Axial Wraith Poison Spider - Crawler Upgrades

[GALLATIN RC]

Hello All:
Looking for a little help here. I'm about to purchase a poison spider and would like it to be configured as a crawler. After reading several posts and watching videos, this is a list of what I'm thinking about purchasing, but not sure if any of the combinations would be bad news.
1. Axial Wraith Poison Spider RTR
2. Axial 55T Motor
3. Axial Pinion Gear (16T)
4. Axial Spur Gear (87T)
5. Hitec HS 7955TG Servo
6. Hot Bodies Rover Tires
7. Axial 2.2 Wheel Weights (Front)
8. Integy Steering Linkage
9. Castle BEC
10. Vanquish Hubs SLW850

I already have a HPI Crawler King (for my son) that has a 55T motor as well as the HB Rover tire and I like those. When I upgraded to a front servo mount and beefed up the servo, I installed a BEC per some threads so I know thats a good idea especially with the Hitec Servo. So that is where my shoping list came from.

So my main question for those of you with Wraith knowledge: Is this combination of motor and gears is the right way to go and am I going to wreck any of the remaining stock RTR parts with this setup? The 87/16 gives me a 5.4:1 ratio which I hear is good for a crawler. The 55T motor is just to make it more of a crawler. NOT looking to have a fast vehicle. I like the idea of a Wraith as a crawler for two reasons. 1st.....I can't afford an XR10. 2nd.....if I want to play with a rock racer, I still have the option if I convert it back.

While I'm here.....regarding the Vanquish Hubs....the 850 are the widest. Are they too wide? Any advantage going smaller? Seems like alot of people say the vanquish are the way to go.

I'm about tapped out on my budget with those items. Anything important I'm missing for what I'm trying to accomplish?

Any thoughts are greatly appreciate.

Cheers.

[Billy D]

You really just need to read Harley's thread. It covers everything you could ever imagine to ask in a question about the wraith. And the fact that it's all right, is just a bonus.

[GALLATIN RC]

Thanks Billy D.
Yep. I read his threads and watched his videos. Good stuff and very informative. Got most of my info from him regarding upgrade stages, but read a few other threads about people using a 55T motor and higher gear ratio. Also read about people frying stock RTR parts when messing with the wrong combinations. Just trying to piece all the info together into something that works.
Thanks for the quick reply.

[GT3]

850 hubs will be like 12.75-13" wide. The PS will come with two sets of plastic hubs and will be wearing the narrow set out of the box. Those are closer to 350 or 475. Wide is good for high speed stability but narrow is better for keeping axles from getting hung up.

[GALLATIN RC]

Excellent. Thanks GT3.
I'll run with a narrower set.

[tacocat]

i personally have never ran integy links of any kind but the general consensus is that they suck. go with vanquish, blue monkey rc, or send r2j a pm about links i just got a tie rod from him for my wraith and it is perfect and the price was great.

[GALLATIN RC]

tacocat:
I was just looking at the vanquish links.....the price is right in line with the integy.
Much Appreciated.

[tacocat]

good to go.

when you upgrade the rest of your links stick with the same names as well.

[sdmf]

Avoid integy. Sub par. Vanquish is outstanding. I wouldn't go 55t either, I would go 35t letting you keep some wheelspeed. I run a 27t. That is preference and how slow you want to go.

[o0wiz0o]

You'd be better leaving the links stock than going Integy. The cheap soft aluminum scuffs and adds more friction. The stock plastic perform better until you can afford something better.

[GALLATIN RC]

Sdmf and o0wiz0o:
Thanks for the input. Already ordered up the vanquish links. Too many people can't be wrong. I went with the 55T motor. Cheap price so if it doesn' work I'm not out too much. Probably run with a 35T shortly as recommended by Harley and others..
for the gears...I ordered an 87T spur and a 14T and 15T pinion. Might use the stock 80T spur and the 15T. Cheap enough and various combinations all put me in the high and low end of the ratio for crawling setups.

To all: thanks for all the info and the quick response. I have a trip to Moab in a few weeks so not alot of time to make all the upgrades.

[GALLATIN RC]

Got the wraith and all the parts this week. Just finished putting everything together. I ended up with an 87T spur and a 15T pinion to go with the 55T motor. That is around 5.7:1. A bit more than i wanted. Its a bit slow on the test run around the shop but holy crap can it crawl. I was going to run with the stock 80T spur and the new 15T pinion but I couldn't get the gears to mesh.....motor mount holes won't allow for that small of pinion without a bigger spur without drilling. The gears were too far apart. Im taking it out on the rocks tomorrow to but I'm thinking im going to switch to the pinion to tge stock 20T. Motor mount should allow for that.

So I checked my gear mesh and it is good. But when I try to push the wraith by hand with the power off....it is hard to do. The wheels almost slide on the table but not quite.....they still roll a bit. That doesn't seem right. Not sure if its just my really low gearing and all. Se ER ms to run fine though.

Anyone have any insight?

Thanks.

[Sevastra]

You're not just fighting the spur and pinion when you try pushing it across the table, but the trans gears & diff gears as well. It should be stiff to push without any power. The next question is, do you notice anything else binding? Any wheel hop under power, etc? That could point to another potential problem. Should drive nice and smooth across a flat surface.

[GALLATIN RC]

Sevastra:
No problems when its running. Rolls smooth and sounds fine...except for the servo humming a bit. My first time with a digital but I understand that can be common.

Thanks for the response.

[GALLATIN RC]

After a hard day of crawling, the wraith was a monster. The 15T pinion and 87T spur made for a bit slow crawling, but no overheating on the 55T motor at all.

I decided to change up to an 18T pinion. Still slow, but the 4.8:1 ratio seems to give me the perfect mix of speed and power for what I'm looking for.

One thing maybe you guys can help me answer: I now hear a slight clicking sound when I go forward (not too loud, but noticeable). Seems to be coming from the transmission area. Only when the wraith is on the ground. If I hold the wraith off the ground, no clicking sound. No clicking in reverse either on or off the ground. After about a half hour of driving the new setup, I decided to take a look at the pinion and spur as that was the only thing I changed since my last crawl. The pinion and spur were all clean and there was not signs of wear on the plastic spur.

It rolls fine and besides the clicking, everything is just fine.

I leave Monday for a week trip to Moab to go crawling with the boy. If there is anything serious happening, I would like to repair before I head out. Any insight is greatly appreciated.

Cheers

[sdmf]

Sounds like when I blew up my rear gears. Have you checked inside the diff's? I would suggest upgrading if you did blow them out

[urecia]

I use the 55t motor too. Just like you I thought its cheap enough to buy and try out. 16t pinion. Then after I got my bec installed, I put 3s in and now its more gruntier and powerful before. Clicking noise could be from your pinion and spur meshed too close together? Cant really think of much more unless you messed with the shocks and height making the driveshafts uneven

[KBR97]

Replace the plastic transmission gear with a metal one. Or buy a whole new set (3), of metal transmission gears. I would do it before your trip to Moab.

[Sevastra]

Pull the cover and check the differential ring & pinion gears. Usually it's the front gears that die instead of the rears.

[GALLATIN RC]

Thanks Sevastra:

Yeah.....its looking like my differential could be the culprit. I see that Axial has a "heavy duty" gear set available for the differential. Is that the upgrade to get or is it another brand?

Also....I don't know squat about the ratio for the differential gears. Stick with the 38/13 for crawling?

I though shocks were my next upgrade......dang......dropping some coin into this build. I'd be pissed but its so damn nice. Gotta give the old lady another back rub for this.

Thanks for the help.