Project: Ultimate E-Maxx - Spyder

Phase I: The Tinkering Begins

As this was a completely fresh vehicle, new to the market and very new to me, I didn't dive into the modifications quickly. I wanted to take my time to get to know its intricacies while dabbling around the edges, making whatever small changes I could without the risk of upsetting the wholeness of the young beast.

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1/13/2001: My records show that this was the date I purchased my original E-Maxx under a shroud of silence.

1/27/2001: The original 1/8th scale buggy body was sized up at the Delta R/C hobby shop and purchased on the spot today. You can see how it looked in this (at the time private, unreleased) picture of the Ultimate Traxxas "family" at the time:

2/3/2001: This week, development of the Spyder really took off after a slow start. I made a sway bar for the rear of the truck, but opted not to do so for the front in order to keep traction strong, especially when accelerating through bumpy turns.

I also went on an anodization-stripping and parts polishing rampage, hitting my shock towers, ESC heat sinks, motor mount and even the motors, themselves! I also went ahead and made what may well have been the first custom finned E-Maxx motor mount by hacking on the stock one with a Dremel and a cutoff disc.

As can be seen in picture 3 above, I mounted my batteries under the chassis thanks to a tip from Doug Hembroff at the local track, which I later found to have been Jason Jaekel's innovation. I also removed over three feet of wiring from the poor thing, no doubt reducing resistance in the electrical system significantly.

After this, though, it was time to truly let go of the stock chassis & power configuration and let my mind run wild as my planned public revelation of the project neared.

On to Phase II >>