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Thread: Guesstrain's Wraith

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Old 03-28-2014, 08:50 PM   #1
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Just recently got in to the crawler side of RC and have to say.... i am hooked!
Bought a Wraith RTR about two months ago and am having a lot of fun with it. I know this isn't a super build or anything but wanted to post this for a few reasons. First, i have found a lot of good info and tips on these forums and beings all the mods and tweaks i have done i have found here i wanted to show them off. Second, i am hoping this will be a good avenue for help and suggestions as i get more in to my Wraith and with this side of the hobby. And third.. to get to know the community here.

My Wraith so far.. Have only done a few upgrades at this point and plan on most upgrades to be done as stuff brakes, have mostly done cheap mods and tweaks for aesthetics. Added the STRC steering links, flipped the lower shock mounts, moved the battery and all electronics up under the hood and switched out the stock spur and pinion for either a 14/87 or 16/87 setup, don't remember which right now, to help the motor last a little longer.

Like i said.. i am new to crawlers so any help, recommendations or even constructive criticism or comments will be appreciated.

So on to the pics....

Won't bother posting the stock Wraith as most know what it looks like... First i hacked the back of the cage, painted the chassis and fabbed my own body panels.




After fitting the body panels they got paint, added the links for the fastback mod and mounted the rear lights in the body.




Oh yeah...and added the drivers.

A few things that arrived this week that i will be working on when i have time....

Found a set of used RC4WD wheels for a good price and ordered some CI foams and some new Ripsaws to go with..



Ordered the Axial Universal Light Buckets, lights and wiring and an Exo radiator.




And painted some of the interior. Used spray on bedliner for the interior, and spruced up the steering wheel and gear shifts.


Last edited by THX_138; 05-10-2014 at 01:17 AM.
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Old 03-28-2014, 10:02 PM   #2
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Love the black and orange paint scheme. Can I ask what was the thickness of the aluminum you got, and what did you cut it up with?
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Old 03-28-2014, 11:55 PM   #3
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It's .040 aluminum, lightest gauge we had in the shop at the time, I believe a lot of people use lighter gauges for the panels. I used a set of tin snips and a file. Hoping to get a dremel soon to help make the tighter inside cuts cleaner instead of filing them down.
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Old 03-29-2014, 05:17 AM   #4
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I like the way the interior turned out with the bedliner. Looks good
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Old 03-29-2014, 04:38 PM   #5
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I love the terrain down in Ramona. And those wild turkeys. Are you in town or out on the rez?
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Old 03-29-2014, 04:43 PM   #6
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Out in the Country Estates, grew up in town. Yeah there's a lot of places I still want to check out with the crawler. Lot of good spots out here.

Thanks!

Mounted the interior back in, extended the steering wheel. Saw someone post that they just split the steering column in half, drilled out the center of both halves and connected them with a long machine bolt... worked great. had originally painted the bolt black to try and blend it but didn't like it so i just fitted some heat shrink to hide the threads. Think it came out good.. gives it more of a smooth look.


Fabbed up a bed and coated it with the spray on bed liner and installed the radiator. Was trying to figure how to mount it since i didn't leave a flat spot on the bed when i saw all the mounts that came with the light bucket kit. Was real quick and easy and doesn't look half bad IMO.



Also mounted the new wheels.


Saw someone post about how the STRC steering link starts dropping after while. Unfortunately i had already bought mine and it started drooping after first decent run, and constantly keeps doing it now. First pic is how it should lay, second it after it droops. Pretty much rests on the diff cover once it droops. Guessing this probably isn't the best thing.


Last edited by THX_138; 05-10-2014 at 01:18 AM.
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Old 03-29-2014, 11:37 PM   #7
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Awesome panel work!
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Old 03-30-2014, 11:04 PM   #8
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Adjust the rod ends on the tierod so that they are almost perpendicular, that way the rocks don't hit the link and loosen it up. I would also add some shims made of nitro fuel tubing to one or both sides of the rod ends to clean up the slop.
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Old 03-31-2014, 06:50 AM   #9
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Thanks, will have to check and see if I still have some fuel tube laying around.

