New Wraith on the block

[Philxj4L]

With the sale of the Jeep, an rc of some sort was on the cards. After much searching a Wraith rate seemed to come high on search results, so that got the vote. Coming form a mechanical/engineering background, 'build it right, build it once' was a priority. More so as due to MS, my fine motor skill, is at best, ok, at worst, non existent. I had a bit of help as a friend works for one of the UKs major rc importer/distributor.
As they didn't deal with Axial, they got the order for power & control end of things. A phone call to them had things ordered.
5ch radio
Powertech 4450mAh LiPo
Losi Excelorin 25.5T brushless, sensored motor
Matched Excelorin crawler ESC. (Fully customisable profile parameters)
The motor & ESC had a 50% off deal, items where ordered around 2.30pm and arrived before lunch next day.
The Wraith kit was ordered from ebay, along with what upgrades I wanted as a 'start point' for the build. As things started arriving, I rapidly realised what I'd done, and that was, in effect,meandered the kit surplus to requirements !
I've used very little from the original kit, that list stands at, tyres, receiver/ESC mount, gearbox internals and battery tray. Not a lot.
With so many upgrade parts from different suppliers, a mock up seemed prudent to check clearances, so some of the original kit to allow the mock up. The only real issue was clearances on the steering links and the insides of the wheels. First plan was remove and flip the steering knuckles to allow use of the longer steering horns. This worked, but killed the Ackerman angle on the steering. Time for plan B. That came in the form of a +3mm drive hex set.
Enough words, some pics.


















Then it took a step backwards




Then a slight panic, front & rear axles where running in oposite directions, that resulted in removale and flip of bevel gear and carrier.


New diff covers arrived, I didn't need them, but couldn't resist as they had 50% off for a short time.

[maslin]

Man that thing is going to look good on a shelf.

[Philxj4L]

I'm pretty much at the wiring stage, unfortunatly the brand new solder gun I bought promptly tried to set itself on fire and melted the outer casing on first use ! The wiring will be on hold for now. I have booked my friend from The rc importers for the LED lights, standard 2 front & rear set up, plus a couple of KC Hilites LED bars though the transmitter, finished off with a Warn 9.5cti winch.
I chose the 5ch set up to allow bars, winch operation and also 4ws down the line. I'm hoping to be able to run both 'mirror' 4ws and independent, just need to check with their car guru if it's possible.
Integy diff covers fitted.

[Philxj4L]

Thanks for the comments guys.


You'll notice an important space behind the roof basket, that's earmarked for the GoPro hero3+ mount.

[aftershock1]

Where did you get that tube frame, i seen some on asiatees for cheap but not sure if that's where you got yours

[Philxj4L]

Picked it up off the bay, seller was S&A hobby center. It's listed as China so could well be part of asiatees. Build quality looks good with good welds and powder coated. Seen them in red too.
They come with 4spots to mount on the rack with led kit provided too

[aftershock1]

Originally Posted by Philxj4L

Picked it up off the bay, seller was S&A hobby center. It's listed as China so could well be part of asiatees. Build quality looks good with good welds and powder coated. Seen them in red too.
They come with 4spots to mount on the rack with led kit provided too

How long was shipping time, thanks for the info

[Philxj4L]

Listing says 6-24th March if ordered today, that's probably to the UK. In fact, this is the link, may give a better idea of shipping times to you.

Metal Rollcage With Roof Rack and LED Light for 1/10 Axial Wraith | eBay

[Sevastra]

I ordered one of the early versions of that frame. Still using it today, even after abusing it. They are stout, but smaller than the stock wraith frames.. makes using pre-made panels and such for it next to impossible. If you get one expect to make your own body parts for it as well.

Ended up chopping mine up and re-doing part of it. Now I've got a pickup with a built in chassis mounted servo and panhard.

Sorry for hi-jacking your thread. Rig's looking awesome! So shiney.. How long till you go get some shots of it covered in mud?

[Philxj4L]

Originally Posted by Sevastra

I ordered one of the early versions of that frame. Still using it today, even after abusing it. They are stout, but smaller than the stock wraith frames.. makes using pre-made panels and such for it next to impossible. If you get one expect to make your own body parts for it as well.

Ended up chopping mine up and re-doing part of it. Now I've got a pickup with a built in chassis mounted servo and panhard.

Sorry for hi-jacking your thread. Rig's looking awesome! So shiney.. How long till you go get some shots of it covered in mud?

No worries on the thread. yes, you do need to get a bit inventive on mounting things like receiver/ESC as there's no mounts provided. Mine came will ally front body pannels, the stock rear quarters will fit this cage, so they'll be used. With some trimming the cockpit can be made to fit too. I recon I'm a week or so off running, the plan is, some light abuse to bed things in, full check over then whack a hot motor in and see what it'll do.

[Philxj4L]

The Warn arrived yesterday from a UK stockist of RC4WD, really nice finish, and well made, thanks guys.

Just set in place as he mount holes on the cage don't match up,

[o0wiz0o]

Hi Phil.

Nice rig. Its looks like you might need a lowering kit though. Seems really high. A stock Wraith is roll happy and with all that metal I fear she may be even more so.

[Philxj4L]

I've had the ride height in mind, I can back off the preload on the springs, and have the stock, softer springs on standby if I need to loose a bit more height.

[o0wiz0o]

Sounds like a plan. Have to find the sweet spot. Too slammed and you get high centered on everything. To high and your a upside down tortoise.

[Philxj4L]

The motor & ESC left with the friend today for soldering up. The 100w solder fun just wouldn't cut it on silicone wires, and I won't even mention the motor connections. Once that's back, it's can be tied up again then think about the first run.

[Philxj4L]

And done.

[Philxj4L]

Today seen some decent progress after the mate delivered the motor & ESC. Removed the cage, again, as it made it easier to refit the motor and cleared the dampers. Dampers got a full fill of oil and bled.

As I've never used LiPos before, a good read of the charging instructions before plugging everything in.msetting set, and checked, then checked again before pressing 'enter'

while the battery got going, ESC was plumbed into the reciever along with the steering servo. It's not pretty, but at this stage, it don't need to be pretty, just easily accessible and working.

Ride height was dropped to a more useable level.


One the +3mm drive hex set arrives I can get the steering links set up and get it running.

[Philxj4L]

The hex set came in today, so it was a setup & small jobs day. ESC woulds calibrate yesterday, and I was expecting to have to reach for the programming card. As it turned out, I didnt. I did have to take the back off the transmitter, mode 2 was default, mode 1 was needed. Once swapped over the ESC calibrated fist crack. steering links where next, the +3s gave just enough clearance for the link bars

and the next problem. It took most of the day to find the 1 thread that was fouling the axle and binding the steering. At the end of all that, it took its first trip across the room under its own power.

[PSW]

tic tacs, lime & orange !

The driveshafts you have, you (or anyone) wouldn't happen to know what size/spec the driveshaft screw pins are would you? I lost one before running them and finding it hard to get a replacement. The heads are bigger than the axial screw heads so I can't use those.

[Eric0424]

Originally Posted by PSW

tic tacs, lime & orange !

The driveshafts you have, you (or anyone) wouldn't happen to know what size/spec the driveshaft screw pins are would you? I lost one before running them and finding it hard to get a replacement. The heads are bigger than the axial screw heads so I can't use those.

Probably the M4 threaded pin from Traxxas, part 5145 or something similar.