garden variety wraith rebuild

[dittohead]

So ive been checking out wraith builds for a few months now and after a buddy got one i figured it would be time for myself to get one. Ended up getting a nicely built/lightly used wraith out of the classifieds here but there were things i wanted to change so here we are!

Basic rundown when i got it
VP knuckles/chubs/lockouts/links/steering/3link/CMS/diff covers
VP wheels with proline swampers falling out of the wheels everywhere
carterfab alu panels
crawler innovations tray
hitec 7955 servo
OG mamba max with a tekin 17.5 turn motor



As you can see it was pretty decent but i had some changes in mind. I ran it for 2 mins on 3s with the supplied 80/20 gearing and the unsensored-able esc it would cog worse then any brushless setup ive ever seen. It was unusable as is. When it would go it would run quick enough that any turn caused a roll. So let the mods commence! far this week ive added
VP trusses
VP diff carrier caps
VP VVD axles (very nice)
hot racing spools F+R
R35 ripsaws
robinson racing one piece output and idler gear
dinky hood and drop box
proline slash front shocks in the rear (still waiting for another set for the front)
tekin RSpro esc and 13.5 T motor (in transit)
3s lipo
castle BEC
modded the sidepanels/removed some of the other alu panels
replaced questionable hardware (self tapping screws into the VP knuckles, seriously?)
shimmed the sloppy fit of the revo ends into the VP trusses/clearanced the skid for rod end clearance
made a heavier version of the CI tray
did the hood hinge mod
adjusted the ride height and the panhard setup for better function
random pics of teardown




before paint


My plans are to get it up and running and over the next few months id like to add the 32P conversion as well as rear steer. Might spring for the VP axle housings and link mounts too and ill need some tougher driveshafts. The VP stuff is like crack! lol
Itll probably be used more for crawling but some of the terrain here has big climbs that need wheelspeed so it needs to be a well rounded rig.

[dittohead]

Heres a pic from today. Got alot done between hanging out with my daughter and being ballz deep in home renos. My daughter picked the color for the hood its pactra competition orange. The drop box was painted satin black

[Dtempleton]

How are you liking the proline shocks? & which ones are u using?

[dittohead]

Originally Posted by Dtempleton

How are you liking the proline shocks? & which ones are u using?

Its got slash front shocks . they are shorter than the stock wraith shocks since i wanted a lower ride height. The stock springs are WAY too stiff but fortunately i had a complete proline spring kit sitting here. I used the softest (blue stripe) springs top and bottom. Ive got 30wt oil in them right now but the valving feels too slow but im going to wait and try it first. You will also need the proline installation kit or figure out your own way to mount the top shock eyes to the wraith. Ive used these shocks on other trucks with much success so im sure they will be good on the wraith

[dittohead]

Update time! I bought a used TEKIN rspro/13.5t setup out of the classifieds here and it showed up yesterday so i went to work installing it. Ended up taking me a few hours since i had to rewire everything to get it into the wraith. ALL the electrical bits including battery are under hood. The wiring is a mess but i intend to cut all the bec/rx/servo/light wiring to exact lengths to clean it up and make more room. I doubt ill be needing to update the parts i have for a good while so might as well. Had to stay with 48p gears for now since i cant find a 32p spur that fits locally. The gearing is 87/16 because i require good crawling ability foremost and the short test in the yard tells me it should be OK but a change to 87/14 might happen. Its still plenty fast on 3s even with the lower gearing. Still needs weight in the front wheels so i might try and get to that today

[ev0l]

lookin sweet man! Love all the VP goodies!

[dittohead]

Originally Posted by ev0l

lookin sweet man! Love all the VP goodies!

Thanks! Yes VP parts are beginning to be a real weakness of mine! Im sure ill have all their bits before long

[dittohead]

Got the front wheels weighted with 2 wraps of fishing lead line each. Should be more than enough weight. Might get a chance to try it out tomorrow if im back from dirtbiking early enough

[dittohead]

Finally had a chance to get this thing out on the rocks for the first time since ive owned it and i must admit i was impressed! I only got to run it for an hour due to family/house stuff but i ran it up some fairly tough lines and it did well. I ran a set of proline swampers on old axial wheels and i was hoping they would work a bit better. I personally think the 2 stage CI foam setup in them is too stiff for this truck as its not terribly heavy. It sidehilled well and the tires didnt roll under themselves at all but werent conforming to the ground like i thought they should.
The tekin rspro/13.5T combo worked great with 87/16 gearing and 3s lipos. It was responsive and easy to crawl with. No cogging whatsoever. It has enough speed to jump ledges but i might dial in a bit more speed, as long as the crawling doesnt suffer. I also need to dial back the drag brake, its too powerful right now and i dont like a ton of drag brake anyways, personal preference. Overall i had a great time and the truck ran flawlessly with the motor not even getting barely warm, even when the outside temps were in the high 80's and was a mix of crawling and full speed hill attacks. Im going to try and get it out again this week before the weather goes bad here and try and run it for my typical 2+ hour crawling/trail running session and see how it fares but i feel it will be fine. Super fun rig aand i cant wait to run it more and add more cool stuff to it

