JK Build List - Need Your Vote

[fiveo]

So I have decided to start a new build very soon, the JK Kit and have some ideas flowing but want your vote for the electronics and upgrades to get. Here is my tentative list, let me know your thoughts:

Motor
Holmes 35T
Tekin 35T
Brood 35T
Other?

ESC - I prefer to go waterproof, so the latter two are probably a better choice
Tekin FXR
Axial AE-2
HH BRXL
Others?

Servo
Hitec 645
Traxxas Waterproof
Hitec Waterproof
Others?

Receiver
Futaba - but don't know what model I need. Running it on a 4PL that I already own.

BEC
Castle - do I need this? I run one on my XR but not on my Honcho. Don't really know the requirement for when it is needed and when it isn't.

The rest of the goodies will be kept under wraps till I start the build thread, but my plan is to do something a little different than everyone. More to come soon, but thanks for the input on the electronics.

[05Fronty4x]

What's your budget, how do you plan to use the rig, tire size, 2s or 3s?

[k7zpj]

For a moderate budget:

• HH TorqueMaster Pro / BRXL combo (35t or 27t)
• Hitec hs-7954sh servo.
• The R204GF is the new 4 channel receiver that works with the 4PL. The case is smaller than the stock receiver and has an internal antenna. So far I haven't noticed any reduced range with it.

With the 7954 you will want to have a CC BEC and use a receiver bypass cable to power the servo directly from the BEC at 7.4v.


For a less moderate budget:

• Tekin Roc412 2300kv
• Mamba Max ESC
• Hitec hs-7950th or hs-8380th if want to experiment with a new to market servo.

Yes, you still need an external BEC.

Large budget reserve to upgrade the transmission, axles and drive shafts to handle the brushless power.

Note: To maximize happiness, never total up the cost of the parts.

[fiveo]

My son has inherited my honcho, so we will do some trail rides but mosly crawling on the biggest rocks we can find to run them on. Not a huge fan of rip rap, gets kind of boring to me and I could care less about going fast, jumping, etc.

Budget is not wide open, but I have enough to get it fairly nice. So, somewhere in the $500-700 range would be fairly comfortable and I won't have buyers remorse with those amounts.






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[fiveo]

Tire size will stay at 1.9 and not sure on the battery. I run 3s 65c on my XR, which often gets shared with the honcho too. Since you brought it up, I am interested in battery recommendations.




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[05Fronty4x]

10-4, with that said:

55T on 3s ( awesome low-end torque AND plenty of "pop" for strategic throttle blipping)
Tekin FXR ( just because I have one and can't imagine a better handling crawler ESC, small)
Hobbico CS-170 Titanium ( to save a few bucks over the Hitec, I believe it is simply a rebranded Hitec 5955/7955 and usually $20-30 cheaper, plenty of torque and a good gearset)
CC BEC @ 6.0V (most local hobby shops can/will set BEC voltage for you if you don't already have a Castle Link)
Futaba R2104GF ( 4ch S-FHSS receiver)

[fiveo]

So, why should I not just start with the RTR. I was thinking about it last night and here was what ran through my head instead of sleep


I don't want the body silver but had considered painting the outside a different color anyhow.


I like the roof, but it sounds like it has been a bit of a PIA for others and doesn't fit smoothly and tightly.


I don't like glued wheels (stupid move BTW Axial) but they would get me by for a while.


Plastic links suck (again, not your finest hour Axial), but I can easily replace these


The ESC is not half bad, motor would suffice for a bit


I don't need a radio but could just sell it and the receiver and put in a Futaba.



As I type those items above I find myself thinking why not just buy the kit if there is that much not to like about the RTR...but, probably $300 difference (easily) is a good reason to take the easier way out. How has everyone else made this decision about the JK specifically? Pham....definitely want you to weigh in on this too, please. Your rig is sweet but you went RTR which really surprised me.



Thanks guys....we will get to the build soon as I finalize these decisions and I hope you will enjoy it. I am not even in the top 85% of builders here but I have some different ideas (scale) that I hope will turn out cool.






