rolland

Ehobbies ships internationally and has them also. JT hasn't had anyhing on ebay lately that I am aware of.

Poor Judgement, have you heard anything from Renegade yet? They said 2-3 weeks over a month ago.



rolland

poor judgement

i just sent them another email plus a post to cen on here requesting towers... dunno what else to try now.

oh hang on, i wonder if that machining company i contacted here was quoting on all the "weight saving" machining on the JT Towers... i for one could certainly live without those - i will get on to them again. didnt hear anything from them as of yet in regard to a full chassis either - cant see it beating 50 bucks tho...

rolland

I could live without the center hole and the lightening cuts also and it would make the design and the machining allot simpler and the part stronger. If I need a hole I can drill one.
I have been thinking of getting the aluminum and trying to make them myself, there really isn't anything to them especially if the un-needed cuts are left out.

All of the vendors as well as CEN should be checking into this. Why should they sell a part if the replacement pieces are not available. CEN spends allot of money placing the picture of the JT chassis in the magazines so you would figure JT would be on top of things.



rolland

poor judgement

aye... so u would expect a response from jts distributors, such as renegade, like this -

yes I talked to thad and he is making them as we speek. should be done next week.
Thanks
David RCP

[8D]

im not holding my breath, but thats the reply i got to my last email asking if renegade had any info on the towers. fingers crossed i guess. no word on pricing as yet tho.

bout bloody time! lol, typical engineering/machine shop...

while i am here - just be careful if u are using a stiffener between the towers, i have slightly bent my towers doing cartwheels etc... fortunately they were already bent in the opposite direction, so now they are pretty much straight! just a word of warning, seeing as it took us months to get this far on replacements... the answer is probably to use something that will bend before the towers do, but still have enough rigidity to help the chassis out a bit. m3 threaded carbon steel rod isnt far off, but still a little stiff.

rolland

That is good news. Hopefully they have improved the design.

The tower braces that you are using, are they carbon fiber rods?
Have you thought about running a piece of aluminum down the sides of the chassis? That should add alot of strength and take the load off of the towers but it will mean even more holes in the chassis.


rolland

poor judgement

i forgot to ask about the design changes - we will see i guess.

carbon steel i meant, sorry for the confusion.

funny u should mention stiffening the chassis that way - ive been keeping an eye out for some small angle section that i could squeeze in there somewhere, it would be great if i could find some, as u say, it would work very well. i dont mind more holes, so long as they are serving a useful purpose.

Scouser

Have you considered something along the lines of what the 1:8 buggys use? They seem to commonly utilise a piece of aluminum the runs from the bulkhead to the chassis floor. It would be possible to make a piece that went from the front bulkhead to the screws on the stock chassis where the front plate meets the main chassis. Just an idea of course but it may be worth a thought.

poor judgement

right - the JT shock tower saga continues...

i rang cenracing from here in the uk, took 4 attempts to get thru to a person, but got there in the end. the lady i spoke to gave me Kens email - [email protected] - so i have mailed him our situation and asked for advice (not sure who Ken is...). while i was at it i mailed cens customer services and sales depts. Maybe u guys in need/wanting could also try...?

now if we dont hear anything, then i for one will be pretty pissed with cen, this is beyond ridiculous now, all i/we want is spares for one of their advertised "pro racing kit" products for crying out loud.

i rang renegade too. very helpful guy there told me that he has been ringing JT and they keep saying that they will be done soon, but JT seem to have more profitable projects on the go at the mo. renegade are not getting email replies from JT either. and for what its worth, JT have apparently moved premises recently to another state, which wont help. but... renegade are going to ring JT again to see if he can get things rolling again, he is very sympathetic to our situation, so lets just hope...

Scouser

Passed from pillar to post mate. Renegade sound like the best bet, it seems a though the guy is on your side at least! Pretty disheartening stuff I have to say. My FF is probably only going to come out for flatland duties from now on, spares are gettin rarer it seems and engine parts are a joke! Someone out there is missing a prime opportunity to make some money in custom parts! Anyone out there with a cnc machine?

alvinl

There is a gentleman that posts over in the Traxxas thread that is machining some very custom stuff for a gas powered s-maxx. In one of his posts he talks about making a kit for sale for the s-maxx, maybe he would be interested in making parts for the funfactor. I will jump over there and see if I can grab his login name.

