---Short Circuit--- Capra RTR Build

[Diablo169]

I like build threads so here's another lol!


I'm getting back into RC's after about 5-6 years out of the hobby, and I stumbled accross some YouTube videos of the Capra and knew I had to have one.



By the way, what happened? HPI is gone, Novak closed shop, Arrma, Redcat? Everyone still seems to hate Traxxas, so nothing changed there


So why buy an RTR to tear it apart? Well I have about 4 other RC rigs that are unfinished that I figured I could swap the parts over to. Only bummer is I planned on being able to bind my DX5C to the provided receiver, and what I am told is I can't


I picked the Capra up at JJ's Customs in San Jose and Jason has been great to work with.



I've got a bunch of stuff coming for it. I plan to reuse an old yet brand new Novak Goat 3s and 18.5T Sensored Crawler motor. Maybe I'll upgrade the ESC and Motor at some point.


Only mod so far is I swapped some old Proline XL Super Swampers on to the stock wheels. They made a huge difference and the truck performs much better than it did with the stock tires.









I'm running a Protek HV 4100 3S Shorty pack. It fits perfect, nice and snug.









Next to the SCX-10 I'm going to swap everything to.












Doggy Pile at JJ Customs. Blue TRX4 is my daughters, the 1/24 Deadbolt is my sons, and the Honcho is my nephews.



Side note, I'm a fan of the Swampers



More to come...

[Shinobid]

Nice to hear someone else has the old school Novak Goat 3S speed control. I still have one on my shelf too, but nothing to use it in currently. But ESC's are alot more advanced nowadays. I have the Hobbywing 2300kv setup in mine (I actually have one in another truck too), and the fact that I can connect to it with my phone via bluetooth to tune it is pretty sweet. Plus the technology is pretty crazy. I can turn the trim up just enough to get the rig moving and it just keeps moving over obstacles at the same pace, always adjusting and compensating.

[Diablo169]

Almost everything came in for Stage 1 build up! Way faster than estimated. I laid everything out and forgot to take a pic



I decided to do some baseline weighing.


Stock with 4100mah 3S Battery (Battery pictured in first post)


Just under 5.5lbs



Front 3.1lbs



Rear 2.4lbs



I have a few motor ESC options laying around. I think I'll stick with the Novak Goat (for obvious reasons )



I'm also pulling my old unfinished Berg out of storage. I actually fitted the body!

[JatoTheRipper]

With a name like Short Circuit, Johnny 5 better be in the driver's seat!

Yes, sadly Novak is gone. Traxxas is much loved in the scaler/crawler world now except for the haters. The TRX-4 is an awesome truck! Outside of here it's still only the haters that dislike Traxxas.

[GA Dawg]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

With a name like Short Circuit, Johnny 5 better be in the driver's seat!

This could be scaled down and used to replace the driver helmet.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:646878

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by GA Dawg

This could be scaled down and used to replace the driver helmet.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:646878

Cool find! There's an entire Facebook group dedicated to recreating Johnny 5.

[Topher Builds]

I like the way you came up with weighing the rig and the balance. Clever!

[Diablo169]

Hahaha, I forgot about that movie. I might look into replacing the helmet now lol. I picked the name because I always seem to short something out while building a car


I grabbed a pick of Stage 1 upgrades.

I don't know much about Treal, but they look good? I got front and rear Portal Covers, Front Knuckles as well as a Servo Mount.

I went with a Hitec Servo, not sure why I got a Waterproof one. But at 7.4V it's 403oz and is 25T Spline.




Also, I got front 30% overdrive Portal gears from Super Shafty



Total weight added should be somewhere around 1lb with all the brass.





JJ Customs right now has Proline 1.9 Dual Stage Foams and a ton of 1.9 Hyrax Tires in stock, tempting...

[JatoTheRipper]

I'd love to see Johnny 5 driving!

I think Treal is new brand. Their stuff looks good, but I have no experience with it.

I'm surprised that servo has 25T splines. Usually Hitec is 24T. Hopefully yours is quieter than my 7954. That's the loudest and most obnoxious servo I've ever used.

Hyrax are great tires. I think Predator compound is noticably better in certain situations. Hyrax are even better stuffed with dual stage foams.

