8297 Off Roader Infrared RC Mod

[chaosof99]

About a week and a half ago I bought the 8297 Off-Roader. Originally I had intended to buy the 8070 Super Car, but I saw the Off-Roader right next to it. I hadn't seen it anywhere else and considering that it had come out in 2008, there was a smaller chance to pick it up in a store than with the 8070, and both were going for the same price. The 8297 also falls into the super car category for me due to the large number of functions and some of the parts included, e.g. the type of wheel suspension, the air pistons for the doors, etc. I really like the Off-Roader and may post a full review of it on a later date.

Anyway, I also wanted to try and make my own RC car using the infrared controllers of the 8043 Motorized Excavator that I had bought a few weeks earlier (absolutely astonishing model, but everybody of course already knows that). Unfortunately, I don't think I have quite enough skill yet to do it all on my own, though I'm working on getting there. Instead I decided to mod the Off-Roader to support remote controlled steering and drive via the excavator parts. The following is the result of it.

I did it mostly by stripping down the Original, removing a number of parts and putting in the parts that I needed, than following the instructions (for the largest part), building the model back up again. For example, I removed the gear box on the bottom that relayed the motor to either the winch on the front of the car or the function that raises or lowers car by shifting the position where the shocks attach to the car. Actually, I didn't remove the gearbox entirely, but used its outer frame as a case for a medium motor. The motor connects down an axle (which also passes through this part and was intended to drive the fake motor block of the car (also removed) to the differential and then into the back wheels.

From the right, the car still looks mostly like a completely normal 8297 Off-Roader Model. You may notice though that the front is a bit different, as I had to modify it pretty heavily. You will also see that I took some liberties with the shocks, both on the front and the back. You'll also notice that I had to remove the fenders on the front.

From the left, you can open the wing doors (a function I retained) and reveal that I took out the passenger seat and put the Infrared receiver. The receiver connects to both motors.

From the front it looks heavily modded. Still kept in the lights, though they're in a different area. The grill is also much lower.

Finally, under the hood. The construction on the front is a bit loose, since I only used three beams to attach it. The front motor controls the steering. I had trouble slowing it down with regular gears since I couldn't quite fit it in. So instead I just used a worm gear into an 8-tooth. A problem of my design is that the two brown gears I use to get around the corner easily get apart if the motor is stalled because the steering is on a far end and can't go any farther. Thus it is necessary to steer carefully. After the corner, the gears go down similar to the way it is in the regular model, but in the front whereas mine is in the back to have some space for the corner. Sorry that the picture is a bit out of focus.

It's not a perfect conversion. The front is a bit loose, the steering can be troublesome and some of the parts I had to remove, but overall I'm happy and I think it is a decent effort. It was actually rather easy once I had figured out how to motorize the steering, since the rest was just replacing the gearbox with a motor and then following the instructions again, omitting the parts that raise and lower the body. I used exclusively the parts of the 8297, except for one 12L axle, a second Medium Motor and the IR receiver and remote control.

[Fuzzylegobricks]

Nice modifications chaosof99! I wonder why they still had 2008 sets.

So is the general thing that you added functions and gears to make it PF?

[dolittle]

I saw this set 8297 in a few stores in the past 2 years, it is quite a popular set and is hard to find in MISB form.

I also bought it a year ago from a store, don't know why they had it - didn't ask :)

Thanks,

Noam

[RockeTeK]

Next to my 8466, the 8297 is just... hm... tiny? Don't get we wrong, the model itself is good, but nothing compared to the 8466 which came at the same price.

That said, I like your modifications. The front looks a bit weird (especially the hood configuration), but you are getting there!

Just a question: why is the suspension connected in such way? The position in the front is differs from the position on the back!

Keep up the good work

Edited April 14, 2011 by RockeTeK

[chaosof99]

Next to my 8466, the 8297 is just... hm... tiny? Don't get we wrong, the model itself is good, but nothing compared to the 8466 which came at the same price.

That said, I like your modifications. The front looks a bit weird (especially the hood configuration), but you are getting there!

Just a question: why is the suspension connected in such way? The position in the front is differs from the position on the back!

Keep up the good work

I can hardly believe that the 8297 is "tiny". It's actually quite a big set in my opinion.

Anyway, about the suspension. If you know the 8297, it has a mechanism that rotates an axle on either side of the car. Attached to that axle are small 2L connectors with a pin and an axle hole, which in turn connect to the shocks. Depending on how the axles are turned, the body of the 8297 rises or lowers. However, I had to remove that feature for the most part. I could have perhaps kept the axles on the side of the car, but they would have turned freely and the shocks wouldn't have quite stayed in place. Perhaps my course of action to attach the shocks to the body was a bit haphazardly though. Weakest point on my mod, I know.

Also, I'm currently working on a full review of the 8297, which should be forthcoming on the weekend.

[AndroTech]

Actually, .... compared to 8466 it is kinda tiny.

Tiny or not, they both are great models.