CC-02: post build thoughts

[Frog Jumper 3658]

I just finished my CC02 Defender at 242mm wheelbase. It is an awesome piece of engineering IMO…

1.  I like that the link position can be changed so that the wheelbase can be adjusted. Here is a table I made for myself.

———
Out/Out+Out/Out=272
Out/In+Out/Out=267
Out/in+Out/In=262
Out/in+In/out=257
In/Out+In/out=252
In/In+In/Out=247
In/In+In/In = 242
———

2.  I figured out you can gain another 10mm or so by getting a second set of rear links for the front. Not sure I’ll ever do this but is nice to know.

3.  I like how the battery tray position is adjustable. I moved mine in 5mm closet to the motor.  I also like how you can flip the bottom support flap around to support a shortie.  I also like how it’s possible to set up this flap and the rear brace to pop off so you can slide a long battery in/out.  One issue I found is that if you move the tray all the way back, the rear brace doesn’t fit into the metal channels.  There are likely ways to fix this, but I didn’t explore.

3.  Big T is offering 75mm, 85mm, and 95mm center shafts for different lengths. Nice!

4.  I was concerned about bumpsteer and CMS.  I asked @Bash to 3D print me a axle servo mount. It works well, but with my SWB set-up, the axle mounted servo strikes the center support plate for the chassis.

5.  I ended up mounting my servo in the vertical position and it wouldn’t fit horizontally with the SWB.  My concerns with bumpsteer have been alleviated. Not because it not a problem, but bc the Pitbull Rock Beasts I mounted are grippy so that the chassis moves rather than the wheels.  I guess I have a case of bump-chassis???  Considering what I’m driving over, and how bad the bumpsteer was with other cars I’ve had in the past, I can live with it.

6. I bought the Yeah Racing steel skid plates front, rear, and center.  Front and rear fit great.  Center is designed for the longer wheelbases and doesn’t fit with the front links in the SWB position (in). A good hour of cutting and filing some notches fixed this for me.

7. I’m using a few JunFac parts:  steering links, front and rear axles, king pins.  All are high quality and fit perfectly.  I’m also using JazRider link arms.  These I flipped upside down for more clearance, and there is no restriction in movement in this position.

8.  I don’t like how the body mounts are mounted on the shock towers. This means that changes to the wheelbase (and therefore shock tower position) moves the body posts out of position.  These should be mounted to the chassis somehow, I think.

9. I’m looking for ideas for front and rear bumpers. Knight Customs on Shapeways makes mount so you can use Axial bumpers.  Any other ideas?

10.  I’m using the lowest gear settings with 16t pinion and a Team Brood 35 turn motor.  It’s still a little faster than walking speed.  The torque twist with kit CVAs was terrible.  I replaced the soft springs on the left side with the stiff springs from a 50520 set and the problem mostly went away.

11.  The pinion shaft on the Team Brood was looooong.  Once I put the pinion in place, the shaft stuck out about 3mm.  LHS said he could cut the shaft, but he gave me some kind of red tamiya motor plate (hot shot???).  I cut off the extra plastic and sanded it flat.  You can see it between the motor and the tranny.  I needed this otherwise the pinion cover would not fit over the loooong shaft.

Thanks!

Terry

 

 

 

[Busdriver 6209]

I took mine for a drive yesterday. I’ve got rock block tyres and a 55T motor but apart from that it’s stock. My only real issue is the rear mounted battery makes the front end light for steep hills and it can somersault backwards. I too have the YR skids and needed Dr Dremel to get the middle one to fit.

[Grumpy pants 4484]

5 minutes ago, Busdriver said:

I took mine for a drive yesterday. I’ve got rock block tyres and a 55T motor but apart from that it’s stock. My only real issue is the rear mounted battery makes the front end light for steep hills and it can somersault backwards. I too have the YR skids and needed Dr Dremel to get the middle one to fit.

Sounds like some lead wheel weights placed around the front might help J.

[Busdriver 6209]

Yes or some wheighted wheels. It has very light Austar ones at the moment. Is sprung or unsprung weight best to stop this and aid traction?

[Grumpy pants 4484]

18 minutes ago, Busdriver said:

Yes or some wheighted wheels. It has very light Austar ones at the moment. Is sprung or unsprung weight best to stop this and aid traction?

Not sure on the sprung/unstrung, but weighting the wheels did cross my mind as well. 

[Frog Jumper 3658]

I bought stick on weights and stuck them around the inner ring of each wheel.

I saw a vid or something where someone removed the battery tray and ran the battery latitudinally across the center for better balance.

[BuggyGuy 1106]

Glad to see others enjoying the CC-02!

I put 30g weight on top of the front axle on mine and made it feel much more planted, mines more setup for running up and down the garden/street at speed though rather than crawling (so I don't like the idea of weighting the wheels).

