Another homemade Maxx tuber(lots of pics)

[bbaXJ]

After having a blast with friends' Nylints back in the fall I decided I wanted an RC crawler. I was set to get one of those, then saw stuff about custom ones, and was directed to this site. Made my way to the Maxx section and liked what I saw. Since I have one of the original T-Maxx's(got it less than 2 weeks after they first came out) sitting on a shelf collecting dust, it seemed like a cool project....especially since I love to fab stuff. I also already had a Tekin Rebel 1 sitting on the same shelf from a Rustler my dad built back in the day. Did some research, gathered some parts, did some more research, and it's been a slow ongoing build for a couple months now. I usually only have a couple hours a week to work on this thing, so I figured I'd make some significant progress before I bothered making a thread about it. Anyway, onto the pics.

I made the axles first, using the stock Maxx shafts I already had. I made it to about 13" wide so I can have various choices for upgrades if these start breaking.



For the chassis I'm doing the typical brazed brakeline, mostly 1/4". I've taken ideas I've liked from various other crawlers and ideas of my own to make a chassis that seems fairly original from what I can tell.
Started off making this:







I made it on the big side going for more of the scale look. I thought it'd look better having the body fairly proportional to the tires and axles, but I made it too big. I was going to cut it down and redo parts of it, but then I decided to scrap it and start over. Then I made this:










Looked like the right size, so I went with it. Started adding onto it piece by piece, going for a Jeepy look.






I then decided no matter what I did I wasn't gonna get the front end to look as clean as I wanted, so I asked a friend for dimensions of his Rubicon body. It was only 1/4" wider than my chassis, so it should work out very nicely.




I originally planned on getting LST tires, but did some research and Moabs sounded like a much better bet. I didn't feel like spending $40 to buy new wheels and cut them up, then still not have beadlocks, so I started getting creative......made my own.









I could've narrowed the stock wheels, but fitted up the tires and didn't see much need to. I would've only narrowed em a little bit and it didn't seem worth it. Total investment for the beadlocks was ~$20

Made more progress on the chassis











As you can see from the pics, not all of the beadlocks have been finished yet.




I've since added some pieces here and there to the chassis. Still have to added bracing and styling pieces in some spots, but it's good for now. I'm on to the steering and suspension now, then I can test it all out, make any changes I need to, then finish off the chassis, clean it all up, and paint it.

So far I Made custom steering arms for the knuckles so that the wheels won't hit the tie rod, plus I'll be able to use a straight one this way. I was gonna make some decent progress today, but spent a few hours at the doctor getting a chunk of metal dug out of my eyeball. I guess the safety glasses I was using weren't quite big enough:?.

Running gear is a Hitec645 servo up front and 605 in the rear, 55T lathe motor, Tekin Rebel 1, TQ3 radio gear, spooled Maxx diffs, stock axleshafts all around(they cost all of $8 and parts breakage is nature's way of telling you it's time to upgrade), Moabs, etc. It's not gonna be a comp rig, just a damn capable backyard crawler. I'm gonna try it with my old cheap battery packs and see how it does. If I'm not happy with em I'll get some good new ones. Wheelbase is going to be right around 16" with a dual triangulated 4 link setup at both ends, with the rear being longer. Battery will be under the hood.

Feel free to add comments or ask questions

[CustomCrawler]

Good work. The frame looks a lot like an early Jeep.

[Crawlsalot]

that looks cool. your rims are awsome, how long did it take you to make all 4?

[FrankyRizzo]

Those rims look way cool. Good job making them work with the 40 series moabs.

[bbaXJ]

Originally Posted by Crawlsalot

that looks cool. your rims are awsome, how long did it take you to make all 4?

I haven't made all 4 yet, but it hasn't taken a whole lot of time to make em. I spent about 40 minutes on a lathe to make all 8 outer rings. The inside rings that mount to the wheels are 4" PVC caps from Home Depot. I cut most of the sides off and left enough of a lip to help hold the tire centered. It ends up being the perfect diameter for that. Then cut out the center, use a sanding drum to smooth it, drill 8 holes in each for the screws, and use plastic cement to mount em to the wheel. I'd say an hour or so per beadlock is reasonable once you get into the swing of it. Well worth it IMO. Effective, cool looking, original, etc.

[bbaXJ]

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.

Knuckle extender.....makes it so the tie rod doesn't hit the wheel when turning and raises the tie rod for clearance.


Battery mounting, front bracing, and upper links









Links are 4 3/4" long....should be plenty for what I'm doing. Lowers and rears will be longer.

[bbaXJ]

Originally Posted by crawlerman

That is extremely nice. Get CVDs all around. I have a maxx and went to a local crawl here in IA, I broke the rear 2 slider shafts within 15 minutes, mine were reinforced t-maxx shafts. Looks to be an amazing truck, lots of belly clearance!

I'll get either CVDs or Revo shafts if these start breaking. I ended up making it about 1/4" wider than a normal Maxx, but hopefully CVDs would still work.....we'll see.

[bbaXJ]

I didn't feel like doin the whole St. Patty's Day bar thing, so I worked on the crawler for a couple hours. Front suspension is pretty much done, just need to mount shocks.



Full droop


Mounts


Full flex



Looks like it's got a little axle steer when it's flexed out that much, but it's not bad and I don't really care anyway. I'm not gonna be using that much flex....no need for it, and it'd just be unstable that way. It should be fine how I'll be running it.

