Mugs' embe

[Mugs]

Well Here is my EMBE. Do not profess to know it all, but have picked up a few things along the way which will hopefully prove to be useful to others out there.

First thing I did was tap into the power of 6s Lipo's. Word of advice, probably better if you don't jump straight in with 6s Lipo as I did as you end up spending a bit on broken bits.

So,as most of us know, the stock EMaxx does have a few "issues" with durability. So after a few mild jumps and crashes (seriously nothing hectic) the repair bill was mounting up so I decided to go Aluminium crazy as you can see.







Upgraded Shock Towers, Shocks, Upper & Lower Arms, Toe Links, Chassis Braces, Skid Plates (incl. Centre) and Bulkheads. After having run these for awhile and now with the benefit of hindsight I can say that not all was needed to be upgraded. If you are worried about adding too much weight to your truck or strapped for cash I would say that the Upper Arms can be kept plastic as well as Centre Skid Plate. I would still keep all else Aluminium for strength and rigidity (having the Chassis Braces, Bulkheads & Skid Plates Aluminium and connected together gives a very nice rigid underside of the truck and too date due to this I have had no need to upgrade the Chassis itself to Aluminium and have avoided all the pain (time & money) that goes with changing this out.

In addition, I have rubberised my ESC to make it Waterproof. Did this with paint-on ruberising product. There is a bit of work involved in doing this, but if you plan to run through water or in snow, would definately say it is the way to go.



And added Shock Boots (fingers from Latex Gloves). Have made a big difference in keeping shocks clean and working properly. Have to date not lost shock travel or movement and am racing on some seriously dusty track



Current on the cards project is to make my own "bulletproof body". Watch this post for updates.

[minirevobasher]

Sweet. How do those canyons run for you? What rims do you got? Why did you go aluminum and not rpm?(just curious)
Sorry for all the questions.

[Mugs]

Well ended up going to Aluminium after ripping off entire wheel and connecting gear twice. Guess it depends on what you doing with your truck, but I have tried to make it an all rounder that can cope with some decent bashing.

When the pic's were taken I had the Geode Rims and Canyon Tires on and they handled okay. Found the tires a bit soft though so currently have Big Joe 40's on. Although a very forgiving tire, especially for bashing, it does slow the truck down a bit and makes it hard to handle on the street. Have a set of 3.8" Trenchers on order which I plan to use as my Dirt Tires. Hopefully they are a good selection

[bentrocker]

Nice looking emaxx.

[Mugs]

Nice looking emaxx.

Thanks. Any feedback on improving it even more are always welcome.

[minirevobasher]

Maybe a wheelie bar and some metal geared servos or servo. Aluminum chassis maybe.......

[Mugs]

Maybe a wheelie bar and some metal geared servos or servo. Aluminum chassis maybe.......

As posted, I think that I have got away without having to fit an FLM or the like chassis. I firmly believe that with Aluminium Chassis Braces, Bulkheads and Skid Plates you create enough rigidity around the bottom of your chassis. Throw a Roll Cage into the mix and I think you have now created enough of a rigid shell around the stock chassis to not require a Aluminium Chassis. It is all about "protecting" the weak points of were the stock chassis mounts to the Bulkheads. I am not even running with a the Roll Cage and have launched some fairly decent jumps and so far it seems to be holding up. I am hoping it is good enough because as we all know, upgrading to an Aluminium Chassis costs a bit and is not the easiest job in the world to effect.

[bentrocker]

The FLM alum chassis isn't really that hard to install and it is lighter than the traxxas chassis .

[Mugs]

The FLM alum chassis isn't really that hard to install and it is lighter than the traxxas chassis .

Hmmm, maybe, but still a bit of effort in doing it changing across ESC etc. Each to their own, but figured that based on my reasoning above I could probably get away without having to buy & install one

[Dr.J]

Great idea w the rubber glove fingers over the shocks!

[MITCH316]

Nice one bro!

[Mugs]

So had an interesting failure. Sheared off the top (plastic piece) of one of my shocks yesterday. That's a new one. Am thinking of going the Big Bore Shocks route. Are they up to it?

[Mugs]

Well have now got my new body finished. Had it "Rhinolined" on the inside like the "Bulletproof" bodies for sale out there. Should hopefully last longer now. Will keep posted.

[minirevobasher]

Where did you buy the rhinoliner?

[Mugs]

Where did you buy the rhinoliner?

Had it lined with the Spray on Bed Liner used on Pick-ups. Took it to a place that does it professionally and they sprayed it on for me.

[minirevobasher]

How much did they do it for?

