Peterbilt 6x6 Medium Hauler

[roadranger]

Narrowed down, do the tires rub on the springs at full turn?

[SuperDutyScaler]

I'm surprised no one has told you to buy a 6 tooth pinion from rc4wd? I have them on both my kings and a 55turn integy and have no problem pulling trailers off road. Also on the axle get a set of spider gears and add one between the ones in the difference, that will lock the axle for full traction. A lot of us on here do that also with zero issues

[Tommy R]

Originally Posted by roadranger

Narrowed down, do the tires rub on the springs at full turn?

No, sir! Not even close, if I'm honest. The track width is narrower, but certainly not "narrow". It's still quite a bit wider than I'd prefer, but I think this is the best I'll be able to do.

Originally Posted by SuperDutyScaler

I'm surprised no one has told you to buy a 6 tooth pinion from rc4wd? I have them on both my kings and a 55turn integy and have no problem pulling trailers off road. Also on the axle get a set of spider gears and add one between the ones in the difference, that will lock the axle for full traction. A lot of us on here do that also with zero issues

You mean as opposed to the stock 10t? I haven't looked into regearing because I think the 2.6:1 with my Axial transfer case will be low enough. I can always look into regearing later, if need be.


Got a bit more work done. I removed all unwanted tabs from the axles to clean them up and also gain a bit more uptravel (in the rear axles). I also noticed the rear shocks were limiting downtravel so they're gone. Fronts were removed some time back. In addition, I drilled through the front TLT axle and secured it with some long screws.


On the bottom side I sacrificed a stock Hi-Lift spring to provide a bit more strength. It feels VERY secure now! You can also see some of the rough clean-up work I did on the axle. And yes, I know the hardware doesn't match. I need more panhead hardware in the correct length.

[Tommy R]

Sadly, this is max steering lock. It's currently limited by the stock dog bones/drive cups. I may modify them for a bit more angle or I may look into some CVDs and aluminum knuckles.

[Tommy R]

In my quest for a narrower front track width, I picked up some Hercules Hobby wide wheels for the front. Aesthetically, I like them, but I think I prefer the Lesu wheels a bit more. Here's some pics.


One interesting thing to note is that with the Lesu wheels, all 10 screws need to be removed in order to access the wheel nut. On the HH wheels, you unscrew that black center section to reveal the wheel nut. Much easier, yes, but it doesn't look as clean to me. And no, the outer cover from the Lesu wheels won't fit the HH wheels.


The backsides.


Side by side. Same width, but the backspacing is different.


Here's where the rubber meets the road. Get it?? Road? Tires?? I kill me... Anyway, here's the offset with the modified Lesu wheels. A little less than half of the tire sits outside the fenders.


And here's the HH side. They tuck in quite a bit more and I really like it!


The slots in the wheels are more of a kidney bean and the Lesu rears are more of a circle, but it's hardly noticeable so I think I'll be sticking with the HH wheels for the front of this truck.

[Tommy R]

Smugmug is having issues right now so I can't link, but hopefully attaching the photo will work instead....

I couldn't use standard ol' socket head cap screws on these wheels in such a prominent location! Locked Up RC scale hardware to the rescue!

[frizzen]

Looking good, and i really like the way you shaved the rim hexes

Since you sacrificed some springs to beef up the axle mount, why not build the 5th wheel spring from the scrap?

[Tommy R]

Originally Posted by frizzen

Looking good, and i really like the way you shaved the rim hexes

Since you sacrificed some springs to beef up the axle mount, why not build the 5th wheel spring from the scrap?

Thanks! And good idea on the remaining pieces for the springs. I need to see if I can locate them, but I might be able to come up with something.

[TRUCKMAKER]

Go to this thread and look at post #3, you will find these at your local hardware store. I bought the smallest they had for 35 cents. Take it apart and inside you'll find a spring almost identical to what Tamiya uses for the 5th wheel and trailer legs.

http://www.rctruckandconstruction.co...ad.php?t=11374

[Tommy R]

Thanks! I may have some sheetrock anchors in the garage and will look into it!

