Maxxmasher's Streamlined six-wheeler build!

[MAXXMASHER]

Hey, guys. I have been lurking here for months, looking at all the awesome 6 wheel builds, and have been wanting to do one for awhile. I had a few other projects I was working on (drift 4Tec, FLM P2de, and my needy Wraith), but finally I have this project under way! I have an SCX-10, but I love that truck too much to tear it apart. I also have an AX-10 that I used to comp with, got out of that scene, turned it into a scaler for a bit, now it's a crawler again. Since getting the Wraith, it usually gets left behind. Perfect for a donor vehicle!

I have been collecting parts for a bit now, and I decided to build my own frame from scratch (similar to oldman52's). I just got a new complete AX-10 axle and the extra housing needed to do the pass-through. Luckily I had a set of longer axle shafts and lockouts leftover when I put rear steer on the AX-10. I'm either going to waterproof the stock wraith's esc or use an Traxxas EVX-2 waterproof for power. The EVX-2 would be easier to use, but a drag brake would be nice. For the motor I'm going to use a Novak 45T. Have had good luck with this motor; just have to see if it will have the necessary grunt. Up front, the steering will be handled by a Hobbico cs-170 servo (333 oz. of torque) and since the AX had rear steer already in place, I will attempt to make this rig rear steering capable as well. That will be handled by a cs-150 (around 180 oz. I think).

Let's see.....what else? I have all the material for the frame rails and cross members on hand and the cab also. The cab? I had always wanted a Pro-Line Streamliner body. Problem is, it was retired around '06, just when I got into the hobby. A few months ago, I finally won one on ebay and have been trying to decide what to do with it. I was going to put it on my FLM E-Maxx, but it seems like it would make a unique body for this project. My plan is to do something similar to BONDONUTS body, and hack the rear off of it and continue the cab with some Plastruct. Going to be scary cutting up a body I have lusted after for six years!! For the skins, I have in transit six RC4WD 1.9 Rockcrushers which will be mounted on 2.2 Pro-Line Eight-Shooter bead-locks. Crazy, right? I have been doing this with several sets of 1.9 tires, and they look pretty cool. Man, I'm out of breath with all this jaberring.....on to some pics. That's all you guys look at anyways...

Here's the donor vehicle minding it's own business. Sorry girl; we've had a good time over the years....



Should be up to snuff. These are rebadged HiTec servos at ten bucks cheaper.



Proposed electronics. Might give it a go at waterproofing my Wraith esc. Love to have a drag brake, but I love to get it wet.



I also forgot to mention that in my haste to get started, I forgot a few key items. One being the output shaft for the other side of the axle. This would have stopped today's planned progress in its tracks. I decided to hunt around my hardware stash to see if I could find something to work. Found and old hardened link, cut off most of the end threads, applied the e-clip, cut the other end off, and notched it with the dremel. YES! Fits like a glove. I also added some thick CA the the clip for a little extra security....



I also forgot the pin that goes through the locker, as well. That was pretty easy to duplicate. A different sized hardened link became a donor. Filed the burrs off and we're good to go.



This also helps every time. I work third shift, so on my days off, I have all night to wrench in the basement. Probably why it's almost seven a.m. and I'm typing instead of sleeping right now....



Finally, after a lot longer into my night than planned, I have my pass-through axle built.



I also gave the tranny an inspection, a thorough cleaning, and grease job, and put her back together. Filthy, it was! Only one MIP driveshaft on here, because I had to rob one for my Wraith. Broke a CKRC driveshaft, and they have no replacement parts for it!!! Won't ever buy from them again! (But that's already been discussed on another thread. Sorry for even mentioning their name. Won't happen again!)



The powerplant. A bit used, but cleaned up and rebuilt, and it's ready to go.



My progress so far. Was hoping to get some frame work done, but my custom work slowed me down a bit. Not to bad for a night's work!



FLM BL E-MAXX ~ BL E-4TEC Drifter ~ Pro-Trac Slash ~ FLM P2de ~ SCX-10 ~ AX-10 ~ Wraith ~ HPI Custom Nitro dragster ~ 3 Losi micro scalers

[MAXXMASHER]

Since maybe not all of you know what the Streamliner looks like, here it is.





