I wanna Crawl too

[junkxj]

Yep, I'm definetly a newbie...didn't know whether to post here or in the newbie section so here it goes!

Bottom Line....I'm hooked!! Here's how it all started. This past September I purchased 2 E-Maxx's (a new Wide-Maxx and a used E-Maxx). 1 for my 6 year old son and one for me (that was a good reason to get one for myself, huh ) Nice trucks but the problem is we're not really into the speed that much. A friend of mine who is into RC's told me about some online forums about RC Crawlers so I checked it out. Then I found this forum....now it's a done deal.

OK, here's what I drive and do in my spare time so you'll understand my interest in building a RC Crawler
http://www.funtigo.com/sv4w?b=45680&c=564396&p=start

I want to build a couple Crawlers. The first will be for my son. He loves going wheelin' and when I asked him if he wanted to build a RC Rock Crawler he got excited. Now he'll have something he can play with while we are on the trail spending 3 or 4 hours trying to negotiate 100 yards of rock he can be doing the same thing we are! Right now the truck is too fast to play with in a small area.

So on to my questions. I've searched exstensively thru this forum and found a lot of great info. However I'm not sure what to do. My original plans were to sell the Maxx's, buy a Gecko chassis, a Clod and take that route. Then after searching I see where a lot of you have used the Maxx as a platform. My problem is I don't have a lot of time to spend right now trying to fabricate a crawler (which it looks like a lot of you have done)...plus I'm not very good at that . I checked the rcrockgear.com website but couldn't find any info there about Maxx conversions.

So should I start from scratch with the Gecko route or build them of the Maxx platforms? I need to keep this as easy as possible. I can do the simple things like changing gears, bolting on parts, minor adjustments. Is there anyone making kits that I can buy to build it without having to do any fabricating? What all do I need? I have the 2 Maxx's, 6 Peak Racing 2400 mAH Batteries and 2 Twin Peak Chargers. What gearing?, How do I lock the axles? I don't want to do 4 wheel steering...yet. I wan't to keep it fairly simple since my 6 year old will be using it. I also want the most run time possible. Can what I want to do be done?? :neutral:

Any help is greatly appreciated! And BTW, this forum is great. When I found out about RC Crawlers a few months ago I had no idea how extensive the RC Crawlers had become....tube buggies and all! You guys rock

[ExtremeOffRoad]

one thing you can start on to get run longer run times is doing the infamous EVX mod. you can read up on it in the electronics section. Its very simple. thats if you go the max route. also its good to run a maxx tranny and bolt up a gd 600 to it which is a gear reduction followed by something torquey like a magnetic mayhem. for a chassis the possibilities are endless. i used a gecko chassis and widened it so the trany would fit and made some very simple brackets. its in the members section. its the last truck and it was posted by twisted. i can send you some chassis pics if you want. maybe some of this will help.

[thumpin15s]

In my opinion, if you don't have time, and dont have fabricating skills to make custom stuff you need, go with the gecko/clod. Making a maxx in to a crawler takes a lot of time and a lot of custom fabricating of mounts and stuff like that. Truthfully the only parts from the e-maxx people use are the differentials, and the transmission. Right now, I'm in the process of building on myself. maxx differentials, TLT chassis, tranny out of a nitro sport. (thats all I have so far haha) But I would say go with the gecko chassis and clod axles, or whatever combo you were talking about above, because it would be easier. Then again, you should take everything i say with a grain of salt, since I'm a no0b to. :p

[TwistedCreations]

sorry sut i just got from sugery and im half out of it

go with the Maxx, you will love it.... After i feel better i wil add more to this for ya.. sorry of being so short, but here si pick of my junk

[junkxj]

Twisted, I look forward to the info and hope you recover quickly! Thanks, Kevin

[TwistedCreations]

ohh and welcome to the board

[junkxj]

Twisted, get some rest. I can tell by your typing you got a while before the meds wear off

My building skills are good and can do all the basic stuff(assemble, dissasemble, bolt on ect.) just as I mentioned earlier it's the fabricating stuff I'm unable to do due to time constraints and no access to the equipment I would need for that. Thats why I was first searching for a kit which I was unable to find. Not sure what the Super Rooster or VX12 are? Also don't want to do the 4WS...yet.

Also thanks for the input Thumpin and Extreme.

