Capra America: A Super Build by SVT

[MaX-D]

Originally Posted by themountain

I have a 3500 mah 120C battery and get like 40 minutes out of it....max.

Crawling?

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[punkindrublik]

Originally Posted by themountain

I have a 3500 mah 120C battery and get like 40 minutes out of it....max.

I could crawl for a couple hours on that battery easy. I think something's wrong...

[GA Dawg]

Originally Posted by themountain

I have a 3500 mah 120C battery and get like 40 minutes out of it....max.

I usually get 60 to 90 minutes on a 2200 mah pack doing a mix of trailing and crawling.

[themountain]

Originally Posted by MaX-D

Crawling?

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Originally Posted by punkindrublik

I could crawl for a couple hours on that battery easy. I think something's wrong...

Me too...

Originally Posted by GA Dawg

I usually get 60 to 90 minutes on a 2200 mah pack doing a mix of trailing and crawling.

Well ...maybe not strict crawling... more rock bouncing I would say.

[dezfan]

I run various 2200 3S packs and I too get roughly 90 minute run times.

[WHITE-TRASH]

Originally Posted by themountain

I have a 3500 mah 120C battery and get like 40 minutes out of it....max.

Mostly crawling but a lot of full throttle blips and the occasional jump and I'm getting a bit more than an hour out of 1000 mah 3s packs.

Brushless is rather efficient though so the mamba x and 2300 roc make the juice last.

[themountain]

Lets not derail this awesome thread here

[svt923]

Originally Posted by forty2

I would definitely like to know how that 16T motor goes for you, I went with a 13T Crawlmaster and am finding it to be too fast. I'm changing motors for sure, just not settled yet on with what.

Very happy with the 16T Magnum motor. The low speed control is phenominal for something with 36:1 gearing and still has enough snap to pop up a ledge or jump a gap. I thought 16T would be a bit slow for me but it seems spot on for this truck.

A gif for your enjoyment:

Originally Posted by themountain

I have a 3500 mah 120C battery and get like 40 minutes out of it....max.

Originally Posted by themountain

Well ...maybe not strict crawling... more rock bouncing I would say.

Well, there is your answer.

Driving style and the type of truck will make a huge difference. My TF2 with a 1800kv ROC412 will do about 75 minutes on a 1000mah 3S pack on a casual stroll through the woods while my IFS Bomber with a Holmes Puller Pro 4500kv will tear through a 4000mah 3S pack in 20-30 minutes of rock racing.

Of course, there are any number of mechanical problems that can cause significant drops in run time.

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

Let us know how it works!

So far so good. Everything is much smoother since the shimming.

Originally Posted by WHITE-TRASH

Mostly crawling but a lot of full throttle blips and the occasional jump and I'm getting a bit more than an hour out of 1000 mah 3s packs.

Brushless is rather efficient though so the mamba x and 2300 roc make the juice last.

Pretty much my experience with most of my other trucks running brushless. Even with the less efficient brushed motor, I ran for 20ish minutes and only used about 1/3 of a 1500mah 3S pack. That is basically right in line with Holmes saying brushless motors can be 40% more efficient.

Originally Posted by themountain

Lets not derail this awesome thread here

You can derail all you want, I'm the king of derailing my own threads.

And now, what you all have been waiting for:

Driving impressions!

And pictures, I guess there will be pictures as well.



I took my Capra out to a spot I found a couple years ago with some big rocks. This isn't some lame drainage ditch of rip-rap, it is like 150 yards of large rocks that produce some rather demanding lines. Last time out here was with my Bomber and these rocks kicked it's ass. The Bomber was constantly getting stuck or on it's lid so this seems like as good of place as any to test the Capra.

The first thing you notice is the low speed control of the Holmes Magnum motor. It can go as slow as you want it to and not in that barely moving but stalls out when it encounters a pebble type of slow that people think is control.



I am very happy with the ride height and stability provided by the Dravtech shocks. If the Capra ended up on it's lid, it was either from falling into a crevice that swallowed it whole or the rear tire hooked an undercut rock on a climb. Being top heavy or riding too high was never a thought.



The Proline Krawlers were never hurting for traction. Even with these being the good, old G8 versions, grip was not an issue.



Still getting a feeling for how and when to use the dig but I was a fan the couple times I did. Coming down onto this rock, I needed to make a 90 degree turn to set up the next line. Locking the rear end, I was able to pivot the whole truck on that rock which would have been impossible without dig.



Most of my trucks lean towards the scale end of the performance spectrum and this absolutely blows them out of the water. The Capra is by far and away the best out of the box crawler that I have ever experienced. If you are the type that has been amazed by the capability of your TRX4, SCXII, Ascender, BOM, Gen 8, or whatever, know their performance is garbage in comparison to the Capra.

Yes, the Capra can do some incredible, even magical things:



I'm still mystified by this sorcery.

While my maiden voyage with the Capra was only about 20 minutes, I left seriously impressed. Out of the box (ish) and on 4.75 inch tires, my Capra was doing things my very much not stock Bomber on 5.5 inch tires couldn't. This truck perfectly fills the desire I had for a more performance based truck without venturing into the shafty comp crawler realm. I literally could not be happier with an Axial product and I have owner damn near all of them. Already can't wait to burn some more batteries with this one.

