Mugen MBXT Build Thread:
 

I know there have been many thread on this but I always wanted to do a thread on my build so here goes:

Mugen: $ 465 What a deal! Amain
Neu 1512 2.5 D/F
Mike's motor mount/batt. tray: ordered but not here yet
Hyperion 5S 4800mah 20C: I recovered it and put maxamps decals on it.
Servos: Havent decided on it.
MMM: Well you all know that story.. End of month hopefully...

Should be done in 3 weeks. Wife and son AND work take most of my time =)

I think thats about it..

Have you ever built an 1/8 scale kit from scratch before? I remember opening my mbx-5 box and saying to my self...what did I get my self into...:oh: If you have...sit back with a beer/wine and enjoy one of my favorite parts of our hobby. Only after the kids are in bed and the wife is finished w/your honey dew list...:whistle: Good luck w/your biuld and remember to post pics when you are done.

You did get a great buy!:yes

I could only start on my build when my son is sleep and when im done w/ my "honey do this ??? list as well. lol..

I have built about 10+ cars and truck b/4. I dont think i have built 1/8 scale trucks, wait i built the savage b4. I have built about 6 or more mugens. These were 1/10 sedans, (mtx3,mtx4). I think these are more difficult since you have to adjust the clutch, brake etc. On road is harder to set up and harder to build. i'll put up pics when I start the build. Wifey and son arent slepp yet.. thanks..

Keep us updated, any idea on what gearing you will be running? Are you building it for racing?

Im not sure if Im going to be racing.. mostly bashing. I fly helis and planes as well so those take most of my time... Very nice quality of the kit. You gotta love Japanese products attention to detail. Losi and Associtted just doesnt seem to have it for me..

I have built the diffs and the shocks. I want to get these out of the way cuz I think they are most critical components of the truck.

This alone took me about 2 hrs. Im very meticulous and also was watching Rambo as well =)

Can't wait to get mine.

Damn Aramex!!!

I remember very well building those diffs....I think it was about 8hrs. of building before I touched the chassis...:tongue:

I've built afew diffs as well, but I don't remember that I've spent 8hrs building them. Are you speaking for real?!!!

I should have been a little more clear...about 8hrs. to COMPLETELY build the front and rear diffs, suspension, etc:intello: After both F and R were complete, and each was ready to install on to chassis, I believe it was somewhere around 8hrs.

I'll be working more on it after work tonight. Work meaning 9-5 job AND work from home. ie. helping cook, play with my son, etc. lol

I'll post more pics. I have done almost the front supension. So far i think I put about 7 hrs or so. You know, its not the build, its putting the car kit away from the kitchen table and putting it back that take most of the time..

I agree. I can't tell you how many times I had to pack everything up and then take it out another day...:tongue: Eventually, I just left it out for fear of loosing some small part.

I think im done with the front suspension. Whew!!! its a lot of work!! When you look at the finished result it doesnt look much but this is about 8-9 hrs of work. Some parts dont fit the first time and others do.. Also, if your son assemble the truck along side then you have to focus on both him and truck so that slows me down.. ok. enough yapping, here are the pics..

BTW, I made my work tabel (kitchen table) stategically located my Mugen so that I could easilly put away/ gather my stuff for the next day. Also, yes, that is the New E revo in the box. Im contemplating wheahter to return it or keep it.. hmmmmmm...

Damn,, I think i gotta lose some weight!!! lol

Don't worry , better taking longer and doing it right the first time even if it takes 20hrs :yes:

Have a nice build, my friend.

I got the truck done almost ready for brushless set up. I didnt install the center diff yet cuz I was lazy and didnt make/glue the brake pad yet. :yes:

I know that this post doesnt mean anything w/o pics so I'll have pics up later tonight.


hmmm.. Im debating, Should I use 1512 2.5D or wait for the CC 1515 1y combo?

Btw, the build is fantastic. Everythign is very tight, sometimes too tight.

As far as motor choices...that's a tough question. The Neu's have a PROVEN track record where as the cc 's don't. I am not saying that they will not be excellent motors, but, I am always a little cautious when it comes to new.

Nice to see kids interested in our hobby as well!

Ok, I have been busy so I havent been able to post pics, but the truck is almost done. It has all the nesseasity to amount the elec. except the steering servo ( i need to get that), What servo do you guys recommend? I have placed the batt. mount where I want to position and have some questions. Do I drill any holes in the chassis or just use the existiong ones? If I use the existing ones then the batt wont be properly balanced.

BIG Problem.

The batt. mount wont fit into the diff bearing. Any ideas? I have been tinkering with this for about 30min. and gave up.

I've got the exact same truggy and I run this one.

Not only is it just about the strongest servo you can buy, but it's been sent back to JR and repaired twice (count'em 1,2 times) for FREE. :mdr:

Thumbs up on the JR servo. :smile:

Go ahead and return the Revo. :mdr:

Once you get a load of the Mugen you'll have no use for the Revo any more. :lol:

Do you mean the diff bearing is tight in the mount itself(as the picture indicates)? This shouldn't be the case, but if the bearing hole is too tight, send it back to me and I will fix it or replace it immediately. The holes are a pretty tight tolerance, so if the bearing is mis aligned even a little bit, it won't budge without a lot of effort. I have seen some tight ones here and there, but I try to fix 'em as I find 'em to make your life easier(the tight ones still work, but require some muscle and precision when installing).

