Video showing why nitro's can't crawl

[CharliesTheMan]

For all of you who keep asking why people don't use nitro engines in their rock crawler, this video explains perfectly.

http://rc-car-videos.blogspot.com/2006_04_27_rc-car-videos_archive.html

 

[BOUTCH]

:yes:thats for sure...no crawling for the nitros!!

 

[Lessen]

mark my words.. Someday somebody will build a purpose built nitro crawler. It's only a matter of time.

 

[CharliesTheMan]

Oh I'm sure you're right, and I'm sure there will be an exception, but so far everyone who has asked this question has wanted to know why they couldn't use a stock monster truck setup to crawl. I know of someone who was working on some serious engineering to build a purpose built gasser, but I haven't heard from him in a while.

 

[Lessen]

oh yeah.. a stock setup jst won't do. You'd have to mod it soo much you might as well build it from scratch ya know... Someday.

 

[CharliesTheMan]

I've already got about 20 purpose builds for things just such as that which I will do, basically just to show people that you can build something to break all the rules and not buy everything right out of the box, but I've already got my project book for the summer full with the axial, the Revo, and the Baja.

 

[Brushlessboy]

I bet the temp' numbers would have been scary during the rock crawling bit though.

 

[frickenjoey]

I bet the temp' numbers would have been scary during the rock crawling bit though.

I roasted an engine doing hill climbing....high RPM and no air flow...375 deg is damn bad for a mill.....it never ran the same after that. Gee imagine that right?

 

[SAVAGE_BASHER_K4.6]

yea i bet that mill is hosed. i think iam definitly getting my crawler real soon

 

[big bronco]

mark my words.. Someday somebody will build a purpose built nitro crawler. It's only a matter of time.

some one already is
only it a scaler
http://www.scale4x4rc.org/forums/showthread.php?t=21340

 

[Karl M]

I wonder how well an E-Savage would do?

 

[Webbage]

There's a solution to every problem. Overheating - BIG FAN!

I'd imagine Nitro's biggest issues are it lacks torque, gets too hot and also don't they use clutches? I think serious crawling would burn them out?

 

[CharliesTheMan]

The cutch is the major problem. Not only that it will burn up, but you don't have the instant torque and hold brake that you would have with the electric motor, so you would already be at a HUGE disadvantage.

 

[Webbage]

The cutch is the major problem. Not only that it will burn up, but you don't have the instant torque and hold brake that you would have with the electric motor, so you would already be at a HUGE disadvantage.

Full size rock crawlers use internal combustion engines and clutches, and they seem to work okay. Yes scaling the idea down to a single cylinder Nitro engine is challenging, but it's all a matter of balancing the weight of the truck with the clutch material durability. Where as a electric has a drag brake induced by the ESC, on a real 4x4 truck you slip the clutch against the engine to apply tension to the drivetrain to hold it. Or alternatively you use very effective disc brakes, which I know also exist for Nitro trucks.

The fact is no-one really knew how to make a good electric crawler until they tried and look where it is now. The electric route has developed fastest because it's the easiest and cheapest route. There's nothing to say someone will pop up with an expensive but viable Crawler with a nitro engine. It's just a case of someone actually doing the math.

EDIT: I worked it out in the bath last night, it needs a heavily sprung, well made, manual clutch and a Nitro engine with a bit more than the usual torque. torque. That way you could rev it and drop the clutch to get a 'push'.