Just ordered Spawn kit, questions/advice needes

[Smonkman]

Just ordered my Spawn kit, and excited to build my first 2.2 kit. A couple questions:
1. I want to relocate the battery to the front but am concerned about moving the body on and off. Is there a better way to attach the body?
2. Is a 200 oz servo enough for these large tires? My hobby shop seemed to think so but I've read otherwise on the forum. If so I'd run a Savox 0231 which would save me money over the 1210.

That's all for now, I'm sure I'll need more help once the kit comes.

[mikl]

Moving the battery up front is a good idea. I have a Wraith and I used hinges to be able to lift the hood like a real car. I have seen some people cut the Spawn body so it has a hood as well and can be lifted. I think Harley has a video showing what he did. It may be in the budget build series. I have seen others do something similar as well.
For the servo, most advise to get as much torque as possible, only if you have metal steering links, clamping servo horn, and use a BEC! 200oz may be enough for what you are doing, but for these trucks you can never have enough torque. Generally 300oz plus is good.

[oldpunk]

You will save some money in the long run if you just buy the skid and axle housings. That's all that's left of our wraith. Hahaha

[SCREAMER]

I'd suggest looking for a servo in the 400oz/in+ range. These trucks tend to get heavier the more you build them and 400 has been my minimum from the beginning. It is by no means overkill. You can get a very nice Hitec 7954sh from eBay for less than $80 shipped and never worry about your servo again.

Relocating the battery is essential if you're trying to build an effective crawler. What I did for my spawn body was to ream the body holes on the sides large enough to fit body posts through. Then you can take the whole body off by pulling 4 body pins. I got a Traxxas battery hold down kit for a bandit I think and used those posts. They thread right into the same holes that are used for side panel attachment. This wasn't my original idea, I tried it after seeing someone else here do it. It works great. Good luck!

[DeviledEggs]

^^ I totaly agree about the servo. I have a 180oz/in servo in my scx10 and it barely cuts the 1.9 mustard. I put a 7954 in the wraith thinking it would be overkill. And now, in my nearly 9lb rig, its more like just enough- in fact I could use more. With steering, too much power is better than not enough...

[derek1387]

Overkill on a servo is always a good thing. You can always turn it down...cant always turn it up!

[johnnyluv]

It's a little pricey, but I recommend the BPC Wraith Battery Tray, which will not only relocate your battery forward, but strengthen your front end. It also comes with a hardware kit for propping your hood up, for ease of swapping batteries.

[Smonkman]

Went with the Savox 1210. Also ordered a Holmes CrawlMaster 540 13T to power the beast. Now the waiting begins.

[Traulus]

Mine was built from scratch.Just had the axles,cage and tranny.everything else its upgraded.probably thats how toull end up

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[CaptMatt15]

I have the Spawn RTR and I just placed some commercial grade velcro in the areas where the 4 screws are that hold the body to the cage. I just pop the velcro and get to my front mounted battery that way - I put the receiver box in the rear with a small polycarb plate I made to fit on the bars back there.

[Traulus]

For the battery tray i got one from ebay,from spain made of aluminum.it was 20$ and acomodates the battery and esc

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[Jindustries]

1st mod. Electric screwdriver.

All those damn screws. Lol

[Traulus]

Hahahaha.....when dealing with plastic i like my own hand.Don't wanna strip the thread.So be careful if ysing it in plastic thread

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[valheru]

Electric to remove/screw-in, but not to start/finish, that I do by hand. That way you don't cross-thread or strip the plastic.

[Cp7154]

Originally Posted by mikl

Moving the battery up front is a good idea. I have a Wraith and I used hinges to be able to lift the hood like a real car. I have seen some people cut the Spawn body so it has a hood as well and can be lifted. I think Harley has a video showing what he did. It may be in the budget build series. I have seen others do something similar as well.
For the servo, most advise to get as much torque as possible, only if you have metal steering links, clamping servo horn, and use a BEC! 200oz may be enough for what you are doing, but for these trucks you can never have enough torque. Generally 300oz plus is good.

I'm gonna kind of steal the thread but why do you need a bec when upgrading a servo? I use a 2s lipo, and on castles site is says bec are for large battery packs (3s+)to be scaled down

[mikl]

The BEC in an ESC's are weak, especially Castles. They can deliver the voltage but not the amps when under load. In a crawling situation the tires can get bound up pulling lot of amps. The BEC in an ESC can't deliver it. The internal BEC can support a servo when regular bashing or racing. Even then high draw servos like Savox can cause brown outs. An external BEC will deliver all the voltage and amps the servo needs.

[Cp7154]

Gottcha, so it acts like a capacitor?

[mikl]

I don't know about that, but because it is wired directly to the battery it can deliver as much power as needed. And they are adjustable, Castles external BEC can be adjustable through the Castle link.

[Cp7154]

Ok, thanks for clearing that up for me

[Smonkman]

Well, time to update my thread.
Finally got the rig built and painted earlier this week.
- Holmes Hobbies CrawlMaster 540
-Savox 1210
-Axial AE-5

It mostly stock aside from a vanquish stage 1 kit and beef tubes.

Took it out this morning for our weekly trail run (group of guys that meet every Sunday morning, we call it Dirt Church). It should have been an easy break-in day. Not extreme trailing, gradual up hill climb.

Then it happened, 40 min. into the run it slowed down and lost power. As soon as it stopped you could see smoke coming out of the motor, it was toast, literally. Unplugged everything and did the walk of shame while the rest of my group continued on.
Got home and pulled the motor out, it stunk. Disassembled the motor to take a look at the damage, that copper winding is fried! Completely black and burnt.
Since this is the first run, I've contacted Holmes about sending it in for warranty coverage.
In the mean time what would cause this? I'm running the stock 56/12 gear ratio on 2S, only run at walking speed. There's no binding in the driveline. Is the motor not strong enough to run the Wraith?
Would appreciate and and all advice.