Wheely King Basher Project

[Webbage]

Dunno if this belongs in here but... well it's not a crawler project any more and I guess it falls under MTs...

Seeing as how my Axial AX-10 is such a great crawler, I don't expect to be needing the Wheely King for crawling anymore. Rather than leave it to gather dust in a dark corner, I want to do something else with it.

Here's how it currently stands:

Stock Chassis, Electronics, Motor and Transmission
Axles are as stock but diff-locked (can soon pull the lockers out though)
Steering servo is slung on one side of the axle top.
Steering servo is also broken, so I'll likely replace it wit ha Tower Pro 995MG
Suspension is 4-linked using Traxxas links
Wheelbase is at 12-ish inches (essentially it's 10th scale)
Extended Drive Shafts (also Traxxas)
The Shocks are stock but have been shortened 1/2 inch
(I did it while I was goofing with a different chassis and crawling)
Stock Wheels & Tyres (they look cool IMHO)
It's got a nice big bash plate on the front axle that I made myself. I have a spare incase I break it too

It kinda sits down low and long the way it's rigged now, which I really like a lot. I dunno how it drives yet.

My aim is to make it into a decent 1/10 scale bashing 4WD truck for thrashing on gravel and short grass. I need speed, durability and relatively low cost (I'm currently spending a lot on the Axial!). I'm pretty handy and have made a good few parts for it already. I'd like to keep doing that if possible.

I like the look of the Savage a lot, and aim for something along the same lines, but on a budget and not as full-on rip-roaring, or expensive.

They seem to pack a lot wider wheel track. Is there some way to get a 12mm to 12mm hex widener block for that sorta thing?

Just got an idea what it ought to look like at the moment but not much idea how to get it there. All ideas welcome

 

[Webbage]

Found some wideners - HPI #88055

 

[Webbage]

Just so's you get an idea what I'm waffling about, here's what it looks like atm:

I'm looking for some recommendations on where to go from there.
What shocks can I fit, bearing in mind I will probably want shorter ones wit threaded bodies?
What makes a good basher/racer?
Is Brushless the way to go for power and speed?
What Crawler mods should I undo, if any?

All help is appreciated...

 

[flm_savage]

i'm not sure if a 4 link is the best bashing setup. I just don't see it being that stable.

what you need to do it hold the truck in you hand. Take a good look at it and then ask yourself, "if i threw this as hard as i could against a wall, what would break?" and just start there.

the stock 2 piece pinion is crap so i would grab the hardened gears (ring and pinion) from hpi first.

How fast are you looking to go?

 

[Webbage]

Not earth-splittingly fast but fast enough to need my wits about me etc, and pack some decent jumps. I have limited space and a good few things I can tear a wheel off on Oh and I'l get into trouble if I keep ending up in moms flower beds I just want something faster than stock.

Any suspension system is stable if you make it stiff enough. I agree in stock format it's not going to be tight enough though, I need stiffer springs and hard shock oil I think. Also the axle centre upper mounts need re-enforcing, or replacing with a metal version. They look primed to snap off when I hit something. The widened track ought to help some and I am looking at getting a shorter shock set for it (the shocks are already a half inch shorter than stock, but I could do better). I may even double up and fit 8 shocks.

The pinions will get replaced when they strip. That'll probably be after the first few hours. Like you say, hardened ones are easy to find, so it'll be a no-brainer to fit them.

 

[Lessen]

I continue to be more and more impressed with the Wheely King everytime I watch my boy beat the dog crap out of it. Your basher thread inspires me. Keep up the good work!

 

[Webbage]

I continue to be more and more impressed with the Wheely King everytime I watch my boy beat the dog crap out of it. Your basher thread inspires me. Keep up the good work!

