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T-Maxx Project: Trim Some Fat
This
project came about because I was sick of how heavy my
T-Maxx had become.
With all the aluminum I had added,
it was a pig. It was over 11 pounds. So I decided
the
best way to make it faster and handle better was to
dump some weight. I jumped
on Ebay and started looking.
I saw an auction for R/C Raven parts and clicked in.
Since
I had used his parts before, and had abused them for
a public review, I knew
the parts were top notch.
I started looking at a race chassis since they were
cut out.
I also looked at new chassis breaces that
were cut and drilled. I looked at bumpers
that had
cut outs. I looked at new trans plates that were drilled.
At the same time I
saw the dual rate shock springs.
At this point in time I was running 12 springs total
to
hold up this pig, so those springs were in my future.
I also decided to get new skids
since my Rockhoundz
were beat pretty bad (and purple)
So
I ordered up/won auctions on dual rate springs, chassis
braces, bumpers, trans plate,
front and rear skids,
and a race chassis. I also tried to keep the colors
toned down. I
went with hard anodizing on the chassis
and skids, black on the trans plate, brushed
poweder
coat on the braces, and chrome on the bumpers. I figured
this would look great on
my truck since it was almost
colorless. All the aluminum is 6061 T6.
Once
everything arrived, I took it all to work and used the
gram scales to weigh the parts.
Then, as the parts
came off the maxx I got a weight on them. Here is the
break down:
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Part
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R/C
Raven Weight
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Replaced
Part Weight
|
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Chassis
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203.9
(4mm thick)
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169.6
(stock 3mm thick))
|
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Braces
(per set)
|
85
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125.6 (R/C
Raven Original)
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Bumpers
(per set)
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76.6
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96.6
(R/C Raven Original)
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Trans
plate
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38
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41.6
(Full Force R/C)
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Front
Skid
|
72
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61.3
(Rockhoundz)
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Rear
Skid
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70.2
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55.6(Rockhoundz)
|
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Shock
Springs
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55.9
(8 springs)
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61.6
(12 springs run)
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Total
In grams
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601.6
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611.9
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Well,
as you can see, my plan to go light weight did turn
out, but only by 10.3 grams. That is less than
1/2
ounce. So, I decided to take my new Raven parts into
work and mill some material out.
Time for some pictures
to show you what I did:
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This
shows the all the cuts
made in the chassis
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This
shows the cuts under the
battery box
location
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Here
you get a good look at cuts
under the
fuel tank.
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And
here we have the cuts under
the Rx location
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This
shows were I cut the front
skid from
the front
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Here
we have the drilled holes &
cuts
on front skid fromt the bottom
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Cuts
into rear skid from the
bottom
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Cuts
made to rear skid from
the back
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Just
a shot of the new braces and
trans plates
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And
after all of that milling, the new weights are:
|
Part
|
R/C
Raven Weight
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Weight
After Mill Work
|
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Chassis
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203.9
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178.5
|
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Braces
(per set)
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85
|
85
(no milling)
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Bumpers
(per set)
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76.6
|
76.6
(no milling)
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Trans
plate
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38
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38
(no milling)
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Front
Skid
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72
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65.3
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Rear
Skid
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70.2
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60.7
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Shock
Springs
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55.9
(8 springs)
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55.9
(no milling)
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Total
In grams
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601.6
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560
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So
after all the money and the milling, I saved 51.9 grams.
Thats less than 2 ounces. But hey,
I sure did have
a lot of fun doing it. I got to brush up on my mill
skills and every little bit of weight
does help.
Besides, it was not long after this, I dropped in the
OS .18CV-R engine. I hope this
info helps anyone
looking for info on parts.
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