Cheap SOB Crawler Build

Welcome to RCTalk

Come join other RC enthusiasts! You'll be able to discuss, share and private message with other members of our community.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

HPIguy

Durability Tester
Staff member
Supporter
Excellence Award
Build Thread Contributor
Messages
8,728
Reaction score
2,136
Location
Great Smoky Mountains
I had a ton of stuff leftover from my Wraith build, and found this on another site as a roller for $100. I knew I was going to take the motor and ESC out of the Wraith also, and my trans would bolt right up, so why not. This will be all about what I can scrounge from stuff taken from the Wraith, and out of my parts bin, and I'll be keeping track of total cost as I go. I hope to have it going by weeks end.

So far, here's where I'm at;

The roller; Bender SWX chassis, AX10 axles, beadlocks, HB Rovers, Losi alloy shocks, bug body and all links and mounts = $100 shipped

S16uTSG.jpg


DZbiBL6.jpg


Wraith trans with Robinson 13/87 gearing and HH 35T torquemaster pro / BR-XL ESC = free, already had them that I removed from the Wraith

wzYyP1n.jpg


Savox SC-0251 servo = $39.99, bought for the SC10, didn't fit

bmorOy0.jpg


So I'm at $140 so far, and shooting to keep it under $200 if possible. It's an older chassis, but should still be good fun on the rocks, and more importantly the AX10 axles still have parts availability. My old TLT axled rig, parts are getting hard to find.
 
can't beat that price.
 
I've been under the weather all week, and haven't fooled with this thing much. But I get back at it tonight. I also bought some parts, that pretty much blew the $200 budget, but they'll be worth it in the end.

I found this trick online, find a piece of all thread that slides into the WB8 shafts snugly

AezzSIN.jpg


Put some epoxy on it

r4mA6FA.jpg


And once it cures, they should last a good long time without twisting for dirt cheap

rF5ydwv.jpg


I also started work on my home brew bombproof front axle tonight

Take an AR60 housing and cut the splines off

mr0Tfqg.jpg


Make sure they're straight and clean cut

nakpIV9.jpg


Take some measurements

QtfqBsH.jpg


Got to the hardware store and pick up some 1/8 x 4" MIP plumbing fittings and machine them down to use as beef tubes. I don't have a lathe so I used a dremel in a dremel drill press with a carbide cutting bit and went slowly.

Dojz4Vs.jpg


I then chucked them in a drill and used a hand file to clean them up and make sure the AR60 ends fit

GK1pTwv.jpg


More to come...
 
Last edited:
You cheap bastard. I have used the same trick on driveshaft before on crawlers and a Traxxas plastic sliders
 
Nice bomb proofing. We do the research and development and companies produce our ideas without royalties.

Yep, but I can't take credit for these ideas Ralph, found them on crawler forums.

You cheap bastard. I have used the same trick on driveshaft before on crawlers and a Traxxas plastic sliders

Yessir, that's me. :D Hoping they hold up for a while, we'll see.
 
Got a bit more done tonight.

I splurged a bit on some Locked UP RC F1 spools. I run them in my Wraith, and as my old man used to say "If that kid can't break it, it can't be broke." Beefy, machined wholesomey goodness, I love these things. Unfortunately, I forgot to order shorter screws, so I just dremeled these down once I installed the ring gear.

vpzZfIi.jpg


y5Q4if7.jpg


I then turned my attention to the housings, and shaved them down to accept the breef tubes (they're brass, so that sounds right to me)

IvJ2HES.jpg


Checking fit before cutting the tubes

q3oKasg.jpg


Cutting...

zA3qMDx.jpg


And done. I'll drill some holes in the housings, then mark, drill & tap the tubes one night this week. Once that's done, things should move faster from there.

ZbbKoQY.jpg
 
Thank you Rolex, it's been mostly enjoyable. :D



I made a goof and had the housings a bit wide, but I fixed that goof up and made some headway tonight on the front axle. Got one side all mocked up, and just ran out of gas, been sick for about a week now. It will be torn down one more time to clean any plastic / brass shavings out also.

Drilled and tapped my breef tubes (it was cleaned with a file after the pic)

wCXaN1x.jpg


I re-used my Wraith knucks and chubs,which was the whole point of all this work, for way more steering (could barely turn this thing around in the yard :D) due to the clocked chubs. 2.2s class doesn't allow dig anymore, so I'll need all the steering I can get next season.

LWDAylS.jpg


orSEKwL.jpg


Did my bolts a bit different too

ZxxLN8E.jpg


Kingpins lined up, holy crap, I did something right. :lmao:

aYGXGBc.jpg
 
Last edited:
Well, that sucks. Looks like you need to find another bomb-proofing technique for that now.
 
Time to get back to this one...

A friend shaved some unis down for me for more steering

S8xXnEH.jpg


I cut down some button heads for the housings

mSWqNmK.jpg


Got the axle tang to spool fit the way I wanted, and of course, a good coat of red 'n tacky

GohyDKM.jpg



Gave the cut down bolts going into the breef tubes a good coat of this stuff (love the stick BTW!)

mDVLeWd.jpg


And put a dab of CA on each button head to secure them further

ohweigj.jpg


Tomorrow will be finishing the front axle, and tear down on the rear
 
Got the front end almost done tonight.

Rather than keep up with those tiny bushing axial likes to use in their knucks, I drilled mine out just a hair, and used these traxxas screws, voila no more bushings to keep up with

equU3YK.jpg


Got the knucks installed, and running a gear head RC plate for my servo and battery up front

Br75fJ2.jpg


Making the tie rod was what I dreaded most, but I'm happy with the outcome. Steering arm bottoms out just as the tie rod touches the housing. Tie rod will sit well above centerline

2MYL6Mc.jpg


That $15 tubing bender paid for itself tonight

7woyXlH.jpg


And here's why I did all this work on the front end; since digs are no longer allowed, you want a LOT of steering. That should do :D

4kWubBg.jpg
 
Last edited:

Similar threads

O
Replies
21
Views
776
OGOverkill
O
Iowa crawler
Replies
8
Views
577
Iowa crawler
Iowa crawler
Addict Rc
Replies
25
Views
744
Addict Rc
Addict Rc
J’sCrawler
Replies
32
Views
4K
J’sCrawler
J’sCrawler
Back
Top