Dlux Wraith Build

[klabeaume]

Originally Posted by Erik D_lux

Just the term I have always best known for drilling the center out of a shaft. No need for anything other than a standard twist drill bit for what I did.

Yeah, I hear people throw that term around and had been wondering if people are actually using a gun drill or not. We used the at my old job and it's not just drilling a shaft. It's truly a different type of drill.

Gun drill - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You probably already know this but some people may not be familiar. Sorry to get so off topic.

You really do some nice work and offer a lot to the crawling community. Keep up the good work!

[Erik D_lux]

I was easily talked into up grading my trans gears. I really am trying not to add weight to this car but ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

Stock plastic idler gear 0g



And then the super heavy for what it is, steel idler gear 5g. I couldnt see a way to reduce the weight on this. I am looking into aluminum idlers now...



And then the final gear I replaced with aluminum.

Stock plastic 3g



Aluminum replacement was not too bad at 4g. I accidentally deleted the picture...

Here is the milled out aluminum final gear. It comes in the same as a stock plastic, 3g

[Erik D_lux]

I was lucky and got my driveshafts the night before our Ultra 4 comp. I was sweating using the stock shafts!

I went for the Junfac shafts. I think the MIP may be better quality and be a bit more durable but they weigh a TON. I remember when I switched from the MIP to Junfac when I ran my Losi that I lost quite a bit of weight and its rotating weight none the less.

I opted for the longest set that Junfac had (120mm-155mm) since I read on here that the ones that are intended for Wraiths did not have much engagement. I figured I could shorten the longer ones if needed. Come to find out, I think I would have been just fine with what they suggest.

Here are some comparasion pics of the 120mm-155mm shafts against the stock long Wraith shafts.

Fully compressed



Fully extended

[Erik D_lux]

Besides the weight, another huge advantage the Junfac shaft has over the MIP is the little clip that goes around the pin. Even if you took your retaining set screw out, the pin would stay in. I had to take these rings off a couple times and they were really stubborn.

[Erin]

Have you looked into CI's maxx shaft adapter? I would think those are much lighter plus you get beefed up front output. And they are cheap to boot.
My full size rear weighs 25g. I never wayed the front output.

[Erik D_lux]

I knew the Junfac shafts were smaller in diameter and I had read on here that people were able to use a 32p spur with 60t. I wanted to go with as big of a spur as I could so I was hoping that the shafts would fit a 62t spur. They did. I took a bit off the edge and beveled it so they would fit. I think that you could get away with not beveling it and just a TINY bit of self clearancing would happen.

[Erik D_lux]

And of course I was going to all I could to lighten these up. Drilled, milled, shortened and the works.





Stock Wraith shaft 28g



Stock 120mm-150mm Junfac 47g



Modified Junfac 43g, which I am not sure I believe. I took over .5 inches off the length and drilled the center and milled the ends. Whatever.



I found an old picture of an MIP when I ran the losi. It was AX10 length so it should apply. 63g

[JohnRobHolmes]

Is this the first light weight wraith project? Good work on the details!!


I'm surprised you haven't hacked at the plastic cage yet. Its pretty low hanging fruit in terms of weight reduction, that sucker is heavy!

[Erik D_lux]

Got the rear steer installed. This brings up the fun value in a serious way IMO.

[Erik D_lux]

I got some spring cups from Crawler13. These things are my favorite! You can see them installed if you look really closely above.



He also hooked me up with a sick D ring and snatch block. I cant believe he made these by hand! Awesome!

[Erik D_lux]

Still waiting on knuckle weights so I decided to add my Dlux slugs to the wheels. Nice and easy and you get to reap the benefits of the open wheel and breathable foam.

[Erik D_lux]

According to 801 Ultra 4 rules you cannot eliminate a stock item from the car. If the car comes with seats, you need to have seats. There was no way I could get myself to throw in those stock seats! I am pretty sure I weighed them in at 4oz each or HALF A POUND for both. Thats crazy talk.

So, I went to the thrift store and found some ballin seats. I just happened to find a one eyed surfer guy too. What luck! I think I should have extra points for seat belts.

[Erin]

How is the rear steer at speed? Any odd handling quirks? It seems people either love it or hate it.

Also, any issues wiring the novak motor to mamba? That's what I 'm using as well.

[Erik D_lux]

Thats pretty much all I have up to this point.

I went to my first Ultra 4 comp on Saturday. There was a lot to learn and I was caught by surprise on how everything worked. Finishing the car at 2am the night before and having never driven rear steer on this car hurt me too. I cant wait for the next one though!

Out of 26 competitors only 14 finished the race, including myself. I am pretty happy with just finishing while having a brand new build! Oh, I got 6th overall too.

Here are a couple pics. Nothing too flashy, just the basics.

