Not your average Emaxx build
 

Hello to everyone here Old to Rc & new to the forums & iv finally decided to document one of my projects with pics since i always forget till after with rc,house,car,ect:oops: Although this is a build thread i welcome any post or pics of unique or uncommon builds & mods for the emaxx old or new.Iv started with a teaser of the processes so far but i have left out some goodies for later so if your interested in seeing the progress OR helping out along the way please join in.I already have a few ?'s & im sure ill gather more throughout the process. Oh by the way i have a good bit of small part machining skills & equipment due to my personal business but less so with aluminium & larger parts so its a bit of a learning processes.Again ANY design input or other interesting mods/builds are always welcome.Thanks

here's a few more up to my current stage & some parts waiting to go in that i thought might stir some interest.

Heck yeah! Keep the posts coming!

Heres a mod that i did a while back that i have never seen done.I call it the double up tranny(no disrespect to rrp's slipper)Its a 3906 tranny with 2 2nd speed gearsets this photo was halfway through the conversion but to be honest i dont think it was worth the time.worked great but just a bit over engineered.I must have been planning to attach it to a small block chevy or something when i came up with that:rofl:.Its funny sometimes what goes thru your mind with a shop full of tools & nothing to do

Thanks darksammy,Iv seen you around hear quite a bit so its nice to have a vet peeking in.I have a few ?'s for anyone that can help(well more than a few but still searching threads for the others before asking)first is,from the 4 ultralights i have 2 of them spin alot rougher than i think is normal even considering there not broke in yet,There all assembled the same & the only shims used or needed was the 4 small shims that go in the spider cross shafts.The spiders seem slightly tight/rough at times but nothing a break in wouldn't solve so my issue is with the ring & pinion mesh.Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.Thanks

What diffs are they? Are they CEN by any chance?

Not sure really,I was under the impression when i bought them that they were the spyder6 since the guy just said they were new Ue diffs & i didnt see a pic of the internals but he may of just been referring to the cases,that or i was hoodwinked.

after researching a bit they appear to be identical to the hotbodies 1/8 diffs so unless there a few knockoffs of them going around i assume its those.

the odd thing is that the internals match the UE 7.5 set in color & design & also looks to be the same ring gear with the flat surface where the screws mount,the only difference is the plastic portion of the case has the grooves like the d8t diffs,but looking at pics the d8t diffs have darker spider gears & a raised X on the ring gear going from screw hole to screw hole that mine do not have

All UE Spider 6 or 8 diffs are just OFNA diffs with his own cups installed, and your cups are all UE. They are excellent wearing and very good quality. That being said, the spider 6 diffs UE sold are an old design, you may just have some kind of newer version OFNA case with the same internals.

The bevel gear looks to me to be helical cut, which are renowned to feel a lot rougher than other types of gears. I cant tell from the pic all that well, but it does look like that is the case. I am told the CEN diffs which are helical cut are amazing in terms of heavy duty, so you might find they run awesome for you. So long as you shim them well, they should serve you well. :)

Keep the updates comin...

Thanks,I think it may have been the rc gremlins making me take it apart & put it back together just for fun,one i started to loosen the housing then tightened it back up to check something & it was perfect,on another i was able to get a tiny squeak tighter on 3 of the ring gear screws & solved that one so i pulled them all apart again checked all the ring screws(only a few were able to budge)put them pack together & now all 4 feel better than any diffs iv ever owned.Just needed to sleep it off & wait for the gremlins to go bother someone else.As far as what brand they are Im still unsure but so far it looks like you may be right(Darksammy)It must be the ofna6 gears with a different spider housing.I have some better pics but cant find the cord for my good camera ofcorse so ill add them later in case someone recognizes them.

