WT01 4x4x4 project

[Nitomor 2122]

Hello everyone,

Finally started my WT01 project tonight. I bought it at the beginning of the year and it has been sat in its box since. The plan was to build it as a 4x4x4. I have another brushless 2wd WT01 which I have really enjoyed, with this one I fancied something a little more complex and versatile with lots of party tricks. By mating it with a Futaba 10j radio, there should be plenty of programmability available to experiment with.

This follows on from this recent thread

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=78068

Base kit is the Blackfoot III

Cheers

Nito

[Nitomor 2122]

First job is to disassemble the ready built gearbox to make some modifications. I was a little suprised here;

My WR01 Dual Hunter (4wd version of this chassis) has the white/creamy coloured gears, but my WT01 Mud Blaster II had black nylon gears as does the WR02 pic below.

I was expecting this to be the same. I had assumed that the black gears were a revision on the later models, maybe this is old stock, who knows.

First up, I've swapped all the plastic and brass bushes for bearings. Next up, on my other WT01, I've only ever had three running failures, one of those was the diff spinning up inside resulting in a loss of drive. This was resolved by packing the diff with a heavy duty grease so I've done that with this from the outset to preempt this issue.

HPI heavy duty grease;

Some Hop Ups...

Gmade shocks

CR01 wheels with Junfac 13mm wideners to maintain correct offset and stock WT01 pin spikes

Rear axle kind of complete - the error is I haven't fitted the rear wheel steer! Need to get the bits for that first.

[XV Pilot 1936]

Looks great so far. I like the black with red accents - very neat.

[Nobbi1977 1793]

Those shocks look very nice.

[ChrisRx718 4470]

Indeed, those shocks are very purdy looking. How did their cost compare with the cost of the base kit?!

[Nitomor 2122]

Thanks chaps,

Shocks are 38 euros for the piggyback version and 32 euros for the diaphragm ones from Tamico. Cheaper from Junfac direct. So about £50 for the pair without postage from Tamico.

Unfortunately they are out of stock with the black gpm shock tower (as seems everyone) so I can't build the front up until they get them back in stock! They are a tenner each so there goes another £20 odd, then a tenner in servo mounts, £20 more for the CR01 wheels, it soon adds up, that's already nearly the kit cost in hop ups but I have high hopes for this!

[Terz1 745]

The Gmade shocks do look amazing. My wt01 mudblaster 2 had the white creamy gears. I wonder if there are any other differences except for the colour???

Looks great so far.

[ChrisRx718 4470]

Same scenario with CC01 gears, all of mine had cream coloured gears up until my last kit, which had black. My guess is that the white is being phased out but there is obviously surplus white stock on shelves.

[Nitomor 2122]

Cool, not just the WT01 then! As above, I wonder if there is a difference in strength/durability? The plastic seems less brittle. I think the black ones are nylon type.

The Blackfoot III is an older kit number than the Mud Blaster 2 so perhaps they use this old stock up in the kits that would have had them before any changeover. All the WR02's I've had have been black so I'm guessing of the WT01's, the Mud Blaster, Amarok and possibly Bush Devil may all feature black. Would be interesting to know what the XB Mighty Bull has and confirm any of the others.

Cheers

Nito

[Nitomor 2122]

Looks like this will be on hold for a bit, there appears to be a worldwide shortage of these, have been checking everywhere;

I managed to Get Tamico's last one a while back but it seems stock isn't being replenished anywhere. I do hope its not discontinued. For the moment other colours are available but I'd prefer to wait for black. I won't be pushing the button on other bits until this is back in stock so hope its not tool long a wait!

[Terz1 745]

Nito have you got another one of these shock towers on another model. I know you've quite a few wt-01 and WR01. If you have take it off that then may be get another shock tower in the available colours for that car which you may be not as bothered about being the correct colour.

*That's if you've got another black shock tower on your other kits. Think I saw one a while back but could be wrong.

[Nitomor 2122]

<<< Yes I have one on my Mud Blaster 2 but I haven't fallen out of love with that by a long shot, it's my faithful basher and I love it!!

Worst case I guess I could get silver and paint it!

Need to decide on servos, 2Nr, must be metal geared, preferably water resistant and I think digital because the rear needs to be held in neutral firmly when the 4ws is off. In fact just realised this will need to be permanently powered even when it is not in use! The ESC will dish out 6v.

