Dont call it a Come Back ….

Don’t call it a come back – we never really went anywhere. Call it a recharge.

Well we have been down for a few months now with our move. During this I had a lot of free time to think of ideas, clean up some designs and come up with some new stuff. One of those bundles was rock crawling again.

Our chassis line in the 2.2S Class has always been referred to as the UnStuck. That was actually always the name for my 2.2S product line. Our very first chassis was called the un-Stuck and from there I carried its changes with new names. Our second version was named the ‘Gen2’ followed by the ‘3G’ meaning 3rd Generation. And that was where we left off with that venture when we went into the racing side of things.

The most impressive part about the UnStuck line to me has always been the quest for drivers to find them. With the free time recently and continued eye on crawlers I knew it was time to finish up some more designs. Before I had sold out of my rigs a couple years ago I was already working on new ideas. One of them being the next version to the UnStuck chassis line.

There’s been a lot of testing on my part with chassis setups and portal axles. 2018 I built a 2.2S rig using portal axles from High Altitude Performance. This was before the Capra became a reality. Building, designing and competing with this truck was incredible. When the Capra came out public I felt like I was steps ahead with setups. A lot of that I put into the Pnuema chassis with mild success. Mixing those notes with some others I found the 3G version. The 3G was really designed to be versatile for any sporty axle combo. It really benefited though from the portal axles though I felt.

So the 3G version was out to the public and I was already working on its predecessor. I had designs drawn and test parts cut and some testing on various things. Then Poof I switched gears.

Well as I started saying, I had some time to clean up designs and work some new ideas. With those ideas I wanted to start a build blog for this adventure. This adventure is going to follow my latest 2.2S build up and eventually test sessions. I will also be doing one of these build blogs to follow my new Pro rig and Krazed Builds first production of a Pro chassis.

Now for some pictures and story telling.

A while back I noticed a fellow driver post an UnStuck 3G roller setup going for sale. I contacted him and said when he was ready I wanted it. Nothing fancy about it but it was giving me some essentials. After getting it I instantly went into tear down. Got to see what I’m working with. I took this time to throw all the gears and bearings into my ultra sonic cleaner. Throwing in some various chemicals for a cocktail I had some parts to work with. Also left me with a naked chassis and shocks hanging.

From there I ran through the chassis design and made some changes. Dug through some notebooks and started cutting a chassis.

The great part of owning 3D printers is the ability to prototype parts before touching material. The cross braces I had in stock were too short for my needs. But after some match and a little designing I had 3D pieces to add. Also digging through boxes of crawler parts I found links that worked out perfect.

Now onto every ones favorite. Shocks. If you know me or have followed my other builds you already know. Its SCX for me and building them right. For these I chose our Tuner pistons, of course, with the Green front and Yellow rear. I’m starting with 37.5wt front oil and 40wt rear oil. I’m aiming for a 4.25 rig weight so I feel this is a good starting point.

As usual I’m using the Vanquish X-rings for the bodies. I’m also using an Oring grease I have been working on for a bit now. So far in the racing shocks I’ve built its worked well. No leaks and keeps the orings naturally lubricated instead of relying on oil seepage. SCX shocks will definitely be a test for it.

For those of you who haven’t seen it either – here is the link to my YouTube video about how I build the shocks. https://youtu.be/09-NkNrdNnw

Another test part is spacers for the upper link mounts. I was never a fan of just running a longer screw and hoping the plastic held. Cant say I have ever had it break or seen a bunch of them broken. But …. worth the part if it helps.

And there she stood. Collapsed on its shocks measuring out at 12.38” wheelbase. Then it became time to mount the springs and close up the portals. I also got with this truck the Dlux LCG servo mount for the Capra axle. Full transparency I had to modify it for my build. Due to my preferred link triangulation (starting point) my servo wouldn’t fit properly.

The Dlux mount comes with spacers to go between the link end and the axle mount. Those help space the upper links out enough to clear the servo corners. With my chassis being narrower ( i believe ) then most of the others I chose not to run them. This helps me keep some triangulation in my upper links. I really only had to move the servo back a little and over a smidge. Servo still clears the prop shaft and the links plus I could still use the battery bucket.

And there she sits. Waiting for the next round of parts. I’m a lot closer then I was a few months ago but still have a lot to do. Thankfully I still have a esc, bec and rx for this. I do have batteries but have to figure out all of its mounting.

Thanks for reading …… more to come.