Building the "ALtra" Ultra RR10 Bomber
 

Last year at Axialfest '16 the "Ultra" class was ran a bit differently than past years. Instead of running out on the usual trails with the "Adventure" drivers, last year the Ultra class had it's own dedicated trail and event. Ultra drivers would run 1 trail with multiple laps covering the distance of a normal 5k marathon, hence the partnership with "Altra" running. The new format also spawned a race series "Scale Ultra" with the final race of the series being Axialfest 2017
(more info on Altra can be found here www.altrarunning.com)

This format would allow the Ultra drivers to have their race without navigating "Adventure" traffic, and Adventure drivers weren't getting run over by the faster "Ultra" drivers and rigs. Once the "Altra" Ultra event was finished the Ultra drivers could then grab their "Adventure" rigs and join their friends and family out on the normal Adventure trails for some slower paced fun.

With the creation of the new "Scale Ultra" series I have decided to build a rig dedicated to the series and this type of competition. This rig will likely see many changes and upgrades as I figure out what is needed to build a competitive vehicle for this type of driving. Along the way I plan to document the changes and upgrades along with the cost of the rig and upgrades. I will also try document runs on the vehicle, such as events, and practice runs, etc.

IMO the obvious choice of this type of competition is none other than the Axial RR10 Bomber. I believe this platform is the perfect balance of speed for the fast more level sections of the course along with having the crawlability to navigate the more technical sections of the course.

I'm going to start with an RR10 Bomber kit. The included upgrade parts in the "Kit" version are essential to building a rig reliable enough to survive a 5k endurance race. I will be adding some additional upgrades to further expand the reliability, durability, and performance before the rigs first event, which just so happens to be this Saturday (4/8/17) at Sand Hollow in St George.

All the specs will be posted in this first post
Anyway I hope some of you follow along and lets see where this build takes us.

$360 - Vehicle: Axial RR10 Bomber "kit"
$215 - Tekin RX4
$150 - Tekin Pro4 HD 3500kv
$240 - Futaba BLS177HV

Upgrade list w/ pricing
$38 - VP Incision Spools x2
$35 - BeefTubes Brass front
$35 - BeefTubes Alum rear
$57 - Axial Alum Mtr Plate
$17 - Axial Alum Slipper plates
$14 - VP Alum Servo horn
$50 - Axial Alum C-hubs
$43 - Axial Alum Knuckles
$120 - VP Method 105 Wheels x2
$30 - VP 475 hubs x2
$30 - CI Dual Stage Foams x2
$7 - Wraith Link Mounts (front, inverted)
$110 - Proline ProSpec Shocks (front & rear)
$10 - Axial Radiator
$53 - Axial Icon Shocks (secondary bypass, none functional)

Current Running Cost
$1604

Events/Trails:
Destination/Dificulty/Damage (I'll list distance and time when applicable)
Scale Ultra Red Rock 5K: Medium, Rod end, 2.0miles, 35:24min
Lil Moab Test Day: Hard, 2 Rod ends
801rcc Stateline 400: Medium, No Damage 1.1mile 32.19min
Granite Flats Trail: Medium, No Damage, 2.2miles, 40min
Lil Moab Test Day: Hard, 1 Rod end
801rcc SRS Grand Prix: Medium, No damage, .9miles, 25.57min

Here is where we are at so far
I know its not much so far, but we'll be adding more goodies later this week.

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x...psrse7g7gn.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps5tlobckm.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x...psota5wihh.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x...psfb0xafbl.jpg

Re: Building the "ALtra" Ultra RR10 Bomber
 

Very nice! I caught the Altra 5K bug at KOH this year and have since redone my bomber to be legal. Mr. Rivas Concepts himself said it was designed to be a RR10 Bomber spec class, so you've made a good choice.

Re: Building the "ALtra" Ultra RR10 Bomber
 

This will be an interesting thread to follow. Look forward to your progress

Re: Building the "ALtra" Ultra RR10 Bomber
 

Nice! What tire are you going to start with? A Pro-Line tire or try the BFG's for a while?

