Wingin' It - A Venom Creeper buggy

[SStone]

I originally started this thread about a week ago on RCC. Figured I would paste it here.

If anyone is going to give me crap about my welds (specifically where I welded the rear frame hoop to the b pillars... had a few too many Yuengs and kept missing the joint) and chassis design in general, I'm guessin' it's going to be you 1:1 guys hahaha. First attempt at any sort of chassis build. Turned out okay but I'm not going to get too picky about this chassis. Just wanted to build something that will take some abuse. The frame isn't perfect, but it's square enough for an r/c. Before I build another "tuber" I am going to build a jig for the main frame rails and a decent bender.

At this point the build is far from done, but I have a rolling chassis at the time of posting this.




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Alright, this is based off of a Venom Creeper. I was sitting here staring at my Creeper kit. Not having electronics currently, I decided to start cutting and bending up a chassis. What I have so far is below....

I am loosely basing the tubework off of the factory Creeper body although I am enlarging it a bit.

First attempt at a full tube buggy. I have owned/assembled both a First Gen AX10 and a First Gen SCX10 so I know my way around these things a little bit...


No plans for interior yet. Will at least become a one seater with a simple interior at some point. Want to get the chassis built and electronics installed so I can test it. I am also going to have quite the puzzle on my hands once I go to install electronics as I am building this entire chassis with no electronics to mock up besides an RX.


Inspiration comes from years of reading full scale and small scale buggy/truggy/whatever build threads...

Also inspired by -

And....

I started off by doing this... I know everything is janked up in this picture and far from square.

Then I decided to stop while I was ahead and do this.

YES I know that I need to even the two main frame rails out. Everything will be filed to fit before I go to weld it.

Now it's like this. The fenders will be raised a bit before welding.

BTW I noticed that mocking stuff up and trying to get it to stay square for a decent picture is a total paint in the arse!!!

That's all for tonight...


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Did some welding for the first time in nearly a year...


Added 3/16" plates to the corners of the two main frame rails for mounting points for the A and B pillars. Another reason I built it lower is so that I can get a nearly flat belly. Skid will be made from some scrap aluminum I have laying around. Excuse the ugly flux core welds. Ain't pretty but they'll hold. They might get a bit better as the build progresses and I get back in the groove of welding.

I only brought the Creeper out there to get a little farther with mockup. Not welding around it.

Kind of at a loss here... Not sure if I should build front and rear frame sections first or just do the front fenders and go from there? This thing is going to look weird because of the shock mounts. Currently don't have any long hardware to move the lower shock mount beside the lower links.

Any input is appreciated...

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I have a TON of grinding, dremeling, and filing to do already (throw the high chance of needing to add some more weld) and I would say I'm about 30% (?) done with the chassis as far as "tube" work goes (3/16" rod btw). I have to weld outside and the sun just went down not too long ago so I came inside to upload some pics, update the thread and start cutting some braces and bars to finish out the chassis.

Shock mounts are currently up in the air. Going to mock them up on the lower links tomorrow. I have bolts that are long enough to slide the shock mount on beside the lower link mounts but they are a couple mm's too short to let the nut start...

Excuse the ugly welds but I am way out of practice and flux core is lame.

Onto the pictures.

VVVVV I ended up ditching the front brace and trimmed the front bars some after taking this picture.... VVVVV

After the final welds of the day....

Mocked up. Not sure what to think. I may have to tweak and/or cut the rod near the servo. We will see. Looks like it's going to be close.

It's difficult to get a Creeper skid to balance on a flat surface....

Still need to figure out what I'm going to do for upper link mounts. Want some adjustability but don't want to drill 1,000,000 holes with my sad drill bits and no drill press.

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[SStone]

This is what I have after today. Welds are still doo-doo but are getting better. Ya can't expect much out of flux-cored wire!!! It is plenty strong as it sits now although it's still got some more rod comin' at it. I will have to dedicate a day or two to grinding the welds once it's all done.

I still have some more braces to add, figure out how to get holes for the shocks to mount to, upper link mounts, and fabricate sliders. For the sliders I am thinking 1" angle iron cut to fit on the inside of the 3/16" square rod frame rails (transmission mount). That way I can also have a square place to drill holes for the upper link mounts. I need to put some bracing in the windows, doors, and in the front and rear fender hoops but I am getting low on rod. Will get more soon.

ALSO - Note that I still have plenty of finish welding to do. I just noticed that the servo guard bar is a little low on the passenger side. I will cut it tonight and re-weld it tomorrow...

