T1E AX-10 Moon Buggy build by Crawler Innovations

[4xFord]

Damn those are sweet, looks like they work great on that shafty! I really like how thin they are.

[cornsnake]

Here is my T1E AX-10 Moon Buggy sportsman 2.2 with the Crawler Innovations rear high clearance links:

AWEsome! looks nice. I might get some after RCX,(if i have any funds left). Your build makes me wanna tear down my Moon Shafty, and get the tiny esc u use Thanks for the update.

Do you have a take on the lower front links? I see the majority of the moon shaftys on the board are runnin straight lower front links, mine are kinda bent. Just wounderin? I'll post a pic ltr if its ok, but u might know what im talkin about. Last thing is, i love the back drops of your photos.

[Nova's Ark]

Originally Posted by cornsnake

AWEsome! looks nice. I might get some after RCX,(if i have any funds left). Your build makes me wanna tear down my Moon Shafty, and get the tiny esc u use Thanks for the update.

Do you have a take on the lower front links? I see the majority of the moon shaftys on the board are runnin straight lower front links, mine are kinda bent. Just wounderin? I'll post a pic ltr if its ok, but u might know what im talkin about. Last thing is, i love the back drops of your photos.

Thank you for the compliments.

In the past I have always used straight front links. I am drawing up some new front lower links to test. I'm not sure what is best. With straight links it keeps the rocks off the drive shaft, but there is certainly a little wasted clearance I am loosing because of the straight links. When I do finally cut some new front lowers, I'll update the post with my findings.

[Stormin2u]

New rear links look awesome Eddie.

I've been having problems finding the right spring set up. I'm using 3.5 Big Bores I've been running medium (green) rears in the back and medium fronts (red) up front but the front seems under sprung it is a bit saggy and doesn't recover.

[muddigger123]

Nice rig i need 1 if those chassis fo myself.

[Nova's Ark]

I finally made panels for this. We were suppose to have a competition this morning but it was canceled due to weather. Here are some pictures of the panels I made and covered with some skinz from Freq-E-skinz.

Over all:


Roof panel:


Back / trunk panel:


Hood Panel:


Driver side:


Passenger side. This took some time and patience with a heat gun. .030" thick lexan for the panel:


Another overall:

[Nova's Ark]

Lots of updates for this truck:

First off, the new rock pile:
The Crawler Innovations Rock Piles


So with all the new rock, I have been driving this truck daily and... I love it!

Several changes:
I tried the 6.0 Cobras and they don't work at all on the new rock pile. The rock is still very dusty, and since it is an iron ore / sand stone type rock, the conditions on it change daily. It's cool in a way because it always keeps you on your toes. So off came the cobras and on went the White Dot Rovers. The wheel and tire set up is pretty simple and I love it:

Front:
1" VP DH bead locks (custom machined to be narrow)
585 wide DH hub
5.5 T Double Deuce Foams
2.00 Firm inner
Soft outer
4 stainless steel VP slugs & 2 aluminum C.I. slugs in each wheel

Rear:
1" V4 VP SLW
725 SLW hub
5.5T Double Deuce Foams
2.00 Firm Inner
Medium Outer
no weight on the wheel currently

Total weight as pictured in these photos is: 5 pounds 9 ounces:




The rear of this truck has been too light since I first built it. I have several sets of VP wheels, but since everything gets changed from one truck to another, I need to keep the SLW's un-weighted. Our 2.2 comp bergs use no weights in the back wheels. So to compensate, I added a weight plate to each side of the rear axle and used the sick on lead weight I sell to weight it. It works much better, but the weight is too high for me. I would prefer the weight be in the wheel or under the axle. I'm either going to design a weight carrier for the lock out or make a pair of DH's for the back. For now, this is what's on it:


It still has no issues sitting on it's side, although I'm not sure what that really tells us. Regardless, the truck is planted on the new rocks.




I had to drill and tap the axle c with a 3mm set screw in order to retain the SDS Customz axle bearing in the housing. You can see it to the right near the top of the axle C. I have been doing this to all my scalers and bergs in order to easily retain the axle bearing.

[Nova's Ark]

I just can't say enough about this little truck. Two of my local club members and friends were over Sunday afternoon to work on the pile and run trucks. They both have shafty 2.2's as well. They both drove this truck that day along with my son and all three were in amazement. This truck has done a couple lines that our bergs have not made. It has also easily performed difficult climbs that took the bergs some time to work at or the bergs had to either over drive or under drive axles to complete. I'm in total amazement with this truck now and look forward to getting it dialed in. I definitely have to deal with weighting the rear axle better and fixing the steering linkage. I also need to either add a Holmes Hobbies hand wound or convert this truck to a brushless inrunner. One thing at a time. But for now, it is definitely one of my favorite trucks to drive.

[OxInYourBox]

Thanks for the updates-I'm starting my moonbuggy shafty build this week hopefully. Been reading through your thread quite a few times and lots of great information in it.

[Nova's Ark]

Originally Posted by Stormin2u

New rear links look awesome Eddie.

I've been having problems finding the right spring set up. I'm using 3.5 Big Bores I've been running medium (green) rears in the back and medium fronts (red) up front but the front seems under sprung it is a bit saggy and doesn't recover.

