pics, pics, pics (warning: LOTS of 'em !)

[jeepinator]

Here are an assortment of pics before I had my digital camera. I scanned these this afternoon. I am not a graphics genius, so please excuse the quality ;)

We'll start off circa 1991. Here is my very first RC car. It was kinda old here (maybe 2 years), but I still back yard bashed with it every day it seemed ...

http://www.theshreves.com/pics/oldrc10.jpg

Yeah, yeah, I know the paint job sucked mud, and dying the parts is nerdy, but hey, It was '92 !

Next stop: 1995 (you can even see the timestamp in there)
This is revision 1, the alpha, my first attempt at a *performance* oriented monster truck. All the production stuff out there (Clod Buster, USA 1, etc) were heinous on the track. And they were expensive. This is basically an RC10 graphite chassis with XXT arms and a few other tricks. Noteable are the dual motors. This took some time to refine and make into a reliable, strong, modification. Anyway, here is version #1:

http://www.theshreves.com/pics/mtb.jpg

Following that rather yucky, slopped together truck, I improved almost everything and came out with version 2. Version 2 had a longer dual plane chassis, stronger custom made dogbones, perfected dual motor plate, dual batteries, improved steering arrangement, better front shock geometry, and much more ...

http://www.theshreves.com/pics/mta.jpg

For revision 3 (and higher) please check out my web page (in my profile). It gets even much better !

On to a silly little project I did twice. It was so fun the first time (using snow skiis, see my web page), I thought I would try it again using wheels. This was like 1999. Anyway, I took my RC10B2, stuck my motor stand on the rear shock tower, and called it a fan car. I cannot describe how loud it was ! And, NO BRAKES ! The thing was stinking fast once it got going. This one is so easy, any of you could do it. Simply stick a motor stand on the rear shock tower, put Losi rear axles in the AE rear carriers (remove the universal part of course) and put AE front wheels on the back. Just don't expect to stop with a forward only ESC !

http://www.theshreves.com/pics/fancar1.jpg
http://www.theshreves.com/pics/fancar2.jpg
http://www.theshreves.com/pics/fancar3.jpg

Well, that's all for now. Check my web page or email me for more info ...

[ 06-17-2001: Message edited by: jeepinator ]

[ 06-17-2001: Message edited by: jeepinator ]

[mavrick0611]

that last one was the best! :)

[NitroDrew]

I agree! That is cool! All it needs is retractable wings and you could fly or drive depending on your mood, or how far you were behind in a race! :D

[The_Ne-Go-She-Ate-r]

Jeep man, i love the wind powered b2. How quick was the little thing?

[JP]

Thats awesome! I like the rear wheel part of the fan car because it never lost traction. Thats sweet dude!

[JP]

BTW, the page only took me 1 second to load with my cable modem! :p

Anyways, How did those monster truck chassis work out? How many did you break with those tires on?

[WhoKnowsWho]

That's some cool stuff jeepinator! Though I think I like the truck more than the Fan Car, especially the first version, it just screams thrown together!

[XXXER]

Jeep, i am not usually a fan of 'rigging' of cars, but all of yours are very cleanly done, and almost, dare i say it, professionally.

Kudos to you, all of them are great!

[jeepinator]

Thanks everyone.
The monster truck truly is my pride and joy. I barely even play with it now. Many of the various parts that are on it are out of production and many are one-of-a-kind, hand made. An example of this is the rear universal dogbones. I extended some Losi XXT units with none other than an Exacto knife handle ! The upper and lower chassis plates were all hand cut and drilled. They started life as blanks plates. The battery holder are nylon cutting board material. Man, it works great ! Another piece of this material runs almost the entire length of the chassis. It is so strong that I actually stood on the center of the chassis while both ends were on wood blocks (I won a bet doing it too !). The front shock tower is my old RC10 Graphite chassis (pictured above ;) ). The front end has parts from Kyosho, Tamiya, RPM, Associated and Losi. The front steering spindles are rear Losi axles with the "U" cut off. The axle actually spins, similar to how the XX buggy works (the bearings are not in the wheel). They sit inside a pair of AE rear hub carriers (hehe, only they sit sideways).
I spent many, many hours tinkering and improving this thing. Oh, the tranny is a Losi XX unit. For power the truck has Aveox now, and has for quit some time. The tires/wheels are from the Kyosho Big Brute/Nitro Thrasher trucks. Try finding a pair of these now :(
Which reminds me, if any of you have a set of 4, I will pay you hansomely for them.

Here is an encore and what the truck looks like today:

http://www.theshreves.com/pics/mtc.jpg

You can just barely see the dogbone extension I mentioned, the 2 chassis layers, dual rear shocks, Aveox motor, customer motor plate-to-rear-shock-tower stiffener, etc. You really have to see it in person to appreciate it fully. I am kinda stoked about going out and bashing with it now ... hopefully I don't break anything !

Thanks again everyone. I hope I am inspiring you to do more with your vehicles than simply buying expensive "hop up" parts. There is more to RC than racing and BUYING your modifications. Be creative and unique. Do things nobady has done. And by all means, post the pictures of your creations here !

Cheers

[ 06-17-2001: Message edited by: jeepinator ]

[Interceptor]

I did somethinf simular with my broken striker. I made awood mount and installed a Cox .09 engine with a pusher prop. It was cheesy, but it did work. Didn't go very fast and had no brakes. It was fun though :-)