BKoz559

My Feedback: (3)

The kit arrived a few days after Christmas. I had it running in about 3 days; which is good considering how little free time Ihave. I'm still working on the stock body and need to decide what color to paint it. Until then, Imounted Chisels and a beatup Stampede body on it. This is my first true crawler. Nitrosportsandrunner suggested the 2.2s for better climbing prowess and Inow understand what he was talking about. I like the stock 1.9s and will probably switch back to them once the Axial body is finished. As it is now it's been fun to drive. Hobbytown in Fresno has a small crawler course setup in their store and they allow people to bring their rigs and demo it. I'll have to do that later this week.


It has the following equipment:
Traxxas XL-5 ESC
Novak "fifty-five" 55T motor
Hitec HS-5625MG servo
Tenergy 2S 3500 25C LiPo
and is temporarily controlled by a Traxxas TQ 2.4ghz.

Are there any tips / suggestions regarding the setup of these trucks or the equipment that should be used in them?

ReaperGN

While the XL-5 can handle a lot of power its constant ratings are very low. This causes it to be really weak. If you ever decide to upgrade you might like the new SV3 from castle. You would have to get the programming card but its worth it. And its also waterproof.

BKoz559

My Feedback: (3)

What abour a Holmes Hobbies ESC? I see rheyre popular with scalers and crawlers.

nitrosportsandrunner

ive used XL-5 in my axial for a good amount of time.

suppose it depends on the motor and gearing.

They are able to handle a 15 turn 540 in a rustler to go 35mph. Im running mine on 2s with a axial 27t geared for about 4-5mph. Thats doesnt put much stress on it IMO.

This winter I will attempt to run a pair of axial 27t motors off the XL-5. I saw a youtube vid where it looked like thats what the guy did. He never replied how long the esc lasted tho.

If it fails, Ill probly buy a outcry duel motor ESC. Its $65, has drag brake, turbo bec and can handle upto 4s!


Onto the OP's truck...actually looks pretty cool with the pede body.

I find the stock tires and suspension work great for trails, or on jagged rocks. If the stuff is dry, it can do alot.

In the winter, threw snow, I run my shocks on a custom lower mount point....thus raising the ride hight so I can run 2.2 tires without having to cut the body all up.

ReaperGN

The holmes BR esc is strange. Its more money than a Castle SV but handles the same amps. It does have a better bec and is rated to 6 cell lipo but at 80 amps even 3s lipo is a bit to much for it. So I would just buy a Sv2 and 5 amp bec. But I have no need or desire to have waterproof electronics. Going with the SV3 would raise the price. But it is waterproof and the holmes BR is not.

As to the XL-5 it has no power. It will run many motors but it gives up to early. It can handle about 100 amps but its continuous is only 14 amps. It also does not have a drag brake.

nitrosportsandrunner

the lack of drag brake is the major flaw for the xl5 as a crawler ESC. That and the delay for reverse.

The losi 12t has a crawler setting that has drag brake and no delay, and its about the same cost as the xl5....but its not waterproof.

with alittle skill tho, most any esc can be waterproofed.

BKoz559

My Feedback: (3)

I've noticed that reverse delay and it is annoying. I just sold one of those Losi 12t ESCs on eBay about a week ago. I didn't even think about using it. The XL-5 just seemed like a solid choice. So far with this Novak 55T and a 2S LiPo it's gone places I never thought it would go. I'll have to try that crawler course at the hobby shop and see if my truck falls short. At full-boar it goes no more than 5mph with stock gearing so I think this is a reasonable setup. I'll look into the Castle ESC and read up on it too.

I wanted to order the other spring sets so I have options. I imagine that suspension tuning for crawlers isn't really anything like tuning for short course racing. When do you need to consider change spring rates? I wanted to go softer so I can recreate more realistic body motions. The medium rate springs that came with the kit perform well from what I can tell but, the truck looks stiff when it bounces over bumps. I want it to look something like the trucks in these videos...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26p2A53JiOY[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_bEqlg-1VE[/youtube]

BKoz559

My Feedback: (3)

I drove my truck through the crawler course at the local Hobby Town USA. It's kinda small but it's well built and challenging. Iwas able to successfully complete the course one direction, but not the other.

