Originally Posted by
jjahn
Build impressions and initial thoughts of the MBX7R ECO
To be honest I am just a little bit disappointed with this kit. To be fair maybe my expectations may have been a little too high. It just seemed everything I read or heard about Mugen was overwhelmingly positive, how the quality was top notch, and on and on. it sort of makes me wish I would have gone with the Durango purely because my expectations would have been lower. I know the build is only part of the equation and track performance and durability are also key, which I have yet to experience. For the most part the kit went together really well, there were only really a couple of minor hiccups which I will try to explain.
Sad to hear that. Built a lot of Mugen kits and have yet to have an issue. Fit and finish has always been great and enjoy building them.
Originally Posted by
jjahn
Let me start off with the biggest problem I ran into, the motor mount. The mount by itself easily slid back and forth. When I mounted my motor to the plate it was nearly impossible to slide. From what I could tell the second part of the mount, the part that secured to the chassis and held the diff, was slightly too thick of something. It would contact the motor when you slid it in. So basically it put a scratch in the anodizing of the motor and made sliding it really tough. FYI: I did try it several times and if I loosened the screws to the motor it would slide, but a soon as I tightened them down and tried again it would make contact on with the second piece of the motor mount. It makes adjusting the gear mesh a pain, and it really put a bad taste in my mouth.
Funny mine is perfect. It was one thing that I was impressed with. Two pieces machined separately fitting to perfection with no slop. The tolerances were perfect. Just checked my mount and installed in the car I loosened my mount screws and slid motor back and forth with ease. I am running a SMC 1900kv motor. I can see where you would be frustrated.
Originally Posted by
jjahn
Putting the pillow ball nut in was another frustrating endeavor. I have never had pillow ball suspension so maybe it’s par for the course. I knew coming in that people weren’t impressed with the manual. For the most part it is okay, but when you were building things with similar looking parts it didn’t do a good job at calling your attention to the differences. The kit came with replacement screws that mount the front, rear and diff assembly to the chassis, but I doesn’t mention why, it doesn't even mention which step to use the screws. I’m not sure if the other screws are bad, but I guess you have to assume that they are. Also, I can’t believe it didn't come with wheels! I’m pretty sure every other kit I’ve had has come with a set of wheels. Anyways most of the gripes are minor. I do feel like the motor mount was an issue, and it just set the tone for me on this build. Would I buy this kit again? Yes I would. Would I recommend it to others? Yes I would.
They are not the easiest, but can be done with ease if patient. What I did was leave the pillow ball out, grab the nut, slide the allen in deep, start the nut into the pillow ball, look at the back end of the front upright and make sure allen is passing through the center of the cutout for the pillow ball and tighten nut. The flush one is easiest to start and keep on proper track, but the recessed one can be a bit harder to deal with. I chased the threads a few times then assembled the pillow bals and went pretty easy.
As far as build goes, a set of calipers by your side is great to have to identify the right size parts. This was a clean build for me. Didn't build something, install, and realize that I used the wrong part. Try building a Vaterra Ascender if you want a crap manual to follow.
Originally Posted by
jjahn
I will say the quality is there. The anodizing is great and all the pictures I had seen don’t do it justice. The plastics seem super high quality as well. The tolerances are also amazing. Everything fit together perfect aside from the motor mount.
The quality is there and has been for many years. They are top tier kits and run on the track like one..