RC Top Faux Buff CAT 10

[Frankentruck]

The RC10 has such a wide nose plate, it's just like it's made to be tinkered with. So why not do a lay down front suspension?
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It bolts up nicely in place and works smoothly. The little front shocks seem to be the right stroke length. Not a huge surprise since several measurements came directly from a Top Cat. I'll still need to figure out the steering bellcrank setup. Possibly will be some sort of central pull arrangement.
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[Chewbacca]

Really cool idea, if you look closely. I believe you’re going to have to change a couple of things on the rocker geometry and the pivot position. The way I see it you’re hardly getting any stroke on the shock side.

Keep us posted, I still like the idea.

[Frankentruck]

From initial trials it was using full shock stroke length for full arm lift, but I'll get a better check once I anchor the shocks.

<edit> I did a quick check and the suspension uses full shock stroke with good arm travel. It looks very similar to the arm travel that it would have with the normal front shock tower setup. I did ok when I chose the geometry a few months back.

[Frankentruck]

If I used a graphite chassis with no side walls (or my B1.5 BFG 5LTi buggy ) this would be relatively simple. Just hanging an arm off to the side of a crank and presto!
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But I would like to make this a drop-in front end for an A stamp chassis. That will take a 3rd crank and some planning.
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[Dangeruss]

Digging the engineering... gonna look super-groovy with everything tucked under the body.

With the shocks splayed in the last pic... which looks awesome... is there anything that keeps you from running a barrel nut and screw down inside a traditional style bellcrank, servo swinging longitudinally, possibly combining the chassis side shock mount with the servo mounts so it's all bolt-in...?

Sorry... thinking out loud... can't help myself around cool things

[Frankentruck]

The side arm (of a traditional bell crank) that the servo turnbuckle link would connect to needs to be clear of the shock and not have it's swing path go under a shock.

The shock mount might combine with a servo mount bracket. That is a possibility.

[Dangeruss]

Assuming a c-shaped bellcrank like the Top Cats used wouldn't work either... Looks like lengthening the arms of the center pivot in your last pic could be an option?... maybe flipping the lowpro servo face down and gear driving the bellcrank?...the shocks really create a very interesting packaging dilemma.

[Chewbacca]

DUH my bad,

I was focusing on this picture:



ignoring the fact, that the arms are already in a very high position. The assembled pics look way better, and it looks just as you describe it!

I wasn't trying to criticize you or your work. Sorry.

Keep up this design, can't wait to see the finished car!

From initial trials it was using full shock stroke length for full arm lift, but I'll get a better check once I anchor the shocks.

<edit> I did a quick check and the suspension uses full shock stroke with good arm travel. It looks very similar to the arm travel that it would have with the normal front shock tower setup. I did ok when I chose the geometry a few months back.

[Frankentruck]

I wasn't trying to criticize you or your work. Sorry.

Not a problem. I'm not that fragile and I appreciate some scrutiny to make sure I'm not making obvious mistakes. In one earlier project I had the bell cranks backwards and recently in another I put bulkhead mount holes too close to the rear suspension arms. I definitely am not perfect in my layouts. I purposely added the assembled, chassis elevated pictures to put the front arms at full hang because I was starting to go down the path of the suspension being partially raised with uncompressed shocks reaching too far back.

[Frankentruck]

I've started thinking about this again. It looks like I could make 2 options work. I just need to decide what battery layout I want to have. Both would use existing chassis holes.

Cattywampus with a straddle pack:
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Long link with battery down the middle:
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[Frankentruck]

A simple plate mount looks like it will work. It's got ok clearance below the shocks, it's just below the front links that I'll need to watch for bellcrank clearance.
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[MarkyDents]

Nice

[Frankentruck]

I need to revise the servo arm on the belcrank a bit, but this steering setup otherwise works with the full range of suspension clearances.
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[Frankentruck]

There's some 'multi-tasking' with other projects stealing time from this one, but it's still moving forward. I'm 95% sure I've got the the front suspension and steering sorted out so I reached out to Mr. Factory Works for some assistance with the front brace and the rear suspension. Some mighty fine parts came my way. I'm very pleased with the quality of Jeff's custom parts.
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[Frankentruck]

My preferred 3D printing nylon filament went extinct, but while searching for a replacement I may have come across a filament as good or better. I have no experience running/crashing with it yet, but Filamatrix Phoenix copolymer Nylon has a color and feel similar to original associated nylon parts. So far, the layer bonding and print yield seem really good. I did do some dehydrating of the material just to be sure it would print as good as it could.

The items on the right are some of the whiter parts that I have, for comparison.
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