SyCo_VeNoM

can that losi esc go from forward directly to reverse with no brake?
been looking for an ESC that could do that for ages to use in a RC tank (as I will need 2), and every one I tried fails me in that respect that claim they don't brake

ReaperGN

I am putting dual Castle sidewinders in a Blizzard soon. So I would suggest the Castle sidewinder for your project.

SyCo_VeNoM

If I didn't dislike castle and find their stuff overpriced as hell for what you get I would. Also spending $140 for 2 esc's is a tad ludicrous as I could just buy a new tank complete.
Trust me that would be insane overkill in what I need a 20A ESC would work, but all the 20's I tried that say they don't have brake lie in their sheets.

wonder how profile 4 of the XL-5 works(I know it was missing from XL 2.5s which angered me) as it says no brakes

ReaperGN

The Sidewinders are cheap unless you only buy stuff from Hobbyjunk and its affiliates. You could go with the Sabertooth from dimension engineering. But after shipping and such its not all that cheap either The Losi LOSB9522 from the Night Crawler is 50 dollars for one. So your right back at paying the extra 10 dollars for the Sidewinder so you have the programing, power, and capability. If you buy from ebay you can get two sidewinders for under 100 shipped.

SyCo_VeNoM

my hobbywing ESC's have been preformed way better than the Castle I have...
so yea "hobbyjunk" is the way I'd go... don't know if you ever owned one, or if you did bought the wrong one for the task, but don't go calling the stuff junk as it kinda looks ignorant, and elitist...
Castle esc's in my opinion are the most over priced, over hyped things on the market, and yes I own one, I also regret buying it, but I bought all the hype that people were saying at the time on how they were the best thing ever, and paid way more money for something I ended up replacing with a hobbywing 150A setup which was more capable in the application I needed it for...

As I don't need programming, power or brushless capability they are a waste for a RC tank.

Side note I also hate castles way of obscuring their specs as Powerful enough. I don't care if they feel it is powerful enough I want the actual current draw without having to sacrifice a goat to a pagen god while praying, and using google to try and locate a place that lists the real specs(which if you saw their true specs they are very unimpressive).

As for the LOSB9522 I saw multiple places that they are under $40 shipped a pop. hmm will have to wait to try one till I get some spare cash as I've blown my budget for now on RC parts.

ReaperGN

That's your opinion. My opinion is those that buy that junk only care about saving money and couldn't care less that such company's hurt the industry as a whole. They are not releasing new technology. They just copy whats available and do a poor job of it.

SyCo_VeNoM

well my opinion is based on owning various brands, and using them as yours sounds cause its not the brand I only use its a crap copy.

Hobbywing ESC's outside being an ESC, and brushless copies absolutely NOTHING from castle, and if you consider that copying, then Tekin, and every other ESC is a copy of castle too.
What about when the castle ESC's were burning up?(look at the savage XS's 1st batch) what about people who had castles fail soon after warranty is up, but had the "junk" take more abuse, and not fail even after being use 4X longer than the castle crap. What company blamed "cheap" batteries for their ESC's blowing out(even though the batteries they recommended caused the same failure rates), all due to them being too cheap to add a few caps(which they came out later as a add on for an extra $30)?

Also thank you for calling 80% of what I own junk... well at least its not complete crap like castle makes. And sorry not everyone is loaded with cash, and can afford paying exorbitant prices for no real gain in fun.

BKoz559 sorry for the rant in your thread just sick of elitist who come off my toy is better than yours cause it costs more. I find it funny how me asking about how a losi ESC goes from forward to reverse brought up hobbypartz's site

nitro stan

i run 2 losi msc12L esc's in 2 different trucks, they have a crawler mode with instant reverse and a 2s lipo cut off . both have been great.
the holmes esc is waterproof, the castles are not. sure there easy to WP, but if you miss a little tiny spot, water gets in and it over,you got to buy another esc. if a holmes fails from water, its covered, send it in and get a new one free

SyCo_VeNoM

thanks for the info might just have to get the losi's

BKoz559

My Feedback: (3)

Damn, now I'm regretting selling that Losi ESC. And... I"m not concerend about rants.

