Project 963K: Something a little different

I decided to take a break from RC drifting for a bit, and started a new RC related project. A couple of months ago, while browsing a 3D printing blog site, I stumbled upon a really cool project where a guy designed and 3D printed a CAT D10 dozer that was radio controlled. He made a cool build thread over on the RC Truck and Construction forum.  3D Printed D10T Build 

Once I saw this project, I knew that I wanted to try something similar. It combines many of my current and past hobbies into one complex project. First I needed to decide what I wanted to build. That part was easy...a CAT Track Loader. When I was a kid some of my earliest memories were from watching a track loader dig foundations and grade dirt in my neighborhood as houses were being built all around us. My childhood career aspiration was "being a bulldozer driver". I had Tonka construction equipment, and one of my favorite Lego sets was a cool track loader. So, yeah, that all left a permanent impression.

For this project I chose something that I have not seen modeled before; the CAT 963K Track Loader.

Project Update: Yokomo Drift Package Type C RWD

Sorry for the lack of content recently. I've started a new job, and have been working on some other projects that have kept me away from the keyboard lately.

A while back I posted about an upcoming build of the Yokomo Type C chassis. It took a little longer than expected to complete, but it has been a fun project. I'm not going to detail the entire build but will give you the highlights of what I am calling a "budget" RWD build.

The build is pretty straightforward, and I used a limited number of upgrades along the way.

Designing a New Style of Wire Retainer

One of the things that I haven't used in my chassis builds up until now is motor wire retainers. I like the look of them, but don't care for the cost. Once I have my motor wires all done up neatly, what do I do with the sensor cable? Recently I gained access to a 3D printer, so I thought I would work on a better wire retainer design as a first project. Someone may have already done it, but I have not seen a design that also retains the sensor cable. So I modeled up the design in Solidworks, and printed out the first prototype parts.