happymachinist MRC PRO Build

[happymachinist]

You prolly did read that somewhere. A cause of the universals as they spin gives off 4 rotations per rotation of the wheel. 2 are slower which gives the look/action of push. The other two are fast and cause it to hook hard...

You're talking the "U" joint correct? As apposed to a CV when turned real sharp?

My overall with it.. the steering is such a gain to start with, the little bit of "push" it gives off is in no way a hinderince. It already puts you ahead of the game.. IMO

I already went out an ran mine this morning an now want to change out the rear pinion just to test it.. lol.. I don't have anyone to run mini's with in my close area, just at comps.

Yeah I would be curious to see your results with the different rear end pinions. With each steering change we draw up a starting point on the ground turn full lock and compare different setup's turning radius...at a medium speed...throttle deff. changes the results as does the terrain, gravel, concrete, grass etc....it's far from scientific but it gives us a base point.

 

[winnerone23]

Yep, talking bout the "u" joint..

The terrain and the throttle do make a diff for sure.. I made most of my base of of one constant, but does react diff in all situations

 

[T3rry]

I'm in the xr/wraith tube helpin camp, you sacrifice like 1/8" of GC, but it not only gives you a smoother housing to slide over the rocks, but it gives you beefed up link and shock mounts, which the MRC mounts have had some durability issues in the past.

 

[MRCrackhead]

This thread is fantastic. Your homebrewed parts are inspiring. If I hit the lottery, I'm buying a machine shop; too bad I won't know how to work most of the equipment....
Tons of great info here from everyone.
Priced out all the parts I'll need to do the XR knuckle swap after seeing the Frankenaxle video.
Doing a bit more research first so I don't waste time/money. This thread is more fuel on the fire!
I'm watching and learning...thanks

 

[happymachinist]

This thread is fantastic. Your homebrewed parts are inspiring. If I hit the lottery, I'm buying a machine shop; too bad I won't know how to work most of the equipment....
Tons of great info here from everyone.
Priced out all the parts I'll need to do the XR knuckle swap after seeing the Frankenaxle video.
Doing a bit more research first so I don't waste time/money. This thread is more fuel on the fire!
I'm watching and learning...thanks

Glad I and the others can help!!

In the rare chance you do win the lottery give me a shout and I can help suggest some equipment to buy!! If you were to purchase machines I am familiar with I'd gladly come out to your new facility and give you some insight! You're payin for the plane ticket, though


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[happymachinist]

Well I suppose it's time for a little update. My pro has been doing pretty well...at least better than when I got it . It has yet to comp but it hangs with my buddy's MRCs...that's really what I'm going for.


I've turned my attention to the parts I've been acquiring for my latest MRC build that I referenced above.

I first turned my attention to the wheels I got. They are very similar to the DLUX rims on my pro...but with only 3 holes to mount to the hubs. I understand running 12 less screws is lighter yada yada yada but I wanted a full 6 per wheel for looks and stress distribution. So I modded them.

Then I modded the spacers that came with. The front spacers I narrowed 1/8" vs the rear. As you can see they originally used to be hex shaped(1/4") They were too big in size and stuck out more than the beadlocks so I shaved them down to 6mm round. This should give me more room for knuckle/axle mounted weights!

I next turned to making hubs like that of my pro but a little fancier and a tid bit lighter. The front hubs I will have to remake or modify if I ever decide to run a Franken axle. (They are made for the LCC front axle mod at the moment.)


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[happymachinist]

The chassis I got came without a skid so I made my own. While I was at it I relieved where the tranny sits about 1/8" to help lower the cog.

I put an alum gear and some new grease in a gently used tranny, then bolted it to the above mentioned skid. Also tacked on a BWD motor plate and crawler mafia motor. Like the hubs a little fancier than my previous rig but it was used so we'll see how it holds up.

I decased my B1R and spektrum rx, removed the power switch on the B1R and heat shrunk them together. My plans down the road will be to shorten the servo plug of the esc to clean it up a bit more. If I get real squirrely I might solder the two together to eliminate the plug and clean it up even more.

This is how she sits as if this morning. The 7954 DEFFINATELY needs a BEC...I have one but after a few beers I wanted to see her move so tooled around the living room for a bit (I work nights don't judge ) The servo glitches pretty bad.

I should also add the chassis I aquired didn't come with standoffs or spacers. I fabbed them up also in accordance to comp specs in the event that I would ever compete with this thing.

I also made my own upper and lower ti links to comp wheelbase specs. I wish I had more pics on the whole thing in process but time has been lacking.

More to come!!


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[Hittman]

Looking real good man. Those turned down hubs look awesome. Really nice work on everything!"thumbsup"

 

[rebuilder]

seriously wow! the crawling capacity of this rig must be very impressive! I know that the torquemaster minis dont exist anymore...but is the stock motor good or I will need a replacement soon enough? I saw that team brood seems to have mini motors in stock...

 

[happymachinist]

Thanks fellers! I can't say much for the crawlability of the chaotic chassis, but I'm sure as long as I set it up right it should do just fine I still need to finalize my wiring and get the BEC tucked in somewhere. My pro does pretty well and the chaotic is basically a bodiless pro.

