MRC MAN 6x6

[rik]

This is my MAN 6x6 build. i figure i have enough done to post up now. started out with two front axles and one rear, but is now two front axles and one rear. gotta love the dual front steering lemme know what ya think.


I snatched up the 3 MRC axles and MRC transmission . I figured that would be a good start for a mini 6x6 build. While pondering on the build some more, I decided to use the 1.9 comp rig as a donor for the rest of the parts. This way I'm set for the parts for the drive train and the electronics. Dirty has me looking at some 6x6 chassis's to base a design from. I have a nice piece of delrin to make the rails from. All I really need to get is a cab and wheel/tires.

[rik]

got the pass thru done. pretty straight forward. you will have to flip one of the case upside down so the the gear can sit properly in the cases.


the two halves.


notice the ears where the straight adaptors go. one side has to be trimmed.


then file a radius for the ears on the other axle half to mate to.


not the best match up, but the axle halves are flush.


bolt it all back up and you're done.




still have to grind the upper link stud on the bottom of the flipped axle case. but, the hard work is done.

drive shafts will be trimmed to length once the rail situation is worked out.

EDIT: after this, i decided to go with two front steering axles. same set up, just install knuckles instead of the straights.

[rik]

i went and picked up a bruder today. these cabs fit the mrc axles perfect. the one i got has a crane on the back and its HUGE! lol. thats a 20 oz soda botle in the pic for reference. and the hook on the crane is metal. so that is definitely going to be used . i'll get some pics of the cab on the axles later when i tear it down.










here is the cab kinda just sitting on the front axle. pay no mind to the mismatched tires, i still need 2 more pluggers and rims. and the space where the tranny will mount needs to be moved back some. hey, i never scratch built a rig before, let alone a 6x6. take it easy on me lol.

obviously the body needs to be hacked up. gota remove those rear fender things and possibly relocate further back like i did on the last man cab i had. with them all the way back, 1.9 tires fit in there nice. just not sure if that will cause a problem will steering on the mid axle.


hard to hold the cab level and take a pic. but it fits the mrc axles real nice

[rik]

just cut the chassis out. 1/8'' aluminum flat stock. in the pic there is 2 pieces adhered together with double sided tape. so i get exact matches. i dunno if this is gonna work or not. just goin on the fly lol

[rik]

little more progress...i milled the skid today. i used white delrin as i could not find any black delrin layin around.







i ran out of time at work so i had to drill and tap at home using my drill press and scribe lines. i counter sunk the holes to mount the skid to the rails and used 4-40 stainless steel screws. it came out ok. the rails are a tad off due to the mounting holes in the chassis plate being off. but cross braces will true everything up.



talk about getting as close of a fit as i could. lol there is no room between the motor plate and the chassis. but the rails are still perpendicular to each other. nailed that sucker it looks more off than it really is in this pic due to the two different tire sizes lol. on a flat surface its around .04 - .05'' according to my calipers.



its apparent now that the teeth that the front links mount to will have to be cut off and moved forward. oh well, easy enough. its also apparent that i'll to do some styrene work on the back of the cab to extend it. i think there will be too much flat bed space and it will not look right. but, we will see when we get to that point.



next on the to do list is some shock mounts'/hoops. then links, ect. i think this is as far as i will get tonight as i'm starting to get discouraged and feel like im in over my head. gonna take a breather and re-evaluate what needs to be done. there were moments tonight where i wanted to throw this against the wall. but, i aint letting a piece of metal kick my butt. i never have and i dont plant on starting now.

and heres one more with the piece of delrin i will use for the bed. its reaaly bowed. but i will deal with that when i get there.



oh, and i have given this rig a name, i have dubbed it the "stupid friggin 6x6"

[rik]

so with dirty's help, i have a plan for the build. the wheel base will be around 14 5/8", 2 chassis mounted servos, and running an scx tranny mounted on its side, the shock mounts will be shock hoops now. now i can start to cut the cab up to fit the chassis, which will lower the ride height. plus while looking over the rest of the donor rig, dirty spotted a nice little gem.






we figured out a way to fit the motor in the cab will pivot on the front of the chassis. so when ya roll it over, you will see the motor. the servo will tuck under there perfect.

