diff oil, and bearings, new v4 motor mount, Hr servo mount and new servo. Still need to finish the supports and center brace. Have found some real nice heavy wall carbon fiber tubing. Im hoping for a little flex and rebound instead of just staying bent like my Aluminium ones.

 

[Captain Dirt]

It’s been slow with this project. I took a detour and had to get the Kraton back together. Towers are done, changed the diff oil, and bearings, new v4 motor mount, Hr servo mount and new servo. Still need to finish the supports and center brace. Have found some real nice heavy wall carbon fiber tubing. Im hoping for a little flex and rebound instead of just staying bent like my Aluminium ones.
View attachment 39193

Looking nice!
I run the T bone T2T on my Kraton and it does a good job of keeping my chassis straight. Did have to Dremel a few things on it though to make it fit proper. Still a pain when removing the center diff, so my next upgrade will be a better chassis to get rid of the brace.

 

[PowerDubs]

Very well done.

 

[Jimbobjr]

Moving at glacier speed I have rough trimmed my c10 body and sawed out my chassis braces. My carbon tower brace is going to have two aluminum ends. They will attach to the rear chassis brace and the tower/bulkhead in the front.

 

[Jimbobjr]

This has been taking a back seat lately to my kraton work I've been doing. We also have a bit of a family crisis which keeps me from hobby stuff. Anyway, I have a front brace done. Machined the wire holder in like on the others I made. Going to cover the hook with shrink pipe.
Been doing some work on the bulkhead/tower brace. Have the ends started. They will captivate the ends of the carbon tube keeping it from splitting. Also going to epoxy it in (the grooves give it tooth) and pin it with an aluminum dowel. Almost all of that square will be gone. It there for holding purposes. The ends will be what's left.
Jim

 

[Jimbobjr]

Mocking up the rear brace and t2t. No blue prints here. Have to make cardboard pieces first, then try it with the aluminum leaving material, use a sharpy and kind of back into it a little at a time on the mill until all fits. The aluminum tube is for testing and measuring. The one I'm using is carbon. I think next time I make these I will try one piece (or three pieces) and add two more holes in the chassis and go without the t2t. It's pretty tight with the spur and battery though.

 

[Notorious J]

Mocking up the rear brace and t2t. No blue prints here. Have to make cardboard pieces first, then try it with the aluminum leaving material, use a sharpy and kind of back into it a little at a time on the mill until all fits. The aluminum tube is for testing and measuring. The one I'm using is carbon. I think next time I make these I will try one piece (or three pieces) and add two more holes in the chassis and go without the t2t. It's pretty tight with the spur and battery though.View attachment 41664View attachment 41665View attachment 41666

Love the work so far @Jimbobjr. Watching your progress, I just had to ask, what about milling your own chassis? The template is right there and you can go thicker than stock or stay 3mm and raise the sides like a Just Bash It chassis for extra rigidity without increasing the weight too much (sacrifice the side guards). Just a suggestion seeing how it looks like you could do just about anything.

 

[Outcastblxnut]

Make two while your at it????

 

[BashingBrian]

or 3...?