Also, I noticed my attached image earlier didn't work. My hosting site is back online so here's the image of the Hercules wheel with the scale hardware:

[porky69]

From my experience with 6x6's the amount your tires stick out with the HH wheels is pretty close to what a real life 6x6 with 385/65R22.5 tires would have stick out. Add some fender flares and you have the right look.

[Tommy R]

Thanks! Yeah, I think the current stance is pretty close to what I was hoping for.

And in case anyone is interested in how to access the wheel nut with these Hercules Hobby wheels, this is how it's done. The center cover simply unscrews. What's odd is that it's completely smooth and has no way to grab it with a tool to screw/unscrew. With the heads of the hardware in close proximity, it makes it difficult to get a good grip on it with your fingers! I will likely plasti-dip the ends of a small pair of pliers so I can grab it reasonably well without marring it. Not a fan of this design, though. I may pop a hole through it so I can insert a small allen key into it to tighten/loosen it. I'm curious what others may have done?

[frizzen]

Would it work to put some mold release (dish soap) on the hubcap, and rtv a stick to it? Once cured use that silicone cup to remove/install.

Or if you have a die that size, run the cap through a couple times to loosen the fit?

[Tommy R]

Originally Posted by frizzen

Would it work to put some mold release (dish soap) on the hubcap, and rtv a stick to it? Once cured use that silicone cup to remove/install.

Or if you have a die that size, run the cap through a couple times to loosen the fit?

Not sure I'm following you... The cap threads on/off easily, but to keep it from unscrewing when driving it'll need to be screwed on fairly tightly, which is a challenge. That makes it difficult to get it off, as well.

My thought was that if I drill through the cap (top to bottom, for example) I could insert a thin allen key in there to tighten/loosen it and the hole might not be too visible.

[huber1918]

Tommy,

Great paint job! What kind of prep did you do on the fenders?

[frizzen]

My thought was make something that looks kind of like a toilet plunger, with an RTV silicone cup molded to the hub cap. Hopefully it would act kind of like a jar lid opener, and grip the hub to install/remove while you rotate the handle.

The holes around the edge to use a wrench like a pin-spanner would probably be faster to mod. I thought you ment center drill and file or broach flats in the hole to fit an allen wrench.

[Tommy R]

Got some more work done to the Peterbilt recently. First was to glue up the tires. The glue doesn't seem to bond very well between the aluminum wheel and the hard rubber of the tires. Hopefully they'll hold. Time will tell...


Hard to tell with my crappy pic, but I replaced the 2mm nylocks with Locked Up RC acorn nuts. Much better!


And paint has started! I'm waiting for a warmer day to apply the clearcoat, but so far I'm loving it.

[Lil Giants]

If you filled your tires with BBs the tires won't slip on the rim, you wouldn't need to glue.

[Tommy R]

I appreciate the thought. My main reasons for not running BBs in the tires is because I want the tire to be able to flex/conform to the terrain as much as possible. So while I don't mind adding a bit of weight in the wheels, I prefer to have ample room for foam. Also, generally speaking I prefer to keep the weight on the body, as opposed to the wheels. I just do this for more realistic performance, but I'll sometimes add a smidge of weight to the front wheels. All that being said, I really don't know what to expect with the performance of this truck. Honestly, I'm not even sure what kind of terrain I'll be running it on. So my thoughts on all this may change once I get it running.

[tc1cat]

One way to not have to unbolt all of the center cap bolts is to make 8 of them just the socket head and super glue them in the cap. Only use the other 2 to hold the cap on the rim. This should be more than enough bolts to hold the center cap on. You might think about getting some model railroad stick on lead weights to put into the wheels instead of using BBs to add some weight to the truck for traction. Leaves room for the foam inserts.