Stretched e-Muggy (Baja-style) Build Thread
 

I wanted to do something a little bigger than 1/8 scale, although I love my BL Muggy. So I decided on this.

It’s based on the Muggy/LST2 platform but I’m using a 5” Aluminum channel for the chassis (.15” thick with .25” thick rails cut down to just under an inch high). I’m making a motor mount now and will get that installed attached to an 8ight CD assembly. I have Baja 5b wheels/tires and rollcage to use on it. Other than that, it will be Muggy/LST2 parts and my own (poorly-made) parts. I have the chassis cut to approximagely 5b length, but I may make it a little shorter – I’ll see how everything fits and what I think looks best before finishing the front end.

More details to follow, but I wanted to get this thread started.

http://i779.photobucket.com/albums/y..._4281Small.jpg

http://i779.photobucket.com/albums/y..._4282Small.jpg

Looking great so far!

you bastard! you beat me to it


looks good so far

Thanks for the (mostly) kind words.


Here is the Aluminum channel I started with:

6061-Aluminum-Assoc-Channel-15-x-2-25-x-5-x-48

(If you check the purchase history, I'm the only one who has bought one - back in December, when I started planning this project)

And here are the wheel extenders I'm using:

Pro-Line-23mm-Hex-Adapters

I got around to making some progress on this today - but can't post pics yet because my wife took the camera for the day. :no:

The motor mount is finished and installed, along with the CD w/100k diff fluid. Also the rear brace.

I put the rear wheels/tires on to see how it looks and it's about 19.5" wide. Not bad.

Pics will follow, I promise :yes:

Pics of progress:

http://i779.photobucket.com/albums/y..._4296Small.jpg

http://i779.photobucket.com/albums/y..._4297Small.jpg

http://i779.photobucket.com/albums/y..._4303Small.jpg

http://i779.photobucket.com/albums/y..._4304Small.jpg

http://i779.photobucket.com/albums/y..._4307Small.jpg

I used 1/4" Al angle for the motor mount. I'm mounting the motor as low as possible, mainly for clearance of the brake post.

I'm going to use the mechanical brakes, so I wasn't able to attach the motor mount to the CD assembly as securely as on my Muggy. I just put one small screw through the CD support near the bottom into the motor mount. But all it needs to do is hold everything in place when I tighten the mount down to the chassis.

I didn't use the Muggy rear brace, because I had no room for it - so I used the Al angle from the top of the motor mount.

I raised the CD assembly up 1/4" with spacers for gear clearance.


Here it is next to my Muggy for size comparison:

http://i779.photobucket.com/albums/y..._4301Small.jpg

Looking good! I'm thinking about converting my LST2 over to a Muggy to get rid of the trans. What are you going to run for a body?

-JB

No body - just a Baja 5b rollcage. (I'm terrible at painting bodies, so that makes this option especially attractive to me)

Why did you decide to go with mechanical brakes, and not the ESC/Motor brakes?

My original plan was to run 6s with a MMM or RX8. So I planned on using the mechanical brakes just to take the load off of the ESC, since this is going to be a relatively heavy truck (I'm guessing around 17-18lbs rtr).

But now I'm planning on running 8s (or 10s) with a boat controller that has no brakes - so mechanical brakes it is.

Some progress.

Motor mount completed with additional piece from this (based on the suggestions in mistercrash's thread):

http://www.hpiracing.com/products/en/103661/

Braking servo installed. Also connectors soldered on ESC and motor. I'm using CC 6.5 bullets on motor/ESC and Neu 6mm bullets on the ESC/batteries. I have some 2s batteries and a 4s that I'll be running in series to get 8s, so I wanted to change to bullets to make series connections easier. I still have to solder connectors to batteries. I'll also change my Muggy ESC to the 6mm connectors, since I use these batteries in it too.

Pics:

http://i779.photobucket.com/albums/y..._4342Small.jpg

http://i779.photobucket.com/albums/y..._4341Small.jpg

As I build this from back to front, I'm still undecided as to the length. If I leave the chassis the length it now is, it will have a 22" wheel-base (baja 5b is 22.5"). I laid everything out on the chassis today, and I could probably cut almost 2" off. I'm not planning on using a 5b body (just the rollcage), and I'm not trying to make this look exactly like a 5b, so I have no need of the length.

