TD's SMT10 Build

[Techno Duck]

I caught the solid axle MT bug earlier this year. I was looking for something to run in the yard on grass. Kraton was too fast and the Baja Rey isn't great on grass. The SMT10 is a lot of fun to drive and watch, with the solid axles and big wheels even minor things are done in a very dramatic fashion.

Axial discontinued the SMT10, but i was lucky to find a new one from HobbyKing. They are pretty boring out of the box and need a bunch of upgrades for durability. As soon as it arrived, i swapped out almost everything that could be problematic.

After 15 or so packs running around the yard jumping skateboard ramps its been holding up great. Out of all the rigs i have, this is my favorite. Even in a small area its still a lot of fun. I primarily run 2S but have put a few 3S packs through it. Its fun on 2S and still has enough power to do standing backflips with the punch all the way up. On 3S its wild and i imagine even with the upgraded parts will still break things.

Ive got it pretty dialed in now, ill post more details about it over the next week or two.

Parts List

Max-D SMT10

Drivetrain
Vanquish transmission case
Vanquish Incision gear set
MIP Driveshafts
XtraSpeed Axles
Axial front CVD’s
Vanquish rear axle shafts
Front diff packed with grease / rear diff has 100k oil
Axial HD ring and pinion (not yet installed)

Suspension
SSD trailing arms
Vanquish Incision upper links
Vanquish Incision steering links
Kimbrough #124 servo saver
Proline Powerstroke XT shocks
Axial front sway bar
SSD front knuckles
Vanquish scale front clamping c-hubs
Vanquish clamping rear lockouts
HotRacing 100mm limit straps
RH Design wheelie bar

Wheels / Tires
JConcepts Tribute wheels
JConcepts Golden Year tires

Electronics
Castle Mamba X
Castle 1410 Green Can 3800kv w14t pinion
Castle BEC @ 7v
Savox 1270tg
RPM Mamba X ESC mount



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[soze]

Nice!

 

[Zukiiholic]

Looks and runs great.

 

[Techno Duck]

To be honest, the stock electronics for this rig were lame. The lowest you can set the drag brake is 50% with the AE-5 and the stock motor on 2S was jogging speed. I swapped everything out with a Castle Mamba X and a 3800kv sensored green can. I am running stock gearing with a 14t pinion, speed is perfect on 2S. I ran a few 3S packs and it really rips. I have noticed though as the battery starts running down on 2S, i definitely see a change in punch and speed. Ive been thinking of picking up some more 3S packs and tweaking the gearing and ESC settings to tame it down for more consistent performance. In the mean time, 2S 5k mah packs yield about 20 minutes of run time blasting around the yard.

To mount the ESC, i used the RPM Mamba X ESC mount. If i recall these are meant for a Slash, but i just had to drill one hole in the ESC mounting area to make it work. It even has a nice mount for the on/off switch.

I'm running a Savox 1270tg HV servo, so i hooked up a Castle 2.0 BEC so i can run it at 7v. I know the internal Mamba X BEC can handle this servo, but the BEC is only adjustable to 7.5v. The Futaba receiver i use will probably be fine but i decided to run it to keep it at a happy 6v.

Getting it all laid out before soldering on the XT90 connector.

I had to cut a hole in the interior for the motor wires.

I mounted the Rx bypass harness to the side of the receiver box with double sided tape.

The Castle setup is great. Plenty of torque on 2S, if i recall i turned the punch down to around 60% and it will still pop wheelies on demand. I am running a sensored motor also so its super smooth also. Ill also say this setup is quiet! My crawler has the whining sound, my Kraton, Baja Rey and UDR were all unsensored, so between the cogging and metal spurs they are loud as heck. This rig seems practically silent running around.

No issues at all with the Vanquish gears and transmission case.

 

[Techno Duck]

I shelved the MAX-D body right out of the box. I really wanted to do a Big Foot build but i couldn't find decals anywhere. Most places that were offering them stopped due to copyright issues. I decided to do an Excalibur livery and use the J-Concept Chevy Snoop Nose. I used Tamiya metallic black to give it a little pop.

