GV (Great Vigor) Hunter 1:8 4WD Nitro Buggy?

[morrisey0]

Hate to be a doom munger but that coupling on the shaft looks like a 3d printer coupling , not too sure how strong they are , if you know anybody near by with a lath they could make you a solid coupler , I could but I'm over in England , still if it comes to it then PM me and I'll spin one off for you .

Yea, the more I play around with the coupler, the more I think it is going to be too weak. When I ordered it, I just thought the lines were decorative ridges, not a fully cut spiral. I think I have found some solid couplers on the interweb I can order. Thanks for the offer though.

[Frankentruck]

The coupler you have sounds like it's designed to allow some flex for slight misalignment between input and output shafts, like if the chassis deflected on a hard landing from a jump. The intent would be to reduce chances of damage to the connected hardware. Usually that's what a coupler like that is for.

[morrisey0]

I am hoping someone can help me out here. The Hunter uses suspension arms with built in ball sockets instead of arms with separate turnbuckles. Problem is that mine are worn out to the point that the ball will pop out with not all that much pressure, leaving the suspension flopping around. Finding actual GV/HL/Robbe "pivot eyes," as the manual calls them, is going to be impossible. Does anyone know of other makes that use the same style of arms, or maybe a source of miniature ball sockets? I know slim chance, but just wondering.

Edit: So I have now learned that they are spherical plain bearings. New one to me. I have found a few online that should be the size I need, but are $10+ each, and I need eight.

[Dadio]

You could also look for " pivot balls "

[morrisey0]

It seems to be the outer socket or collar of the two piece assembly that is most worn. After further research, these are very close to a common size, but still usually stupid money. I found some selling in bulk of 5 pieces that aren't too crazy, so they are on the way. With this shipping season though, it may be January before I get them.

[Dadio]

Oh I see what you mean , that's more tricky , think modifying a part is in your future or if it were me I'd measure the ball , order new balls then 3d print the outer socket part , if you measure the outer part and tell me the ball size I could print the outer bit for you , PM me if interested .

[morrisey0]

If anyone finds themselves in the same predicament, you need to get your hands on eight (two per wheel) GE4E 4x12x5mm spherical plain bearings. These are a fairly common size. The stock units mic'd out at around 12.2-12.3mm outer diameter, but 12mm fits nicely still and the hold down brackets will assist in keeping them in place. I have found these anywhere in the range of $2.40 (5 for $12) to $12/piece. Some new M4x12 flat heads, and some course thread M2x8s for the hold downs to make it all purdy and you are good to go.

Hope to get the front end completed and mounted today.

[morrisey0]

If you "explode" the front end of this vehicle to its smallest pieces, there are just around 200 individual components in this front end.

During the disassembly I realized that in both examples of the vehicles I have, the dogbones were painted to match the cage. The green of the CC motor locked me into that color as I couldn't come up with a practical way to remove the anodization, and I couldn't find any good complementary colors to go with it so I had to try to match it. I looked at A LOT of green spray paints before finding just a perfect one. It is Testors Extreme Lacquer Lime Ice.

[morrisey0]

The Hunter is officially "electric" at this point. Which, around here, means she is powered by a combination of coal and n.g.

The front driveshaft is at nowhere near as much angle as the pic shows, but it is a couple mm too short as shown. It is spring loaded at each end so it won't fall out, but I need to try to find something a tad longer.

The trick now is the Rx / servo / battery hold down box. The plan is to design / print a box that I can reuse the original top on to keep a little of the original look, but be functional for the changes that have been made.

The wheels / tires have become a bit of an issue, as I can't find ANY old school 2" knobby 1/8 tires anywhere. I have no issue updating to a modern setup (as total originally is gone at this point and I don't love the yellow), so I tried out some 17mm hub adapters, but have been unable to find any real 17mm hex wheels near the offset I need or tires with small enough OD to fit on large 17mm wheels. There aren't a lot of 2.2" 17mm hex wheels out there. I found some robot 12mm hex adapters for the 6mm shafts and those are on the way. I may end up with some SC 12mm hex wheels / tires on this thing. Heck of a downsize from stock 19mm hex to 12mm though.

[MarkyDents]

What about something like the AE SC8 or nomad wheels n tires. Yea still sc rubber but you can keep the 17mm hexes.

[Mr. ED]

I have the same buggy but added a wider suspension and dogbones from the swiss reseller prafa. I'll take some pictures for you

[Mr. ED]

I bought into the whole 1/8th thing and got 2 buggies almost simultaneously both with the intention of making them electric. Also have an inferno ds which i converted years ago. As it happens all 3 of them originally use 19mm wheel hexes but none interchangeable. Got me some adapters to put 17mm wheels on the inferno no hassle but the flying point jet-ff and robbe pantera turned out a lot harder. I did buy the blue anodised ones and got them to fit with a little modification. But as you said: the offset is all wrong when used on the pantera. Bought a couple incomplete chassis of different variants by prafa and ended up with all the missing parts and a lot of bonus parts to play around with. So it now runs a wider suspension, double belcrank steering and an 1100kv outrunner but never got fully finished. The jet-ff got priority and I learned the only way to get a bit of speed was coupling the 870kv direct on the gearbox input axle if sticking with 2S.

[morrisey0]

What about something like the AE SC8 or nomad wheels n tires. Yea still sc rubber but you can keep the 17mm hexes.

The problem is the wheel offset. Most SCs run super positive (almost flush to outside wheel), as compared to the about neutral offset of the stock Hunter wheels. To stick SC8 wheels on this would bring them in too close and start rubbing.

The 12mm hex adapters shoved the hex mounting surface quite a bit, and therefore I can run 1/10 12mm hex SC wheels on it and the overall tire lines up just about as stock did. This opens up the world to whatever Slash / SC10/ etc wheels I want to run since the overall outer tire diameter is darn close to the stock ~4.2".

I ran a "quick" run of the 1st draft of the rx/servo box overnight, and I am 90% happy with it! It allows the steering servo to function as stock, and the RX side of the box is shallow so the battery can sit under it. It also acts as lateral support for the battery while allowing the battery to be removed, with longitudinal support TBD. It also allows the stock box top to be used so from overhead, it gives a stock appearnce.

[Dadio]

Why not print wheels of the correct offset ? I've printed wheels many times and they work fine even in PLA , I never expected them to last when I first tried them but I've never broken one yet , saves hunting unicorns .

[morrisey0]

I have thought about and talked myself out of printing my own about three times. At this point, because of size, price, and availability, I am probably going to end up with 2.2/3.0 Slash style tires. And wheels are so cheap, that if you buy the tires, you might as well buy a pre-mounted set for just about the same price.

BUT, then I just have some typical Slash wheels on there. The idea of my own 3-piece design intrigues me now. A 3-piece, 2.2/3.0, 19mm hex wheel; that may be a first! I think I mayl play around a little bit and see what I can come up with.