Re: Building the "ALtra" Ultra RR10 Bomber
 

You've got a lot of work to do before Saturday...8)

Re: Building the "ALtra" Ultra RR10 Bomber
 

I'm going to start with the Axial BFG's for now. I'm a big fan of the scale look of the Axial BFG's and the R35 compound tires are top of the game when it comes to traction. I know that BIG tires are more popular currently so I may change them up later if I feel the need.

Yeah tell me about it. :shock:

Re: Building the "ALtra" Ultra RR10 Bomber
 

First round of Upgrades came in yesterday. Looks like I've got wrenching to do.

First items to get thrown it are Incision Spools from Vanquish. Although the stock locker would hold up very well with stock or mild power systems, with the power system I have planned for this rig, I don't think it would last very long. So we'll get this taken care of early on in the build.

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x...psgicnyzva.jpg

Re: Building the "ALtra" Ultra RR10 Bomber
 

Still working with the axle internals, next up are BeefTubes!!

I opted for the Brass up front and Alum for the rear. The brass will add a little bit of weight to the front to help gain grip for the more technical sections of the course, and help prevent me from damaging the axle housing in case I'm "over driving" the car (which I've been known to do occasionally) While the alum in the rear will give me the strength with minimal added weight to the back. I do plan to run the spare tire which will help balance the car out and help with rear traction along with keeping the rear of the vehicle planted.

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x...pspm3w9rdq.jpg

Re: Building the "ALtra" Ultra RR10 Bomber
 

Nice man! I like your background setup. Makes it look real scale. Very cool!!

Re: Building the "ALtra" Ultra RR10 Bomber
 

Next round of upgrades from Axial arrived yesterday.
Hope to have them installed later tonight, as I only have 2 days before this rigs maiden run. :shock:

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x...pslszbqrkk.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x...psmrjirh9g.png

Re: Building the "ALtra" Ultra RR10 Bomber
 

More goodies for the rig!!

Lets get some rubber underneath this thing.

So for grip I'm going go with the Axial BFG Baja T/A. I've ran these in the past and the grip out of these is phenomenal. To help firm up the tires and keep them from rolling in the corners at speed, I filled them with Crawler Innovations 5.5 foams.

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps3xxoboei.jpg

No skimping out in the wheel department. This rig is getting the best you can buy, Vanquish Products Method 105's. These are my favorite wheel on the market. I love the look of these wheels and they hold a bead fantastic along with being one of the easiest sets of wheels to mount. The VP wheels will also allow me to adjust the width of the rig. I'm going to start with the 475 hubs, then adjust if necessary.

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x...psnombwtwn.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x...pspmbqioxz.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps7j044vts.jpg

Re: Building the "ALtra" Ultra RR10 Bomber
 

now for the expensive parts..... Electronics

I'm going for Tekin for the power system so I picked up one of their new RX4 ESC's and I'm matching it with the Pro4HD 3500kv (I know the motor is a bit over the specs for the RX4, but I'm going to try it anyway)

The servo takes more abuse than any other component on the car so I spared no expense and picked up the Futaba BLS177HV..... Ouch!! :shock:

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x...pssjsw80t0.jpg

I also made a little mount for the ESC out of some carbon fiber I had laying around.

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x...psfkawfpbt.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x...psjqwdolit.jpg

Re: Building the "ALtra" Ultra RR10 Bomber
 

Glad I found your thread T$... Always so fresh and so clean


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Re: Building the "ALtra" Ultra RR10 Bomber
 

Very clean looking Bomber so far. I like it. The carbon fiber plate is very nice. It's all in the details. And your garage is cool too. "thumbsup"

The stock tires will hold you back IMO. Axial needs a new rubber compound.

Re: Building the "ALtra" Ultra RR10 Bomber
 

I've tested the Axial R35 compound against almost every other tire compound on the market and I would say for grip they are top of the game. The only thing holding back the Axial tires is their size, most of the industry (for rock racing) is running larger rubber.

