ViperX-Maxx (8S) build

[yoshgixxer]

Ok cool. What about gearing?

2028 on 8s needs 44-48T pinions

[setxws6]

They aren't cheap, but I just use them on my Xmaxx only. Everything else I have is lower amperage 2s and 3s and cheap deans connectors work well.

[NBViper]

Great, I took the plunge for the Castle 6.5mm connectors. Ordered for a local shop that had them for roughly $6 a pair, hopefully I'll have them by tomorrow.

[Annihill8or89]

So on 6s like 40/54?

[ReglarGuy]

Got my Kershaw stuff today...Leopard 1400kv motor, 26T pinion, motor mount, and ESC mount. Last week I got my Castle XL-X ESC. I'm getting there.

[NBViper]

Ok, here we go. Kershaw Designs Mount and Pinions installed.

Mount
First a few comparison shots of what of my aluminum mount to the Kershaw one. Not much to say here, much more professional looking I think.



Pinions
I've been using cheapo eBay pinions that I found on eBay. They work just fine but compared to the Kershaw ones. The are bulky and HEAVY!!! Kershaw pinions are very well made and light, a bit thinner but that shouldn't matter. With the reduced weight, I'll be able to wheelie onto my lid much faster and destroy some diffs

[yoshgixxer]

They aren't cheap, but I just use them on my Xmaxx only. Everything else I have is lower amperage 2s and 3s and cheap deans connectors work well.

Just curious if your member name has anything to do with a WS6 TA?

[NBViper]

Beware, my steps may be in a different order than the instructions that are provided.

Cross Brace
Next task is to install the cross brace onto the main mount. Nothing difficult here.


Here is the mount installed in the chassis. It is a very tight fit, make sure the area is clean of dirt so it will fit flush.
(Note: There is no side to side movement with this mount, so you'll need to adjust the motor up and down to get the correct gear meshing).


Motor/Pinion Install
The motor attaches with 2 screws to the front of the mount. I loosely attached the motor, then slid the pinion gear on (45T in the case). Do not tighten the pinion yet. Move the motor into place to mesh with the spur gear. THIS IS WHERE IT GETS TRICKY if you are using a 46T spur. Since this spur is smaller in diameter than the slipper you can not slide the pinion gear off without shifting the motor up. I believe that Kershaw recommends a 54T pinion and now I think I know why!!! However, if you are like me and need to find a way, I created a stubby allen key to fit.


Once the motor is tightened down, you can slide the pinion back into place and tighten it down. I recommend a drop of lactate.

Temperature Sensor
Re-attached the sensor to the motor, using a zip tie to help secure it a bit better.

[yoshgixxer]

[QUOTE=NBViper;6170505]Ok, here we go. Kershaw Designs Mount and Pinions installed.

Mount
First a few comparison shots of what of my aluminum mount to the Kershaw one. Not much to say here, much more professional looking I think.


Wow they have a huge hub, cheaper and faster to machine when you dont cut the material down to a reasonable size lol

Nice pinions by the way

[yoshgixxer]

Lookin good NB! Let me know if your esc mounting plate screw holes line up correctly, mine fit but I had to really force the screw to the side to get it to go in, the hole was defiantly drilled a touch off center. Also I used a long screw and nut instead on a ghetto zip tie on the back of the plate.

[NBViper]

ESC Mount
Very straight forward. Attach the ESC to the plate (screws for the XL2/XLX or double sided sticky tape for other ESCs)
I did switch out the provided zip tie with a smaller one, fits better and does the job.


Antenna
Unfortunately, Kershaw doesn't tell you what to do with the Antenna. It actually fits very well right in the slot for the zip tie.



ALL DONE!!!


Please let me know if you have any questions. I hope this helps everyone with this install.

[NBViper]

Lookin good NB! Let me know if your esc mounting plate screw holes line up correctly, mine fit but I had to really force the screw to the side to get it to go in, the hole was defiantly drilled a touch off center. Also I used a long screw and nut instead on a ghetto zip tie on the back of the plate.

Good idea with the screw instead of the zip tie, I may have to steal that. I had the same issue with the screws of the ESC plate.

Also, please excuse the filthy truck!!!

[mattpopp]

Now you guys are really making me jealous!!! I agree with yoshgixxer or you can cut down a hex key to make a stubby version to squeeze in there. Contact Dan, is there nothing in the instructions?

Question: What are you guys running for battery connectors? I feel like the Traxxas ones are very undersized. Any experience with the Castle 6.5mm bullets?

