Rampage ? AR60 Based Monster Truck Build

B

bbeaty

Well-Known Member
I?ve been wanting to try an Axial AR60 based monster truck build for a while and with Proline?s release of the Brawler wheels finally decided to take the plunge.

The truck is built around the Axial Deadbolt chassis which with a new tweaks makes a great base platform.

I ended up making a custom sway bar mount from .25? lexan as the swaybar mounts on the Deadbolt battery trays placed the arms too close to the shocks. The custom .25? aluminum sway bar arms are the same length as the stock Yeti arms but additional holes were added closer inwards towards the sway bar to allow for ?tuning? of the swaybar without having to change bar diameters. The bar is a piece of 3/32? music wire.

The stock Yeti lower links are fairly flexible so a set of link stiffeners plates were built from .100? aluminum.

With the Proline body, the stock Deadbolt body mounts would not line up correctly so side mount body posts were needed. The body mount extensions are made from .125? G-10 and allow for a ? rod to be bolted between the extensions at the top to aide in stiffening the chassis. The body posts are from a HPI WR8.

I?m still in the process of testing and tuning the truck, but thus far have been pleased with the performance.


Specs:


Axles / Chassis:
Axial: AR60 axles
Axial: Deadbolt chassis and (2) battery mounting plates
Axial: HD 43/13 gears (Rear)
Axial: HD 38/13 gears (Front)
Axial: Front Universals
Locked Up RC: FI Locker (Rear)
HPI ? Differential gears (Front)
Axial: Yeti lower links
Axial: RR10 steering knuckles
Vanquish: Yeti black Clamping rear lockouts and Scale black front clamping c?s
Vanquish: Ti steering and drag link
Vanquish: Servo Clamps

Drive Train:
Hot Racing: SCX10 aluminum transmission case
Hot Racing ? HD lightened steel transmission gear set
Axial: Dual disk slipper with 56 tooth 32 pitch spur gear
Super Shafty ? Ultimate motor plate
MIP ? SCX10 driveshafts
Super Shafty ? MIP Extended male driveshafts

Suspension:
Axial: XR10 70mm shock springs
Traxxas ? XXL big bore shocks

Electronics:
Steering servo: Hitec 5955TG
ESC: Tekin RX-8
Motor: HPI Flux 4000kV
Battery: 2200mAh 3S lipo

Wheels / Tires:
Proline Destroyer tires
Proline Brawler rims (+17.5mm offset)

Body:
Proline Dodge Ram for Revo 3.3
HPI: WR8 body mounts
MCI Racing: Rampage decal set


Scratch built parts:
.25? aluminum Upper links
.25? aluminum Sway bar arms, .25? lexan swaybar mounts
.100? aluminum lower link reinforcing plates
.125? G-10 Battery / ESC mounting plates
.125? G-10 Body mount plates


























 
B

bbeaty

Well-Known Member
Thanks for the compliments. The truck thus far has been a blast to drive. Still working on dialing in the suspension.


Few Misc Updates:


Front Knuckle Bearing Shims:
For all Axial vehicles I?ve had with ar60 axles and front universals they all have had some axial slop in the axles. This seems to be the case regardless if using stock parts or aftermarket parts (c?s and knuckles). A simple fix suggested by one of our local club members is to shim behind the inner 10x15 mm bearing in the knuckle. There are numerous shims available, the ones I?ve used are Kyosho part number KYO96646. This will require shimming and testing to verify enough shims were added to remove the slop, but not too much to cause issues with binding the hex, typically it takes 1 to 2 shims per side.


Diff Gears:
With testing the only mechanical issue thus far has been the front diff gears, as I?ve already broken 2 sets of the HPI 86014 gears. Both sets had a similar fracture of the 13 tooth gears. I had a set of HPI 103400 gears on order, but due to an inventory error they were out of stock and instead they shipped the HPI 86917 gears. These gears are supplied with 2 additional shims for the 13 tooth gears along with 2 shims for the 10 tooth gears. When re-assembling the diff using a new stock plastic case and the HPI 86917 gears, the diff was first assembled dry to test for gear play. In order to reduce gear play, the HPI 86917 gears required three of the 13 tooth gear shims and both of the 10 tooth gear shims. More testing will confirm, but I?m thinking part of the quick failure of the original diff gears was due to excessive play of the gears within the case. For reference the Axial diff gears AX30390 purchased for replacement if the HPI gears fail, mesh much tighter without any shims than either the HPI 86014 or 86917 gears. All testing has been using 100,000 wt diff oil.


Servo Saver Removal:
When accelerating hard on high traction surfaces the Kimbrough 124 servo saver would "give" cause issues making the truck not track straight. The servo saver was removed and replaced with a Racer's Edge clamping aluminum horn. The Vanquish Ti upper drag link was replaced with a derin link to add a slight amount of ?give? to the steering.
 
J

Junebug78

Member
Looks great and very nicely done pics!

I had the same issue with my Kimbrough. I solved the problem by replacing it with an OFNA HD servo saver I bought on eBay.
 
B

bbeaty

Well-Known Member
Couple of action shots of the truck during freestyle at the Bigfoot 4x4 open house on April 23. Photos courtesy of Trigger King RC.