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[fiveo]

Originally Posted by 05Fronty4x

10-4, with that said:

55T on 3s ( awesome low-end torque AND plenty of "pop" for strategic throttle blipping)
Tekin FXR ( just because I have one and can't imagine a better handling crawler ESC, small)
Hobbico CS-170 Titanium ( to save a few bucks over the Hitec, I believe it is simply a rebranded Hitec 5955/7955 and usually $20-30 cheaper, plenty of torque and a good gearset)
CC BEC @ 6.0V (most local hobby shops can/will set BEC voltage for you if you don't already have a Castle Link)
Futaba R2104GF ( 4ch S-FHSS receiver)

Thanks 05Fronty....didn't see the 55T recommendation coming. I had one in another truck (albeit running on NiMh) and it was so slow I could barely see it moving. I am sure lipo would speed it up some but it was a little painful at times.

Love my FXRs, have dual in my XR and one in my Honcho

Never seen anyone run the Hobbico products. I have a hitec 645 in my honcho and the 7954th in my XR and they both work fairly well. I am no expert though so I am not sure I would notice a difference unless I ever got a better servo than those.

I keep seeing 7.4v on the BEC, why do you recommend setting it at 6?

Agreed on the Futaba receiver, it is now officially on the master list to buy.




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[fiveo]

Originally Posted by k7zpj

For a moderate budget:

• HH TorqueMaster Pro / BRXL combo (35t or 27t)
• Hitec hs-7954sh servo.
• The R204GF is the new 4 channel receiver that works with the 4PL. The case is smaller than the stock receiver and has an internal antenna. So far I haven't noticed any reduced range with it.

With the 7954 you will want to have a CC BEC and use a receiver bypass cable to power the servo directly from the BEC at 7.4v.


For a less moderate budget:

• Tekin Roc412 2300kv
• Mamba Max ESC
• Hitec hs-7950th or hs-8380th if want to experiment with a new to market servo.

Yes, you still need an external BEC.

Large budget reserve to upgrade the transmission, axles and drive shafts to handle the brushless power.

Note: To maximize happiness, never total up the cost of the parts.

Thanks K7! Good recommendations and closely in line with some of my thoughts, although I was only considering the Tekin 35T and not the "Roc" line.

As for your note at the end about totaling it up....an impossible thing for me not to do at least in the beginning. I start with a spreadsheet on every rig, calculating different scenarios dependent upon swapping motors, esc and so on till I find a price point that I think is best. But, I will say that "today" I have no idea how much money is in each truck. Don't really want to know unless I am ready to sell one. I run the totals in the start since it is such a big investment, but dropping $30, $40 or more later here and there is no big deal to me.






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[05Fronty4x]

Originally Posted by fiveo

Thanks 05Fronty....didn't see the 55T recommendation coming. I had one in another truck (albeit running on NiMh) and it was so slow I could barely see it moving. I am sure lipo would speed it up some but it was a little painful at times.

Love my FXRs, have dual in my XR and one in my Honcho

Never seen anyone run the Hobbico products. I have a hitec 645 in my honcho and the 7954th in my XR and they both work fairly well. I am no expert though so I am not sure I would notice a difference unless I ever got a better servo than those.

I keep seeing 7.4v on the BEC, why do you recommend setting it at 6?

Agreed on the Futaba receiver, it is now officially on the master list to buy.




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Yes, the 55T is no speed demon even on 3s, but I favor the creepability of this setup and still moves faster than I can walk. There is a huge difference between a 6-cell NiMH and 3s Lipo on a 55T.

Hobbico owns Axial . Nobody really talks about it because they are usually seen as generic off-brand, but the CS-170 servo is a rebranded (same as) Hitec 5955/7955. I include the 5955 because I'm not sure if the CS-170 has the "fail safe" feature that was implemented when then 7955 succeeded the 5955. So, it's either simply a 7955 or renamed left over 5955's. Both very similar with plenty of torque for a scaler and titanium geared.

I say 6.0V just because the servo I recommended is rated for that. If you ran a high voltage servo like the Hitec 7954 then you would set it in the 7-7.4V range.