exceed rc maxstone 16 upgrades and tuning?

[jebster]

i'm thinking about getting one of these for my young (5yr) son so he can bash around on the rock piles with my venom creeper. for $80 it seems hard to beat. i've been reading posts in the forum and know there are issues with CG and torque twist. with some link mods (possibly making it 4 link) and placing the battery on the axle i think those issues can be addressed. if anyone else is out there with this crawler i'd like to hear what they've done. for example, any motor upgrades? what size hex does it use if i wanted to upgrade wheels/tires?

one other thing. how tough is this little crawler? knowing my son will be trigger happy i'm hoping it is pretty durable.

[jebster]

Originally Posted by crawlhog

had one for my kid not that great but if you want to get an exceed get him the mad crawler for $40.00 more still not the greatest had one of those too but much more durable and easier to work on and alot of axial parts will fit for upgrades my kid was trigger happy to but suprisingly nothing ever broke on the mad c and it was fun to bash with good luck with your decision

i appreciate the feedback. what types of problems did you have with the maxstone 16? while $40 for a mad crawler isn't a lot that is 50% more than the $80 i can get the maxstone 16 for. as long as it can take some reasonable abuse without breaking i can put the extra $40 into parts.

[pardonmyn00b]

I didn't keep mine in stock form, but I haven't had anything break on it yet. It's pretty damn slow out of the box. Which may be good for the young ones. The hexes are standard 12mm btw. Makes for a good donor for scalers if you don't want to pay for a whole MRC just to rob the axles. I'd like to get another and hold on to it.

[jebster]

that's a nice looking truck. hearing you haven't had anything break and that it is pretty slow are both positive in my book if i'm going to let my son run it.

[offplane]

that is a sweet lookin toyota! is that a bruiser body? what you got under it?

[jebster]

Originally Posted by pardonmyn00b

I didn't keep mine in stock form, but I haven't had anything break on it yet. It's pretty damn slow out of the box. Which may be good for the young ones. The hexes are standard 12mm btw. Makes for a good donor for scalers if you don't want to pay for a whole MRC just to rob the axles. I'd like to get another and hold on to it.

i forgot to ask earlier. did you do much to the chassis/suspension on yours? could you post a few pics without the body?

[jebster]

i've decided to purchase this crawler. even if it doesn't do well it's hard to pass up on $80. if my son doesn't get into it i'm only out $80.

i do have a couple questions for anyone out there with the maxstone 16:

1. what size (tooth & pitch) is the motor pinion?
2. is the 260 motor a standard size? i'm not familiar with that designation. what are it's dimensions (length, diameter, shaft size)? what replacement options are available?
3. is the steering servo a standard servo size? it's not a mini or micro, right?
4. what is the fully extended shock length?

i have plans to tweek and tune this with stuff i have lying around.

[mudn_1]

My buddy just bought a maxstone10 and it looks to me like its all axial or integy parts with no logo on it.......

[jebster]

Originally Posted by mudn_1

My buddy just bought a maxstone10 and it looks to me like its all axial or integy parts with no logo on it.......

you think losi MRC parts (shocks, wheels, motors, etc) would work with the maxstone 16?

[jebster]

so, my maxstone 16 is in the mail. here are my plans (these are quick fixes i plan for no cost with things laying around):

1. convert 3-link to true 4-link geometry to address torque twist.
2. make battery plate on rear axle to lower battery.
3. move esc & receiver lower. might relocate to front axle or upper links.
4. possibly replace shocks.
5. put on a larger pinion. it looks VERY slow and i might want more wheelspeed

a question for anyone out there that might have this crawler already: what voltage is the esc rated at? i want to run lipo (to extend the runtime). if the esc can handle it i'd just get a novak smartstop to install then use my existing lipos (2s). if the esc can't handle the higher power i'd upgrade the esc/motor to a 1/18 brushless system.

[monkeyracer]

Originally Posted by jebster

so, my maxstone 16 is in the mail. here are my plans (these are quick fixes i plan for no cost with things laying around):

1. convert 3-link to true 4-link geometry to address torque twist.
2. make battery plate on rear axle to lower battery.
3. move esc & receiver lower. might relocate to front axle or upper links.
4. possibly replace shocks.
5. put on a larger pinion. it looks VERY slow and i might want more wheelspeed

a question for anyone out there that might have this crawler already: what voltage is the esc rated at? i want to run lipo (to extend the runtime). if the esc can handle it i'd just get a novak smartstop to install then use my existing lipos (2s). if the esc can't handle the higher power i'd upgrade the esc/motor to a 1/18 brushless system.

I was planning on getting one of these for my brother to get into crawling, but planned to put it under a scale body. I've been looking at these for a little while, and wanted to see what everyone thought. Problem is, most people who know what they are talking about with crawlers shy away from it as just another knock off, and people buying them are typically newbies that are just getting into the hobby, so there's not a whole lot of good feedback with these things (durability, capability, parts interchange with the MRC, etc.)

To respond to your post:

1. Definitely 4 link it, TT is not as bad as with the 1:10 axial knock off, but 4 linking the rear will definitely help. Good link geometry can be a big difference in how well it performs.

2. and 3. Get the COG as low as possible. Lower the battery, lower the electronics, etc. Lower the body while you're at it.

4. I was thinking of keeping the shocks to at least start out and see what they could do. I don't see anything necessarily flawed with their design, but a set of aluminum threaded body shocks would provide great adjustibility.

