Mary Shelley's MRC

[MRCrackhead]

The spray can said race red I think. If I would have intentionally matched the panels to the springs, that would have been real slick. I guess you get lucky sometimes.
I agree the panel is questionable. I'm only arguing that a 3.5 square inch circle wouldn't likely fit three and a half 1" cubes very well....it's still a 3.5 square inch circle at the end of the day....
Oh well, I think it's only going to help me slide around stuff anyway.

[winnerone23]

I like the full panel I have on mine. Then I mounted my bec on the side of my tranny an shaped that panel around it. Trying go give the same look on both sides. My battery also sits behind my panel, on top of my bec.

[MRCrackhead]

You run the battery in the center of the vehicle?
I'm of the impression minimizing sprung weight is key to low COG.
Of course you have a very unusual chassis compared to most.

[winnerone23]

Off the driver side, under the panel.







Setup is key but some like sprung weight, others don't.

I ran the battery stuck to the underneath of the "tail" of my mini juice when I ran that. It was a very capable rig an swore I would never sell it! Then the chance at the mini mantis came, and one hell of a deal on the juice, so it went to a good home in Canada..

[MRCrackhead]

Interesting.
I've always wanted to get the battery off the rear axle. Right now it's tuned for that weight to be right there. I've just never liked how high it sits on top of the link plate
Of course I'd need smaller/ different shaped batteries to do much of anything. I'm running what I own, but I'll be doing my research before I buy anything else. It will change everything, again.

[MRCrackhead]

Considering going 3s when I do buy batteries.
That way, they will work with the AX10 too.

[RickM]

Can I offer some advice on the rear axles?. Get you some AX10 axles and cut/trim them down, much like you did the front xr10 axles. I did this and have had zero issues with mine.

Awesome work in the front BTW. Much more clean than a lot of the options I am seeing out there.

[MRCrackhead]

Originally Posted by RickM

Can I offer some advice on the rear axles?. Get you some AX10 axles and cut/trim them down, much like you did the front xr10 axles. I did this and have had zero issues with mine.

Awesome work in the front BTW. Much more clean than a lot of the options I am seeing out there.

Thank you. I really like it. It's nearly stock ground clearance, added weight down low, super strong (so far), and looks really cool with all that brass hanging out under there.
My only lingering thought was maybe I should have stretched the track width a bit more to tuck those ridiculous knuckles in closer to the tires.
I needed it that way for my SLW's to get enough weight up front with my home fab washers. If I was running brass from Blue Monkey I could maybe have done that. Not 100% sure what I'd gain with brass.
For now, it's working great, at least as far as I know. Only run with AX10's and SCX10's around here. I'm the only mini in town.

Thanks for the rear axle idea. I would like to ditch the 2 piece and that's really a slick way to do it. Much heavier duty shafts too.

[happymachinist]

Nice work!

I like your variation on the franken axle. I hope to see more down the road.

Graph paper can help you determine whether or not you have enough square inches on your panel.

[MRCrackhead]

Thanks. It's not as "fab"ulous as the adapters you made for your friend's XR knuckles, but it does add some strength to the MRC housing.

That's a great idea. I'll try the graph paper. I need to pull it off there anyway; either to confirm it's in spec or to use it as a rough template for the new panel.
If it gives me trouble this weekend at the comp, it's not really worth keeping it on there. I'd like to know for argument sake alone.

[WeekendWarrior]

I want to see it crawling

[MRCrackhead]

Small update on the rig.

I cut down the wheels to about 9/16" front and 5/8" rear.


You'll see in the photos below that I only have half the bolts in the beadlocks since I wasn't sure how my tires were going to work. I did a little custom foam work to get something better than the useless stock rover foams.
I'm really happy with the results. No more flat/rolled under tires....big risk messing with proven technology this close to the comp, but I've really never been happy with the performance of the stock stuff. Not enough time to get some CI foams, so.....homebrew it is!

Also, got some stickers on the panels so it doesn't look like a work in progress anymore.

Tire testing in the backyard....