updates will be coming soon.Im building up my sons emaxx also & hes not quite as patient getting them back together as i am so iv been doing the boring stuff(reassembly,filling shocks,ect.)just to get him running.once i finish this prototype chassi I will be doing 1 for both our trucks(if it works out,if it doesn't then Mike's vmaxx here we come:yipi:) the chassi im doing now is just basic aluminium for mockup & testing to see if I want to make any weight/balance/length/thickness changes before i do 2 from 7075.This one is only 1/2 in longer then the stock newer chassi I may go longer but im trying to limit the stress on the arms during rolls as these are strictly down & dirty bashing machines that see more abuse than they ever should.I got a little shaping done to the braces yesterday but am hung up on design for weight reduction cutouts on the top plate.The goal is a mid cg high clearance chassis so instead of 1/4" top plates & 1/8 mid or lower plates like most chassies out there im using 3/16" for top & bottom to transfer even more weight down(I may go down in thickness on the mid plate as total weight is already becoming apparent.The mid battery plate will likely tie directly to both the front & rear custom thicker skids as well to create a solid lower frame(for lack of better words)I have a feeling there with be a lot of play with weight reduction & material thickness before im happy & the final result may be nothing like planned but thats half the fun so stay tuned.I may cut up the purple chassi To mount the servos but as of now the plan is to get the servo on the mid plate or between the rails on the front skid

Heres another project prototype from a long time ago i dug up a few pics on,it may not be the correct section for the truck but i assure you it is mostly emaxx:lol:

well I finally got the top plate figured out,I have a bit more cleaning up but im very happy with the outcome & weight:yipi:.Now its on to the mid plate/battery tray.May need to pick up some 1/8 plate first,i planed to use 3/16 but am second guessing now after noticing the weight of the upper before i did the cutouts.

still to come:
) Mid plate/battery tray
) Motor mount to get the motor on the top plate
) 3906 tranny topshaft for gen 3 slipper with both top gears ( im not a fan of leaving the spur cover off & eliminating gears for the topshaft conversions
)& more To be continued

Got the camera going for better pics .

So iv been trying to identify these metal tranny gears all morning.I Got them in a trade not long ago that i initiated(from E(asilytakeyourmoney)Bay:lol: of all places & looking at pics I figured they at least appeared to all be hardened steel,Iv been looking to buy (or have made) a set from & ended up with a few sets since the other guy wanted one of my trucks i had for trade.
Anyway to the point,I started to think they were ultramaxx gen1 without the brass idlers till i noticed a magnet would not stick.so i stuck it in the lathe & sanded the side of 1 idler & a spot on the dog to be sure i was at bare metal(didnt appear to be coated it just shined up the color,darker color than aluminium & a bit of a darker & color tint compared to steel)

with my experience with steel fab i started some scratch & auto punch test & comparing to multiple types of aluminium & steel & I think i may have stumbled on some titanium gears:oh:.I cannot scrape flakes off like i could with any aluminium(including aircraft grade) The scratch tests & dimples from an auto punch seem to compare to a light surface treated steel( raw carbon steel seem just a bit softer.Weight seems a lighter than Id expect steel to be also but i dont have any raw titanium to compare any tests to.

Machining is a little up & down,the bright side is the teeth on the gears from checking in the lathe appear perfectly symmetrical to the center shafts & i feel the teeth are better cut than even rrp gen3 spurs as these are not straight cut teeth like rrp,these have smooth curved profiles to each tooth with no sharp edges on the contact areas,VERY VERY nice mesh thruout rotation.
Now the corner cutting but not to big a deal for me (considering the above)if you notice in the pics the holes/slots/pins in the idlers & dogs are well centered Except 1 dog appears to have a pin of center on 1 side(again no biggy on that one & press out both pins & bore them center then turn new steel pins to press in to make sure its balanced) the dog slots in the lower gears however are a bit poorly done,theres a bit of unmilled slag & lips on the slots opposite side of where the dog meets from something not being centered during milling(pic shows both sides of each gear for comparison) Dog post did not fit in gears until a quick pass with a needle file around the edge of the slots.
Other than that precision is nice & tight as it is hard to mate the dog to the gears without the shaft inserted to make sure there centered but engages smooth then.

Either way Id like to thank that man who made these as the most important part of any gear is the teeth & mesh & there was definitely a significant amount of attention & detail spent on the tooth profile with these which is why I think the slotting processes looks like it ended up getting rushed thru.But I can fix that so im very pleased no matter who made them.

NOT to pleased however that if it wasnt UE than its surely there design so I would really like to find out in case i end up parting with a set or 2 at some point. If i did id like to (at least try to) ensure there going to be used & abused rather than resold under false pretense.

Sorry for the book but thought it was some good info & hope to get some info back if anyone has ever seen these's before,cant dig much up on UE gen1 gears but i dont think those were titanium & even so the minor(to me) milling issues give me a good idea its not UE that made these unless they were a early prototype or such.So Who did full real titanium 2spd gear sets????I dont think they were produced to recently as there is/was quite a bit of aged buildup & dust that has gathered in the slots & grooves that are away from regular contact.

