Mule's MRC - links n all....

[Mule]

I thought the mini crawled ok, but knew it would do better. So, I started with the usual stuff - weighting the rims, slamming the body, moving the battery and controls. That wasn't good enough. It had attitude, maybe too much.

I think it's saying kiss off to the tuber, but not sure.

Next came the upper links. 4 link always seems to be a good place to be and the stock "Y" upper didn't want to flex the way I wanted it to. Since everyone jumped on the TLT body bandwagon, I thing borrowing parts from it fits too. So, I started grabbing rods and stuck some T-maxx ends on it. I don't know how long they are at this time, sorry. I'll check tomorrow if I can find a ruler. I also used the servo mounts from the TLT as my cross pin mount for the axle side. Drilled two holes 90* and opposite end of the mount so it can be bolted to the stock plate/servo mounts on the mrc.

The only one that had to be a pain in the arse was the front right. The tranny sits too close to the frame so I had to outboard that link. No big deal, it works good now. I used the stock frame to link bolts and they worked good. For the front axle I put the servo mount block under the MRC stock servo plate. I had to cut off the "Y" link mount to fit it, but it worked out perfectly. More than enought space. The back was on top because I had already shortened the mounting tabs on the axle trying a different setup.

Big waste of space WAS the shocks. I didn't think they worked worth a crap in the stock location. After diggin in the TLT box again, I came up with some spacers that fit between the frame plates and makes the frame look like an AX now. It also pulled the frame narrower on top by about 3mm. I used the stock MRC ball screws/shock mounts into the spacers and everything turned out to be the same size. For the bottoms, I outboarded the springs and got some longer 2mm bolts to run in. The 1.5mm holes easily fit the new bolts w/o breaking the brackets. Now the shocks actually work like they should. Articulation is fluid movement and not a jerky stuck in one place thing - which is what happened in picture one. I was just backing off the tires of the tuber and it stuck like that......



Part 2 coming so this isn't a book....

[Mule]

Part 2

I forgot to add above that I took out the spacers on the shocks and CA glued the springs to the lower retainer clips so I wouldn't loose them. The new lower stance worked well and it had a small amount of droop now.
Now back to the book.

So everything seemed to be done, but it needed ONE MORE MOD....

LiPo and ESC.
I used a Park Zone 800 mAh 10C discharge 2 cell pack and a new Sidewinder Micro ESC. The micro has brushed w/ reverse and voltage cutoff. I ended up mounting the battery to the rear axle since there was no room up front. Especially now - I burned up the steering servo today and am changing it out. Here is where I put the ESC, I don't have a pic yet of the battery. But, I can tell you that it will climb to just about verticle and not flip back.....


I'll get a picture of the battery later. I'll also post up the servo swap. I did change out the servo horn to a longer one. If I remember correctly, the stock Losi servo is a 24 tooth, so the HT horns will bolt on.

This pic was taken before I did all the work I posted above.

Now, I can't wait for those new Losi Claws in Blue compound..... AND some AL beadlock rims......