Decided on a Wraith.. wait, what's this?...

[jjonesk]

Hey all, 1st post so figured I'd say hello and thank you to everyone who posts here. As many have said in countless posts, there is a wealth of information contained in these pages. Here's my story.. week after xmas, finished putting the kids toys together and put me in a model building frame of mind. Started poking around on google and ran accross an ad for a Wraith. A couple youtube searches later and I was hooked. Perfect, exactly what I was looking for. Headed to the LHS to no avail, nothing in stock. Talked to the owner and they said they should have one in next week. Went back, they had it but was RTR (and full retail price). Disappointment started setting in, but wait, what is it sitting on top of?

RTR but half the price, SOLD! I can always just tear it apart and put it back together to get the build bug out of my system. But, didn't know anything about it. I'd read a few things when researching the Wraith about the AX10 but didn't give it much thought so figured I'd better do some more research, which, quickly led me here. Overload.. A ton of info and a ton of amazing builds. A few days of browsing lead me to Duuuuuuude's "Concept to Crawler" build. If you haven't seen it, do yourself a favor and search for it. Truly amazing and inspiring. So inspiring in fact, I had to have a go myself. So hereafter will be my attempt at a home brew design and build. I expect a lot of pointing and laughing but constructive criticism and pointers will be a little more appreciated . Sorry for the wall of text but had to get it out of the way.. following posts will be more concise

[jjonesk]

I followed Duuuuuuude's build fairly closely and took some liberty with his design (it's not identical but close enough for copyright infringement so sorry Duuude if I stepped on your toes, please don't sue) so this won't be a "how to" thread, just wanted to get it somewhere for postarity and fair judgement or for a laugh, however you want to look at it.
Picked up an 1/8" aluminum sheet

Scrawled a design and cut it out


Cut and shaped it's twin

And made some bends


More to follow...

[Trubble]

The wife and I started off with those. Mine doesn't look a whole lot like that anymore. Hers is still in that condition, but I'll be tearing it apart pretty soon to convert it into a trail truck.

Have fun with it.

[BuckImod]

Nice work so far! Keep it up!

[Sean W]

Looks like a great start to a great build!

My first hobby grade RC was an AX10 as well. It didn't stay in stock form for very long. Talked my girlfriend into buying an SCX10 so I had a buddy to go to the trails with and now I am looking to buy a Wraith!

Anyways, great work. Looking forward to seeing more!

[Kitty]

looks good the twins,nice job,altough i'm waiting to see what's the final setup

[Oz Bruiser]

Looks good, nice design

Sent from my GT-I9100T using Tapatalk 2:thumbup:

[Duuuuuuuude]

Originally Posted by jjonesk

I followed Duuuuuuude's build fairly closely and took some liberty with his design (it's not identical but close enough for copyright infringement so sorry Duuude if I stepped on your toes, please don't sue)

No worries here man, inspiration is what that thread is about. Copy whatever you need to.

[jjonesk]

Thanks for all the positive comments!
The skid took 2 tries and still isn't right but close enough for now.


Links.... the links were a PITA. I got some 1/4" aluminum rod for uppers and some acetal for lowers but couldn't get a centered hole to save my life even with a rigged guide I tried to make. And the Acetal rod I got is strong but somewhat flimsy and wouldn't hold the bend for the rears like I wanted. Managed to get 2 decent lowers made for the front and went with some color pack pieces for the rest until I can get some better material and a better method for drilling the holes. (no in progress pics for the links, was too frustrated to take the time)
Linked up..

Was going for a high pinion angle but since reading through some threads on steering I realized my tires would be turning into the ground with that kingpin angle so the front uppers were trimmed down so the kingpins are just slightly angled back and still have a decent angle for the pinion now. I'll likely redo all the links, braces, the skid and link plates when it's all said and done. If I don't move on it'll never get off the bench
More to follow...

[MntnHntr]

Great looking rig. Here is a link to my build thread:

TTC Build

With the jig I made I have found that if I start with a 1/4" bit, then clamp everything down. Next I center punch the links with a chamfer bit then drill them out.

[jjonesk]

Thanks MntnHntr, I don't have a drill press but gave me an idea
Nice build you have going btw

Wheels n' tires:
I chose some Junfac Mudrocks for wheels a. because they're cheap and b. they looked easy to narrow. Went with Proline Chisels for tires mainly because of the tread pattern and diameter. There isn't much to crawl on around where I live other than the hillsides they cut out for roadways so this might end up being more of a rock racer/basher than straight crawler.
Chisels compared to stock Hammers

pre-narrow:

Cut them flush with the inside of the screw channels and turned out to be exactly 1"

I thought the hex would end up flush with the back side of the wheel but once I got the rings torqued down the offset is way more than I expected

Anyway... rolling


More to follow...