After speaking to Dan yesterday I will be dumping the Traxxas connectors and either putting on Xt-150 or the castle connectors. In his opinion the Traxxas connectors can not pass enough current for the stock truck on 3s much less the new motors on 3s.

[Aspengt]

Looks good. I like the Allen key trick! I have to agree with yosh on ditching the zip tie. I did things a bit different there. Especially with everything else looks so clean.

[NBViper]

A few quick updates:

Shocks
Shocks have been cleaned, refilled with 50 weight fluid and covered with Badhorsie.com socks. I'm an Orange theme guy.


Connectors
Installed Castle 6.5mm polarized connectors on the XLX, 2 sets of SPC batteries and made a set of Traxxas to Castle adapters for charging. I must say that these connectors feel great and sturdy but man do they suck in terms of snapping the terminals into there housings. My hands are killing me!!!

[SLW-SVT]

looking good! I'm ready for some new vids!

[bigtim1985]

I took mine out for the first time today with the kershaw mount, 49t pinion, 2028/xlx combo running on 6s. This setup is insane. It has crazy power from the start all the way up to speed. I was running in front of my house and i clocked 43 mph, but I couldn't really top it all the way out so I'm guessing right around 45mph on 6s. Motor with no fan was at a little over 80f after hitting lvc on 8200mah packs. 8s is going to be stupid fast.......

The only thing that was a pain was setting the gear mesh. Even with the 54t spur you have to kind of get the motor where it won't move on its own, set the mesh, slide the pinion back off, and then hope nothing moves while you tighten the motor screws. Took me a while. I see another guy drilled holes in his pinion.......not a bad idea. Next time I'll cut down an allen like viper did. I also relocated my antenna to one of the holes for the GPS mount on the front of the chassis. had to drill the hole out a little larger to fit the antenna, but it looks like it belongs there.

[setxws6]

Viper, on those connectors, you can slightly pinch the male end with needle nose pliers and get a snug but not too tight feel. If you pinch them down too much, just spread them back out a little with some down the middle like a small screw driver


Also as far as the initial snapping them in the housing, on the females just get a 5mm hex wrench and use it as a push handle to pop them in. With the males I used a female housing with the bullets already popped in. I snapped the male and female connectors together, then with the female connector down on the work table, I used a soft mallet to knock the male connector all the way into the female connector.

[bigtim1985]

That's my setup with a picture of how I mounted my antenna. And yes i know I shouldn't be using deans connectors. I just ordered a bunch of EC5's.

[NBViper]

Viper, on those connectors, you can slightly pinch the male end with needle nose pliers and get a snug but not too tight feel. If you pinch them down too much, just spread them back out a little with some down the middle like a small screw driver


Also as far as the initial snapping them in the housing, on the females just get a 5mm hex wrench and use it as a push handle to pop them in. With the males I used a female housing with the bullets already popped in. I snapped the male and female connectors together, then with the female connector down on the work table, I used a soft mallet to knock the male connector all the way into the female connector.

Thanks for the tips! It was the initial snapping that was a killer.

[NBViper]

ESC Connections
Since I had no luck with 2 seperate Castle Quick Connects, I decided to make access to the ESC cables in another way. Short extension cables.


This allow me to access the RX and AUX cable so I can change Settings and access to data logs for the XLX without having to remove the ESC plate and opening up the receiver box.

But of course the wires that come out of the XLX are very long, so I shrink wrapped them to make them more manageable.



To prevent the connections from separating, I ordered theses:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/5pcs-White-R...item51c34fc998

[Annihill8or89]

ESC Connections
Since I had no luck with 2 seperate Castle Quick Connects, I decided to make access to the ESC cables in another way. Short extension cables.


This allow me to access the RX and AUX cable so I can change Settings and access to data logs for the XLX without having to remove the ESC plate and opening up the receiver box.

But of course the wires that come out of the XLX are very long, so I shrink wrapped them to make them more manageable.



To prevent the connections from separating, I ordered theses:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/5pcs-White-R...item51c34fc998

I like that idea, I will do the same I think.

[ReglarGuy]

This allow me to access the RX and AUX cable so I can change Settings and access to data logs for the XLX without having to remove the ESC plate and opening up the receiver box.

I do that too. I've done it (so far) with my XO & Emaxx. Like you say, it makes programing a lot easier. I think I'm going to go one step further when doing it to my Xmaxx by making a small panel to hold both my extension plugs.

[NBViper]

I'd be interested to see how you panel mount them. I am considering attaching them some how but haven't figured that out yet.

