Max Speed Technology FS-01D Chassis Build

Driftmission.com presents the MST FS-01D Front Motor Chassis Kit

This is the 2nd chasssis released by Max Speed Technology (MST). The first was the MS-01D, which is a mid-ship motor positioned drift spec chassis. The FS-01D was launched late February of 2012 as one of the first full kit front motor chassis; not since Tamiya TA-03F has a full front motor chassis been available. The entire FS-01D chassis comes full assembled, but there are a few things you must do before running this; all the necessary steps are covered in the FS-01D unboxing post.

We were lucky enough to be able to receive the FS-01D directly from MST during its first production batch. This chassis is in high demand and was sold out before its release. Drift Mission was lucky enough to be be one of the first to obtain a full silver FS-01D edition. We managed to obtain all of the silver option parts available for the new FS chassis, so this is a reflection of a FS-01D VIP chassis would look like.

The UNBOXING of the FS-01D is available at the following URL: http://driftmission.com/mst-fs-01d-unboxing/

THE BUILD

Although the chassis comes fully assembled, we decided to deconstruct and rebuild it (This is not recommended unless you are confident in re-assmebly). The carbon fiber parts were all treated with CA glue. All the stock parts were replaced with available option parts. Each step of the build will show what was upgraded in the process. This chassis does not include step-by-step assembly instructions for this chassis. The MS-01D manual can be used as reference if you have it. MST did a great job with FS-01D assembly. The screws were adequately tight, all the turnbuckle lengths were matching. All you need to do to run it out of the box is install electronics, build dampers, grease moving parts and adjust the belt tension.

The Silver Surface Carbon
The FS-01D includes full silver surface carbon fiber main chassis, upper deck, F/R damper stays and carbon stiffeners. The silver surface carbon adds very good contrast to the black parts on the chassis. The carbon edges are quite clean, just a few spots that required some quick prepping for CA glue.

Carbon Thicknesses:
Main chassis – 2.2mm
Upper deck – 2.2mm
F/R damper stay – 3.2mm
Extra stiffeners – 3.2mm

Rear Bulkhead
Rear Silver Aluminium Bulkheads! Stock rear belt tensioner is replaced with the optional assembly and low friction tensioner. The W shaped chassis stiffener is installed.

Front Section
Mid-ship motor mount has been removed fron original MS-01D design. The FS-01D requires a new top deck and stretches from front to rear bulkheads. There are also stabilizer posts right behind the steering to maintain stability.

The original FS-01D drive train is 18T centre pulleys on a 5.0mm layshaft. This chassis will by pass 50/50 and proceed directly to counter-steer CS modification. The CS kit is optional for this chassis so it will need to be purchased separately. We installed the 11T front center pulley for highest available CS ratio.

The stock spur gear holder is made of a fiber re-enforced plastic material. This is one of those option upgrades that we feel is necessary, it will provide better drivetrain operation. An aluminium outer spur gear cover is provided so it will keep the spur stable. Be sure to shim your layshaft correctly, it will effect the performance of your chassis.

Front Differential
The FS-01D includes a stock front ball differential. The ball diff was replaced with a optional silver front one-way; most of us at DM enjoy the front one-way characteristics. The stock pulley is a 36T and will be replaced with an optional 40T pulley. This will give us a totaly CS ratio of 1.82, this is the same ratio that the MS-01D was available with.

Front Bulkhead
The new FS-01D includes silver front aluminium bulkheads. The bulkhead is a 2-piece design; one piece per side. This design makes it a bit troublesome to work on the diff or drivetrain, because it requires removal of at least 1 side of the bulkhead. The integrated motor mount into front bulkhead design really adds stability and durability to the FS-01D chassis. If you are using this as a guide for assembling the FS-01D, then be sure to install the front bumper during this time!

Cooling Bars
These cooling bars are optional parts for the FS-01D, but are a free gift from MST if you pre-order the FS-01D chassis. They give the front bulkhead a more aggressive look and will also provide additional cooling for the motor.

Rear Differential
The FS-01D includes a stock plastic spool. Made of a hard delrin plastic material, it is quite durable and does not need to be replaced. It is a secondary upgrade and not imperative until the stock spool is damaged. The optional aluminium spool is a very nice upgrade, only available in black color, it does not stand out like the other silver parts on this chassis. The new spool also includes axle bone blades to reduce the wear from the universal driveshafts. It is a useful upgrade for the chassis, but not necessary until the stock part breaks.

Once the rear differential has been installed in place, it is time for the silver bulkhead tops. These will hold the differentail cams in place.

Steering Assembly
The stock steering assembly is a plastic one. It has been redesigned slightly from the MS-01D version; it now has safety stoppers on the center brace to limite steering. Since this part is plastic, after some wear it will be susceptible to some slop. It is a good idea to replace them with the silver aluminum option parts. This option part will stiffen up the steering mechanism and allow for more accurate and greater steering response. A worth while upgrade, one that we recommend.