[themountain]

Originally Posted by svt923

I'm still mystified by this sorcery.

[Rich Trujillo]

Originally Posted by svt923

This truck perfectly fills the desire I had for a more performance based truck without venturing into the shafty comp crawler realm.

Literally what we hoped to hear...glad you're enjoying it and that last bit of sorcery

Rich

[Panther6834]

Originally Posted by svt923

Yes, I did stick another shim on the other side of the gear. Forgot about that part.



I think the shims at the end of the idler shaft would help either way. The idler may float over and make light contact with the gear cover but it is no longer being forcefully pressed into the gear case.

Any word yet on how the shims are working? Is the problem resolved? Is the problem still present? In either case, any new problems?

~ More peace, love, laughter, & kindness would make the world a MUCH better place

[odomandr]

Glad to see some feedback on the magnum motor, is that a torque master or crawl master magnum? I am on the fence and about to go for it for my Capra.

[svt923]

Originally Posted by Rich Trujillo

Literally what we hoped to hear...glad you're enjoying it and that last bit of sorcery

You guys nailed this one, tons of fun and performance out of the box.

Wish the Axial team all the success with the Capra and selfishly hope this one has Wraith-like market longevity.

Originally Posted by Panther6834

Any word yet on how the shims are working? Is the problem resolved? Is the problem still present? In either case, any new problems?

Working fantastic. No more idler gear rubbing and much smoother than initial assembly.

Originally Posted by odomandr

Glad to see some feedback on the magnum motor, is that a torque master or crawl master magnum? I am on the fence and about to go for it for my Capra.

It is a 16T Crawlmaster Magnum.

The price makes it hard to put them in everything but there isn't a much better candidate for what is likely the peak of brushed motor technology.

[JohnnyAnguish]

Great thread. Entertaining and informative!

[Panther6834]

Originally Posted by svt923

Working fantastic. No more idler gear rubbing and much smoother than initial assembly.

Thanks. Shims ordered...plus a few other "goodies".

~ More peace, love, laughter, & kindness would make the world a MUCH better place

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by svt923

Working fantastic. No more idler gear rubbing and much smoother than initial assembly.

I'll have to try that. So what was the outer shim that you used?

I agree that I wish Axial much success with the Capra. I really like the first taste of Axial under Horizon!

Oh and that sorcery GIF is awesome! Glad you got that on video.

[svt923]

Originally Posted by JohnnyAnguish

Great thread. Entertaining and informative!

Yes, yes, and ehhh.

Originally Posted by Panther6834

Thanks. Shims ordered...plus a few other "goodies".

Goodies sound good, they should make your truck good-er.

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

I'll have to try that. So what was the outer shim that you used?

I agree that I wish Axial much success with the Capra. I really like the first taste of Axial under Horizon!

Oh and that sorcery GIF is awesome! Glad you got that on video.

The shim on the outside of the gear was a 5x7x.1mm, at least I think .1mm was the thickness. It is basically what you would use to shim the axle pinion.

As for the video, I was busy driving and didn't know my wife was recording it. Not a lot of good footage came out of it but enough for a sweet gif.

[Topher Builds]

Lol that goat jump sorcery gif is excellent. Well done sir.

[meatmonkey]

It's been far to long since we've seen an update on your new tube buggy crawler thing. So either you haven't been playing with it, or you've been too busy playing with it to update this thread.

As a fellow toy truck addict, i am looking for reasons not to add a Capra to the fleet. All i can come up with is a slight lack of total gear reduction, which doesn't seem like enough to exclude it. Would you perhaps have anything to add to this list and thereby save me from myself?

[svt923]

Originally Posted by meatmonkey

It's been far to long since we've seen an update on your new tube buggy crawler thing. So either you haven't been playing with it, or you've been too busy playing with it to update this thread.

As a fellow toy truck addict, i am looking for reasons not to add a Capra to the fleet. All i can come up with is a slight lack of total gear reduction, which doesn't seem like enough to exclude it. Would you perhaps have anything to add to this list and thereby save me from myself?

Umm, option C - Too busy to drive it for a good update.

As far as reasons to not buy a Capra, I can provide the following:

#1 - You hate performance out of your toy trucks that drive over rocks and the sense of conquering difficult obstacles with a RC gives you immense internal distress.

#2 - You live in some sort of 2 dimensional plane where rocks, hills, and elevation changes do not exist therefore rendering ownership of a rock buggy useless.

#3 - You had a traumatic experience where you were nearly trampled to death by a heard of Nubian Ibex while traveling through the mountains of Turkey.

Should none of those apply, I'm afraid you will have to purchase a Capra. The gear ratio isn't too big of an issue, out of the box it is about the same as an old SCX10 Deadbolt. Going to an 11T pinion seems like a fairly easy option and gets the truck down to 40:1 which isn't bad at all. Hell, we probably ran old trucks with AX10 gear sets at higher ratios all the time. Don't go crazy on the motor KV and it is very controllable on the low end.