Steering knuckle extenders?

[bbaXJ]

Has anybody made steering knuckle extenders for Maxx knuckles before? I'm running stock Maxx wheels with homemade beadlocks and it looks like my steering will be limited by the inside of the wheels hitting the tie rod. I know there are different options to fix this.....different wheels, narrow the stock wheels, Revo knuckles(though I don't think they'd fix my problem), goofy bends on the tie rod, etc. 40 series wheels would probably fix the problem altogether, but I'd prefer my beadlocks over those. Anyway....here's my idea. I'm gonna sandwich a couple steel pieces over the stock knuckles. There will be 2 bolts holding them on, and they will curve as close to the axleshafts as possible and come out from inside the wheel. The tie rod will mount to these to the inside of the wheel.....not inside of the wheel, but toward the center of the axle from the wheel. Sorry if it sounds like jibberish, it's hard to put into words. Sort of the same mounting position that TXTs and stuff use. Has anybody ever done something like this on Maxx diffs? Any other ideas I should try?

[TwistedCreations]

I'm pretty sure I seen someone make a high steer knuckle type setup for a maxx. They extended out also if I recall right. I'll see if I can't find it

[bbaXJ]

Extending them up is a good idea.....I'll have to do that too so I don't need to run some kind of bent tie rod setup.

[kaaina]

hey twisted does anyone make e-maxx widenners? my tires hit the links at full turn. besides i like it wide... thanx ka'aina

[TwistedCreations]

Umm, I have went braindead this morning, plus been taking care of other stuff. But I seem to recall someone does.

Although I highly suggest sending Bender a PM. He is busy as hell most times, but well worth the wait. I get all my adapters and such through him.Very top notch quality.

[mazdaparts]

Some company make some wide wheel hexes. I have a set, bought them at the LHS. Maybe Parma.

[bbaXJ]

I don't wanna make it any wider.....with the stock Maxx wheels and Moabs it's already 16" wide. That'll be plenty, so I'll just do some creative steering.

[mazdaparts]

If you don't want to go wider, then you will have to find some different rod ends that are notched for the wheel. I have seen a few made for 1/8th scale buggies. Or you could narrow the wheel.

[bbaXJ]

Originally Posted by mazdaparts

If you don't want to go wider, then you will have to find some different rod ends that are notched for the wheel. I have seen a few made for 1/8th scale buggies. Or you could narrow the wheel.

I don't need to do either of those. I made some knuckle extenders out of steel plate. They're not very big or heavy, but get the job done. I was gonna sandwich two pieces of the plate together from the top and bottom of the existing steering arm, but there's no need to. As it is the steel is already stronger than the plastic arm, so that'll break before the steel bends.
Got some more work done on it. Added some pieces to the frame Thursday....bracing in the front end, battery mounting, steering arms for the knuckles, etc. Friday night my eye started to get really irritated and I discovered a metal sliver lodged in it. Went to the doctor first thing Sat morning and got it dug out. There's a fun experience.....second time I've had it done, and I was wearing safety glasses both times it happened. Didn't have much motivation to work on it after that yesterday, but I spent a couple hours on it this afternoon. Took some metal off the front diff housing, made a beefy servo mount, upper link mount, and then made some links and got the axle in place. It finally feels like I'm makin some real progress since the axle is at least attached.



I'll get better pics tomorrow or something.