Spare Parts Fun Buggy

[monkeyracer]

A while ago I bought one of these:

Exceed RC Infinitive 1/10 Monster Truck

And I had some fun with the guys I work with who all have the same truck. After a few bash sessions, parts started breaking, and most of the guys put the truck on the shelf while they waited to order the aluminum upgrades.

I had always wanted to make the truck stronger, but since this was supposed to be a cheap basher to mess around with, I didn't want to spend really any money on it. I had some spare parts from my previous HPI RS4 MT and other vehicles that I put to use on this truck. Also, I wanted to make a cage for it so I wouldn't have to worry about the body getting crushed to bits when I landed a jump rubber side up.

I swapped over the MT chassis and lower arms, and put some big bore (although plastic) shocks instead of the smaller aluminum dual shock design from the Infinitive, and the truck sat for a while again. Waiting for me to extend the driveshaft and make the cage.

I decided to dust this off, and get to work:

I got this far and ran out of brakeline. I will get some more tomorrow and get back to work with it.

I wanted the cage to resemble a dune buggy (sort of) and be low and long. I think I'm heading that direction:

The cage attaches directly to the bottom plate at 4 points, and the front and back will attach right where the bumpers would mount with another 4 points. The intention is to make this cage able to be removed with only 8 screws.


As far as specs go:

Running gear - Exceed RC Infinitive (diffs, servo, motor/esc, dogbones, turnbuckles, shock towers)
Shocks - Exceed Mad Torque (Super)
Chassis - HPI RS4 MT (will be replaced with my extra MT2 chassis)
Lower Suspension Arms - HPI RS4 MT
Wheels - Traxxas Slash Stock
Tires - Venom Ridgeline (Cut for 2.2/3.0 wheels)


So, for the cost of brakeline, and whatever I will do for the driveshaft, I'll be able to get this thing up and running. More work to do, so more updates will come soon.

Feel free to leave any comments or questions.

 

[monkeyracer]

Got more work done:

I'm definitely liking where this is heading... Now, when I was trying to figure out what to do with the front end, I couldn't find a way to make the cage easy to remove that didn't look horrible, so I routed the tube through the front shock tower. This adds just a couple more screws to get the cage off, but it was worth it for the look.

This is still a way from being finished, but it is getting there. I still need to make a front bumper, add in the tube for the windshield base, and a few other braces here and there. Body panels will probably just be some metal mesh or some flat Lexan, I haven't decided yet.

Hope to get some more work done this week.

 

[Lukescb7]

Looks pretty badass if i do say so myself. I like the side profile bigtime. Plus you cant beat cheap.

 

[OSRC]

Looks great! Nice job adapting it to the HPI chassis. Love the modded tires too.

 

[monkeyracer]

Looks pretty badass if i do say so myself. I like the side profile bigtime. Plus you cant beat cheap.

Thanks! The goal was cheap, yet fun, and good looking... looks like it's heading that way.

Looks great! Nice job adapting it to the HPI chassis. Love the modded tires too.

Thanks! The HPI chassis (from an MT1) needed some trimming and drilling to get the diff cases to match up, but since the actual diff is the same size as the HPI, I might just get new cases so it matches with the MT2 chassis better. I can mount the motor on the same type of mount from my Rally Car chassis' if I do go that route.

 

[chuckatruck]

Looks mean . Class 3 killer

 

[OSRC]

I have a comparo shot of the R&P gears somewhere, but it looked to me that the Redcat gears were machined and looked far stonger than the HPI cast gears. I have a set of each here, plan to do some part swapping myself to experiment. If they do hold up better, they are a nice, low cost option for upgrading. I've blown plently of stock HPI gears. Always nice to have options!

 

[monkeyracer]

I have a comparo shot of the R&P gears somewhere, but it looked to me that the Redcat gears were machined and looked far stonger than the HPI cast gears. I have a set of each here, plan to do some part swapping myself to experiment. If they do hold up better, they are a nice, low cost option for upgrading. I've blown plently of stock HPI gears. Always nice to have options!

