my "lame-o" ZZM mods...

Nasphere · Post by **Nasphere** » Tue Aug 16, 2005 9:05 am

JUUUUUST so frizzen doesnt say he did it first

jk, ive got a few pics to show of my zzm, i finally gave into buying one last week, day 2 is when this mod was done... it was if he joins, i get a zzm...

"The Journey Inside Nasphere's ZZM"
(sorry for the blurry pics, and the llama walking by)

basically its a ZZM that "actually turns" immagine that... it will turn lock to lock when sitting still on carpet or any surface really.

frizzen · Post by **frizzen** » Wed Aug 17, 2005 7:08 am

Curses, he beat me to it.

Actually I haven't figured out which of my monsters to do it to on first and haven't started the mod. I'm glad you showed everybody though, hopefully we'll all be able to have steering that works soon! (I really need torquey working steering for another mod I'm planning)

crazydave · Post by **crazydave** » Wed Aug 17, 2005 7:58 am

Actually I've experimented with different steering motors, and they did make my steering faster and more responsive, but that's not where I was having issues. My issue is with the wide turning radius. Since its being mechanically limited, a motor wont fix that.

I had to shave away at my chassis, and steering arm. The tires now pull all the way to the chassis. I had to shave away at the chassis a bit to keep the tires from rubbing

While it still makes wide monster truck turns. It does turn noticably tighter. In fact, if I let it wind out to full speed, and try turn, it'll flip itself.

Nasphere · Post by **Nasphere** » Wed Aug 17, 2005 3:56 pm

beautiful mod there CD, i might have to do that too. but you should put that extra gear in cause if you look at the ratio of the blue gear, its 3:1. that means pretty much 3x the original steering torque... you can save power by using the small stock motor... the steering doesnt slow down much, still snaps over but with a bit more torque. the main thing I didnt realize is the gear could have been placed a little more towards the front so i didnt have to relocate the motor holder...

Post by **CaboWabo** » Wed Aug 17, 2005 4:54 pm

Think it's time to trim down that thumb nail dude? lol

Nasphere · Post by **Nasphere** » Fri Aug 19, 2005 7:31 am

more pics!

clear enough??? funny thing is, this is about a quarter the camera's capabilities.

blurry enough???

heres the pin i added for the extra reduction gear.

just the front axle, no big deal, still stock.

Nasphere · Post by **Nasphere** » Fri Aug 19, 2005 7:58 am

oh shizzzit!!!! i just remembered, im gonna buy 2 more RC tanks, one for the main PCB to run in my ZZM!!! save space so i can do some better mods!

crazydave · Post by **crazydave** » Fri Aug 19, 2005 8:39 am

CaboWabo wrote:Think it's time to trim down that thumb nail dude? lol

Fuck that! My thumb nail is a tool. It's a picker and a scraper and I'm useless without it.

I suppose it could use a trim though.

ynad · Post by **ynad** » Fri Aug 19, 2005 11:38 am

CaboWabo wrote:
Think it's time to trim down that thumb nail dude?

crazydave wrote:
Fuck that! My thumb nail is a tool. It's a picker and a scraper and I'm useless without it.

yeah, yeah, yeah

AS for mod. it is insane, but shit, this is cool.

Nasphere · Post by **Nasphere** » Fri Oct 21, 2005 8:56 am

How about a mid-motor MT?!?! This bitch is SWEET!!!

1. Used a larger, higher torque motor.
2. Changed wires to low-resistance 26ga. silver wire.
3. Mounted new motor inside the tub "as low as it goes".
4. Changed out shallow stock chevron tires for deep-cut chevrons.

I'm going to be playing with 'SMPS's (switch mode power supply) so hopefully i can make the charger on the controller 30-40% more efficient. You need to charge with 3V and the controller puts out 6V, that makes the controller charger about 50% efficient. 'SMPS's are about 85%+ efficient because instead of burning the "extra" voltage through a transistor or resistor, it uses some power to charge an inductor and pull the output up a little, then the inductor "bucks back" and pushes the output up even higher, which makes it VERY efficient. Basically 2 bangs per pulse, rather than 1...

EDIT: An example: EVERY PCB on a bit, or zip zap has a step up SMPS on it, which gives 3V from as low as .9V.

Clint · Post by **Clint** » Fri Oct 21, 2005 9:11 am

crazydave wrote:I had to shave away at my chassis, and steering arm. The tires now pull all the way to the chassis. I had to shave away at the chassis a bit to keep the tires from rubbing

While it still makes wide monster truck turns. It does turn noticably tighter. In fact, if I let it wind out to full speed, and try turn, it'll flip itself.

nice, i had to trim my tx to 55% D/R to accomodate the wide radius, with some work on the knuckles i got it up to 75%. i'll have to finish it up like yours if i want 90-100% servo movement.

have you noticed the steering spring having difficulty returning the wheels back to center after the gear reduction?

Nasphere · Post by **Nasphere** » Fri Oct 21, 2005 9:38 am

Clint wrote:nice, i had to trim my tx to 55% D/R to accomodate the wide radius, with some work on the knuckles i got it up to 75%. i'll have to finish it up like yours if i want 90-100% servo movement.

I also did this mod.

Although the results were discouraging. I found the weight balance to be more of a concern with most of the weight towards the rear of the truck, and with no differential, this mod does almost nothing to the turning radius. However, with my 'mid-motor' setup, it transfers a fairly even weight distro of 45% to the front and 55% to the back, which DEFINATLY helps with the turning radius, not to mention it's climbing ability.

Clint wrote:have you noticed the steering spring having difficulty returning the wheels back to center after the gear reduction?

Yes, the gear for some reason is a little sloppy, so it returns from turning right just fine, but coming back from left, it sticks sometimes when moving slow. When your going over rough terrain, of just going fast, it returns just fine.

Clint · Post by **Clint** » Fri Oct 21, 2005 10:39 am

Nasphere wrote: Although the results were discouraging. I found the weight balance to be more of a concern with most of the weight towards the rear of the truck, and with no differential, this mod does almost nothing to the turning radius. However, with my 'mid-motor' setup, it transfers a fairly even weight distro of 45% to the front and 55% to the back, which DEFINATLY helps with the turning radius, not to mention it's climbing ability.

Wind some thick magnet wire inside the wheel well, that really gives it a low cg. the key to climbing and keeping the nose down.

like this:
http://www.clint.mwhq.net/zzmt/zzmt-wheel-2.jpg
http://www.clint.mwhq.net/zzmt/zzmt-wheel.jpg

SuperFly · Post by **SuperFly** » Fri Oct 21, 2005 11:39 am

Clint wrote:Wind some thick magnet wire inside the wheel well, that really gives it a low cg. the key to climbing and keeping the nose down.

I liked this idea and tried my own variation. Rather than winding magnet wire inside the well, I used solder wire (40% lead) and wrapped it in a tight coil 4-5 winds deep around a Sharpie (same diameter, more or less). Then I pulled the coil off the Sharpie and slid it into the wheel well. Then I filled the remaining space with Elmer's glue to hold everything tight but still be removeable without destroying the wheel. I didn't add any wire to the outside of the rim under the tire like you did, but it seems to do the trick.

Post by **CaboWabo** » Fri Oct 21, 2005 2:00 pm

@ Nasphere.
Why'd I give you gallery space for 1 picture?
Use that shit holmes. I hate when images disappear 6 months to a year later.