I fitted the track widening spacer kit from HPI last night. man what a freakin' pain in the ass! Each hub spacer has a pin you have to drive through the hex pin hole and the spacer block, then slip an o-ring over to keep the pin in. Well that'd be a great idea if I thought the pin was ever likely to fall out! The front ones went together no problem but for some reason the back ones were a total pain. I ended up with me holding the truck and my dad using a big pair of pliers to drive the pins in. They include shims for shimming it up to get the pin in line one way (in/out), but I suspect they didn't quite line up the other way (cw/anti-cw). The pins ain't gonna fall out, that's for sure. They also use weird long wheel nuts that run down the centre of the spacer and screw to the original stub axle. Odd, but I suppose it keeps costs down. Anyway I got em on in the end and they do make it look as mean as hell

Next task is to rip the front axle open and pull out the diff locker. I'm gonna leave the back one in to stop the power spinning up one wheel, but the front one has to go to get my damned steering back
I've also got to fit a new servo. I stripped a few teeth on the HPI one when I hit a gate post a month or so back.

This is gonna be fun I think

 

[Webbage]

Well, I took it out today. I refitted the stock battery box (which is at the front). I fitted the Tamiya Dynatech 01R motor I found, rectified the problem with the servo (it was a smashed servo horn, not the servo gears as I thought) by fitting a servo saver. I decided to took it out for a blast.

It's REALLY fast, and really scary to drive. I now double-dog need a better radio set because I lost it at one point and it snapped one of the garden lights off as it took off into the flower bed! Ooopss....

I ran through 2 1500 battery packs, decided driving on the gravel was a bad idea because I was filling the grass full of stones, took it on the grass and had a lot of fun. I must have hit myself in the shins a good 5 times. Damned radio set only works up to about 5 yards away, so I was driving around myself in circles...

Then... IT BROKE! I rolled it, flipped it and it landed on it's front-right wheel. I heard a pop, but didn't think anything of it as it tends to do that anyway as things ground out as they hit the ground. Then when I went to drive it it was popping and clicking and nose diving. I drove it back towards me, thinking the ring gear had stripped or something, but I twisted the front wheels and it seemed to pop back in somehow. I held it up and ran it up to full forward and reverse, and it seemed fine. I drove it around a bit but it was only when I walked over where it had landed I found out what had broken. It had sheered one side clean off the stub axle cup.

I put it down to the fact I'm using widening spacers, and the knuckles are only plastic. I think the landing twisted the dog bone out of the cup and it went back in wrong and smashed the cup.

So I think that deserves a toast or a celebration or something to my first bashing breakage

 

[Webbage]

Okay I'm looking for recomendations from all you hard-core off-road racers, for the following things I'm wondering about:

1. Do I stay 4WD and reinstate both differentials to full diffs, or do I go for rear drive 2WD?

2. What wheels and tirescan I get that are more in the racing Truggy/Stadium Truck vein that will grip well on gravel and grass? Something that won't require modding to fit (12mm hex, same offset as the stock wheels, approx.)

3. Do I drop the suspension even lower? It's still rolling on hard turns, but that's likly just soft shocks and springs. I really like the Revo/Firestorm kind look with really low slung boddies. I know I can't really get it that low but something more like that would be cool

 

[Webbage]

I stripped the axles down to unlock the diffs tonight, and while I was at it I checked the front knuckles.

This is what I found:

Lucky I have alu knickles and new cups on the way...

 

[Webbage]

Yay! I got some RC4WD axle top link mounts through today. Very nice, very solid and came with an advantage I never even counted on...

Those of you who followed my WK crawler project may remember I fabbed some axle-top 4-link brackets. I couldn't get hold of any Tamiya brackets that the example I was following used so, after a lot of swearing and Metal Working 101 with my dad, I made up a pair of brackets that worked just great.

The problems with them only became aparent when I started Bashing with the WK. Because they raised the point of the upper link triangle above the original axle bracket they were bending it forwards at the front and backwards at the back. Also, the brackets were stopped from spinning behind the mounts by the sides of the original plastic mount. That all ended when I Bashed the truck becasue the alu bracket just tore through the plastic.

