Good to see your still working on this, love how its turning out.

Weird looking
 

That channel is kind of weird looking. I think I would have tried to find some way to shape the chasis a little bit to reduce the flexing instead of adding more parts to the setup? That exta aluminum just looks a little bit ghetto to me. Maybe just a piec of althread would not look so over bearing. Just another view or idea. Don't get me wrong we have to find what work for us, but I think I would have found another way. R&D is always a series of trials and tribulations. It is good to see that you have not given up on this.

Do the U!!!!!!
 

Compared to a traditional r/c the u looks a little out of place, but for a custom build I love it!:love:

There is plenty of strength there, a few random holes won't weaken anything, I say you cut holes to run wires and further cleanup the wiring. I like what you did with the motor wires.:yes:

I've seen angle used like that in a few cars. TBH it does look a bit ghetto but it adds so much rigidity. Nice work Brian.

I was thinking of getting some of these baja wheel extenders. I was thinking to use the fronts, lop off the 12mm axle and dill out the centre to suit the lst axle. Do you think this would work?

That could work. Or you could use the rears with a 8mm id, 12mm od insert.

It occurred to me that I could use a sleeve but it would need to be a snug fit to reduce slop.

Yes - but if you could find some 12mm rod or thick walled tube, you could drill a 8mm hole and be in business.

But if you want the full extension of these pro-line adapters I'm using, they are a direct fit on an 8mm axle. I only have to add an insert to them when I make them shorter: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Pro-Line-23m...item2318c5e810

While it may look ghetto at first glance, eventually I'm sure that you will realize that this u-channel (like the i-beam in construction) has both utility and a pleasing form. :whistle:

I actually put a lot of thought into bracing this - as it is a long truck and I chose to use a flat chassis for this build - for the ease of layout. I don't have a mill, nor will I use any machine-shop services for this build, so changing the chassis was not an option.

I thought of different ways to bracing the length of the truck. Smaller braces front and back (like on truggies) would not work because it is too long. I thought of doing something down the center on the principle of the ue razorback - but the design was becoming too complex with the center diff and too much material would be used, in my opinion. In the end, the simplest solution seemed best - a top plate, which is all I have here. I couldn't use a flat top plate unless I attached it to the chassis at many points along its length - which I didn't really want to do. Finally, the u-channel is incredibly simple - just attach front and back - and has the extra usefulness of a place to route wiring. I'm still open to buying some different size u-channel (I looked at 1" x 1/8" with 1/2" legs - so lower profile) but this is what I had on hand and decided to try it out. I don't think it looks bad, and in the end, I am going to put a body on it, so we'll see - maybe I'll stick with this and maybe I'll try something else.

Like this? For the effort of drilling out a sleeve I might as well get the baja hex's and drill them.

The price of those prolines is pretty hard to go past:lol:

Perfect - I've ordered Al tube from that seller before. :yes:

Thanks Harold. And, yes, I was thinking about drilling a few holes for the wires - they would have to be big enough to fit a servo wire connector - so I'll see.

I had some pvc channel that fit over my al channel perfectly - so decided to use it for a cover and contain my wiring and bec underneath:

http://i779.photobucket.com/albums/y..._2705Small.jpg

http://i779.photobucket.com/albums/y..._2706Small.jpg

http://i779.photobucket.com/albums/y..._2707Small.jpg

http://i779.photobucket.com/albums/y..._2710Small.jpg

http://i779.photobucket.com/albums/y..._2711Small.jpg

The receiver will mount on top of the pvc in front by the hole with the wires coming out ready to plug in.

Caving in to peer pressure? Just playin, the pvc does make a nice cover and finishes it off. Function over Form, but there's nothing wrong with dressing things up a bit at times.

Oh, I doubt that anyone who didn't like the u-channel before will like it better with the pvc cover - but who knows?

Anyway, for those of you who want to incorporate this unique design feature into your next custom build, I used:
1"x1"x1"x1/16" aluminum u-channel from McMaster-Carr
pvc u-channel from smallparts.com (but order from amazon for free super-saver shipping). I cut the pvc legs down to 1.125" for a perfect fit.

And for those of you wondering, the reason I switched to a black 1717 is this: