1/8 scale Exceed Maxstone 8 moa crawler

[gsbuickman]

Hiya Guys . I've been into RC vehicles for 20 some years now but I haven't really been into anything from Exceed RC because they're a fairly new company and it seems like they leave a lot to be desired, but it seems like they've come a long way in the last couple of years. With that being said I haven't really been into rock crawlers either although I tried to get into it for a while but I decided to get out of it as I'm not really a fan of 1/10 scale rc since I got into 1/8 scale vehicles.

I tried a few different crawlers but the one I thought was the most interesting was a little 14th scale Duratrax that was a motor on axle design, I thought that was a pretty slick little rig. Well, I decided that crawlers just weren't for me so I got out of that part of the hobby about 5 years ago until yesderday when a good friend listed this big ass 8th scale crawler for sale for $100 bucks. I decided that was just too good of a deal to pass up so I jumped on it before someone else beat me to it. He originally thought it was the exceed Max torque crawler but after I picked it up and did a little research I found out it was the MaxStone Crawler instead which is okay with me because I think it's a better design overall. Even though this is an exceed vehicle and I'm not really a big crawler guy I don't see anything that's really worth complaining about and a lot of things I like :

Motor on axle design with 540 class Motors that are easily upgradeable two more appropriate crawling Motors & the motors are clocked up out of the way where they won't get bashed on the

4 link aluminum suspension
Nice threaded aluminum shocks with plenty of suspension adjustability

Aluminum chassis
Aluminum headlocks & nice tires.

Overall if you'd like a nice one 8th scale crawler platform to start with at $150 new this seems like it's damn hard to be for whatit is & I got an even better deal than that. This thing has far more articulation then you actually need, so what's there to really complain about ...

 

[olds97_lss]

Will be interesting to see how it does once you get some wheel time.

I want a crawler, but I'm the other way, I want a small one. I would have bought the Losi micro crawler if it still existed. I just want something to tinker around with in the house. I have a losi micro high roller (started as a micro-t) and it's quite a bit of fun, but I have it geared as low as I can and it's still too high to do much climbing of things. Thought maybe the micro-sct would be better being 4wd, but it's still too fast and too big really for apartment running.

 

[gsbuickman]

I can see how having a really cool but still fairly small indoor crawler course setup is really nice. For something like that in an apartment situation the small crawlers definitely have their advantages. I would definitely check out the Duratrax Cliff climber and this MaxStone Crawler in the 16th scale version.

 

[olds97_lss]

That does remind me though, I found a hot racing aluminum spur that was larger once... that would add a bit more low end and slow it down. I should try to find that again before it doesn't exist. As it is, I have the smallest pinion on it I can fit and I had to grind the trans case a bit to fit that.

 

[WoodiE]

I want a crawler, but I'm the other way, I want a small one.

Take a look at the ECX Barrage Gen2!

 

[gsbuickman]

Hiya Guys ...

I got this Beast set up and about ready to hit the trails.
I removed the factory skid plates / axle shrouds and gained another inch of clearance.

Installed a 5000mah 50c 3s lipo w/ 5.5mm bullets & a jst pigtail

Installed 2 hobbywing 1060 waterproof 2s/3s esc's
Installed a Turnigy 24v sbec @ 6 volts on the jst pigtail
Installed 2 Axial 27 turn motors

Installed rear, steer with a Turnigy Power HD wp-23kg servo up front & a Radiant RS-HVD201-15kg-tg servo outback .

Rather than mounting me 3 Channel FlySky dimension gt3x receiver on the receiver Trey I used some velcro and mounted it up high on the inside of the frame rail to keep it out of the mud and water even though I'll waterproof the receiver.

I also mounted the power switches for the speed controls on the inside top edge of either frame rail with some Servo tape and I used some fluorescent orange fingernail polish to Mark the "on" side of the power switches because they're opposite from each other.

Now I need to address the stock tires but before I invest in putting new rubber on it I'll replace the tire Foams with some Traxxas Summit Tire foam and try modding the factory tires to make them a little more aggressive much like in this video to see how well they perform :

 

[slowngreen]

I figured this was gonna be a dumb thread with a crawler that was a total POS like some of the cheap ones made by Redcat and some others....BUT that actually looks pretty good. Axles are pretty slim, actually use 540's, 4 link and yada yada yada. Pretty cool. I may have to look into one of these and get back into crawling.

 

[kogden69]

It's just getting all them darn rocks into the house that sux!!