It is plenty sturdy as is... in fact I grabbed the front and rear ends of the chassis and twisted it in my hands and my right wrist popped before the chassis had any serious flex to it.

That's all for right now.

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[SStone]

Today provided many speed bumps.... That's why I only built link and shock mounts.

Happy with the outcome so far. Never thought I would get this far into a scratch-built chassis.

Still not finish-welded...

Still not done with bracing and fixing some bars...

Still need to cut out and weld up some gussets...

Still need to trim here and grind there...

Still need to figure out sliders... May end up cutting and fitting some 1/8" plate flush with the bottom of the 3/16" x 3/4" pillar mounts...

Still need a TON of parts...

The suspension needs some dialing in both front and rear (shim here, spacer there kinda thing).... The rear pinion angle is extremely FUHD-UP in these pictures. Simple fix. I could really use a handful of 6MM Venom spacers right now but I can't find them anywhere. About 12 of those and my shocks and links could be fixed up.

But at least it's a roller now...


Pics....

Going to start figuring out what I'm going to do for body panels. May end up using some pieces of the factory Creeper body if at all possible... Even though, my chassis is a bit larger than the Creeper body. We will see.



Hmmmmm.....


I'm sure there's something else I forgot to add...

 

[SStone]

Well I cut and welded in 9 more bars and the boatsides in a rush this morning. Apparently nasty weather on the way so most of the new steel is just tacked. Didn't feel like getting caught in a downpour while outside welding...


Going to separate the chassis in a while so I can finish weld everything and start cleaning the highly visible boogers up.

Still wondering if I should cut some sheet metal gussets to go in the front lower corners of the "windows" as well as the upper rear corner of the windows. She's feelin' real thick... too thick to add much more rod.

Also wondering if I should add diagonal supports from the corners of the rockers to the lower frame rails?


The front springs are a little too close to the front lower frame rail. Going to push the front axle out about 1/8" or so and the rear out about 1/4".

Here's how I ended up bracing the front. I know I'm stupid for welding with this stuff mocked up but I only lost two tie rod ends due to excessive heat and that's it. I didn't want to finish the chassis only to find out that it won't fit over the transmission.....

Cut the factory Creeper hood up and tossed it on there for poops and giggles...

Forgot to set the hood back on for this one. :ror:

 

[SStone]

Still have more welding to do...

Goodnight.

 

[SStone]

Goal for tomorrow is to cut body panels and fix (lift) the rear suspension with some TL01 springs...

 

[SStone]

Well the oil jugs were covered in greasy fingerprints so I cut some ugly ass panels out of a Rubbermaid lid I had laying around. It looks terrible but will have to do until I get enough m3 nuts to weld up for mounting some better panels.

And I just realized I forgot to make a roof panel.

 

[SStone]

Sorry for the repetitive flex pose, the mess, and forgetting to put the hood on. Hahaha.


As always, comments are welcome.

 

[SStone]

I left the cut TL01 springs on the rear shocks but moved the lower shock mounts back to the stock configuration on the rear axle. Lifted the rear up enough to get the stance CLOSE to where I want it.

I need to tweak the rear suspension a bit. The rear pinion angle is bad in this picture.

 

[SStone]

50+ views and no replies? Hahaha is it really that bad? It's far from done. Currently on hiatus until I get some electronics.

I wanted to build it with boatsides but the Venom transmission skid is not flat on the bottom so I had to make it ugly to get a kind of smooth belly... Could have done it differently now that I look at it, but it is not worth cutting and redoing.

The chassis design is somewhat abstract but I really just wanted to see if I could do it.

Next chassis will begin as soon as the rain stops. I have some steel left over and enjoy building these. I'm currently working on fabbing up a simple bender and a jig for the lower frame-rails.

 

[HAPPY]

I think it looks pretty good for a first attempt. Practice makes perfect.

Just like building a 1:1 a chassis jig will help give you a good square foundation.

 

[SStone]

I set my expectations low on this one. Next one will be a bit more intricate and I will plan it out. This one was tossed together without plans or drawings. It's going to make a great rig for bouncing and bashing in the rocks.

 

[HAPPY]

I have been wanting to do a metal chassis for my Wrauth. We have 1/8 hydraulic tubing at work that would be perfect. I just need to get in gear and start.

 

[SStone]

I've seen a few custom steel Wraith chassis on RCC. Those are definitely bad arse rigs and look killer with real tube.

The most difficult part for me was to find the motivation to get started. Once you start getting stuff tacked together, the build takes off and you will be "done" before you know it.