dezfan

Well, I finally received my Venom Creeper. I've been waiting for this to come out for a while now and it was finally delivered tonight.

So I tore into it and started to build it. I'll build it stock so that I can review it, then I'll start to mod it.

First thing you build is the tranny. This thing is huge and overly complicated IMO, but it appears to be well made and went together fairly easy. One thing I found out pretty quickly is that the plastic Venom used is difficult to thread. I have a sore hand and I'm only half way threw the build.

Here is a shot of the internal Creeper tranny gears.



Here is the tranny fully assembled after 16 screws! I posed it next to a Axial tranny for a size reference.





After you assemble the tranny, you assemble the lower links and then attach them to the tranny.







After attaching the lower links to the tranny, you add the chassis plates and the battery tray. Again, overkill on the screws! 10 screws attach the tray to the chassis plates. Plus there are 6 more screws attaching the front and the rear caps of the tray!





At this point I was ready to call it a night, but I figured I would mount one of the tires and build one of the bead-locks. The tires look and feel really nice. Not sure they are comp worthy from looking at them, but they will make great 2.2 Scale tires as they look similar to Micky Thomson Baja Claws.:thumbsup:

The wheels look very nice and the bead-lock rings and anodizing look to be top quality. Only real complaint is the 2mm hardware! After all the heat that Axial caught for their use of the small hardware, Venom turns around and does the same thing.





Well that's it for now. I'll post more pics and info tomorrow.

The Real Dogman

Great documentation Dez!!

Wow all that tranny AND you still need to mount the motor!! certainly fills the chassis

I also see that the skid is more like a 3 piece deal=Left boat-side plate, tranny case and right boat-side plate.

I do like those tires for scale look

I it done yet?? Need to know more about final drive ratio.. Too Slow?? Motor up? Volt up?

Great build so far!

860Crawler

WOW, the tranny comparison

rcktpwrd

the Creeper looks like a neat truck.

that trans is huge! I bet it's pretty bulletproof!
is it setup like that to help eliminate torque twist?

dezfan

According to the Venom rep, it's built to be bulletproof. I've never had an issue w/ the Axial tranny really, so IMO, it's a bit overkill. As for the size, the tranny is a structural member on the Creeper and most of the chassis and links are attached to it.

grimgard

Thanks for posting the build information! Looks like a solid truck. That tranny is huge! The links look a bit odd but I am used to the standard bent links. I wonder if the Creeper will be top heavy with the battery tray on top. Please keep us updated!

Great pictures!

dezfan

Ok, spent some more time on the Creeper this afternoon. I assembled the the upper links and ran into a small issue. Venom shorted me one of the bent rod ends.

This is something that I have had an issue w/ the Venom kit. Items like ball ends should . In the Axial kit, there were several extra rod ends. I wish I had a few extras.

Anyways, here are a few pics.



The missing rod end!



The rod ends attached to the chassis.



After building the upper links, it is time to build the drive shafts. This is an area that Venom has hit a home run. Very nice quality CVD style drive shafts.:thumbsup:



Attached the tranny.



Now it was on to the axles. Starting w/ the diffs. They went together very easily and everything looks to be made of good quality materials.



Did have one issue, had a metal piece lodged in one of the diff gears and it was a bear to remove it.



Another shot.



Then the diffs are installed into the axle housings.



The front axle went together w/o issue. The locking mechanism worked like a charm. Here the finished axle. The rear axle I'm having an issue w/. I don't think I have the locking mechanism aligned properly. I'm going to pull it apart and find out the issue.



Another thing I really like about the Venom's axles are the included CVDs! They provide a ton of steering! The axle Cs are indexed and allow the axles to be clocked.

Check out the steering!



Well that's it for now. I'll probably head back down this evening for another build session.

t9dragon

My Feedback: (11)

LOOKS GOOD..................... So it comes as a kit, right??

dezfan

Yes, It comes as a kit (thank God). I'm not a fan of RTRs.

t9dragon

My Feedback: (11)

What does it cost?

dezfan

$229.00

smart racer

thanks for the good build info...mine should be here soon

t9dragon

My Feedback: (11)

Not bad for $229..........................

Maybe I should sell one of my AX10's and get one. What do you think dezfan?

dezfan

Comparing stock to stock, the Creeper seems to be the better rig.

860Crawler

The instruction book looks pretty clear/straight forward. No Chinglish?

Nice price on the kit too.


Dezfan, you've got a fingerprint smudge on your camera lens, I think. All your pics have a cloudy area in the top/mid center.

midntpumkin

looking great, have you gotten any more progress on the build?

SOILWORK

Nice build[sm=thumbs_up.gif] Keep us posted.

dezfan

Well I finished tearing down the rear axle and rebuilding it. Not sure what the problem was, but the diff locking mechanism is now working and everything is turning smoothly.

