Mutant Maxx Pics

[Plaidfish]

well I'm getting frusterated w/ this project but here's the progress so far.....the only hang up now is the upper chassis needs to be recut from stronger aluminum....but at least it runs....I just have to keep bending the upper plate back into shape for now....
body on http://www.rcpics.net/view_single.php?medid=50935
body off http://www.rcpics.net/view_single.php?medid=50933
Rear Closup http://www.rcpics.net/view_single.php?medid=50936
Top Close http://www.rcpics.net/view_single.php?medid=50934

tell me what y'all think

 

[jon2]

Looks nice but where is it bending?

 

[Plaidfish]

around the radio box.....It bends up on the engine side and down on the outside....teh chassis folding when it lands off of jumps causes it...I've got a few ideas for temp fixes but I'd rather do it right and see if I can sell the mod as a kit...

 

[olds97_lss]

I guess if you have to have a maxx, that's a good way to do it.

What diff cases are you running?

I'd make a hunk of steel or better aluminum to go straight from the bulkhead bolts to the center diff bolts on both the front and rear. Or, at least try finding some turnbuckles so you could bolt them from the bulks to the center diff bolts. You have enough clearance in there to do something other than that flimsy looking piece that's capturing the receiver box.

Just my .02

 

[olds97_lss]

Sorry, after a second look, I noticed on the rear, your throttle linkage may be in the way of putting anything in there from the rear to the center diff.

Maybe you can try what they did on the XLB?

This pic doesn't show it real well, but maybe you can see it.

They basically take a turnbuckle with two ball ends, bolt one end to the top of the bulkhead and the other to the floor of the chassis. They did one from the rear to centerish and one from the center diff to the rearish floor.

I don't know if they did it on the front as well, but it's just a simple idea that could help your problem. It wouldn't do much for twisting the chassis, but it would help it not bend.

 

[olds97_lss]

Looking at your pic, you may be able to put a bar or something from the rear top to the center if you raise the mounting point with a few washers or something to clear your throttle linkage.

I know this is a very crude image, but just trying to give you an idea:

 

[Plaidfish]

thanks for the suggestions olds...I'm looking at what I can do right now....the diff cases are the trophy class ones that I believe you had an issue w/ them not sending to you?!?!?!....I was bummed when I read that.....I am a big customer service supporter......I think I am gonna try to extend the chassis deck around the other side and drill holes for more standoffs to the lower deck....I think I just found an easier way....I can use aluminum shock towers and run all thread from the front to rear towers....well I need to do some measuring for a lot of these ideas but you gave me some good ones...thanks
the thing I like about this setup is the weight...I run heavy diff cases and heavy tires w/ the 3 stage foam....a lot of extra weight from stock maxx parts and it still weighs 2 lbs less than stock maxx....I'm not a big weight watcher but this thing is LIGHT compared to other MTs in the unlimited class......and it's got some serious HP in it..............

 

[olds97_lss]

Actually, I was interested in Trophy's fuel tank at the time, but I had read that someone was having issues getting stuff shipped from them, so I didn't buy it.

If you run shock tower to shocktower, it's going to bend unless you use something really stout. Maybe a piece of steel tubing from front to rear. A piece of threaded rod that long will just bend unless your going to run 3/4 inch threaded rod. Then you could kill someone with it!

 

[olds97_lss]

Personally, I'd leave the towers as they are and make something out of a couple blocks of aluminum. Take two 1 inch or so tall, 1 inch wide 3/4 inch thick blocks of al, drill 4 holes and mount them on the bulkheads where that current bending piece is bolted. Drill a hole through the aluminum blocks front to rear and put a 1/2 inch in diameter threaded rod from one end of the truck to the other. It might be heavy, but it wouldn't bend as easily.

It's hard to tell in the pics how high everything is in the middle of the truck to be able to figure out if you can do something like this.

Kind of like the mini quake: (no more quake)

 

[Plaidfish]

AAAAAAGGGGHHH Get that mini Crap away from my mutant.....it might contaminate the design process.......LOL...I was thinking something like that but using the existing holes in the towers and then run a sleeve over the bar (or all thread) in between the nuts holding the shocks on....I know that would make it more of a pain to work on...but I think it would make it tough as a tank and keep the weight down......I bought a few different sizes of turnbuckles as well to see if any of those will work....

 

[olds97_lss]

I think your better off not using the shocktowers as your strong point. I'd use the 4 bolts on the bulkheads somehow.

The pic is gone...

 

[Plaidfish]

Oh man i was just joking about the pic.......it was one of those loopy moments in life.....I put the aluminum towers on last nite and I see what you mean....even w/ aluminum towers it's still kind of flimsy to support impacts......I'm going to do some more turnbuckle bracing now...at least there will be a little give in that setup.....thanks again for the ideas man....I diddn;t even think about using turnbuckles until you mentioned it.....

 

[Plaidfish]

grrrrrr.....I tried different turnbuckle braces last nite and still got so much chassis flex that my brakes don't work.....it still ran good but stopping is a must have.....Ididn't even realize I was so far off w/ th eflexing issue.....I set my brakes to where they are really sensitive and it just twists the towers holding them.....the upper brace is made from the same aluminum as the chassis....so I need that to be stronger as well I guess....back to the drawing board....did I say R&D sucks when you're doing it in your spare time

 

[olds97_lss]

Try the front to rear bracing like we talked about. Go from the bulkhead mounts on the rear to the bulkhead mounts on the front...

Or, send the chassis back and get your money back.

Who's chassis kit is this? Or did you make it yourself?

 

[Plaidfish]

I did try all the ways we discussed....it just needs to be stiffer all around from that top plate....it's a conversion chassis made by HCR......I got it in a trade for an old losi electric buggy from a neighbor who tried to build one as his first RC after seeing my maxx run.....I got the 1/8 scale diffs for it and that's when HCR said you can't run 1/8 diffs because they rob HP from the motor....I went apeshit hearing that from one of (IMO) the best after market parts mnfg around.....I have done all the mods mentioned above using my pop's machine shop and a friends CnC machine (I did the CADD work).....this thing drives like a buggy and doesn't weigh much more than one either so if I can make it work it will be Ballistic to race with........actually my OFNA 9.5 does weigh 4.67 oz more than this MT.....anyway I'm thinkin I should scrap the HCR parts and just design my own Chassis and deck...I just need to figure out how to make the front lip like this one has...man this thing just pops over anything in it's way....I raced my friends MGT last nite (w/o brakes) and smoked him...we're both running Fantom .27 and his GT is pretty much nothing stock but the tranny and towers.....anyhoo I need to find a supplier for 7075 aluminum or Ti stock that sells small quantities and I'm going to go to town on MY DESIGN.......anyone want a bad ass truggy LMK if your interested in splitting cost of materials and we can work a deal.....