Spawn body on a Capra?

[ardinmcallister]

Here's the deal. I really like the Wraith Spawn, but I want a kit. The Capra comes as a kit, and as a bonus with portals. I'm looking at what I'd need to maybe stretch the nose of the Capra out a little and make it a bit more Spawn-like as well. I've heard people tell that something like the TRX4 Extended Rod Ends (TRA8149) could help me with getting those tires out a little bit more forward to fit the look of the spawn body.

TL;DR: Has anyone shoehorned a spawn body onto a Capra, or should I just go with the Spawn RTR?

[Lashlee]

It depends on what your end goal is. I have both a Capra and a Spawn. The Capra has many more upgrades than my Spawn, and I usually default to the Capra due to the Spawn being much easier to drive!! I think it's a mix of the 2.2's as well as the longer wheelbase combined with the wider axles that make the Spawn fairly capable. I will say that the change in plastic material between the Spawn and the Capra is night and day.

With that being said, there's no satisfaction better than putting a kit together. You could get the Capra and contact InTheWorks RC to see if he can build you a set of links to get the wheelbase you want. After that, you'll fall into the realm of possibilities of a full on custom belly dragger!! My Capra is now a TGH Sherpa chassis with the Capra axles (rear converted to 4WS) that makes most everything look easy!

[smog]

Originally Posted by ardinmcallister

Here's the deal. I really like the Wraith Spawn, but I want a kit. The Capra comes as a kit, and as a bonus with portals. I'm looking at what I'd need to maybe stretch the nose of the Capra out a little and make it a bit more Spawn-like as well. I've heard people tell that something like the TRX4 Extended Rod Ends (TRA8149) could help me with getting those tires out a little bit more forward to fit the look of the spawn body.

TL;DR: Has anyone shoehorned a spawn body onto a Capra, or should I just go with the Spawn RTR?

Some thoughts...

I think it depends exactly how much you like the look of the Spawn. I have a Spawn, but not a Capra. I would guess the Spawn body is a bit wide for the Capra, but I could be wrong. Perhaps someone with both will chime in. You might have to butcher the Spawn shell to get it to fit. Will you still like it at that point?

Personally I would weigh my intended use and expectation vs. Each vehicles performance. I suspect the Capra will out crawl a Spawn mostly, especially in technical terrain, just through it’s more progressive/current design and features. That said, the Spawn, being a 2.2 has a potential tire size advantage. It will easily roll over larger obstacles and perform admirably in less technical terrain.

If appearance is paramount, as it is with many/most recreational enthusiasts then get the one you like better.

[Phildirt]

If appearance is paramount, as it is with many/most recreational enthusiasts then get the one you like better.

THIS. You can always back into upgrades/tweaks to make almost any of these rigs do what you want.

[GA Dawg]

Originally Posted by smog

Perhaps someone with both will chime in.

I have both. I'll do my best to remember to set the Spawn body onto my Capra tonight and let you guys know how it fits. From memory though, I am pretty sure the Spawn body is a good bit larger than the Capra cage.

[ardinmcallister]

Smog, "If appearance is paramount, as it is with many/most recreational enthusiasts then get the one you like better." is sage advice. The stickler here is that my wife has decided that her new one is definitely going to be the Capra. We usually stick to having the same base frame/truck to make repairs/maintenance/upgrade searches easier on us. After finding out that the spawn wasnt available in kit anymore, I started looking for more information about adapting the capra to the body. It looks like if I get the RTR Spawn, I'll end up putting almost 100 into it right off the bat between metal links (an absolute requirement for me, especially that flexy steering link) and ESC and still not have portals or dig. I know neither portals or dig are really anything impressive, but at the same time they're REALLY different from our current trucks. Both of those are basically modified Senderos with different bodies.

Honestly, I'm really really leaning towards the capra kit at this point, but I'm somewhat dedicated to at least doing some more homework to get the body to fit. I might even have the final pieces of my puzzle when GA_Dawg gets back to us!

This is part of why I'm trying to find pictures or comparisons on it! I can adapt things up to a point. It looks like the capra is nearly an inch slimmer, but that might be ok.

GA_Dawg, that'd be awesome. Depending on how much bigger, I could maaaaybe adapt it by designing and printing mounts out of some stiff TPU or something. By any chance could I ask one more thing? Could you please grab a pic of the two, front on next to each other? I cant find a picture of each with the same scale to compare them in my head properly.

Thanks you guys, this has been really helpful!

[GA Dawg]

The spawn body is 30mm wider than the Capra cage. Hopefully you can see how much of a gap you'll have on each side.



Here's an overhead shot showing how much wider the Spawn body is.



Here they are head on.

[ardinmcallister]

Oh man, thats perfect. Thank you so much! I'm really shocked that they're about the same length, body-to-cage.

It looks like getting the spawn body could be accomplished mostly by pinching the nose in a little and designing some mounts. Either that, or slicing down the middle of the body, taking 3mm out of it, and screwing it to the panel mounts. I think y'all are right in that I'm not sure I'd still like the body style after doing that much chopping.

I think my biggest problem with the Capra is they all kind of look the same. Looking around, I think maybe I'll look into chopping up a Jeep Wrangler G6 body or a Creeper. Someone in another thread said the Bog Hog body fits well, so maybe something like that or another SMT10 body. Something to just give it some look other than just a bare cage.

[smog]

Originally Posted by ardinmcallister

Oh man, thats perfect. Thank you so much! I'm really shocked that they're about the same length, body-to-cage.

It looks like getting the spawn body could be accomplished mostly by pinching the nose in a little and designing some mounts. Either that, or slicing down the middle of the body, taking 3mm out of it, and screwing it to the panel mounts. I think y'all are right in that I'm not sure I'd still like the body style after doing that much chopping.

I think my biggest problem with the Capra is they all kind of look the same. Looking around, I think maybe I'll look into chopping up a Jeep Wrangler G6 body or a Creeper. Someone in another thread said the Bog Hog body fits well, so maybe something like that or another SMT10 body. Something to just give it some look other than just a bare cage.

I like your thinking. A slice down the middle of the Spawn body so to narrow it could look great !