Re: SkaldidDog's "Buck-Nasty" Wraith
 

Thanks Gents. The plan is to finish it tonight. Fingers crossed.

J

New Rear Clip...done.
 

Finally knocked it out. 6 hour push last night and she's ready to run.

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/.../IMG_07351.jpg

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/.../IMG_07361.jpg

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/.../IMG_07371.jpg

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/.../IMG_07381.jpg

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/.../IMG_07411.jpg

Now that wide front end needs some attention...

J

Re: SkaldidDog's "Buck-Nasty" Wraith
 

That's cool! Nice work Joel. "thumbsup"

Re: SkaldidDog's "Buck-Nasty" Wraith
 

Wow, that's some awesome craftsmanship!!!

Re: SkaldidDog's "Buck-Nasty" Wraith
 

Thanks Gents. I'm looking forward to testing tonight. Then off to the Lucas Oil Offroad show in Pomona on Sat with VP. They have an outdoor "scale" course that I'll do my best to conquer. It'll be fun to see how my hopped up beater does vs the fully tricked Spider rigs. Should be fun.

J

Re: SkaldidDog's "Buck-Nasty" Wraith
 

Awesome work Joel, but don't stop, keep going. Get rid of all the plastic.....8)

Re: SkaldidDog's "Buck-Nasty" Wraith
 

Thanks. I've seen your handiwork and now I'm motivated to keep going with it. I'm tackling the front next. The rear clip in Al is 10g lighter than all of the material I removed. Not bad.

J

Re: SkaldidDog's "Buck-Nasty" Wraith
 

Wow that turned out crazy looking. it totally changed the look of the truck. Fantastic execution.

Re: SkaldidDog's "Buck-Nasty" Wraith
 

Holy shat Joel! That's pretty damn snazzy.

Re: SkaldidDog's "Buck-Nasty" Wraith
 

It's no longer a hearse. Different look indeed. With a smaller front end it'll look better.

Thanks Steve.

Re: SkaldidDog's "Buck-Nasty" Wraith
 

If only I had some of your tools lol. Best thing I have is a wilton vise

Re: SkaldidDog's "Buck-Nasty" Wraith
 

Got me beat there. Sears vice on my bench. I looked at Wilton but the were $. Maybe one day.

J

Re: SkaldidDog's "Buck-Nasty" Wraith
 

Its just a little one, 4" I think, but its the only thing that will hold ti and ss rod so I can thread it lol

I broke 3 cheap 4" bench vises trying to grip that crap:shock:

Re: SkaldidDog's "Buck-Nasty" Wraith
 

Awesome work! Looks sweet with the new cage work.

Rob

Re: SkaldidDog's "Buck-Nasty" Wraith
 

Gracias amigo.

J

Vanquish Products Method Wheels
 

I spent the day Saturday in Pomona at the Lucas Oil off road shop hanging out with VP and meeting some of the folks behind the scenes at various off-road equipment companies. Thanks gents!

Steve was nice enough to hook me up with a sweet set of Vanquish Products 2.2 Method wheels. The craftsmanship on these is insane. It's a shame the compression rings are so beautiful because I replaced them with some homemade delrin versions that are 18g a piece lighter. As you can see I'm going through the process of using loctite on all of the external bead screws. Just use a needle to get it in the threads. I got distracted by food, beer, football and friends yesterday so I didn't finish them. I will tonight over a little F1. I've put a few pics from the show in for S&G.



http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/.../IMG_07521.jpg

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/.../IMG_07531.jpg

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/.../IMG_07541.jpg

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/.../IMG_07551.jpg

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/.../IMG_07461.jpg

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/.../IMG_07471.jpg

Custom front three link mount
 

I'm in the process of changing my steering servo location and needed to lower the front three-link mount from the stock location. The two holes in the long side of the pumpkin are perfect mounting points. So, with a little help from some high-grade 7075, it happened. I shortened an existing Ti upper link by about 0.250" and it worked out perfectly. Man these links are wonderful overkill.

Rough in.