5. Getting a better motor will help with wheelspeed. The 260 motor size is smaller than the 370 motor that the MRCs come with. Just get one of the motors people use in the MRC. I was planning on using the Titan 380 from the brushed mini slash/e-revos but will probably need to fabricate a new motor plate. If you still need more wheelspeed, then an bigger spur will work, but don't go too much because you need the low speed torque for crawling.

To add, what I was planning:

2s LiPo - which should be just fine for this ESC. If it can handle 7.2v NiMh (which is really over 8v when the batteries are fully charged), It will be fine with the little bit of extra voltage. A smart stop would be a good idea, but you can train yourself to recognize when the battery is close to LVC.

New tires - I was thinking I'd go with cut'n'shut Mashers (since this will be a scale build, the tires will look a lot like mudder tires) which end up around 4.5" on 1.9s (too big for comp crawling though) The OEM look pretty scale, but I am not sure on the rubber compound.

New chassis - Since it will be a scale build, it will get a scale chassis, but the OEM chassis doesn't look too bad. 1.9 comp chassis' aren't that expensive though, and will work without too much hassle.

Full size servo (probably HS-645 or similar) - These come with a smaller size servo stock, but I will likely be chassis-mounting the servo for scale points. If you are making a new axle plate for the battery, you can make one to fit the normal servo on it.

Shave the bottom of the axle (stand offs for the axle guards - which are pointless)

Upgrade to 12mm hexes (if they aren't 12mm, I've been getting conflicting info on this. Their website has them listed as 10mm, but people that have them say 12mm.) I'm inclined to believe pardonmyn00b though.

Probably upgrade to Mini E-revo shafts.

Other than that, the axles look fine, and I like the spool that comes with it over the plastic lockers that the MRCs use. It looks like the parts will interchange, but without either truck, I can't say for sure.

Good luck with your build!

[jebster]

i appreciate all the feedback. i'll post up info as i make changes. the biggest change i hope to make is the motor upgrade down the line. i worry about the transmission handling higher power motor.

[jebster]

got the maxstone 16 and i have to admit it seems pretty good. i'm modifying the shock mounts a little, dropping down the battery and electronics, tweaked the upper link lengths, greased the transmission and axles, changes the steering link arm a little, changed some hardware over to hex (were possible). just ordered a brushless esc/motor combo so i get more wheelspeed and can run lipos.

will get some pics up once all the changes are done.

[jebster]

haven't gotten it on the rocks yet but just tooling around the basement was fun. with the brushless system it is quick and has quite a bit of low speed torque. i actually dialed it down because i was afraid it would be too fast for my son. attached are a few pics of where it is today.

[kirbybuilt54]

jebster:
Where did you mount the battery. I've been looking to lower everything but can't seem to find a place to mount the battery other than the stock location. more pics would be great.

[auffquest]

Jebster, i just one last week. what brushless system did you put in yours. i have one out of a 1/16th slash i was going to use. also have you had any issues with the dog bones popping apart under full turn?

its a fun little truck, but mine has been prone with problems and i've maybe been through 3 stock battery packs. within the 1st run my servo burned up. no biggy though now has a 645. but now i have the dogbone issue and not sure how to fix it. any thoughts?

[jebster]

Originally Posted by kirbybuilt54

jebster:
Where did you mount the battery. I've been looking to lower everything but can't seem to find a place to mount the battery other than the stock location. more pics would be great.

i mount my battery (venom 2s 1250mAh lipo) on the lexan plate you see in the picks on the rear upper links (has the velcro).

i'll try to get more pics sometime but my wife says i have to pack it away since it is suppose to be an x-mas present for our son!

[jebster]

Originally Posted by auffquest

Jebster, i just one last week. what brushless system did you put in yours. i have one out of a 1/16th slash i was going to use. also have you had any issues with the dog bones popping apart under full turn?

its a fun little truck, but mine has been prone with problems and i've maybe been through 3 stock battery packs. within the 1st run my servo burned up. no biggy though now has a 645. but now i have the dogbone issue and not sure how to fix it. any thoughts?

i haven't run mine much so no problems yet but i can't speak to it's durability. for the brushless system i bought the following: http://www.nitrorcx.com/ezrun-brushless-combo-a2.html. cost my $40 shipped. i went with this system so i could run lipos. it is fast with this system so i've dialed it down so my son can run it.

i'm expecting the stock servo to burn up quickly but i have a couple spares if needed. as far as dogbone issue what is the problem? is the joint binding up?

[kirbybuilt54]

I have had mine for just over 3 weeks now and have run through the battery about 10 times now. The only problem I have had was the little pin in the driveline was pushing out. A little dab of super glue and haven't had anyother issues. I has worked great. Probably the most fun $100 I have spent in a while. Now I am working on lowering it. I just finished setting it up as 90% droop. I'll find out tonight how well it works.

[auffquest]

Originally Posted by jebster

as far as dogbone issue what is the problem? is the joint binding up?

at half turn or more the pin in the axle shaft comes out of the groove in the outer shaft. this has cause one of the inners to jump out of the outer then the wheel binds and snaps. also it has now worn the outer. I've switch the worn outer to the rear for now, but hoped someone had a fix for this. i plan on building a jeep liberty scaler with this and was wanted a permanent repair before going out scaling. plus i have a vilenium 380 setup for this. (needed to be water proof, we're not afraid to go swimming). can't imagine how quick that'll pop the shafts apart if its happening with the dinky motor in there now.
i took the housings apart and can't seem to imagine how to shim the inner shaft outboard a couple mm's. non of the dogbone pins are centered in the outer's groove

sorry for being longwinded, any help would be nice.