IFS w/ 4 link front and 3 or 4 link rear.

[T-Man]

I have been looking at a few things here and there for the E-Maxx. Has anyone done an IFS with link set-up? I am looking at doing this and was just wondering if anyone has tried it already. I have an E-Maxx coming in this week that I want to start with. I also have an older T-Maxx chassis with links that I was going to tear into to make this up. Not sure if I will use the chassis or not though.

Any info would be greatly appreciated. Not sure when I will get started on this. I am trying to get my 1:1 finished up, and then get my new CLOD going and then I am going to really get into this project.

Thanks
Mark

[MOTORRAD]

Do you plan on running active IFS and active links? or are you going to lock out one or the other?

[thegodofclod]

i think he is talking about both active....


this is possible however with a full suspension set up you can mount your battery in front and there for have to mount it on the chassis....makes your cog higher. and with link mounted maxx axles you also have to wory about if the arm moves up what that does to the links....it will screw everything thats in alignment up and basically it wont work.....its better to lock it and link it

[T-Man]

Originally Posted by thegodofclod

i think he is talking about both active....


this is possible however with a full suspension set up you can mount your battery in front and there for have to mount it on the chassis....makes your cog higher. and with link mounted maxx axles you also have to wory about if the arm moves up what that does to the links....it will screw everything thats in alignment up and basically it wont work.....its better to lock it and link it

Thats's right, I want both active.

Well, I was thinking the same, but I was also figuring that I could try it out first and if it doesn't work, then I can lock up the IFS part when I am done trying. Which may take a while because I am a little bit of a hard head. I know there has to be a way to do it, but it just needs to be tried. I mean, we are crawling, not racing, so the slow speeds won't affect the pinions as much as flat out torque on a fast punch. (not sure if that made sense)

So, I guess nobody else has tried this?

[MUD4FUN]

Hi T-man,

I tried this on my scratch built crawler a few months ago but it didn't work out well. There are several problems:

1) The IFS articulates first before the 4 link arrangement and uses up much of the shock travel leaving the rest of the axle dropped low down exposed to rocks etc and the overall articulation was less than when I locked up the IFS and ran stock 4 link.

2) The steering rods would have to be individual items and carefully designed for an IFS truck, ideally they need to be same length as wishbones and pivot at those same points as the wishbones. Failure to do this results in bad 'bump' steer which is aggrevated by the larger tyres. If you lock the IFS up you can run a standard drag link from wheel to wheel and a single drop arm from the servo to one end of the drag link. This gives a better turning circle and keeps the tyres parallel throughout the turn.

3) The IFS proved difficult to tune the shocks/springs to achieve taht perfect balance between just firm enough to support the truck weight and soft enough to allow good articulation.


Generally I would really recommend locking the IFS up. The extra ground clearance under the diff is great and that clearance remains equal as the tyres move up over an obstacle. The IFS caused me to get hung up too many times as one tyre lifted and left the diff to hit the rock I was trying to climb over.

Here is a pic which shows my locked up IFS axles. You can see a small link made up from two (blue) rod ends, is is mounted on the lower wishbone pivot point in the gearbox case and it runs up to the upper arms. This is really simple but effective as it forms a triangulation rod. It can easily be removed to run both IFS and 4 link if you also change to individual steering rods as well. I prefer the single rod and drag link as shown here as it is much stronger.



Strictly speaking I'm not running 4 link but rather 3 link, in my case my upper location is by 'A' arms with a single pivot point on the axle. This is a 10mm swivel ball.

[T-Man]

Thanks for the info. I will take all that in advisement.

On another note, the tire to tire, or knuckle to knuckle connecting rod is called the "Tie Rod" The Tie rod connects the steering knuckles. The drag link goes from the pitman arm, or in this case the servo, to one of the knuckles. The drag link moved the steering and the tie rod is there to move the tires together in the same directions at the same time.

[MUD4FUN]

On another note, the tire to tire, or knuckle to knuckle connecting rod is called the "Tie Rod"

LOL, yeah I knew that, just typing too fast for my brain to keep up!!

Good luck with your project!