tired of the Wraith

[menace]

It's an old Charlie Sheen movie.

Awesome movie LOL

Here's a video of our last outing--my wraith is at the top of the hill already (barely see it) and the hill--otherwise known as Mt. carnage probably has a 60 degree incline to it. My wraith takes a tumble at the 1:45 minute mark--what got broken? nothin. Of the 5 wraiths that went into the bush, how many drove out? All of them. YMMV

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ky0RsJBwNnE

[DiEzel]

Originally Posted by cbr6fs

Ok point taken.

But then if i made a crawler based on the Batmobile it could well be scale but it's not really realistic is it?

There is no right or wrong here as we're all different, but the attraction of "scale" RC's to me is that your building something you see.
Personally i have never seen a car like the above on the road in my 42 years on this planet.

You would never see this on the highway as its a OFF HIGHWAY VEHICLE... Check out some 1:1 crawling pictures... LOL.

[JeremyH]

I did put another pack through my truck this morning and finally killed the front locker......doing full throttle jumps! Again, not surprised about the breakage.

It did occur to me right after that just how different a truck like this is when compared to something like a Slash or a Blitz. I dont know about the Blitz, but the Slash, even the 4WD version, isn't locked at any of the diffs (axles or tranny). Being open (or having a slipper) most definitely helps cut down on the breakage.....especially when jumping a truck like how I was....

[Bronco Bobby]

Not to change the subject, but speaking of lockers. I see many people have broken theirs, and I think I saw someone use epoxy to fill theirs with before it broke. Is that a viable solution, or a bad idea?

[Speedweigand]

Originally Posted by Bronco Bobby

Not to change the subject, but speaking of lockers. I see many people have broken theirs, and I think I saw someone use epoxy to fill theirs with before it broke. Is that a viable solution, or a bad idea?

Start a new thread, this one doesn't need any help getting off topic... my front is JB Welded, start a thread or check out my build.

[wraith_1986]

every car, truck,boat, plane everything breaks thats why the companies make more of them if not they would go outta business. If you want something that dont need parts and wont break you can't find that there is no such thing. Eaither sell the wraith and everything else you own or get over it and be easier on the stuff. I have had my wraith for two months now had to replace the servo horn wheels tires and now the ESC and motor i have beat the shiite out of it and bashing with two blitzes hopped up alot and the only thing i broke was the servo horn in a head on collision with one of the blitzs so i upgraded learned and changed a few things. I have seen many on here that took very little if anything to upgrade and the options are endless, So like i said sell it or quit yer bitchen.

[demonoid369]

Originally Posted by JeremyH

I did put another pack through my truck this morning and finally killed the front locker......doing full throttle jumps! Again, not surprised about the breakage.

It did occur to me right after that just how different a truck like this is when compared to something like a Slash or a Blitz. I dont know about the Blitz, but the Slash, even the 4WD version, isn't locked at any of the diffs (axles or tranny). Being open (or having a slipper) most definitely helps cut down on the breakage.....especially when jumping a truck like how I was....

X2 that was what I was trying to explain, I think everyone that has started with sc or buggys or touring has came in to this hobby a bit differently than say me who literally got into hobby grade rc by way of rock crawling so I had an open mind to know that these will get a bit different form of abuse than a sc would or touring car would.

[Chiphead]

I can't agree with the original poster more.

I was very upset with my Wraith by the end of the first week. I sent Axial an email explaining to them that the Wraith has to be the worst RTR I have purchased. I understand that it won't last forever bashing around, but I truly feel that Axial presented the RTR with the expectation that the user will have to upgrade it. Within the first week of owning my Wraith, I had to dump money into just to keep it running.

My opinion:
Axial is developing a culture in the market that it is acceptable, if not expected, that the customer is going to purchase their product with the immediate intent to upgrade it. Which is great for them and the vendors. With my Wraith, I might of well sent RPPHobby $350 and have them send me a plastic chassis, a couple of axles and a $35 radio; because everything else has to be replaced.

I got so pissed at the Wraith, it is now my sons. I don't even like working on it. I wish I would not have got caught up in the hype and bought it. I have vowed not to buy another Axial RTR.

[frdtrkguy]

If any of the whiners in this thread cant stand the site of their POS Wraith any longer and want to give me a great deal on it, im in the market. Broken is ok too since its a HOBBY



**EDIT**


No takers so I bought a new one... I hope it never breaks..

[Speedweigand]

I could not resist getting in on this thread...