I like Futaba personally, the kids have the blue waterproof Savox, for this build I was debating a low profile servo but wonder if they are up to off road as they seem to be mostly for Touring cars. I was looking at the Power HD ones which come in a rather tasty anodised red, does anyone have any experience with these?

Specification:

• Torque(4.8V): 10.5 kg-cm (145.8 oz/in)
• Torque(6.6V): 13.0 kg-cm (180.5 oz/in)
• Speed: 0.15 sec (4.8V) │ 0.12 sec (6.6V)
• Operating Voltage：4.8 ~ 6.6 DC Volts
• Weight: 60 g (2.12 oz)
• Bearing Type：Ball Bearing x 2
• Motor Type：DC Motor
• Gear Type：Copper & Aluminum
• Operating Temperature：-20℃~60℃
• Working frequence：1520μs / 333hz
• Size：40.7 x 20.5 x 39.5mm (1.60 x 0.80 x 1.55 in)

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This Ripmax one looks the nuts, all metal mmmm

• Case Centre: Aluminium
• Main Case: Aluminium
• Operating Frequency: 1520µs/330hz
• Water Resistant: Yes
• Weight: 72g
• Electric Motor: Coreless
• Gear Type: Aluminium w/TiCn + brass
• Dimensions: 40.5 x 20.2 x 36mm
• Speed: 0.07 sec @ 4.8v
• Speed: 0.05 sec @ 6.0v
• Torque: 6.62 kg/cm @ 4.8v
• Torque: 6.73 kg/cm @ 6.0v
• Voltage: 4.8 - 6.0v
• Bearings: Twin BB

Specifications:

• Dimensions (mm): 40.3 x 20.2 x 37.2
• Weight (w/wire): 56g
• Speed/60 Degrees:
  • @ 6.0V: 0.14s
  • @ 7.4V: 0.11s
• Torque (Kg.cm):
  • @ 6.0V: 26.0
  • @ 7.4V: 35.0
• Gear: Titanium Alloy & Aluminium
• Bearing: 2BB
• Case: Aluminium

Specifications:

• Dimensions(mm): 40.8x20.2x25.4
• Weight(g): 44.5
• Speed(@6.0V sec/60): .07s
• Torque(@6.0V oz-in): 7kg
• Gear: Metal
• Bearing: 2BB
• Case: Aluminium

This is probably favourite, it's not the highest spec, but seems a good all round choice and in the sensible ish price bracket at £35.99. For me they're a good known quantity and I like the red, black, white leads, can't stand the brown/yellow leads on some of the other servos above!

Specification

Dimensions (mm): 20.0 x 40.0 x 38.1
Weight (grams): 48.8
Speed (sec): 0.16
Torque (Kg.cm): 6.50

Gear: Metal

Bearing: 2BB

Cheers

Nito

[ChrisRx718 4470]

I went even cheaper than that with a Blue Bird one from Hobbyking.

Everyone will say 'buy cheap, buy twice' but the WT01 is my most used / abused truck, has had probably close to 30 packs put through it and the servo is still as quick and strong as when I first installed it. Even if I did have to 'buy twice' I still wouldn't be anywhere near the cost you're considering for your '1' servo!

I think it's either a BMS 631 or 630 metal-geared jobby. So cheap. No centering issues (on a truck this large / imprecise, you'd probably never tell anyway).

I use Blue Bird servos in most of my runners and have not had one failure.

[Nitomor 2122]

Thanks for that, I'll check it out, good to hear first hand feedback. I know the Futaba's are dear but I've not once had a single problem with one, can't say the same for Savox which didn't work properly out of the box (it was exchanged no quibble but doesn't inspire confidence).

Off to check them out.

[Nitomor 2122]

630MG, looks identical to the HPI MG servo. Only thing is for this build I was lookimg for digital to hold the rear steady under the power of brushless when in a straight line or rear wheel steering locked out.

HPI

[ChrisRx718 4470]

The 616 or 617 are digital versions by the looks of it. Never noticed the identical casing to the HPI servo, probably manufactured in the same factory - may be more similarities internally too.

Definitely consider them from a value for money perspective, but always ensure you buy from the UK warehouse if you've not dealt with Hobbyking before...

[Nitomor 2122]

Thanks for the tip. I've only ever bought an led kit from them. I'll add those servo's to the mix, albeit the digital is closer to the Futaba price it's still £6 cheaper each. They look pretty cool too.

[Nitomor 2122]

Fusion to the rescue!!

Yipee...

