opinoins wanted on a new wraith....

[fifan74]

So i have decided to get back into my addition to rc's and im pretty sure the wraith is what i want. A couple weeks ago i asked about what everyone thought of the all billet integy wraith,
Billet Machined 1/10 VFX2.2 Roll Cage Type Trail Racer 4WD Scale Crawler ARTR for R/C or RC - Team Integy
that one, and only one response and hand negative respomse. I have a habbit of putting as many billet parts on my rig as i can...too many years as a machinist i guess.
Anyhow i am currious to know what everyones thoughts were for a wraith build from the ground up including radio,battery,charger. I would like to go brushless. I have 1200 to get it going.
Thanks in advance for any and all input.

[mikl]

Everyone will have their own opinion on what their wraith should be. I think that's part of the fun and appeal of this truck. I don't know about all billet as it can add a lot of weight and may not add any performance. But if that's your thing, have at it. I'm sure it will be great. I know I have bought plenty of pats just because they look cool.
Opinions will be all over the map when it comes to your specific questions. For me I have used Spekrtum radio gear for several years with out issues but others don't like it. I like Tekin products and run a ROC motor but pair it with a Castle MMP esc. My other choice would be from Holmes Hobbies. I use a 3s battery and a Hyperion charger.
I would read through the stickies at the top of this forum. There is a lot of great info and lots of opinions and options. I also went back and read through old build threads to get ideas of what would work over the long term.
Brouse throughout the the vendor threads as well. There are a lot of quality vendors that help.
Good luck, have fun doing what you like and post a build thread so we can see your progress

[Sevastra]

Avoid the Integy parts. They'll fail you on minor obsticles and leave you frustrated for wasting the money on them.

As for the build, $1,200 can build you a very nice Wraith. What you have to decide is what you want to set it up for.

How are you going to use this RC? Rock Racing? Trails? Crawling? Go fast? It all makes a difference in how it needs to be setup.

[mr.rick]

I agree everyone sets up their wraith differently. If I can make one suggestion it would be to decide what you want to use it for and build from there. If you don't have a direction just drive it til it breaks and replace things as needed. If not it gets very easy to start throwing money at this thing buying cool stuff to throw on. You'll have a few trial and error purchases but be patient and figure out what works for you and your driving style. Don't do what I did and buy a bunch of stuff right away that you may or may not need. The only suggestion I would have is to stay away from the rc4wd racelines and pitbull rock beast tire combo... those beadlocks don't like super hick beads and I killed 2 pairs of tires before just buying different wheels.... several hundred dollars in wheels and tires later I found the combo that works best for me. It's a learning experience, enjoy it!

[maslin]

Originally Posted by mr.rick

The only suggestion I would have is to stay away from the rc4wd racelines and pitbull rock beast tire combo... those beadlocks don't like super hick beads and I killed 2 pairs of tires before just buying different wheels.... several hundred dollars in wheels and tires later I found the combo that works best for me. It's a learning experience, enjoy it!

Best combo I've ever had. Going on 2 years straight, 4 or 5 hours running a week. Gotta sand the razor edge off the beadlock ring, then all is good.

[fifan74]

Thanks all for the input and suggestions. As for the direction it will only ever be a weekend toy/basher as i am not now nor have i ever been into competing. I love the scale look and from spending so many easter weekends in moab utah i would love to build a rig that reminds of those years. As i said in my first post i dont really care for the stock look but dont want to build something that is going to break on me.... im a tad rough on my cars...good thing my tr and tc5 could never tell stories...lol. i am rather fond of the castle/mamba esc and motor gear but not sure they make something that is crawler specific and i have liked all my spektrum gear as well.
Is it worth it to buy a kit if you plan on replacing motor,esc,radio,axles(like i said i dig the alloy stuff) shocks....ect?? can a rig be built from the ground up in that price range, give or take a few hundred bucks?
Once again thanks for all your help.

[kingfuzz]

I built mine with the same questions. It turned out to be all about what I wanted to do with it. I chose trail hiking a some crawling so chose the brushed less speed route. I bought the Wraith kit, HH motor/esc of course, savor waterproof servo and 2s/3s lips. I run HH recommended gearing and am switching from King Offroad 110mm shocks to the Proline Powerstrokes shocks all around. I couldn't be happier. All in all I am around the 1500 range. Small part of my price is the DMG stiffy kit that I would recommend to anyone interested!!!

Just find out what you want to most with it (weekend bashing) and then go from there. ROC412/RX8 would be a good way to go and should last a long time. Then just upgrade other parts as they break.

[fr8cture]

Just go to the vanquish website and stock up if you want aluminum.

[Vitamin J]

I'll agree with the integy quality being poor...I've got a Traxxas Slash 4x4 and won't put Integy stuff on it....I've been doing research on replacement parts for mine as well...it's sitting at home waiting on me....i'm away on a work trip....so I got nothing better to do that sit in the hotel room looking at pics and parts for Wraiths.

[TacoCrawler]

the only necessary upgrades are...

metal steering links/servo horn

metal suspension links (at least the lowers)

hardened metal gears in the trans.

all steel drive shaft(s) - (optional) / (subjective to abuser-voltage)

( I use the axial Deadbolt drive shafts designed WB8's.
But the stock one's hold up if ya fill the core of the male (inner) shaft
with a 6mm plastic dowel, left over from the plastic parts trees, works great. )

blue locktite on every screw that threads into metal.


Most everything else is just personal taste - individuality.
aka = the wallet buster illness Lol

[fifan74]

Thanks for all the great input... started the spending, went with the poision spider kit with a yet to be detirmined dmg kit... thinking long back but have asked him what the diff is between that and the trailing arm kit. looking at the 4 channel spektrum radio and the waterproof savox servos... should i hold out on them and wait another month for the hitec servos?? ordered the winch and controller and top cad shocks and looking at the billet upgrade by top cad as well. looks like i wont be going brushless till next month...lol oh well. any brands i should look at for the tranny gears and driveshafts??

[DeviledEggs]

Seems like youre on the right track. The PS kit comes with alloy links which should last a good while. As far as the topcad stuff, it seems to be on about the same level as integy. If those shocks leak, maybe look into Proline or Traxxas.

Personally, I built my kit with a focus on the trans and drivetrain. I started with a VP tranny case and a set of fast eddy bearings and went from there. Robinson racing/ axial steel gears, Super Shafty outputs and mip driveshafts. The axles are stuffed with beef tubes and axial hd gears with VP knuckles and Cs. Id rather be over-axled and under-powered than vice-versa. That said, the Holmes 30t torquemaster is no slug on 3s.

As to your servo question. I do like the fact that Hitec really seems to stand behind their products when it comes to warranty issues and customer service. Ive had very good experience with my 7954sh so far and plan to stick with hitec in the future. I do have a wp Savox 0231 servo in my scx10 that has served me pretty well but with half the power of the Hitec, its not fair to compare the two. Really anything in 300-400 oz/in torque range would work but you can go higher. Just remember that these high voltage servos need to be powered via an external bec. Most people use the Castle unit.

Thats my two cents. Novel over...

[ussprinceton2004]

try to get SuperShafty parts and run roc412 on 3S with that $1,200 budget

[fifan74]

Once again thanks for all the input and advice... i wish i would have known about this forum 6 yrs ago when i first started getting into crawlers... oh well live and learn. i have just about everything sorted except motor and esc and im pretty sure i am going with tekin for the motor just not sure on the esc

Once again thanks for all the help.... i will post some pics once i get all the parts....