Wraith Spawn kit drivetrain upgrades?
 

I need help with my Wraith Spawn kit build for general bashing and trail running. I decided to go with Harley’s recommendations for the motor and ESC (Tekin roc 412 3100kv and 1/10 Mamba Max Pro ESC), so with that in mind, what upgrades should be made to the drivetrain? It’s my understanding that the latest Wraith kit includes a lot of upgrades from the previous releases and since the build guides here are several years old, the recommendations may not necessarily reflect this.

Currently, my planned upgrades include:
Steering linkages
Upper links
Vanquish Stage One Kit (C-hubs, knuckles, lockouts)

With my choice of electronics and the fact this is the Spawn kit, what else should I be looking at?

Re: Wraith Spawn kit drivetrain upgrades?
 

Steel trans gears, HD axle gears, lockers

Re: Wraith Spawn kit drivetrain upgrades?
 

If you plan on seeing any water, Holmes Hobbies now offers waterproof (to an extent) sensored brushless combos.

I would get the axial underdrive gears front and rear (AX30402), Holmes chromoly spools, steel transmission gears (AX30708 ), and a good servo with around 500oz combined with a BEC.

Re: Wraith Spawn kit drivetrain upgrades?
 

Hot racing makes the cheapest spools and they are good to go. I've been using the same motor/ESC combo on 3s for almost two years and they have held up great. Also I replaced all my trans gears with Robinson racing gears which have been trouble free as well. Also a good servo and BEC I use the castle bec and hitec 7955 servo. I'd skip the vanquish stage one kit and buy the scale chubs due to the upgraded way they clamp around the axle housing also the newer lock outs as they clamp around as well. Also you should replace all the links instead of just upper.

Re: Wraith Spawn kit drivetrain upgrades?
 

Why would I need to upgrade the lower links too? The kit already comes with aluminum lower links.

Re: Wraith Spawn kit drivetrain upgrades?
 

Its a bad design that is weak and will not slide over rocks as well as titanium or stainless.

Re: Wraith Spawn kit drivetrain upgrades?
 

Hmmm, maybe the question I should be asking is if there is anything new for the Wraith Spawn kit that doesn't need upgrading? Or should I just go by Harley's recommendations for previous Wraiths?

Re: Wraith Spawn kit drivetrain upgrades?
 

Regarding the transmission itself, is upgrading the gears to steel good enough for this electronics setup? As much as I'd like to go for a totally "bomb proof" build, I don't have the cash for it.

Re: Wraith Spawn kit drivetrain upgrades?
 

Yes. Steel gears alone make the trans 1000% more durable. I've run big power through one of my wraiths and everything else holds up fine.

I don't like the lower links. Aluminum or not. It's the rod ends that are weak. I use traxxas Revo pushrods for the lower links. Part #5319. They are direct fit other than shaving the skid just a tad where the rod end binds since they are straight. you'll see it when you put them in.

Re: Wraith Spawn kit drivetrain upgrades?
 

Regarding the differential gears: This is primarily going to be a trail rig--maybe some rock crawling, but mostly I want a vehicle to go on walks through the woods or various urban environments. Given that, should I change the gearing to under/overdrive, or keep it stock?

Re: Wraith Spawn kit drivetrain upgrades?
 

Stock ratio is good, also don't upgrade to hd gears right away. I've been running my stock ring and pinions for over a year, including some 4s usage and they are still holding up.

Re: Wraith Spawn kit drivetrain upgrades?
 

Great, thanks for all your advise! Time to start ordering parts.