exceed rc maxstone 16 upgrades and tuning?

[MRCCRAWLER1.9]

Oh okay, btw isn't it possible to shim your abit linkage bait to use the mrc axle with the ems steering linkage?

[jebster]

Originally Posted by toyotatrucks83

Being that the CVDs are the most expensive part of this experiment I don't think I'll be grinding anything off of them. I will just hang tight till I have a proper place to use these axles.

Side note for Jebster. I got my 10 tooth motor pinion installed. It does help to slow it down quite a bit. There is still cogging but that should be expected with a non sensored brushless motor. It is much better though.

glad to hear the 10T pinion is helping.

i'm curious about one thing. the MRC cvd looks to be the same length as the EMS dogbone. i noticed that while the EMS has the longer flat area that connects into the diff it didn't appear to me that all of it was inserted. in the stock EMS setup did you measure how much of each shaft actually goes into the diff housing?

[toyotatrucks83]

Jebster. In this photo it is hard to see because the lighting is so bad. But the EMS axle goes in almost all the way.

[toyotatrucks83]

Oh and Jebster. When I was looking at making my factory dogbones work I removed the c-clip that holds the outer bearing in place so that i could let the axle free float in the housing making more axle shaft come through into the halfshaft. It was working pretty well. But it appears the EMS axles are just a little on the short side anyway.

[Dizzle Chuucha]

I have a welder if anyone wants to cut and paste things together.

[toyotatrucks83]

I wanted to post this picture of how I removed the c-clip on the axle shaft and am letting the axle "free float" in the housing. I put that in quotes because it isn't really free floating because the axle sits fairly snug in the bearing. But I have it positioned about 1/8" inward making them fit in the half shafts further and allowing tighter turning with out braking a c-hub. I know this is kind of a temporary fix.

[jebster]

finally got some pics of the front axles with the exceed aluminum c-hubs and HR aluminum knuckles. pretty sturdy but turning angle isn't great.

the next couple shots show the ackerman angle in stock configuration and then with modified plastic knuckles. you can see from the lines that stock is pretty far from zero ackerman.

in the last couple pics you can see my mockup of the setup with zero ackerman knuckles. the wheels stay parallel through the turn which is helping me to get a tighter turning radius. need to make a stronger draglink but i think this mod will help.

[MRCCRAWLER1.9]

looks awesome!

but may i suggest, changing your End points, Expo, and the power closer 100%?

seems like you can get alittle bit more steering!

[jebster]

Originally Posted by MRCCRAWLER1.9

looks awesome!

but may i suggest, changing your End points, Expo, and the power closer 100%?

seems like you can get alittle bit more steering!

i could move the endpoints but then the issue is the dogbone jumping out of the cup if the angle is pushed much further. the is the weakness in the front end, the dogbone/cup.

one other quick fix i was thinking about was putting a heavy spring inside the diff locker between the two drive shafts. it would push the dogbones out into the cups which should help keep it from jumping out at larger turning angles.

[MRCCRAWLER1.9]

well, look at your left turn, it looks shorter by a few degrees than the right turn..

oh okay, gotcha

[jebster]

Originally Posted by MRCCRAWLER1.9

well, look at your left turn, it looks shorter by a few degrees than the right turn..

oh okay, gotcha

i haven't tuned anything since i did the mockup with with the quick draglink i made. you are probably correct that my left and right endpoints are not balanced yet.

[monkeyracer]

Your modified plastic knuckles look good, but as you know zero ackerman is when the tie rod center to center distance is the same as the king pin center to center distance.

Your angles are close enough, and a lot more accurate for "near zero ackerman" than what losi claims for thier knuckles. You'll get a lot better performance from what you've done, but now it's time to drill some holes in the aluminum knuckles.

[jebster]

Originally Posted by monkeyracer

Your modified plastic knuckles look good, but as you know zero ackerman is when the tie rod center to center distance is the same as the king pin center to center distance.

Your angles are close enough, and a lot more accurate for "near zero ackerman" than what losi claims for thier knuckles. You'll get a lot better performance from what you've done, but now it's time to drill some holes in the aluminum knuckles.

i modified the plastic knuckles just to try it out before i drill into the aluminum knuckles. when i drill the aluminum knuckles i'm going to be more exact on the length so that i get the draglink and king pin distances equal (i.e. zero ackerman).

before i drill the aluminum knuckles i need to a 2.5mm tap. i haven't been able to find one before so i hope i have better luck this time.

[joelsman]

anybody have problems not getting full throttle from their's, mine started only getting half throttle in reverse the other day. when I switch the servo reverse switch it only has half throttle in forward(reverse tx throttle postion, forward esc). So I think the problem is the tx.

So far:
- moved body down 2cm
- battery on rear axle
- receiver and esc in the battery area(centered so the body can be slammed)
- removed bumpers
- removed front foams

still need to add front wheel weights

I used a narrow flat screw driver to scrape the tires off the rims, worked ok, you have to go around 2x at different angles. took about 3-4min per tire.

