Capo 1:8 Jeep CD15823

[Prop Shaft]

Finally got the steering working properly. It was proving near impossible to get the steering arm centered at the same time the servo was centered. Plus there was alot of play in the cables my first attempt. Had to get clever and mount a spare link to the arm and chassis to hold it still.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbL0vPB9X9M

[Prop Shaft]

I found it necessary to trim most of the rubber grommets off the servo wires. They are awful close to the horns and I was worried about them rubbing. I needed to get a sharper bend out of them. Also zip tied them to the servos to keep them clear.


Added a washer to the rear bumper mounts.

And got the servo bank all mounted up.

Front links assembled.

Mounted to axle.

Filled the shocks with oil. Don't forget the slime!

Decided to use some purple spacers here as there was over 2mm of slack.

And this is where the real problems started. After getting everything mounted up. I noticed the travel up front was being limited by something. Turned out the axle was hitting the pan-hard bar mount. The immediate fix was to extend the pan hard bar but then the axle was WAY off center. At least it looked it to me... Others might not have noticed but it was driving me nuts. Notice how much shock travel is left at full compression.


What I ended up doing was shimming the steering box/pan hard mount off the frame a bit to give it more clearance. And living with the axle being just a bit off center. It rubs now, but at least it has almost full travel now. Hoping after things break in it wont be an issue.

And heres where I'm at now with it. I spent a large portion of the day on this thing but the progress doesn't seem to show it. Its slow going being as meticulous as I am with something with so many parts....

[Rakthi]

Hi Prop, looks like their quest for realistic scale has infringed on the suspension. Seems like you found a solution though. On the pictures I can not make out if the axle is of centre. Did the oil for the shocks come with the model or is that an extra purchase? Looking forward to your next update. Must say the parts look meticulously machined.

If you are going to use the Jeep a lot you might have to trim the steering from time to time due to cable stretch. I guess they have provided the means for that.

Trimming the rubber of the servo wires ... neatly done! I would probably have nicked the wires themselves trying to do that.

Stephan

[Prop Shaft]

Originally Posted by Rakthi

Hi Prop, looks like their quest for realistic scale has infringed on the suspension. Seems like you found a solution though. On the pictures I can not make out if the axle is of centre. Did the oil for the shocks come with the model or is that an extra purchase? Looking forward to your next update. Must say the parts look meticulously machined.

If you are going to use the Jeep a lot you might have to trim the steering from time to time due to cable stretch. I guess they have provided the means for that.

Trimming the rubber of the servo wires ... neatly done! I would probably have nicked the wires themselves trying to do that.

Stephan

Its hard to tell in the pic but the axle more to the right, and under compression it gets closer to being centered. No oil or grease is included. I threw in some 30wt. Yup there are adjusters for the cables. And the trimming the rubber wasnt bad trick is to use a nice sharp exacto and bend the grommet while making light cuts. If that makes any sense...

[Prop Shaft]

I wasn't able to get to work on this last night, but i managed to get a few hours in tonight. After making sure everything was thread locked and tighten up on the front end, I noticed yet another issue. This it the pass side sitting normally.

And this is under full compression. Notice how much shock travel is left, and that the steering link is touching the frame.

My solution was to bent the steering link into more of a strait link then the bend it came with. Seeing how it needed to be lengthened anyways, it worked out perfect. Steering kink as it came in the kit.

And after a date with a vice and some pliers.

End result. Problem solved. Link now touches the frame right at full compression.

Here's the rear diff lock cable installed.

And the front diff lock cable.

Rear bumper beam/frame x member.

Bumper installed.


Then I came across an issue with the front frame mounting to the middle frame bars. The holes they say to screw into in the manual isn't threaded. You can clearly see where it was drilled out after anodizing.

My solution was to put a nyloc nut on a longer bolt.

The manual states m2x6 screws to mount the wheels on. But as you can see, theres maybe 1-1/2mm of thread sticking out the back side of the wheel. I chose to use an 8mm screw instead.

We have a ROLLER!

Front bumper installed.

[Prop Shaft]

So heres where the real disappointment comes in. The steering seems to, well.... SUCK! I have dialed out all the slack, to the point where all i can do now is back off the adjusters, and rewrap the cables on the servo horn to tighten them back up.. There seems to be a lot of cable stretching. But with out even any real weight on the truck, the steering is struggling to center itself. Granted it might work fine while its moving, but I cant see it performing very well while crawling or under moderate bind situations. Take notice of the actual servo horn in this video. Its a 425 in/oz servo and is crazy strong. But the setup looses so much by the time it gets to the steering arm.
http://youtu.be/yo61bnruUCM
I smell a chassis mounted servo in this rigs future. Looks like theres plenty of room at this point. The motors sitting a little crooked but you get the idea.

Bit of a size comparison. I set it on top of my Capo 8x8, which is a huge, true 1:10 scale tatra.

Its actually a bit wider then the Tatra.