Thank you Norm
What does your truck weigh in at Norm?
What spring caps are you using to retain the spring on the shock?

I am using the front Mini T spring set front and rear on my truck. The rear Mini T spring set is too long for a 3.5 big bore (IMO). I'm using pink front and orange rear and both of those are from the front mini t spring set. I am using the JeepinDoug springs cups for the mini t currently, but I have a new product coming for it this week. In a joint collaboration with JeepinDoug, I had him make new spring cups with a counter bore in them so they no longer limit travel like JeepinDoug's first version does. I also had them made in white and black delrin. While we were are it, I had new cups made for the mini rock crawlers as well. All of that should be in stock and on the new web site by this weekend.

Originally Posted by muddigger123

Nice rig i need 1 if those chassis fo myself.

PM RockShow. He is the best person to get these through:

http://www.rccrawler.com/forum/members/rockshow-6208.htm

Originally Posted by OxInYourBox

Thanks for the updates-I'm starting my moonbuggy shafty build this week hopefully. Been reading through your thread quite a few times and lots of great information in it.

Thank you and I am glad I could help. Let me know if you have any questions or get stuck on your build. Good luck

[OxInYourBox]

Looking forward to that new product with Jeepindoug. I'm starting off with duratrax shocks but have some big bores around to move over to with the mini-t springs if need be.

Forgot to ask-did you go with the long or short skid version of the skinz?

[Nova's Ark]

Originally Posted by OxInYourBox

Looking forward to that new product with Jeepindoug. I'm starting off with duratrax shocks but have some big bores around to move over to with the mini-t springs if need be.

Forgot to ask-did you go with the long or short skid version of the skinz?

I think the most important thing is to use shocks 3.5" inches in length. That is what Rockshow designed the chassis to work with. I have seen one with four inch shocks and it was huge. The shocks were way to long. You can't really limit 4" shocks either because then you lose travel which is something you want all of on 3.5" shock length. It's always important to know how the designer intended the product to be used.

As for the skinz, I made the panels myself and the stickers on the panels came from two different kits designed by Freq e Tag for the MOA rockshow V2 chassis. So I can't help you there. Freq E Tag never received a file from RockShow for this chassis so skinz were never put into production for it. Also, RockShow is constantly tuning and tweaking his designs and last I heard he wanted to try some things on this chassis. So that only further confuses things for skinz at the moment.

I'm not sure what version I have of this chassis, but I really like it. I love being able to watch the suspension work and not having the confines of a body. It's just my personal opinion.

[OxInYourBox]

Cool-that confirms what I'll be doing for skins-vinyl from a notebook on lexan.

And Mike is always tweaking things.

[Nova's Ark]

This has been a update long in the making. I have never liked the MIP CVD drive shafts. They are heavy, bulky, not smooth and do not have a smooth transition leading to the axle pinion. Finally, the Crawler Innovations 5mm to Maxx Shaft adapters are done. I couldn't get them on this truck fast enough.

My son Gavin disassembled the truck to help me with time. I installed the Crawler Innovations Maxx shaft transmission outputs and the adapters. Once I cut the Maxx shafts to size I hit the rocks. OH MY!!! These drive shafts are sooo much smoother and quiet! I am so pleased with how this truck drives and performs.

Rear axle:


Front axle:


Even with the very short front drive shaft and steep angle, these are extremely smooth on start up. No MIP shaft could accomplish this. Not mention, I was able to gear down to a 90 tooth spur gear.


Here you can see the smooth transition leading up to the axle:


Side view of everything installed:

[JeremyH]

Vary nice Eddie!

[Erin]

So you use the axle adapters in conjuction with your maxx tranny outputs, correct? Really liking these.

[Nova's Ark]

Originally Posted by JeremyH

Vary nice Eddie!

Thank you Jeremy.

Originally Posted by Erin

So you use the axle adapters in conjuction with your maxx tranny outputs, correct? Really liking these.

You are correct. I designed the trans outputs and adapters to be a kit. Unfortunately, by the time the adapters were finished, the trans outputs sold out. So it's going to be a few weeks before the kits will be ready for sale.

[OxInYourBox]

You post this up as I'm building. May just have to leave the MIP's off and roll with these. Looking good!

[CrawlerG]

Sweet chassis! I kinda wanna get one for mine! I have a buddy that has one on his XR10.

[Stormin2u]

Looking good Eddie, I have to agree the Moonbuggy Shafty chassis has sure has enhanced my AX-10 as well. Rockshow has given us AX-10 owners a great platform.

Like you I was able to keep the geometry of the Gatekeeper chassis in tact but gain some much needed ground clearance. I have also been very impressed with the result of simply installing the Moonbuggy Shafty chassis. I even kept the center servo location and the link mounts from the GC-2. A few pictures in the thread posted below.

I'll take another look at those pinks in the front. I have the associated rear silver springs up front now and Mini T front reds in the rear. The rig weighs 5.5 pounds RTR. In it's first comp it did really well running in the MNRCRC open 2.2 class. It's going to put it to the test again this weekend at MNRCRC Comp #2.

Love the new rock pile I'm envious, have a good BBQ and Comp this weekend.