 
M

mrgrimm

Active Member
Can't decide if I should just build an AX-10 deadbolt based Monster or just wait for Axial to come out with a new design monster (might happen??)

I just finished up an SCX-10/AX-10 hybrid old school monster but the performance is probably nothing compared to this truck, nice job!
 
M

Mentalmaxx

New Member
bbeaty said:
I?ve been wanting to try an Axial AR60 based monster truck build for a while and with Proline?s release of the Brawler wheels finally decided to take the plunge.

The truck is built around the Axial Deadbolt chassis which with a new tweaks makes a great base platform.

I ended up making a custom sway bar mount from .25? lexan as the swaybar mounts on the Deadbolt battery trays placed the arms too close to the shocks. The custom .25? aluminum sway bar arms are the same length as the stock Yeti arms but additional holes were added closer inwards towards the sway bar to allow for ?tuning? of the swaybar without having to change bar diameters. The bar is a piece of 3/32? music wire.

The stock Yeti lower links are fairly flexible so a set of link stiffeners plates were built from .100? aluminum.

With the Proline body, the stock Deadbolt body mounts would not line up correctly so side mount body posts were needed. The body mount extensions are made from .125? G-10 and allow for a ? rod to be bolted between the extensions at the top to aide in stiffening the chassis. The body posts are from a HPI WR8.

I?m still in the process of testing and tuning the truck, but thus far have been pleased with the performance.


Specs:


Axles / Chassis:
Axial: AR60 axles
Axial: Deadbolt chassis and (2) battery mounting plates
Axial: HD 43/13 gears (Rear)
Axial: HD 38/13 gears (Front)
Axial: Front Universals
Locked Up RC: FI Locker (Rear)
HPI ? Differential gears (Front)
Axial: Yeti lower links
Axial: RR10 steering knuckles
Vanquish: Yeti black Clamping rear lockouts and Scale black front clamping c?s
Vanquish: Ti steering and drag link
Vanquish: Servo Clamps

Drive Train:
Hot Racing: SCX10 aluminum transmission case
Hot Racing ? HD lightened steel transmission gear set
Axial: Dual disk slipper with 56 tooth 32 pitch spur gear
Super Shafty ? Ultimate motor plate
MIP ? SCX10 driveshafts
Super Shafty ? MIP Extended male driveshafts

Suspension:
Axial: XR10 70mm shock springs
Traxxas ? XXL big bore shocks

Electronics:
Steering servo: Hitec 5955TG
ESC: Tekin RX-8
Motor: HPI Flux 4000kV
Battery: 2200mAh 3S lipo

Wheels / Tires:
Proline Destroyer tires
Proline Brawler rims (+17.5mm offset)

Body:
Proline Dodge Ram for Revo 3.3
HPI: WR8 body mounts
MCI Racing: Rampage decal set


Scratch built parts:
.25? aluminum Upper links
.25? aluminum Sway bar arms, .25? lexan swaybar mounts
.100? aluminum lower link reinforcing plates
.125? G-10 Battery / ESC mounting plates
.125? G-10 Body mount plates


























Click to expand...
Hey do you have an issue with the tires rubbing when turning ? I am in the process of building close to the same thing. Except a redcat chasis and original clod tires. But mine is rubbing bad when turning. I m running brawler rims with it with the offset . Any advise would be great.
 
B

bbeaty

Well-Known Member
No issues with the tires rubbing the lower links while turning. I have noticed the stock axial knuckles on the RR-10 in conjunction with the Vanquish scale c-hubs provide a "mechanical" stop which helps to limit the tires turning into the lower links.
 
B

bbeaty

Well-Known Member
Photo of delrin steering link below. This link is made from 5/16 diameter delrin and tapped on both ends for 8-32 set screws and Revo rod ends.


 
B

bbeaty

Well-Known Member
Couple of recent updates to the truck:


Axial SMT-10 chassis: I?m a fan of the scale look of the SMT-10 chassis and with the extra width of the chassis eliminates an issue I was having with the rear upper link rubbing the driveshaft near full suspension compression on the Deadbolt chassis. As you can see from the photos unfortunately the Proline Ram body I?m running does not scale well with the chassis. Down the road I?ll be running a Proline Raptor body for the Yeti which scales much better with the SMT-10 chassis and cage.

Proline Power Stroke XT shocks: Still in the process of finding the sweet spot with tuning but from initial testing the softer primary (Blue) and secondary spring (Green) along with 15 weight oil seems to work well.

Modified body mounts front and rear: Due to the length of the cab of the Ram body the stock location of the SMT-10 body mounts would not work as the front mounts would be in the windshield and the rear mounts would be right at the edge of the bed and cab. A new body mount front and rear was fabricated from 3/8? lexan and fastened to the outer shock mounts on the chassis. The rear mount sits inside the chassis but the front mount had to be raised with (2) G-10 brackets to clear the chassis bracing. The body posts are from an HPI WR8 (HPI 107903).







 
M

MYJK

Member
bbeaty said:
Photo of delrin steering link below. This link is made from 5/16 diameter delrin and tapped on both ends for 8-32 set screws and Revo rod ends.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info, I made some out to 1/4 and they don't seem to flex enough!!
 
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