It's on it's way!

Called Novak and they said they sent it out on the 4th! It might even be there when I get home tonight! Happy, happy, joy, joy. Though in this heat I think I will gear it LOWER!

Good to hear Chris! And I do believe gearing down a couple teeth would be wise!

I did that to my XXX buggy last night, had a 24 tooth pinion on it and dropped down to a 21 to make it take the track & jumps properly. The car actually got faster!

I could definitely see that helping for certain tracks. Acceleration is so important while top end is just a nice thing to have. Assuming you don't spin the sucker out getting on it out of a corner, that is. :rolleyes:

I had that concern too, I backed the slipper off a tad to relieve the initial torque.

Great news about the brushless. Ther is a Novak that post on this site regulary is he with the company or just has the same last name?

Tuning talk, got to love it. It's so RC.

Hope all is well.:wave:

I'm sorry but I still laugh when I think of Chris "discussing" a call with a ten year old ref at the soccer game.

Hey, I was very supportive of the poor kid! I was trying to protect him from the other coach who seemed about to have a fit! He did agree at the end of the game that none of the blown calls amounted to a goal so all in all it worked out way better than not playing the game at all. I could EASILY have said a) sorry, we can't make up the game at all, you forfeit, b) you don't like the ref, there is no alternative, you forfeit or ... And at the end of the game we went over and congratulated him on puttnig up with us howling adults. And filled in the card that should make hm $10 for his time! For an 11 yr old that is real money for 50 minutes of hell.

just slapped the Novak back into the pede and ran some of a pack through it. those darn front wheels just don't want to stay on the ground. :D It is pretty dark around here so the spark show from the Ti wheelie bar was awesome. I really will have to make a point of hitting up a dirt road or something to see how this runs in it's "natural environment". I have to say it ws still really hot even geared 16/90! I could pass the 5 second rule but it was hot! It does cool off quickly. I like people's idea of adding a CPU fan to cool it. it cooled very quickly with my blowing on it so a fan should work really well.

it cooled very quickly with my blowing on itBoy, you must really like that Novak BL......:p

Glad to hear you got it back and all is well.

I gotta give my pede some attention, I got 2 shocks that have leaked dry, one on the front & one on the back. Opposite sides too! Makes for an odd handling truck, but suprisingly driveable!

Besides I heard that the east coasters only blow hot air.

At least Bill gets that this is a family site!:p. Yes, we blow lots of hot air as we are generally full of it!

And now for something completely different... No, actually it is the same subject. I have a huge source of rubber tubing of all sizes up in my lab. I am going to see if I can find some that can be made into a air scoop to cool the ESC. Easier than the fan, at least in the short term. I can make a wire bracket to support it and cut a hole in the windshield. I think I will try that with an old body first. I have plenty of those around! Now that I think about it, any body used with the Novak becomes an old body pretty quickly as the truck seems to spend more time on it's lid. Wonder why.

the truck seems to spend more time on it's lid. Wonder why.No wondering there, mr. lead finger!:D

No, it couldn't be me. Must be the pavement. Or the tires. Or gravity! Yeah, that's the problem. Not enough gravity.

last night Sean came down to the "truck" room and statd that he wanted to get back into trucks more. he wants a Clod. We pointed out that Jesse came into some money and then he sold off his XXXT. Sean immediately said there was no way he was selling his Pede! So now he wants a roll cage for the pede. It was way easier to make him his 4X6...:rolleyes:

Plenty of gravity in this part of the country, the bathroom scales indicate gravity practically doubled since I was a teenager! :freak:

3 clods in your future?? Time to Check http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=44022&item=5903226565&rd=1

Or http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=44029&item=5902966163&rd=1

LOL! :D

3?? We ALREADY have 3...

I bet that second one brings in a pretty penny! That is in beautiful condition. The first one we bought was a wreck at $90 shipped. No body, junky motors, XL 1 ESC (like that would work with two motors..)... That one now has been completely made over as my crawler. The second one- Jesse's was a nice CZ2 conversion in decent shape. Mine was a mutant CZ2 with hot motors and a Super Chicken and radio! All that is left of that chassis is the top longitudinal rails. I need to take photos of the three of them and post it here. Just because.

Well the worst week of my work year will end on Sunday. Or, depending on how you look at it, Sunday will be the start of my worst 9 weeks. Either way for the next 9 weeks we will run cmp 24/7. Then the Harris's show up.... This could just be a bad year all around.

By the way Chris, Sam came over on his boat this week and said it was the worst crossing he has made in 30 years, rough water, bad chop, and an big swell coming from a bad direction. Even on Eden they were bounching around like a unvented rim.

