The Wheelie King Goes Competition Ready
By Tony Arnold - StampedeProject.com
Custom Visionary Fabrication - RCP Crawler Project
Phase 3 Wheelie King Crawler Conversion
By Tony Arnold - StampedeProject.com
Previously it took a little work, a bag of parts, and some head scratching to convert my HPI Wheelie King into a rock crushing crawler. VF's (Visionary Fabrication) screw together chassis kit now makes it super simple to convert your Wheelie King into a stunning CNC machine billet aluminum competition level crawler. The chassis works great with all the stock components but we added upgrades from RCP Crawler, Novak, ProLine, HiTec, and MaxAmps to push this crawler's performance even further.
The Kit
The kit includes the naked chassis components artistically CNC machined in ¼" thick billet aluminum including left and right chassis plates, front and rear 4-link axle mounts, steering linkage, grubs screws for building rear steering lock-outs, combo battery & servo mount, a motor mount, and upper and lower link sets needed for the build. In addition to the VF kit you will need, a Wheelie King, diff lockers like the RCP Crawlers' solid diffs I used, 16 EMaxx link ends, a set of ½" shortened Emaxx driveshafts, the appropriate electrics and pinion/spur gears, and various 3mm screws and nuts.
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The VF WK Crawler Kit
Left/Right Chassis Plates
All Upper & Lower Links
Front and Rear 4-Link Axle Mounts
Servo/Battery Mount
Motor Mount
Steering Linkage
Fixed rear links
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The Build
I took a stock WK roller chassis and stripped down to the axle and transmission level. The axels
received RCP's deep-toothed ring and pinion differentials that are not only bulletproof diff lockers, but are nearly twice the weight of the stock diffs to lower CG. The axles also received RCP's MIP Axles for smoother power delivery, Max Clearance Knuckles for more steering, and Clockable hubs for extra turning, durability, adjustment, and clearance.
RCP Crawlers Max clearance knuckles, MIP axles, Clockable hubs, and solid diff lockers were used to take this crawler to a full competition level.
Axles also received VF's 4-link mount for extra tuning adjustment, and the “grilled" battery and servo mount up front. As with any WK crawler build, the suspension stays were rotated 90 degrees for a longer wheelbase. The beautiful VF links are tipped with EMaxx link ends via 1/8" grub screws and bolt directly to the threaded chassis holes via machine screws and a little LockTite.
The VF kit includes a 4-lins mount and 1/8" grub screws to build rear steering lockouts with EMaxx link ends.
The transmission with supplied VF motor mount plate mounts up in stock fashion into the VF chassis. The stock body mounts even slip right in and matched up perfect to my Pro Line USRCCA spec Rock Star Crawler body. The driveshafts do get the typical swap to trimmed Traxxas Emaxx pieces to traverse the now stretched chassis. This upgrade requires a little output yoke swapping - use the EMaxx driveshafts but retain the stock output yokes. Add EMaxx rod ends to all the links, bolt the links onto the chassis and you are almost ready to start crawling.
VF's heavy-duty machined motor mount replaces the stock unit and eliminates plate flex with higher powered brushless systems like the Novak Goat.
Since I was about the third person to actually assemble the VF WK crawler, the shocks took a little fiddling with to get right. The final result was a lower than stock rid height by going with ¼" up-travel limiters under each shock piston, Axial shock springs, ½" down-travel limiters to limit articulation, and heavy 80wt oil for predictable movement.
[Caption- VF beadlocks are made of solid billet aluminum and some of the finest in the industry.]
I couldn't tack on plastic wheels at this point so I also added a set of VF's new solid 1" CNC machined billet aluminum WK Beadlocks designed specifically for crawling - narrow, heavy, and brutally tough. To give my crawler an edge on the rocks I used Pro-Line's new
What We Liked
This is an easy bolt together competition level 4-link style chassis kit for the beginner to the advanced competitor that requires minimal “not included" parts purchases. The kit had over 95 degrees of un-restricted articulation that I limited to about 60 degrees. Curved lower links deliver tons of clearance and are gorgeous. Servo/battery plate's “grill" protects LiPo or mini-NiMh packs from potential damage and looks cool. Even with a top mount motor, the CG was pretty low. Use a droop suspension setup and CG could get lowered quite a bit more, but I don't think it's needed. VF's 4-link suspension offers loads more tuning options to limit torque roll and improve crawling than the stock 3-link design. Overall design and machining is beautifully tough and built to take extraordinary levels of abuse dished out in crawling and well worth the $165 price tag. VF has already become well known for having some of the best customer service for aftermarket crawler products. Outstanding crawler capabilities.
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Parts List
VF WK Crawler Kit
VF Beadlock wheels
Pro-Line Badlands M2 Tires
Pro-Line Memory Foams
Novak Goat Brushless System
MaxAmps.com 1700Mh LiPo Pack
HiTech 645MG Servo
Traxxas EMaxx Link Ends and Driveshafts
up-travel limiters
Kimbrough 66T 32P Spur for Associated trucks
Robinson Racing 9T 32P pinion
Deans Ultra-Plugs
80Wt Associated Shock Oil
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What We Would Change
Having to buy link ends and driveshafts isn't a huge inconvenience, but would have been a nice inclusion. Some assembly instructions would be appreciated, but I am assured some will be posted to VF's site.
Final Testing
I tested the kit on various rock courses and was amazed at how well this shelf queen quality kit performed. The transformation was stunning. What's great is that the kit not only looks great, it runs lines I could never have tackled with the stock chassis or even my tweaked Scorpion kit. No doubt more shock and chassis tuning would net an even better crawler. Part of the performance is how the narrow chassis width is compared to the nearly 1" wider AX10 kit. The memory foam, beadlock and tire combo definitely played a part in performance with more grip than any other tire I have tested - my new favorite tires. Other than diff lockers, RCP's parts were not required for this build but definitely appreciated to get the most out of the WK axles.
Conclusion
The crawling segment is growing and VF is right on the bleeding edge with this chassis - in fact this tested kit was a first production run and the first production Wheelie King competition chassis ever. Every place I take VF kit I get oohs and aahs. The VF kit easily outperformed my Phase 2 Rock King Wheelie King conversion and ran lines that have snagged the wider chassis of my Axial kit. This kit will definitely start appearing at crawler competitions. Even with the motor hanging high, this kit performed at competition level, didn't require hours of head scratching and looks like a piece of art - I call that a great deal. See you on the rocks...
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Sources: Visionary Fabrication - www.VisionaryFabrication.com, HPI - www.HPIRacing.com, HiTec - www.hitecrcd.com, Novak - www.TeamNovak.com, Pro Line Memory Foams - www.RCPCrawlers.com, Pro Line - www.Pro-LineRacing.com, Deans - www.deansplugs.com, MaxAmps - www.MaxAmps.com, www.StampedeProject.com
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