lol, no pics today. Started stripping down the MBX5 taking off non-essentials (sway bars, the modded mud guards, body mounts, etc) and doing some suspension tweaks to raise the chassis. Gonna continue stripping it down, cleaning, and "pretti-fying" everything before any updated pics are posted.

But for the time being, this is what Skellyo sent me:

http://scriptasylum.com/forumpics/mbx5_1.jpg

finally.. :P

nice center diff mount

"Great beginnings start with the single blow of a horn man!"-Virgil

Looks like a start. Can't wait to see the progress.

Hey Brian, I saw you have that center diff mount that is also a motor mount, for saddle packs. If you aren't using it, would you mind selling either it or the RC-M mount?

I'm not sure yet which mount I'll be using out of the three available, but I'll post here when I decide.

Regardless, you'll have one to sell me, right? :smile:

Just a GREAT project "B" cant wait to see how it turns out!.

Thanks for sharing one of your builds with us..

Little update. So far, I just stripped it totally down, cleaned everything, and replaced some odds and ends to make it pretty. So, it's a blank slate now. :smile:

http://scriptasylum.com/forumpics/mbx5_6.jpg

its screaming 1515 :lol:

Naw. I'm thinking 1512/2.5d on 5s. The MMM is good for 6s, but I like a little wiggle room voltage-wise. I don't plan on gearing crazy; 35mph, 40mph tops. Any higher than that isn't as fun off road. This thing is really light and I don't plan to add much weight so I would be surprised if it topped 9-10lbs fully loaded.

I made some prototype body mounts and bumper mounts. Things look pretty easy, except for the rear bumper - I still have to figure something out there. I plan to pick up some parts and materials tomorrow night after work, but won't get much headway until the weekend I think. With the suspension travel this thing has, I have to sit the body REALLY high, it looks cool though - like a real CORR truck...

Any pics of your prototype setup?

Brian you should use the new proline slash body the Hardcorr.
Would look killer on this and should fit the buggy spot on :wink:

No pics of the prototype setup because they're just cardboard. :smile:

I already have the Slash body, but when it gets messed up, I'll look into the Proline version. But TBH, I never liked working on bodies. All that cutting/trimming and painting for something that's gonna get messed up the first time I take the truck out. The Traxxas ones are at least all cut out, all I have to do is spray some paint on it and I'm done. Too bad they're not as thick/durable as aftermarket bodies...

brian wait for the new proline slash body

Little update:

Made a top plate similar to my Ofna Ultra GTP setup. I really like how it makes the whole thing nice and rigid and gives me places to mount things.

Came up with the front bumper mounting scheme using a Slash bumber and a couple custom pieces.

Came up with the body mounts. The rear uses a modded Slash shock tower and rear body mount. The front uses the Slash front body mount with extra custom stuff. I'm happy with the rear, but I'm not sure if I care for the way the front is mounted yet. I'm trying to find ways to make everything solid while not putting strain on the towers or diff casings.

Not sure what to do about the rear bumper yet. Everything I come up with looks hacked, and I don't like that. I may just not use one, but I dunno.

No pictures until I do some cleaning up and painting, but it looks nice so far. :smile:

boo we need pics

lol, you'll have to wait!

alright-remember that the next time YOU want something mister!

ugh i sound like my mother except for the ranting..

Alrighty, I painted the parts I made. I still have to attach a few screws, but those are coming tomorrow or Thursday.

http://scriptasylum.com/forumpics/mbx5_7.jpg

http://scriptasylum.com/forumpics/mbx5_8.jpg

http://scriptasylum.com/forumpics/mbx5_9.jpg

I dunno though; I'm not liking the layout of this one. I might redo stuff, but I don't know how I'd do it again. I want a stiff chassis free of flex. I want a bumper and body mount that doesn't place too much stress on the shock towers or that CF front plate. It seems sturdy enough, but I just don't know.

BTW, that large area is where the MMM ESC is gonna go. The receiver will either go on top of the steering servo, or on the chassis opposite the steering servo. I guess I'll wait until I decide what batteries I'm gonna use. If I go with 170mm long cells, it will be the former; if the cells are ~150mm, it will be the latter.

Oil weights in the diffs are 5k (F), 100k (C), 3k (R). I want the CD all but disabled, but a little center diff action will be helpful.

awesome brian!

id lower the body some more though :yes:

Brian...I think that looks sweeeeet!!!!! You've done what I want to do to my mbx-5. Any chance of getting a better pic. of how you attached the front bumper?...:smile: Well done. For a front bumper, I was thinking of a RPM one that fits a Maxx. Just a thought.

Thanks guys!