I'm guessing it will handle as well or better with a 20" wheelbase than with the longer wheelbase, so I'm inclined to cut it shorter.

Any thoughts?

What I could have done to get an idea what this would look like with a 20" wheel base was some high-tech computer modeling. Instead what I did was print out the following picture:

http://i779.photobucket.com/albums/y...aja5bSmall.jpg

and, since what I'm talking about is eliminating most of the gap between the front of the roll cage and the supports connected to the front shock tower, I folded the paper over to eliminate that part of the picture. When I do that, I like what I see.

I think it looks great shortened. I'm not sure how the width of the LST suspension compares to the 5B but a bit shorter might eliminate the need for wheel extenders to keep proportions. The TCS Savage conversion, for example, looks too long and skinny. It might just be me.


-JB

Here it is even shorter...

http://pics.offroadextremes.com/rc/swb_baja5b.jpg

Edit: I made a hidden change to the image, the first person to notice it gets a prize (a real prize, I just have to think of one)!

That's what I'm looking for: shorter wheelbase, larger engine! :yipi:

You nailed it! I changed the "3" on the 23cc engine cover to an "8" to make it a 28cc engine!

And thanks for the Photoshop work Chad - it confirms what my paper-folding showed me - I like the look and don't see any need to make mine as long as a 5b.

Jailbird: I think I'll end up sticking with the wheel extenders just for the added width and stability. I already looked at them to see if I could shorted the extenders a little. It's possible but would be some work.

You're welcome, man, I enjoy Photo-Chopping!

Also, with a short wheelbase like that, you could run the much less expensive truck bodies instead of the $150 a pop HPI bodies. I believe the big CEN bodies will fit if you made the wheelbase as short as my picture.

I wish I had checked in here over the weekend to answer your question about going shorter than 5b length. I stretched out an e-revo to use a 5T body, and regret going that big. Being that long, and wanting to keep good ground clearnace, doesn't make the handling all that great. It isn't total poop, just feels too lazy + slow to react to inputs, too hard to get it to slide and do what you want. Its just not quite what I wanted, and I know it would be alot better just a couple inches shorter. So personally, I'd go shorter and save yourself the regret of not doing it while you had the chance.

Like Chadworkz said, a shorter chassis also opens up body options a bit, FG, MCD, redcat, duratrax, even some 1/8 (LST, MGT, 3.3 revo) might not look bad on it. But just the cage look will be really cool too.

One cool option would be to run the Team Chase Baja 5T Roll-Cage. You might have to modify it slightly to make it fit your custom-build, but it would make your truck look awesome, and then you wouldn't have to run a body at all!

Click Link or Image to visit the website for more Details & Pictures...
Team Chase Baja 5T Roll-Cage....
http://pics.offroadextremes.com/rc/t...se_5t-cage.jpg

Overdriven: thanks for your input. It helps confirm my thinking that a little shorter will mean better handling.

And about bodies - I'm just planning on running the 5b rollcage maybe with some lexan strips along the sides to keep some dirt out. Thanks for the suggestions, though.

brian

Update: battery trays with Aluminum stops (front and back) installed. I used a 1/4" thick piece of Al at the front of the right hand tray to mount a brace to the front bulkhead and also to attach the steering servo tray.



Now, I think I'm ready to cut about 2" off the front to give me a 20" wheelbase. Just wanted to see exactly how everything would fit before cutting (I haven't found a good way to glue aluminum back on yet - so don't want to cut too short).



http://i779.photobucket.com/albums/y..._4377Small.jpg

http://i779.photobucket.com/albums/y..._4379Small.jpg

http://i779.photobucket.com/albums/y..._4373Small.jpg

And yes, I need a velcro strap on the right hand tray. :wink:

This is the pvc I'm using for battery trays. I've used in a couple other vehicles and it's worked well. For this one, I cut off one of the legs of the u-channel, since the Aluminum rail of the chassis is there - I may add padding if I think it's necessary.

pvc u-channel

Front end:

I wanted a lower profile to the front end than the LST2 shock tower, so I went with the stock muggy shock tower (I made an aluminum shock tower by hand, but didn't like it). In order to get enough suspension travel for the large baja 5b tires, I need the LST2 length shocks. So I made some shock mounts modeled after the muggy lower shock mounts but giving a more shallow shock angle and a more distant mounting point.

