Newbie XR10 & a Bunch of Questions...

[Sneetches]

So I have this XR10 here that I got in a trade a long while back whenever I thought I was gonna get more into comp crawling. Well skip a whole year of it sitting on the shelf after the group died down and I decided no point in it sitting around anymore, time to drive this damn thing. Got about 15 batteries through it and boom went the servo on a good landing from a rock. So, finally I have to tear into this piece of alien technology. I have so many questions, so far I've found some of the answers but I need you guys to help with the rest. I will put all my listed questions at the bottom of the pics.

First things first, the rig in question:







As far as I know, it's a Secret Agent chassis, Vanquish axle halves? (the bottom halves are plastics), Vanquish transmission cases, Vanquish upper link mounts, Vanquish knuckles & Chubs. Holmes Crawlmaster 13t? motors, Smashed Sidewinder 1/18 v1 ESCs.
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Now, here was the first mystery to me after taking the wheels off... why only half a weight?




*Removes weight from other knuckle* Oh....wtf
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Ok, mystery #2, here's where I need help...what is this rear axle?



I tried to pull this axle out to investigate, but that thing won't budge at all, so I'm thinking that its somehow clamped in there? Either way, the threaded portion is 5mm and accepts an 8mm locknut, but the smooth portion above it is 6mm thick, and it has some kind of plastic spacer on it.

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Oh what fun, whenever I went to unplug the servo I decided the electronics might as well get pulled out. I was greeted with the "rat nest"...



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The dead servo in question:



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Ok so congratulations, you've made it this far, now onto the questions:

1. Again, what're the rear axles? I seem to be drawing a blank here...

2. Are the Sidewinder 1/18 v1 ok to use or is it just worth upgrading them? If so, Sidewinder V2s or Holmes Minis?

3. How do I mount a body on this thing? Or should I go with those cab panels that everyone else seems to run? For the bodied ones I've seen these threaded rods that clamp to your standoffs but I don't know what that part is or who makes it.

4. Is it worth getting proper knuckle weights or just going to something like the DLux Knuckles?

5. I know the truck has been used a bit and was definitely used before I got it, is it worth sending the Crawlmasters back for a rebuild or how would I know how well they're running?

Thanks for any help, if there's anything else I need to know about this thing just let me know, the XR10 is foreign technology to my newb scaler self. Otherwise, I have a decent to-do list with this rig and it might take a while to get to with so much other stuff going on, so in no particular order: Rebuild shocks, new tires, new motor guards/skids, redo electronics setup, battery plate, new servo, new wheels, new body/body panels...

[snapon boy]

Look at a promoddler v4 servo. You have some very nice parts on your rig. Some of them I've never seen before just herd adout, rare hard to find stuff. The castle escs ate fine so are the Motors. Rebuilding the motors is a good idea. The vp brass knuckles weight is an odd thing to see that way. Possibly try to put them on the bottom of the chubs

149 r/c worx /scalerfab Team Driver

[Robbob]

Rear Axle is probably an old Hulkster, you'd have to pull the topper off and show the whole thing to be positive. He made them in 5mm and 6mm diameter and they used the 8mm nuts. I have a set at home so thats why I remember those.

The Sidewinders are good ..... clip the white wire on the motor side since youre not running brushless. You can update to the latest firmware through the castle link but there was a version cut off for being able to run 4S if you chose to. I forgot what version it was but my old Chump RT XR thread shows it.

Mounting a body ....... Gunnars body mounts, just wrap them around the chassis braces. OR do like it looks previous owner did and mangle a screw through the delrin.

Crawlmasters .... depends. If the comms have been hammered on or rebuilt to many times they theyre done. Either have a motor guy take a look at them, pull them apart and measure the comm or just send them to Holmes and see if theyre rebuildable. They will work and are good motors but if its in the budget then an upgrade to Broods or Holmes Pullers is somethign I would look at.

The knuckles Im assuming are cut in half to drop weight. The only secure mounting for those was the top half so thats probably why they did that. It really limits you now though to adding and adjusting weight.

You could go with RCBros hangers and the delrin 1100 hangers we make for tungsten slugs as a budget friendly way. If other things are waisted then Dlux setup may be a better option over replacing Vp stuff.

I would reccommend at least swapping over to Wraith knuckles though. The XR ones are fine but only have one set of holes for the RCBros mounts if you choose that direction. The Wraith knuckles have two sets of holes to mount the hangers on. Ive seen and torn my own mounts using only one tang on them, go with the double tang to be safe.


Ive never had a JR servo that didnt blow up on me in a crawler. I would switch to a Hitec 7950 or if you dont have or want to run a bec then get a Holmes (dont know the model) servo that has the BEC internally already.

Hope that helps ..... I can say you're sitting on a gem of a truck though with what you say is in it. Def can be a contender after a little upgrading and cleaning.

[Sneetches]

Snapon boy: I have 2 ProModelers in my trail rigs, but it looks to me like they've been removed from the site. As far as I know, the owner didn't mind upgrading the 420s but they definitely weren't his main interest money wise.

Robbob: Thanks on both accounts, I didn't get the axles out yet but they definitely seem to be the Hulksta axles judging by pictures. I also found Gunnar's thread so I will get 2 sets of those ordered so the Sporty can have some too. Otherwise, I currently have a 7950TH and an SHV500 waiting to be put in so now the question becomes which the sporty or MOA should get.

Just need to get the electronics forward, the wiring cleaned up, and the battery up front mainly.

[snapon boy]

I emailed John and he made me some of the servos. Rcbros has xr10 battery trays for the axle

149 r/c worx /scalerfab Team Driver