Fink's Wraith

[gbean]

Your drag link is to be mounted on top of the steering arm, not below it.
You dont want that low mounted steering link playing with your geometry, as well as the potential to bend or break the mounting screw.
I know from experience that there are clearance issues with the stock RTR wheels, and some wider wheel hexes from traxxas (P/N 3654 "tall offset, rustler/stampede front) can help a bit. Should only be about $3.


See this picture from VP:

[Fink]

Originally Posted by gbean

Your drag link is to be mounted on top of the steering arm, not below it.
You dont want that low mounted steering link playing with your geometry, as well as the potential to bend or break the mounting screw.
I know from experience that there are clearance issues with the stock RTR wheels, and some wider wheel hexes from traxxas (P/N 3654 "tall offset, rustler/stampede front) can help a bit. Should only be about $3.


See this picture from VP:

Great info! Thanks man! I researched this (didn't think of looking at pics on VP's site) and the two videos I found said to mount them both below, with the drag link on top of the tie rod.

I also find it odd that I had to adjust the rod ends so far out on my tie rod to get proper geometry. Wondering if that this might be part of the cause.

Again, thanks for posting that! I love forums.

Fink

[gbean]

Originally Posted by Fink

Great info! Thanks man! I researched this (didn't think of looking at pics on VP's site) and the two videos I found said to mount them both below, with the drag link on top of the tie rod.

I also find it odd that I had to adjust the rod ends so far out on my tie rod to get proper geometry. Wondering if that this might be part of the cause.

Again, thanks for posting that! I love forums.

Fink

Definitely the cause.

[Fink]

Originally Posted by gbean

Definitely the cause.

I'm such a Wraith newb.

Thanks for the help man!

Fink

[gbean]

I'm also a wraith newb.
Just been doing RC for 24 years now....

[gbean]

Just noticed that those currie axles from VP will force you to go CMS.....
Hmmmm.

[Fink]

Originally Posted by gbean

Just noticed that those currie axles from VP will force you to go CMS.....
Hmmmm.

I already went CMS and love it. Looks badass.

Getting ready to fix the linkage. Thanks again for the heads up!

Fink

[Fink]

Originally Posted by gbean

I know from experience that there are clearance issues with the stock RTR wheels, and some wider wheel hexes from traxxas (P/N 3654 "tall offset, rustler/stampede front) can help a bit. Should only be about $3.

You are right about the rubbing. These are the Axial 2.2 VWS rims but they still rub on the rod ends.

Are those Traxxas hubs (#3654) aluminum? Thanks for the suggestion!

Fink

[Fink]

Here's her first set of pics on her own feet. The front wheels are all jacked up due to the clearance issues gbean mentioned. You can kind of see that they aren't perfectly vertical like the rears. Other than that, the stance is looking just about perfect. Need some weight in the rear, which I will get once I get the BGR Fabrications KOH Sport Roofcage (w/spare) and the BGR Fabrications Rear Shock Tower mounted.

I know, I know...pics...



















Fink

[gbean]

Sweet. So when you get Currie axles, sell me your old ones....!



The traxxas hexes are the hard grey plastic they use on everything. I think having a plastic hex where it can't be seen isn't such a big deal. If anything it will make it less likely for you to damage a rim vs the aluminum hexes. Now one problem when switching to the wider hex is that your locknut will not thread far enough on the axle stub to grab the nylon locking part. I found some shallow M4 x .7 compression locknuts @ home depot that have worked perfectly.

Sent from my SGSII E4GT

[kranswall]

A guy from this forum makes some really nice machined aluminum wide hexes, would those work? I bought them on rpphobby.com

Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk 2

[gbean]

These?

I wonder if they will come back in stock.

I should stop by RPP sometime. I work up in Ukiah every few weeks, they are 60 miles north of me.

[ZippoMan]

You can PM Jfab on here and he might have some. I dealt with him directly...the hexes hepled big time but still rub a little. They are sweet though!!

