Electric conversion crawler build

Evcrawler · Oct 1, 2019

Blase said:
very cool!!! I have a lot of questions. LOL

What advantages are you hoping to gain over a traditional internal combustion engine?

What do you expect the battery life to be? Will you be able to wheel a whole day?

What is required to charge it? 110V? 220V?

Is the trans now like a reduction box or will you have a clutch and shift while moving like normal?

Main advantage will the instant torque. Should be way less shifting.

I guess is a half day out of each pack of slow trail riding and crawling.

The charger I have is 110v and will take about 8hrs to charge both packs.

No clutch. Might install a switch for reverse if I can't grab it quick enough.

Blackbeard · Oct 1, 2019

I'm excited to see how this plays out - also looking forward to seeing how it performs on some trails.

Evcrawler · Oct 1, 2019

Blackbeard said:
I'm excited to see how this plays out - also looking forward to seeing how it performs on some trails.

Probably about 2 weeks away from some hill killing videos lol

Redoing my steering while I'm at it. Oh yeah Volvo steering pump. Anyone try one of these?

jeeptj99 · Oct 1, 2019

This is interesting. You done yet? I wanna see it go.

Beerj · Oct 1, 2019

This is gonna be neat. I wonder if you could really shave some weight by eliminating the trans altogether and just going straight to the tcase. That said, I wonder whether resistance or motor speed plays a bigger role in battery consumption.

Evcrawler · Oct 1, 2019

Beerj said:
This is gonna be neat. I wonder if you could really shave some weight by eliminating the trans altogether and just going straight to the tcase. That said, I wonder whether resistance or motor speed plays a bigger role in battery consumption.

T4 doesn't way much.
The way I understand it people use a amp gauge as a economy gauge. Like it might pull 100 amps with the motor 500 rpm in 2nd gear but shift to 1st pull 70 amps with motor at 1500 rpm. Pulling 70 would be more efficient and that means more range. Shouldn't take too long to figure out the sweet spot and gears. This controller will only do 500 amps.

extremetownie · Oct 1, 2019

More info on that steering pump.

Evcrawler · Oct 1, 2019

extremetownie said:
More info on that steering pump.

2004-2013 Volvo power steering pump made by FoMoCo. They are on eBay for around 175

dwa2469 · Oct 2, 2019

I can't wait to see some beat down vids of this thing :dblthumb:

logon444 · Oct 2, 2019

yep im interested in this... only problems i see from where i wheel (Texas and Oklahoma) is run time and charge time... we like to get up at 10ish and wheel till lunchish eat then back till dinnerish then wheel till we hope 12 or 1 which usually means 2-4 am... so i would be worried bout the amount of battery that would require and the charge time... BUT this is cool!!! i would like to know the specs of the buggy its going in... also the weights before and after...

Trailabite · Oct 2, 2019

Will the heat have an effect on this? I have an employee that owns a Tesla and he's always trying to find a place in the shade to park it. He claims that when its parked out in the sun it drains the batteries some.

Neal3000 · Oct 2, 2019

Super-cool project! Could you mount solar panels to charge while you wheel or when it's sitting still?

Forbanger · Oct 2, 2019

Is there a way to get a charge from a set of jumper cables if need be? What are you running for brakes?

whiskeymakin · Oct 3, 2019

Ive looked in to the volvo pump for a kid crawler setup. The wiring looked very intimidating for the one i checked out. Theres a few threads out there on them but i never saw a successful install on one. Id like to see you figure it out tho

Evcrawler · Oct 3, 2019

whiskeymakin said:
Ive looked in to the volvo pump for a kid crawler setup. The wiring looked very intimidating for the one i checked out. Theres a few threads out there on them but i never saw a successful install on one. Id like to see you figure it out tho

Here is a harness off eBay. Several videos on YouTube of people using them but I found out about it on electric conversion forums.

Blase · Oct 3, 2019

More questions from a guy that can't afford an Electric crawler. LOL

You said the front batteries and 400 LBS and the rear are 400LBS. I'm assuming looking at the pictures its 400 LBS for the 4 packs pictured in the front.

That all being assumed is it possible to have a charged set of batteries at camp that could be swapped in fairly easily to extend ride time?

How water proof is the motor and all the electrical components?

Looking at the RC crawler world what would it take to have a motor for each axle?

Really cool build!! Im very excited to hear about how it works on the trail.

Evcrawler · Oct 3, 2019

Blase said:
More questions from a guy that can't afford an Electric crawler. LOL

You said the front batteries and 400 LBS and the rear are 400LBS. I'm assuming looking at the pictures its 400 LBS for the 4 packs pictured in the front.

That all being assumed is it possible to have a charged set of batteries at camp that could be swapped in fairly easily to extend ride time?

How water proof is the motor and all the electrical components?

Looking at the RC crawler world what would it take to have a motor for each axle?

Really cool build!! Im very excited to hear about how it works on the trail.

All together they are 400. Only 200 in the front.