I like your idea of venting your body, instead of installing a fan. seems much more durable.
:wave:

Well the worst week of my work year will end on Sunday. Or, depending on how you look at it, Sunday will be the start of my worst 9 weeks. Either way for the next 9 weeks we will run cmp 24/7. Then the Harris's show up.... This could just be a bad year all around.

Hey, I represent that statement! :D I think it will be great to get to see you after the chaos has settled a bit.

[/QUOTE]By the way Chris, Sam came over on his boat this week and said it was the worst crossing he has made in 30 years, rough water, bad chop, and an big swell coming from a bad direction. Even on Eden they were bounching around like a unvented rim.[/QUOTE]

I have to admit that the Eden is pretty cool but I did really appreciate the BIG boat on the return trip.

We just got back from our season ending beating in soccer so I going to head down and try some games with the Pede. I did find some great tubing to make a ramjet sort of thing. I just need to figure out a way to secure it. I think I will also cut some vent holes through the rear shock tower so air can flow right out the back. That is one of the problems right now: any air in there has no place to go away with the heat. I am also going to take the tranny case I killed (ripped the a-arm support off one side) and see if I can make an aluminum motor mount to fit it. I have an old Losi one that could be close but it will need mods. It will mean doing the mods twice but at least if (?) I mess it up it wont be on a good tranny case.

OK, that didn't work. Trashed the trashed tranny case only to find the Losi motor mount just doesn't seem like it is going to work. Oh well. Had to try.

Took Jess over to the LHS. He is making an r/c boat. Well, no. He is making an unguided battery powered boat. He wants to just plug it in and then go chase after it I think. In any case, it should be a hoot to see what happens. I also took the Pede with the 7 cell. It is NOT my lead finger. The thing jsut wont stay on the ground. It was pulling repeated wheelies up to about 15 mph. Up-down-up-down, ove rand over. The wheelie bar took a beatin'! :devil: I had the 7th cell at the back of the truck and that might have made it back heavy enough. More experimentation is needed. Makes me see why people like on-road 4WD sedan!

Sounds like you might need to soften up the rear end a little and loosten the slipper a tad. That way when your heavy finger nails it, it might slip just a little and squat a little more in the rear. Letting it squat in the rear should take away some of that energy that lifts the front wheels.

Yup, you are probably right. I meant to carry the slipper wrench with me but didn't. It is probably cinched down tight. :rolleyes: Kinda fun though in an exhibitionist sort of way.

I hadn't thought about it but setting up the pede for the brushless would take some time. Once you get it set up the way you want it though, look out.

Buy the way stay away from the RPM blue chrome stuff. The Claws chip easy.

Yeah Chrome wheels do seem to chip easy, I stay away from them unless I'm looking for "Show" rims.

Not much truck time this weekend but I did get a bit of work done on the TLT. I took Peter's idea of splitting the pack to lower the CG, and mounting the electronics up high. Then I stole the wheels of the Pede as I wanted 4 front wheels. Thing is cool! Still only running the Stinker but the M2Ks really help with the grip.

While out playing, I remet a new neighbor. He used to be a welder for one of the now extinct bicycle frame manufacturers (well, OK, they still exist but they moved). He is planning the get a machine shop going in his garage. He has told me that any small welding jobs he has, he is the man! I mentioned tube frames and roll cages and he seemed psyched at the thought! Late August. I think I can wait. maybe...

Maybe he's excited because he's thinking he can make some decent money from you? Hope not. Chris the fabricator hooking up with someone that can weld..... hhmmnnn, what will the future hold????

Might just have to go out and buy some clodbuster axle assemblies to prepare myself for it...

You never know! He came over when I had the TLT out. He knew the name Tamiya, and is interested in getting into the hobby. He just hasn't had the time. I am really looking forward to showing off the collection. Hell, I have enough motors/radios/etc that I could hook him up pretty well in exchange for welding services!

Being a biker guy he is also into my "other" hobby.:)

Ya this could get scary......

What if they become friends? This could change the face of RC.....

wow the gangs all here

Gang? Where's Q?

I am guessing Bill was talking about how at that moment there were a bunch of folk lurking. Of course I wasn't one of them. Must not be part of the gang. *sniff*.

As for Q? Excellent question! I think he fell into that marriage/honeymoon/ ball and chain thing. never to be heard from again. Hope I am wrong.