If you have any info please post,Thanks (Im now looking for a publisher:rules::lol:

Heres the diffs if there familiar to anyone please speak up.there not angled helical cut in the normal sense but each tooth has a bit of a cup shape to it.

The diffs look like Hot bodies Lightning units - used quite a few of them over the years. The tranny gears are likely hard stainless, which is not typically very magnetic. Titanium would be a poor choice for tranny gears IMO(doesn't wear well). The idlers look like UE, but every UE idler I ever saw was black oxide coated hardenend steel. The Ultramaxx idlers were brass IIRC. Funny thing, though - I have an idler just like that(looks like a silver UE idler) that I got from a customer probably 10 years ago(Aussie fellow) - I don't recall the maker, but I kept it along with one of my idlers(I made hardened idlers for a few years after UE stopped making them, but mine had a radial groove instead of the holes).
Cool craftmanship on the Maxx, too - looking forward to watch this develop into a complete rig.

idler picture
 

picture of the silver idler and the RCM idler.

Thanks a ton Mike,i think you nailed the diffs I dont know how i missed those.I must also be to spoiled in delrin & basic steel fab that I didnt consider stainless or the low surface strength of titanium,so i hope your right there as well,Still a mystery though.I do believe that whoever did the idlers was the maker of the set as the metal & age seem identical thru out & all gears including the idlers have the same rounded tip profile to the teeth with no machine marks on the teeth face they may have been lightly honed to smooth out as I cant see normal gear cutters not showing some edge (both the silver & rcm idlers seem to have the flat profile to the tip.) On these you can lightly see rubbing in the bearing seat wall where each reduction hole is from either drilling to fast or to close.I havent handled many ue parts(yet) but what i have & what iv heard I think precision would have been consistent rather than only where it counts if any of these came from there(even as an early run) Im sure ill dig deeper into the makeup Maybe weight/volume tests but they should serve me well with hp grease,If they dont hey at least they wont passed around as genuine.

Well I finally had a chance to get the mid/battery plate rough cut & bent,I tried the 3/16 i originally planed since I already had it & got some time & the weight wasn't near what i thought it would be,Still need to drill for mounting,remove some weight & get the final shape down but its looking pretty good Here is a mock up as it is so far.

& now the goody!Takin it back to the old school:yes: esp maxzilla ladder cage! Super light but Im a little worried about the strength so i may do something in a bit thicker material,full cage maybe.

Heck yeah!!! Always wanted one of those ESP cages. Old Skool for sure

Changed directions,I guess i dont mind loosing the 2speed
 

Well i havent had much visual progress on the chassi,been scratching my head on the lower plate cutouts as well as the servo & motor mount designs, somehow it got carried away & it turned into an extremely heavy duty tranny.Iv heard the term bulletproof tranny tossed around but I think this one just might be the closest to it(for a maxx anyway)The input & output bearings are ofna 1/8 diff bearings so they wont be failing,The idler uses the larger bearings from the output shaft & Im thinking the factory plastic gear will hold up for the idler instead of the steel gear since there is an increase in mesh contact with the larger gears over the factory idler,If not than ill use the steel but i like the idea of reducing wear weight & noise from metal to metal.Plus it leaves the truck with a fusible link or cheap point of failure if something should go wrong.Iv been avoiding the center diffs since i didnt like the exposed gears or loosing the slipper so im going to have to do a side cover for the tranny(mayby just lexan or plexiglass)I still need to turn the bushings for the shafts to fit the bearings.

Darksammy,Iv had that cage for a while just not sure it will hold upto me,if you still have an itch for one I know a seller on ebay that recently told me of 2 in the package on his wall(but not listed)Id be happy to pass the name on if you wana add one to one of your Beautiful(by the way) builds .Hes one of the more reasonable priced sellers.Iv been considering getting one for my sons to match but i think id rather do full cages similar to the old rc soulutions.

Oh I forgot to mention why the larger idler & tranny redesign came about.It locates the topshaft with the rrp gen3 slipper at just the right hight to get the heavy motor dead center & only about 1/4inch off the topplate.The gearing is still identical to the stock setup in 2nd.