[happymachinist]

Originally Posted by MRCrackhead

Thanks. It's not as "fab"ulous as the adapters you made for your friend's XR knuckles, but it does add some strength to the MRC housing.

That's a great idea. I'll try the graph paper. I need to pull it off there anyway; either to confirm it's in spec or to use it as a rough template for the new panel.
If it gives me trouble this weekend at the comp, it's not really worth keeping it on there. I'd like to know for argument sake alone.

Don't cut yourself short man! I made those at a buddy's request. I'm thinkin I might have to steal your idea and give him a run for his money. As said before the larger diameter of the tube should help slide over rocks better.

Then again I might have to see if he'd sell me the axle and adapters I made because to my knowledge he hasn't done a damn thing with them!!! I put a lot of work into them and want to see them in action.

[MRCrackhead]

Originally Posted by happymachinist

Don't cut yourself short man! I made those at a buddy's request. I'm thinkin I might have to steal your idea and give him a run for his money. As said before the larger diameter of the tube should help slide over rocks better.

Then again I might have to see if he'd sell me the axle and adapters I made because to my knowledge he hasn't done a damn thing with them!!! I put a lot of work into them and want to see them in action.

Thanks man. Watching your build develop has certainly influenced this one.
I don't have access to the fancy tools (or skills), but the basic ideas for function and quality I've tried to incorporate into my garage fab parts.

You should check out my XR conversion for an AX10 (Ugly Betty).
Steal some of this idea, parts of that idea, and mix in your own brand of magic.
Then your friend and everyone else will see how a mini front axle should be built!

[MRCrackhead]

Well all my hard work finally paid off. My car outdrove me today at my first comp.
Nerves got the better of me on the first course. After that, all went very well.
If I would have felt as comfortable on the first course as I did by the third one, I could have done much better.
Everybody has a first day.
Chris couldn't get his mini ready in time, so he drove mine. Without having much time behind the wheel of my rig, he did really well.
For a hand made rig, it ran with the pack wonderfully.
Now I just have to drive better, and eliminate some foolish mistakes.
Oh, and get a better freakin servo already.....jeez

Chris did manage to break the front driveshaft......jerk.....haha. He was nice enough to wait till I was done driving for the day. Thanks man.

I have the traxxas shafts in it and never had a problem.
BUT, this failure was caused by me.
The shafts are large enough in diameter that I shaved the failed yoke down a bit to clear the spur.
I'm running an Associated 66 tooth spur to slow the Losi Insane down to where I like it.
Obviously, that can no longer be a solution to that problem. It just created a weak point.

OPTIONS:
Shift the transmission laterally to ease the driveline angle thereby eliminating the rubbing issue....keep running these shafts (good track record for me)

Switch to a 64t spur and get more wheel speed (bummer right?)

Get some MIP shafts which are much smaller in diameter (but heavier), and are known to be essentially bombproof in a mini....

None of those options are really that horrible....

Overall, I'm very pleased.

Thanks to everyone that did the work setting up the course. Also thanks to everyone for waiting on Chris and I to show up half an hour late......damn new guys.....

[winnerone23]

Ur rig handled very well from what I was watching. Some tuning adjustments (which are always needed once you get to run somewhere, with a group, other then at home alone) and drive time, drive time, drive time... oh and a battery smaller then 2s 850mah on ur rear axle! :eek: lol

Great job to both of you during ur driving..

Go MIP an no need to mod anything, plus the piece of mind while crawling leaves you with no thoughts other then driving..

[Jslick]

Glad you guys were able to come out and drive at Rausch Creek.

[MRCrackhead]

Originally Posted by Jslick

Glad you guys were able to come out and drive at Rausch Creek.

Thanks for doing all the work John. I had a blast.

[MRCrackhead]

I have a moon buggy topper for the mini I'm thinking about putting on for the comp.

I didn't like it as much as the current top, but I'm not so concerned about looks.

Perhaps it would recover better than the current lid.

I actually never really tested it, just thought it was too darn ugly at the time.....

[Bl-air]

SkyNet called. It want's its micro recon vehicle prototype back.