First Wraith (Spawn); Impressions & Direction

[Necrotron]

I have been wanting a wraith for a few years. I finally pulled the trigger on the spawn kit and all I have to say is, "fun".

So much goodness out of the box, bits of metal that, as I understand, had not come with the previous kits. I have 3 packs through at the time of this post and am awaiting daylight to put another few through tomorrow. I get what all the fuss is about.

As is common, I am unsure of where to go with it, but likely something mad max inspired (I thought the film was silly but the cars were awesome). I am gonna run it as is until I get a break and i will update when i get said break. I would like to help show where axial has set the new benchmark with this particular kit.

sorry no flex shot, you all know what a wraith does...

electronics I am running:
Novak Crusher esc
Novak 13.5t sensored brushless
Venom 2c lipo
Savox 1210 sg
Spektrum 3ch
Spektrum DX3e

Everything is holding perfectly.

[mikebecher]

Put some lights on it so you don't have to wait until daylight!

Just out of curiosity, is your forward/reverse set the correct direction? I ran my Wraith with Novak ESC/motor combo 'backwards' for weeks . It wasn't until I realized that it was faster in reverse than forward that something was wrong. Once I got that worked out it was whole new level of fun!

[SCREAMER]

Congrats! I started with a Spawn too and I love mine. Just started my second Wraith build. Have fun and post adventure pics.

[Necrotron]

Originally Posted by mikebecher

Put some lights on it so you don't have to wait until daylight!

Just out of curiosity, is your forward/reverse set the correct direction? I ran my Wraith with Novak ESC/motor combo 'backwards' for weeks . It wasn't until I realized that it was faster in reverse than forward that something was wrong. Once I got that worked out it was whole new level of fun!

Had the same issue, I pulled the eloctronics from my Gelande 2 chassis. I sheared the c-hub bolts out of that soft cast axle housing so she is out of comission.

Here is my other crawler/scaler:



the wraith dwarfs her.

*So a couple things i noticed...
The springs that come with the kit are about 1 mm different in size and the same length as slash rear shocks.
There are far too many m2.whatever screws for my liking.
The rear battery position I actually like how it centers the vehicles weight.
I now have a new appreciation for every other person who has screwed the wraith cage together, by hand.

[Necrotron]

Today's run(s) :

I love the Wraith! It will climb over tons of stuff that hang up the scaler.

Got a weird squeaking noise, almost like a cricket, on the last pack through, so I pulled the tranny and chucked a center driveshaft spline in my drill and gave it a few good rotations. At first I thought it was the slipper, but I realized the noise was from in the case...

I think it is a bearing... which was fast, I greased the hell out of it and put it back together. the squeak stopped so now I don't know.

[SCREAMER]

It may be the drivelines themselves squeaking. Mine squeak pretty bad now and then.

[Necrotron]

Originally Posted by SCREAMER

It may be the drivelines themselves squeezing. Mine squeak pretty bad now and then.

i put a dab of grease in the cups, just to be sure. thanks for the tip.

[mikebecher]

Hit your bearings with a little oil after runs. I put a drop of CorrosionX on every exposed bearing and joint about once a week. Just be aware that oil and grease will attract dirt if you run in dry, dusty conditions. If that's the case, try some graphite or dry silicone lubricant.

[Necrotron]

A few more days and a few more packs (before rain stopped my fun) and I have a bit of an issue with the R30? compound that the kit comes with. there is some seriously noticeable rounding on the lugs already. the proline swampers on my scaler have been run for over a year with nothing close (as you can see from the pic i posted earlier in the thread) and I run the scaler pretty hard sometimes. of note this is my first experience with anything axial.

the cricket sound persists despite my best efforts to lubricate all the moving parts. I may try some Moly grease on the plastic bits in hopes it will cling a bit.

Also thinking about fabricating some side panels and a hood from aluminum but as I have never attempted such a thing I am a bit gun shy.

[WT's Pauly]

I too have a squeak similar to what you describe on my recently built Wraith spawn kit. Have about 5 hrs of runtime on her. Would be curious to know the cause if you get it sorted. Doesn't sound damaging but quite annoying

[Necrotron]

Here she is in all her painted glory dusting up some gravel pile.

I did get the squeak sorted finally. I moly greased the coupler male spline as well as all 4 ball cups in the driveline and aded a dab where the front drive shave exits the transmission below the spur cover as that is quite a tight area. the moly grease clung quite well to the plastic and is showing no sign of softening the plastic. Which is good.

Everything is still holding up perfectly after 6 packs. of note with the electrics I am using and the smoothness of the driveling a pack last me a little over an hour (5000 mah 25c Venom LiPo).


Also you may notice the "engine" protruding from the hood, under which lies the esc and radio. I used the radio box that came with the kit to put the the radio in and trimmed it slightly to get the esc to seat directly on top, as I don't run my rc's wet. I despise cleaning mud, right up there with poo

I installed the RC4WD inner wheel wells and those are totally worth the money. Honestly though I have no idea how long this body will stay on the truck as i think it looks a bit too "monster truck"...

anyway that's it for today.

[Necrotron]

another pack another pic, because why not...

[SCREAMER]

Looking good, like your idea of the stock manifold cover coming through the hood like a shaker. Glad you got rid of the crickets. An experienced friend told me it was my drivelines when I first started to hear it so I'm just trying to pass it on.

[Necrotron]

I knew I put "Necro" in my name for a reason. Here stands the Wraith currently. I upgraded the stock plastic steering bits, fabricated aluminum panels and made a styrene hood with a scoop, because my electrics are still up there. well that and i love hood scoops, lol.





Oh, I did have to swap the diff gears to the metal ones, but other than that she's still kit parts. that stuff holds up really well, but the upper links are starting to show their age for sure. they are getting a bit sloppy.