Who was wrenching today??? What did you do??

[Xraycer]

After being on call all weekend, and having to come in for 16hr, I got the ok to take today off.
I've gotten a few upgraded parts I needed to install on the SCX24s. This morning, I'd decided to install a set of carbon fiber chassis rails onto my SCX24 Deadbolt, aka Goblin, and also because I want to invert the shocks on it as well.
The rails were perfectly "machined" to the stock rails, and everything matched up perfectly. The stock steel rails were 7grams each, and the cf rails were 4grams each. It's miniscule, but it still took off some top weight to lower the cg. At only $9 for the set, I thought it was worth it.
Before installing the shocks onto the inverted position, I'd snipped off the fake reservoirs.

 

[Doom!]

I like it, how does carbon fiber do in wet conditions? Anyone know? Not that I'd ever have to worry about wet, but I know @Xraycer gets rain and snow.

 

[Xraycer]

I like it, how does carbon fiber do in wet conditions? Anyone know? Not that I'd ever have to worry about wet, but I know @Xraycer gets rain and snow.

I've never heard of heat or cold being an issue for cf.

 

[Doom!]

I've heard if it doesn't have a good seal on the edges it can delaminate. Was just curious if anyone has had any issues. I doubt it would be a problem.

 

[Xraycer]

I've heard if it doesn't have a good seal on the edges it can delaminate. Was just curious if anyone has had any issues. I doubt it would be a problem.

Mine didn't look like it's sealed along the edges. I'll have to research into this. Thanks for bringing it up @Doom!

 

[Arbgarry]

Any cf i have ever had, from car and bike parts to misc stuff, i have always sealed the edges with clear nail varnish.

 

[Doom!]

Mine didn't look like it's sealed along the edges. I'll have to research into this. Thanks for bringing it up @Doom!

Any clear paint or even CA glue can seal the edges if they look exposed.

 

[ahr43]

Video wrenching for me today. XT-90 connectors arrived in the mail. Found and watched two You Tube vids on soldering them. Figured better safe than sorry in the event there were tricks to be had. Ready now to try my hand at them. Probably tomorrow.

Oh, and watched two vids on fabricating and attaching a front splitter to a RC chassis. Planning one for the R1E speed runs.

Cheers. 'AC'

 

[cbaker65]

Put a spur gear my Baja today ,may take it out tomorrow an give it a run!...

 

[Xraycer]

I've seen similar versions of this mod on a few YT, so tonight I'd decided to do it on my SCX24 Jeep. That is swapping places between the ESC and the battery.
My first idea was to remove and do away with the battery tray all together. That I would ShooGoo the ESC to the chassis rails. Since it fits snuggly between the rails. The ESC would be up against the motor wires, and set at the lowest it can go without interfering with the rear upper links. However, doing it this way would require both the battery and the front bumper lights wires to be extended.
After much thought, I reinstalled the battery tray, and placed the ESC as far forward as it could go. Next, I removed the ESC tray and chopped off nearly the entire platform the ESC sat upon, to make room for the battery. The battery then is placed on the front diagonal section of the chassis rails. The battery is secured in place with a single rubber band. A quick indoor crawl test shows noticeable improvements on steep angles.
Using my scale, the front cubes in at 167g, and the rear, 131g. That's very close to that ideal 60/40 weight distribution for a rock crawler. Brass diff cover in the front should get it there.

 

[Xraycer]

I got a bit of wrenching in today.
Installed new Injora aluminum high-clearance links, and sealed the new carbon fiber chassis rails on my SCX24 Deadbolt, Goblin. One of the rear, lower link is on backwards, so I'll correct that tomorrow.
Added a front brass diff cover to the SCX24 yellow Jeep, which I know dub, Cheddah.

 

[Doom!]