Added the rear lock outs and hexes and connected the rear axle to the rear links.

Up front, I found a rod end to use until Venom can get me the replacement, added the steering linkage and the front hexes before connecting it to the links.

I then went to work on the shocks. I think the shocks are really nice quality for plastic bodied shocks. The internal/external springs are very soft and the overall feel is smooth. I think in the stock configuration, they will work very well.

Now I need to finish mounting the other 3 tires, figure out what body to use and mount the electronics.

I'll have pics up soon.:thumbsup:

dezfan

Well I finished tearing down the rear axle and rebuilding it. Not sure what the problem was, but the diff locking mechanism is now working and everything is turning smoothly.

Added the rear skid, lock outs, hexes, and mounted the rear axle to the links.




Up front, I found a rod end to use until Venom can get me the replacement, added the skid, steering linkage, servo mount, and the front hexes before mounting it to the front links.



Front and rear finished.




I then went to work on the shocks. I think the shocks are really nice quality for plastic bodied shocks. They are threaded and make spring adjustment very easy. The internal/external springs are very soft and the overall feel is smooth. I think in the stock configuration, they will work very well.






And here is the rolling chassis and the mandatory flex shot.





I'm still trying to decide which body to use. I'll get the electronics installed and test it out ASAP.

I have to say that this was an easy build for the most part, the instructions were very easy to follow and took about 5 hours to build. That included rebuilding the rear axle, removing the odd metal piece from the diff gear, and mounting the tires on the bead locks.

Things I didn't like. I think the amount of hardware used on the tranny was excessive. 16 screws just to assemble the tranny and this doesn't include the motor screws. The battery tray also used 16 pieces of hardware.

Speaking of hardware, when will the manufactures learn? Those damn 2mm bolts used on the wheels! You would have thought that Venom would have learned from Axial's use of them and moved to 3mm hardware. That said, the Venom wheels and tires were some of the easiest to assemble that I have even built. If it wasn't for the 2mm hardware, I would score them a 10.

The tires and foams are also very nice for kit tires. Now it Venom would come to their senses and price their wheels weights somewhere in the realm of reality. I mean really, $50.00 for lead weight!? That a quarter of the total price of the entire kit!:roll:

Come on Venom, this is an area that needs to be addressed.


I plan to test it out stock and see what needs to be addressed. Then the mods will start!"thumbsup"

The Real Dogman

Dez, Now that you have the axles built and rebuilt, do think these axles will be the better choice for Dig, freewheel and 4x4 operation??

I did see that the dig function is on the rear axle and it has the potential for freewheel at the rear axle, or am I way off base here?


And please tell me what your impressions are of the gearing.. and what do you think if a direct drive tranny to get the drive shaft rpm's up for greater wheelspeed, or is it needed with current final drive ratio.

Oh and would please set a tire next to rock claw for size comparison and what would you compare the softness of the compound to..

Thanx In Advance
Lee

dezfan

Not sure, we'll have to see how the Venom DIG operates and the internal plastic components in the diff hold up.

Again, I'm not sure, I haven't seen a finished DIG unit from Venom yet.

I'll give you my opinion of the gearing when my motor arrives and I get the electronics installed. I' don't think the axles provide enough reduction to use a direct drive set up.

Rock Claws? Please, I'm a Team Panther Driver! I can post pics of them next to some Cougars for you.

The Real Dogman

lol Ya I know your a team driver, I wanted to see it next to a claw!!! Seriously tho panther would be fine since I mostly run panthers!!

And I dont really need to ask were you got that pit towel do I?? But I NEED ONE BADLY

dezfan

No need to ask.

Being a Team Driver has it's advantages.

dezfan

OK, well my maiden voyage w/ the Creeper was a bit of a mixed bag.

My first issue was the lockers, they kept unlocking on me. Harley had build his and it turned out that I had one of the switch installed upside down. We re-installed it in the proper way and it helped, but the lockers would still unlock so I used a piece of tape and taped the switch in the locked position.

I think I'll going to lock the rear and add the remote locker to the front.

On the rocks, the Creeper has fantastic steering! I was really impressed w/ the turning capabilities."thumbsup"

It has issues w/ torque twist, but that can be minimized w/ tuning.

The leading edge of the tranny is a major hang up point. Not real sure what the designers were thinking on this one?

So as I traversing the course, it happened. I was approaching a gate on a sidehill and took a small tumble, this was the result.:x



I guess I got one of the early versions w/ the over hardened axles.:x

Hopefully, Venom can get me some replacements pretty quick.

Anyways, here are a few pics from today.

cornel4web

nice to hear that is a cool rig from a driver...but just don't like the QC of Venom, and beeing from Europe, it's hard to wait for a set of new axles, or others small parts to arrive from them...better wait till they are gonna make a statment: ALL GOOD NOW