Originally Posted by JeremyH

I'm not gonna comment on the rest, but this.....here is the 1:1 version:


Still think it doesnt look "scale"?

I wish my Wraith had that kind of body/wheel clearance with wide offset wheels, those look like 15x12's maybe even bigger, in scale that'd be like the HPI classic wheels, which look great but stick out an inch from the body . We sorta need a 5.5" tall 1.9 tire, atleast that would look more like the real deal. It would have been so awesome if it really looked like this picture, instead it looks like the Ken Jeep.

Originally Posted by demonoid369

Maybe you should re read your original post and see how it looks like your whining, maybe if you had worded it differently, you would be getting different results.
Plus if you took the time to read and search, you would know what to expect and know how to fix

Totally looks like whining, like you were almost in tears as you typed.

Originally Posted by demonoid369

But you have to remember that crawlers go through more abuse than other styles of driving, these things see more torque than a sc or buggy, it hits worse things than a wall or plastic guard. and all All around we for this sense to put crazy power in them, by all means back then and now still putting 4s on a crawler? You know that's going to be excessive and cause things, yes we have learned that volting up and gearing down works but does that work for the crawler? Not really unless you do beef things up.

Dude, are you high? More abuse than... you must be high, or live in a parallel universe. On youtube I've seen Slashes driven across the bottom of swimming pools right out of the box, all sorts of SCT trucks launched over houses, and what about E-Revo's at skateparks just trying to be broke. Not to mention what my retarded friends have done to theirs right before my eyes.

I took my Wraith to the track. I have been amazed by how many people that tell me "oh well it's not made for that" Not made for it? It's a plastic toy, toys bring happiness, some toys are meant to be broken just like they're 1:1 counterparts, ie, racecars, rock buggies, mud boggers, desert racers, etc...


I beat the p*ss out of my Wraith, but at the same time trying not to break it. I try to avoid the reverse to drive wheelies, as I know that will break it. I avoid curbs like the plague, I've sacrificed a bunch of RC parts to the curb god in my life. I usually intend for it to land on all fours when it leaves the ground, sometimes however the odds may not be in its favor I don't try to power out when my tire is wedged between some rocks, because that obviously seems bad to me. I even still use the slipper, you can here it slipping at the end of my new mud boggin video from the weight of the mud.

Originally Posted by JeremyH

I am most certainly not saying that the wraith is infallible......IMO, no RC is....especially not RTRs. I have the kit and it does have some upgrades (as most RC kits do when compared to their RTR counterparts), but I am fairly shocked at how well this kit holds up to brushless and 3S power. I recently broke my first real part on this truck (aside from that flat spotted spur)....the rear locker. I was being stupid with the truck and was not surprised at all that it broke.

Do you have an Axial tattoo? the VXL is a crappy stock brushless motor in the SCT world and it will destroy the Wraith's drivetrain at will on 3S. That said I haven't even broke a locker yet... (knocks on wood)

Originally Posted by JeremyH

I understand people's frustrations with breakage....however, this isn't just something that happens to axial. After I built my 2.2 comp berg, I broke an axle shaft within 1 minute on the rocks.

So Berg's are crap too?, maybe not a good comparison...

Originally Posted by JeremyH

There's no need to "shut up".....a company only learns about its products by listening to it's customers.

x2 Axial was super friendly on the phone when I broke the axle housing, looked at my vids, pics, and the thread. Then said their R&D guys would get back to me probably in a week, that was almost 3 weeks ago I think.

Originally Posted by stricker76

Sure, but how many people will pay $1000 for it if they did? Mosty would still buy the cheaper and upgrade parts as they save up and break things, rather than fork out that much right off the bat.

You are building one hell of a Wraith for $1000 bucks.

My plan was to upgrade as it broke, but some of it is garbage out of the box for example, the linguini 4 link and steering bars. After 5 packs the 4 links looked like bananas. Out of the box if I tried to crawl I couldn't use the steering and the gas at the same or it would "brown out" I googled my problem and realized it was quite common, so I bought a BEC. The stock servo is no match for 2.2's, did you try the included servo saver? the spring's so soft it won't even turn the wheels. What about the gearing? RTR... more like ready to burn up, the other manufactures gear their shit to survive out of the box, not this turd. I wiped out 3 motors in a week before I gave up and tried 14/87 gearing, that's a hell of a long way from 20/80. Even at 14/87 the brushed motor would get toasty.

