I was so impressed with how the IFS2 handled, I am no longer stopping at the basic upgrades. I am giving it the full treatment. I have parts coming in all next week…I expect it will take me 2 weeks of meetings to complete since many of the upgrades mean disassembly of the trans, front IFS system, etc. I noticed that the IFS has more front clearance than the portals on the Traxxas or the Axial, giving it a very unique front approach line ability that all the other cars have to take at an angle. This will also be my first with Reedy power upgrades…I won’t be going holmes hobbies of hobywing…getting the Factory Team upgrades for the motor and see what I can do with this ESC before switching to Holmes Hobbies as a backup.
1 Like
I see dirt on wheels. This means I missed a crawl. How did the goodtimes van do? did you get any scooby snacks?
All dirt is from my back yard. This one is getting a complete rebuild. I liked the way it performed so well that I decided it shouldn’t get a half rate setup. Majority of the parts should be here by today and tomorrow. I possibly could have it ready by Sunday for a v1.5 run. v2 I don’t expect until next week.
…still waiting on 3 boxes from Amain and Associated to have the parts necessary to complete the full reformation of this beauty, The Night Crow v1.5. They should hopefully be here today.
Waiting on my 10t 5 pole Reedy 2, hand wound 550. It has manual timing adjustment, so I need to learn more about that so I set it properly. Otherwise this thing is ready for a shakedown run. Did some suspension geometry changes with the help of some FT parts.
More parts, still a slipping clutch. I see the niceness of a high quality brushed crawler motor. This is a 5 pole 10t special wound motor. I haven’t adjusted the timing, but it’s extremely smooth.
UPDATE:
I ordered a new ESC since this is a higher amp motor and I wanted to upgrade the steering servo. Going with the trusty 1080 G2. @FordTruckRC the G2 ESC is supposedly programmable via ibus. So I will see if that works as well. Ordered a 45kg servo since I am worried about breaking the IFS with more grunt than that. I also ordered a Factory Team built crawler trans for it. This car is going to get the FlySky radio I think, I just have a soft spot for it no no longer holding back on certain parts I previously decided I wouldn’t need.
1 Like
Slow day at the cracker factory leaves greasy fingers. Fully rebuilt the transmission. No more slipping. Changed shoes. Weighing the pros and cons of changing for front overdrive. I will let the rocks determine that. I will just stick to the servo, winch and lights for now.
Stout meats for a hilux. Would marty mcfly approve?
1 Like
Ordered some canyon trail S1 compound for The Night Crow. The tires it ran at the creek where Canyon RTs. They seemed to do very well, so not going to rock that boat, just as a little stick. Going to install the FT Stealth gearbox in it with 18% overdrive. Then ready for more challenges.
Flysky receiver is mostly water proof. I opened the receiver box on the Night Crow and the receiver was dripping water out of it. Still drives, just reports battery voltage even though the BVD isn’t connected. I didn’t put the little silicone ring on the lid seal. Gonna just continue with my transmission replace and install a new ESC for added smoothness. If the receiver still fluctuates BVD voltage tomorrow after getting a chance to dry out I’ll replace it.
Took two hours just to change the trans. Tomorrow I do the ESC and decide on the fait of the receiver.
What tranny did you put in it?
@JStar It is a version of the Element Stealth XF trans. This one is the Factory Team built version, means it has all the bearing upgrades, 18% front overdrive, upgraded parts. The nice thing with the element transmissions is that the overdrive can be done inside it, rather than at the portal or axle. To change the overdrive you just remove two shafts, change two gears, close it and you have an adjustment. That is what I did to my other element the other day, my little black Trailwalker has the Stealth X trans which is the same idea but the motor position is a bit different, overall more compact.
Here is the Nightwalker Stealth X for reference. It’s hard to tell in the pictures but it is more compact because the motor instead of protruding out of the front of it, it is turned around and sits next to the trans. This keeps the weight balance lower, but in the center of the truck. The XF Trans in the Night Crow allows the forward weight, but a little higher and I had to put the battery holder in the back. The Stealth X trans bolts to the skid plate. The Stealth XF trans is part of the skid plate. You will see a lot of custom builds will use these transmissions since the overdrive is part of the internals, you can run these with overdrive or under drive on 6s and have no worry about parts breaking.
@FordTruckRC The clicking sound is coming from the trans. I disassembled the IFS and cleaned, greased and replaced bearings. It only happens under a bit of load. I did notice I bent a screw in one of the front steering hubs. The servo can’t do that, but a 5 pole, 10t 550 can, 80 amp motor matched to a crawl gear all metal trans with no slipper can. I bet I had that wheel bound in a rock, throttled it. The trans may have stripped a gear in the process of bending a screw. I’ll take that apart during zoom meetings this week and check.