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/.../IMG_07691.jpg


http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/.../IMG_07701.jpg

Turned out nice. 33% lighter than stock and overkill beefy.

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/.../IMG_07711.jpg

Front view. Notice the increased room for axle travel"thumbsup".

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/.../IMG_07731.jpg

Nice and tidy. The underside will wear in over time. Note the smaller gap between the third link and the front shaft. No chance of rubbing but the link is low too for an overall reduction in COG.

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/.../IMG_07751.jpg

Front end continues to evolve...
 

I moved the servo rearwards and changed to vertical orientation. It took three iterations to get it right which was an absolute joy"thumbsup". I moved the drag link to the rear of the knuckle too.

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/.../IMG_07921.jpg

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/.../IMG_07971.jpg

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/.../IMG_07981.jpg

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/.../IMG_07961.jpg

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/.../IMG_07881.jpg

I grabbed some 100g lighter MaxAmps 3S lipos. They will still give an hour or two of runtime vs the larger. Higher C rating will help heat a little. Still plenty of overkill.


http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/.../IMG_07891.jpg

And thanks Eddie at Crawler Innovations for a bundle of foams so I can finally tune these scaler tires properly.

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/.../IMG_07901.jpg

As you can see I've ditched the Big Bore shocks and am trying out Kyosho velvet shocks.

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/.../IMG_07991.jpg

They feel great. I'm in the process of tuning springs, oil and pre-load. The rear has lots of travel and feels nice. The shock shaft ball end (Traxxas) presses into the Kyosho cup so I tied the bottom of the spring to the cup with some doubled over kevlar braid and hit it with a drop of CA glue. Now the shock can disengage from the pre load collar but stay in the cup. These are 2.5" springs. Will try some 2.75" soon.

Much more to come.

J

Re: SkaldidDog's "Buck-Nasty" Wraith
 

Whats the eye to eye on those shocks?

I have set for mine to, just have to decide on oil and springs.

Mine are a hair shorter than the stock shocks using the red cartridges and have the rod end modded caps from Super Shafty (I tried them on my comp rig once upon a time), I see your using the blue catridges which I think makes them even shorter unless you have longer shafts, he he longer shafts ha ha I get it. :ror:

Re: SkaldidDog's "Buck-Nasty" Wraith
 

I'll measure them. They are the longest ones (W5198V). Kyosho measures shocks by the length of the shaft between the last thead and the first E-clip groove. On these its 46mm. The fronts are 38mm. I skipped the cap mod as Traxxas aluminum balls press right into the stock kyosho cap and there are no clearance issues. This keeps the shock shorter for better travel to length (low COG) ratio. Right now I'm using HPI blues (2.4 rate) and 10W oil with three hole diaphram.

Re: SkaldidDog's "Buck-Nasty" Wraith
 

Cool, like I said I have these from when I tried them on my comp truck thats why they have the modded caps, without them I would have to get longer shafts or they would be way too short for the wraith. I will try them like this and may have to change things up if it doesnt work out.

Re: SkaldidDog's "Buck-Nasty" Wraith
 

The cap mod will work too. I was going to make my own 7075 cap plates for the mod but the stock caps work well. I'll see how they hold up. No rod end is as tough as a Revo GTR shock end. They are the best.

What Kyosho # are your shocks?

J

Re: SkaldidDog's "Buck-Nasty" Wraith
 

No idea, I bought them from Super Shafty probably a year or so ago.

Re: SkaldidDog's "Buck-Nasty" Wraith
 

They are most likely the shortest ones (W5194V/30mm). I won two sets from him at Nats in 2012. Still have them. Will use for consumable parts. You'll definitely need the cap mod on these. Since they are short, your travel will be limited too.

J

Re: SkaldidDog's "Buck-Nasty" Wraith
 

I will check the stroke tonight. :ror:

Re: SkaldidDog's "Buck-Nasty" Wraith
 

Have fun with that"thumbsup".

Re: Front end continues to evolve...
 