If it would have came with;
1 beadlocks of some sort so weight could be added to the wheels
2 the short springs off the SCX kits so when you run through grass the lower spring perches don't mysteriously vanish. This happened first trip through the yard, 3 minutes out of the box
3 proper gearing for survival, or something more realistic than 20/80... at the very least included the 87t spur
4 a servo saver with a spring suitable for 2.2's

These little details would have changed everything, I wouldn't feel like Axial stuck their fingers in my brown eye while I wasn't looking. Let's look at it from Axial's view.
Beadlocks for 100,000 units from China, lets say 10$ per Wraith
The little springs maybe a $1 for 4 from china in qty
Conical lower spring perches like everybody else uses, so the springs can "seat" themselves instead of getting all jacked up, $.50 per Wraith
Traxxas' large servo save works ok, purchased for $4.99 from LHS, figure a 40% markup 2.99 cost to them, and great planes is making probably 25% $2.24 somebody imported it from China to sell to graet planes... so as Axial needing 100,000 units I'm gonna say 2$ per Wraith to make the phone calls and get the save from China to here. Lets forget that's probably where the whole box shipped from

So the $13.50 saved per unit x 100,000 units is a cool $1,350,000.00. That's quite alot of money, So ultimately it was greed that stuck it's finger in my ***

Originally Posted by Adams

I am new to crawling as of two weeks ago. I havent broken a part yet and I have been driving the wraith pretty hard everyday. Plus im running 3s.

I am also trying to get all my friends to buy a wraith, so I let all of them drive it. I am just waiting for something to break. I am a believer in trying to stop problems before they happen. EX: I see my friends put my wraith in really bad binds and they don't let off the throttle. So I loosened the slipper a tad. Now the slipper breaks loose before the drive shafts twist.

The wraith is so easy to work on I can't even believe it. I think everyone should have one, the world would be a better place

Pretty hard, everyday?... you must drive like my grandpa. Easy to work on? there's 11 screws between you and a pinion change, 9 if you leave the back 2 chassis screws in. 7 if you run 1 in the spur cover and still 3 screws if your like me and only run 4 total in the chassis, that is of course not counting the screws for the pinion and motor adjustment.

Originally Posted by JeremyH

I did put another pack through my truck this morning and finally killed the front locker......doing full throttle jumps! Again, not surprised about the breakage.

It did occur to me right after that just how different a truck like this is when compared to something like a Slash or a Blitz. I dont know about the Blitz, but the Slash, even the 4WD version, isn't locked at any of the diffs (axles or tranny). Being open (or having a slipper) most definitely helps cut down on the breakage.....especially when jumping a truck like how I was....

You are not surprised because you have been spoon fed crap my friend. Nothing should break a locker, the locker should always break something else. 10yrs ago I put a locked diff in the rear of my HPI MT and immediately twisted off a dogbone, acceptable outcome Last year I bought a locker for my Baja, proceeded to shear off the drive pin in the right output shaft, also acceptable.

Maybe they should have included an open frt diff like the AX? Drivetrain strain would have been reduced and with some billion weight diff lock it'd still almost be locked but would have enough "give" to make it more bashable. Then I could have bought the locker!

What doesn't add up is the sum of it's parts.
Gearing = too high for crawling, must be a basher
Tires = too light for crawling, must be a basher
Links = too lame for crawling, makes it durable for bashing
No servo saver = Good for crawlin, terrible for a basher
Purpose? = well it's not a basher? sure looks like a basher on paper

In a nutshell I was considering buying a Summit or a Wraith. I wanted something that looked more realistic, so I bought the Wraith. I ass-sumed they were equivalents via Axials marketing. My buddy also has a Honcho and it refuses to die. So maybe I was naive but I really thought I was getting a better truck out of the box. IMO it costs about $700bucks to make a Wraith 3/4's bulletproof.

Maybe Traxxas will bring us a crawler platform for Chrismas, that's right, I said it lol

[luv2ridemx]

Don't like it, Don't buy it. Axial builds a great product.. who else is coming out with scalers with this kind of attention to detail ?? Stop your Bitching.

[JeremyH]

Originally Posted by Speedweigand

Do you have an Axial tattoo?

You are not surprised because you have been spoon fed crap my friend. Nothing should break a locker, the locker should always break something else. 10yrs ago I put a locked diff in the rear of my HPI MT and immediately twisted off a dogbone, acceptable outcome Last year I bought a locker for my Baja, proceeded to shear off the drive pin in the right output shaft, also acceptable.

People have different opinions so that means that they are swinging from the axial sack, right?

