Anyone with a Maxx crawler,well any for that matter.

[Reflection]

O.K. heres the deal. I'm EXTREMLY new to RC. I bought an E-maxx a month or two ago. I was gonna build it into a crawler. After me and my son run it a few times I could tell my son was in love with it. I thought,well I let him have that and get me another truck to build. After reading a bunch I was certain on getting a Twin force. Mainly cuz I like the looks of the Twin's axles and I think it would be a PERFECT platform to start with. The thing I don't like is the one speed tranny.

I'm thinking more now of getting another Maxx. Building solid axles like Toyotafourwheeln did and linking it up. I'll probly stick with a regular truck body. I want to have a 2 speed tranny,gear 1st low for crawling and 2nd a little higher for high speed bashing.

I could get the Twin and instal a maxx tranny but.....

I'm thinking if I start with a maxx and try to keep it all maxx parts will be easier to aquire and cut down on custom made stuff.

I guess what I'm asking is.....

Anyone with a maxx solid axle crawler wish they would have started with something else?

Sorry for the long post
Thanks for any input.

Steve

[Ace]

Some random thoughts:

The maxx tranny with 2 speeds seems cool, but my friend tried one and the slop in the tranny turned out to be awful when crawling. (The slop is there so the tranny can shift). He wound up glueing the slop out and not shifting his tranny.

A maxx based live axle rig seems like a great base for a crawler to me. The under diff clearance is awesome.

That's about all I care to add, I haven't seen a twin force run so I can't comment on the durability of it.

[Lunatic]

i thought about getting the twin force to use the axles, but there could be a problem with using them.

the way the links mount to them. the links are flat and mount to the top. seems like they only have two links on each axle and the shocks.
i havent seen them personaly so i dont really know if there is a way to mount four links onto it.

let us know how it goes, if you go that route.

i turned my E-maxx into a crawler. well kinda, i locked the axles and used the tranny and motors. i built a chassi for it, eventually ill get some solid axles to replace what i have now.

[Reflection]

Well guys,I've done enough reading to make my eyes bleed. I've decided to go the max crawler path with high clearence solid axles. I still would like to play with a Twin. If I ever buy another RC,which I wouldn't mind doing after I finish my maxx crawler, I'll buy a Twin. I could always turn my maxx back into a high speed basher if I keep all the parts and toy around with building the Twin to crawl.

[TwistedCreations]

i like my Maxx crawler and i am planning on starting another Maxx crawler soon.. but the slop in the trans does suck. mine is now locked into 1st gear and it's a night and day difference.. i have not seen or heard of anyone ever regearing the tranny, so the idea of having a lowlow 1st gear and a low 2nd gear is gonna be tricky.. i like it, but doubt you could do it with not having any gearing options besides spur and pinion.. even with 9 pinion and 72 spur, you can crawl slow with the throttle response it has, but still have enough ummphh to bump over stuff.. my next trans will be locked into 1st again right off the bat

[TwistedCreations]

ohh also, if you make axles like what i did, i suggest you make them the width of like the wide version..i made mine wider and had trouble with breaking the axles.. i have to legthen the inner and out of the axles + put some shrink tube on them to make them strong enough.. my next set will be the wide version so i can use CVD's..

just a pointer for ya

[Reflection]

Toyotafourwheeln

Well,honestly I was gonna make them a little wider then they are now. I figured if I have trouble breaking shafts,I'll get steel shafts and make them the length I need.

Oh yeah, when you made your axles. I read that you used a 1" washer on each side of the diff. Are they bolted to the case or bolted to eachother kinda sandwhiching the diff case? Just currious which way might be better.

Thanks
Steve

[TwistedCreations]

yes, 1" washer on each side...its a little big but worked.my next ones i will just make. the 1" washer is kinda hard to drill, but maybe you can grind down some thickness 1st..i have 3 pieces of 1/4" alum. rod(drilled and tapped) so i can screw it all together.. just kind of sandwiches the diff.along with having the collar( piece that goes around the pinion) fit in there tight.. after it's all bolted together, it doesn't move at all..i thought about getting the CVD's and then just lengthen them to fit

another piece of advice...LOCTITE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! make sure you loctite it all..lol...i used the blue stuff and it holds fine. on the stuff i forgot to loctite, it backed back out

[rbgerrish]

For what it's worth, I keep the 2 speed 'shiftable' on my crawler and like it. Of course, I dont shift in mid obstacle, but before hand when I know I might need the extra speed to get up a rock face or something. I am usually in 1st gear...

have fun,
ryan

[Reflection]

Originally Posted by Toyotafourwheeln

i have not seen or heard of anyone ever regearing the tranny, so the idea of having a lowlow 1st gear and a low 2nd gear is gonna be tricky..

I guess I should have clarified a little better. I'm not gonna fool with the gears in the tranny at all. I'm gonna try to take care of gearing with the pinion and spur only. I want a 2 speed tranny. I'm gonna try and accoplish making 1st low enough to crawl with. Might not be as low as others but I'm hoping it'll work decent. Then 2nd gear should end up just a touch lower than 1st gear is on a stock maxx. Which a stock maxx's 1st gear is WAY to fast for crawling but it's fast enough to have fun with wheelies and jumping.

If I wasn't so hung up on having a 2 speed tranny,I'd scrap the maxx crawler idea and build a Twin force. I can promise one thing though. After my maxx crawler is done and I still want to build another RC,it WILL be a Twin or Mad force. I wouldn't mind playing around with a nitro truck,strickly for bashing and raising he** though.

[Fishmaxx]

I would go with the Maxx from a spare parts stand point. You will be able to swap parts back and forth between trucks.

[TwistedCreations]

steve, i 1st left my truck like what you wanted yours and thought the same thing. but never used 2nd gear due to me still having plenty of top speed with a 9 pinion and 72 spur.. i just love the slop being gone from the trans now..i can actually stay up on a rock and not roll back down but its your truck and you build like ya want, just let us know how she does