[OSRC]

Still rocking a Goat combo in one of my TRX-4's. Smooth, lots of power, and plenty of drag brake. Great set-up!!

[Diablo169]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

I'd love to see Johnny 5 driving!

I think Treal is new brand. Their stuff looks good, but I have no experience with it.

I'm surprised that servo has 25T splines. Usually Hitec is 24T. Hopefully yours is quieter than my 7954. That's the loudest and most obnoxious servo I've ever used.

Hyrax are great tires. I think Predator compound is noticably better in certain situations. Hyrax are even better stuffed with dual stage foams.

Yeah Treal’s website doesn’t even list some of the stuff I bought lol. Looks like the new line of Hitec are 25TSpline. I wanted another 7954 but they apparently were discontinued or upgraded to something else. If I remember right the 7954 are 486oz at 7.4v.

I might save that servo for another build. I was watching a YouTube video and one of the rc guys was saying Futaba makes one of the best crawling servos, but I didn’t catch the model.

[Diablo169]

I didn't get to the Capra today, but I decided to switch up the servo. AMain has $20 off $100 or more, so I ordered a Savox 2290. Brushless .13sec, 694oz. $119 and 25T Spline.


I've never run Savox before so we'll see how it goes.


Looks beastly!

[Panther6834]

Originally Posted by Diablo169

I didn't get to the Capra today, but I decided to switch up the servo. AMain has $20 off $100 or more, so I ordered a Savox 2290. Brushless .13sec, 694oz. $119 and 25T Spline.


I've never run Savox before so we'll see how it goes.


Looks beastly!

Do ya REALLY need almost 700oz/in? I mean, seriously. Not even my 1/8 buggy uses anything that powerful.

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

[bbrigg]

Originally Posted by Panther6834

Do ya REALLY need almost 700oz/in? I mean, seriously. Not even my 1/8 buggy uses anything that powerful.

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

With 700oz/in even if the rig doesn't move the rocks just might

Sent from my LG-H870DS using Tapatalk

[Panther6834]

Originally Posted by bbrigg

With 700oz/in even if the rig doesn't move the rocks just might

Sent from my LG-H870DS using Tapatalk

Thought the object was to climb over the rocks...not shove them out of the way.

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

[Diablo169]

Originally Posted by Panther6834

Do ya REALLY need almost 700oz/in? I mean, seriously. Not even my 1/8 buggy uses anything that powerful.

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

Good point. I thought everyone was going to these high powered servos. I was at the hobby store and two guys there had 1,000oz servos and loved them.

That Savox is going to tear my Capra apart Maybe I’ll run it at 6v I think it’s around 555oz at 6v.

[Panther6834]

Originally Posted by Diablo169

Good point. I thought everyone was going to these high powered servos. I was at the hobby store and two guys there had 1,000oz servos and loved them.



That Savox is going to tear my Capra apart Maybe I’ll run it at 6v I think it’s around 555oz at 6v.

If you read the various Capra threads, you'll probably discover that most are running in the 300-400oz/in range, with some slightly lower/higher. I don't recall anyone going 500+, the I could just be forgetting.

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

[Lashlee]

Both a guy I crawl with and myself run 555's in our Capra's. Even in the days of racing dirt trucks and buggies I ran the strongest servo I could afford.

[TheLetterJ]

I'm running a Futaba A700 (1,027oz) in the Capra, no complaints. I can't say that I notice it having any more power than the 2290 in my Wraith. The 2290 has at least been out long enough to have earned its solid reputation, I've only had the Futaba for 6 months or so, so can't truly speak for its long term durability. The 2290 has been a good value for me since it has already outlived many cheaper servos that added up to more money than a full priced 2290, all while being faster and having way more power. Surprisingly, the A700 hasn't peeled the servo mount off the Capra yet, but you can definitely see the knuckles flexing when pushing hard.

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by Panther6834

Do ya REALLY need almost 700oz/in? I mean, seriously. Not even my 1/8 buggy uses anything that powerful.

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

No, you don't need it, but it's so nice to have. Once you try a great servo like that it's hard to go back to budget servos. I mean do we need LiPo batteries? Nope. We can go back to getting 15 minute run times out of an hour charge if we'd like...