[Mugs]

How much did they do it for?

Cost the equivalent of $40 USD

So after a recent bashing session I sheared the top off 2 of my eRacing Pro shocks. Decided to upgrade the Beast a bit while it was down by putting on Big Bore Shocks, new Shock covers, re-spraying my upper & lower arms and skid plates, putting on my new Trenchers and adding my newly Rhino lined Bullet proof Body.



So 2 of the issues I am currently working to overcome are the constant lifting up of my rear bumper when landing jumps on the back end and my rear shock tower always bending inwards (towards to front one) after a day of bashing. Below is my solution to the rear bumper lifting. Seems to be holding Now working on the Shock Tower solution, should have that sorted in a day or so.

[MAXXXMASHER]

That is a seriously tough looking truck! I have most of that (except RPM arms) but also the FLM chassis and towers. I did the same thing to my rear bumper to keep it in place. I have a set of Hot Bodies aluminum shocks that were made for Max trucks and they have held up for almost five years of hard bashing. Nice ride!!

[MITCH316]

Looking good

[Mugs]

So finally got my Shock Tower Braces sorted. Made from 8mm OD 1mm Thick Stainless Tube with modified Stock Bulkhead Brace as the bit which holds everything in place




The other "issue" with having Aluminium Skid Plates is that when bashing they bend inwards (particularly the rear). To solve this I inserted Stainless Tubing again of sizes to suit to act as added bracing.

[MITCH316]

I see it coming together...hopefully it will stop raining so we can have a bash and test

[Mugs]

Okay, so tested the Skid Plate and Shock Tower braces with some good bashing. Report back is that the Shock Tower Braces worked well and held up. Front Skid Plate Brace worked amazingly as truck took some direct nose first lands and held up well. Rear Skid Plate Brace was not as effective. So re-designed and come up with Rear Skid Plate Brace 2.0



Think this should work as based on Front Skid Plate Brace the trick is to make sure the Brace "catches" under the Bulkhead else it will work loose and result in bent skid plate.

[Mugs]

isn't the aluminium a little too much because it makes your car heavy

Yes & No. My local track that we used to run on was strewn with some serious imbedded rocks and I found the aluminium lower arms in particular stood up well to the abuse. They have since decided to upgrade my local track so yes, I am now planning to change to RPM arms to provide flexibility and strength as no danger of rocks destroying lower arms.

[Mugs]

So been doing some big bashing and have again had to revise Shock Tower Braces & Skid Plate Braces. Seem to have it now as these held up well to some abuse.

[Mugs]

Found this compilation of some minor bashing I did with my Maxx some time ago. Watch this space for something more hectic once I get the RPM arms on
Big Thanks to craig/mitch316. Great job on the editing mate

[Emaxx1991]

So been doing some big bashing and have again had to revise Shock Tower Braces & Skid Plate Braces. Seem to have it now as these held up well to some abuse.

I like this idea what size pipe is that

[Mugs]

3/4" Stainless Tube. Was tired of the Skid Plates bending. Since I have installed, so far so good

[Emaxx1991]

Thanks.. Yea my FLM ones always bend it gets old

[Mugs]

Well it has been a while since I updated my post. My beast been in for major overhaul last month.

Finally decided to see what all the "fuss" was about with RPM Arms True Tracks in Rear.

[Mugs]

Was tired of the stainless hinge pins bending due to the bashing I was doing, so it is Titanium all the way

[Mugs]

I see a lot of current posts relating to motor temps and the requirement for a temp gun or telemetry. Just thought I would share my cheap, easy to install method for checking my motor temps.



This is used on motor-cross bikes and the likes to quickly check temps etc of components on the fly. If it is good enough for them, it is good enough for me!

[SLW-SVT]

Good idea with that temp gauge, I'm going to do that too. How do you like the true track so far?

[Mugs]

Good idea with that temp gauge, I'm going to do that too. How do you like the true track so far?

Thanks. So far I am liking the True Tracks. I am yet to test them out on the race course as our local track is under repairs, but watch this space

[spanky17]

Thanks for the link to this Mugs,my son has an E Maxx so I will be sure to forward this thread on to him.Your truck looks great.

[Mugs]

Thanks mate.

Had a few questions on my motor thermometer, anyone wanting more details can find them at http://www.racetemp.com/

[Nepptune]

Mugs,

Truck looks lekker bru, great thread this...

I got my beater running, after spending a day of serious stripping down, which for someone with 10 thumbs and no experience, was a bit of a challenge... especially as ALOT of the screws etc on my truck were stripped by the previous owner, it I had to try fix/replace a ton of stuff with the truck only half pulled apart.... challenging to say the least!!!