[rik]

small update. i got the lathe work on the tranny done today. had to turn the outputs to 4 mm so the mrc drive shafts will fit. i also milled out the notch for the set screw.





and the scx tranny all back together with the modded out puts, with mrc drive shafts. looks a lil funny lol



now i have to mount the tranny and mill a clearance notch for the spur on the one chassis rail.

[rik]

got the trans mounted. came out well. i realized that i am out of hardware, thus the mis-matched screws i'll order some new hardware to match the skid screws. that way there is nothing sticking out. i have the other rail ready to have the notched milled out. i'll do that after work tomorrow.







oh, and my pluggers showed up today too! now i have a full set of tires

[rik]

milled the clearance notch for the spur today. turned out better than i thought. the spur is just about flush with the outside of the chassis rail. hopefully tonight i will be drilling holes for the lowers.









pay no attention to the width of the rear axle. those are the new pluggers i got. they are on hpi stock car rims. plus, that axle has the og mrc hexes on where the front and mid axles have mrc pro wheels with the mrc pro hexes. gotta get two more wheels and hexes.

[rik]

i've started to tinker with this again and have a little more done. shocks are mounted, axles are four linked, and drive lines are done. i had to machine four link mounts for the rear and the pass thru. i also got in the parts to do the steering. big thanks to jmz6 for helping me out on those parts.





shocks will be run a little higher than where they are now, at full droop. i will use limiters and stretched mini t springs to get the ride height.


here are the 4 link mounts. machined these from black delrin. they hold the top of the axle case together as well. dual function. score lol



the steering will be a dual bellcrank setup powered by a hitec 7955. i think 400+ oz will be enough to turn 2 mrc axles. the bellcranks are for a tamiya F350. made by HR(blah) lol


all the bolts and screws are only hand tightened at this point, which is why it looks kind of sloppy. (sloppy is a trade mark of dirty enterprises ;))
i'm gonna start the steering friday night while i have a few beers ;)

[rik]

steering complete. now i need cross braces for the rails.

[jmz6]

Looks great rik, great job on the build

[semnmrc]

Looking good!
Glad to see you didn't give up on this. Should be very cool when you get it done!

I like the dual bellcrank idea too.

[mhflies]

digging it so far! keep up the good work!

[rik]

Originally Posted by jmz6

Looks great rik, great job on the build

Originally Posted by semnmrc

Looking good!
Glad to see you didn't give up on this. Should be very cool when you get it done!

I like the dual bellcrank idea too.

Originally Posted by mhflies

digging it so far! keep up the good work!

thanks for the compliments guys.



small update. i got the cross braces for the rails done today. the two on the right are 1/4" aluminum rod and the two on the left are 6mm hardcoated aluminum rod. both tapped for m3 hardware. the 6mm braces mount from the inside of the rail to the inside of the bellcranks. the 1/4" just goes from inside of rail to inside of rail. rails are stiff now. only a little bump steer with the bellcrank setup. i will most likely be making panhards for the steering axles. after i mount the body of course. ;)



the rear



the front (pass thru axle is the same.)

[rik]

this rig has a cab now. to mount the body i used the stock mounts that were on the bruder toy. i figured this way the cab will still tilt forward. and it wont take any thinking on my part to make it do so. ;)





i mounted the mounts on the inside of the rails. i eye balled the rail width and the width of the bruder chassis and they were close. i sort of just guessed on mounting them on the inside lol.



and here you can see how it all snaps together. just like on the toy the body came off. it's very strong and does not move around. it snaps on.





here's how she's sitting as of now.







;)

[rik]

the last project of the night was the motor from the bruder toy. covers the link from the servo to the front bellcrank. its just mocked up right now. but it fits. i will clean up the cuts later.

[17dean]

Looking extremely great ! bro! This is one thread , once I see a post up I have to read the entire thing completely. Great work and progress. Definitely inspiring me !

[rik]

Originally Posted by 17dean

Looking extremely great ! bro! This is one thread , once I see a post up I have to read the entire thing completely. Great work and progress. Definitely inspiring me !

thank you, i appreciate that

[Soulo747]

Whoa! Need I say more?