Just getting started

[dunerinaz]

About six years ago, when I was living in CA, I got into comp crawlers and did very well in the local comps. I moved to AZ in 07 and sold off everything for some extra cash to buy dirt bikes for myself and my two sons. Fast forward five years and I decided to see what was happening on rccrawler, and found the wraith. I was bitten at first sight . I just got this last week and have started doing things that are free first, then I'll start adding parts.

I've seen a bunch of pictures of batteries moved to the front. Having done the comp thing, I knew I wanted the weight up front so I moved mine as well. I'm not sure if anyone has taken out the cross brace that I did, but I don't have any ill effects from it. I cut up the battery tray and was able to lay it flat.


This allowed me to get the wires out of the passenger seat


I'm waiting for a servo wire extension and the Rx will go in the rear. I made me a plate out of thin lexan to mount the box.


Threw a coat of flat olive drab on it and then some steel wool to get a semi-gloss/satin look. More mods to come.......

[raceeng18]

Your rig looks great. What did you screw the stock battery plate to when you moved it up front and where is your speed control now located? I also like your new rear plate, very clean.

[dunerinaz]

Originally Posted by raceeng18

Your rig looks great. What did you screw the stock battery plate to when you moved it up front and where is your speed control now located? I also like your new rear plate, very clean.

The ESC is mounted under the center console above the tranny. It fits perfectly. I don't plan on running this in the water so I'm not worried about waterproofing anything.

In the picture, you can see the two screws mounting the tray to the holes where the cross brace was mounted that I took out. I added a couple zip ties for a nice secure fit.


One more just because

[raceeng18]

Great, thanks for the additional pics and explanation. Nice

[BLK00TJ]

Very nice. I'm digging the OD paint and am a little mad at myself for not thinking of doing that. I just painted mine black today to match my 1:1 Jeep. I also like the placement of the electronics. I'm waiting on a servo extension to come in the mail too.

[nyrccrawler]

Looks good!! Like the color, and the battery tray mod!!


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[THX_138]

Nice start. I like your color choice
Next stop..... Get rid of the bendy twisty stock links
Keep us posted

[dunerinaz]

Originally Posted by THX_138

Nice start. I like your color choice
Next stop..... Get rid of the bendy twisty stock links
Keep us posted

Awaiting parts from Mcmaster Carr for the links. I'm using 3/16 solid stainless and turning down the ends and threading them for the traxxas rod ends. I have a small tubing bender, so it should make thinks a little easier.

[dunerinaz]

Just an update. Made my own links today, lowers anyway. I think they turned out pretty good. They're 1/4" stainless with 8-32 all thread. Getting the bends they way I wanted them was a little time consuming. I purposely made the rear lowers a few millimeters short to angle up the diff and get the driveshaft up for more clearance. I also hacked the rear of the cage off. The part I added will be painted flat black to match the rest of the cage. Upper links will be next.

[ax10tn]

rig looks awesome man going in the right direction on this build. gotta stupid question but why run the shocks upside down?

[dunerinaz]

Originally Posted by ax10tn

rig looks awesome man going in the right direction on this build. gotta stupid question but why run the shocks upside down?

Shocks are upside down because of the garbage assembly job on the shocks at the factory. They must have damaged all the o-rings because all four shocks leak like mad. I've gone through them and made sure everything was deburred and correctly assembled but they still leak. Shocks will be a soon to be upgrade, just not sure what I'm going with yet.

And thanks for the compliment.

[dunerinaz]

On a side note, does anyone make skid plates for the diffs? I can see these things wearing away quickly with a lot of crawling on rocks. My front is getting worn down with not much time on the rocks.

[1st-n-last59]

Love the stance. Lowers look good. I wanna make a set of links. These pics sure help my know what I want mine to b like. Great job.

[dunerinaz]

Links are finished. I like the way they turned out.






I also rebuilt the shocks today. I focused on making sure the piston was smooth and everything assembled correctly (I found missing parts in mine) and what a difference it made. So much smoother and better feeling. Too bad it took me doing it right. They should be built correctly the first time.