Anyway after a couple hours got RPM replacements pretty much all round ( Front arsm etc, True Track Rear ) and some Aluminium Bulks front and rear....Stainless CVD's.... couple other bits and pieces... had to strip the servo down to get it working properly as had issues with one of the rods knocking against the hinge pins on the left turn and siezing up.... turns out the hinge pin was the wrong length... then had to McGuyver it because I couldn't get the skid plates off cause of stripped screws....

Anyway, final mission got the truck running and fitted the Response Pros, thanks for the advice on those, and enjoyed 2 days of solid bashing without a single issue!! Stoked! Compared with the first 10 attempts at running the truck and only getting about 3 minutes of total run time due to breakages, its been a revalation, and a heap of fun!

Also managed to hit Atlantis with the ProLine Slingshots fitted to the rear on the Maxx... Man what a blast, rooster tails, mad speed and huuuuuge jumps.... gotta get a camera out there...

So now to follow up on alot of your mods... gonna Waterproof the ESC properly like you've done, cause I need this thing to be water proof...

Got all my FLM pieces now too ( CHassis, towers, Ultimate Hybrid Bulks, Skids, Hinge pins etc) so gotta find some time to start putting that all together.... probably just gonna build a whole new truck up slowly I think....

While keep y'all in the loop.

Thanks again for all yours and Craig's help and the welcome... tried to PM you boys last week, but PC took a dump mid way through, and I wasn't up to rewriting an essay!!! :-)

Lekker....
Dre

[Mugs]

Mugs,

Truck looks lekker bru, great thread this...

I got my beater running, after spending a day of serious stripping down, which for someone with 10 thumbs and no experience, was a bit of a challenge... especially as ALOT of the screws etc on my truck were stripped by the previous owner, it I had to try fix/replace a ton of stuff with the truck only half pulled apart.... challenging to say the least!!!

Anyway after a couple hours got RPM replacements pretty much all round ( Front arsm etc, True Track Rear ) and some Aluminium Bulks front and rear....Stainless CVD's.... couple other bits and pieces... had to strip the servo down to get it working properly as had issues with one of the rods knocking against the hinge pins on the left turn and siezing up.... turns out the hinge pin was the wrong length... then had to McGuyver it because I couldn't get the skid plates off cause of stripped screws....

Anyway, final mission got the truck running and fitted the Response Pros, thanks for the advice on those, and enjoyed 2 days of solid bashing without a single issue!! Stoked! Compared with the first 10 attempts at running the truck and only getting about 3 minutes of total run time due to breakages, its been a revalation, and a heap of fun!

Also managed to hit Atlantis with the ProLine Slingshots fitted to the rear on the Maxx... Man what a blast, rooster tails, mad speed and huuuuuge jumps.... gotta get a camera out there...

So now to follow up on alot of your mods... gonna Waterproof the ESC properly like you've done, cause I need this thing to be water proof...

Got all my FLM pieces now too ( CHassis, towers, Ultimate Hybrid Bulks, Skids, Hinge pins etc) so gotta find some time to start putting that all together.... probably just gonna build a whole new truck up slowly I think....

While keep y'all in the loop.

Thanks again for all yours and Craig's help and the welcome... tried to PM you boys last week, but PC took a dump mid way through, and I wasn't up to rewriting an essay!!! :-)

Lekker....
Dre

Hey Man. Sounds like it is all coming together. Need to see some pics or vids of the beast. See you not taking any chances and going with FLM's serious upgrade parts. Lekker man, soon have that truck as tough as a rattle

[MITCH316]

Hey mate...how sweet was your truck running on those Response Pro's yesterday. It's unbelievable how well it handles;and what a difference the RPM make.

Your eMaxx is running like one serious beast now

[Mugs]

Hey mate...how sweet was your truck running on those Response Pro's yesterday. It's unbelievable how well it handles;and what a difference the RPM make.

Your eMaxx is running like one serious beast now

Thanks. Yeah, RPM arms was a good way to go, truck is dialed in sweetly. Need to update my post with the vids we shot testing the RPM arms. Just have not got around to it yet. Also have to post up photo's of my latest rounds of mods. The only weird thing is that with the GPM Bulkheads I have combined with RPM arms there is no space anymore for my caster spacers. Wonder if others have same issues? Probably not a huge deal, probably just means I am stuck with stock 7 degrees.

[MITCH316]

How sweet is that new track they built near us...not really a track; just like a bunch of freestyle jumps. Hard on the truck when you don't land right thou.

We should post some pics on of it next time we are there .