Build Thread Garage Lcg Crawler Build

[JCsRCcar]

Wow, I'm impressed. Not to many people out there that can still fabricate their own stuff like that.

 

[Edough13]

As always another absolutely beautiful build @Jimbobjr keep up the amazing work Sir!

 

[Jimbobjr]

This is pretty much finished. I need to make a garage video to go over a few changes I made. Had it out twice and it does pretty well. It’s been so cold and wet here it’s hard to compare it to my other rigs successes and failures. The angled skid might be my favorite feature. Most times getting the front of the skid over something the rear slides right down.
The body turned out nice. Those team c bodies come with no grill so I made my own to look like a j45. Soft dig works pretty good and decreases steering radius by about the vehicles width in 180deg.
Here’s a quick video I made yesterday at St. Peter’s Village. (If you like crawling and live near South East Pa you need to go there). Quality is not great but you get the idea...

 

[Tunedfrog]

Awesome job, I would jump over to your profile and post a link. You will get a "Build thread contributor banner".

 

[Doom!]

Looks great, and seems to do really well. I can't believe you took the easy way down, I'm sure you could have stuck to that vertical rock face.

 

[Jimbobjr]

Here’s a final build video explaining a few things. Really enjoyed making this crawler. I’m going to run it and compare it with other rigs I have and make a few changes along the way.

 

[Greywolf74]

Nice work. Love that body!

 

[Iowa crawler]

Awesome rig
Great that you made so much yourself. I want a lathe and mill. Even a harbor freight one would be good enough for what I want to make.

 

[Jimbobjr]

Awesome rig
Great that you made so much yourself. I want a lathe and mill. Even a harbor freight one would be good enough for what I want to make.

The older Unimat hobby lathes are really nice. I have a 9” Southbend, it’s the smallest lathe that still has some rigidity but definately takes up a lot of space. Sometimes equipment can be found on Craigslist at nice prices. The harbor freight one or similar bench top models are fantastic for plastic, aluminum and wood rc model parts. I would like a programmable router for carbon panels someday. I don’t have a great way to cut carbon fiber...

 

[Iowa crawler]

I had a Bridgeport and a south bend lathe plus a collet lathe with a uninmat attached to the carriage. I had to sell it all to race motorcycles. The little harbor freight lathe is perfect for hobby stuff.

I want to make spacers and links. Mostly just stuff I could otherwise buy for a dollar.

 

[WickedFog]

The older Unimat hobby lathes are really nice. I have a 9” Southbend, it’s the smallest lathe that still has some rigidity but definately takes up a lot of space. Sometimes equipment can be found on Craigslist at nice prices. The harbor freight one or similar bench top models are fantastic for plastic, aluminum and wood rc model parts. I would like a programmable router for carbon panels someday. I don’t have a great way to cut carbon fiber...

I have an old Unimat that belonged to my dad. Awesome little machines.

 

[Jimbobjr]

I had a Bridgeport and a south bend lathe plus a collet lathe with a uninmat attached to the carriage. I had to sell it all to race motorcycles. The little harbor freight lathe is perfect for hobby stuff.

I want to make spacers and links. Mostly just stuff I could otherwise buy for a dollar.

Over the years I’ve acquired my machines mostly from a place I used to work. I almost sold them because I could just make whatever I wanted at there after hours with better equipment. Now I can’t do anything of my own or bring anything thru the door to work on.
Those Southbend lathes bring a premium. Especially the smaller ones where you do not need a millwright to move them. Very popular with small engine shops, garages and gunsmiths.

 

[Iowa crawler]

My south bend was a jewel. Six inch chuck and about four feet long with a flat belt jack shaft going to a 110 bolt motor with a v belt to drive the jack shaft.

It came off a navy ship maybe the USS Coarl Sea. Or the USS Layte. I collected a small amount of tooling for it.

The other tools I got from a machine company throwing it all away for scrap.

This is a photo from the internet. But it’s exactly what I had I guess it was a nine inch.

 

[Jimbobjr]

Made a few changes to this rig. The shocks are now desert lizard 90mm, full droop in front and around 1/2 drop in rear, with 35wt oil. Also added some weight to wheels using a product called low melt. It’s lighter than lead but a good bit heavier than brass. Us it at work quite a bit. Pretty much harmless unless you eat it. Here’s a video of the changes where I explain it.

 

[Tunedfrog]

That's a great looking rig.

 

[Doom!]

That's a great looking rig.

It most certainly is, nice work @Jimbobjr !