Messing in the USA pt.2 - Budget Cager Crawler

[JennyMo 3526]

So originally I was going to tack this onto the end of my original "Messin' in the USA" thread from this time last year:

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=68171&hl=

Where I took a RTR crawler and upgraded it with a Proline Jeep body shell, while all the time trying to keep the project within a modest budget...

However, as this project has continued to evolve, I think it is preferable to leave pt.1 as the introduction to the Mad-Gear chassis, and concentrate on the most recent upgrades here?

To recap, the overriding element of the original project was just how adaptable the basic Mad-Gear RC box-style chassis was, and not least the very impressive axle articulation out of the box...

As such, the original Proline shell ultimately restricted the wheel movement at the extremes, and we eventually replaced the 1:8th Proline body with a 1:10 scale HPI Jeep Rubicon shell in an effort to not restrict the crawling capabilities...

However, while this was a success in that the performance was now unhindered, not being a fan of Lexan shells together with the disparity in the scale proportions with the smaller shell, I recall how I left that thread (bad form to quote oneself I know!)...

Thanks for your kind and positive comments guys, so glad you like it!

...

Mind you, think how cool it would be with a simple tube cage body and Wild Willy driving... oh yeah...

Jx

[JennyMo 3526]

So having spent a while looking for an alternative body (I recal Proline used to make a universal 'Tuber' body that could be fitted onto crawler chassis', but those have been discontinued, and none seem to be available on ebay), I happened on an idea while visiting Radshape RC a few months back.

On their shelf was a Vaterra Twin Hammers roll-cage parts kit - for the very reasonable sum of £15.50! It didn't come with any hardware, but a handful of 2.5mm button heads in various lengths later, and this is what I had:

Sweet eh?

Of course having offered the full-size cage up to my own chassis (Willy's Rocker), the same problem we had before arose - namely it was clearly going to be too wide for the axles to articulate fully without the wheels touching the frame.

Fortunately, the bolt together nature of the cage meant it was out with the tape measure, swiftly followed by the Stanley knife, and hey presto! - a neatly narrowed Tuber frame, using all the spare off-cuts:

Without wanting to chop too much away at a time, I test-fitted the cage to the chassis:

And got the feeling that with a little jiggling (and judicuous cutting of the side tubes), this little project was going to work!

And Willy agreed!

Jx

cont.

[JennyMo 3526]

So having boxed up the cage, a few spares and tools, plus Willy from the Rocker - I headed back to the USA... where Lisa was delighted with what I'd got planned!

The first thing to do was to buy a few scale accessories, and an Axial lighting kit which is plug and play - yep, Lisa wanted to go to town on this one!

While I really liked the truncated front look, Lisa insisted that it ought to bear some kind of resemblance to a real vehicle, and certainly I understand that in crawler competitions (not that we intend to enter any of those), technically the body should extend past the centre line of the front and rear axles, even if the shell itself is tapered...

At the rear, the extended cage meant this wasn't a problem (and indeed, has a noticeable benefit - see later photos!), so at the front I simply fabbed up a front hood from - can you guess? - yep, that's right - that's the roof from a Holiday Buggy!

I was surprised just how well it fitted, and even the rolled edges are similar to an actual Jeep hood!

I also lowered the cage as far as possible to keep the CoG low, and this was mounted using the screw holes in the cage to a flat sheet of polycard/styrene 0.60 thick, which in turn is bolted into the existing holes in the top of the box-chassis plate.

Note. originally I had wanted to use the Holiday Buggy interior (with a Willy head), but unfortunately it was a little too short to line up with the holes in the cage - still, the upside of this was the roof panel that came with the parts tree!

Proline accessories included the HiLift jack and shovel kit, plus the water jug/fuel can/fire extinguisher set - although the load-bay behind the driver isn't quite finished just yet as the plan is to line it with scale diamond-plate before fitting the accessories securely.

Part of the [re]build was to include lights - at the rear vertical oval lamps (Axial Accessory kit) with 5mm red LEDS:

And at the front, a pair of 12mm diameter lamps (5mm white LEDS):

The lower cage rails were cut to fit around the existing battery box, and the overall effect is a very low and lean machine!

cont.

[JennyMo 3526]

A few more detail shots:

I revamped 'half' Willy (the driver from the Samba bus kit) with some red seatbelts, and trimmed a WW2 steering wheel/column so that it could be glued directly to the flat cabin base-plate. Obviously that is a spare Sand Scorcher number on the bonnet - to match it's spiritual cousin The STUMPkin back home in the UK...

The loadbay will have a scale diamond-plate lining, and ultimately the accessories will be screwed down to secure them... plenty of room for a few more I reckon!

Close up of the Proline HiLift jack - this was mounted directly to the cage via some spare mounting holes and 2mm hardware:

Willy was glued to the cabin base-plate - the screw in his arm was really just there to locate him initially:

Holiday Buggy roof makes an excellent 'Jeep' bonnet! - even the mounting holes lined up with those on the cage below! It only needed a little dremel/sanding to fit snugly around the cage screen uprights:

Huge wheels and masses of ground clearance makes this pretty menacing! - lets take this outside shall we?!

Jx

[JennyMo 3526]

So it was time to put the Cager through it's paces, to make sure nothing fouled!

The reason the bonnet looks a bit funny sticking out like it does with no headlight grill or side panels is because with the front articulation, the steering servo needs all the clearance it can get! - similarly the headlights are mounted directly to the front axle, not only for clearance, but also to properly illuminate the way...

At the rear, the tapered cage and vertical rear lights ensure wheel clearance is retained at maximum articulation:

Suspension travel is impressive for a stock RTR budget vehicle...

Clearance is close with the front hood attached, but it does clear!

Similarly the tapered rear cage is the perfect shape:

And the length is perfect to double as an anti roll-over bar!

Seriously, it works!

This thing is masses of fun to drive, and extremely capable!

Crawlers, rock!

Jx

[bigoggy 203]

Very nice build, and like you said, for a budget model, it looks like it works really well.

[TWINSET 1793]

That's pretty sweet, great work on the cage

[Skottoman 306]

Wow, you're very good! Build *and* photos...

I'm really loving your work lately.

Cheers,
Skottoman

[JennyMo 3526]

Just thought I'd add a couple more photos of the Cager - the rear load bay is now finished:

The deck is (actually 1:16th scale, but works well) plastic diamond plate - being about a quarter of the price of genuine alloy - and painted with Tamiya silver/aluminium paint... it is simply fixed in place with double side servo tape.

The tow-rope was a length of nylon cord, with heat-shrink over each end; while the axe, fuel can and water container are Proline scale accessories - the containers are screwed through the base for added security, while the rope and axe were simply super-glued in place... although ultimately I may spring for some scale bungee cords, just to be truly authentic x

So with everything fitted and secured, it was time for Lisa to have some fun with it - here it is in action in Death Valley last weekend!

Huge fun!

Jx

[XV Pilot 1936]

Looks very stylish and capable. A most impressive project!