[KillerBlackbird]

Looking good!
The front bumper sets it off nicely. I may have to swap mine out at some point.

[Fink]

Originally Posted by gbean

Sweet. So when you get Currie axles, sell me your old ones....!



The traxxas hexes are the hard grey plastic they use on everything. I think having a plastic hex where it can't be seen isn't such a big deal. If anything it will make it less likely for you to damage a rim vs the aluminum hexes. Now one problem when switching to the wider hex is that your locknut will not thread far enough on the axle stub to grab the nylon locking part. I found some shallow M4 x .7 compression locknuts @ home depot that have worked perfectly.

Sent from my SGSII E4GT

Thanks for the info and the details on the locknuts. I was wondering how that was going to work. I'm guessing you only widen the fronts since they are the only ones that rub? Does it look odd to have the front wider than the rear, or is it such a small difference that it's not really noticeable?

As far as composite vs. aluminum, I don't necessarily care either way. It's just a nice thought to know that everything on the axle is metal. I do agree about the weak point though. Right now my spur and driveshafts are my weak points as they are the easiest to replace and I'm just looking for an excuse to have to get MIPs.

Originally Posted by kranswall

A guy from this forum makes some really nice machined aluminum wide hexes, would those work? I bought them on rpphobby.com

Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk 2

Others obviously posted about this before I could reply, but thank you for the info!

Originally Posted by gbean

These?

I wonder if they will come back in stock.

I should stop by RPP sometime. I work up in Ukiah every few weeks, they are 60 miles north of me.

Thanks for the link! I would definitely stop by RPP. If I was close to them, it'd be dangerous. It's even dangerous having my LHS so close, even though they don't carry much crawler stuff at all.

Originally Posted by ZippoMan

You can PM Jfab on here and he might have some. I dealt with him directly...the hexes hepled big time but still rub a little. They are sweet though!!

PMing J-Fab today. Thanks!

Originally Posted by KillerBlackbird

Looking good!
The front bumper sets it off nicely. I may have to swap mine out at some point.

Thank you! I agree about the BGR Trailbar! Can't wait to get my BGR KOH Sport Roofcage installed with a spare. He also welded on some shackle mounts for me so I need to order those too.

Fink

[KillerBlackbird]

Sweet!
I messed around with my VP tie rod and panhard last night, I noticed if the tie rod is also on top of the steering arm it doesn't hit the diff cover.

[Fink]

Originally Posted by KillerBlackbird

Sweet!
I messed around with my VP tie rod and panhard last night, I noticed if the tie rod is also on top of the steering arm it doesn't hit the diff cover.

Strange. I have it on the bottom and it doesn't hit my diff cover.

What diff cover and knuckles are you running?

Fink

[KillerBlackbird]

Originally Posted by Fink

Strange. I have it on the bottom and it doesn't hit my diff cover.

What diff cover and knuckles are you running?

Fink

All VP. Identical to yours except mine is gray. It doesn't hit it hard just very lightly. I'm not sure if its ok to run it on top but I don't see why or how it would be an issue.

[gbean]

Yeah RPP seems ok. Their are In a really podunk town and their hours suck. There is an even better shop closer to me. About ten miles away.
Jake's Performance Hobbies in Rohnert Park. They have tons of crawler stuff and they are open from 10-7 everyday but Sunday.
Their prices are killer to. They don't do a ton of online sales, mostly because they are good enough to not have to rely on it.
The owner is an active member of the local crawler club.

There is also a hobby town 20 miles south, but I've always thought of them as a joke. And their prices are ridiculous.

[gbean]

Originally Posted by KillerBlackbird

All VP. Identical to yours except mine is gray. It doesn't hit it hard just very lightly. I'm not sure if its ok to run it on top but I don't see why or how it would be an issue.

Some people run the link up high as it gives more approach clearance. I think it looks odd, as the wraith specific knuckles are already set up higher.
So it looks like some vp wheels and hubs are in our near future huh?