[TwistedCreations]

ok just woke up and DAMN, my typing sucked NIce XJ's ya got there. My buddy has a couple aswell

can you post pics of the maxxes you have?

if you have just the EVX( hopefully) you seen i did a writeup on that. if you can get pics, that will help alot. The earlier V-12 or whatever it was was recalled. due to it catching fire and such.But i just tore apart my buddys maxx last night and he will be getting a SR, so maybe i can work out a deal on his old one( not sure whats with that yet)... but i highly suggest getting a Super rooster.I have mine and will never own another.

bUt right off the bat, you should drop to 1 motor and battery.there are 2 basic options. run just a lathe motor with a 9 pinion / 72 spur gear... with that setup, you will be as fast as a walk..maybe try a 10t pinion for a little more wheelspeed.if you just stick with basic stuff and do the EVX mod, I highly suggest gditchig the TITAN motor. it is intended for 14.4 volts and one battery will only cause it to run at .2 volts. it will only run at half spped no matter what.

2nd option( highly reccommended) get a reversed Magnetic mayham motor then get a GD600 reducion unit.. I currently run this exact same setup( but have a 27t motor and not the 22 like the MM motor) I run the stock 18t pinion from the motor to the GD600 shaft gear. then from there i run a 9 t pinion. it is slow! I just did my buddys' truck with the same setup but used a 12t pinion and it works great.( go with the 12t pinion)... it has great torque, but yet still has some wheelspeed to bump up stuff.

You can do all this with a stock chassis and stuff right now also. just put it all in and lock the diffs Now to lock the diffs, you have to take it apart to get to them. once the diff is out, it is very simple... take off the collar( mark on which side the top of the collar went) undo the 2 screws and the cases should split apart.the easiest way is just to throw in spools. they are like 10-$12 at your LHS.. so people JB weld them, but i like to be able to take it back apart without havind to buy spider gears and such again if something happens.Then slap it all back together...

Try to lock the F&R at the same time...if you just do the back, you will raise havock on your driveline and break alot of plastic axles.speaking of that, eventually upgrade to MIP cvd's.. you can buy cheaper CVD's, but as my budy' found out, the cheaper ones break easy

if your gonna work on a stock chassis for now, try and get it to 1 shock per corner, then send me the other shocks im running low

but a Maxx is very easy to setup for a crawler. Doug ran his for over a year in basic stock form( besides doing what i have mentioned above) and he has had a blast with his. I'm now in the process of building his tuber.

If you have any questions, please feel free to PM me or Email me anytime bud, since my fingers are gettiing tired

I help ya in anyway i can and try to get ya jhooked up with parts and other stuff

BTW_ welcome to the board, its very addicting here
Jeremy

[silvr_tung_devl]

My opinion...You should keep 1 e-maxx and sell the other....take that money, and build your boy a simple clod based truck. From what I've seen, most of the parts are bolt on and go...

If you decide to go the maxx route I'll help ya all I can..and i'm sure any of us will try to answer any ???? you have...

Like Twisted said....cjdifpjalifheafp..... That means welcome aboard!!!!!

[TwistedCreations]

here is my first crawler i have ever built and have learned from my exp. through this one.. There is alot of great guys on this board that are very knowledgeable

also, if you haven't seen in the video section,there are 2 videos of my truck ( playing at GR) and Twisted vs. the hole) but here is my old POS sorry pic is so small, only ne i had left of it

[TwistedCreations]

Originally Posted by silvr_tung_devl

Like Twisted said....cjdifpjalifheafp..... That means welcome aboard!!!!!

LMAO, yeah after reading m post from above, damn....I will go ahead and just delete that post :ashamed:


Here is a quick shot of my buddys ( Doug-Rufies97xj) on the board. this is the tuber i have been working on for the past couple days

[junkxj]

[QUOTE=TwistedCreations] can you post pics of the maxxes you have?

OK looks like you guys have convinced me to build the E-Maxxs instead of the Clod/Gecko route. Twisted thanks for all the suggestions. I'll go ahead with the 2nd option and order the Super Roster, reversed Magnetic mayham motor, GD600 reducion unit, spools, MIP cvd's. Do I need to regear the axles or leave them alone? What other parts do I need (i.e. motor pinion, spur gear)? Will this setup still use the stock transmission?

Silvertung thanks for the suggestion but I think I'm gonna build both of them...that way I won't be trying to steal my sons from him all the time cause I'm jealous....and we can Crawl together

Is the Super Rooster more "precise" than the stock Maxx EVX? Is that why you suggested it or should I just use the EVX?