Lower Suspension Arms
The lower suspension arms are similar to MS-01D design, they are fastened directly to the bottom of the bulkhead with pivot balls to ensure smooth operation. The front arms will include a limiter for the steering angle. Although this chassis is capable of more steering angle, the damper positions limit how much steering is acctually available.

Damper Stay
The rear damper stay has been improved from the MS-01D. The FS-01D damper stays now have greater damper positioning for better set-up capabilities. The rear damper stay has also been redesigned slightly, it has been strenghtened to prove a better brace for the rear bulkhead. A very good and necessary improvement from its predessor.
The front damper stay is very small with limited amount of damper positions. The front bulkhead severely limits its size and shape so it has its limitations.

Upper Suspension Arms
The rear upper suspension mounts are exactly like the MS-01D, it has variable positioning to change several caster angles. Although caster is not a necessary characteristic in the rear, it is nice to have.
The front upper suspension mounts are unlike the MS-01D design. It only has 1 mounting positioning. The only available caster angles are 10 and 14 degrees. This is especially useful for car set-up.

Steering Knuckles/Front Uprights
The stock front and rear uprights are made of plastic, but they work very well. We chose to replace the plastic uprights with the silver aluminium equivalents. The real challenge is getting the bearing out of the plastic uprights, took some effort and several tools, but manage to pull them out with some effort.

Universal Driveshafts
The stock FS-01D universal driveshafts are unchanged from the MS-01D Pro chassis. The rear swing shafts is a pin and slot only, where the front swing shafts are a pin, collar and slot. This means driveshafts have more degrees of freedom in the front than the rear. Which make sense, since the rear ones do not require wide angle operation. We chose to replace the traditional steel swing shafts with their aluminium counterparts. The drive cups stay the same, the only replacement part is the actual swing shaft itself. The aluminium shafts are significantly lighter and thicker than the steel counterparts. It also gives the chassis more silver aluminium bling. Remember to adequately grease the universal driveshafts, good, smooth and chatter free operation will depend on it. MST includes grease in the FS-01D kit, so use it.

Rear Uprights
I chose to install the rear uprights in the opposite direction from their original setup. This was done for 2 reasons. The first was to reduce the bump-steer involved; when the rear suspension deflects, it would cause the toe angle to be deflected also. The rear mounting position will lessen that bump-steer characteristic. The second reason was because of aesthetics; personally I prefer the brake calipers to be facing one direction, this is purely aesthetic and does not affect the performance.

Side Stiffeners
The side stiffeners are new to the design of the FS-01D, which look like “ears”. The idea is to create adjustable stiffeners so that you can adjust the amount of flex in the front to middle section of the chassis. The stiffness can be adjusted by removing and changing screw positioning. These “ears” can even be removed to utilize maximum chassis flex. This is a step towards mechanical traction control, which is widely known today as “High Traction” chassis. Several manufacturers have already introduced their own version of these high-traction version of their chassis, RC-Art, Yokomo, Alex Racing and Active Hobby to name a few.

Carbon Battery Holder
This was a brand new release from MST for this chassis. This will replace the plastic battery holder that comes standard, to matching silver surface carbon. This new option part was not announced as part of the original line-up so it is great to see MST is improving on the look of the FS-01D.

Aluminium Brake Kit
The aluminium brake discs and full painted brake caliper kit is very impressive. The finish on the brake calipers is very clean and shiny! The aluminium brake discs/wheel hubs are also outstanding. The discs are light weight to lessen the rotational mass. Cross drilled pattern and also different sizes for front and rear brakes, overall a very scale look! The aluminium discs also spin very true, so that it does not interfere with the brake calipers like the previous plastic disc which are included with the FS-01D.

Here are some images of the completely assembled FS-01D Silver Chassis. Looks very impressive with all the extra silver option parts.

Aluminium Servo Saver
Another cool silver option part. The FS-01D includes a regular servo horn and accessories, but the option part just adds more bling to the chassis. The standard servo mounts are also silver aluminium alloy which adds a nice look. We opted to mount the servo in the default position on one of the “ear” stiffeners. The stock kit includes a short turnbuckle for the default servo position. Included with the kit is a longer turnbuckle, for rear servo position similar to the MS-01D. I belive this part is standard with all FS-01D kits.

Note: In regards to the default servo positioning. If you use a normal 1:10 sized servo for the default position, it has a chance to interfere with conventional drift tires. Shown in the image is 7mm offset wheels with HPI T-drifts on them, stock MST drift tires would not have a problem due to the 60 degree angle cut. T-drifts would have a chance to interefere with the servo. If lower offset is used, it would not only interfere with the servo, it would also contact the damper during turn in.

We highly recommend installing a low profile 1/10 servo for better clearance.