I spent a ton of time cutting the body as tight around the cage as possible.

I wasn't able to use the original body post mounts with the truck bed, in fact the area it would normally mount was cut out due to the cage. I used the stock shock hoops i had laying around from my SCX10ii build and cut the body post mounting area off. I then bolted these up to the rear, normally unused shock mounting position of the cage. It fit great! If you go with an axle mounting shock, you can use the same positions by moving the body post mounts to the inside of the frame instead.

For decals, i went with MCI Racing. Quality was great and they were easy to apply.

I also bought a sponsor sheet from MCI for the sponsor plates.

The stock wheels and tires are not really scale as you can see in the previous pictures. I went with J-Concept Tributes and the J-Concept Golden Year tires. They are big! Size comparison with 1/8 wheels from my Kraton.

 

[Techno Duck]

Front suspension is SSD knuckles and the Vanquish scale locking c-hubs. The Vanquish hubs were expensive, but are the only clamping types i was able to find. They also have an integrated bump stop that restricts steering travel, this works well with the SMT10, with the big tires they already rub on the trailing arm. So they prevent serious over travel from a bad landing. I also ditched the dog bones and put in the Axial CVD's.


The Axial CVD's are holding up great. I also shimmed the bearing carriers in the hub somewhat to take the side to side play out of the CVD's.

I used some washers to shim the play out of the knuckles.

The Vanquish steering links work well, i used some washers on it to get the steering angles right and the toe correct. I also used a washer as a shim on the SSD knuckles to remove the play at the ball joint.

It took some time to get the steering link the right length to get the servo centered right. I initially ran it by adjusting the trim on my radio, but it caused the steering to act differently left to right.

The servo saver is a Kimbrough #124. Its okay, but the big wheels and tires definitely overpower it on some terrains. Great for a bashing truck, but if you want more precise steering i would look at the ProLine Big Hit or FreeStyleRC style steering link. At $8, the price is right though! :ror:

I really like the Savox 1270tg servo. I ran the same servo in my UDR and Kraton also. Never had any issues with it. I run it at 7volts with a Castle 2.0 BEC... plenty of power to overpower the servo saver with the big tires :ror:

Because the axles and wheels / tires are so heavy, i think its almost a requirement to run limit straps to save the shocks. I am using Hot Racing 100mm straps. It took some time to find the right length, so hopefully this saves some of you some trouble. I mounted it to one of the chassis points using a small spacer, then the other side is attached to the link mount on the axle.

The SSD lower links are okay. I did break one of the rod ends after a very small jump. What i found is the rod ends use a M3x15 set screw. The set screws arent long enough to thread all the way into the rod ends, you can see the end broke right where the set screw stops. I switched everything to M3x20 set screws (Axial 0187). No issues since.

 

[Techno Duck]

Rear axle has the Vanquish clamping lock outs. These are a must.

The rear limit straps are also 100mm length, mounted to the axle and to the wheelie bar.

The RH Design Wheelie Bar works great and helps protect the rear of the body. Before it was getting caught up whenever i popped a wheelie. The mount clamps between the frame rails and is very secure. Its also very adjustable to account for other bodies.

Shocks front and rear are now Proline Powerstroke XT's. I ran the stock shocks for quite awhile, they always needed to be topped off every few packs but they held up ok. I eventually blew out one of the diaphragms on a hard landing so i decided to not bother rebuilding them.

The Powerstrokes are awesome, very smooth and dont leak a drop. The springs they come with are way too stiff. The Proline ProSpec Rear springs work great as replacements. The stiffest ProSpec springs are just a little softer than the stock Axial springs.

The softest springs included would probably work great for axle mounted shock setups.

Front - Proline PowerStroke XT, 20wt oil, green secondary, ProSpec rear red primary (2.6lb rate)
Rear - Proline PowerStroke XT, 30wt oil, yellow secondary, ProSpec rear purple primary (2.8lb rate)

This setup tamed the bounce on the ramps.

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