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davidsen

Vanquish/VQS G11 part made from PCB (printed circuit board) / FR4 and Aluminum, cost: less than 5€ per set + 3d print version. Reinforced + High cap Shock Tower

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When I got my more than 30 year old Vanquish, it was pretty clear that G11 is broken. My local dealer wanted to get more than 20€ for a G parts tree, the guy who used to share a 3D file on thingiverse decided not to share anymore and sell the item on Shapeways and the only aluminum version was done in Australia and way too expensive in my opinion (even they look brilliant). So I faced the challenge to find a way to do a 3D copy of the part I could 3D print. Wasn't that hard so I could 3d print it pretty quick. Did a test ride and felt happy. On a boring evening I did a reinforced Remix of this item, both can be found on Prusaprinters. 

https://www.prusaprinters.org/prints/129428-tamiya-vqs-vanquish-g11-part-reinforced-pcb-versio

Some time later I had to order a custom PCB on JLCPCB for an other project and got the idea to do G11 made from PCB material. So I did a Gerber file to be manufactured in Aluminum and FR4 PCB material and a 3D file to get the tiny spacers done that clamp the ball joints of the lower links. Ordered five pieces made from 1mm Aluminum, five pieces made from 1mm FR4.

The reason for taking 1mm material simply is the costs. 2mm would have also been available but almost 20 times more expensive. So the idea was born to stack one piece made from aluminum and one piece made from FR4 to eliminate the bad properties of each material. It would have also been sufficient to just take one type of material (I would go for aluminum).

The small spacers I also ordered from JLCPCB 3d print service, ordered eight, got ten... Great. So I got five kits for including shipping less than 25€. Could have also used some simple spacers made from aluminum or plastic and give them some grinding to have the required shape and length (9mm) or simply print them on my 3D printer to pay less than 15€ for five kits but I wanted to try JLCPCB print services anyway so this has been a good way to go.

For my birthday I got a kit of high caps for the VQS from my wife and saw, that the ride height on front is way to high. So again I did a 3D print version first and ordered the parts made from PCB material... but at the moment I'm still waiting for them. Will do an update on this place as soon I received the parts.

I'm a guy who believes that sharing is a great thing. I took so many designs to improve or fix my cars or other stuff from different platforms so I also want to share.

If anyone of you wants to order the parts, just PM me for the gerber files and advice how to order from a PCB manufacturer or download the DXF or STL files from Prusaprinters to get them 3D printed or lasercut for your Vanquish or VQS. I will sell some of the leftovers for cheap to cover my costs in my homecountry Austria and Germany and keep one as a spare.

Cheers,

David

 

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On 2/25/2022 at 10:54 PM, davidsen said:

When I got my more than 30 year old Vanquish, it was pretty clear that G11 is broken. My local dealer wanted to get more than 20€ for a G parts tree, the guy who used to share a 3D file on thingiverse decided not to share anymore and sell the item on Shapeways and the only aluminum version was done in Australia and way too expensive in my opinion (even they look brilliant). So I faced the challenge to find a way to do a 3D copy of the part I could 3D print. Wasn't that hard so I could 3d print it pretty quick. Did a test ride and felt happy. On a boring evening I did a reinforced Remix of this item, both can be found on Prusaprinters. 

https://www.prusaprinters.org/prints/129428-tamiya-vqs-vanquish-g11-part-reinforced-pcb-versio

Some time later I had to order a custom PCB on JLCPCB for an other project and got the idea to do G11 made from PCB material. So I did a Gerber file to be manufactured in Aluminum and FR4 PCB material and a 3D file to get the tiny spacers done that clamp the ball joints of the lower links. Ordered five pieces made from 1mm Aluminum, five pieces made from 1mm FR4.

The reason for taking 1mm material simply is the costs. 2mm would have also been available but almost 20 times more expensive. So the idea was born to stack one piece made from aluminum and one piece made from FR4 to eliminate the bad properties of each material. It would have also been sufficient to just take one type of material (I would go for aluminum).

The small spacers I also ordered from JLCPCB 3d print service, ordered eight, got ten... Great. So I got five kits for including shipping less than 25€. Could have also used some simple spacers made from aluminum or plastic and give them some grinding to have the required shape and length (9mm) or simply print them on my 3D printer to pay less than 15€ for five kits but I wanted to try JLCPCB print services anyway so this has been a good way to go.

For my birthday I got a kit of high caps for the VQS from my wife and saw, that the ride height on front is way to high. So again I did a 3D print version first and ordered the parts made from PCB material... but at the moment I'm still waiting for them. Will do an update on this place as soon I received the parts.

I'm a guy who believes that sharing is a great thing. I took so many designs to improve or fix my cars or other stuff from different platforms so I also want to share.

If anyone of you wants to order the parts, just PM me for the gerber files and advice how to order from a PCB manufacturer or download the DXF or STL files from Prusaprinters to get them 3D printed or lasercut for your Vanquish or VQS. I will sell some of the leftovers for cheap to cover my costs in my homecountry Austria and Germany and keep one as a spare.

Cheers,

David

 

IMG_20220225_142542.jpg

IMG_20220225_143317.jpg

IMG_20220225_144052.jpg

IMG_20220225_144659.jpg

IMG_20220225_173923.jpg

Hey David, looking very good!

The shock tower you have, is this the one from Xtra Speed? So you sell the ground plates, did I get it right?

Very nice looking, and useful elimination of one weak spot of the Vanquish! 

Greets from Germany, Matthias

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Yes it's a Xtraspeed shock tower. Got this from RC Mart. Looks pretty nice and does the job!

One small story about G11 and Xtraspeed:

Found Xtraspeed on Facebook and send them a message, asking if they are thinking about doing G11. They answered very quickly and friendly but after they asked their designers they told me, that it is to complicate to do the part. I did not agree and started to design the 3D printable part right after the conversation. 

Yes, will sell them as experimental parts, did not test ride them as it is pretty muddy outside. At the moment two sets are left. These also include the spacers and some screws. Sent you PM

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Hi David, will explain you in PM, just wanted to ask regarding the shock tower. I did also an G11 alternative on my runner.

Cool work, with nice look!

Guess you will get them sold for sure!

Kind regards,

Matthias

 

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Finally the front shock tower for the high caps arrived. Again I have ordered FR4 and Aluminum and mounted a combination of both. Each sheet is 1.6mm. 

Installation has been done quick, looks way better now. Again some are left and I will share production data. 

Did a test ride before with the same geometry as 3d Printed part what worked white good, even the plastic material bent a little. Now it's way more rigid and should work perfectly. I removed the spacer inside the front Highcaps, so there's also a little more travel now. 

 

 

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