[toyotatrucks83]

Originally Posted by joelsman

anybody have problems not getting full throttle from their's, mine started only getting half throttle in reverse the other day. when I switch the servo reverse switch it only has half throttle in forward(reverse tx throttle postion, forward esc). So I think the problem is the tx.

So far:
- moved body down 2cm
- battery on rear axle
- receiver and esc in the battery area(centered so the body can be slammed)
- removed bumpers
- removed front foams

still need to add front wheel weights

I used a narrow flat screw driver to scrape the tires off the rims, worked ok, you have to go around 2x at different angles. took about 3-4min per tire.

Joelsman, I was having that same problem with my son's EMS. I was blaming the ESC for the problem. Then I swapped the radios and the problem went away. I took that radio apart, but it maybe a small problem like the radio needs new batteries. There are a few people posting complaints with the 4 AA batteried radios on the Nitro RCX forum. You maybe able to return it and get a new radio or an 8 batteried radio.

[toyotatrucks83]

I have bought a used MRC with some upgraded parts so I could take it apart, gets some measurements, and seal part for my EMS. With MRC parts in my hand I'm surprised how the EMS is better designed than the MRC. But no upgrade parts or aftermarket for the EMS so I will be seeing what I can do with this MRC.

There was a post back a while ago asking about the transmission gears being swappable. Some of them are. The main one, where Losi uses the center diff locker, is swappable. But the EMS is a better design and uses the 5mm output shafts so more driveshaft options are available. But I'm pretty sure you can get metal gears for the MRC. That would still leave the 2 other shafts in the transmission plastic (if you are trying to put losi gears in the EMS) with plastic gears and they are not swappable. Yet very close. I've been bashing my EMS around with a brushless motor and 2 cell lipo. I'm not having any problems with the tranny, axle diffs, or driveshafts. The weak link for me is the front axle when trying to make tight turns. The extra power shows it destructive head there.

I'm going to take apart the axles next and see if I can get the EMS pinion with the 5mm shaft to swap into the MRC housing. I'd like to keep my stock driveshafts. They are working fine.

[MRCCRAWLER1.9]

Originally Posted by joelsman

]
- removed front foams

no... you want Foams in your tires, cut them into a star shape.. if you dont have enough support in the tire, you wont crawl anything.. too much, they dont conform correctly to the object your crawling. cut them into a star shape and put them back.. that way you have enough pressure to support your kit, while having enough bite/.

[MRCCRAWLER1.9]

]I have bought a used MRC with some upgraded parts so I could take it apart, gets some measurements, and seal part for my EMS. With MRC parts in my hand I'm surprised how the EMS is better designed than the MRC. But no upgrade parts or aftermarket for the EMS so I will be seeing what I can do with this MRC.
How is the EMS designed better than the MRC? i dont really see it.. when i look at pics of the EMS, it looks really top heavy.

There was a post back a while ago asking about the transmission gears being swappable. Some of them are. The main one, where Losi uses the center diff locker, is swappable. But the EMS is a better design and uses the 5mm output shafts so more driveshaft options are available. But I'm pretty sure you can get metal gears for the MRC.
yup there are, the Hot Racing Gears

[toyotatrucks83]

Sorry MRCCRAWLER. I will clarify. Some parts are better designed. I'm not trying to start any fights here. I'm just pointing out my opinion on certain parts. The EMS is very top heavy stock. And so is the MRC.
The parts I'm referring to as "better designed" on the EMS vs MRC:
-The center diff on the losi is like 6 parts and where power is transferred there is only like 1/8" contact. So even with metal upgrades it still is like, Why so many pieces with so little contact.
The center diff on the EMS is 3 pieces. Gear, solid metal shaft, and metal locking pin.
-The MRC diffs are the same as the center diff complaint I had. The EMS is has more that twice the contact area with the axle shafts.
Now I'm sure Losi uses better plastics, metals, screws and that is why I'm not saying the EMS is better than the MRC. From a design point of view, that is my opinion, the EMS looks to have a simpler stronger design.
I repeat. I'm not trying to start any fights. I'm just pointing out what parts of my EMS I'd like to keep and why. This is a EMS post and we are all looking for some help and ideas with the very little upgrades and no aftermarket we have.

I will be buying a Losi mini comp roller at some point later. I had a chance to see, touch , and watch one drive today. They are very awesome. But I will be keeping the EMSs for tinkering and playing with the boy. They are very fun. I think I'm going to turn my son's into a tow truck with a flat bed. He loves pulling trailers around and putting stuff on top of the truck. He puts corn on the back and drives it over to our chickens for them to eat. Imagine what he could do with a trailer and flatbed. I'm going to attempt homemade budget comp crawler with my EMS. So I will be staying here to post finds and see what others have found.

[MRCCRAWLER1.9]

ohhh gotcha, who ever said a fight

wow, that does kinda does make better sense. but then again, i tihnk the loose contact is good so it allows the parts to be under less stress. who knows

lol making that trailer will be easy, from seeing what you've already done to your EMS.

Now im not trying to start a fuss, but a Budget EMS sounds alittle out of reach. yes, you can get the EMS to run better than stock, but running at a comp level on a budgets almost impossible, but id like to see where this goes