Refound an interesting thing last night. had a few moments so I had the TLT out on the street. After tightening the diff A LOT it was loads of fun. Until I tried to stop. The thing just wouldn't stop. Lots of car tires and curbs later I realized it was the Stinger! I haven't run one in so long I had forgotten how weak the magnets are. There is like no brake force at all. It is the same thing that allows a truck running a Stinger to roll away down a hill whereas a mod motor's magents will hold it in place. So, I guess that means I wil have to put in an 11 turn or something!:freak:

Why not just a nice 19t chameleon? an 11 turn would be :freak:

I spent last night showing my Mod Motors some love and trued up 9 armatures, got 2 10x2s, 2 12x2s, 1 13x2, 2 14x2s, 1 16x3, & 1 18x2 (at least I think thats what it is!). Now I just got to re-assemble them, I got 2 reedy Ti cans, 1 D4 can, 3 speed Gems cans 1 Orion can and another reedy can with a Fantom sticker. Now I just gotta pull the Mods from my XXX4 (10x1), Truck (14x2), and son's truck (12x2) and give them some love too. I'll probably put one of the 10x2s in the 4 wheel, and maybe the other in my truck! But I'll probably wuss out and put one of the 12s or the 13 in it. as it is I got it wicked fast the last time out with the 14 in it.

Wow! I get dizzy thinking about that many motors. How many lathe bits did you go through? I have had a power supply board for about 6 mo. now waiting for a box in which to install it. I just need to get motivated to make it and paint it (it will be plexy so a nice flame job could happen!). Until then, my lathe is run by batts and to do that many motors would take forever!

Yeah, a nice Chameleon would do nicely! I am about to send out a bunch of motors to JAy Jordan to prep for me. It is cheaper than buying brushes and springs! Most of thsoe will be for MJ 5 though. I think I may have him tune up a MM for me for the Pede for the stock class races. I cant' see trying the brushless. Just too darn much power for carpet. Unless I really loosen the slipper then what is the point?

I had a used bit on it that I changed out after the 5th comm, used a 30 amp power supply and a Pulsar competition charger that has a motor run feature. No battery packs, so it went fairly quick.

I do need to buy some more bits though, I pot my last new one on. But they are fairly cheap when you buy from McMaster-Carr.

Yeah, I found that to be a good source. Of course those are the regular steel ones not diamond or whatever. I didn't find they kept their edge very well. I should bring my old bits in to work and have somebody regrind them for me. I just don't know enough about bit design to feel good about the angle and such. Maybe that is what old comms are for- testing!

I am also concerned about the bearings on my trinity lathe. I wish I had known more about lathes when i got mine and picked one up with V blocks instead of bearings. I sense my bearings are messed up and sometimes it makes a chatter that pretty much trashes the cut. I'll experiment more once I donn't have to charge packs.

All those tiny copper shavings go somewhere! some into the bearings!

So true!

luckily mine just has grooves.

Again to demonstrate my ignorance of most things RC, how fast do these things turn? I would think that they had a slow working RPM. V block vs. bearing - I've read about the pros and cons of wach but still have questions, such as, wouldn't sealed bearings work better at keeping the debris out, why do the V blocks not wear?

I want my vacation to be here NOW!! OK, I feel better now. Sorry about that.

Lathes are generally run with a stock motor running straight off a 4 cell pack. So, I would guess 15-18Krpm. Pretty fast, for sure.

The V's do wear I guess but they are made of really hard material and you can see when they are wearing. The trouble with bearings is that as they go bad, they are so small you can't really feel them binding or jerking but it can translate into the armature bouncing a tiny bit and that is fatal to a good cut on the lathe. I suspect that if I cleaned them up really well and relubed them they would be better.

This will be the first weekend out of 12 that I have not had a soccer game to coach! I am looking forward to it! We were going to go camping but that fell through as school activities are not quite done. Plan to ride the bike(s), drive the truck(s), sit back and enjoy. Like that could ever happen.

Oh, forgot... I took a wee bit of time today to get the case for the lathe/motor break-in powre supply together! I still have to tap some holes and do up a cool paint job but I am psyched! Not that I have any motors to break in but I could if I looked even the tiniest bit! I'll post a pic when it gets done.

Wow, we must have been busy over the weekend, not a post to be seen for 2 days!

I went racing Saturday, somewhat poor performance, but had a good time anyway. Gonna be workin' on the pede over the coming week, gotta get it ready to take up north with me to play! Gonna be computer deprived for 8 days! leaving on the 7/1 & be gone until 7/8. Then on 7/10 my oldest son finally moves OUT!! He's gonna be 23 this year, he graduated college last December, has a new job that pays more than I make..... It's time. My youngest is going to move into his old room, which makes a room open to me! I'm gonna have my own RC ROOM!!! with cable! It's gonna be so cool!

Yes, even to busy to take time to write about it.

Glad you checked in though Tom. Exciting times for you. Hope everything goes well.

