Project: XL-1
Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2006 8:13 pm
After performing several mods on my Monster Herbie crawler, I wanted to address a couple of issues that I had discovered in the course of my tinkering.
The result: XL-1
(Sorry about the poor quality of my camera.)
The main issues I addressed were these:
1) My first 4-gear geardown was performed using a screw, and although it works great, I didn't like how much slop was present in the additional gear, nor did I like using a wheel washer as a means to stabilize it.
XL-1 uses a front wheel pin from an old Zip Zap, requiring a smaller hole in the gear and a cleaner, tighter install while still allowing for proper play in the gears.
The pin was easy to trim for length, easy to find, and keeps the hardware in the ZZ family.
2) All crawlers now get the orange upgrade motor.
It's well worth the additional speed to get the additional power.
3) The Half-Lego wheelset I was playing with was pissing me off because the ridge of rubber inside the Lego tire keeps it from sliding onto the MT wheel as far as it can go.
I fixed this by turning the tire inside-out and cutting away the ridge. When I experimented with putting the cut Lego wheel caps in backwards, I discovered that not only did it fit flush for a futuristic look, but flattened out the tapering effect on the Lego tire from the MT wheels!
(Sorry they look rough, but they are prototypes.
XL-1's new hybrid MT/Lego wheels are super grippy, raise the overall clearance, widen the stance, and are heavier for better crawling performance.
4) The steering motor I installed in my first crawler, while clearly stronger than the original and a clean install, is an unknown quantity.
XL-1 uses a modern-day yellow ZZ motor which throws the heavier wheelset with a positive action and keeps the hardware "in the family", as does the gear pin mentioned earlier.
5) Almost all of the these modifications require more power, which reduces the running time to less than half of a stock MT.
XL-1 features an additional MT battery pack wired in parallel for double the capacity and glued to the PCB in a forward position in an attempt to keep the weight to the front.
Connecting the battery in this manner also means simply doing multiple charges on an unmodified controller!
The overall effect of all these mods makes XL-1 look a bit larger than a regular MT, thus the name XL-1 (xtra large)
The motor clip screw is spaced with four wheel washers.
Motor spacer is a trimmed and cut green MT idler gear.
I removed the PCB cover to mount the battery as low as I could and keep it as compatible with ZZ bodies as possible, but it doesn't work with most of the cars because of the low hood clearance.
I thought this Mustang body looked pretty cool on there, and the headlights don't hurt.
Here are the official specs:
XL-1
-----
49Mhz
Cat5 Antenna
Dual Parallel-Wired Battery Packs
Orange Upgrade Motor W/ZZ Pinion
4-Gear Geardown W/ZZ Blue Gear and ZZ Front Wheel Pin
Hybrid MT/Lego Wheelset
Suspension Drillouts
Athearn Springs
Yellow ZZ Steering Motor Upgrade
The result: XL-1
(Sorry about the poor quality of my camera.)
The main issues I addressed were these:
1) My first 4-gear geardown was performed using a screw, and although it works great, I didn't like how much slop was present in the additional gear, nor did I like using a wheel washer as a means to stabilize it.
XL-1 uses a front wheel pin from an old Zip Zap, requiring a smaller hole in the gear and a cleaner, tighter install while still allowing for proper play in the gears.
The pin was easy to trim for length, easy to find, and keeps the hardware in the ZZ family.
2) All crawlers now get the orange upgrade motor.
It's well worth the additional speed to get the additional power.
3) The Half-Lego wheelset I was playing with was pissing me off because the ridge of rubber inside the Lego tire keeps it from sliding onto the MT wheel as far as it can go.
I fixed this by turning the tire inside-out and cutting away the ridge. When I experimented with putting the cut Lego wheel caps in backwards, I discovered that not only did it fit flush for a futuristic look, but flattened out the tapering effect on the Lego tire from the MT wheels!
(Sorry they look rough, but they are prototypes.
XL-1's new hybrid MT/Lego wheels are super grippy, raise the overall clearance, widen the stance, and are heavier for better crawling performance.
4) The steering motor I installed in my first crawler, while clearly stronger than the original and a clean install, is an unknown quantity.
XL-1 uses a modern-day yellow ZZ motor which throws the heavier wheelset with a positive action and keeps the hardware "in the family", as does the gear pin mentioned earlier.
5) Almost all of the these modifications require more power, which reduces the running time to less than half of a stock MT.
XL-1 features an additional MT battery pack wired in parallel for double the capacity and glued to the PCB in a forward position in an attempt to keep the weight to the front.
Connecting the battery in this manner also means simply doing multiple charges on an unmodified controller!
The overall effect of all these mods makes XL-1 look a bit larger than a regular MT, thus the name XL-1 (xtra large)
The motor clip screw is spaced with four wheel washers.
Motor spacer is a trimmed and cut green MT idler gear.
I removed the PCB cover to mount the battery as low as I could and keep it as compatible with ZZ bodies as possible, but it doesn't work with most of the cars because of the low hood clearance.
I thought this Mustang body looked pretty cool on there, and the headlights don't hurt.
Here are the official specs:
XL-1
-----
49Mhz
Cat5 Antenna
Dual Parallel-Wired Battery Packs
Orange Upgrade Motor W/ZZ Pinion
4-Gear Geardown W/ZZ Blue Gear and ZZ Front Wheel Pin
Hybrid MT/Lego Wheelset
Suspension Drillouts
Athearn Springs
Yellow ZZ Steering Motor Upgrade