Lower link mounts on the axle

[ManiacMagoo]

Save yourself some money and if you break them just get the revo stuff the first time.

[bbaXJ]

Originally Posted by ManiacMagoo

Save yourself some money and if you break them just get the revo stuff the first time.

That's more than likely what I'll end up doing. Only problem there will be figuring out steering arms so that the tie rod doesn't hit the inside of the wheels. I'm sure I'll think of something.

[92GreenYJ]

like I said on Jeepin BBA, looking good man! planning on getting myself an EMAXX on Monday. I've had it with my busted Nylint

[Crawlsalot]

lookin good, forget the cvds go get revo stuff.

[Red350DropTop]

Sent you an email about the T-Maxx

[bbaXJ]

Originally Posted by Red350DropTop

Sent you an email about the T-Maxx

Sent you one back

[bbaXJ]

Got the b1tch movin last night. Finished the rear suspension and zip tied stuff on so I can figure out where I want it.

How she sits right now. Wheelbase is a hair under 16"


Front steering setup. Doesn't turn very sharp with those knuckle extensions that I made, so I'm probably gonna change that. I may just narrow the wheels and run the tie rod knuckle to knuckle....we'll see. It'll obviously help a lot once I add the rear steer, but it still doesn't turn nearly as well as it should.


Flex shots. It's got almost 90 degrees of articulation between the axles.....no real need for that much, just sacrifices stability. It's got some torque roll as it is right now, so I'm gonna move the shocks out some and put heavier weight oil in the back right. That should get rid of the torque roll and make the flex more reasonable and controlled.






Underside.


It's definitely not done yet, but it's working now. Still gotta add some pieces to the frame, clean it up and paint it, add a couple metal panels(like boatsides and stuff), and paint and cut the TJ front clip for it. Should look and work pretty sweet when I finish it.

Bashed around on some nice rocks in my yard for a while this afternoon. Except for the steering, torque roll, and sh1tty battery pack, it performed great. Not a big deal since the problems it has are the exact things I knew I'd need to fine tune anyway.
The stock shafts have held up fine so far....even when I stalled out the motor on some inverted ledges or when I got tires wedged between rocks. I beat on it pretty hard trying to find the weak points and have run out of torque before breaking anything. I'm considering a GD600, but that would probably slow the thing down more than I'd like....I suppose I could put a smaller spur gear on with that.

[bbaXJ]

Well I retract that last statement. I went out and ran a couple packs through it. Crawling some big boulders in my yard I started looking at how stuff was holding up and you could see both rear shafts twisting, but the left one was a lot worse. I didn't care cuz I figured it was bound to happen sooner or later, so I kept pushin it. Bout half hour later it finally gave after twisting completely around several times and still working somewhat. Considering what I was doing to it it held up halfway decent. Time to decide what I'm gonna upgrade it with.

[Red350DropTop]

You can lengthen the arm on your steering servo to compliment the length you have put on with the knuckle extensions. That would prevent you having to change the knuckles / tires. CVDs?

[TMXONR]

Xtreme 4x4 YEA!!!!!, watchin about crawlin while workin on your crawler.

Sweet crawler, man I thought I tore up a slider, but I see you annhilated yours.

[bbaXJ]

Well after a long hiatus I finally got this thing more or less finished and running. I still have to clean it up, paint it, paint and trim the TJ front clip, and do some fine tuning, but it's at least together.
Almost done:




Driving(compared to a 1/6 Nylint):









How's that for stability?

Since I last posted I changed quite a few things. The shock mounting is completely redone front and rear, top and bottom. I limited the flex a great deal, focusing more on stability. I don't care if I hang a tire since it's way more stable than it was before. It can sit on the sides of the tires without falling over, as seen in the pic. It'll get just about vertical forward or back without going over.....I'm extremely happy with everything about the suspension.
The steering sucks as of now. I ended up going with Revo shafts and knuckles, so I got rid of the knuckle brackets I had before and just narrowed the wheels to clear the steering. Works nicely. The servos are the problem. My Hitec HS-605MG out back worked nicely and turned the tires well until it stripped out after 15 minutes or so. The HS645MG up front hasn't stripped, but it has nowhere near enough torque to turn the tires. Even when the rig is moving it takes forever for the tires to turn. I don't have the money for any of the high-dollar servos that'll work well, so for now I might just pick up some TowerPro 945s and hope they work for it. I suppose I could fit some 1/4 scale servos if I redo the brackets. Anyone got a link to a good deal on those?
Torque also completely sucks as it is now. When I was running a 12T pinion and 87T spur it was pretty good, enough to break 3 stock shafts. At some point the set screw on the pinon backed out and it disappeared. The only other one i had was a 15 or 16T, so I threw that on there. To top it off the 87T was rubbing the bigger yoke on the tranny, so I threw on an 84T. The gearing is horrid now. Way too fast, and it can't climb to save its life, even with the 55turn lathe motor. I'm trying to decide what to do with it now. I'm thinking I'll pick up a 9T pinion from rc4wd for now....should make a big difference. I'll eventually either go with the 4:1 reduction box from them as well or go to a E-Maxx tranny and either that reduction box or a GD600. I won't have much money to spend on it for a couple months, so I'll go the cheap way for now and hope it lasts. Not like i'll be out much anyway.
If anybody has any good cheap suggestions for the steering and torque feel free to post em.

[TMXONR]

Wow, exactly 1 year later.......

It looks good.