junkyard wraith

[TRABNESI]

Time for out with the old and in with the new... gonna start a new build... its gonna be a junkyard wraith build. I wanna see how inexpensive I can build one, and it still be a capable trail rig. Most parts will be traded for, therefore being used, or will be robbed from current orojects. I've seen a lot of build threads of the most expensive and off the shelf parts, I am trying to be as creative as I can and still be durable and perform at a reasonable level. Any tips or tricks will be helpful. There are quite a few "free" mods that will come first. This will be my first build thread. Mainly doing it for my own personal experience, however if someone wants to help or this can help someone else it will be a successful thread.

I will be assigning a real world FMV to each item of the build so that it can be tallied at the end for a final cost. Even items I already own will have a value assigned so that it all stays fair. Any reconditioning of items will be noted also if the parts are not in satisfactory condition.

[TRABNESI]

step 1 purchased a bag of wraith chassis parts for $10. There are some duplicate pieces and I'm pretty sure by even a quick glance there is not enough to make a full chassis.but with keeping a budget in mind this is the platform that I am going to choose to start with.

[blackcruzer]

HA! I bought a bag of chassis parts too. Don't have it yet though, can't wait to get started on it. It gonna take me a long time to build it. Already got a parts list, get pretty expensive when I'm looking at VP stuff.

I'll be watching this build.

[TRABNESI]

So... I spent some time today piecing together the junkyard wraith chassis. Luckily I had another wraith chassis laying around to determine what was missing or broken. With a little time, epoxy, allthread and southern ingenuity.... the junkyard has a platform to build from. No money added to the project today. Epoxy is something most gearheads have laying around anyway. The repaired areas will most likely be the strongest part of the chassis.
Note the use of the bolt cutters not only for cutting but also for bending the allthread.

[colebz]

This is great! Im doing the same thing, but building it for my nephew. Im purchasing everything from the classifieds and am puting together a pretty nice rig, for real cheap. I thought about starting a thread but now that you have this one, there is no need. I will just share what I have going on here, in your thread. Hope thats cool
I have about a grand into my wraith (which is not fully built) and am getting everything I have on mine and some, for less than half what I payed for mine. So far I have bought a complete, used wraith chassis with electrinics box, panels, skid and transmision with rr slipper and all hardware for 80. The tranny needed bearings so I got a fast eddy bearing kit for 20. Metal gears for the tranny bought new for 30. I got wb8 shafts in great shape for 20. A complete set of stock "kit" axles with brand new universals and bearings for 110. Full set of used VP 3/16 links for 60. Xr-10 shocks for 15. I have a set of axial 8 hole beadlocks with r35 ripsaws laying around we can call 30. I also have a fried 7955 servo im in the middle of fixing that we can call 60. That's 425 ( realy 335 out of pocket ) so far with motor, esc and maybe chubs and knuckles left to purchase. Very happy with my transactions, here on rcc!:thumbup:

[TRABNESI]

Colebz... definitely cool to share on here. We are doing the same stuff it sounds like. I have my wraith that is mostly vanquish built... but I wanted to go as budget friendly as possible. Any tips, advice or tricks are welcome on this thread. What I fear is after I get the junkyard wraith done.... I will like it better than my regular one... lol.

[TRABNESI]

Wow.... cant believe its been September since ive gotten back to this thread. Geez time flies. Anyway.... I chose to go another direction that was a little easier for anyone to do and would not require so much part hunting. Therefore I kept the original jigsaw puzzle bag of wraith chassis. But instead of piecing it together so slowly, sone people including myself want immediate gratification. So I purchased a used wraith skid for $7 to complete the chassis, and gave the front a nose job. The front was not as structurally sound as I had hoped and would probably came off with the first good hit anyway. Then I purchased a used bud decent condition MadGear crawler for $75. I plan to rob most of what I need from it. I also figured this is easier and less time consuming than tracking down parts.

[Boneshaker]

When I seen the title of this topic I thought you were going to make your wraith look like something you would see people at junkyards using to go around the junkyard looking for parts but this is a pretty sweet idea too!