BTW, this statement cracks me up:
"Nothing should break a locker, the locker should always break something else."

You have obviously never wheeled a 1:1....

This one too:
"I wish my Wraith had that kind of body/wheel clearance with wide offset wheels, those look like 15x12's maybe even bigger, in scale that'd be like the HPI classic wheels, which look great but stick out an inch from the body . We sorta need a 5.5" tall 1.9 tire, atleast that would look more like the real deal. It would have been so awesome if it really looked like this picture, instead it looks like the Ken Jeep."

Haha....give it a whirl....see how well those soft tire carcasses work on a tiny little 1.9.

[stricker76]

Originally Posted by Speedweigand

You are building one hell of a Wraith for $1000 bucks.

Hope so! LMAO! I'm not far from that already.

[Speedweigand]

Originally Posted by JeremyH

People have different opinions so that means that they are swinging from the axial sack, right?

You are the one jumping to conclusions sir. Don't make me bust out the "you mad bro?"

Originally Posted by JeremyH

BTW, this statement cracks me up:
"Nothing should break a locker, the locker should always break something else."

You have obviously never wheeled a 1:1....

So you are trying to ruin my credibility why? are your Axial panties too tight?
Actually if you must know it's probably safe to say I've wheeled a few. I've seen lots of broken axles, a few broken ring and/or pinion gears, and an axle housing split from the axle tube to the pinion bearing. I have never seen a real locker or spool fail, not even a properly done Lincoln locker. Maybe an exploding phantom or a lock-right but that usually is more from it being a crappy stock 2 spider diff with some shenanigans stuffed inside. Granted this is Ohio and we don't have alot of rocks, so maybe it's a rock thing.

Originally Posted by JeremyH

This one too:
"I wish my Wraith had that kind of body/wheel clearance with wide offset wheels, those look like 15x12's maybe even bigger, in scale that'd be like the HPI classic wheels, which look great but stick out an inch from the body . We sorta need a 5.5" tall 1.9 tire, atleast that would look more like the real deal. It would have been so awesome if it really looked like this picture, instead it looks like the Ken Jeep."

Haha....give it a whirl....see how well those soft tire carcasses work on a tiny little 1.9.

RC4WD has their Baja Claw at 4.75" and it works really well, if the Wraith axles didn't stick out a foot past the body I would probably run those. Really it's just a matter of time, honestly I'd say there hasn't been alot of demand for a tire that tall yet. With 1:1 tire makers bringing out larger and larger tires it will force the scale market to follow.
Mickey Thompson 1.9 Baja Claw TTC Scale Tires (pair)
I'm pretty sure I've seen people cutting down 2.2's to fit on 1.9's too. I'm not sure how tall they end up being though... anybody know that one off the top of their head?

[Sheepdawg23wm]

Reading this thread makes me lmao. I see both sides clearly, one side says build it better to run out of the box and the other says quit bitchin, dont like wrenching on it, sell the damn thing then. Whats crazy with this hobby is everyone does it for a different reason. Some love to build and wrench, others love to just play and get pissed if it ever breaks and then theres some that likes to do both. When i bought my wraith I knew damn good and well I was looking at 500+ to upgrade it, i accepted that fact and immediately attacked the very first things that I knew would fail even during regular use. I currently have the xr10 and the wraith, and between both of them, I found myself wrenching alot more than playing. With that said though, everytime I wrench, I upgrade what broke. Now after multiple garage sessions, I can say I play alot more than wrench. Which for me, is very satisfying to know that Ive been deligent and spent my time wisely on improving on my fun time. In all actuality, the wraith, does not at all require upgrades. You have the cheap option to just keep replacing stock parts for stock parts. But who does that? One could buy a ruger 10-22 from wal-mart and use it right out of the box, but why? When you can put bull barrels, scopes, extended mags, camo stocks etc... On it. We like to show off!!!! Plus it just works better. Moral of the story is, If you have no plans to set aside the time or funds to make it nice, SELL IT!

[j-bird]

Originally Posted by Speedweigand

You are the one jumping to conclusions sir. Don't make me bust out the "you mad bro?"



So you are trying to ruin my credibility why? are your Axial panties too tight?
Actually if you must know it's probably safe to say I've wheeled a few. I've seen lots of broken axles, a few broken ring and/or pinion gears, and an axle housing split from the axle tube to the pinion bearing. I have never seen a real locker or spool fail, not even a properly done Lincoln locker. Maybe an exploding phantom or a lock-right but that usually is more from it being a crappy stock 2 spider diff with some shenanigans stuffed inside. Granted this is Ohio and we don't have alot of rocks, so maybe it's a rock thing.



