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Jonnythefox87

Buying a Super clod - what else do I need?

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I'm planning on buying the super clod black edition, so I'm wondering what else I need? Obviously I know I need x2 motors, esc, servo, radio gear etc but I'd like some advice from clod owners as I've never had a 4 wheel drive 4 wheel steer twin motor car. I'm planning to run it fairly standard setup at least in the short term, although open to suggestions on this.  I will also be ball racing it, but these are the specific questions that I have really...... 

1)  which motors work best? I want more power/speed than the standard silver cans but I don't want something that will be too powerful for the standard chassis to handle. For example would the sport tuned motors be suitable? 

2) ESC- do I need a certain type of esc as I'm running dual motors? And if so any suggestions

3) I presume I need a good servo as it's dual steering from a single servo, so again suggestions would be welcome

Any further advice, tips or things to look out for would be appreciated 

 

TIA

 

 

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It comes with motors and esc. You need to supply a steering servo and receiver. I like the Hitec 5641 though I can't recall if the servo horns supplied fit. Anything in the 120 oz in of torque or greater range will suffice. Remember, when these came out we didn't have all the heavy duty servo options. A 5000 NmH battery will suffice or a like sized 2s lipo. 

 

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I'm running mine with original silvercans on 2S or Nimh 7.2 V and in my opinion it is perfect. Enough power for wheelies. The Clod is delivered with two silvercans and a ESC for dual motor, so no need to buy something different. But if you want to run faster motors nevertheless I'm pretty sure you have to buy a different dual motor ESC. Regarding the steering I've made the experience that even a strong 25 kg servo is useless with the flappy steering. Through the servo savers and the inapropriate position of the servo so much steering power is lost that an accurate steering is almost impossible. I've made some mounts for mounting the servos on the axles which changed the steering performane completely. I know this is not liked by everyone and maybe you didn't like it either. In that case you can search a little this forum as there are some threads regarding improving the Clod Buster steering without the on-axle-mod.

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Hi, the clod shopping list as I see it: 

full set of bearings, steel pinions, metal anti rotation brackets, 8 rubber bands for the wheels

Then there’s the cosmetic stuff but thats another list.

 

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6 hours ago, J@mes said:

Hi, the clod shopping list as I see it: 

full set of bearings, steel pinions, metal anti rotation brackets, 8 rubber bands for the wheels

Then there’s the cosmetic stuff but thats another list.

 

What are the rubber bands for the wheels about?

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44 minutes ago, mtbkym01 said:

What are the rubber bands for the wheels about?

Stops the tires spinning on the wheels, instead of glueing them.

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44 minutes ago, J@mes said:

Stops the tires spinning on the wheels, instead of glueing them.

Ah gotcha 

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Put the rubber bands around the wheels in the tracks of the wheels where the tyre sits to aid contact & traction. 
 

not my idea, just one of the tricks I’ve learned on TC :D

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I just did these simple mods, makes the steering 100x better. Take long screw to assemble the sevo savers, install with out using the springs, order Kimbro Servo savers, install the longest one you can fit, and drill holes as far away from center of the servo with out having the steering rods foul on the chassis.  Ball bearing are a must, and order AW grease for the diffs. 

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I currently run my Super Clod with stock electronics and motor with the steering servo horn mod and ball bearings. The thing I would watch out for is the ESC. It is good for a fairly stock setup, but its specs are pretty low so 1) it can't run anything hotter than a Tamiya Sport Tuned/Torque Tuned and 2) using a high power servo like recommended for the stock setup could draw a little too much power than the ESC's internal BEC likes. I've had an issue where my ESC would intermittently go into short circuit protection mode while using an Amazon special 30 kg metal gear servo.

As for an upgraded ESC, look at the Hobbywing 880 Dual Motor ESC if you're thinking about running a much hotter brushed motor. It has a lot better specs than the stock one and is waterproof. You will have to solder on your choice of connector for it though. This is what a lot of the people on the Clod Buster Owners Club on Facebook suggest as well. 

The stock steering (with the servo horn mod) is pretty decent for bashing but if you want it to drive with any more precision, a dual servo setup is definitely not a bad idea. eBay has a lot of great options as well as classics like Crawford Performance Engineering.  

In my experience, the stock tires fit very tight on to the rims so the rubber bands won't be necessary unless you start running a lot more power. You could also try gluing tires to the rims with dots of Shoe Goo to help mitigate the issue of wheels spinning inside the tires. The rear tires of my Lunch Box do this and that's what I've done.  