Edit - His login is DrHonda. Here is a link to his profile: http://www.rcuniverse.com/community/...1&memid=170219

If I had a cnc machine, I would be making them already. Maybe he will be interested in a little business.

poor judgement

nice one cheers - i just pmed him

oh and i just got a reply from cen -

try toyhaus.com 702-222-1600 or customrccars.com 714-736-5148

someone over there in the US want to give them a ring?

rolland

JT has been making and selling alot of truggy conversion kits lately. Alot of the truggy theads mention using JT parts.
I am pretty sure that they don't sell alot of kits for the CEN and are not interested in supporting it. After I get a replacement tower I will switch back over to the stock towers and shelve the JT towers and never do business with them again unless they decide to start supporting their products.
I am also greatly disapointed with CEN for their reluctance (or refusal) to do anything about the situation. I know that they have seen and read this thread.



rolland

Dr Honda

My Feedback: (4)

Hi Guys,

I’m not sure what the $$$ conversion is at the moment… but I should be able to help you out. I got a PM from Poor Judgment about your problem. I built a CNC machine because I’ve run into too may things like this. (I want a better or custom part) OK… sure… to make myself one part is VERY expensive… but when it’s my own time… it just adds to the hobby.

I saw the picture of the break, and they are using something like 7075 with a “Hard Anodizing” finish. It’s like case hardening for aluminum. That’s why you saw the crystals in the fracture. A tower made from 6061 will flex before it breaks. And it’s a cheaper material to work with.

OK… for the real stuff. If you want me to help, I need some close up pictures of the parts on the truck to see how it fit’s with the other parts. Then I need a part for my measurements. It can be a broken part… I don’t care. (as long as it’s not totally destroyed) If some one wants to draw the part for me in a CAD program… that will help speed things up. I think I can get an AutoCAD file to convert… but if someone can do a solid model… that would be better. (Solid works, Rhino, Pro-e) I’m pretty sure I can take a 2D AutoCAD drawing, and expand it in my software.

So… let’s get this started.

poor judgement

emails back from customrccars and toyhaus - both out of stock, got this from toyhaus when i pressed them for suggestions:

I would love to be able to help you however all ones that we knew of were
long gone months ago. The official word from CEN is that JT has
discontinued it altogether. Some customer have heard differently when
talking directly form JT but CEN has assured us that they will no longer be
available. This was months ago.

Sorry we couldn't help you on this one.

Sean
Customer Service
ToyHaus, Inc.
(702) 222-1600

well thanks very much for letting us know CENRacing - especially as the chassis is still listed on your site. i could easily go on...

...but... a possible saviour is here !!!

DrHonda - many thanks for taking the time, much appreciated mate. I will get some photos sorted and I have autocad here, so will sort something out. is 2D best or should I go for an autoCAD solid model (brain recoils at the attempt to remember college...) unless of course anyone else has the pics and drawing? if not i dont mind doing it.

In regard to the grades of alloy - u have said exactly the same as some machinists I contacted here in the UK, so sounds about right to me - do u have any anodising facilities or polishing gear etc? if possible, i would like to stay with the hard anodised finish, if not, then absolutely anything will do me!

(S800 pics to follow )

Dr Honda

My Feedback: (4)

Poor Judgment…

I don’t think that AutoCAD can actually do a true solid model. It can do a simulated 3D model… but it has no real depth, or dimension when converting it. I have a copy of AutoCAD LT2006 in front of me… and I absolutely hate it. I have a friend that uses Solid works at his job… and he has helped me out with making my solid models. The chassis braces for my Maxx Gasser were drawn in about 15 minutes by him. I tried to do a 3D drawing in AutoCAD, and after 2 hours, it still wasn’t done. BUT… I think if you take a 2d AutoCAD file, solid works can use that a a sketch, and “Extrude” the depth needed for my CAM software to make machine tool paths.

Lets try this. Make a simple 2D drawing with a few holes… then e-mail it to me with it’s real dimensions. Then I can try to convert it. If that works correctly… then you can take the time to do the real tower drawing.

Anodizing is an easy process… but because you have to boil acid… I have not done it in my shoppe. I can send it out, but that will just make the parts more expensive. Especially in low quantities. Also… if you want me to polish them… that will raise the price too. (it’s labor intensive) 6061 T6 polishes easy by hand, and to keep costs down, you may want to do it yourself. (although I can do it, or have it done) Last thought on the anodizing… if you want them anodized, I would suggest staying away from the hard anodizing. It will make them brittle, and they will crack like before. Hard anodizing is best for something like a shock body. It will keep the aluminum from wearing out on a seal surface.

I’m open to anything you guys want… just let me know what you want.

Oh… I was looking at the stock parts list… and I noticed that there are 2 towers. One for the buggy, and one for the truck. Will one work for both??

If some one in the states wants to send me a part… PM me for my address. The people over the pond are welcome to send a part too… it will just take longer. Oh… I can return the part to whoever sends it to me. (assuming they want to buy a new tower, and I can ship them together)

poor judgement

Yep, autocad is a right royal pain in the buttocks... I will get a 2D drawing to you either tonight or tomorrow if thats ok. Hopefully someone in the States will be willing to send u a tower (please guys) if not i will send mine over.

If it polishes up easy like u say then i will be happy to take a natural finish and polish it myself. Thanks for the advice re hard anodising too.

The CEN stock towers are different from the JT Racing versions that we have broken - only different in the arm section tho - they mount to the diffs the same way, and there is only one version of the JT tower.