Only got one poser pic since i was too busy driving! Other rig is my buddies wraith/scx hybrid he slapped together just to get out today

[dittohead]

Small update. The weather here has turned the sh!ts so ive only had the wraith out a few times, about 4 hours worth. I have been adding some parts/changing stuff since i cant leave well enough alone

Added the following:

MIP driveshafts
proline slash shocks with 15w oil and blue springs up front/ green springs and 30wt in the rear
flipped the shock/link mounts back to stock, truck was too low and hung on everything
aluminum electronics tray from ebay. Very nice piece!
re-wired everything. Shortened all wires to clean up the mess i did the first time i got it going.





So far the only damage ive done to the wraith is stripping the hex's in both rear axial plastic wheels and this thing likes to loosen off screws constantly, even with blue loctite on everything.

Next mods to happen are VP link mounts and a VP locker for the front. Hopefully after Xmas ill get all the VP goodies coming and do the axle housings and rear steer, after that who knows

[pedlhed]

We could damn near write each other's parts list. You'll dig the VP axle housings and links, they're tough as nails and look incredible.

[4x4Ric]

very nice, love how everything is up front.
Ive still got the NiMH battery, might have to look into a smaller lipo

[dittohead]

Originally Posted by 4x4Ric

very nice, love how everything is up front.
Ive still got the NiMH battery, might have to look into a smaller lipo

Honestly if nimh batteries were my only battery choice, i would have left this hobby a long time ago. Lipos are the way! Cheap, small, light, powerful! Ive been using lipos since they came out and ive puffed/ruined my share of batteries but at only $15-40 each i dont care as long as i get a year or so out of them. Go 3s lipo and dont look back

[baddley]

Hi

Were did you get your body post for the hinge mod at ?


I am in the process of moving my battery and everything also
Sweet Rig !

Thanks Scott

[4x4Ric]

Originally Posted by dittohead

Honestly if nimh batteries were my only battery choice, i would have left this hobby a long time ago. Lipos are the way! Cheap, small, light, powerful! Ive been using lipos since they came out and ive puffed/ruined my share of batteries but at only $15-40 each i dont care as long as i get a year or so out of them. Go 3s lipo and dont look back

Im about there, both mine are only lasting about 20-30min crawling now.
What lipo are you running ?

[dittohead]

Originally Posted by baddley

Hi

Were did you get your body post for the hinge mod at ?


I am in the process of moving my battery and everything also
Sweet Rig !

Thanks Scott

Hinges themselves are cable clamps and nuts/bolts. The hood pins are from a traxxas stampede battery hold down

[dittohead]

Originally Posted by 4x4Ric

Im about there, both mine are only lasting about 20-30min crawling now.
What lipo are you running ?

I use 3s lipos in all my crawlers and 2s in the sc truck. Most are gens ace 1300mah but i have a 2600 for the wraith since it chews through the little 1300s in 1/2 hour. I might try a 4s in the future

[4x4Ric]

Originally Posted by dittohead

I use 3s lipos in all my crawlers and 2s in the sc truck. Most are gens ace 1300mah but i have a 2600 for the wraith since it chews through the little 1300s in 1/2 hour. I might try a 4s in the future

thanks

[dittohead]

Just wanted to bring this thread up to date. Ive been doing a few more mods to the wraith over the past while since the weather hasnt been good for crawling. I had run the truck a few times and it was ok but it just couldnt keep up with the scx's my buddy and i usually run so a big upgrade was needed. Heres the new stuff:

Added rear steer with VP knuckles/chubs/steering linkage
Axial universals for the rear diff
Hitec 7955
Added a second BEC for the rear steer servo
Pitbull rock beast II's with TSS robby gordon wheels(love this combo)
Homemade inner front fenders to keep mud/water off the electronics

The rear steer mod was the single best thing ive done to this rig. It makes it fun to drive and i can keep up with the scx's and sometimes do things the smaller trucks cant do. Honestly if the rear steer didnt help the performance i was seriously considering parting it out or selling it.
The pitbull tires were as expected, the best 2.2 tires ive ran on this truck. They added the height it needed and the traction is rediculous. In the pics i posted it was hard to walk because it was so slippery, but the pitbulls just did their thing. I have pitbulls on all my crawlers now.
So the only thing i might change now is the motor. Im seriously thinking of going back to a brushed motor in this truck as its getting used more for straight crawling these days. The other thing im doing is making some lighter seats out of styrene, the stockers look good but weigh far too much. Also hoping to install the VP axle housings if the guy i bought them from a month ago figures out where they went Also have a VP locker, fast eddy bearings, and HD ring and pinions ready to install. Anyways enough babbling!

[CHOPPERMECH11]

Nice Setup! Ive been wanting to do the rear steer. Only thing holding me back is that Im using a DX3R Pro. What radio setup are you using??