Exceed mad torque 1/8 to 1/10 scale budget build!

[Hoosierdady]

Nice work man. I turned a Redcat into a decent "scale-ish" crawler a while back and it handled great. I do have to say that your friend who you split the AX10 with got the better end of that deal for sure. Stock Axial axles are worth far more than $10. Eitehr way keep up the good work. You've got some good ideas going on there.

[Crawlin' Lobster]

Originally Posted by Hoosierdady

Nice work man. I turned a Redcat into a decent "scale-ish" crawler a while back and it handled great. I do have to say that your friend who you split the AX10 with got the better end of that deal for sure. Stock Axial axles are worth far more than $10. Eitehr way keep up the good work. You've got some good ideas going on there.

I wasn't too worried about it. I got what I needed and his now his stepdaughter can wheel with us. So it was a win win. Thanks for checkin out my build. Like all the work u do.

[cabron]

looks like you are having fun with your exceede. name of the game.
making our own parts and coming up with ideas like your shock and link mounts adds
a lot to the enjoyment, and keeping the cost down is a nice plus.

if you get a chance to show details of the bottom links you made, i am curious to see
what you did. are you using balls? where does the flex come from in the lower links?

will be watching to see what more you come up with yay ford

i was about to buy one of them when i found a redcat rs10 on cl. got it for $80 3 years ago and am
still using it to try new ideas. thinking of making a 6x6 and maybe even an 8x8.

[Crawlin' Lobster]

Originally Posted by cabron

looks like you are having fun with your exceede. name of the game.
making our own parts and coming up with ideas like your shock and link mounts adds
a lot to the enjoyment, and keeping the cost down is a nice plus.

if you get a chance to show details of the bottom links you made, i am curious to see
what you did. are you using balls? where does the flex come from in the lower links?

will be watching to see what more you come up with yay ford

i was about to buy one of them when i found a redcat rs10 on cl. got it for $80 3 years ago and am
still using it to try new ideas. thinking of making a 6x6 and maybe even an 8x8.

Which bottom links are you referring to? I've made 2 different sets for it so far. I wanted to start with something different and cheaper and see what I could turn it into. I almost got a rs10 instead but now I'm kinda glad I didn't. I like the beefier setup of the madtorque.

[cabron]

the first set, the ones you made from the cutting board. I did not see any rod ends
and was wondering what you had come up with for the pivot. and the shape was different from the norm
I see now you went with rod ends and bent tubes

[Crawlin' Lobster]

Originally Posted by cabron

the first set, the ones you made from the cutting board. I did not see any rod ends
and was wondering what you had come up with for the pivot. and the shape was different from the norm
I see now you went with rod ends and bent tubes

I did have balls in the cutting board links. Just drilled a smaller hole and used a file to get it where the balls pop in with little force. The axle side would pivot very smoothly but the chassis side did rub a little but pivoted ok for the most part. I really liked those links but it was time for a change.

[Greatscott]

Never mind the trucks, that scaler park you have is insane, nice work.

I have a good chunk of land to do something like that, but have no idea where to begin. How did you start it out?

Nice work on the trucks too!

[Crawlin' Lobster]

Originally Posted by Greatscott

Never mind the trucks, that scaler park you have is insane, nice work.

I have a good chunk of land to do something like that, but have no idea where to begin. How did you start it out?

Nice work on the trucks too!

It started with this.

And after a group effort it's grown to epic proportions. It's nice cuz there are 3 different sections mainly designed by 3-4 different ppl so we have a good variety of challenges. As for how we went about building it, a lot of digging and brush clearing then marking off trail and adding rocks or other obstacles. The hardest part is collecting the big rocks without buying them. There's always free broken concrete on cl. Pallets make great bridges or just free wood to make whatever and are given away at a lot of places. I have a bunch of friends in construction who frequently have left over material too. The pangolin's owner is a roofer and he just dropped off a load off old tile from a job he did. Most is for the driveway but some will end up on the course.

Basically if u build it they will crawl! Lol

[Crawlin' Lobster]

Helped my friend with some changes to the pangolin today. Added some frame extension like I did to the mt and made a drop trans mount.





Driveshaft angle is way better but I think I can make a better plate. This one was all done with pliers, I forgot to grab the vise. Will make a battery holder and mount electronics and try to do some testing tomorrow.

[Crawlin' Lobster]

The pangolin turned out good. Made a couple hangers for a battery plate and mounted electronics.

The new skid worked great at reducing torque twist but could use a little reworking of the bends.

While we were testing his truck I had a catastrophic failure with my rear upper link mount.