Drivetrain is strong enough for 13.5 brushless on grass with CR01 prop shafts - could really do with a slipper clutch though with that kind of power.

Upgrade wise the steel suspension balls for the suspension links made mine feel nicer to drive, and I added the motor brace, front universals, the alloy spur gear mount and a steel rear axle to help handle brushless power.

The damper upgrade kit is really nice, but a little expensive unless you shop around (I managed to get it for £50 from Amazon), The tie rod kit for the steering is a nice addition and one of the cheaper upgrades to do. I've got the alloy servo mount and alloy rear brace from Tamiya to add next time I have it on the workbench as well

The only non Tamiya parts on my build are the Yeah Racing plates for the chassis and F+R diffs. 

I would avoid the GPM link mounts or link kits as a friend has them on his CC-02 and they're not great. He's upgraded to the Yeah Racing ones now and the quality looks good.

I've been really please with the CC-02 - I really enjoy driving and working on it, and it has that XV01 type jack of trades kinda of feel to it. I'll probably change mine to a Unimog body this year and get a better set of tyres, and will deffo swap out the plastic links for the Yeah Racing set when funds permit!

 

[Frog Jumper 3658]

29 minutes ago, BuggyGuy said:

 

I would avoid the GPM link mounts or link kits as a friend has them on his CC-02 and they're not great. He's upgraded to the Yeah Racing ones now and the quality looks good.

 

 

Good to know.  The YR ones are more expensive, but wasted money is wasted money...

I also like the looks of the Integy stuff, but I've heard its crap too???

Terry

 

[BuggyGuy 1106]

2 hours ago, Frog Jumper said:

 

Good to know.  The YR ones are more expensive, but wasted money is wasted money...

I also like the looks of the Integy stuff, but I've heard its crap too???

Terry

 

I've not tried Integy but have also heard the quality is questionable - I have plenty of Yeah Racing bits accross various cars and can't fault the quality for the price, most recently put some of their big bore dampers on a TA05 - the seals were crap, but the machining on the bodies, caps and shafts is excellent, not quite Tamiya, but **** close for a third of the the price of the Tamiya items

[OnTheTrail 1152]

12 hours ago, Busdriver said:

..... Is sprung or unsprung weight best to stop this and aid traction?

Whenever possible, always do unsprung when adding weight.  

[Tamiyastef 1966]

On 4/4/2022 at 6:01 PM, Frog Jumper said:

 

Good to know.  The YR ones are more expensive, but wasted money is wasted money...

I also like the looks of the Integy stuff, but I've heard its crap too???

Terry

 

Not CC-02 but I have some universal drive shafts from Integy in the rear of my brushless 4X4 Stampede and they are magnificent. Price is 25% tp 33% of the Traxxas ones and they haven't failed me allthough I love to pull wheelies on 3s Lipo's and drive my Stampede hard and regularly. They are already a couple of years old so maybe quality isn't as good as it used to be at Integy?

[RichieRich 685]

So, what you're saying @Frog Jumper is that I should purchase one of these? 

[Frog Jumper 3658]

1 hour ago, RichieRich said:

So, what you're saying @Frog Jumper is that I should purchase one of these? 

Two

[Big Jon 684]

On 4/4/2022 at 1:45 PM, BuggyGuy said:

I've not tried Integy but have also heard the quality is questionable - I have plenty of Yeah Racing bits accross various cars and can't fault the quality for the price, most recently put some of their big bore dampers on a TA05 - the seals were crap, but the machining on the bodies, caps and shafts is excellent, not quite Tamiya, but **** close for a third of the the price of the Tamiya items

Integy doesn't actually make anything, they rebrand all sorts of stuff. Some is Eagle or 3Racing, some is rando Chinese.

I've had quality range from superb to horrible with Integy, so I always view it as a gamble unless I have experience with a particular part or I can identify the OEM.

Nothing wrong with experimenting. We're all men of science here.

[Tamiyastef 1966]

54 minutes ago, Big Jon said:

Integy doesn't actually make anything, they rebrand all sorts of stuff. Some is Eagle or 3Racing, some is rando Chinese.

I've had quality range from superb to horrible with Integy, so I always view it as a gamble unless I have experience with a particular part or I can identify the OEM.

Nothing wrong with experimenting. We're all men of science here.

Okay. That explains a lot.

[Frog Jumper 3658]

I’ve added about 180g of weight to the front and about 100g of weight to the rear.  It’s a lot less bouncy and more fluid over bumps.  I think I need more weight but I’m waiting on new tire “foams” (hairbun donuts) to really judge…

Terry

[Frog Jumper 3658]

Tamiya motor bridge arrived today. I figured with all torque, I’d need it. I’ll probably get 75mm steel drive shafts next…

I’ve also ordered large hairbun donuts to use in place of the Pitbull foams.  I plan on running in water so I didn’t want sponges in my tires.

