Brushless MGT 8.0 underway....
 

So I posted a couple weeks ago about the status of the Associated MGT 8.0 as a worthy monster truck to invest in. I don't see a lot of them around, and they are for some reason not even on ebay, not in the numbers you see a Savage, T-Maxx, etc. I was nervous to do another MGT conversion, but I love the truck to death. Tough as nails, and easy to work on.

Started looking on ebay, got a fantastic deal on a used RTR 8.0 with barely any use. Couldn't pass it up. I was toying with buying a chassis and building it all up from scratch, but with the price I got, and knowing I can sell off the nitro stuff for more cash yet, it wasn't worth it.

Got it in, and stripped it down to clean and start the layout. I had to find a way to lock the tranny into 2nd gear, and also lock the tranny so I can have reverse without any of the extra servos and complexity like my original conversion a few years ago. That one I had forward only, but also ran a mechanical brake, to keep things from overheating. I'm confident in the MMM right now so am going to try the tranny locked, and use the ESC's braking.

Figured that all out after some internet searching. Turns out if you do the forward only conversion, then lock the 2-speed from there, you're golden. So that's what I did. I'd post more about it, but honestly I couldn't describe it well enough and have it all together, so no pics either of that part. Link here - http://www.ultimaterc.com/forums/sho...t=65876&page=2. Also, link here to the original thread on RCM - http://www.rc-monster.com/forum/showthread.php?t=27932.

Powerplant of choice is a Castle 1518 1800 k/v motor. Went that route for more torque than my 1515 1/y I have sitting in my E-Revo right now. As mentioned too, using the MMM for my ESC. Maxamps 4s Lipo 8000mah battery.

Mounting the motor - way easier than my original one that involved a lot of fabrication on my end. Tekno RC makes lots of motor mount options, went way smoother and was actually easy.

My only real mod that I've done other than the tranny is I had to grind the back of the transmission case down so I had enough room to fit the motor in there, and have some wiggle room for pinion choices. I did that to fit my 16t pinion in there, but I'm ideally using an 18t anyway. Just wanted some options.

So pics below of where I am now. I could probably steal the ESC and Receiver from my E-Revo but I'm saving to get another setup. Not quite sure if I want to sell the E-Revo yet. I'm excited, I'm curious how the truck does with the 1518 motor in there, i'm looking for some gut-wrenching torque and I think this will provide it!

10k

And some more pics....
 

Pics here....

Looks like a good start. Keep us posted.

great idea to use the tekno motor mount. my friend just scored an mgt for $70 and was wondering what he could do to convert it. i'm gonna send him this link...nice build so far!!

Update 1-27-2011
 

Update. I have it pretty much ready to rock in the pics below. I had it out on a test run with the stock blue springs, and it was ridiculously soft. I had some progressive rate ones on their way, finally got them, threw them on, made a huge difference, the truck has ground clearance again.

I cleaned it up, routed wires, found a radio box in my spare parts bin, threw in a nice high-torque steering servo, factory team steering kit, have some factory team shock caps coming and will finish that up with 50wt oil with the progressive springs, and I think that'll be it for a little while.

Haven't run it with the new springs, I'm hoping it solves the squatting problem (I'm sure it will, i can drop it and it doesn't bottom out like before). We just got 15 inches of snow, so I'm trapped for a bit for any good video posts. Don't worry, I know the rules of the internet, no video, no one cares. :)

Pics below. Hopefully video to follow.

Hey 10K,

Any reason you stuck with the tranny instead of the center diff? I'm looking to do the same, but really had my heart set on a center diff....Seemed to be a simpler, lighter way to go. It also frees up some room...

I may due to lack of funds have to use the tranny for now, but just wanted some thoughts on it.

Also I have followed your threads on RCU for a long time. Been running an MGT for 4 years maybe 5...Just breaking them out again after a layoff...

Thanks,
Scott

I used the stock tranny for a couple of reasons. I have never had an issue with them in terms of parts breakage, even on my last converted MGT that still used the 2-speed, ran fine.

The other, is that while a center diff seems simpler, I think the stock tranny is simpler, there's no custom parts or oddball things I need to track down in the event I break something. I also haven't seen a drop-in center diff, other than the other MGT thread going here, but the different center shafts, customized setup, doesn't appeal to me. I want to keep it easy to fix, and modular.

So, stock tranny locked in 2nd gear works for me.

Still haven't gotten it out to really thrash on it, I see Sunday looks dry finally, could be a good time to get some videos off the phone.

MGT's are just plain tough trucks. I really don't understand why they aren't more popular.

Good looking conversion:yes:

Its Mod1 pitch

A monster truck with a center diff is no longer a monster truck in my opinion:diablo: If your going over an obstacle and get hung up and only the back or only the front tires are on the ground a transmission will still send power to them a center diff won't. Center diffs are good for racing on a truggy, not bashing on a MT. Sorry, just my opinion:whistle:

I agree about the center diff not being a great idea for general bashing. The handling is sorta turned into "race mode", and when you're out bashing and jumping, I just need the thing to hit the jumps and land smooth, no need to have a whole custom setup for that right?

There's enough room for the 4s pack I have strapped down. I would ideally like to run 2 packs on the side of the truck, but I'm just trying my hardest to avoid fabricating anything. Keepin' it simple.

Mod 1 pitch as well for your pinion choices.

Pretty cool. I like how simple it is (check out my username LOL). Swap the nitro motor for a Tekno mount, add some battery trays and done. No need to over complicate things. Another good thing about keeping the trans is that it provides the extra gear reduction an MT needs.