Also, this isn't my first dive into six-wheeled building. I built this behemoth in '07. Basically an E-Maxx and a half. Shoulda kept it.



Here's a shot of some 1.9 Flat Irons mounted on 2.2 Eight shooters that are on my SCX-10 with a Summit body.



And here's a build that took up some of the winter. My E-4tec drifter....hey, it's a scaler! (Yes, I painted it)





FLM BL E-MAXX ~ BL E-4TEC Drifter ~ Pro-Trac Slash ~ FLM P2de ~ SCX-10 ~ AX-10 ~ Wraith ~ HPI Custom Nitro dragster ~ 3 Losi micro scalers

[halfcab]

I never really thought about the summit body for a scaler......but that looks pretty danm good whats the wheel base on it?

[MAXXMASHER]

Originally Posted by halfcab

I never really thought about the summit body for a scaler......but that looks pretty danm good whats the wheel base on it?

I believe it's right at 13 1/2 inches. I had already modified it before this body to put a Topkick body on there. One downfall is that I can't run any of the "scale" bodies for it like this, but all of the E-Maxx bodies will fit it. Also there is a heck of a difference in it's climbing ability with that added wheelbase. That is mainly why I never switched it back.

I did get a little more done on it today. Got my frame rails cut, the tranny drop plates installed, and the tranny in. Now the real fun starts! Still waiting on an eight pack of E-Maxx stock shocks I won on ebay for &13 including shipping and I got an email from Amazon TWO DAYS LATER saying my four Rockcrushers aren't available from the company I selected. No big deal; I just switched to the next cheapest priced store and reordered them. Only getting the tires from them because I still had some monies left on a gift card I got for my birthday. I ordered one set from RPP along with the Plastruct and plastic weld, so I should have those things tomorrow or Saturday. On to more pics!

Had to see how it looks with some axles and wheels under there!



The tranny drop....



Some overhead shots





Had to see how the proposed body will look, too.



A shot with an old body that has a slightly longer wheelbase.



FLM BL E-MAXX ~ BL E-4TEC Drifter ~ Pro-Trac Slash ~ FLM P2de ~ SCX-10 ~ AX-10 ~ Wraith ~ HPI Custom Nitro dragster ~ 3 Losi micro scalers

[halfcab]

Do not tie the rear axles together.... You will not like the way one will affect the other when you do it that way, when one moves...... so does the other it will be interesting to see how the body ends up and the bed starts.

[MAXXMASHER]

Thanks for the advice! I wasn't really going to, anyways. Seems like a lot of you guys have already done all of the homework, so to speak. Makes it a lot easier to look throught everything and pull out what you like about each build and use a conglomeration of various techniques. I must admit, I studied the underside of your 6wheeler, and I will copy it a great deal.

Yeah, the body is going to be an interesting part. I think I am going to cut it off at the angled part behind the cab and put two spare tires with just a little of the tire viewable. Then, I think there will be some sort of a flat bed with tool boxes along each side perhaps. I have a bit of diamond plate Plastruct left over from a previous project. Hard to tell. I would like to do a scratch build from Styrene, and I most likely will. Some day....I want to learn how to braze first to build my own cage around whatever I build. I don't want a truck that I can't try stuff with out of fear of destroying the body on a simple rollover. Me and my bro generally drive hard enough to almost always break something. That's just fine. Play a bit, then it's upgrade time!

FLM BL E-MAXX ~ BL E-4TEC Drifter ~ Pro-Trac Slash ~ FLM P2de ~ SCX-10 ~ AX-10 ~ Wraith ~ HPI Custom Nitro dragster ~ 3 Losi micro scalers

[MAXXMASHER]

Got some goodies in the mail today, and a special surprise from the RPP shipping guy. Off the top of my head, while putting my order in (and watching Return of the Jedi) I asked if he would draw me Yoda driving a Wraith! Wish granted!! Too cool. Gonna have to hang it in my basement workshop. Oh yeah, I got one set of RC4WD 1.9 Rockcrushers, some Plastruct, and bondene. I also got in my Maxx shocks. The only fab work today was to cut out the shock mounts. Trying to do the noisy stuff while my wife is awake. She doesn't react kindly to a screaming dremel or grinder at three in the morning....