I guess this means I'm gonna have 4 stock Maxx motors laying around. Why is the Reversed Magnetic Mayhem better and I just need one per truck correct?

I apologize for the lack of knowledge for alot of the stuff you guys a talking about but like I said I'm new to this and all this stuff is foreign to me....for now, and it will take a while to sink in

I don't have any pics right now but I'll try to get some up in the next few days. There both stock.

Again thanks for the help, you guys have been great. I'll definetly be asking a whole lot more questions as time permits As I can see this is exactly like the jeeps I build...start out stock, then a little lift, bigger tires, gears, start swapping drivetrain componets, then before you know it your 4 linking, shedding body parts and building tube buggies -Kevin

[ExtremeOffRoad]

Is the Super Rooster more "precise" than the stock Maxx EVX? Is that why you suggested it or should I just use the EVX?

I guess this means I'm gonna have 4 stock Maxx motors laying around. Why is the Reversed Magnetic Mayhem better and I just need one per truck correct?

-Kevin[/QUOTE]

well people use the super rooster because it puts out more power to the servos most of the time deleting the need of a reciver pack. if you use the evx you might need to build or purchase a rx pack. like the super rooster puts out like 3 amps while the evx only puts out 1.5. dont hold me to it but thats what i think it is. i have a evx in mine and had to run a rx pack to keep everything working. also you need a reversed mag mayhem because the gd 600 reverses everything and you need the reverse motor to spin the tranny the right way. the mag mayhem is a very torquy motor and is very popular. thats what i run with the gd 600 and jumbo swamp dawgs and it spins them easily.

[TwistedCreations]

[QUOTE=junkxj]

Originally Posted by TwistedCreations

can you post pics of the maxxes you have?

OK looks like you guys have convinced me to build the E-Maxxs instead of the Clod/Gecko route. Twisted thanks for all the suggestions. I'll go ahead with the 2nd option and order the Super Roster, reversed Magnetic mayham motor, GD600 reducion unit, spools, MIP cvd's. Do I need to regear the axles or leave them alone? What other parts do I need (i.e. motor pinion, spur gear)? Will this setup still use the stock transmission?

Silvertung thanks for the suggestion but I think I'm gonna build both of them...that way I won't be trying to steal my sons from him all the time cause I'm jealous....and we can Crawl together

Is the Super Rooster more "precise" than the stock Maxx EVX? Is that why you suggested it or should I just use the EVX?

I guess this means I'm gonna have 4 stock Maxx motors laying around. Why is the Reversed Magnetic Mayhem better and I just need one per truck correct?

I apologize for the lack of knowledge for alot of the stuff you guys a talking about but like I said I'm new to this and all this stuff is foreign to me....for now, and it will take a while to sink in

-Kevin

no problem, i was at your same point in time( just hope i can spell better this time-still drugged up )

but yes that setup sounds great, you will not be unhappy. you will need a reversed motor as mentioned, the 600 rotates stuff backeards and you just cant flip wores like a reg motor. the MM motor is set at like 20* timing. you will fry it if you switch wires.but the 600 will need to be turned down. get ahold of Wally187 on this board and tell him Twisted sent ya and you need a GD600 like twisted wants( it will help you in the long run) and i will give ya step by step directions in PM if ya need them )

as for the rest, sounds great, make sure you get the MIP's though, my budy just snapped on of those cheap brands.


the Super rooster is bar far the best. the BEC rating( to help with servos) is 3.0 and the rating for a EVX is 1.5..... ther is no need to hook an RX pack up to the SR if your running just basic servos.. i run 2 Hobbico cs-70's with no problems( same as hitec 645mg).. the rooster is more expensice but has beter throttle control and engine braking.

also for the 600/MM motor setup...you need the MM motor because it is designed for 7.2 volts, not 14.4 volts like the Titan. the TItan will only run half speed. but for gearing and that motor... ok the gd600 comes with a 18t 48 pitch pinion..use that pinion on the motor. then that wil connect to the gear on the gd600 shaft...then put a 12t pinion on the gd600 shaft( after it has been turned down) but if you get one from Wally, it will already be turned down....then use a 72 spur gear on the trans. you will love that gearing

with that much torque, you better upgrade to the Revos driveshafts. i have yet to break mine( knock on wood)

the gears inside the trans are only one sized. just throw in the spools and go with it...

also, you will really want to lock your trans in 1st gear.it gets rid of the slop in he tranny.. with miine locked in 1st and the gearing i mentioned as above i have( just have a 9 tooth pinion) it can hold its self on the side of a hill and not roll back.