The smaller tire diameter was noticeable over the weekend (as my other rig is on Proline Hyraxs) but after the first lap I just knew to hit the obstacles with a bit more momentum. It wasn't detrimental but noticeable. I will likely switch to a larger tire in the near future.

Re: Building the "ALtra" Ultra RR10 Bomber
 

Really? :shock: I would adamantly disagree with that statement. I think R35 is harder than ProLine and Pit Bull compounds. But hey, whatever works for you!

I don't mind the size of the Axial tires. I think tire sizes are getting out of hand. A Bomber is not supposed to be monster truck. And if you make the tires too large it takes away some of the challenge.

Re: Building the "ALtra" Ultra RR10 Bomber
 

So I snapped a few pics before we headed down to St George of some of the upgrades as I was installing them.
(I'll post pics from the event once I get a chance to go through them)

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x...psjnldkt2e.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x...psy6lqjoue.jpg

Re: Building the "ALtra" Ultra RR10 Bomber
 

Those are some nice looking knuckles you have there!

Re: Building the "ALtra" Ultra RR10 Bomber
 

Scale Ultra "Red Rock 5k" Race Report

So I was able to get the rig up and running just hours before the event. The rig ran very well for being just factory setup. I was able to run the full race without any issues or failures. The only thing holding me back was,..... Myself.

I need to be in better physical shape to be more competitive for this type of event. My pace was very fast during the first half of the race but I wasn't able to maintain that speed. So as the race went on my pace slowed, eventually dropping me into a 5th place finish. I'm very happy with my finish but would definitely like to be faster.

After the event we spent the afternoon testing the new rig, focusing mostly on suspension. At the end of the day I did have a rodend failure. I was running the car extremely hard and had a ton of big air jumps. I was planning on doing the budget fix and just replace the rodend, but with rodends being on backorder I'll likely have to "upgrade" to aftermarket links.

Things I noticed and will possibly change or address:

Front shocks: The front shocks felt a bit on the heavy side. While landing jumps or hitting bumps at speed the front would buck. I would like to have a bit more dampening from the shock and possibly a lighter spring to help soak up the bumps and jumps.

Tires: I did notice the rig dragging a bit on the rocks. The Axial BFGs are a bit smaller than the tires on my old rig. I don't know that I'll change these, it was just something that was noticeable compared to me other Bomber

ESC: The Tekin RX4 performed fine with out any issues and ran perfect for the race with the setup I had programmed into it. But once we slowed down and were just playing I found I wanted to have more drag brake. Of course you can adjust this with the Hot Wire but it would be nice to make this adjustment on the fly.

Re: Building the "ALtra" Ultra RR10 Bomber
 

Pics From the Scale Ultra "Red Rock 5k"

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x...psyeoyuxwl.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x...psiycz7f61.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x...psr8vijn25.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x...psgqsfbmzd.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x...psab5v2mlb.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps6wsl7hk2.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x...pstvxoakd3.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps6tc3ljmf.jpg

These last two photos were taken by Justin Lunceford (thanks)

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps9qdnwmsz.png

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps397apiu4.png

Re: Building the "ALtra" Ultra RR10 Bomber
 

Hey NaZ-T

How did you do at the race?

Re: Building the "ALtra" Ultra RR10 Bomber
 

Race info can be found on 1st page (last post) "thumbsup"

Re: Building the "ALtra" Ultra RR10 Bomber
 

So after running the car at the Scale Ultra event I made one small change to the rig. I swapped out the front stock RR10 link mounts (ax31317) in favor of the older Wraith mounts (ax80070) and inverted them. This change has a few benefits. #1: It lowers the front shock mount, lowering the front of the vehicle about 3 or 4mm. This should help with over all stability. #2: It stretches the front about 3 or 4mm and adds some caster to the steering. This should also add stability and a bit more steering too.

