By:
Brandon Wilcox, Thomaston CT
October 21, 2007
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The ultimate rock crawler was a fun article,
and I constantly try to find ways to improve my rig
so it will be more competitive at our local competitions.
For my steering configuration on my super class truck,
for the longest time I used a Y harness to control the
front and rear servos at the same time. It worked very
well and there was no thought involved. Turn the wheel
to the left and you would have true 4 wheel steering
to the left. Turn the wheel to the right and you would
have true 4 wheel steering to the right. I loved the
simplicity of that setup, but there are times when you
need to use more advanced setups like crab walk, and
to cut out the rear to tackle difficult vertical climbs.
This is when I moved to the DX6 setup
that controlled the front and rear servos independently.
This worked well, but I just could not get used to the
feel of a stick radio, or the fact that every time I
wanted to turn a corner I would have to use 2 seperate
controls to do it. Independent steering gets confusing
on difficult climbs and can take your concentration
away from your line on the rocks, which leads to mistakes
and penalties in competitions. I needed something that
has the simplicity of the Y harness, but with the features
of independent steering. This is when I came across
the Clod Mod Racing web site and saw that they offered
a steering computer for rock crawlers. After reading
the description of the computer I knew that it was something
I had to have for my rock crawler. Here is what the
Punk Steering Computer can do, which is controlled by
the 3rd channel button/switch on your radio:
Mode 1 - Normal Four Wheel Steering
Mode 2 - Rear Steering Lockout
Mode 3 - Crab walk Steering
When I got the steering computer in
the mail I immediately opened it up and installed
it on my truck. Luckily, I had a number of radios
at hand to test the steering computer with. Clod Mod
Racing says the steering computer will work with any
3 channel radio, so I was eager to try some of my
favorite radios and see what this steering computer
can do. First, I tried the computer with a cheap but
reliable Traxxas TQ3 radio. It was a stock radio so
it only had a 2 position switch. I fired up the truck
and tried it out. With the switch in the up position
I had true 4 wheel steering. With the switch in the
down position I had crab walk steering. The computer
worked well. I used a receiver pack on the truck because
I always use dual Hitec 5998's in my rock crawlers.
With the constant 6 volts I had no glitching whatsoever.
The steering computer worked awesome and with the
flick of a switch I could go from true 4 wheel steering
to crab walk steering for more difficult maneuvers.
After playing around for a little bit
I took the steering computer out of the truck and
installed it into another super class truck. It was running
dual Hitec 5998's, a Novak Crawler Edition Rooster,
and a 6 cell custom battery pack. I was not running
any receivers because the ESC had a 5 amp BEC. I hooked
up the steering computer to the spektrum receiver
and turned on the M11 radio. I decided to use the
little knob on the M11 as the input control channel.
It was really cool. I tried to go up some very steep
stairs, and was having trouble getting up with the
steering set to true 4 wheel steering. I used the
knob to change to rear lockout. The truck was then
able to go up the stairs. Having the rear steering
turn when trying to get up the stairs made the truck
sag back a 1/2 inch, and by switching a switch I was
able to lock out the rear and go right up. I then
took the truck outside and preceded to climb up a
bunch of small boulders. The truck worked well, and
I especially loved the crab walk steering mode. The
best thing I liked about the steering computer was
how easy it was to use. I could drive around casually
in the true 4 wheel steering mode, and when I needed
to go thru a more difficult section of rock, I could
switch a button and crab walk, or lock out the rear.
The steering computer is defiantly a
awesome product for a rock crawler, and has a permanent
place on my truck. It has all the advanced features
of a independently controlled front and rear steering
system, without using separate controls to get it
too work. I also liked how light the steering computer
was. In rock crawling, you want to keep the vehicle
as light as possible, with any weight you do have,
its best to keep it as low as possible. The steering
computer was extremely light and I was able to mount
it on top of the chassis without worrying about added
weight. The Punk Rock Crawler Steering Computer is
awesome, and I would recommend it to anyone with a
rock crawler that wanted advanced features in a lightweight,
easy to control system.
Where can you get the Punk RC Steering
Computer? Directly from Clod Mod Racing: http://www.clodmodracing.com/