Of course you could forego the transmission and install our Slipperential in its place - much more compact, lighter and has the benefits of a differential and a slipper. :-)

I do indeed see a couple vmaxx chassis & slipperentials in my near future although i told myself i would finish this project first.(i Just need to stop getting carried away)I wonder if just saying im finished counts,:lol:.I used to think of the alloy chassis as fashion focused due to the web cutout designs but i am now seeing that the cutouts are more for necessity than appearance,Mike & flm have just figured out how to make it look good while doing it.weight can add up quick with all that extra material.I did however manage to make something useful that i think the maxx community could use more of,COUGH mike :wink::wink: Some proper (captured) hingpin supports.I still need to do the top pin supports which are proving to be a bit harder than the lowers

Indeed the cut-outs are for weight reduction, but also they look good and can add integrity when done correctly(physics...less is more sometimes). My V-Maxx chassis is within an ounce of the stock plastic chassis, but way stronger(and much sexier if I do say so myself). ;-)

Hinge-pin braces are currently incorporated and included into the FLM lower suspension arms(per my request several years ago). Your braces look like they may interfere with the servo saver/bellcrank assembly as they are shown in the pictures - we had to machine the arms slightly and counter bore the braces(for the e-clips) on the FLM arms to allow clearance for the bell cranks. The rear needs no mods(and has much less of a need for the brace to begin with - always bent the lower front hinge-pins).

The rear bulks from FLM only have hinge pin braces as part of the structure. And I love the brace for the front. It's nice to know that you requested it.

:surprised:Well geez people, you mean i can now buy products to solve many of the dreaded emaxx issues,Why has no one told this stuff & where have i been the last 10 years.I have always feared alloy arms do to the stiffness but i just might have to look into those arms.Dont tell me theirs been a better material for pins besides drill rod or ejector pins recently?I somehow manage to bend all of mine hing pins eventually & worry i would do the same to alloy arms.You are correct Mike, the front does slightly interfere with the bellcrank,I havent decided how do deal with that yet(modify the hinge brace,the bellcrank, or work in a bellcrank from another 1/8 with a slightly shorter throw.OR drill 2 more mounting holes in the chassis & skid to move the stock bellcrank back 1-2mm,I would then likely need to modify the side chassis braces to clear the tie rod from the servo.This chassis i can assure you was not done properly:lol: there came a point during weight reduction where i remembered this was not going to be the final chassis so i just graphed the chassis & started drilling holes,It has become more of a proof of concept with the chosen materials,still worked out pretty well so far imo & i have not even turned on the mill or lathe for this one yet(Did not want to wear thru bits milling a paper weight & my aluminium specific tooling is limited(FOR NOW,hehe) .Weight is feeling good now,& speaking of weight what is the weight of the stock or vmaxx chassi (only chassi,side braces & battery trays)no tranny,bulks,ect)I cant find the answer anywhere & really dont want to strip down my sons chassi to find out.Just trying to find a good baseline weight to shoot for.Thanks I will highly agree though Mike,this chassis could only dream of have the sex appeal your chassis does.Thats like comparing megan fox to a vegas hooker:no: Ok i may be able to get mine on a showgirl set but thats about all the class its got to offer:lol: heres an update..

Boy these forums are jumpin lately,lol.Its a good thing i have a few other builds lined up.NO one knows the weight of the stock new version chassi? To livin things up a bit here's an action shot of my home brew hardened metal grinder at work on the input gear(finally used the lathe...kinda).the gear mesh is prefect on the tranny but the metal gears & larger idler have added some rotating mass to the tranny.I suspect it will put more stress on the elecs during startup & breaking than i want but fortunately once i drop in a slipperential in Ill just have to build an extra large scale crawler to stick this in.(maybe resurrect & redesign the orange Cmaxx crawler from the pic on page 1,the chassi has been collecting dust in the shop for years & could use some action, the internal slipper was a last minute change & i have a plan for mounting the motor to the tranny with a mounting plate that will allow for easy removal & mesh adjustment just need some more fab time,been installing a new leech line for a neighbor the past few days along with the normal stuff so times been short..Oh i did get the servo mount figured out also.

Im back,Iv been MIA for a bit as the warm weather brought on lots of issues with work,since last post i think all iv been able to do was lighten the tranny case,mount the motor & mock it all up,my only hold up from a test run is the gen3 slipper i purchased was bored crooked on the backing plate,so much that the spur jumps off the pinion completely,haven't got around to getting another,but here it is so far.