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x...pshpovnpqz.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x...psasp4a9tp.jpg

Re: Building the "ALtra" Ultra RR10 Bomber
 

After this mod, we need to see a pic of the whole rig too! ;-)

Re: Building the "ALtra" Ultra RR10 Bomber
 

a few days ago I was able to get out and put the Altra RR10 through some pretty rigorous testing. During the day I was able to play with a few different setups, and had some surprising results.

While testing I grabbed a couple slo-mo clips of the car making high speed passes so I can better see how the suspension is working. I will post them on Facebook #AltraRR10

I found I much prefer the Axial tires over some of the larger and more aggressive tires. I feel the slightly smaller tire gives the vehicle a lower CG and felt more stable in the corners. I also found the Axial tires to have more predictable traction under hard throttle inputs and in the corners. So the Axial R35 BFg's will be staying for awhile.

I still want to play with the shocks. I would really like to get the rig to sit just a bit lower and also gain some up travel for the high speed sections. I also would like to soften the front spring a bit. So I'm considering changing out the Axial Kings in favor of a slightly shorter shock and playing with some spring tensions.

A couple pics before testing began

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps8alapy38.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x...psvyz3hanr.jpg

Re: Building the "ALtra" Ultra RR10 Bomber
 

Awesome rig "thumbsup"

For shocks, I bought the Proline (6308-31) with a ring assortment (6308-22). I enjoy !!!

Re: Building the "ALtra" Ultra RR10 Bomber
 

Have you tried reducing the front damper stiffness to improve the compliance of the front axle? I changed the pistons from stock two hole to the four hole type and now the wheels react to small undulations rather than forcing the whole front of the car to react.

Re: Building the "ALtra" Ultra RR10 Bomber
 

Thanks for this tip. I am running the OG wraith mounts on my bomber also...flipped them around like you did."thumbsup"

Re: Building the "ALtra" Ultra RR10 Bomber
 

Yeah I thought about that but I want more up travel so I wont be getting into a more detailed shock setup until I get shocks with a shorter body to gain the up travel I'm looking for.

Re: Building the "ALtra" Ultra RR10 Bomber
 

Still focused on the shocks I did some pretty extensive research and have finally decided on a shock that should give me what I'm looking for, Proline Pro-Specs (pro6308-31)
I grabbed up 2 sets to out fit the rig front and rear. "thumbsup"

A few reasons why I chose the Proline Pro-Specs.

Shorter over all shock (100mm) this will get the rig to sit lower and gain some desired up travel

Shocks are one of the most important components to a good handling rig and they are also one of the most overlooked. The shocks hold the rig up, help it through the bumps and jumps, and most of all help the rig develop grip/traction on whatever terrain your running on

12mm shocks provide a much smoother and plush feel that is more forgiving and make it easier for you as a driver to run your Ultra car harder and faster with a more overall consistent feel. The 12mm shocks excel on rough surfaces with the increased oil volume it helps to support the weight of our Ultra cars, especially in cases like bottoming out on a landing. With the AltraRR10 coming in between 7-8lbs the rigs really could benefit from a bigger shock.

Bleeder caps make it a breeze to make sure your shocks are bled perfect. No longer will one shock have more rebound than the others. You'll have the right oil volume every time on all four corners

Machined Delrin pistons and spacers are perfectly round to minimize the friction the piston has on the inside of the shock body adding to the consistency and smoothness of the overall setup.

X-ring seals give you twice as many sealing surfaces with much less friction. More sealing surfaces are less likely to leak and last longer. Less friction ensures that the oil will be providing the dampening not friction from your o-rings.

3.5mm thick Shock Shaft is Hard Chrome Coated, just like full scale racing shocks. This provides an incredibly hard and tough surface that lasts longer, with higher abrasion resistance and a lower friction coefficient than most common shafts. Once again adding to the consistency and smoothness of the overall setup with added life of your shock components.

