(Left) Tamiya TL-01 on-road car, (Right) Traxxas 4WD Sedan 4-TEC TRA4310 Electric Car converted into an off-road buggy
Design and Build Details
Project date: October 2012
Background: The Traxxas car was given to me by a friend, with no motor, ESC or radio. After installing a 5200Kv brushless motor, 100A ESC and 2100mAh LiPo battery, the car would always flip over when going over the slightest bump on the street. My street is littered with manhole covers and since the ground clearance on this car is only 3mm, the bottom of the chassis will hit the ground, cause the car to lift off, flip over, and crash.
Design idea: If the ground clearance of the car was higher, the car could drive over bumps without flipping over.
What needs to be done:
1) Lengthen front and rear shocks
2) In order to do #1, the wheels need to be moved away from the chassis (there isn't enough clearance for the longer shocks)
3) In order to do #2, the car needs longer suspension arms
Materials: I started using aluminium for the rear suspension arms because I knew they would never break, but they turned out to be too heavy. I then found High Density Poly Ethylene (HDPE). When hit by something, HDPE dents instead of cracking, which makes it ideal for my application.
Background: The Traxxas car was given to me by a friend, with no motor, ESC or radio. After installing a 5200Kv brushless motor, 100A ESC and 2100mAh LiPo battery, the car would always flip over when going over the slightest bump on the street. My street is littered with manhole covers and since the ground clearance on this car is only 3mm, the bottom of the chassis will hit the ground, cause the car to lift off, flip over, and crash.
Design idea: If the ground clearance of the car was higher, the car could drive over bumps without flipping over.
What needs to be done:
1) Lengthen front and rear shocks
2) In order to do #1, the wheels need to be moved away from the chassis (there isn't enough clearance for the longer shocks)
3) In order to do #2, the car needs longer suspension arms
Materials: I started using aluminium for the rear suspension arms because I knew they would never break, but they turned out to be too heavy. I then found High Density Poly Ethylene (HDPE). When hit by something, HDPE dents instead of cracking, which makes it ideal for my application.
Rear
Front
Shock Tower
Finished Product
- Ground clearance = 1.0 inch
- Has been driven at top speed over many manhole covers without crashing (the shocks absorb the impact and the chassis stays off the ground)
- To drive this car off-road, it just needs new off-road tires. But I just like driving it on my street - it's ridiculously fast!
- Has been driven at top speed over many manhole covers without crashing (the shocks absorb the impact and the chassis stays off the ground)
- To drive this car off-road, it just needs new off-road tires. But I just like driving it on my street - it's ridiculously fast!
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