Dauntless and Vindicator, then and now

[DEVASTATOR]

Some recent interest in one of my older Clods made for just cause to post some pics

Dauntless was my 2nd real race monster after my Clodzilla IV (which I still have). Since it's beginning it has been raced and raced and raced some more. It will be 16 years old this summer. Throughout the years it has remained one of my favorite Clods. It originally started out with vertical mounted shocks from the chassis straight down to the axles. With suspension like that, there are limits to how successful the truck can be against modern day shock geometry, link mounted shocks and cantilever systems. I briefly retired Dauntless while running Tweaked chassis Clods but it never felt right.

After some heavy experimenting on my 3rd race Clod (Vindicator) I realized there was hope for Dauntless. The suspension geometry of the Twin Force breathed new life into my trusted pair of race Clods. Vindicator as I said was the guinea pig and it seemed to work really well. After building my Avenger Clod that is the complete implementation of my idea, I retro-fitted Dauntless as much as I could. Dauntless remains a true to definition 4-link truck as does Vindicator unlike Avenger and now my daughters Big Foot Clod.

So, while the shocks are mounted to the chassis and axles still, they are dropped waaaaaaaay down to give a much softer suspension.

Here's Dauntless with the old setup of vertical shocks and the original Andy's body:

Now the new updated version of Dauntless, featuring RC4WD Rumbles, dual front steering, new lid, dual BL and new suspension setup. Only have a couple pics right now.....

 

[DEVASTATOR]

And here is Vindicator both old and new:

And the new:

The fearsome 4 that are all connected somehow though ideas and design. All are race Clods and all are NRCTPA champion race trucks in various classes.

 

[Manfjourde]

I LOVE that first pic of the Vindicator. It is one of the pics I will always remember as I first browsed Clod pics on this site and got me interested. Thanks for the update and post!

 

[th67ss]

Mike you have some beautiful trucks there, old and new!! I wish I could say I still had the same RC for that many years!!

Thanks for sharing the history of these two trucks.

 

[j-bob95]

Great looking trucks. How well do the dual servos work out. Do they fight each other at all. Do you have them run into a y-harness. Can you show some detailed pics of the setup of them.

Thanks Jason

 

[DEVASTATOR]

Thanks everyone.

The dual servos work great. You do have to spend some time adjusting the linkages so that they don't fight each other because they definitely will if you don't. Yes, I do use a Y-harness and run them into the steering channel on the receiver.

I don't have have any pics of the steering setup as of right now, at least none up close. I will try and get some.

 

[aliastheactor]

Great thread man! Glad to see these things are still rocking and rolling after all these years. Were the older mid 90's Chevy bodies too beaten up to use anymore or are they just sitting on a shelf waiting to go into a museum lol. The new bodies also look pretty trick. Your next thread should be a through-the-years look at Liberator. That truck is what it took to get my Juggernaut off the shelf and onto the race track and now that truck is heading to the World Finals at Digger's Dungeon.

 

[Supreme Reign]

Nice. I remember when I first found this forum in 1999 and I saw your Dauntless and Vindicator. I just had to have a Clod after seeing Dauntless.

 

[DEVASTATOR]

I still have the original Dauntless and Vindicator bodies. They are a little beat up but not too bad. I retired them before they got trashed for the simple fact of keeping them in semi good condition. If I had a Defiance museum, they'd be in there lol

Speaking of Liberator, I still have it. I might have to get it down off the shelf and do a look back on it. It has been sitting all neglected and whatnot for many years.

 

[aliastheactor]

Good stuff. Can't wait to see more of that truck