I got a bit of wrenching in today.
Installed new Injora aluminum high-clearance links, and sealed the new carbon fiber chassis rails on my SCX24 Deadbolt, Goblin. One of the rear, lower link is on backwards, so I'll correct that tomorrow.
Added a front brass diff cover to the SCX24 yellow Jeep, which I know dub, Cheddah. View attachment 140471

Cheddah.....I like it!

 

[Xraycer]

The SCX24 Jeep's front bumper sticks unnecessarily far out. The result is poor climbing performance on the straight on approach.
Today, I removed the front bumper assembly and tested Cheddah on the challenging Cliff course. As I suspected, huge improvement!
I'd also noticed, on some spots, the foamless RC4WD Super Swampers, up front, went nearly flat and really struggled on the climb. I guess with all the brass added, the foamless tires are running a bit too flat. So, tonight, I reinstalled the front foams. I had also took an old soldering iron to the foam, making a cog design. I'm going this cog design will help grab onto surfaces, while the rest of the foam helps maintain rigidity of the tires. I'll find out tomorrow if the foam in front will improves performance.

Before:

After:

 

[Doom!]

Big improvement on the bumper clearance. What did you use to make your new bumper? You could mount the LEDs in the headlight sockets with hot glue if you want to keep the lights.

 

[Xraycer]

Big improvement on the bumper clearance. What did you use to make your new bumper? You could mount the LEDs in the headlight sockets with hot glue if you want to keep the lights.

This was the same thing I did to my blue Atlas. I cut a straight section from a plastic clothes hanger and glued it on using E6000.
E6000 is one my favorite adhesives. It's similar to ShooGoo but less rubbery when cured. And like ShooGoo, it's not permanent, but yet provides a strong hold. I use E6000 to hold all the scaled body bling on my TRX4 Defender, instead of drilling a ton of tiny holes all over. So far, it has worked great!
I gave a thought about doing the same thing, you had suggested, but I just don't want to drill holes through the light lenses. I have a roof light bar coming on the slow boat from China, which is made for the Deadbolt. But, I think it'll look good on top of Cheddah. So for now, it'll be going lightless.

 

[Xraycer]

My Injora motor, for my SCX24, came yesterday. I decided to test this one on my Deadbolt, Redrum.
It went together perfectly, without any issues! It's about 5°F outside right now, with strong, gusty winds. So, I'll test it outside later, when it should warm up to a sweltering 11°F

 

[Doom!]

@Xraycer I was wondering about that motor, curious to know what you think once you get a chance to give it a workout.

 

[Xraycer]

@Xraycer I was wondering about that motor, curious to know what you think once you get a chance to give it a workout.

Well, I hope you appreciate the effort @Doom! I braved the gusty 7°F outdoor weather to test this for you
Definitely higher torque, and you can get it down to a nice and slow crawl. However, you will lose a bit of speed and punch. For my driving style, I like this motor.
I got another motor on the way, but it'll come packaged with an ESC. It was only $20, so I figured I give it a try. If this newer one works out, I will get one maybe 2 more. One will be running brushless.
The plan is to have all 4 SCX24s on the Flysky tx.

 

[Doom!]

Well, I hope you appreciate the effort @Doom! I braved the gusty 7°F outdoor weather to test this for you
Definitely higher torque, and you can get it down to a nice and slow crawl. However, you will lose a bit of speed and punch. For my driving style, I like this motor.
I got another motor on the way, but it'll come packaged with an ESC. It was only $20, so I figured I give it a try. If this newer one works out, I will get one maybe 2 more. One will be running brushless.
The plan is to have all 4 SCX24s on the Flysky tx.

Solid plan getting them all on one transmitter. I just bought a radiolink and a bunch of receivers. Now I need to figure out esc's. I don't miss those kind of temperatures!

 

[Xraycer]

Solid plan getting them all on one transmitter. I just bought a radiolink and a bunch of receivers. Now I need to figure out esc's. I don't miss those kind of temperatures!

I'll take these low temperatures over those biting bugs that the warm temps brings out.