Hector_Fisher
Well-known member
I always thought the MT410 chassis was a little thin and skinny (it is a racing chassis after all). It hasn't taco'd on me, but there are several good sized dents that something like my kraton (even being heavier) doesn't have. An M2C game changer chassis sound great, but I don't really want to spend $200ish for a new chassis when mine still works. I figured a ash bar/skid was the best option, but the ones you can buy are also expensive. I wanted something that would last a long time, so i also wanted the rear screws recessed deeply in the skid to prevent them from wearing down prematurely. That's where I decided i could make my own exactly the way I want it.
My grand total is like $35, and that will make me two skids and $15 of that is the countersink bit that I can use many times.
Bought a 2inch wide, 1/8inch thick, 3ft long bar from the hardware store. I was lucky to have a friend who recently bought an MT410 kit, so I used his bare chassis as the template, marked with a sharpie and drilled through at those spots, then countersunk the appropriate side.
That was probably the most labor intensive portion of it.
I had a friend grind off at the specified length and I slightly chamfered the leading edge with my dremel.
Results were looking good. I wanted to strengthen the rear diff area, so I needed some custom washers to fill the space where the old screws were. This was the trickiest part! Couldn't find anything!
So I ended up purchasing some countersunk aluminum m4 screws from aliexpress and drilled through at the hex with a 4mm drill bit to "decapitate" it. The results are simply splendid! A good tight fit to take up spake and reinforce the skid and chassis. I just used them on the rear 4 screws and the leading two screws. Those specific areas I wanted to be able to tighten down tightly without fear of yielding the skid.
Fully assembled everything just today. I don't have a drill press, so alignment of the holes was all slightly off in the end, but it all "pressed in" once I got some threads engaged in each screw and tightened it down. I used slightly longer screws to compensate for the extra thickness of the skid.
I think the results speak for themselves! I'm excited to get her out and give it a rip!
I don't fully know how much this would strengthen the chassis (it is only 1/8 inch 6063 aluminum after all), but for certain it will alleviate fears of more dents in the chassis and help prevent more wear!
All in all, it was a long process. But I enjoyed doing it, and subsequent skids should be much easier since I have the tools, know how, and template to make another.
Hopefully this can encourage someone to try something like this of their own! I'm not a machinist, everything was made at my kitchen table. So it is possible to do. Happy bashing everyone!
My grand total is like $35, and that will make me two skids and $15 of that is the countersink bit that I can use many times.
Bought a 2inch wide, 1/8inch thick, 3ft long bar from the hardware store. I was lucky to have a friend who recently bought an MT410 kit, so I used his bare chassis as the template, marked with a sharpie and drilled through at those spots, then countersunk the appropriate side.
That was probably the most labor intensive portion of it.
I had a friend grind off at the specified length and I slightly chamfered the leading edge with my dremel.
Results were looking good. I wanted to strengthen the rear diff area, so I needed some custom washers to fill the space where the old screws were. This was the trickiest part! Couldn't find anything!
So I ended up purchasing some countersunk aluminum m4 screws from aliexpress and drilled through at the hex with a 4mm drill bit to "decapitate" it. The results are simply splendid! A good tight fit to take up spake and reinforce the skid and chassis. I just used them on the rear 4 screws and the leading two screws. Those specific areas I wanted to be able to tighten down tightly without fear of yielding the skid.
Fully assembled everything just today. I don't have a drill press, so alignment of the holes was all slightly off in the end, but it all "pressed in" once I got some threads engaged in each screw and tightened it down. I used slightly longer screws to compensate for the extra thickness of the skid.
I think the results speak for themselves! I'm excited to get her out and give it a rip!
I don't fully know how much this would strengthen the chassis (it is only 1/8 inch 6063 aluminum after all), but for certain it will alleviate fears of more dents in the chassis and help prevent more wear!
All in all, it was a long process. But I enjoyed doing it, and subsequent skids should be much easier since I have the tools, know how, and template to make another.
Hopefully this can encourage someone to try something like this of their own! I'm not a machinist, everything was made at my kitchen table. So it is possible to do. Happy bashing everyone!