RCCrawler Forums

HumboldtEF

I just wanted to share what I did to get the Reefs Beast 2000 installed. I wouldn't call it a 'stock' replacement, it takes a few mods.

I tried to reuse the stock servo horn on it because it sits a bit lower than the Reefs horn. The stock horn uses a M3 screw to fasten the horn to the servo so I drilled out the horn to accept an M4 screw.
Then I went out in search of a longer screw (which I thought was an M4) to mount the horn and I struck out. I couldn't figure out whether its metric or imperial and I looked all over for a match. Anyway my best guess is that its an M3.5 maybe, threads are fairly fine.
EDIT I forgot to mention the Stock servo horn was a super snug fit on the Beast, I was only able to get it seated halfway and decided against forcing it farther because I didnt want to have to pry it off.

So I gave up on that and decided to use the Reefs horn, even with the stock horn it was gonna end up at a different height.

The Reefs horn does just barely hit the chassis or front brace. I filed off a little bit off the top side.
Since the steering link uses an M4 I drilled and tapped the horn for M4 threads.



I also wanted to beef up how it mounts since the mounting holes on the servo are huge and they use little M3 screws. I designed a little insert that plugs these holes and leaves room for the M3 screws and no wiggle room.

If you want to print one (well two) yourself download the insert HERE: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5131971



The bottom of the servo horn sits 2.9mm higher than stock. I rounded up a thin M4 nut which is 2.85 tall, this nut goes between the steering link and the horn to lower it to the stock height. I think this is the best option compared to just using a spacer, I could see the M4 bolt flexing slightly with a spacer. The nut on the other hand should keep the bolt from being able to bend since its as tight as possible being that its threaded onto the bolt.





I used longer screws (20mm) to mount the servo to the chassis, the stock screws are 10mm even though they should be more like 14mm or 16mm. I stripped one of the stock holes just trying to get it tight, luckily it wasn't the 1/5 scale adapter that I stripped.


The last thing I did was solder up an adapter (JST to XT60) so I can plug in a dedicated 4S battery for the servo. I dont recommend using the supplied balance lead adapters that Reefs supplies, John Holmes has said those are a bad idea as they pull from specific cells not he whole battery leading to an imbalance.