Driftmission.com presents the MST MS-01D Pro Chassis Kit
Max Speed Technology (MST) is new to the radio control drift market. This car is designed and produced exclusively by MST in Taiwan. The MST MS-01D Pro chassis has been designed with only performance in mind. MST has taken the conventional RC Drift chassis layout and made significant improvements to it. The chassis is a 2 belt driven mid-ship positioned motor design for weight optimization; as seen on many Drift Spec chassis such as the Tamiya VDF, Hot Bodies TC-FD, D-Like RE-R and many more. The most unique aspect of the MS-01D is the suspension arm design. MST has done away with the traditional toe-blocks and incorporated the upper and lower suspension arms into the front and rear bulkheads. The slim design of the lower suspension arm allows for more steering angle, which is desired by many CS or counter-steer modified drifters. The upper suspension arms are also designed for better steering clearance as well as castor adjustments. This is truly one of the strongest points of this chassis design and makes it unique to any others you have seen in the market today.
This build will be to stock specifications, which means all the settings will be based on the measurements given in the instructions manual. This will also be a 50/50 setup drift RC car. If you are using this build as a guide to building your own chassis, read the entire build before you start.
The Unboxing of the MST MS-01D Pro Kit
The MS-01D Pro kit includes a generous amount of aluminum parts. The blue anodized aluminum parts includes the center motor bulkhead, heatsink motor mount plate, high quality threaded suspension, front one-way tube, turnbuckles, spur gear holders, alloy tensioner holder with low friction pulley and servo mounts. The kit includes ball bearings, front 60° universal drive shafts, rear universal drive shafts, countersteer kit (1.54, 1.67, 1.82 CS), chrome coated plastic brake discs, plastic brake calipers and carbon fiber upper decks. The parts listed above are upgraded from the original MST MS-01D or Spice SRD-01 Kit.
The kit also includes a a set of 3mm offset 7 spoke wheels and a set of MST medium compound (red dot) 3° cambered drift tires with a 60° outer edge for that stretched tire look. Hex screws are also included in the kit, which is an added bonus. There are still several Phillips screws in the build, but there is a reason for it, we will explain further when the time comes. Enough talk about the kit, now onto the build…
Building of the MS-01D Pro Chassis Kit
The main chassis is a flexible plastic material, it is a flat reinforced plastic so the flex characteristics is unlike any tub chassis on the market. The main chassis is stiff up in the front portion of the chassis where stiffness is needed. The rear portion of the chassis has greater flex, which we suspect will aid with the traction capabilities. The upper decks are carbon fiber so it will also provide additional stiffness to the entire chassis.
The Dampers
My personal preference when building a chassis is to start with the damper building. The high quality aluminum threaded dampers are very similar to the Tamiya TRF Dampers, the only difference is the internal components of the lower collar. Everything is disassembled then reassembled and filled with damper oil (#300 or 30wt) included with the kit. This process is done first to allow the damper oil to settle and the air bubbles out, which will increase the consistency and performance of the dampers. I also use some AE green slime to seal the bottom half of the damper enclosure to decrease damper oil leakage.
The Bulkheads
The front and rear bulkheads are made of a very hard and thick plastic. The bulkheads seat directly into a slot in the chassis, which adds stability and strength to the structure of the main chassis. The center alloy bulkhead also adds a large amount of stability to the chassis and further minimizes the chassis flex. The alloy tensioner with low friction pulley adds function and style to the middle section of the chassis. This tensioner also helps keep the belt off the battery. We believe that alloy bulkheads would bring additional stability and rigidity to the performance of the chassis. This will be another option part that we would like to upgrade to for greater performance.
The Center Shaft
The center shaft assembly is next in the build process. The center shaft diameter is 5mm, which is larger than many of the other kits on the market. This means that you need to do your research before you invest in alloy CS gears for this chassis. The spur gear included is a 88T 48 Pitch spur gear, pinion gear is NOT included. The spur gear is held in place by an alloy spur gear holder with a stylish outer alloy cover plate, this ensures the stability of the rotating spur gear.
Belts and Pulleys
The stock belts included are 3mm wide 75T front and 162T rear. The stock pulleys are 36T front and rear with 18T center. Once again the center shaft is 5mm bore, so do your research when searching for aluminum center pulleys. The center shaft has slots for pin style pulleys, and it also had a flat side on each side for grub screw style pulleys. This is an added feature that is not seen on any other kits. It really shows MST attention to detail when designing this chassis.
Differentials
The front differential is an alloy front one-way tube and the 36T pulley is secured by 3 screws. The front one-way is anodize blue for aesthetic style. The rear differential is a plastic solid axle/spool, it comes directly off the parts tree. The plastic material appears to be very durable. The pulley is secured to a pulley holder with a pin and 3 screws to secure the 36T pulley in place. Joint rings are also included for the ends of the spool to ensure that the universal drive shaft does not deform the drive slots. I suspect that the rear spool may need to be upgraded to an alloy one if a low turn motor is use; the plastic spool may not be able to stand up to the abuse.
Drivetrain
Once the front and rear differentials are assembled, the bearings are placed in with the belt tensioner adjusters. It is a slotted ring with more offset to one side than the other, the slots on the tensioner ring corresponds to a positioner on the bulkhead. Careful when adjusting this tensioner ring, and make sure both sides correspond to each other; if set incorrectly, it could cause some uneven wear and tear to the differentials. Do not over-tension the belts, due to the flex available in the main chassis, this could cause severe chassis tweak. Make sure belt are not too tight, there should be a few millimeters of slack available in the belts. Once correct tension is achieved, the upper bulkheads are assembled to secure the differentials in place.
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