As far as the MGT not being more popular, I am surprised you don't see more of them. I guess AE seems to focus almost all their marketing today on their 1/8 racers and short course. I looked on the AE website and the MGT is not listed as discontinued or anything. It is strange whenever you see someone looking to get an MT they always look at LST, Savage, E-maxx, but the MGT rarely gets thrown into the hat.

EDIT: For battery trays I would suggest either 2 of the RC-Monster CRT.5 trays, or trays from the Ofna NEXX8 (check out my build thread for pics.) Both could be easily attached in a saddle-pack config with a few screws and minimal modification (just a few holes drilled.)

It's not drop-in easy for the battery trays, the chassis guards on the MGT, at least the one on the right side, has the steering servo mount in there. You'd have to hack it off to keep that in place, which was going to look bad and make it probably less rigid.

Luckily I already had the 4s2p pack, so it's fine, but if I was using the 2 packs out of my e-revo, I'd have to think about this more closely.

As soon as I got this thing out of the box, I was happy all over again. MGT's are so simple to work on, and they are just a true MT in my eyes. Not that a savage isn't, or a LST, the MGT just is my ONE truck that I really like.

AE is focused on the micro scene, and the SC stuff that is new and exciting. I still like the MT's, they are more fun for my type of bashing, but different strokes for different folks. I do wish they would at least get with the times and include a nicer radio with the RTR kits. I know it's simple and most people strip them out anyway, but it probably keeps people from even looking their way since it's FM, and everyone else advertises their fancy 2.4Ghz system. Noobs get wrapped up in specs, and I want the truck to stay around as long as possible, any help would be great!

Revonut....

Thanks, you just schooled me. I by no means know much at all about center diffs....What I thought, right or wrong I am not sure, was a center diff would be more bullet proof then a trans...Less to fail....Is that true? Also what about running really thick diff oil? Would that give more balanced power, although that may be defeating the purpose of the race readyness...

Thanks guys for schooling me. I know the MGT pretty well, but overall I am very limited in my overall RC knowledge. Especially on racing setups and vehicles outside of the MGT and nitro and the Stampede(all flavors).....Not exactly a newbie, but just limited in what I get to see by where I live.

Heavy diff fluid (50k+) will help get equal power to all wheels but it's still not locked. A strong transmission such as one off the newer e-maxx trucks is just as durable as any center diff in my opinion.

i hope you got a slipper clutch on that thing a. i have a mgt i did and remove the slipper and a kept chewing up the gears a had a hobby wing 2150 on it on a 4s

Cool conversion, while I'm not a fan of the stock transmission, you have all logical reasons for keeping the trans. I must have missed it, have you said whether you are using 2 smaller batteries or 1 large battery? I know that on the left side you can fit a pack with the stock trans still in place, but the right side will be a pretty tight squeeze with the pinion/spur in the way, unless you stand the right side pack on its side. If you go the single left side battery route though, I would suggest a Gorilla Maxx battery strap, I use them on mine and they work great. No fussing with trays, just 2 holes, and a simple velcro strap.

The main 3 reasons I got rid of it in my MGT is that it takes up a large amount of space, it's rather heavy, and I got tired of constant wheelies back when I had my E-Maxx, when I switched to a center diff in it, I knew I wanted the same setup in my MGT. I love the handling benefits of a center diff, plus the extra space on the chassis for other components. And with 100K diff fluid unloading of 1 end of the truck isn't really an issue, as I rarely drive on obstacle where the front or rear of the truck sees a bind and unloads the center diff to 1 end.


Back on the battery issue though.... I have seen on URC where some guy used Savage Flux battery boxes, only issue I have with that is their length, and the way he mounted them, they still sit pretty far out like the stock mud guards. I am planning on milling slots on both sides of my chassis to accept the Flux trays, which will keep them more towards the center line of the truck, and improve the looks (be able to run a narrower body). I would like to attempt to shorten the Flux trays but I'm afraid it would ruin them. However, in your case, if you were to machine the chassis to move the steering servo inward and ditch both mud guards, and then use flux trays with the stock mounting, which would set them just to the edges of the chassis, you could run dual batteries, have no worries about the spur guard being in the way, and have even weight balance. I would do it this way myself (but with my center diff), but I want to bring as much weight toward the center of the truck as I possible can, so putting them right at the edge of the chassis isn't my first choice, as it isn't much better than putting them flat on the mud guards, but in your case it would be perfect because the spur is in the way of doing that.

Video Upload......
 

Sorry for the bad quality, it's from my phone, one-handed driving.

But, BOO YA, standing backflips even with the wheelie bar getting in the way. I wasn't expecting that, so that's just icing on the cake.

I saw a question about my battery setup, I'm using one 4s2p pack, I have my ESC mounted on the left side for now. I may move it and move the battery to the left, I ripped a velcro strap while out today and the battery was flopping around, which obviously isn't great. No big deal, just a tweak I need to make.

Truck is awesome though, no punch control or throttle curve adjustments made, it's a stock ESC setup.

Enjoy, my apologies again for the bad quality.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPgHpdo6n-I

10k

Very cool 10K,

My boys and I gathered around to watch an MGT back flipping. I am so jealous, but you really gave me hope I could get this done and it would be cool without the center diff...

Thanks,
Scott

Awesome Scott! Glad you have some inspiration. Remember this is all on a 4s LiPo, you can probably get nuts if you mount up some bigger packs. I didn't think it would flip like that with the pack strapped to the front, I was hoping it would keep the front-end down. Yeah right!

Looking Good 10k! wheelie machine...

I have to disagree with Revonut. A CD actually makes these overpowered MT hande the Brushless power alot better. (can keep the front wheels on the ground). To each his own, But I thought I should add this... Just because you got a CD doesnt make it just a racer... Just not a Crawler...:smile:

As you can tell I swapped to a CD as well... (100k oil though)