bigstu
RCC Addict
As if a build of a comp truck, and a rebuild of my comp truck from last year weren't enough, I decided to throw the manual for Monster Trucks / Clodbusters out the window and come up with something new.
Not too long ago, I traded a set of aluminum Wraith axle housings for a BWD FOFF chassis. I've always wanted to get one of these, since they first came out, and knew that one day I would get one. After receiving the chassis I stared at it and tried to come up with an idea. Water skipper, done.. Typical air it out hyper fast FOFF, done... And on and on..... Then it occurred to me, these are VERY strong and the center of gravity is VERY low.. Hmmmm. Set the chassis on a 2.2 crawler tire, put a set of Clodbuster wheels and tires next to it, hmmmm. They almost line up to the axle center line perfect. Hmmmmmm. Then while looking for parts, Chris_the_battery man from Creation Fab releases his new lightweight HD beef tubes to use with Wraith parts and XR10 shafts to widen SCX/AX-10 axles. Idea born..
So after some PMs, phone calls, and orders to my favorite vendors, a pile was born. Some where in here is a monster truck..
Step 1, get the trans in the chassis.
Made a call to my buddy Rick at Super Shafty for one of his Bomb Proof Axial transmissions, with the 6mm outputs and the MIP adapters to fit.
Rick does an incredible job assembling these monsters. He takes the time to build and then break in EVERY transmission he builds. When you get one of these, you drop it in, with BIG power and GO.. And with my decision to go with Tekin Pro4 power and Clodbuster tires - a Bomb Proof trans was a must.
Step 2 - Axles.
Chris the battery man at Creation Fab provided two sets of his new HD lightweight beef tubes. They are aluminum tubes with plastic ends that are splined to fit in to XR10/Wraith C-Hubs. My set required a little persuasion for installation of the C-hubs, but they came out GREAT.
For monster trucks, and monster jam style racing, some of the courses are VERY tight. Almost tight to the point where they require 4ws. Phase one for tight turns - 4ws, accomplished. Phase 2 - Differentials. The standard Axial lockers certainly wouldn't hold up to Pro4 + Clod tires. And with the tight turns required, I went back to my old back of tricks. GCM of Canada is manufacturing aluminum diff housings for the EXO. Just happens that these are the same housings we use in our crawlers. After some searching on the shortcourse forums, the HPI diff gears appeared to be the toughest on the market and the go-to for the short course guys that are having gear diff problems. So, some GCM EXO housings + Axial Under Drive HD Gears + HPI diff gears + some VP grease = differentials that should do the job. To my suprise the XR10 axle ends slid right in and had no slop. I'll keep my eye on them and have a spare set just in case I start breaking teeth. Phase 2 for tight turns, complete.
Kudos go out to Fast Eddie.
I didn't really want to have to buy individual bearings or two complete sets of SCX-10 bearings to fill both axles.
Since they offer sets for the AR60 Wraith axles and these use the same bearings, 2-kits = perfect number of bearings.
After some grinding, filing and trimming on the housings, some more VP grease, a little pinion shimming, we have success..
And, even thought the shocks needs to be finished, and the drive shafts are too long, and a bunch more work needs to be done to get the 4ws ready, I couldn't resist bolting the axles to the chassis.
Keep your eyes open for more progress soon.
Round two of the Michigan Monsters of RC Monster Jam Series is the 23rd of this month. With some luck, I will have the rest of this monster finished and ready to see what she'll do..
Thank you to all the RCC vendors that have provided parts for this build. More to come.
Not too long ago, I traded a set of aluminum Wraith axle housings for a BWD FOFF chassis. I've always wanted to get one of these, since they first came out, and knew that one day I would get one. After receiving the chassis I stared at it and tried to come up with an idea. Water skipper, done.. Typical air it out hyper fast FOFF, done... And on and on..... Then it occurred to me, these are VERY strong and the center of gravity is VERY low.. Hmmmm. Set the chassis on a 2.2 crawler tire, put a set of Clodbuster wheels and tires next to it, hmmmm. They almost line up to the axle center line perfect. Hmmmmmm. Then while looking for parts, Chris_the_battery man from Creation Fab releases his new lightweight HD beef tubes to use with Wraith parts and XR10 shafts to widen SCX/AX-10 axles. Idea born..
So after some PMs, phone calls, and orders to my favorite vendors, a pile was born. Some where in here is a monster truck..
Step 1, get the trans in the chassis.
Made a call to my buddy Rick at Super Shafty for one of his Bomb Proof Axial transmissions, with the 6mm outputs and the MIP adapters to fit.
Rick does an incredible job assembling these monsters. He takes the time to build and then break in EVERY transmission he builds. When you get one of these, you drop it in, with BIG power and GO.. And with my decision to go with Tekin Pro4 power and Clodbuster tires - a Bomb Proof trans was a must.
Step 2 - Axles.
Chris the battery man at Creation Fab provided two sets of his new HD lightweight beef tubes. They are aluminum tubes with plastic ends that are splined to fit in to XR10/Wraith C-Hubs. My set required a little persuasion for installation of the C-hubs, but they came out GREAT.
For monster trucks, and monster jam style racing, some of the courses are VERY tight. Almost tight to the point where they require 4ws. Phase one for tight turns - 4ws, accomplished. Phase 2 - Differentials. The standard Axial lockers certainly wouldn't hold up to Pro4 + Clod tires. And with the tight turns required, I went back to my old back of tricks. GCM of Canada is manufacturing aluminum diff housings for the EXO. Just happens that these are the same housings we use in our crawlers. After some searching on the shortcourse forums, the HPI diff gears appeared to be the toughest on the market and the go-to for the short course guys that are having gear diff problems. So, some GCM EXO housings + Axial Under Drive HD Gears + HPI diff gears + some VP grease = differentials that should do the job. To my suprise the XR10 axle ends slid right in and had no slop. I'll keep my eye on them and have a spare set just in case I start breaking teeth. Phase 2 for tight turns, complete.
Kudos go out to Fast Eddie.
I didn't really want to have to buy individual bearings or two complete sets of SCX-10 bearings to fill both axles.
Since they offer sets for the AR60 Wraith axles and these use the same bearings, 2-kits = perfect number of bearings.
After some grinding, filing and trimming on the housings, some more VP grease, a little pinion shimming, we have success..
And, even thought the shocks needs to be finished, and the drive shafts are too long, and a bunch more work needs to be done to get the 4ws ready, I couldn't resist bolting the axles to the chassis.
Keep your eyes open for more progress soon.
Round two of the Michigan Monsters of RC Monster Jam Series is the 23rd of this month. With some luck, I will have the rest of this monster finished and ready to see what she'll do..
Thank you to all the RCC vendors that have provided parts for this build. More to come.
