Custom Clod Buster

[adanmtxt1 2]

Good morning everyone; I've been in the hobby for 12 years and had built an RC Guy Gecko-based truck in 2006, but sold it as I never actually ran it. Nostalgia got the better of me last year and I got the Super Clod, disappointed as I was with the monumental price hike. I love the style and handling of the stock truck though I tightened up the steering with bumper-mounted servos mixed in my DX4S.

Retro Runner by Lunitic, on Flickr

Climb The Hill by Lunitic, on Flickr

Super Clod Buster by Lunitic, on Flickr

Monstas by Lunitic, on Flickr

I do have a question. Does anyone have mod brushed motor suggestions? The stock silver cans are slowing down as expected and I'm unsure even a low wind brushless system can match the low throttle smoothness of brushed motors. Any ideas?

[gravetxt-1 84]

Beautiful clod buster very nice. I love how you have mounted the servos on the bumper mounts are the attachments custom made or did you buy them? If so where? I fancy 4 wheel steer for a Bullhead build I will be doing shortly.

[adanmtxt1 2]

I originally used scrap lexan, but this weekend cut, drilled, and bent mounts from thin aluminum plate. The problem with lexan is it does not adequately support the servo case tabs during an impact, resulting in broken tabs. A stronger solution is to get a BTA or Thundertech bumper / servo mount setup, or one of the other more stable mounts available, but I like this just fine as I'm not too hard on my Clod. It was fun to make too.

[Percymon 2184]

The problem with mod brushed motors is the advanced timing - one owner here (Rob Buckle) converted a stock clod to run on Tamiya TZ motors, setting the timing on one motor in reverse to the same degree as the forward rotation motor. Despite this the brushes lasted only a few runs.

One option is Traxxas Titan 550 motors as these are forward / reverse orientation as sold - couple them with a EVX-2 esc and you can run up to 16.8V. I have this set up, but in my modded chassis is such a beast it blunts the performance so I'm still at stock Clod speeds.

People have used EZRun brushless combo's (down to 9T that I know of) but how well these avoid cogging as a sensorless configuration would need more research. TC member 'kaiser' ran a twn brushless modded Clod, perhaps ask Pete the question although he doesn't visit here too often.

A couple of threads to read through..

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=62345&hl=clod#entry416982

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=59769&hl=clod#entry407798

[Klausen 1197]

Great looking Clod you have there. I see people using HPI 15t. motors on the Clods, but most people are going brushless now. I have to Castle Sidewinder v3 / 4600 kv. combos in mine. They are dialed down to 70%, and it is a great setup on 2s lipo. You can see it here.

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=120521&sid=32970

[SteveU30 1011]

The problem with mod brushed motors is the advanced timing - one owner here (Rob Buckle) converted a stock clod to run on Tamiya TZ motors, setting the timing on one motor in reverse to the same degree as the forward rotation motor. Despite this the brushes lasted only a few runs.

I did the same thing as Rob on my Twin Detonator but with the RZ variant of the Super Stock motors and after quite a few runs my brushes are still holding up well. I would recommend a LiPo battery though due to both weight saving and run time reasons (plus the obvious performance boost).

More info at my thread here (also includes a link to Rob's thread which Percymon mentioned).

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=69756&st=0#

[Zac_F83 117]

Traxxas EVX-2 w/ LVD and E-Revo Titan 21T 550 motors (1 is standard CCW rotation and 1 is CW rotation- the reverse rotation motor goes in the rear gear box) are a great fit- and more power than a stock clod can handle IMO the second battery though.. takes some thinking to mount - check out my clod build in this section to see how I did it..

My .02 mount the second battery in the front or your clod will become a wheelie machine