The small benefits of each component add up and should give me a noticeable difference in the over all feel of the vehicle

Re: Building the "ALtra" Ultra RR10 Bomber
 

Some pics of the shocks

Side by side comparison

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x...pstyu8dof8.jpg

Before

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x...pskbwhvbr9.jpg

After

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x...psddjltxfc.jpg

Re: Building the "ALtra" Ultra RR10 Bomber
 

That might be the lowest stance I've seen on a Bomber! :shock:

Edit:
Whoops, my bad, just realized you're showing max compression.

Re: Building the "ALtra" Ultra RR10 Bomber
 

Great minds think alike... I just ordered a couple pair of the pro spec rear shocks and a spring kit as well and for all the exact same reasons! I also like the fact that they come with multiple piston options and even shock tools to take them apart and reassemble. I also feel that the shocks and tires are 2 of the biggest performance features of a vehicle and think we are on track for a big improvement. "thumbsup" let us know how it goes.

Re: Building the "ALtra" Ultra RR10 Bomber
 

Got to run the car over the weekend at the 801rcc "Stateline 400" event in Wendover Nevada. There was some incredibly close racing on course. With the top contenders rubbing and bumping multiple times while fighting for position. The lead position changed every couple gates with Diddy (Paul Blackner), Puffer (Trent Brown), Chewy, and myself battling it out for the top spot. I was able to sneak in the victory by seconds, literally. :shock:

I'm glad to report that the setup is on point. The shocks are incredibly smooth and the rig is much more predictable at speed. I did notice the rig hanging up just a bit in the chuncky technical sections (I forgot to check my ride height before hitting the course) so some very minor tuning is in store to get the rig sitting where I want.

Didn't get many pics as I was driving, but here are the few I have.

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x...pstlmfxyn4.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps3kfysqfl.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x...psy2z6pegb.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x...pseseegg5e.jpg

Re: Building the "ALtra" Ultra RR10 Bomber
 

Nice man, congrats! Thanx for the update. Looks like a nice place to spend some time. Do you have any trouble with torture twist on the uphill stuff? I see you are running a sway bar, i have tried one but i dont do speed stuff just crawling and trailing and it seemed like it made me flip over too much so i took it off but have bad wheel lift on any kind of uphill... did you tune the shocks at all or just fill and go?

Re: Building the "ALtra" Ultra RR10 Bomber
 

In my experience the RR10 Bomber needs a swaybar for all applications, crawling and/or racing. With the trailing arms suspension it's just a must have (unless you prefer 3WD over 4WD ;-) ). I guess in the boulder fields the added travel might be beneficial. Even then I would probably still run a swaybar and just soften it to my preference.

Here is my setup on the Proline ProSpec shocks.

Front: Factory pistons, no Limiters, 25wt oil, 1.96 lbs./in low frequency springs.

Rear: Factory pistons, no Limiters, 35wt oil, factory springs.

Re: Building the "ALtra" Ultra RR10 Bomber
 

With the Altra RR10 being built for the "Scale Ultra" series I figured it was time to add some "scale" details to the rig. First up is to add the secondary bypass shock. I opted to go with the Axial Icons in the 87-125mm length (ax31136). I chose these because they fit perfect and I wanted to keep the color neutral so it wouldn't clash with the color of the rig.

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps3fca7hcl.jpg

Re: Building the "ALtra" Ultra RR10 Bomber
 

Next I added the Axial radiator from the EXO Terra Buggy (ax80103). I threw on some aluminum pain for the main radiator, then painted the fans red to help them stand out a bit and to match the rigs paint scheme. I had to trim the radiator a bit to fit between the rear shock mounts. I also came up with a pretty trick way to mount it in the rig. I just screwed on some long Axial shock ends and cut them to make a hook rather than a loop. This way they can hook around the bar at the rear of the interior.

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps4s7qphdx.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps3vxnb5tq.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x...psyvds4ovp.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x...pscvbhlym2.jpg

Re: Building the "ALtra" Ultra RR10 Bomber
 

Hey T, did adding the ICON to the rear effect full bump at all?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Re: Building the "ALtra" Ultra RR10 Bomber
 

Nope. Not when your running ProSpecs.