As far as motors, I've only driven a bone stock MRC once and it wasn't very long (15 mins or so). It was pretty smooth but didnt have the wheel speed that my pro has with the losi insane. That's the direction I would head in a stock MRC I suppose. It's a disposable type motor for $20ish.


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[happymachinist]

Got my wiring finalized...for now. I did a little heat forming of my side panels to make room for the BEC. I tried to make the sides somewhat uniform but my fingers could only take so much from the heat gun, they're close enough

On a side note relaxing the lexan makes them a lot easier to install

She's up and moving, though. I guess it's time to start the tuning process. I only have stock MRC pro steering for now. I'm waiting on a different servo mount. No need to get all excited fabing up links when my servo location isn't permanent.


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[winnerone23]

Dayum! The all black with clear panels an wheel faces looks Sick together! Looks like a old school rat rod or what not

That dam bec just has to be blue doesn't it.... :/ mine is in the same place with a thin coat of black spray to blend it in.

 

[happymachinist]

Dayum! The all black with clear panels an wheel faces looks Sick together! Looks like a old school rat rod or what not

That dam bec just has to be blue doesn't it.... :/ mine is in the same place with a thin coat of black spray to blend it in.

Yeah, I'm sad to say that the panels are no longer clear. I've been meaning to post up pics of what they look like now.

I also liked the clear but wanted it toned down a bit so I took an old can of pactra window tint and did a few test pieces. I really liked the test panels a bit darker. Wouldn't you know it I put ONE too many coats on my panels and they're damn near black!! DOH!!! You can still kinda see through them but only in the right light. They are waaaaay darker than I want...I'm debating if its worth trying to strip them down and go one less coat to lighten them up a bit.

 

[happymachinist]

Here's all my electronic gadgets all packed in. Kind of a tight fit but it works.

Aaaaand the limo tint panels. Like I said they came out a lot darker than I wanted. You can kinda see through them in bright sunlight.


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[winnerone23]

Panels look good.. maybe darker then you wanted but go good with the scheme of things.

Wiring is tidy! Nice work..

I keep looking at ur shocks. Something is bothering me. Lol.. not sure what but something.. any flex shots? They seem So laid down?
I like the belly dragger look they give but mrc shocks aren't the best laying down.. (of course drive style an feel is what matters)

 

[HARDKNOCKZ]

Wow man! Glad to see yer putting all those parts to good use.

Yeah...since I had the newish delrin version Chaotic Pro, I had em just send the plates & cab & planned on robbing all of the spacers & skid from the OG.

Rigs looking good & the steering? RIDICULOUS! Good job man.

J.D.

 

[Wicked Monkey]

That thing looks sick! I love it and this entire build thread is inspiring to me.

 

[Crawllife]

I have one of these chassis just sitting around collecting dust. Thanks for a great thread and getting so many of us fired up! Good stuff!!

 

[happymachinist]

Panels look good.. maybe darker then you wanted but go good with the scheme of things.

Wiring is tidy! Nice work..

I keep looking at ur shocks. Something is bothering me. Lol.. not sure what but something.. any flex shots? They seem So laid down?
I like the belly dragger look they give but mrc shocks aren't the best laying down.. (of course drive style an feel is what matters)

Yeah the darker panels are growing on me. I have to agree with the shocks being to laid out. I just started assembling before I had all my parts. I had based my shock location on other rigs I had seen, but realized a few days back that they were running the bomb proof shock mounts which seems to stand them up a bit more. I took it out crawling a bit on Saturday and as cool as the belly dragging stance might be it's too low. I was getting caught up a lot more vs my pro. Needless to say they're gonna get stood up a hole and I'll run her again to see what happens. Sadly I was too focused on comparing the two trucks to get any action/flex shots.

Wow man! Glad to see yer putting all those parts to good use.

Yeah...since I had the newish delrin version Chaotic Pro, I had em just send the plates & cab & planned on robbing all of the spacers & skid from the OG.

Rigs looking good & the steering? RIDICULOUS! Good job man.

J.D.

Thanks J.D.!! Its been kinda slow but I finally got around to slappin this thing together. I to was gonna take the carbon chassis and rob everything off the OG like you but I thought it over and with my spares laying around and fabbing up a skid I could leave the OG alone for the most part. The only things from the OG are the motor plate and crawler mafia. I just had to see what I was missing with my cheap disposable motors. This thing is pissy!

Here's a quick pic of the mini herd.

That thing looks sick! I love it and this entire build thread is inspiring to me.

Thanks! I'm just trying to help others with the itch to mess with things and make them better. I've learned a lot from this forum in the process.

I have one of these chassis just sitting around collecting dust. Thanks for a great thread and getting so many of us fired up! Good stuff!!

Well blow the dust off and get to building!!"thumbsup"

 

[winnerone23]

Nice herd! So you got JD's collection!? Can't beat that deal!, I just didn't have the loot for it..

Any who.. page 9 of my thread has shock tips an mods, if ya wanted some ideas..

Yeah David ( Crawllife) get the dust off that sweet little chassis an get it rolling for next years comps!