I've run the truck several times with the current equipment and I'm pleased with it's performance. It could always be improved but nonetheless it's very good as is. I installed super-soft lower springs in front and soft lower springs in rear with super-soft upper springs all around (those were stock). The suspension action seems more responsive and the truck doesn't look as stiff as it used to but it's still not quite where I want it. I also realized that the Axial springs are the same diameter as my Associated springs so I'll have to get creative and see if some of my AE springs won't provide the look and feel I'm after.

BKoz559

My Feedback: (3)

I took the Dingo out to the local riverbed to see what this crawling thing is all about. I had fun but the recent rains made some areas muddy. That and all the bums that camp out in the weeds trash the place so it looks like a landfill. Too bad. I'll probably have to drive out of the city limits and try another spot down there.

If I ever get some free time I"ll finish the body, mount the 1.9s again and take it out for another run.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHnRF6TYAss[/youtube]

Kitsune

My Feedback: (7)

Very nice!

BKoz559

My Feedback: (3)

This is sort of a long video at over 4 minutes but I wanted to share a recent outing with the Dingo. I taped my Galaxy phone to the roll bar and it created a moderately realistic viewpoint from the driver's seat. If I can convince someone to hold the camera while I drive then I can get some exterior shots and footage of it.

[youtube]http://youtu.be/JQFRJ1bwoCU[/youtube]

BKoz559

My Feedback: (3)

HELP ME PLEASE!

I finally have a brushless crawler system for my Dingo and am working on installing it into the truck.  I'm using an Integy 34.5T sensored 1100KV motor and a Losi sensored ESC.  That's all well and good; the issue is that the end of the motor interferes with the nut of one of the bolts that secures the upper link to the chassis rail.  If I raise the transmission about an 1/8 of an inch then it should miss it.  I've seen plenty of videos online of others who have installed brushless motors in their SCX10s but no one seems to mention the motor touching that screw.

Is this a common problem?  Can I flip the transmission or something?  Otherwise I'll visit the hardware store and purchase longer screws and stack some washers between the transmision case and the center chassis plate.  While this will work, it looks cheesy and there has to be a better way.  How do others install brushless 540 cans in the SCX10 chassis?

The Real Dogman

Can you get a picture of what you are trying to say. I have few brushless systems in scx10 chassis with no interference

BKoz559

My Feedback: (3)

This is supposed to be a 540 can and it appears to be shorter than the Velineon 3500 motor and only marginally longer than an Orion 540 Ihave installed in my buggy. Even trying to bolt it into the motor mount was a little tight. It was like the mounting holes didn't line up as well as they should. Anyhow, the motor bolted to the mounting plate and the gear mesh it good. As you can see in the last photo, the back of the motor can sits on the bolt that the front upper suspension link mounts to. If I put a spacer under the transmission then the motor will clear and the U-joints still seem to turn OK without binding. Like I said, spacers will work but, they look half-assed.

Also, I've found a servo relocation kit online that makes it chassis mounted instead of axle mounted. I want to do this despite the fact that the truck will bump steer; it looks more scale and the servo rubs the chassis rails right now. Is there a recommended brand / product that is recommended?

EDIT: RCU is experiencing some trouble so photos won't upload. I'll check again later and see if their server takes them.

The Real Dogman

you don't have to have bump steer with a chassis mounted servo, you just need the Pan Hard Link Mount which corrects the bump steer. Hands Brothers makes a good kit for the Chassis Mounted Servo and Pan Hard Link Mount. Great quality and perfect geometry with no bump steer. Here is a pic, although kind of hard to see, of a pan hard link mount with a chassis mounted servo. You need both for correct steering. Just google "SCX10 Pan hard mount" or "SCX10 3 link kit"





The one below is a cheaper Level 3 Version, it works and does its job, just cheaper.



Or you could go the super cheap route with some stock parts like this guy did, in the link below.

http://www.rccrawler.com/forum/axial...-write-up.html

You will find alot more good stuff on that website too!!