Also bought some Mack’s silicone ear plugs to try out as diff fluid in the rear.  The 5000 I’ve put it there doesn’t do anything.

And I added a brass bearing as a spacer in each of the front magnet mounts to get a little more height.  The body would rub sometimes and I hope this helps.

Good times…

Terry

 

[Frog Jumper 3658]

Post drive bath for Little Zoey…  She stank.  She stank bad…

Couple of things arrived today…

Anybody else try these silicone ear plugs as diff putty?  I’ll likely have a lot of leftover if anyone wants a free wad…

And the motor bridge…

 

[TurnipJF 9192]

9 hours ago, Frog Jumper said:

Anybody else try these silicone ear plugs as diff putty?

...Or diff putty as ear plugs? 😄

[Bash 356]

Lots of people like to use those earplugs to effectively lock the center differential on Arrma 6s trucks and the like, and I've seen good results from it. Should be totally fine for lots of limited-slip action on the CC-02, any particular reason you aren't going with fully locked differentials? Does the CC-02 not have the parts included to lock both differentials, or just one like the CC-01?

[taffer 948]

2 hours ago, Bash said:

Lots of people like to use those earplugs to effectively lock the center differential on Arrma 6s trucks and the like, and I've seen good results from it. Should be totally fine for lots of limited-slip action on the CC-02, any particular reason you aren't going with fully locked differentials? Does the CC-02 not have the parts included to lock both differentials, or just one like the CC-01?

Yes cc-02 has parts to lock both diffs this time, diff putty is a good option as well

[Frog Jumper 3658]

@Bash I locked the front and ear plugged the rear.  Testing today (hopefully).

I did this bc the internet said it was a good idea.  And you remember what Abraham Lincoln said: “everything you read on the internet is the truth.”

[Frog Jumper 3658]

I’ve named my CC-02.  Her name is “Little Zoey”, or “LZ”.  My dog in college.  Good dog, but was she was a beech!  Cuddle all day then wiz your bed if you didn’t pay attention.  Appropriate for the CC02…

So I jammed half an earplug into the rear diff…. I have to say, this is exactly what I needed. Both rear tires are pretty much locked unless they are under extreme duress, then they move quite smoothly.  Who needs 1 million when you have 1 Brazilian!?!

The hair donuts didn’t work out.  I ordered “large” and they were too big to fit inside the Pitbull Beast XORs.  I tried them on some 2.2 BF wheel/tire combos, and they fit just fine after stretching the hole, ie, losing their virginity??? But then I thought the only 2.2 tire set I would need waterproof foams for is my beach set, and they made my tires too hard to get a good ride on beach sand.  Unglued, no foam, and vented is best IMO.  So they didn’t work there either.  So while others may have good luck with these (I love the outside the box thinking), these are a bust for me.  Free with postage for anyone else wanting to experiment…

Meh…. probably for best too:  I drove LZ thru a lot of nasty water at my LCS (local crawling spot) and when I took the wheels apart to install the donuts, the existing foams were dry.  I guess the seal is good enough to keep the foams dry.  But one day I’ll order so WP LazerFoams.  After I win the lottery!  Dang those things are expensive!

Rebuilt the shocks today too.  Took out the internal spacer and added it below the spring retainer.  I changed the lower attachments from short to long to get a little more ride height, and bc the short guys don’t have enough meat to really secure to the shaft.

And here are a pix to show how to notch the Yeah Racing center plate for SWB…

 

 

[Carmine A 2046]

On 4/4/2022 at 11:45 AM, BuggyGuy said:

....... I have plenty of Yeah Racing bits accross various cars and can't fault the quality for the price, most recently put some of their big bore dampers on a TA05 - the seals were crap, but the machining on the bodies, caps and shafts is excellent, not quite Tamiya, but **** close for a third of the the price of the Tamiya items

I can definitely vouch for Yeah Racing. Used it for years, mostly Shocks. @BuggyGuy is right, the O-Rings are CRAP. But replace them with Team Associated X-Rings and use Green Slime, and they're about as solid and smooth as TRF - but a third of the price!! 

Now... what about those "Hair Donuts"?? This Old Fart has never heard of that. 

..... in the typical small Pot Metal Tamiya Diffs, I've had great luck with 300,000 - 500,000wt Diff Lube. With a small bit of RTV Silicone around the seam, it stays in too!  

[Carmine A 2046]

Awesome info here! Makes me look forward to building my CC-02 Unimog! I want to set up Magnet Mounts so I can swap my Landfreeder Body from my CC-01 - which has been a huge money pit over 12 years! But I've got a lot of details on that Body, including Full Light Kit. 

Is there a decent, Axle Mounted Servo kit for these yet? Possibly a VERTICALLY mounted Servo, for space issues?🤔