Shock mount compared to stock muggy lower mount:
http://i779.photobucket.com/albums/y..._4387Small.jpg

Front end assembled:
http://i779.photobucket.com/albums/y..._4390Small.jpg


With little girl onlooker (who has to eat her veggies):
http://i779.photobucket.com/albums/y..._4388Small.jpg

I really like those lower shock mounts. I will wait for you to run with them to see if they hold up. That shock mounting position gives a lot of leverage to strip those two screws that secure the mount to the suspension table. But I'm often wrong on stuff so don't worry about it :mdr: If they do hold up, this is something I will probably make for myself as I would like to try the Muggy shock towers but don't wish to run the Muggy shocks. Very nicely done.

Thanks - I look forward to running this and see if it holds up too :wink:


Looking at the pictures I would tend to agree with you that this is a potential problem, but holding it - it feels solid. The aluminum mount rests on top of the arm as well as being held by the two screws. These pics from the bottom may show that there is less leverage than the side pics would suggest:

http://i779.photobucket.com/albums/y..._4392Small.jpg

http://i779.photobucket.com/albums/y..._4393Small.jpg


But - I guess we'll have to wait and see how it holds up in action. :yes:

He'll probably be ok as the screws are under a shear load. I wouldn't doubt it if they bend a little when landing the big jumps, but I can't see them breaking. Then again, I could be wrong about this stuff too! :lol: I am curious to see if the shock mounting point will work or if he'll end up drilling more holes for different positions though. Either way, cool build man, keep us updated. All these LST's are making me want one

Alright - I cut 2" off the front of the chassis (still need to cut last bit off) and attached front end and wheels/tires to see how it looks. The wheelbase is 20"; rear width is 19.5"; front width is 19"


http://i779.photobucket.com/albums/y..._4395Small.jpg



http://i779.photobucket.com/albums/y..._4396Small.jpg


http://i779.photobucket.com/albums/y..._4398Small.jpg



http://i779.photobucket.com/albums/y..._4402Small.jpg



http://i779.photobucket.com/albums/y..._4403Small.jpg


So I still need to install the steering assembly and front brace, make the front extended cvd, install esc/bec, and install roll cage and wing. But I'm beginning to think I'm going to be driving this thing this summer. :yipi:

That is looking NICE!! The stance and front shock angle gives the appearance of an overgrown turbo optima mid or something. Those front and rear diffs sure do look small next to all that meat for the wheels tho. Have you shimmed the diffs? If so, hell shake it if you got it. Big legged mammas are back in style again!

Thanks - Diffs are shimmed and have Titanium Nitride gears installed:


http://i779.photobucket.com/albums/y..._4406Small.jpg


We'll have to see if they hold up!

I wish more companies made Ti-Ni coated gears and other parts. :(

It certainly won't be those gears that fail. I have them in my muggy; the only part that seems to go is the bearings on the rear diff pinion. When that happens, the gears can slide by each other. If that happens with the stock gears, the teeth will chip. I had it happen with the TiNi gears and they were fine. I also learned the importance of quality bearings in the diffs.

That's good to hear. I think I may have read about these TiN gears in your Muggy thread - thanks for the info.

I am also using Losi HD plastic diff cups inside the blue Al cases. I'm hoping that setup will be strong enough for this truck.

Is the ratio of the Sportwerks gears the same as the Muggy or the LST? I need to rebuild the diffs on my 1717 powered beast already.

-JB

sportworks is the same as the muggy

losi sells the tiNi gears for the lst badged under their name

The Sportwerks Mayhem ST (truggy) gears are the same as the Muggy (11/45) - I know these work for certain and the TiN gears are often available on ebay.

I believe the Sportwerks Mayhem (buggy) gears are the same as the LST (13/43) - but I've never used these.

That is correct.

I knew that, I am trying to figure out what my gearing options are. I want to get rid of the LST trans and go with a center diff. Now I just have to decide if I want to do a full conversion to a Muggy chassis or make a hybrid LST/Muggy type set-up.

-JB

I have a Muggy (going out to drive in a few minutes), and a LST2 with a center diff in the works. I figured the Muggy diffs in the LST2 would give me better gearing choices, and I have a bunch of the TiNi Muggy (Mayhem ST) gears in the parts box.