Wanted to mount some lights at the rear but with where i mounted the radiator not much room was left at the rear of the cab. Figured i would see what i could do with the light bezel that came with the radiator. Ended up trimming the sides of the bezel down a little to match the angle of the links and made up a light shroud out of some aluminum and painted to match. Haven't wired it up yet, just test fitting. What do you all think? Look good? Bad?




Last edited by THX_138; 05-10-2014 at 01:15 AM.
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Old 04-06-2014, 05:54 PM   #10
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Great way to mount the lights. Nice fab work.
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Old 04-06-2014, 07:07 PM   #11
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Really cool mod

Sent from my LG-E980 using Tapatalk
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Old 04-06-2014, 08:35 PM   #12
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I like the rear lights. It's different, stands out, looks good, and could also pass as a spoiler. Lets see it get wired up!
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Old 04-06-2014, 09:11 PM   #13
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Hopefully by next weekend... working 6 days a week, 10 hour days and kids sports on Sunday doesn't leave a whole lot of time.
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Old 04-07-2014, 06:52 PM   #14
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Thanks for the comments. Really having fun with this thing, glad my friend put the bug in my ear about crawlers. There's a lot more I would like to do with this rig, just need the time and money...haha.
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Old 04-17-2014, 06:30 AM   #15
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Going to have some time this weekend an am planning to do a little maintanace on the Wraith. Haven't done anything to any of the internal gearing an want to go through and clean and relube/grease the gears. Hoping to get some suggestions/tips on what is good to use as far as lube/grease. Use the same on transmission and axle gears or different types? Thanks.

Last edited by Guesstrain; 04-17-2014 at 06:34 AM.
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Old 04-18-2014, 09:50 AM   #16
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Any suggestions/tips on what is good to use for lubing/greasing transmission/diff gears?

Finished wiring up the rear lights. Added some wire braiding to help hide the wiring as well. Just waiting on some "Y" leads to get everything running together.




Product of a day off and the family out on errands...


Last edited by THX_138; 05-10-2014 at 01:19 AM.
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Old 05-01-2014, 06:03 PM   #17
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Took a while, but finally got all the lights all in and running together. Definitely not an LED set up but gives enough light to get around my rock pile. Not the best pic, but it was dark.


And with all the added wiring from the light things were getting crowded up front. So i modified the stock electronics box and turned it in to a fuel sell in the rear to hold the Rx and and some wiring. Looks ok, wouldn't mind added a little more detail to it though.



Looking to purchase a new motor here shortly and am leaning towards a HH. Currently am running the stock RTR esc. Mostly do crawling but it wouldn't hurt to have a little more speed than the stock 20t in the RTR Wraith. Also wouldn't mind the ability to possibly bump up to 3s batteries. So basically I am just looking for feedback on what Holmes motors people are using and how they like them before I purchase, kind of liking the $35-45 range he has on some of the motors. Thanks.

Last edited by THX_138; 05-10-2014 at 01:20 AM.
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Old 05-08-2014, 07:52 PM   #18
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I used the torque master sport...expert....and pro...the sport and expert were 27t and the pro was a 30t.

I liked the speed and torque on 3s running 5.09 ratio...plenty of wheel speed when i needed it and smooth as silk low end...

I went to brushless because i am terrible when it comes to maintaining the brushed motors...but they are absolutely great motors!
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Old 05-08-2014, 08:05 PM   #19
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I'm in the same boat, wanting to get a HH set-up now. I sent them a contact form the other day, no response yet. Money is burning a hole in my wallet!!! I think I'm going to go with the CrawlMaster 13T unless HH advises differently.

No problem, I love wrenching on my Wraith.

Last edited by THX_138; 05-10-2014 at 01:21 AM.
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Old 05-08-2014, 08:18 PM   #20
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Would love to go brushless, just don't have the money to throw at this thing yet.
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