RC4WD has their Baja Claw at 4.75" and it works really well, if the Wraith axles didn't stick out a foot past the body I would probably run those. Really it's just a matter of time, honestly I'd say there hasn't been alot of demand for a tire that tall yet. With 1:1 tire makers bringing out larger and larger tires it will force the scale market to follow.
Mickey Thompson 1.9 Baja Claw TTC Scale Tires (pair)
I'm pretty sure I've seen people cutting down 2.2's to fit on 1.9's too. I'm not sure how tall they end up being though... anybody know that one off the top of their head?

Yeah you can cut 2.2 tsl's down two lugs and put them on 1.9's wheels for a nice 5.0 wide 1.9 looks really scale check out mr Ed honcho or badd's bronco in the scx10 section these both have them and I'm fixing to do a set for the new dc k5 blazer on 1.9 remachined mayhem monsters


J-bird

[wraith_1986]

Originally Posted by Sheepdawg23wm

Reading this thread makes me lmao. I see both sides clearly, one side says build it better to run out of the box and the other says quit bitchin, dont like wrenching on it, sell the damn thing then. Whats crazy with this hobby is everyone does it for a different reason. Some love to build and wrench, others love to just play and get pissed if it ever breaks and then theres some that likes to do both. When i bought my wraith I knew damn good and well I was looking at 500+ to upgrade it, i accepted that fact and immediately attacked the very first things that I knew would fail even during regular use. I currently have the xr10 and the wraith, and between both of them, I found myself wrenching alot more than playing. With that said though, everytime I wrench, I upgrade what broke. Now after multiple garage sessions, I can say I play alot more than wrench. Which for me, is very satisfying to know that Ive been deligent and spent my time wisely on improving on my fun time. In all actuality, the wraith, does not at all require upgrades. You have the cheap option to just keep replacing stock parts for stock parts. But who does that? One could buy a ruger 10-22 from wal-mart and use it right out of the box, but why? When you can put bull barrels, scopes, extended mags, camo stocks etc... On it. We like to show off!!!! Plus it just works better. Moral of the story is, If you have no plans to set aside the time or funds to make it nice, SELL IT!

this is soo true some people just dont understand the hobby i have been doing this since i was in elementery school. so like 15-20 yrs. i started out with a new bright f-150 1/18 scale and i loved it after a few yrs i took it apart and made it better i still have that truck and it still runs. I bought the wraith knowing it wouldnt stay stock for long. first went wheels and tires then shock housings (they cracked) then got aluminum knuckles and c-hubs then a servo horn(broke it bashing) now im waiting for a new motor and ESC over all im at $900 including the truck and i love it.

[crazyorigin]

"Your wrong!"

"No, your wrong you big doodie head!"

"Well, you must be on drugs!"

"I jump my SCT a lot, it jumps high and far too, neato"

"I beat on it really hard, it broke, why does this happen??? Must be Axials fault, these things should be 100% chromolly and cost $125, and perform oral"

"Kittens are so sweet"





This thread is amusing, somehow........

[JeremyH]

Originally Posted by Speedweigand

You are the one jumping to conclusions sir. Don't make me bust out the "you mad bro?"

So you are trying to ruin my credibility why? are your Axial panties too tight?

Another "know-it-all" newb. Lovely....we needed more on this site.

Originally Posted by Speedweigand

You are not surprised because you have been spoon fed crap my friend. Nothing should break a locker, the locker should always break something else. 10yrs ago I put a locked diff in the rear of my HPI MT and immediately twisted off a dogbone, acceptable outcome Last year I bought a locker for my Baja, proceeded to shear off the drive pin in the right output shaft, also acceptable.

BTW, I forgot to thank you earlier for proving my point. Open diffs = less breakage. Oh, and did you just say that you broke a stock part? HPI must put out the worst products if that happened to you.

Originally Posted by Speedweigand

Maybe Traxxas will bring us a crawler platform for Chrismas, that's right, I said it lol

Swinging from the Traxxas nutsack now?

BTW, you should know, I have broken a lot of parts on my slash......so traxxas must not have a clue as to what they are doing and are only trying to steal $1.3mil from me....

[JeremyH]

Originally Posted by crazyorigin

"I beat on it really hard, it broke, why does this happen??? Must be Axials fault, these things should be 100% chromolly and cost $125, and perform oral"