Anyone who is interested - do we still want the hole size drastically reduced in the tower? (the big hole thru the middle) I do!!

*EDIT* forgot... DrHonda - Do u have any pics of some towers or braces etc that u have made please mate, dont get me wrong, would just like a look at ur work, and some pics will get the other guys to show some interest...

alvinl

Here is a link to the Gas Maxxer thread where DrHonda has some pictures of his work posted.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_28..._3/key_/tm.htm

Dr Honda

My Feedback: (4)

OK... I need to get back to work... but here a couple pics. Braces and a rough chassis. All CNC cut.

rolland

I have both pieces of the JT tower that snapped on me and it is a relatively clean break. I am willing to send it to you if it will help.
PM me your address and I will send it this weekend.

The hole in the center needs to be smaller for the extra strength and the lightening cuts in my opinion are not needed.


rolland

Dr Honda

My Feedback: (4)

Rolland...

Thanks. PM'img you in a few minutes.

rolland

I had some computer issues I won't be able to send the parts until monday morning it's to late to get to the office today.
The shipping office that I use calculates what is cheapest and fastest.


Any idea on what the cost is going to be for the towers?

We should probably start a list of how many people want them.


rolland

alvinl

I don't have the JT Racing Chassis, but I might be interested in a one of the towers as it will be a lot stronger than the stock one. Although, I have had no problems with the stock one yet. I have bent all my old shock mounts and replaced them with stronger ones. So, the next weak point is probably my stock shock tower. I would like to see an estimated cost before I commit to buying, but I like the idea of stronger parts.

Edit - If this fix goes over good, maybe DrHonda would like to machine us some nice diffs! I know, 1 thing at a time. I will take whatever I can get...

Dr Honda

My Feedback: (4)

Rolland…

No prob. Mail it out as soon as you can.

Alvinl…

What part of the diff do you need? If it’s the gears… they are too hard to do without very expensive equipment. Housings are easy… but expensive for the buyer, because you start with a billet of aluminum, and cut most of it away. (lots-O-waste, long machine run times, and short cutting tool life)

But either way… other parts can be worked on depending on complexity, and demand. The shock towers are a simple part… so I’m willing to eat the costs on machine set up and CAD/CAM time. (to help out fellow RC’ers) On a complex part… I’ll spend too much time in programming the machine, and $$$ in tooling costs, unless there is a high demand.

As far as the price for the shock tower I’m going to produce… before I can set a price… I have to get the part in my hand, see how much the aluminum will cost, see what kind of cutting tools I will need, and see how long the machine will run to cut out one part. I want to be fair, but I have to cover my costs and time. I will say this though… I will try to set my price between stock, and the retail price on an aftermarket tower.

I would also like to get a “Tentative” buyers list too. This way, once we agree on a design, I know how much stuff I need to buy to cover parts for the first batch. (raw aluminum, cutting tools, coolant, etc) I won’t hold anyone to purchasing who is on the list if my price gets too high.

So… the “Tentative” list:

Poor Judgment
Rolland
Alvinl

I know there are more people who have been posting here… but I won’t add them until they speak up and say they want them.

Dr Honda

My Feedback: (4)

Hi Guys,

Thanks to Poor Judgment for a good CAD model.[sm=thumbup.gif] I reworked it a bit this morning while drinking coffee, (and watching cartoons) into a 3D model that I can use to cut the real parts. The parts will be made out of 3.2mm 6061 T6 aluminum. If everyone likes this design… I will move forward with writing the machine code, and buying the raw materials needed. Also, once I get a group approval, I can set the real price.

Oh… the letters in the middle of the part will have rounded corners, so there won’t be a sharp point where a crack can start. (just for your info) The letters are going to be my company’s name. ARO Products. But I’m still in the start up stages, so it may change. (after my Maxx Gasser kit is finished)

Lastly… even though I have a model… I still need the tower from Rolland to compare the part I make, to the placement of the holes in the truck. ( I don’t want to send out a bunch of parts that don’t fit)

Let me know what you think.

poor judgement

That looks fine to me DrHonda, only thing thats barely worth mentioning, is the size of the letters in your company logo - lol. I cant find it in me to say too much, but please be aware of the point that has failed on the originals, and the width of the arm between the letters and the sides of the tower. If you compare the one Rolland is sending then Im sure you will leave enough material in there to be safe.

Only a small point that mate, as your changing to 6061 etc, so it shouldnt really be an issue.

Nice to see my 10 minute drawing coming to life! I did round off some dimensions slightly, just to give sensible dimensions to work with - you know how it is - but this was only up to 0.5-1mm, mainly the odd 0.15 or so, in areas that wont cause any issues, and keep the drawing looking tidy!

These towers will allow you to run your Funfactor (any version apart from the ATXs front tower) lower, and have more adjustment points too. They are thicker and much stronger than standard and will be more resilient to snapping than the JT Racing ones.

So cmon guys - who else is interested?