In the pic you can see how I now have it mounted. I put the rear servo plate back on with a link end attached. Took the ball out of the end and put in a spacer cuz it was shifting the axle. I have to figure out a permanent mount. Might see if I can use a berg upper link mount.

[Crawlin' Lobster]

Also use the left over 1/4 alum rod from my links and made some new rock sliders.

Attached them to some alum angle and then to the frame.

Put some Velcro under the hood and bed at both ends of the frame extensions to hold the body in place.


Did a quick test in the driveway.



They should work a lot better than the plastic axial ones. And they fit the body better.

[cameron20118]

Just saw your thread today and wanted to say "Great Job!" I have a non-comp low budget super running Exceed MoA's and saw some stuff I will try on mine (like the skid/motor plate) soon. It's good to see someone take a run of the mill and make it there own with ingenuity and what parts and tools they have access to. Next time I head up to Aberdeen (in Denver now) to visit my sister
beer is on me!

[Crawlin' Lobster]

Originally Posted by cameron20118

Just saw your thread today and wanted to say "Great Job!" I have a non-comp low budget super running Exceed MoA's and saw some stuff I will try on mine (like the skid/motor plate) soon. It's good to see someone take a run of the mill and make it there own with ingenuity and what parts and tools they have access to. Next time I head up to Aberdeen (in Denver now) to visit my sister
beer is on me!

Thanks for the feedback. I wanted to make something out of the norm and I think it's gettin there. Once I finish with the mods I have planned and I'm happy with the setup and performance I may think about getting some of my custom parts machined or made for me so they will look a little prettier. But maybe not I kinda like having the handmade look. The motor/skid I think is a must cuz it not only guards the motor and case, I've noticed it provides a nice sliding surface for crawling over stuff. Without the skid the front motor takes a good beating in really rocky terrain. The back doesn't hit on much due to my links and the axle it slightly clocked up. I also think a lighter weight skid is better. The first ones were about 98g a piece, I think the new front is about 20g maybe less. Thanks for the beer offer, how bout I'll pack the first bowl.

[beomagi]

Hey man, how are the axles and gears holding up from wear? It looks like you're putting as much run time as build time into it. Did you modify the axles to make them narrower? Or just made the truck shorter to bring the scale down.

[Twinhuey]

Have to say that I read through your post and I enjoyed it! I picked up a MaxStone 8 to play with and see if I enjoyed the sport. I know the whole deal on how people do not think much of them but I can let me grandson play with it and not stress over him beating on a 500.00 rig!!LOL! I am inspired by your mods! I plan to do several homebuilt deals on my truck as well!! Keep up the great work!!!!!

[Crawlin' Lobster]

Originally Posted by beomagi

Hey man, how are the axles and gears holding up from wear? It looks like you're putting as much run time as build time into it. Did you modify the axles to make them narrower? Or just made the truck shorter to bring the scale down.

I have gotten a good bit of run time throughout the build. It has helped me figure out what works and what I still need to change. The axles and gears are holding up great. I had the rear case apart a couple weeks ago and everything looked perfect. Haven't narrowed the axles yet still planning exactly how I wanna do it. Right now they are just less than 12" to the outside of the wheels and I have a 14" wheelbase with the new link setup before it was 13.5". Even if I don't narrow the axle I do plan on adding better c-hubs and lockouts.

[Crawlin' Lobster]

Originally Posted by Twinhuey

Have to say that I read through your post and I enjoyed it! I picked up a MaxStone 8 to play with and see if I enjoyed the sport. I know the whole deal on how people do not think much of them but I can let me grandson play with it and not stress over him beating on a 500.00 rig!!LOL! I am inspired by your mods! I plan to do several homebuilt deals on my truck as well!! Keep up the great work!!!!!

With the stock replacement parts bein so cheap u don't really have to worry if the kids break anything. I would recommend changing out the stock hardware as the screwheads strip easily. Hope you have fun modding your maxstone.

[Crawlin' Lobster]

Gave the new rock sliders a good testing today at a local park that has a big rock section on the beach.


They worked 10 times better than the plastic ones I had. Also hit up the backyard course.


I get more articulation and it is a lot smoother with the new link setup.

[meatmonkey]

Nice work.

Becoming rare to see someone actually BUILD a part as apposed to buy a part.

Who cares if it's not an Axial? It's different, looks cool, and works.

[Crawlin' Lobster]

Originally Posted by meatmonkey

Nice work.

Becoming rare to see someone actually BUILD a part as apposed to buy a part.

Who cares if it's not an Axial? It's different, looks cool, and works.

Thanks. I enjoy tryin to make parts myself. With basic hand tools I am kinda limited to what I can make but it's still fun and rewarding to know it's a one of kind part.