Other than the servo mod though, the Clod comes pretty much ready to go! Just get a battery and RX/TX and it's ready for some monster truckin action!

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I am planning my very first Clod build.

Will be getting the following according to this topic:

  • bearing kit
  • steel pinions
  • metal anti rotation bracket, what is it, and are there any part numbers of some sort?
  • Hobbywing 880
  • servo, will probably be going to dual servo on axle in the future

If I want to mount different wheels, will the stock tires fit, or do I need anything else?
I want some yellow JConcepts wheels to fit in with the color scheme I am wanting to do.

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12 hours ago, Yonzariq said:

JConcepts wheels

Will fit stock tires. I don't have an unmounted set to try but the diameter and width works out. The only thing you may run into is the clod tire bead fitting in the grooves. Easily trimmed though with a razor blade. If you are doing a scale truck and don't mind the extra money spent the Golden Year tires they make look good and perform well.

 

Edit: I mean trimming some of the bead off the tires not the wheels. 

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Is it possible to get the plastic wheel hub part without buying the whole gearbox tree?   B5

It's going to cost more to get some missing parts for 2nd hand axles than it is to buy them new. 

Wishing I had just bought the new complete axle kit now. :(

 

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On 3/16/2020 at 9:38 AM, GTodd said:

I just did these simple mods, makes the steering 100x better. Take long screw to assemble the sevo savers, install with out using the springs, order Kimbro Servo savers, install the longest one you can fit, and drill holes as far away from center of the servo with out having the steering rods foul on the chassis.  Ball bearing are a must, and order AW grease for the diffs. 

So you just use a long screw and nut on the servo savers and basically did them up to remove the “saver” action? Did you keep the brass bit in there as a spacer?

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On 5/9/2020 at 3:43 PM, mtbkym01 said:

So you just use a long screw and nut on the servo savers and basically did them up to remove the “saver” action? Did you keep the brass bit in there as a spacer?

Yep, or else the screw will drop out. Really simple mod, the springs give the servo savers too much give and turns the steering into mush. These two mods cost nothing (any long servo saver will work) and make the steering nearly as effective as a servo on axel mod with out wrecking the OG asthetics. 

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1 hour ago, GTodd said:

Yep, or else the screw will drop out. Really simple mod, the springs give the servo savers too much give and turns the steering into mush. These two mods cost nothing (any long servo saver will work) and make the steering nearly as effective as a servo on axel mod with out wrecking the OG asthetics. 

Can you post a picture of that mod you did? Thanks

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3 hours ago, GTodd said:

Yep, or else the screw will drop out. Really simple mod, the springs give the servo savers too much give and turns the steering into mush. These two mods cost nothing (any long servo saver will work) and make the steering nearly as effective as a servo on axel mod with out wrecking the OG asthetics. 

ok, to be clear, you replaced the servo horn on the servo with a Kimbourough one, as well as taking the spring out of the servo savers at the axle ends? So on the servo, you have a saver now, and not at the ends of the longitudinal steering rods that come from the servo to the axles? Sorry just trying to picture what you are saying.

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Exactly over the axels there a spring loaded "servo" saver with a collard screw that limmits how tight you make it. Remove the spring, utilize a standard screw that you can really tighten. 

On the steering servo there's a servo horn shaped like a circle with the front and back servo rods attached at the 12 and 6 oclock positions. Replace with a larger servo horn with mounting at the same locations. You are trying to Max out the leverage with out fouling of the steering rods on the chassis. I had a few kimbros shaped like an letter "I" that did the trick. 

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IIRC, I used a Kimbrough 122  servo saver when I did this mod about 10 years back.

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I found when I replaced the standard servo horn with a longer one, all looked great. But it couldn't turn as it hits the battery which lays across the chassis in that area. I cut if down, still hit. In the end I had to return to original horn. So I couldn't hardly fit a longer servo horn in there.

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On 5/11/2020 at 4:50 AM, CoolHands said:

I found when I replaced the standard servo horn with a longer one, all looked great. But it couldn't turn as it hits the battery which lays across the chassis in that area. I cut if down, still hit. In the end I had to return to original horn. So I couldn't hardly fit a longer servo horn in there.

It requires tweaking I think I was able to extend our the the horn about half an inch with our fouling on the chassis .

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Regarding this mod with the larger servo horn/ servo saver - If you switch the front and rear steering rods so the front is the lower and the rear is the upper one you get more clearance for the battery & chassis. The ball connector on the front has to be screwed in underneath not on top of the servo saver at the axle.

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