Return of the Micro-T Monster

Well as monstrous as a Micro-T can get.  I have a new Classic Hauler body painted up black with some spider flames and a Monster Energy logo on the roof.  To get it to fit good, I had to trim the front bumper a little as I have the RPM Micro-T bumper installed.

I decided to go back to the aluminum arms and hubs that I had.  Once those were on, I put on the Micro-DT wheels.  They definitely look the monster part.  Might have to pickup the black chrome versions to go with the black body.  Since this is an off-road truck, I though I would change the shock springs to soft.  And they happen to be white for both front and rear.

While I was changing all of these things around, one of the motor wires broke off from its joint on the motor.  Oh great, this just isn't my week for micro R/C.  Well I still have the stock motor off the Micro Crawler.  They are the same size.  Got it out, put on the medium size pinon from the extra Micro-T parts, and mounted it.  Once all together, I drove it around.  With the stock Micro crawler motor, it still moves pretty quick.   I might actually consider putting on the large pinion for more speed.

Here it is all back together:

Micro Crawler problems.

The other night I decided to try out my Micro Rock Crawler.  I could steer but could not move.  thinking that is might have been an issue with the motor getting stuck, I took out the transmission, and everything looked OK.  Next I thought it was the battery.  So I reprogrammed the ESC for NiMh and tried again.  Still nothing from the motor.  Maybe it was an ESC calibration issue.  I went through the steps, and the ESC was not responding correctly.  So I swapped some connections around: move the Steering servo to the channel I'm using for thorttle.  When I turned on the system, the front steering went full right.  Maybe it's an issue with the receiver.  Turned the truck off, changed profiles, got out the original receiver that came with the radio, connected up the steering servos (one to the channel I use for throttle), gave it power, and this time the front steering servo went full left.  Guess what that means?  Yup, the radio has a problem again.  This time with the Elevator function.

Well I was lucky when I sent it in last time, and Horizon Hobby didn't charge me for service repair on the radio.  I packed up the Spektrum DX6i and both receivers.  I am going to wait to send it in as I know it's going to cost.  Heck I may not even send it in and just save the money towards a new radio altogether.

Well to get this crawler going, I decided to see if my 2nd Tactic TTX650 receiver would fit.  It does, just barely.  So I got the crawler back together.  Then installed the receiver, setup the radio, and linked the receiver to the transmitter.  Next, I got the ESC calibrated and reconfigured it back to LiPo 2S mode.  I turned on the truck, and was driving.  Maybe because it's still brand new, but I really like this Tactic TTX650.  It is fairly easy to setup and use.

So I was driving, the chassis/body kept rolling to one side.  As it turns out, this new brushless motor really puts out some torque twist.  So last night I decided to put the springs back on the shocks.  It gives it a taller ride height, but we'll see how the torque twist is.

Micro R/C

Well the weather is starting to get cold, and that means I won't want to be going out side much.  So I'm bringing out my micro trucks.  That would the be the Losi Micro-T and Micro Rock Crawler.  Well the McRC has just gone through a 4WS project and some test drives, but it's time to really get it going.  For my Micro-T, the only project is to get it on 2.4gHz and brushless.  We'll see what the future holds.

Another Crawler

Well I recently picked up another crawler.  This one is the Axial Racing SCX10 Dingo.  Yes, it's the same chassis as the Trail Honcho.  But what can I say?  I had fun building the my first SCX10, and this one looks good.

While building, I started off with my Castle Creations Mamba Max Pro and NeuCastle 1406 Series 4600KV Brushless combo.  But once I was able to do some test drives, this set did not work so well.  The main reason is that the motor is sensorless.  And as it turns out, sensorless is not that great for low speeds.  So I ended up pulling out the Novak Eiger ESC and Axial 55T stock motor from my Venom Creeper and putting them in  the Dingo.  But don't worry, the Creeper will return! (Hey, that could be a good R/C video.)  After testing, I was much more satisfied with the results.  And while I was at it, I also relocated a light set from one of the Creeper bodies to the Dingo.

For the radio gear, I ended up moving the Futaba from the Honcho to the Dingo.  The Honcho ended up with a Spektrum receiver taken from my now broken Micro RS4 (but that is for another day).  A Cirrus servo controls direction.  The RC4WD winch that was going on to the Honcho is now mounted on the Dingo.  All in all so far, this has been a good and long build.  I hope to get it on some rocks this weekend.