As you can see, however, the RC4WD alu brackets have a step on that just happened to be exactly right for my brackets to nestle in. All I had to do was mill the holes out to match the ball joint profile, so it slipped neatly over the top. I added a plastic bush to neturalise the ball joint on the other side and hey presto! Also they are made of thick alu, so they will take the knocks a lot better.

Pretty happy with that. The RC4WD mounts are expensive, way more than the CKRC ones, but they both give you the option to use the original suspension (or in my case modifications to the original), and also are way more robust.

 

[Webbage]

Ripped the whole truck down to parts over the last few nights. Unlocked the diffs, took the knuckles apart and pulled the parts out (that was when I took that pic above). I'ts all in a box or on the bench in my work corner at the moment. Hopefully my shipment from East End Machining (thanks Charlie and JoeP!) will be here tomorrow and I can rebuild this sucker in hard-ass mode. I've got so much stuff to put on it when it gets here. I'll run off a list of the new parts when I get them home

I got harder springs and some stiff shock oil in the shocks whilke I had it in pieces so that ought to help stop it slopping about so much. Also it'll be going back together with the new hard-a$$ upper 4-link mounts which will also help it as the to mounts won't slop about like a drunkard anymore

Oh also I have a spare transmission and a brand new uncut lid for it (had to have a clean unscratched one for showing it off at crawler meetings ).

Here's one last shot of it before I ripped it apart. It's really starting to look the way I wanted it

 

[Webbage]

Well largerly it all went well last night, had a few minor issues, mostly with HPI's hex wideners (which I am beginning to hate, but I now largely have no option but to use them now I have a rear lockout). I got the whole think built up and ready last night. Or so I thought. I looked at my handy-work this morning and found 4 screws missing off the back axle. Hey I was getting tired

Here's a full run-down of what was added:

Original Unlocked Diffs
RC4WD Alu top axle mounts (with patented 'Hard A$$' 4-link brackets)
Blue HPI 'Hard' Springs
#500 Tamiya Shock Oil
24-tooth Motor Pinion (not sure this was worth it)
East End Machining Alu chassis TVP plates
STRC Rear Lockouts
STRC Shock Towers
STRC Front Steering Bar
STRC Front Cs
STRC Front Knuckles
Tower Pro MG995 Servo
New HPI Bodyshell (no cuts)

All in all it drives a ton better, and it's stable as anything. That usually means it's not fast enough, but meh

Here's a couple of pics:

 

[h8z2luze]

Lookin good man keep it up!

 

[Webbage]

Can't help thinking it's starting to look a bit Tamiya TXT-1 crossed with a Savage, like

Now if I can get my 4500 mAh pack charged I might get more than 6 mins out of it at a time

 

[Webbage]

So you guys are sick of my WK always being clean right? I mean it's a basher, it's supposed to be beat up and covered in crap! Well...

 

[CharliesTheMan]

The parts are looking really nice. It's going to be a nice basher, something for when you have a need for speed.

Wow it's really filthy. I would cry if I got my truck that dirty, but you seem to like it so congratulations on its first hard bashing with the new parts!!

 

[Webbage]

Yup, it was great fun!

It is dawning on me I've got to clean the bitch tomorrow though :\

BUT, thanks to East End Machining, it's as tough as old boots! The Alu parts and Joe's excellent chassis make all the difference. I gotta blow my own bugle a bit here though, and say that bash plate I made saved the axle and steering like 10 times in 30 mins.

 

[CharliesTheMan]

It looks like the skids already took a hell of a beating lol

 

[Webbage]

Hmmm? I don't have a skid on this truck maybe you mean my Other Rig?

The bash plate did get bent. I ran it into a telegraph pole, those things don' give any quarter when you ram them with a RC truck

Gonna take it out today and see if I can get any Bashing pics.