Panda Hobby 1/18 Tetra X2 Project: Slow Build (& Questions)

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Bronkzilla

raf
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RC Driving Style
  1. Crawling
This thread will start off boring but in time it may be interesting. Any help, information and knowledge shared with me will be greatly appreciated. My mind is more geared towards mechanical things which allows me to visualize and engineer most anything that crosses my mind but when it comes to servos and electricity I am like a lost puppy, 🐶 but a little less adorable. 🌭

Panda 001.jpg


My first question is in regards to steering servos because it is the first thing that stopped working. It must be common because :panda: is out of stock. Which one would you guys/gals recommend as a replacement for the one pictured below?

I want to build a slowww crawler with stickier and possibly bigger tires so I am open to suggestions that include the other servo motor and ESC thing.

Panda 002.JPG


https://www.pandahobby.com/product-...le-crawler-rtr-4wd-off-road-vehicle-black-red

I will add a picture from the top down tomorrow.

Thanks
 

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Things I like to consider when doing a servo search.
  • What voltage is the BEC of the ESC?
  • Or do I want to run an external BEC?
  • How heavy is the rig?
  • How big are the tires' contact patch?
  • Is there any scrub steer due to wheel offsets?
  • Do I want a quick, snappy servo? Or shitloads of torque? Obviously I want both silly!
  • Servo size - standard, micro, mini, etc
The voltage of the BEC will determine what voltage servos you can use. Higher voltages mean servos run faster and stronger. So you need to know this before buying. An external BEC is sometimes needed just for clean power, as some higher end servos need clean power, or they can be very twitchy. Plus external BEC's can produce higher voltages than most internal BEC's, so high voltage servos can be used. So consider adding a BEC if you want better performance. Regardless, make sure the servo you choose can handle the power you have available, or plan to run.

Weight means more friction at the contact patch of the tires, so the more weight, the higher the torque needed. But scrub steer is a servo killer. It happens when you have added wheel hub extenders, wheels with bigger offsets, etc. It causes the contact patch to move away from the steering's pivot point, causing the steering to actually drag the tires around an arc, as opposed to just pivoting them on their contact patch. This is hard on servos, so higher torque is needed here. Having an open diff in the front will alleviate some of this. And vice versa, a locked diff will mean scrub steer is bad mmmk?

Usually, fast servos lack torque, and vice versa. When you start finding servos with good specs in each area, the price usually goes up. And good specs along with high voltage capability means it goes up even more.

Savox, Reefs, Protek, and Hitec, just to name a few, all have some good servos, but these are going to be in the $50-$??? price range, depending on specs. But the budget minded (myself included) have used the cheap 25kg and 35kg offerings from Amazon with good results.

I'd probaby guess something in the 35 oz/in range, and .12 sec/60° @ 6v will be a fair bit of overkill for your truck, but that's just guessing.

*Oh hell, I just remembered this is 1/18 scale, and the whole time I was thinking 1/10 scale lol. So I assume you have a mini sized servo, but just guessing here. Maybe look at the EcoPower 827 or Emax servo and see if they fit. Those are micro servos, and yours may be a mini. Not sure just based on the pics.

Oh, and metal gears. Definitely want metal gears 😉
 
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Thank you very much Breydon. I appreciate the way you laid out this information for me. You got my mind racing in a very positive way. Thank you!

This RC will be a budget friendly learning project. At least that is what I keep telling myself. Down the line my main project will be a 1:10 Cross RC EMO AT4. I will most likely be making poor money decisions when I start playing with that one. :)

I hope to be able to eventually mimic my actual driving style offroad. I like going slow. I love torque. I love using lockers. I like compacted dirt trails more than rocky trails so I may lean towards that in the RC world.
 
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Thank you very much Breydon. I appreciate the way you laid out this information for me. You got my mind racing in a very positive way. Thank you!

This RC will be a budget friendly learning project. At least that is what I keep telling myself. Down the line my main project will be a 1:10 Cross RC EMO AT4. I will most likely be making poor money decisions when I start playing with that one. :)

I hope to be able to eventually mimic my actual driving style offroad. I like going slow. I love torque. I love using lockers. I like compacted dirt trails more than rocky trails so I may lean towards that in the RC world.
Breydon is actually my kiddo. My name's Kevin 😉 (happens all the time, so no worries 😉).

There is a servo used a lot on WPL 1/16 trucks. It is a JX servo, model number PDI-1181MG. It only handles up to 6v, but is a 3.5kg servo, with .11 sec/60° speed, and has metal gears. It may fit your rig, and is definitely budget friendly.
 
No thread is boring my friend. I always welcome a new build thread.
Breydon aka Kevin knows his chit, so my advice would be to let his info sink in.
Savox servos are a great choice. Off the top of my head, I can't remember exactly what model I run in my SCX10 ll but it is high torque, high speed, and definitely waterproof. I avoid water regardless because nothing is actually waterproof.
 
I only know some chit lol.

@Bronkzilla - if you can get some of these mounting dimensions... I can check the servos I have as well as do some hunting and find you something that will work. You also could count the teeth on the gear to see if something might bolt up to your current servo horn.
sg90-micro-servo-motor-1682-65-O.jpg
 
We enjoy build threads, I'm still fairly new at this, so I often learn new stuff by watching other folks work through their builds. Even if it's not an area that I am pursuing, I still like to see what other folks are doing. Looking forward to following along. :thumbs-up:
 
What I can't get over is how good that truck looks at 1/18 scale. Just seeing the pic had me thinking 1/10 scale.
 
What I can't get over is how good that truck looks at 1/18 scale. Just seeing the pic had me thinking 1/10 scale.
They look cool 😕 but thats as far as it goes this panda crap is weaker then a wet ricecake box I've had nothing BUT issues with the panda 6x6 i have
They dont have good anything electrical in them i think out of the box it was ran twice before ceasing function. Hop over to redcat if your looking for better but budget. Fixes they have a 1/16 everest that most electronics fit and redcat usually runs redcat badged savox servos
 
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