I can confirm that all of the following will mount to the same diff:

Stock HPI Pot Metal 38/13 (Wheely King/Nitro RS4 MT) (HPI A855)

Stock HPI Sintered Metal 38/13 (Nitro MT2 3.0/Mini Trophy) (HPI 86324)

Stock HPI Heavy Duty Steel 36/14 (Nitro RS4 Evo 3) (HPI 86329)

Optional HPI Heavy Duty Steel 38/13 (HPI 86336)

Stock Exceed RC/Redcat/HSP/etc 38/13 (02029)

Stock Axial AX10/SCX10/Wraith 38/13 (AX30392)

Optional HD Axial 38/13 (AX30395)

Optional HD Axial Overdrive 36/14 (AX30401)

Optional HD Axial Underdrive 43/13 (AX30402)

The stock axial 38/13 and the wheely king 38/13 are made from pot metal and are the weakest. The HSP/Redcat/Exceed and the MT2 are sintered metal, and are the next weakest (although still strong enough for most applications), All the rest are HD Machined Steel, and the strongest. Depending on what diff case you have, you might need to make modifications. (Example - the AX10 case will not work with the 36/14 HD gear from the Nitro RS4 without grinding the back of the gear for clearance.) You might need a different pinion shaft (example Axial vs HPI; Axial uses a pin while HPI uses flats machined into the shaft) Also, keep the matching pinion with the ring and you should be all set.

I have or had almost all of the above, with the exception of the more expensive optional HD gearsets. Almost all of my go-fast vehicles with this type of diff are running the HPI 86329, with two of them running the Exceed gears (such as this Fun Buggy). My RS4/SCX10 Savvy Avvy and Class 3 Project rampage with GCM Metalhead axles probably use the Axial stock gears, but I've yet to have a problem with them (forgot if I changed those out since it's been so long since putting them together.

If I wanted to, I could throw in a diff locker and swap out the motor and take this thing crawling... but, I've got enough crawlers right now.


Here's a shot of when I was building up my Tommi Makinen Evo IV to show the gears side by side:

and the back of the HPI 86329 gear to show what would need to be ground down to fit the AX10 cases.

 

[OSRC]

Great info sir! I have most of those, and just got 2 sets of the axial HD gears for my 1/6 project. I think I'm in love!

Believe it or not, runing stock WK cast gears in my other 1/6, (650 on 3S) and they have help up amazingly well. Have the feeling it won't be for much longer.

 

[monkeyracer]

Great info sir! I have most of those, and just got 2 sets of the axial HD gears for my 1/6 project. I think I'm in love!

Believe it or not, runing stock WK cast gears in my other 1/6, (650 on 3S) and they have help up amazingly well. Have the feeling it won't be for much longer.

I have never had a problem with any of the above gears, but I have seen with some weight and some power, they can get chewed up. I think proper lube and shims are all that's needed and don't go crazy with the throttle.

 

[monkeyracer]

I got a little more done with this.

I added shock mounts and a front bumper as well as the windshield lower bar. There's still a little more bracing to be added, but this is pretty close to being done.

I decided I am going to use RS4 MT2 Diff cases for this to make it easier to mount to the other chassis, as well as use the MT2 bumper mount (the holes in the front bumper mount to it.) so I ordered some diff cases and they should be here soon.

 

[Ruckus61200]

Love the design. Only thing I would add is some sort of bar that goes over the part where the shock hooks up, so it kinda looks like a sand rail

 

[monkeyracer]

Love the design. Only thing I would add is some sort of bar that goes over the part where the shock hooks up, so it kinda looks like a sand rail

Thanks!

Although the last post in this thread is more than 3 years old, I do still have this rig, and it is in basically the same condition as it is shown in the pics above. I have not given up on this project yet, but it is low on the list of projects. I am guessing sometime this summer I will get this worked out.