12/3/2025 - I've completed prototype #1 for my steering and suspension

Changed the suspension mount from the wheel hub to the suspension arm. I don't know how I was silly enough to mount the shocks to the wheel hub, it just forcefully turned it making the steering useless xD. Fixed that now and am 3d printing a prototype right now to see how it works.

12/4/2025 6:30 AM - 3d printed prototype

I 3d printed my suspension prototype with normal PETG filament. Hoping to get some PETG-CF but out of range right now.

The suspension assembly works pretty flawlessly, one of the steering is a little rough but im sure it'll grind itself in soon.

12/4/2025 6:38 AM - Suspension Arm Adjustment

Made a minor adjustment to the suspension arm assembly so that it prints better. The suspension arm had a tiny overhang that caused ugly supports, so I removed it in all. Also added a little more clearance to the suspension hub so the arms have more movement.

12/4/2025 8 AM - Printed Steering System

I 3d printed the steering prototype #1.

Put it all together and noticed some of the clearances are too tight, for now i just drilled through them, but ill update the CAD for the final design.

Once the frame is printed tomorrow i can put everything together and test it.

12/5/2025 - Redesigned the steering mechanism

So I realized that my steering mechanism is only giving me a few degrees of rotation/steering which is too less for my use. I changed the geometry, lengths etc to allow for greater steering angle along with stronger and more efficient use.

Heres what it looks like now:

12/10/2025 9 AM - Edited The Suspension Hub

After some testing with the drive train, I noticed the gears were cracking due to skipping. This made it pretty much unusable.

So I added this "support" for the bevel gear so that is it always directly perpendicular and meshed with the larger bevel gear. This way it's pretty much impossible for it to skip gears, unless it breaks of course. I did this for both the front and rear suspension hub.

Ill try printing some prototypes to see how it works.

12/10/2025 8 PM - Edited The Wheel Hubs

I changed the hole diameters on the rear wheels hubs to be smaller, therefore a smaller tolerance and less shake. Because during my testing the tires were vibrating too much.

I also changed the hole diameter on the front wheel hub so that the universal joint's screws wouldn't rub against the wall.

(I also made everything black in the design and it looks MUCH better, can wait to show you the 3d printed parts once complete.)

1/1/2026 10:29 AM - Completed the drive train

I completed the entire drive train. I realized that the small gears were not correctly meshed with the large bevel gears which caused gear skipping and wear, its now all fixed and works pretty flawlessly.

The front gearbox is connected to the rear gearbox using a small 4mm circular shaft with a cut indent, like in brushless motors shafts.

I also polished all the wheel hubs, suspension hubs, and frame. Added chamfers, fillets, removed extra material etc.

1/1/2026 10:31 AM - Redesigned the bumper

Since my last bumper out of TPU was too flimsy and weak, I made some adjustments to the design to make it stiffer. The main one being adding those tiny supports on the middle of the bumper, they look like small additions but they completely change the behavior of the bumper.

Now its much stronger and stiffer and will actually absorb high speed crashes or bumps.

1/1/2026 10:34 AM - Added texts / water marks

Never did this before but seems kinda nice so I added my own text & watermark.

Put my channel on the bottom and the specs of the car on the side. Let me know how it looks :)

1/4/2026 5:36 PM - Built a Spoiler

I made a spoiler.

Went online and found some inspiration and then created my own from there.

I tried to make it as aerodynamic as possible so it serves as much purpose as possible and gives me downforce rather than just being for show.

1/4/2026 5:38 PM - Created a dust/snow/debris cover

I finally decided to make a cover for the car. Snow and Dirt and become pretty annoying to clean after a while. I also made the design as waterproof as possible.

1/4/2026 5:40 PM - Latest Version

This is the latest complete version of the car.

Upgrades from previous version:

• spoiler
• cover
• waterproofing
• 4WD completed
• thicker arms / stronger
• polished steering assembly
• watermarks

Everything is polished in this design.

1/7/2026 9:35 AM - Prepared the 3mf and printed all the parks

I've put all the car parts and files in my slicer and prepared them all.

The total comes to about 1kg of filament, which is around $33. Not too bad of a price at all.

1/7/2026 9:44 AM - Printed and put together all the parts

I've printed everything and put together the car!

It looks amazing honestly.

I recorded the entire build and am going to make a video of it soon. Here's some images of the build process:

I've spent a TON of time troubleshooting and putting this thing together. Although the actual build parts are only 1kg in filament, ive spent more than 3kg just with the prototyping and old parts. Im going to upload images of them soon.

1/7/2026 9:52 AM - Test Parts Showcase

These are all the parts I've printed for testing or previous versions while creating this projects. Some parts were either too weak and broke, other had minor clearance or fitting issues, and other were, well, just older version and weren't the most effective way to do it and i upgraded.

All the stuff in the images are probably 2kg of filament.

1/9/2026 - Test Drove the Car

Here are some videos and clips from the test drives! It works amazing honestly, goes extremely fast, has superb control with the 4WD, and hasn't been facing much issues. Only thing I noticed while driving it really fast and turning is one of the front wheels lifts off the ground which leads the car to turn one way. I may need to soften the suspension to fix this.

Car Video

I tested the car in many other places, ill upload those videos soon too!