How cool is that?





Like sticky gum, these tires. Haven't bought any in awhile. I forgot what new felt like.....



Should do the job. Thinking I might run them droop style. Have had a lot of luck with that type of setup.




FLM BL E-MAXX ~ BL E-4TEC Drifter ~ Pro-Trac Slash ~ SCX-10 ~ Wraith ~Custom 6WD Crawler~ 3 Losi micro scalers

[MAXXMASHER]

Hehehe. I was racking my brain trying to figure out what DZ-6041 meant, couldn't, so I googled it....

http://www.501st.com/members/display...4&costumeID=58

Is this shipping guy?

FLM BL E-MAXX ~ BL E-4TEC Drifter ~ Pro-Trac Slash ~ SCX-10 ~ Wraith ~Custom 6WD Crawler~ 3 Losi micro scalers

[KJ10]

You might have a very valuable piece of art there! Very cool.

[halfcab]

I did the suspension the same on both of mine, I tried the other way and was not satisfied with the way it worked... Well not exactly the same way, I 3 linked it for the steer axles on the globeliner

[MAXXMASHER]

I got a little more done this morning. Got off work at seven a.m. by eight, I was in the basement. I want to get this thing rolling so bad. I could work a little more, but I have to sleep sometime. No work tonight, so I'll make a bit more progress. Might as well share the latest pics.....

Got some crossmembers cut. Not sure if I will use them all, but four should be plenty. I know, exciting stuff!



Pretty much got the front axle on and set where I want it. The tricky part was deciding how and where to mount the upper links. The bottom ones, I had the bent links, but decided to switch them out for straight ones. I may have to notch the part of the frame around the servo a bit. Just a little to tight and I want the frame to be able to settle around it.



Everything seems pretty straight and the suspension articulates nicely. One shock has a bit more oil than the other, so I'll have to correct that. One is so full, the shock doesn't bottom out like it should. Minor stuff, but the more even everything is, the better it will work.



See what I mean about the servo clearance on the sides? The servo tabs stick out even further than the mounts. Sure to get hung up.



Fully unloaded. There is still a good bit of driveshaft making connection.



Pretty good articulation. This truck is going to be fun as hell!!



A little sleep, time with the wife, and in the basement workshop all night. Gotta pack up all my tools, fix my Wraith's front locker, and have my SCX-10 ready to go by Thursday. Heading to my Bro-in-law's for four days. Sorry, Tim! I was hoping to have this thing done in time, but I don't think it's possible.....next time.

FLM BL E-MAXX ~ BL E-4TEC Drifter ~ Pro-Trac Slash ~ SCX-10 ~ Wraith ~Custom 6WD Crawler~ 3 Losi micro scalers

[Calderwood]

Originally Posted by MAXXMASHER

FLM BL E-MAXX ~ BL E-4TEC Drifter ~ Pro-Trac Slash ~ SCX-10 ~ Wraith ~Custom 6WD Crawler~ 3 Losi micro scalers

What's up with you typing out your list of rc at the end of every post?

[halfcab]

Originally Posted by nigels_world

What's up with you typing out your list of rc at the end of every post?

it's called a signature really, I thought you been around here longer than that nigel

[tgh117]

I'll give you a pass. I got my own junk in pieces to take care of, so no worries.

[Calderwood]

Originally Posted by halfcab

it's called a signature really, I thought you been around here longer than that nigel

It's above his Sig... Which he apparently knows how to use since It's filled out too. I was just curious why the list wasn't in the Sig too instead of typing it out each time.

[MAXXMASHER]

There's one for rccrawler and I have a custom one for Tapatalk. Since I almost never view the forum without Tapatalk because I use my Kindle, I don't know how it looks on a Pc. Sorry for causing such a disturbance for ya.....