Your steering servo and upper link mount look very nice! 8) I'm anxious to see where this steering and suspension setup goes. BTW, I'm running the HS7955TG on my Wraith and have seen people go through servos like candy when running ti steering links. Which Hitec servo is that and have you killed one yet?

Re: Front end continues to evolve...
 

Thanks.

I use 7950TH. I always use Ti steering links. I have a 7075 drag link in the pics for mockup purposes only. This servo was rebuilt when it went in and has been in the rig for 13 abusive months. It has a little rotational slop but still works great. Now, I do go through brand new 7950TH's every 3-6 months in my comp crawler depending upon drive time but that is a totally different story. Servos were not designed for comp rigs.

Hope this helps.

J

Re: SkaldidDog's "Buck-Nasty" Wraith
 

Here's what I have Joel, overall length is a little shorter than stock (could be adjusted with a longer rod end) but the stroke is pretty much the same.

My Kyosho next to a stock shock off the wraith (I am switching the red parts out for blue to match my rig).

Attachment 259655

Re: SkaldidDog's "Buck-Nasty" Wraith
 

Can you guys stop it already! Now I'm gonna have to buy a Wraith. And then another one 'cause my boy's gonna want mine all the time.

This whole thing's sick! Thanks for sharing man!

Cheers eh,

Todd

Re: SkaldidDog's "Buck-Nasty" Wraith
 

Those are one of the longer two Kyosho shocks. I gave all of my stock stuff to my favorite Desert Hippie so I have nothing for comparison.

Glad you liked. Grab a couple of these and mod' them to the moon. Fun stuff.

J

Fan chop and rear-mounted receiver box
 

Last night I tossed the fan on my MMP. Not necessary since CC solder flows at ~259F. And I hate listening to it complain. A heated blade chops the ESC top off in two easy swipes. I inserted a piece of lexan to keep crap off of the caps.

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/.../IMG_08041.jpg

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/.../IMG_08061.jpg

I moved my receiver box to the rear.

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/.../IMG_08111.jpg

And chopped off some more front frame to make way for a new support structure.

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/.../IMG_08121.jpg

Thanks for watching.

J

Re: SkaldidDog's "Buck-Nasty" Wraith
 

Now its getting good.....

Re: SkaldidDog's "Buck-Nasty" Wraith
 

'Oh and now the real fun begins!

Rob

Carbon fiber front clip brace
 

Ok. I had no idea the front end of this rig would be this solid after I installed my CF brace but...holy crap:shock:. There is no wiggle or sway anywhere even with some rather aggressive twisting. Wow. I'll put a couple of slots in it for my velcro straps to feed through and then glue my BEC to it. The brace is screwed upwards into the holes in the long cross bar in front of the windsheild. The brace is slotted around the two vertical posts for more support under frontal impacts.

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/.../IMG_08131.jpg

Tonight I start on my new panhard (chassis) mount.

This is gonna be cool.....:twisted:

J

7075 rocks!
 

Finished my CF brace by milling strap slots and attaching the BEC. I'll rewire the BEC and servo for better wire flow and ease of interchange on the trail should one unit fail.

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/.../IMG_08151.jpg

And I got my 0.200" 7075 stock read to start on my chassis panhard mount tonight. Should be able to knock it out in a couple of nights. That is if I don't screw it up.

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/.../IMG_08161.jpg

J

Panhard Grill progress
 

Took the time to figure out the layout and workholding and got a couple of holes drilled. Should get some milling done tonight.

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/.../IMG_08241.jpg

Once it is done I'll make the top grill mounts and mate them to the new inboard servo mount. Then it's time for a bunch of wiring changes and lots of front steering/suspension link modifications to say the least. Then more shock/spring changes and lastly custom hood and panels. The hood will be the real challenge. Should be pretty cool.


J

Re: SkaldidDog's "Buck-Nasty" Wraith
 

Joel your a mad man, I like it! "thumbsup"

Re: SkaldidDog's "Buck-Nasty" Wraith
 

Yeah man!!!

Re: SkaldidDog's "Buck-Nasty" Wraith
 

Nice custom touch!!! Very interested to see how it turns out.