The Maxx Project - Pt. 3

[OSRC]

Well, I haven't really finished part 1 or 2 yet, but what the hell, let's start a third one!

Started off with this one. Another Maxx roller I picked up on the cheap, about $100. I converted it to a low CG E-Maxx - huge motor, 3S, and geared for monster truck duty. Heck of a basher, but I had a hard time finding a body for it. Putting everything on the lower chassis give it a low belly, and with the body sitting on top of the shock towers, I couldn't get it low enough to cover the chassis and it just looked hack. Ran awesome though - I don't drive fast much anymore, it kind of awed me with how freaking fast this truck went. I grew up in the Grasshopper days and sometimes forget how powerful brushless motors can be.


Sometimes cool ideas happen to pop up out of nowhere. While helping my daughter with her math homework (and trying to dredge up stuff I haven't thought of in 35 years) I was idly thinking about what to do with those tall shock towers. Having just built up the Summit project, I got the bright idea of somehow adopting the rockers over to the Maxx platform. So in between trying to explain how to re-write equivalent expressions to a reticent 11 year old, I was doodling on my notebook and came up with a plan. The next morning before work, I ran down to cut up a piece of scrap aluminum and drilled some quick holes, stole the front end off the aforementioned basher E-Maxx, and played with some leftover project parts. Boom! Turns out it's not hard at all.


So of course I had to go out and burn a paycheck and ordered a ton of bits and pieces. Actually, there are a ton of TRX chopshops still on e-bay and I found everything fairly cheap. I needed front LT rockers all around since they had a bit more offset, so I ordered two sets of those, plus posts, shocks and pushrods. I found these HB 4x40mm turnbuckles for a whopping $2.36/pair, and used some TRX4 rod ends.


Posts and Revo shocks showed up.. since the Maxx uses the same shock setup on the front and rear of the tower, I just mirrored the rocker and shock setup front to rear on either side. It all fell together perfectly!


Final mock up... I had these old Moabs on PL beadlocks stashed away, I think it's finally time to use them.


Seeing that everything seemed to work out, I tore down the mockup and started building for real. Finalized the shock tower and made 2 of them, and went to the hardware store and got some 6mm locknuts for the rocker posts. Can't start a project without a proper pair of rocker nuts.


Died the rockers and some of the other parts black and re-assembled. I think it looks badass personally. I left the diffs in for now, but they are filled with earplug silicone and are pretty stiff. I need to order some spools eventually. The rockers support as much travel as the arms will give, so it's got a ton of travel, and it moves like butter. I'll fine tune the suspension once I get it standing on the tires.



Compared to the original shock tower. It's much lower overall... probably raises the COG putting rockers and shocks up there, but I don't care.


I've built 2 quick chassis for this already and scrapped them both. Not sure what I want to do here yet... I'd really like to use the Element trans for a bit of OD, about a 16" WB and definitely 4 wheel steering, but that's as far as I got. I could just drop the axle assemblies on the C-maxx and call it a day, but that truck is working damn good and I don't want to mess with it. So I'll just build a 3rd Maxx trail truck, what the hell. Not for any specific goals really, just for the sake of building something. I've got something in mind.

[MaX-D]

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[SpareParts]

Very cool, I love when there's updates from OSRC projects! Pushrod suspension is just neat and you made it look so clean.

The element transmission is nice for the OD and also for being smooth and quiet.

[Gula]

Great idea! Do you think the transmission will hold up to big tires like that?

[OSRC]

The Chineseium trans in the C-maxx has been holding up fine, so I think the Element should be OK. Can always go with steel gears internally if needed.

[xwaz]

I ran a StealthX in a steel cage wraith with a Castle 2850Kv on 3s for 6 months without issue. It was on proline 2.2 swamper. Never slipped a gear or had any issue out of them, I think because the front and rear outputs are separate it might help durability.

[OSRC]

This is going to be a slooow winter build. I'm running out of time for trail runs as it's getting a bit nipply here in the NE, and I don't do trail runs below 40 degrees.. so it's almost exclusively wrench time. I do plan on redoing my workbench this winter as well, so I don't have to take pics with my ugly mug ghosting in the TV all the time.

Killed 2 birds with one stone here. My RockerMaxx assemblies had the old school 1.5 axles in them, and I knew they were not going to hold up to trail/crawl duty since I just grenaded one on the C-maxx, so I was planning to upgrade. I just picked up this OG E-maxx in excellent condition off Ebay for $140 shipped, not a bad deal. I've never had one, though I've used the transmission in some old builds, so I pulled the trigger. Now I've got a 1.5 T-maxx, and the E version to match!

Anyway, the PO swapped on the newer generation arms and shafts on the E-Maxx... I wanted to go back to the 1.5 arms since I think the overall stance of the truck is much better. So I had the arms laying around, and the axles were on the RockerMaxx assemblies, and I need to port over the entire suspension of the Maxx. So I spent a night re-arranging parts between the two.

Doner E-maxx, as it arrived. I've already put in a nice BL system on 3S and had some fun! The wide maxx setup on the short 12" WB just looked odd, so time to switch!


Tools ready, Family Feud on the TV and in for a fun night of swapping parts.


and done...the E-maxx is back to it's original form, and the RockerMaxx got some much needed beef in the axles. Very happy with how it all shook out. On a side note, the E-maxx I bought came with a super heavy front bumper. I think it's aluminum, but it's very heavy... not sure what it is, but it will find it's way to a crawler at some point. Some much needed weight up front!


and for the record, I'm up to 5 Maxx platforms now. I'm not sure why...

[Gula]

I'm surprised youre finding rollers on ebay that low. Trannies alone are like $100. You can never have enough e-maxx parts. Definitely save the og chassis. I spent about 6 months and paid $40+ for a new chassis to rebuild a 3906.

[OSRC]

They are out there, 2 I found local and the rest online. This is the only E-maxx I've bought though, all the rest have been old T-maxx's which seem to still go pretty cheap.

Just picked up an OG body for it for $20. Not bad!

[cartronicshn]

Why did i have to come and look in here, now i want to do something to my old emaxx which has been run maybe 15-20 minutes in the last 10 years, as if i didnt have enough unfinished projects, the build is looking awesome btw, i am subscribed