If you need any how-tos on any of the stuff i mentioned, please feel free to PM me or shoot me an email and will be happy to tell ya

welp, im off to bed to try and sleep the drugs off now

jeremy


BTW- I will be doing a writeup on locking the maxx tranny in 1st gear sometime shortly, but if ya need to now sooner, get ahold of me

[junkxj]

I went to my LHS and picked up the following parts today:

-Traxxas REVO #5451 Driveshafts (are there any mods that need to be done to these or are they direct bolt ins??)

-Traxxas Spools

-RRP #8472 72t Steel Spur Gear Slipper Kit (they were out of stock style spur gears...is this one ok to use??)

-They were out of the MIP Center Drive Kits and didn't have the SR ESC's so they ordered them for me, should be by end of the week.

I checked into to MM motor, is this the one I need? http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXW929&P=ML
I can't find it in stock anywhere, do I just need to get on the waiting list or is this the wrong one.

I'm gonna go ahead and start working with the stuff I have now.

I will get ahold of Wally187 about the GD600. -Kevin

[TwistedCreations]

yes there is a bit of work to do to the revos to fit.. not much though... JasonInAugusta has a writeup on it over in General crawlers ( search for Revo )

not sure on the slipper, i just use a basic plastic 72 spur, but it should work.

with running he GD600, yes you will need the reversed MM motor. the one on the link is the right one.

it shoud come with a 18 t 48 pitch gear with the 600. use it on the motor. then get a 12 t pinion ( 32 pitch) to put on the output shaft of the gd600. that will give you a great crawl ratio and still some wheelspeed. if you want more wheelspeed, you can always bump it up to a 14 t pinion.

the center CVD driveshafts? are you just keeping it stock length for now? If so, my buddy has a set of CVD centerdriveshafts he is not using.. i thought you was gonna build a whole new frame and extend the WB :?


but if your only gonna keep it stock length, we have problems with running revos as driveshafts, they will put your wheelbase at 17", not 12' like stock....if your keeping it stock, PM me so we can figure it out


but the rest sounds good.. make sure you lock front and rear at the same time.. also, upgrade your servo..the 2055 traxxas 80oz. servo aint gonna cut it

[junkxj]

Just to give you guys an update, this is what I've done so far.

-Installed the spools
-Ordered the SR ESC, GD-600, MM motors, MIP Center Drive Kits
-Bought the REVO driveshafts....then realized they won't work on the stock length chassis buts thats ok....I'll save them for when I step up to a tuber

Anybody got any suggestions on what I should do with the shock setup since this is a stock chassis to get better articulation since it is so stiff right now?

Also I wanted to say thanks to all of you for your continous input. I read it all and learn from every post. Can't wait to get these 2 rigs done and try them out. I'll keep you posted on the progress and fell free to chime in with ideas or suggestions. Again Thanks!!

[crawler]

yea i know how you feel except i have a budget i can do the fabs and stuff just cant get the supplies but yea i cant wait to see it finished but if you want the kit theres a maxx kit someone makes on the borad here its i think about $300 but it comes with everything except trans axles driveshafts and electronics so that would be a good route for you if you want to mod it
matt

[junkxj]

Originally Posted by crawler

but if you want the kit theres a maxx kit someone makes on the borad here its i think about $300 but it comes with everything except trans axles driveshafts and electronics so that would be a good route for you if you want to mod it matt

Thats what I was originally looking for but was unable to find it. So far I got the spools installed on both trucks. This weekend I going to try to get the shocks setup with 70 wt. The only thing that's holding me up from finishing is parts. MM motors are still on b/o from Tower and I'm waiting on some modified GD600's to become available.

Of course I've got 3 projects goin on at the same time. The 2 Maxx's and I'm installing a 9" and Atlas in my 1:1 scale rig. -Kevin

[TwistedCreations]

ahh forgot you was keeping the chassis stock. If i knew that, i could have sent ya the center CVD's from dougs truck.. owell


as for stock setup, i had dougs stocker setup with 1 shock per corner with a few spacers in the springs to stiffen it up some. Inever changed the oil sinc ei knew i would be building the tuber for him. but running 70wt. should help some of the sag in the rear end.

have you gotten MIP axles yet or are you still planning on running the stock plastic sliders?

as for the $300 kit you guys are talking about... was you talking about RCrockgears maxx kit?