Also ordered a set of bearing for the output of the Diffs and Knuckles from [URL="http://www.avidrc.com"]AvidRC.com[/URL. While I was tinkering, I noticed quite a bit of drag coming from the larger 20x27x4 bearing in two of the knuckles. Shopping cart below:

[bigtim1985]

I run 6500mAh 65C 4S packs from SPC, they barely fit!!!
http://spcracingbatteries.com/index....&product_id=88

Note: You have to turn them on there side if anyone gets them. I'll probably modify the battery trays to make them fit better.

I think im gonna order the spc 4s 6500's. does the battery clamp close with these? I know you said you had to turn them on their sides. Just want to make sure before i drop the coin.

[NBViper]

I think im gonna order the spc 4s 6500's. does the battery clamp close with these? I know you said you had to turn them on their sides. Just want to make sure before i drop the coin.

Let me take a photo, it is very tight. I ordered some straps to better secure them. I wasn't very comfortable with pushing down on them so much.

[bigtim1985]

I was kinda hoping to retain the stock battery clamps. I just looked and the 5000mah spc's are the same dimensions as the 6500's. I guess before I go crazy ordering new packs I should try the truck with the 4s packs I already have to see if I'm even gonna run it on 8s. 6s was stupid fast when I ran it yesterday.

I'm wondering if the hardcase batteries I have will fit if I take them out of the case and make them soft case packs. Just would have to find some real bit shrink tubing. I have one with a bad cell that I might experiment with.

[NBViper]

That's what I did, I purchased a set of "cheap" 4S batteries and tested the setup. I'll still post a few photos of the batteries installed in case others are considering it.

[B1gDawg]

I think im gonna order the spc 4s 6500's. does the battery clamp close with these? I know you said you had to turn them on their sides. Just want to make sure before i drop the coin.

Just ordered two today. I have 6s ready but Im sure Ill be going with the 8s setup especially since alot of upgrade parts are now becoming available.Waiting for the mailman to finally deliver my Kershaw mount today.

[B1gDawg]

Just arrived and Plasti dipped...why not??

[NBViper]

HAHA, why not is right! You have to shave down the sides of the main mount, it is a tight fit going into the pocket where the motor was.

[B1gDawg]

HAHA, why not is right! You have to shave down the sides of the main mount, it is a tight fit going into the pocket where the motor was.

Interesting, must be some variance as I test fitted it and didn't notice that. Seemed to be spot on and I was actually able to slide it back and forth.

[bigtim1985]

viper, do you notice if you try to give the truck full throttle or a bunch of throttle from a standstill that the truck kind of stutters and then takes off. If the truck is already rolling and I give it a little throttle the truck will wheelie on command. I'm wondering if it has something to do with the motor being low kv. I tried this on both 6s and 8s with quality packs.

To explain it a little better, on my savage flux if i give it full throttle or a bunch of throttle from a standstill that the truck will flip on its lid or do a standing backflip. The x-maxx almost feels like it bogs down, but again from a roll or faster it acts completely normal. Just wondering if you noticed anything similar.

[B1gDawg]

In Castle Link, set the start up power to low or medium. Should solve the problem.

[bigtim1985]

It's set on low as of now. I'm going to give medium a try. I'll let you know what happens.

[bigtim1985]

So, I gave medium start power a try with no difference that I could notice. I pulled a max of 165 amps and my ripple voltage was .96v max. If the deans connectors were the culprit wouldn't the ripple be a lot higher? It's really not a big deal, just something I noticed. Basically it will stutter for a second and then take off like a missile. Just curios if anyone else running the xlx/2028 noticed anything similar.

[NBViper]

So, I gave medium start power a try with no difference that I could notice. I pulled a max of 165 amps and my ripple voltage was .96v max. If the deans connectors were the culprit wouldn't the ripple be a lot higher? It's really not a big deal, just something I noticed. Basically it will stutter for a second and then take off like a missile. Just curios if anyone else running the xlx/2028 noticed anything similar.

Have you connected to the XLX to see if has Torque limit on? Or punch control? Sounds like that could be a cause. I never had that issue. Also, you would be limiting max amps as well if the connector was an issue. The XLX comes with a built on Cap pack so ripple shouldn't be too bad.

[bigtim1985]

no torque limit or punch control on. I'm gonna switch xlx esc's with the one on my dbxl conversion. If not, I'm lost. It's not a big deal, the thing will wheelie doing 40mph, i'm just lost as to why it's stuttering from a dead stop.

[mwe-maxxowner]

Just how sure are you that your packs are up to par? It sounds like when I've tried to run low amperage packs in my Slash 4x4 with the amp hog 3800motor.

[bigtim1985]

They're pretty much brand new SPC 6500mah 65c 3s batteries, and the 4s batteries are 60c 5000mah's.