Johnny's had a Wraith for almost 4 years and is only now posting about it.

[PoorManRC]

Those Tires look Badassness!!! Yes, looks are subjective, but the Performance can't be denied. I wouldn't mind a set of those for some conditions...
This is pushing me to get my Wraith done!!

[JohnnyAnguish]

With the last couple of posts showing an interest in the massive Mud Bashers, I figured I'd go try them out in a couple of different situations. So far they've proven to be pretty great in snow, mud and general trailing. What about on rocks and at speed? Tune in next week to find out!

Nah, here's what I found...

On rocks they grip pretty darn well. The problem is when they do break traction they become very unpredictable. Not really a huge surprise. Those big lugs dug in great. However, once they slipped they would cause the rig to hop around or kick up the front end. I suspect that softer foams (I've got CI Deuces Wild in there) or running them backwards would improve the grip slightly. I'm not sure if either would help the unpredictability. In the end I like the closed cell foams for these tires since I got them primarily for snow and mud. I've got other tires I can use in rocky situations.

Axial Wraith by johnny anguish, on Flickr

How are the tires at speed? Well, you might want to look elsewhere. Unless you're ripping a straight line through a mud bog. These things are huge and grippy which leads to near instant traction rolling. Again, no real surprises.


Axial Wraith by johnny anguish, on Flickr

I still dig the Mud Bashers for what they are.

[JohnnyAnguish]

The Wraith got a lot of trail time as the winter ended with some sloppy weather. It's gonna get a (well deserved) little break for some maintenance and maybe a couple tweaks.

In the meantime, here are a coupla pics...


Axial Wraith by johnny anguish, on Flickr


Axial Wraith by johnny anguish, on Flickr


Axial Wraith by johnny anguish, on Flickr


Axial Wraith by johnny anguish, on Flickr

[JohnnyAnguish]

I was thinking I'd like to add some black into this rig's color scheme and stripes are easy. I wasn't sure if I'd like them, though, so I derped it...


Axial Wraith Build by johnny anguish, on Flickr

[JohnnyAnguish]

Here's the Wraith all cleaned up and ready to hit the trails again. Hopefully a little maintenance gets me many more miles of trouble free driving. I suspect I'll need to replace the knuckles soon, as the screws seem to be loosening up every so often. Other than that and some rusty screw heads, things looked good.

So, a little maintenance, Plastidip and LockedUp RC Gear Jammer wheels gives us this...


Axial Wraith Build by johnny anguish, on Flickr


Axial Wraith Build by johnny anguish, on Flickr

[JohnnyAnguish]

The Wraith was an absolute beast back out on the trails. Still needs a stronger servo, though...


Axial Wraith by johnny anguish, on Flickr


Axial Wraith by johnny anguish, on Flickr


Axial Wraith by johnny anguish, on Flickr

[ussprinceton2004]

I like the picture with the live snake

[JohnnyAnguish]

Well, this rig crossed the 100 trail mile mark over the weekend. Not too shabby...


Axial Wraith by johnny anguish, on Flickr


Axial Wraith by johnny anguish, on Flickr


Axial Wraith by johnny anguish, on Flickr

[JohnnyAnguish]

The Spektrum servo that's been in this rig since day one had been reliable, but never really had the oomph it needed to toss the wheels around once it started to gain weight with all the mods. I figured notching 100 miles on the trail was as good a time as any for an upgrade. I decided to try out the Reef's RC Triple 4 after RPP started carrying them. I know there's equal parts buzz and skepticism around these servos. Let's see how this works out...


Axial Wraith Build by johnny anguish, on Flickr


Axial Wraith Build by johnny anguish, on Flickr

[mprudic0404]

i am very curious how you like that servo, as they are priced right. Can anyone confirm if they are full titanium gears, or just coated?

(if they are full titanium, then a regrease can be costly, titanium prefers a certain grease for maximum life)



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[JohnnyAnguish]

I had the Wraith out for a shakedown run this morning. It was a pretty tame outing. So far so good. The servo seems reasonably strong, centers well and is super quiet. I'm not sure it feels as strong as it claims. I need to push it much harder to find out. My biggest concern is long-term reliability. That'll take a while to know.


Axial Wraith by johnny anguish, on Flickr