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Home made hop-ups. I know I wont be making any soon. If you have a home made hop-up that you like me to put on the site, email me. Until some e-mails me heres one that I got from maxxtraxx.com Enjoy.(I am not trying to pawn this off as my own, it's from maxxtraxx)The reason I dreamed up these rims was I wanted to fit standard 6" monster truck tires (Clod, Jugg, USA1, MP, etc) on the T and E Maxx. Yes, the Clod tires will stretch over a T rim without modifying the rim. The only problem is the T rim is a little too narrow. It causes the sidewalls of the Clod tire to bow in real bad. It makes the tire kinda hard to seat right and spin straight and true. I know you can buy the adapters and put Ofna rims on you T. But...... In my opinion the look silly. They make the truck wider than it is long, which looks really goofy to me. The Ofna setup also moved the rims way out past the pillow balls/pivot points. This put a ton of stress on these parts, and can lead to premature failure/breakage/wear. Bottom line, I don't like, or recommend the Ofna setup. My rims use the stock back spacing (inside offset of the rim) and only add 1" to the outer width. This extra width is enough to properly stretch out the Clod tires, but not so much that it creates a lot of excess stress on the pivots. The truck's overall width is just over 2" wider than stock. But most importantly, there is only a little extra width/weight added outside the pivot points. A stock T rim is 2 1/4" wide. A stock Clod rim is 4" wide. My rims are 3 1/8" wide. Now that I've covered the extra size and the whats and whys, I 'll go into cost. Stock rims retail for about $9.00. Aluminum rims go for anywhere from $120 to $180. This project will cost you about $45 for the rims, and whatever tires you decided to use. Parts needed: 8 stock T/E rims = $36 2 3" sewer pipe couplers = $3 CA Glue = $4 Note: The PVC sewer couplers are the thin wall type. NOT schedule 40 thick wall water pipe. Be sure you get the right stuff. Take a rim with you to be sure. The 3" sewer couplers will be a little big and fit the inside of the rim loosely. You'll see how to cut them to fit later. Tools needed: A Dremel (or similar) rotary tool With - sanding drum (course grain) and a few cut-off wheels. A black marker A few LARGE zip-ties SAFETY GLASSES And a tape measure or ruler Helpful items: An Exacto Knife, some sandpaper, and maybe a file. I removed all the silver coating before starting. I recommend you do this too. If there is any coating where the glue joints are, it may lessen the bond. And you are going to have a minor seam on the front (visible) side of the rim. So you'll need to paint or dye them to conceal this seam anyway. Start by cutting off the outer flange/bead of four rims. Run the Dremel at high speed (if yours is adjustable). The speed and heat will make cutting easier and keeps the cut-off wheel from binding up in the melted plastic. You'll wind up with this. Don't worry about the plastic "slag" around the cut. Once it cools, it will chip off easily. The take the other four rims and mark and cut the backside off. Make your mark at the outside edge of the two predrilled vent holes. So that the line is closer to the back bead, not the front of the rim. If you go ant deeper toward the front, you'll wind up cutting into the spokes and their reinforcement. You'll wind up with this: Now take the sanding drum and sand off all the inside bead flanges. Not the outer ones. You'll wind up with this: You can barely see here, but when you make this last cut, you'll have a tiny piece of the inner reinforcement rib. Just lightly hit if with the sander, of slice it off with an Exacto. Now it�s time to start cutting up the sewer couplers. AS I said earlier, be sure you get thin wall 3" sewer couplers. They'll be a little big, but that'll change. From the outside edge, measure over 1 3/8" and mark all the way around. Then cut it off. There will probably be a shoulder flange inside the center of the coupler. This is why you can't just cut if right down the center. You probably could, but then you'd have to sand the shoulder out, and cutting the extra thickness would be a pain. PVC is stickier and a little harder to cut. And it STINKS when you're melting/cutting it! Now cut a 1/4" notch across the pipe sleeve. This will remove the necessary amount to make the pipe fit tight around the rim. Like so: Now to put it all together. I recommend using a thick to medium thick CA. The super thin runny stuff will get everywhere. Run a very small bead around the edge of the larger rim piece. This is only a temporary bond, so it doesn't have to be bulletproof. Then attach the large piece to the small piece. Be sure to line them up the best you can. This is why you need to make the best cuts on the rims as possible. When you mate the two pieces together, any imperfections will show. If they're badly butchered, the rim will probably wobble. Let that dry for a few minutes, then slide the collar over the rim. Run several large beads of CA around the rim, then slide the collar up into place. IMPORTANT!! Be sure to leave a 1/2" gap between the collar and the outside flange. This is where the Clod tire bead will sit. If you put the collar too close, the bead will not sit down all the way, and make the tire harder to straighten. Quickly get it all lined up before the glue grabs, then wrap a large zip-tie around the collar. Tighten it up and let it hold everything in place to dry. Let them dry for a few hours to get the best "cure" of the CA. Then remove the zip-tie and you're done. Now is the time to paint of dye them. Not after you get the tires on. As you can see the Clod tire has a much smaller hole. It takes some muscle to stretch them over the larger diameter T/E wheels, but it can be done. Heating the tire up with hot water or a hair dryer will make it easier to stretch. I used ProLine Giant Tracs and Ofna Monster Foam inserts. This setup is a firm, but not too hard. And without foam inserts, these huge tires have a ton of side roll and distortion. Foam inserts are a "must" with there big tires. Both can be ordered from Tower. The tires are $24.99 a pair. www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p.pgm?Q=1&I=LXDU02&P=7 And the inserts are $13.79 for a set of four. www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p.pgm?Q=1&I=LXTG36&P=7 The finished product looks and drives great!!! I have run 6 sets of packs through the truck with theses tires; 6 sets @ 20+ minutes a set for a total of about 2 hours of bashing!! So far NOTHING has broken. Not any chassis parts or the glue bond on the rims. Unless you just totally abuse your truck, I doubt you'll have any problems with the rims. You'll probably break A-Arms and bulkheads before the rims break. But since I know there are people out there who can tear up a steel ball with a rubber hammer I have to say: I make not claims of "un-breakable" and offer no warranty. I also accept no liability if you hurt yourself, your truck, or someone else after following these instructions. Attempt at your own risk. Good luck and show me pics if you decided to do this to your truck! [email protected] |
Latest Updates: July 10, 2002--I completely changed the site. I added some links pictures and a review. The site is finally coming together.:) June 6, 2002-- I just updated the site, hope for more to come and enjoy what you see. |