1/12/2026 2 PM - Updated the frame

After a lot of testing, nearly everything seemed perfect..

but then I was driving the car in an icy parking lot at near max speeds, and all of a sudden it lost control and barrel rolled at terminal velocity...

however NOTHING but the frame broke, which is honestly amazing, even though everything was put through extreme stress, it stood together. The TPU parts definitely contributed to this success.

And I actually fore-saw the failure in the frame, its the one week spot that broke in all my previous prototypes.

So after tens of hours of testing, driving, stress testing, i've perfected the design (for now).

For now, I've added these modifiers in the slicer settings to strengthen the parts of failure.

I also increased the infill by 5%.

I'm currently printing this, and we'll see how it stands after testing.

1/12/2026 3 PM - Purchased and fitted the new tires

From the money I got from the grant, I purchased new bearings and tires for the wheel assembly. The new tires work wonderfully, only down side it that my steering angle is reduced a little because of the larger width from these tires.

These tires have much better grip and stand perfectly.

Here what they look like:

1/12/2026 6 PM - Redesigned the Frame Cover

After my latest high speed crash, I noticed that I'll need a little more support for the suspension hubs so that the frame doesn't snap like last time.
Thus I added these extensions on the frame cover which screw onto the suspension hubs.

Ill print this soon and update on how effective it is.

It should at the least remove a reasonable amount of tensions from the frame.

1/13/2026 7 AM - Printed the new prototype

I printed the new version of the frame cover, and it works pretty good. It's stiff and strong, and will definitely add some rigidity to the overall model.

1/13/2026 1:36 PM - Made some changes to wheel spacer + fitter

I made some clearance edits to the wheel spacer and fitter. They were too tight, especially on the PA6-CF parts, so I increased the inner diameter. I also had to adjust the length a bit so it fit correctly.

printed them in PETG, and tested. They work good.

1/13/2026 1:55 PM - Made some changes to the Front Top Suspension Arm

The top front suspension arm was wiggling too much, which is something Im guessing contributed to my recent barrel role crash. the wiggle / vibration can cause distortions in the wheel which will send the car off track. I fixed this by making the ball piece a bit larger, hence tighter.

Ill print it with TPU later today and update on how it goes.

1/13/2026 2 PM - Final Result!

With the new wheel spacers, wheel fitters, wheel connectors, upgraded frame, upgraded frame cover, everything looks AWESOME!

It drives like a beast, really sturdy and strong, and was a blast to make.

I don't think Im going to make any major changes now. It's safe to say this project is now wraps!

1/17/2026 - Finishing Touches

After driving the car for a LONG time, I found some minor issues or stuff that could be improved. I wont go in detail for each of the changes but here is an overview:

• Aesthetic changes
• Extra Material removal
• Suspension Adjustment (harder)
• Front Sus Hub thickened (stronger)
• Frame Cover Adjustments (visual and functional)
• Wheel Spacer Adjustment (stronger)
• Front To Rear axle connecter adjustment (stronger)
• Rear Suspension Extension adjustment (redesign)
• Finishing touches

1/19/2026 - Final Look

Here's a final look at the RC Car project.

Everything has been touched, some more changed to the motor mounts and steering assembly (it broke while testing so i reinforced it)

And here's what it looks like.

1/20/2026 - Project Description And Information

**For anyone that wants to create this for themselves, here's some information!**

You should 3d print this RC Car since its much cheaper than similar products online, its easily repairable, and its a great experience putting it together. It drives on snow, ice, dirt, mud, asphalt, concrete, and pretty much anything else you can think of. not completely waterproof, unless you buy costly waterproof components I've spent over 6 months mastering and polishing this car, It's my favorite project yet.

Features

• Goes 60km/h (please be careful, you can easily hurt someone)
• around 2.7kg
• Really strong
• PETG and TPU parts necessary.
• PA6-CF highly recommended for drive train
• Around $250 Total considering you're starting from scratch
• Will need angle grinder, hammer, wrench, and sander, drilling machine will make your life AMAZING.
• Comparing to similar cars available online, its 50% the price

**Parts Needed:**

• 120 - 80A ESC
• 2850kv 3060 Brushless motor
• Transmitter and Receiver
• 3s Lipo
• 4mm Hexagon shaft (100mm, then cut to sizes)
• 4mm Circular Shaft (200mm, then cut to size)
• 68-88mm Universal Joints (4)
• 120 / 130mm rc tires
• 3d printed with minimum 255x255x255 build volume
• PETG, TPU, optional: PA6-CF
• 12x28x8mm bearings (8)
• 10x20x6mm bearings (4)
• M3 Screw set
• M4 Screw set (30mm - 50mm)

For the instructions, I recommend looking at the Solidworks CAD model. I may make a manual in the future, not sure though.

Ill make a full proper youtube video soon, Ill include information on assembly and etc there.

All 3d Printing files are available on my makerworld profile, and all source files on github, I recommend you download the STEP files from github and make the print profile on your own, since all the updated parts are there.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me by discord: .hydrance. or by email: [email protected].

Check out my youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@HydranceYT
Check out my makerworld profile: https://makerworld.com/en/@Hydrance_
Check out my github: https://github.com/HydranceAK/