[TRABNESI]

Thought I would throw up some pics of the progress. Got the MadGear torn down and seperated useable and non. The non will be traded for stuff I need. Here is a pic of the wraith chassis and the axles. I will probably have to shorten the lower links. I noticed after a quick mock up that the angle of the drivelines was pretty steep.

[TRABNESI]

More progress on the junkyard wraith. The lower links were about 1/2 too long, so I re used the ends and made my own from allthread. I prefer to use a plastic lining on the outside, I use the plastic tubing from the plumbing department that usually is used to run water to the fridge. Anyway after the link adjustment with the supplies that were about $4 for all the allthread and plastic, I swapped in traxxas slash shocks for a lower C.O.G. I was also able to trade the body, chassis and trans from the buggy for a used wraith trans. It needed a slipper assembly which I paid $10 for. electronics are next.

[Tgreer]

Good progress! Looks like you could use a drop kit to lower the ride height a little. Are those 1.9 or 2.2 wheels?

[TRABNESI]

It will start off by running the 2.2's that came on the MadGear. I want to keep the cost as low as possible. It could eventually see a 1.9 upgrade but for now I'm limited to working with whats at hand. With this being a budget build my goal is to keep it under $150. But with the way its going.... I might come in under $125.

[TRABNESI]

Well... I was going to mount the electronics next. However I realized there was no where to mount them. So I decided to do some metal work next. I finished the two side skins and the electronics tray. As with the rest of the build, it had to be budget friendly. Therefore I used two beware of dog signs as the metal for this build. Two signs cost less than $5. You can see the sign side on the bottom left pic. The bottom right shows how I got to a completed design. I used a borrowed side skin as a template. However I do not like the look of the full skin, so I just wrapped the cab section. I am going more for the KOH look.

[TRABNESI]

Well... finished it up last night. I used 2 old wraith links for the rear cage braces. I used the painted side of the signs for effect to show more effectively what I did. They will all be removed and painted. I actually prefer the bare metal look. But it also looks like it rolled out of a junkyard now. I am undecided about an interior. I am well below my budget so maybe.
Right now my grand total is $111 I believe.

[TRABNESI]

Well.... the junkyard wraith had its first official trail run today. It held its own with some much nicer rigs. With wanting to see just how capable it was.... I pushed it.... HARD!
The poor junkyard wraith. ..
Blew a bead
Threw a driveline
Lost a pinion gear
Broke the negative side of the motor imput off
broke a part of the chassis
But still ran till the batteries were dead

[seanmnew]

I love the body! Truly shows what you are aiming to accomplish!

[Tgreer]

Get it fixed and continue bashing!

Ok since you want to keep it 2.2 and I think it should be 1.9, I have found the solution. Find 5 1.9 treps or pitbulls and I can resize them to 2.2. This looks so good, because you have a narrower tire and smaller lugs giving it a very scale appearance.

[TRABNESI]

I am trying to stay on track with a budget, so buying parts unless they are absolutely necessary is out of the question. The next evolution for this will be a stiffy kit to help the chassis. It will be made by me out of allthread, nuts and rod ends. Once again in mind of a budget or junkyard build. My target for my stiffy kit is $15 max. I have replaced 2 sections of the current chassis in this manner. I know not everyone knows how to weld or braze, so I will be offering a extremely cheap alternative to buying one.

[I.D.10.T]

He's hiding something from us. It has a homing device of some sort in it. I watched it tumble 30' down a hill and cartwheel right up to him. He didn't have to move an inch or bend over. Straight up to his right hand.

I all respect, that rig did a great job out on the trails. Great guy to go crawling with too.

[Szczerba]

Looks good. The Axial plastic cages and body parts lend themselves to some chop/cut/rebuild trucks. I have cut tons of axial plastic parts to make new parts. You can also drill each end of a cage piece with an 1/8" drill bit and use a short piece of 1/8" rod, with epoxy to make a solid joint.

Example here.

Szczerba's SCX-EXO


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