[Erik D_lux]

Originally Posted by Erin

Have you looked into CI's maxx shaft adapter? I would think those are much lighter plus you get beefed up front output. And they are cheap to boot.
My full size rear weighs 25g. I never wayed the front output.

No, I havent. Still really new to the Wraith to put it lightly and I never owned an AX10 so that puts me further behind.

Think the Maxx shaft is as strong as metal? Do you have a weight on them? I am surprised at how much the stock Wraith shafts weigh being plastic and all. Just looked at CI's website. Looks interesting. I might have to look into it. I saw a couple output shafts broken this last weekend too so I am worried about all of it. LOL.

Not that CI's prices are bad but the Junfac are still a bit cheaper at $34 for a pair of shafts compared to $50. Maybe the output makes it worth it though? HMM.

This is one spot I knew I would have to take a hit on weight but I wanted the strength. I eventually ended up with dog bone shafts on my losi (LNC driveshafts) and they were my favorite. They were light and I never had a problem. That is where I would like to end up with this.

[ohh EPiC FAiL]

i'm running maxx shafts on mine without the adapter, so they're a little wobbly but i haven't had any issues with them other than the fact that i cut them too short so they occasionally pop apart. i'm not running a super high power brushless system like a pro4 or anything.

[Erik D_lux]

Originally Posted by JohnRobHolmes

Is this the first light weight wraith project? Good work on the details!!


I'm surprised you haven't hacked at the plastic cage yet. Its pretty low hanging fruit in terms of weight reduction, that sucker is heavy!

It might be the first light weight. I think most everybody is looking at me crazy for trying to go light. Its not all about the performance, although I really like that aspect but mostly for me its the dependability of light weight that I seek. Breakage seems to be the biggest deciding factor in 801's Ultra 4 that I can see.

I have only taken a couple bars out so far. I am foaming at the mouth to take out more and have had to really hold back. Since there is only one shot, I want to put some time thinking about it and make sure I do the right mods to the cage. But yeah, I weighed an almost complete cage with no skid or anything besides the round plastic parts and it was close to 12oz

Other obvious things will be aluminum/TI screws and AL rod end balls.

Oh, I forgot to mention... when I put Revo ends on my links I did not like how they had slop at the skid. I found out that you can put the stock plastic balls in the Revo ends and they are a perfect fit. After this last weekend, the plastic now has some slop, not as bad as a Revo ball did though. Still working on this as I hate ANY slop in my suspension.

[Erik D_lux]

Originally Posted by Erin

How is the rear steer at speed? Any odd handling quirks? It seems people either love it or hate it.

Also, any issues wiring the novak motor to mamba? That's what I 'm using as well.

I am running a 13.5t with 50* of cheat at times Its silly how fast it is. I can barely control the front steer at that speed. Rear steer is not an option. LOL. I think the last race taught me to use the rear steer less. Just use it when its really needed or learn how to use it better. I really like rear steer though for the reason that it will take some serious time to learn it. Its not like some guy can put rear steer on and be a threat right away. If you practice, you will have a serious upper hand. If you dont practice, I think rear steer will end up hurting more than it helps.

No issues from MMP to ballistic. I am not much of a fan of Novak but I really do like their ballistic motors. Swapping a stator is just $30 and easy to do. I ran this combo in my Losi and if I didnt have issue there then I dont think I ever will.

Originally Posted by ohh EPiC FAiL

i'm running maxx shafts on mine without the adapter, so they're a little wobbly but i haven't had any issues with them other than the fact that i cut them too short so they occasionally pop apart. i'm not running a super high power brushless system like a pro4 or anything.

I would be interested to see how they work out under super abusive conditions. I am running lots of power and speed and a lot of the fun to me is abusing that.

[doublej]

What about drilling holes through the female side of the drive shaft?

[Erin]

Originally Posted by Erik D_lux

No, I havent. Still really new to the Wraith to put it lightly and I never owned an AX10 so that puts me further behind.

Think the Maxx shaft is as strong as metal? Do you have a weight on them? I am surprised at how much the stock Wraith shafts weigh being plastic and all. Just looked at CI's website. Looks interesting. I might have to look into it. I saw a couple output shafts broken this last weekend too so I am worried about all of it. LOL.

Not that CI's prices are bad but the Junfac are still a bit cheaper at $34 for a pair of shafts compared to $50. Maybe the output makes it worth it though? HMM.

This is one spot I knew I would have to take a hit on weight but I wanted the strength. I eventually ended up with dog bone shafts on my losi (LNC driveshafts) and they were my favorite. They were light and I never had a problem. That is where I would like to end up with this.

25g full length uncut. I never weighed output. Ive best the piss out of these on old comp rigs with no problems, but never on a 13.5 on 3s so we will see.