[jjonesk]

Running..




Pretty happy with how it turned out looks wise anyway. Doubt I'll take it much further than as it sits now other than trying to figure out how adjusting the links and shocks effects how it reacts.
Lessons learned:
Measure more/eyeball less - found myself saying "eh, that looks good" a little too often and it came back to bite me in several areas. The wheel offset for 1. I think this is really going to bite me after reading some more steering threads, need to read some more... & left little to no room for the front drive shaft to slide. Suppose I could cut it down or extend the links but the way the suspension is now doesn't put it in any binds

Research more before implementing you know nothing about - droop spring setup, I wanted the low profile look so went with droop but the torque twist is really bad. I had the stock setup crawling up a 70 degree incline just by moving the battery to the axle and cranking down the left rear spring. This one is only getting up about a 60 degrees max and the chassis is almost laying on it's side as it goes up and seems like it just wants to flip backward way too easy.. more reading to do

Other than that it's fun to drive, looks fairly close to what I had in mind and was a great (and fun) learning experience. Now just wish I had somewhere to run it
Upgraded parts list:
Axial Aluminum C's and high steer knuckles
Axial CVD's
Junfac shafts
Hot Racing Aluminum gears
MG946R servo (I think it's shot already, has about 3/32" of play in it after running 2 packs through it)
Axial 27 turn motor
32 pitch spur/pinion - 54/14t
Pro-Line Chisel G8's
Junfac Mudrock wheels

Any comments & suggestions are much appreciated

[Hittman]

Man, you did an excelent job on that chassis. Looking great man

[Duuuuuuuude]

Nicely done!

Learning how everything should be set up takes time, so don't worry if you don't think you're getting it fast enough. The more you learn the more rewarding this hobby is, so it's all worth it, even if you screw something up.

Also, there is nothing wrong with calibrating you eyeballs. I've gotten really damn good at it.

[Hacksaw707]

The chassis turned out great

[ev0l]

That thing looks freek'n mean! I love it!

It gives me a madmax road warrior kind of a feel. Hrrm...mabey I'll build my own road combat vehicle....spikes, flame throwers.....machine guns.....off to the shop!

[Crawling Calvin]

Lookin good! Duuuude had one sweet lookin design for a chassis

If you need any help on links, give me a hollar. I could maybe pull something off

[sim]

Your build is way better than any Wraith.

Btw, if you want to make 2 identical plates, next time drill about 4 screw holes to screw them together, then saw/file/work on them together. That saves a bit of time.

[jjonesk]

Originally Posted by Hittman

Man, you did an excelent job on that chassis. Looking great man

Thanks, turned out better than I expected for 1st attempt

Originally Posted by Duuuuuuuude

Nicely done!

Learning how everything should be set up takes time, so don't worry if you don't think you're getting it fast enough. The more you learn the more rewarding this hobby is, so it's all worth it, even if you screw something up.

Also, there is nothing wrong with calibrating you eyeballs. I've gotten really damn good at it.

Thanks Duuuuuuuude, wasn't sure how you'd take the similarity but it was so much time and effort I had to share it with some people who might appreciate it, 'cause my wife sure doesn't . No worries about learning the setup, it's almost as fun as the fabrication and I'm farily patient except when my OCD kicks in and I throw out parts that would probably pass inspection in a sweat shop. Working on the calibration

Originally Posted by Hacksaw707

The chassis turned out great

Thanks!

Originally Posted by ev0l

That thing looks freek'n mean! I love it!

It gives me a madmax road warrior kind of a feel. Hrrm...mabey I'll build my own road combat vehicle....spikes, flame throwers.....machine guns.....off to the shop!

Thanks, every time I look at it I make blown-V8-running-on-methane sounds in my head

Originally Posted by Crawling Calvin

Lookin good! Duuuude had one sweet lookin design for a chassis

If you need any help on links, give me a hollar. I could maybe pull something off

Thanks CC, i'll keep it in mind

Originally Posted by sim

Your build is way better than any Wraith.

Btw, if you want to make 2 identical plates, next time drill about 4 screw holes to screw them together, then saw/file/work on them together. That saves a bit of time.

Thanks



Bummer about my servo, I knew it was cheap but dang, only got 2 packs through it . I'm going to address the wheel offset before running the stock servo. I'll need it to last untill I get the funds for a decent one. I'll post updates as they come