Hey Tim, how's the Hi-Lift project coming along? Can't wait to see the extended body! Lots of work ahead of me tonight. Man, I hope my other tires come in before we come out there. Even if to use them on the SCX.....

FLM BL E-MAXX ~ BL E-4TEC Drifter ~ Pro-Trac Slash ~ SCX-10 ~ Wraith ~Custom 6WD Crawler~ 3 Losi micro scalers

[tgh117]

My projects are slow. The good news is the floating wheelie king us back in one piece and ready for Owen to run. Can't say much for my own trucks at this point.

[Calderwood]

I was genuinely curious and have never used tapatalk.

[MAXXMASHER]

I meant to update the thread yesterday, as I got so much done the night before. I really though this project was going to take quite awhile to complete. It is a runner already!! The fact that it is a runner, however does not mean that it is done. It just means I'll be able to run it with my best bud and bro-in-law this weekend. Being five hours away now, we don't get much crawling time together anymore. I put the pedal to the metal and got this thing mobile!! Once this weekend is done, I will really tweak it a lot. The body is going to be a major project in itself and will probably take longer than the initial build did. Having a ton of hardware on hand sure helped a lot, too. I almost ran out of locknuts. I found myself at the end searching my various boxes for just a few more. I ended up taking some off of old road bodies that held wings on! An order from Harley will be in my near future for sure. I also ended up getting my other four RC4WD Rock Crushers a lot faster than I thought I would. Built those bead-locks after work this morning. For now the body is a cab of an old F250 scale body that had the piss beat out of it. Didn't mind cutting it up so much. The front is on body posts and the rear I took a square piece of the top of the bed, still attatched, heated the seam and bent downward to form the back of the cab somewhat. I the cut into part of that, a set of tabs which I heated, put holes in and mounted that to the shock mounts in the middle. The rear, I'll just leave bare for now. Good enough for a weekend of play. On to some pics.....


One of the trickiest parts was figuring out how to mount the rear servo with the axle flipped upside down. I used the three link mount in the normal position and put some spacers in to add a second three link mount on the other side. Just the two mount points for now. Seems strong enough. Time will tell. If my scratch built crawler from '07 is any indication, I'll be modding it after every run for six months! Didn't know much back then all trial by error....


Showing the top (bottom) of the rear axle and the mounts for the servo.





My fancy servo mount....





Sandwiched the two plates together for more strength and drilled the hole to attatch it to the three link mount.





Kinda missed with one of the holes, but no matter. Nothing to screw it to underneath. Probably will add a post on the top of the axle at some point.





Was starting to look like a rig....





Bent a piece of steel used to attatch wood joints together in carpentry to make a sturdy battery tray that keeps it above the front servo. Will rust in it's current form, but I'm going to tear this thing apart after the weekend and prime & paint the chassis. Already had pre-drilled holes. I attatched some grippy rubber sheet and added a Velcro strap to the lipo in place.





I also had some liquid electricians tape on hand, so I decided to waterproof the Axial AE-2 speed control. Gotta have drag brake!





Really coming together at this point. Keep in mind, I did all this in one night.....





Beater body added.....





Nothing like fresh new tires! This is where a lipo mini screw gun really comes in handy....





Got them put together and mounted this morning. Looking bad ass! ('Cept for that sorry body!)





Ready for the weekend!! You're gonna love this truck, Tim!! You gotta help me tweak the suspension, though. Doesn't want to flex all that freely. I think the frame is a bit too close to the servos, and they are hanging up. I also need to back off some fasteners and apply tread lock for safety. The shocks may need some internal springs, too. Not bad for a three day project!!!




FLM BL E-MAXX ~ BL E-4TEC Drifter ~ Pro-Trac Slash ~ SCX-10 ~ Wraith ~Custom 6WD Crawler~ 3 Losi micro scalers

[halfcab]

you will want to ditch the bent lower links on the rear axle they will bend on the first good tumble.........been there, done that 6x6 = more weight than they can withstand