Well now that the latest project "Superbeast" is pretty much done, I had told myself I was not going to do another big project. That idea lasted all of about a week. After a bit of thinking I decided to just finally go all out and build the biggest tube chassis truck I could build. So setting my sights on a 1/5 scale build. Not sure yet what the total dimensions will end up being, but guessing somewhere around 30" long x 22" wide and around 50lb range.
Just had the first delivery of parts today for this project. Some fully custom CNC'd Hesse 1/5 scale axles. These things are a real piece of beautiful work in person. This will probably be a long (fall/winter) project because it is going to be a hard build, not to mention costly. I'll update as I get moving along with it as time & money permits.
2nd pic is them compared to some extra wide clod axles on one of my trucks lol
Still collecting parts for this build. A couple weeks ago I snagged a center diff for it off flea-bey for a decent price. Then just last week I snagged two brand new front & rear diffs for it as well. All the diffs (F & R and center are all Losi DBXL 1/5 scale parts. So once the F&R diffs come later this week/early next, then I will have all the parts to assemble the axles fully except for the bearings. Will make a run to the hobby shop soon to get those. Have started looking for tube for building the chassis out of now. Chassis will be done out of 5/16" (.062 wall) steel tube. Going to be a LOT more of a challenge bending that than my previous 3/16 & 1/4" .032 wall chassis I have done previous.
This will give you an idea just how big this truck is going to be. This is the center diff for it I am going to use. I'm not a small guy by any means, I'm 6'5" 250lbs so have big hands, yet the diff takes up my entire hand lol
Now have all the parts to do the assembling of the axles. Before I did that though, I could not resist this. Bought a stand for my bench grinder and some cloth polishing wheels to put on it and went to work at polishing the axles up to a mirror finish. This thing is gonna be blinding coming towards ya when driving it lol
Also got the front and rear diffs now, as well as center driveshafts, center diff/motor mount, axle shaft cups, and Chevy Silverado x-maxx body. Plan on ordering about 40ft of 5/16" .065 wall tubing tonight for building the chassis out of that.
Up late doing some work on the 1/5 scale build tonight. Starting to build the axles internals now. Having to modify the inside of the housing a bit. They are made to fit Losi DBXL differentials which is what I am using, but I have the Fastlane Machine "4ever" CVD's which are stronger than the stock axles and because of that they have cups that are about .040 larger than the stock cups, and the pins for the cvd's are a bit bigger which means I'm having to open up the area around the cups a bit for clearance. Took some work but first one is done and fits in nicely now.
Also got the body delivered today. Went with the new 28" long Chevy Silverado body. Pretty much dwarfs my 1/10 scale Guardian body.
First axle is fully polished and assembled with cvd's. Will be doing the other one tomorrow. Waiting on an order of 40ft of 5/16" tube to show up early next week so hope to be starting the chassis build maybe as soon as late next week.
The parts collecting continues. Have a set of new 9" x 6" Losi Monster Claw tires due in tomorrow. Some Losi wheels for the tires should be here early next week. Got 40ft of 5/16 .065 wall tube coming on Thursday (to build the frame out of). Had to buy a new heavy duty tubing bender for this build because the tube is much thicker than the previous 1/10 tube chassis I have done, so my $12 hardware store bender wouldn't cut it on this one. So ordered a nice one that is much bigger and tha'll be here Friday. Also ordered 4 pair of X-Maxx aluminum shocks. Going to strip and polish them so they look good. Just ordered 16 1/4" heim joints. Will be making 4 link bars out of 3/8 steel and drill/tapping the ends of the metal heim joints. Also ordered a 1/6 scale Revell die cast Hemi drag motor. Really scale looking motor. Gonna build that into the frame as I start making it.
Needless to say this is turning into quite an expensive project. So if you see me on the corner washing windows for change you know why
That's a big pile of metal going into the build should be awesome !
If a jobs not worth doing then its certainly not worth doing well.
A problem shared is a problem halved but an advantage shared is no advantage at all.
Managed to spend some time today working on getting the 1/5 scale chassis started. Doing this one a bit different than my previous 1/10 & 1/8 scale tube chassis. Decided to make the upper top rails one piece with a loop in the rear rather than doing it out of two separate top rail pieces. Finally came out good, but that was after cutting it apart and readjusting it three times because it was out of square the first two times. Might have been a bit of cussing mixed in between the cutting as well
Put another few days of work into the 1/5 scale Rc Monster truck I'm currently building. Have a good portion of the main rails and lower 4 link structure, as well as some of the inner bracing done now. Also bought a 1/6 scale Hemi drag motor from Liberty Classics to use on it. The size of the motor is perfect for this build, and the detail is awesome. I welded in four steel tabs into the chassis and then drilled & tapped the die cast part of the block, so it should stay put even in a bad wreck, which with my driving, is just a matter of time Also bought 8 xmaxx shocks and started stripping the anodizing off them and polishing them up to match the axles I polished. Will be starting on the upper part of the cage tomorrow.
should be awesome !
Also bought 8 xmaxx shocks and started stripping the anodizing off them and polishing them up to match the axles I polished. Will be starting on the upper part of the cage tomorrow.