[Nitomor 2122]

So now I need;

Gearbox

Drive cups

Drive shafts

Axles

Steering hubs

Servo saver (think its on above sprue)

steering rods and ball connectors

steering balls (servo saver side and hub)

King pin screws

in order to continue. So, do I spend about £65 on the above parts, or get an Amarok for £35 more which will give me another set of tyres, bodyshell, decals, a load of spares including the super cool Amarok front bumper and alternative width arms as well as an ESC to use in another rig hmmm Man maths will strike again I fear...

[Nitomor 2122]

And so it did, I picked up the Amarok from Tamico for £100. This will give me all the sprues I need for my build and leave me with a load of bits left over and the option of fitting narrow arms and alternative tyres if I desire!

I have no guilt not building this kit, it looks pretty unloved by Tamiya, opening the box up was somewhat of a disappointment!

I'm expecting wheelies from this truck, so I have fitted the WR02 rear wheelie bar. Because this means I can't fit the rear bumper which locks in the U bar, I picked up some of the 46mm screws to hold the lower rear wishbones to the gbox, part no. Shown in pic

I enlisted my little helper, he's my youngest boy (9) and the more technically minded of the two. I was delighted that he wanted to get stuck in and help me, so I told him what I wanted to do and let him get on with it. He disassembled the gearbox of the Amarok (which had black gears btw) and replaced the plastic bushings with metal bearings and then helped me apply HPI heavy duty grease to the differential gear

Power tools...because there is just something about them...

Concentrating removing bushes

Fitting bearings...

And a bit of old fashioned use of a screwdriver...remember them? Don't want to lose that art lol

Amarok bag A containing most of the parts I'll be needing, out drives, steering balls, I won't be using the shafts and axles though...

Because I'll be using these on the front...Manta Ray Universal shafts...I figure running brushless on the front with increased ride height from the GPM tower and 93mm gmade shocks and steering angles in the mix I might be better running upgraded shafts.

I didn't have the pin for the rear wheelie bar wheel, so I used an offcut of sprue, seems to do the job, could probably have done with a slightly thicker piece of sprue but plenty of time to worry about that later, it's in and on now!

Wahoo, 4x4 (not 4x4x4 just yet because I built the rear up normally until I have the required bits which I now have!)

Swb??

Cheers for now...

Nito

[Nitomor 2122]

We've progressed a little more tonight.

A couple more Hop ups, GPM metal servo mounts and a Tamiya hop up carbon quick release battery catch

I'm really looking forward to how this is going to turn out.

[ChrisRx718 4470]

Looking good. Particularly jealous of your wheels and wheelie bar!

Have you done anything specific with the diffs? The one thing which always got me about the dual-motor trucks was they had a problem with massive understeer if you applied any throttle. Experimenting with diffs could counter this, perhaps a locked rear and open front would encourage more rotation?

I'm feelilng the urge to build another one of these trucks, even though I most certainly don't need one. Where would I hide it?...!

[mr crispy 2293]

I have thick oil in my WT01 rear diff to help off road running, can't say I've noticed it improving the steering tho. If understeer is a problem you could always swap the gearbox to the front end and run it FWD!

[XV Pilot 1936]

Looking good so far!

Only recommendation I would make is to swap the battery release onto the other side. As it is at the moment, the hook-shaped lower portion faces forwards, and tends to get hung up on things and collect debris. If you swap it over so the hook points backwards, this only becomes an issue in reverse.

[Nitomor 2122]

Thanks chaps,

Interesting XV, thanks for the tip, being a little OCD, all my WT/WR's have the plug for the ESC exiting that side so I probably won't be swapping it over but it's a good point and the first time I've used the quick release kit which is an excellent bit of kit!

With regards to understeer, the WT01 rwd doesn't seem to suffer from much in the way of understeer, especially not with brushless. With regards the diffs, I've packed them out with heavy duty HPI grease which did a good job on my brushless WT01. It stiffens up the diff a fair bit in that there is a fair bit of resistance in there when you spin one wheel it doesn't freely spin the opposite side, perhaps that gives it a little bit of a limited slip effect? It's very positive anyway.

On this build I'm hoping I'll be able to use the radio's variable pot (channel 6) to apportion drive bias front to rear. We'll see if I can get it to work, and if so, how well it works in practice. A 70:30 ratio rear split would be pretty cool for example!

I tried to fit the Amarok front bumper, which looks great, but unfortunately, like the WT01 bumper, it screws onto the underside of the dummy gearbox so no good trying to fit it to what is essentially now a WR01 with it's front gearbox!