For the battery box, simply place the battery into the desired position and attach it through existing OR new chassis holes. I usually start with existing holes to get the box in place. If more holding power is needed, then it is easy enough to add a couple holes. :)

I got the diff bearing into the motor mount. It took some innovation ( WD40) and some muscle. I had to wiggle it back and forth to get it. Its the tight fit. The problem is that Im not sure if I could get it out again:no:



Btw, Im under the impression that I could use mech. brakes in this mount. Does anyone have a pic as to how to do this? also, Which do you prefer? esc brakeing or mech?

Im just waiting for the servo and the batt. mount to be installed. Opps. most importantly, MMM.

I prefer mech brakes over motor braking as I find it easier cornering on the track.

If you are not racing, the extra work for mech brakes is probably not warranted.

I'll see if I can get some epics of my mech brakes.

i find that the motor brake on my truggy works just fine, not worth the hassle for the little amount you gain, run it first without it, see how you like it, then go from there

Its really night and day performance wise so unless you try it, you won't know if you like it.

Here's some pics of my Mugens
Buggy:
http://home.comcast.net/~jrwoodjr/rc/mech1.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~jrwoodjr/rc/mech2.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~jrwoodjr/rc/mech3.jpg

Truggy:
http://home.comcast.net/~jrwoodjr/rc/mech4.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~jrwoodjr/rc/mech5.jpg

Your build looks great...:yes: I LOVE my mbx-5 buggy, it's bomb proof! I should have bought a truggy..still might, but if and when I do , it will be a Mugen

You better hurry. Those truggies are discontinued at most online hobby shops. It'll be a bit of time befor the MBX6T comes out.

@starscream
Looking at your truggy pictures i would say you are using a plastic spur on your MBX5T. I guess it can't be a Kyosho 46T spur as i already tried to fit it on a friends MBX5T diff which didn't work. What plastic spur gear do you use? Still the Mugen Diff housing? We fitted a custom made Delrin spur (expensive stuff). Would be interesting to fit a less expensive and ready to buy plastic spur. Thanx ...

Thanks. The build on the Mugen is excellant. gotta love Japanese craftmanship. I want to get a Mugen buggy but seems hard to find.. Where can I get one of those?

also, on the mech. brake. Did you make/fabricate the mount yourself?

I am using the spur adapter and stand offs from the MSR kit. The Ofna 51T plastic spur fits the adapter with just a touch from the drill :yipi:

I also found that the Losi8 diff fits the mugen (barely) so the kyosho gears and a Losi8 diff is another option.

Yes, I made both mounts from 7075 t-6 aluminum using just a drill and a dremel

Raptor, if you need a Mugen MBX5R, speedtechrc.com has them instock.

@Starscream
>I am using the spur adapter and stand offs from the MSR kit. The Ofna 51T >plastic spur fits the adapter with just a touch from the drill
>I also found that the Losi8 diff fits the mugen (barely) so the kyosho gears and >a Losi8 diff is another option.

Perfect ... We will look into both options. Thanx ...

thanks for the update on mugen buggy..

Here goes. Disappointment.. Batt. tray dont fit the truck. I dont have a pic yet on the situation but the batt. tray is too low and wide. Its hittinng the spur gear. Also, it seem like I have to drill holes into the chassis to make things work cuz the holes that the mount is facing isnt evenly spread out. Two of the holes are right next to each other. I might have to get a the RCPD ultimate tray instead. Anyone have a pic of how they did this? thanks..

Not sure what you are doing wrong, but the battery tray will clear the spur gear when installed. I posted a picture of my truck with a battery tray around here somewhere. Also, In most cases it is best to drill a hole or so into the chassis for a secure mount - most nitro chassis layouts simply don't have holes ideally placed for mounting a battery tray. The RCPD ultimate trays look nice for sure, but they are about 3x as heavy as the tray you have now and don't have any adjustability. Our tray will clear the spur gear just fine and can be adjusted forward or back on the chassis to adjust weight bias. By all means, post a picture of the trouble you are having. :)

I got the one piece batt. tray and its hitting the spur gear when the tray is flat with the surface of the chassis. If I try to avoid the spur then the tray isnt flat and there is a gap between it and the chassis. Its kinda hard to explain w/o pics so I'll have the pics up later tonight.

I understand what you are saying.
I don't know much about the Mugen but since you got the one piece tray did you make sure you had 1.25" clearance from the spur to the mud guard before ordering the tray?
That's the clearance that is needed so it clears the spur and Mike states this when you go and order the one piece tray .

With mounting it drill your own holes as most of us do, since the holes in the chassis rarely line up in a good mounting location.

Are you using the spacer between the tray and the chassis? The spacer should screw to the chassis and then the tray goes on top of that.

The 1 piece tray has a spacer "built in", Patrick. The tray had no additional spacer - simpler and allows lower battery placement position.
I am having trouble understanding why it doesn't clear - I have the same exact tray on the same exact truck and it has plenty of clearance to avoid the spur gear - I actually used the MBX5T Prospec for the tray design to begin with(this was the 1st vehicle I actually tested it with for proper clearance). The battery tray should have 1.25" from the outside edge to the mud guard relief(.25" deep relief cut into the bottom of the battery tray), which is more than enough for any of the vehicles I have tried it on. Some vehicles have thicker mud guards or tall nuts that may impede clearance slightly, but I don't believe this is the case with the Mugen. The picture seems to tell the story here, but I can't help but wonder why. Maybe the tray was machined improperly(I am human after all), but this would seem unlikely. I will try to get a picture of my truck and psot it here to show the clearance that should be present. If the tray is positioned against the mud guard over its entire length, there should be over 1/8" of clearance from the spur. Either way, we will get you figured out. :)

pictures
 

Here are a couple pictures. :)