The only RC stuff that I've been able to do was rip the tape covering off my wing so I can recover it. Had some time while I was downloading some computer upgrades and doing general maintenance on it, even it's feeling over worked.

My learning phase took it's toll and my wing surface, it is anything but smooth. It will fly much better after I get it finished, not only will it be a smoother surface but the weight of the tape I used the first time coupled with the amount I used added up to a lot. I will go for the weight reduction this time as compaired to the tape job I did last time which was geared for protection.

Take care guys.

Re-taping... Do you use the huge pieces of tape or a roll and just go around and around?

Well, I had time to post but I was NOT going to post three times in a row! Makes me sound like a lonely loser.:p

Could not get the guys to come out and play at all this weekend. Actually thought about bringing a truck to a BBQ we went to last night and turned out the place would have been perfect but it was an adult thing. It would have been great for chasing dogs though! Lots and lots of dogs! (and kids but they are no fun to chase- way too slow).

I have got to get some time in with the Clod. If I am even going to pretend to race at MJ5 I had better make sure the bloody thing runs. Trouble is that it is a carpet race and how the heck can I practice for that without a carpet track? Dirt and grass have totally different traction.

Cement and asphault are the closest thing to Ozite, not that close, but it should get you in the ballpark.

Well, I had time to post but I was NOT going to post three times in a row! Makes me sound like a lonely loser.:p

Could not get the guys to come out and play at all this weekend. Actually thought about bringing a truck to a BBQ we went to last night and turned out the place would have been perfect but it was an adult thing. It would have been great for chasing dogs though! Lots and lots of dogs! (and kids but they are no fun to chase- way too slow).

I have got to get some time in with the Clod. If I am even going to pretend to race at MJ5 I had better make sure the bloody thing runs. Trouble is that it is a carpet race and how the heck can I practice for that without a carpet track? Dirt and grass have totally different traction.
good luck at the races, and multi posting is okay! it means your doing something to share;) unlike me :)

have a nice hot day all...
peter

Cement and asphault are the closest thing to Ozite, not that close, but it should get you in the ballpark.
Mayb I should head up to the local races at Hobbytown this weekend. Woe is the sedan that gets in the way of my Clod! Heck, that wouldn't even be a speed bump. Just a blip.

Mayb I should head up to the local races at Hobbytown this weekend. Woe is the sedan that gets in the way of my Clod! Heck, that wouldn't even be a speed bump. Just a blip.
You are starting to sound like those guys that drive the pickup trucks that are all jacked up and sit way off the ground, but when the guy gets out of the truck he is still 4 1/2 feet tall.

Well, one must deal with one's inadequacies any way one can. My driving sucks and I will level anybody who dares to share the track with me! :p

Actually got out to drive the BL Pede last night for a pack. Strapped the pack underneath and it is (well, duh) way more stable. The wheelie bar still got quite the workout but I think that needs to come off soon. It really messes with the jump characteristics of the truck. Just need to be a touch lighter on the throttle. Recently, the only time Jesse shows much interest in the truck is the moment I turn it on. He will be no where to be seen and the moment I hit the throttle it's "Can I drive? Can I try it? ...." The boy clearly needs his own Pede. With his Clod set for crawling he just doesn't have the speed fix he used to have with his XXXT. Maybe he needs another XXXT. Or a sedan...

Glad you got the joke in the sprit I intended. Seemed funny at the time.

I know what you mean about the kids and there level of involvement. Kevin is going through the same thing. In his mind right now it is a chore to charge up the batteries to go run a truck. If it brakes it sits.

Tom, Pete(s), and the others have been through this or going through it, I'm sure. My question is it a phase or are they done with it. I think it is our (Dads) interest in the hobby that feeds their intrest, so how much "support" should I give it?

Well, for me - My sons & I participate in organized racing, the thrill of competeing against others will keep interest. I don't know if my sons would have kept as much interest if it had not been for that adrenaline rush in racing. If I had just stuck with Blackfoots and such, I don't thing they would have stayed interested. For that matter I don't know if I would have either! Video games can give that same rush to a point so it would be easy for kids to be lured away. My brother had a blackfoot when I first got into it (he actually was the one to get me interested in hobby level RC), and ended up getting a 2nd blackfoot and a Lunchbox for his 2 kids. They all lost interest and stopped. Maybe my sons held interest to be with me, I was working 6 days a week back when we first started & we raced on the 7th day.
Thinking about that makes me realize how blessed I am. I am 43.5 years old, been happily married 23.75 years, and have good kids that are 22.75 & 20 that still live at home (at least for another 17 days). Very rare for this day and age.