RCCrawler Forums

OSRC

It's 2022, who the hell is building a Maxx crawler?

Me... Got a huge box of parts laying here collecting dust. Parts from my original, OG Pro .15 T-Maxx all the way through to my current 3905 E-Maxx. I've tried to sell the EMaxx a few times over the years but there was little interest, so it's been boxed up for years. I won a set of tires a decade ago here when there were giveaways, and the entire project is built around finally using the tires. And having some fun... Haven't done a build thread in ages so bear with me.

The entire reason for the build...using these bad boys. Won these in a Christmas giveaway, and they are huge. It took almost 9 years to find the Axial narrow 40 series beadlocks they are mounted on, but persistence pays off as I picked these up off a sale thread about a year ago. The RC4WD wheels were originally $300/set, ouch.


Joining the build in progress.... Aluminum bulkheads from my OGMaxx, wide arms and towers from the EMaxx, and a huge piece of aluminum. Wb is about 20" Forgive the mismatched screws and what not, everything is in mockup currently.


When your project is so big, you can draw your plans on it.


On the bottom, I cut a T-maxx aluminum brace in 1/2 and then spanned it with an aluminum skid. I filled in with some pieces of ABS to tie the center together. When it's all bolted up, it's so solid Ashford and Simpson sang a song about it. Boy, some 3D printing would have come in handy here, but I haven't mastered that skill yet, so saws, drills and files are the name of the game.



This will be using 4WS, it has to - the Maxx parts are not designed for crawler level steering. I initially tried 2 front bulkheads, but the caster was too severe in the back, so I reverted to the std. read bulkhead. I clearanced out a bit and stuffed another steering rack in the back. I did have to order another set of toe links, otherwise all the parts I dug out of my box.


Transmissions....I've got room for anything. Really, I have no idea how this is going to work, but they are laying here so I used an RC4WD AX2 up front, and a divorced Axial 3 Gear as a transfer case. I'm not sure how these gears are going to hold up, but 3 gear transmissions can be built pretty tough. Can easily swap over later to something heavier duty if needed. I do like this combo as it's relatively compact and the motor is up front and on the chassis. Time will tell. Thankfully, I have 5 and 6mm ends for the T-maxx shafts so adapting the Axial bits to the Maxx diffs is cake. Glad I had them, Not even sure I could track them down now.



The Tmaxx shafts are much smaller than the newer 3905 versions, but they work perfect - they just clear everything underneath....