New to me Wraith

[Jonnie Fraz]

Well boys and girls I obviously had way too much time and money on my hands so I got back into crawlers. I was looking to update from my Scorpion rig to something a little newer, and found a used roller in the classifieds. After a tour around the state it makes it to me in only 14 days...Thanks UPS. Not bad for an estimated four day trek.
Well anyway it got here and I just could not wait to tear into it. As of now I have added

• Losi shocks
• Holmes Torque Master Pro 35t
• Mamba Max Pro
• Castle BEC
• Spektrum SR300
• Custom battery/electronics tray
• MIP AX10 shafts

It came with

• VP Chubs & Knuckles
• VP VVD's
• VP Method wheels
• VP ti links
• STRC trans

Just got it all wired, but ran out of time to get it running.
Here are a couple of pics.

And here is the battery tray


There are a bunch of things I want to do, but I told myself "No upgrades until needed."

[Harley]

Nice buy! Looks like you have a nice start to a fun rig.

[Jonnie Fraz]

Thanks much Harley! You have no idea how much you have helped me. I have gone through almost all your videos, and I can't thank you enough for taking the time to help us all out.

[Z0MB13]

Originally Posted by Jonnie Fraz

Thanks much Harley! You have no idea how much you have helped me. I have gone through almost all your videos, and I can't thank you enough for taking the time to help us all out.

What he said Harley!

[Harley]

Originally Posted by Jonnie Fraz

Thanks much Harley! You have no idea how much you have helped me. I have gone through almost all your videos, and I can't thank you enough for taking the time to help us all out.

Man, thats a lot of listening to me blab on!

[Odinthor]

Originally Posted by Harley

Man, thats a lot of listening to me blab on!

Well SOMEONE had to teach all of us the ways of the Wraith.

[Jonnie Fraz]

Small update...Got my Castle link so I could get all my settings correct. All running now and wiring all cleaned up. Did some small test runs in the back yard, she runs pretty nice, I have to admit I am not used to running without weight in the tires. Still hooks up pretty well.



Now on to the body. Nothing against the Jeep guys, but I want to do something a little different. I hope I can pull off what I am thinking about. I may throw up a teaser shot when I get the grill done.

[Jonnie Fraz]

Started the bodywork for my FJ Crusier Wraith.



A little rough on the corners, but I will get her smoothed out. I am going to keep the SUV cage and continue the Cruiser out back. I hope I can make it look pretty cool.

[evantwheeler]

We need some more pics of the front end tin work, looks mint!

[Jonnie Fraz]

Originally Posted by evantwheeler

We need some more pics of the front end tin work, looks mint!

Thanks! It is still a work in progress. I will get more pics up soon.

A painfully disappointing day today...Stopped by the LHS and picked up a bunch of goodies for both trucks, but forgot to get bearings for the new VP trans, and can not get my new servo to work. So now the Wraith is disrepair, and I have fired off an e-mail to the servo maker to see if it is just me being an idiot. Seems pretty simple...unplug wimpy old working servo, plug in new super torque servo and get nothing...WTF?

[Eric0424]

Originally Posted by Jonnie Fraz

Thanks! It is still a work in progress. I will get more pics up soon.

A painfully disappointing day today...Stopped by the LHS and picked up a bunch of goodies for both trucks, but forgot to get bearings for the new VP trans, and can not get my new servo to work. So now the Wraith is disrepair, and I have fired off an e-mail to the servo maker to see if it is just me being an idiot. Seems pretty simple...unplug wimpy old working servo, plug in new super torque servo and get nothing...WTF?

I'm assuming you tried turning the servo plug around, if it's backwards the servo won't work.

[Jonnie Fraz]

Originally Posted by Eric0424

I'm assuming you tried turning the servo plug around, if it's backwards the servo won't work.

Thanks, but it is plugged in correctly. I don't have time today to run back to the hobby shop, so I am waiting to hear back from the manufacturer.

[Jonnie Fraz]

Great customer service on both manufacture and LHS! Manufacture said they would make it right if my LHS could not. Took it in to the shop, servo tested bad, and they swapped it out.



Now time to take her out on the rocks for some play time.

[Jonnie Fraz]

Well took it out on the rocks out at Folsom Lake and ran into some really cool guys having a comp. Found out a couple things about my rig...first the foams were junk. They were just way too soft and I had almost no side hill ability so time for an upgrade there. Who else to look to for foams than Crawler Innovations. Double deuces please. The other thing I found out was my tie rod end was stripped out and after a couple of bumps the day was done. I should have grabbed a goody bag before I headed away from the truck. Oh well learned a bunch from the GSRCC guys and I hope to make it out to the Scale Endurance comp this weekend.

So got my Deuces mounted up and went back out to the lake for some runs and was so impressed with the way the truck ran. It was a whole different rig. Such a great investment! A nightmare to install, but so worth it. Now I am working on my body again.
Started building the hood, and worked on the corners to clean them up a bit.

Cut a small relief in the grill.

Relief is so the mesh will sit flat once it is on the tin.


Hope you guys like.

[Meatwad]

The endurance is on the 31st

GSRCC Scale Endurance 18

Can't say enough about the gsrcc guys and the whole crew, your experience with them is their normal demeanor. Always helpful and welcoming.

The rig is coming together nicely, always fun to make positive changes and notice right away. Hope to see you out there for the endurance fun

[Jonnie Fraz]

Originally Posted by Meatwad

The endurance is on the 31st

GSRCC Scale Endurance 18 - RCCrawler

Can't say enough about the gsrcc guys and the whole crew, your experience with them is their normal demeanor. Always helpful and welcoming.

The rig is coming together nicely, always fun to make positive changes and notice right away. Hope to see you out there for the endurance fun

Nice! I got my weeks mixed up. Yay! I have another week to hopefully get this bodywork done.

[dmax1000]

wow man that looks good. Im really liking the build. cant wait for more. good job