My first table top truck...

Sporttracguy · Post by **Sporttracguy** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 11:59 pm

Its by no means finished yet but I got it to the point where i feel its going to work. The chassis pivots both front and back (it will have springs to keep it level) and is 4 WHEEL DRIVE! I made some tiny U joints up front and ran a drive shaft to two small modified slot car axles. That gear will be moved back some and two more will be added to gear it down. The front axles are too long so those will be cut shorter and the rear axles will be longer to even it out. Im going to modify zzse steering into the front(trust me, it will make sense when its done) Other than that things are still up in the air a bit. The plan is to use that liberty body and im still undecided on tires. Anyways, here she is so far

Oh, and for those of you waiting on my other projects that have yet to be finished, you will have to wait until the contest gets closer to the end, dont want to spoil the fun

Enjoy,

STG

Zenith · Post by **Zenith** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 12:20 am

Now that is the sweetest shit my eyes have ever gazed upon.

Looks up to the German level of quality and build. Tires? Maybe something like the 1/43 ATV or 1/64 Trophy Truck/Rock Crawler tires like on your Baja bit will work.

I figured if any one from here would build a TTT, it would be you.

Sporttracguy · Post by **Sporttracguy** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 12:26 am

Since its going to be a crawler it will need some soft/sticky rubber and the baja and atv are harder so they probably wont work (although they would look kick ass) Im leaning towards a lego product (very good rubber compound) but i have a few other tires laying around that would work as well. I think ill just have to finish it up and depending on how the body fits on the chassis i can make a tire choice based on what width and diameter looks best.

STG

sg219 · Post by **sg219** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 12:27 am

He has to have a little german in him.

The Little German

The notes and sketchs he makes for projects like this.

Where it all comes together and the artist rending art work.

Killer engineering.

Zenith · Post by **Zenith** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 12:40 am

Or German ho's in his basement.

Sporttracguy · Post by **Sporttracguy** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 12:42 am

Here is a close up of one of the U joints, Sorry about the shadows, its sort of tiny to get a decent picture of

STG

DarkTari · Post by **DarkTari** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 10:06 am

Great Work Pimp! You know I gotta Pimp this over in Da German Hood

arfin · Post by **arfin** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 2:44 pm

Amazing!

Looks so simple and effective, good job man, MAKE THEM GERMANS COME HERE!

SuperFly · Post by **SuperFly** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 4:06 pm

arfin wrote:Amazing!

Looks so simple and effective, good job man, MAKE THEM GERMANS COME HERE!

I don't know man, we have a hard enough time getting the locals to speak english...

HirotoR34 · Post by **HirotoR34** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 4:53 pm

That is some great work STG! This means you'll have to build a trials course to drive all these crawlers you're building....

Cheesehead · Post by **Cheesehead** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 7:50 pm

That's very impressive.
Actually, that's not correct. The German TTTT's are impressive.
That, my friend, is just plain astounding..

That may be the first TTTT I've seen that is, well....elegant. The parts can be had relatively easily (wish I had'nt lost that @#$#@$ slot car gearset), it uses commonly available parts, and the design is clean.

An excellent job, to say the least.

Now, for the suggestions/requests:
-How did you do the wheel bearings? Did you use bushings, or ball bearings?
-Post a lot of pics of your suspension and transmission. I'm still confused as to how one would make the steering linkages.
-Post a tutorial on making U-joints. Also, if you really felt like selling your soul, you could make and sell them yourself. I have little doubt there would be a market.
-I'm also interested in how you'll attach the steering servo, and of what type it will be.

Sporttracguy · Post by **Sporttracguy** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 10:14 pm

For the axles i didnt have any bearings so i have a series of 3 metal tubes, each smaller than the other, They fit inside of eachother and with a little lube they all spin freely giving a bearing/bushing effect. (hope that makes sense) it seems to work very well.

For steering i plan to make the linkage up front and believe it or not im using a modified zzse steering setup and zzse board. Ill be hacking bits and pieces out of the steering and it will piggy back right on top of the front swivel section. Because im using that liberty body there is lots of clearance under the hood for this setup (i hope)

Other than that, this thing is being designed as i build it, i had an origional idea but as i run into problems or see things differently plans change so i cant give any concrete answers just yet. I will say that i think i found the tires im going to use, they are sticky "rev-ups" tires (made by hotwheels i think) They are being mounted on some modified lego tires.

Glad you like it, keep the comments and ideas coming

STG

Sporttracguy · Post by **Sporttracguy** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 10:26 pm

Here are a couple more shots, im still experimenting with the wheels and tires but that front wheel seems to be working well for mounting, i just used a larger lego wheel, cut it in half and put a brass tube in there for size. THe other tires and wheels are just there as a mock up.

Also, keep in mind, this is just a mock up but this is about where the body should sit if i used these wheels and tires, still not sure yet though.

STG

slick · Post by **slick** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 10:33 am

hmmm...not bad at all...I see you really took your time thinking about
that 4wd concept...

but there are still a few things that makes me worry...

if your tires are gonna stay that big...then you might concider redesigning
the "front" ; else you´re gonna have problems with your turning circle (which can be a pain when youre manouvering your car in a tight area)

...one more thing...

...I don´t know much about ZZSE board performance (I never owned one)
...but If I were you, I´d use something more reliable than the ZZSE board...

It´s such a shame to have such a good chassis beeing "driven" by a board
that doesnt justify all the work you put in that chassis imho ...poor board performance won´t push your chassis to it´s limits...

all in all - good job...keep it up - you might make me think about a comeback

slick (retired rc guy)

Sporttracguy · Post by **Sporttracguy** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 6:06 pm

Yeah, i agree about those tires, i would like to go smaller but my selection is slightly limited. I have a few other options that may end up on there instead of these huge ones, I think smaller will look more realistic as well.

As far as the board goes, i think you are right, a good quality setup with a micro servo and a good board would be ideal but since this is my first try at this i want to sort of take the cheap way out. It wont be hard to retrofit good electronics after if it works well. Also, if this works im sure it wont be my last table top truck. Im also using the zzse setup just to see if it can be done, figured i would explore it further. And like i said above, im sort of building and designing this thing as i go so things are bound to change one way or another.

Im a huge fan of your work slick, wish you would make a comeback, Any chance you can post some shots of you finished works?

Thanks
STG