BLboy: I would lower it, but trust me, I need every mm of that height. The suspension articulates quite a bit. When the chassis bottoms out, the tires still rub on the body.

magman: I just replaced the stock buggy bumper with a piece of 1/8" thick aluminum, bent at the right angle. The two screws are just there to hold it for now. I will be using 4 black hex screws with the proper locknuts. There is also a top plate that attaches to the flexing part of the bumper too to give it some strength.

http://scriptasylum.com/forumpics/mbx5_10.jpg

http://scriptasylum.com/forumpics/mbx5_11.jpg

Nice pics...thanks. I think that you have inspired me to proceed on my project...

thats very nice!

no travel limiters on the suspension?

Not yet. I want think about adding something, but I'm not sure yet. The chassis bottoms out before the shocks do. I want a ton of travel so that I can get that plush feel. If I limit the travel, I'd have to stiffen the shocks up and make the ride too rough I think. Who knows though; once I get this running, I may make some modifications as necessary.

Now, I just need a Neu 1512/2.5d and a 5s 5Ah battery pack and I'll be done. Just waiting for Mike to get that stuff in stock...

What front bumper is that? Any thoughts on a rear bumper?

The bumper and body mounts are Slash parts. No ideas on the back bumper yet. Unless I create a new lower skid plate and mount it to that, nothing else has the strength I want. I do not want to mount anything to the rear tower or diff casing. The bumpers are big and there is a lot of stress in not-so-optimum places, so I want to be careful.

I think your skid plate idea will probably be a good idea. I understand your concern about putting unneeded stress on the cases and tower.

Nice one Brian, I think the top chassis was a great mod, lessen chassis flex and added room for mounting. Well, now Im ashame of my mockup slayer cause this one ROCKS.... (but I'll continue anyway hahaha )

For the rear, just an opinion do you think mounting those RPM rear skid for emaxx and mounting the bumper like you did on the front but not connecting it to the tower would work. I think if it work it will absorb the impact with minimal stress on the tower (provided it was fitted properly on the 4 screw in the under chassis.

lol, thanks! That top chassis took a LONG time to make! I actually blew my dremel tool doing that part. It's a matter of using a hacksaw/dremel to cut the main shape, files to smoothen out the lines, dremel to round the corners, and a lot of highly scientific measuring my shutting one eye and squinting to get everything parallel. :smile:

I'll have to take a look at the emaxx skid plate. I already have the rear Slash bumper, just trying to find a good way to mount it.

thats what I thought, this killed your dremel... :lol: anyway everything turned out well.

By the way the RPM skid seem to be too short you might try to look on the stock emaxx skid they might help.

Keep us posted :whip:

Oh, I will! :smile:

I have a feeling it will be a while before Mike gets the 1512/2.5d and dual 5s batteries I want (5s at a time on the s-Slayer, and dual 5s in series for the Ultra GTP), so I'll have plenty of time to get things ironed out. If I had the motor and cells in hand, I'd probably be in much more of a hurry to get this done.

Wow, Brian all I can say is wow... Looks like its going to turn out better than I first thought. :surprised:

lol, you doubted me? :wink:

Haha, I didnt doubt you. I just didnt expect it to turn out this nice.

http://rc10.com/images/homepage/2008...46_8.15.08.jpg

Here's some bumpers for ya. Anyone seen one in person?

Still waiting for the 1512 2.5d to get back in stock and the lipos I want. Until then, I decided to re-do the center top plate to move the ESC back a little and more to the motor-side so the wires will reach better without entending them. I was gonna throw away the old top plate but figured maybe someone else with a MBX5 conversion could use this to stiffen up the chassis. If anyone wants it, let me know. Just pay for shipping. I didn't take any pics of just the bar, but it's the one in the picture below:

http://scriptasylum.com/forumpics/mbx5_7.jpg

Not pictured, but there is a scratch in the paint where the ESC goes because I trimmed the velcro with a knife.

If no one wants it, I'll just toss it...

still looking great, cant wait to see it done

Little more done: Rear bumper, motor installed, ESC wired up, receiver box made.

I'm not digging the rear bumper, it looks like a hack job compared to the rest. Oh well. I modded the rear hinge toe plate to have a gap like the front one does so I could insert the Al in there to use as a mount point. Seems to be pretty strong, I don't think I'll need as much strength as in the front, so it should do ok.

The motor is a Neu 1512/2.5d/F.

ESC is my BEC modded (or should I say "removed") MMM with a Koolflight UBEC.

The receiver box is modified from the stock box. I added an aluminum plate for mounting the UBEC and to help shield any noise the BEC might produce.

Still waiting on Mike for some 5s lipo packs before I make the battery tray. I have enough room for 160mm long packs at the max.

As usual, I didn't get fancy with the body. Basic black with a few stickers.

And here are the pics:

http://scriptasylum.com/forumpics/mbx_12.jpg

http://scriptasylum.com/forumpics/mbx_13.jpg

http://scriptasylum.com/forumpics/mbx_14.jpg

http://scriptasylum.com/forumpics/mbx_15.jpg

http://scriptasylum.com/forumpics/mbx_16.jpg

I think the rear bumper looks nice specially when the body is mounted :) are those derlins?

Hope to see the vids soon