Imthatguy's Yeti XL Review/Teardown

[imthatguy]

Before I start, I must thank the good folks at Axial for sending me this pre-release Yeti XL. I'm honoured to have the opportunity to offer my opinion on a new and exciting product. THANK YOU!

I'm going to do this review in a couple of parts. First, an exhaustive box and contents review.

The box is huge.



You can fit three Wraith boxes in a box this size, maybe more. It's also quite good for building a fort, or if you have a good imagination, a rocket ship. There's no real way to appreciate it's size. Shipping things this size will definitely cost extra.

Lucky for me, inside this box, was yet another gorgeous box. Roughly the same size as the box that this box was in. I imagine that the average customer won't get both boxes. The advantage of having the privilege of reviewing a pre-release product, I imagine.



There's a lot of pretty graphics describing the contents. Once I get to the specifics, I'll touch on all the things they mention. There's a lot of innovation here that's definitely new to me.



A instruction book and Axial standard 2.4 Ghz radio are the first things that came out of the box. There's nothing new to this radio, it's the same model that comes with all of Axial's RTR vehicles.



Next, I was presented with a number of spare parts bags and a tool which I can only imagine is for warding off evil spirits. The Power of 6S compels you! It's also pretty awesome that Axial upsized their driver heads which first appeared on the Deadbolt. They look to be a similar scale as a Wild Willy head, so imagine the comedy of putting one of them on that body!



And now, the Yeti XL!






This thing is huge. Coming from a 9th/10th scale background, it takes a bit of getting used to. When I received the original Yeti, it took me some time to get over it's size. 2.2's have always seemed sort of the maximum size I could comprehend, so imagine my surprise. Here it is up against the Yeti Jr.





This version of the Yeti is completely new. I can't find a single carryover from any of Axial's other releases. The rear axle is massive, and very beefy on initial inspection.




The way that the driveshaft is integrated into the axle is a pretty trick design. I'll have to pull it apart to learn a bit more about it. This might be a new innovation, or it's something that's typical to this scale. I admit, that Monsters like this, and I guess, the Revo, or HPI (insert name of truck I can't remember) are not something I have much experience with.



The front diff, and in fact, all of the front drivetrain elements are a lot more rigid than I thought based on pictures from the pre-release photos. There was some concern that things weren't going to be strong enough or the plastic might be too bendy. Looks plenty strong to me. I'll save my final answer for after I've actually driven it, but I can say that there's some unique touches to the rear trailing arms that sandwich multiple pieces of plastic together for added strength. And as a byproduct, cheaper, easier replacement of individual bits, rather than the whole thing. Smart.





Nice to see some aluminum inserts holding the front to the main chassis.

Getting at the electronics is as easy as removing two body clips. The body is hinged to the chassis at the rear. Nice. Taking the body off completely requires unscrewing two screws that clip the body to the hinge assembly. Power comes from what looks like a rebranded Castle Mamba Monster mated to a 2200kv brushless motor. I'm a little scared of it. 6S seems like absolute insanity to me. I like the way the batteries mount on either side of the chassis. Fitting a 5000mAh 3S battery looks like it might be a bit tight. I'll give it a fit test tomorrow. I'm worried about the lack of torque from the included servo. 151 oz/inches doesn't seem like much for a truck of this weight. We'll see how that holds up, maybe it'll surprise me. I'm still running all the stock stuff in the Yeti Jr, so who knows?




I can definitely see a few future vehicles coming from this platform. Perhaps there's even a solid front axle version in the works...

I'm excited to take this out for a shakedown. And a video!

If you've got any measurement questions, or any questions at all, I'll do my best to answer them.

Stay tuned...

[Maddog Madigan]

Thanks for sharing. Lucky you

[jeepnvinny]

I am excited for you!lol I can't wait until you get some batteries in it to see how it holds up. Thanks for the write up so far!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[binaryterror]

I'm concerned about how quickly the unboxing went - I believe the box needs more details before we can move on to the actual included free prize inside the box.

[RubHamuSan]

This thing is huge! I work at a hobbytown and they sent us actual size signs to put out and I was in ahhh of it's size. 3.8 wheels are huge!

[67mustang]

Can you tell or show us what is under that dust cover that covers the first few inches of the mainchassis?

[Cainlord]

nice pics!

Can you take measurements of the battery tray?

Is the servo horn plastic or alloy?

[pardonmyn00b]

Can we get a picture of you inside the box to see how big it is? By the way, what scale are you?

[Lentsnh2012]

Originally Posted by Cainlord

Is the servo horn plastic or alloy?

Looks plastic to me.

[imthatguy]

Originally Posted by Maddog Madigan

Thanks for sharing. Lucky you

Thanks for following along!

Originally Posted by jeepnvinny

I am excited for you!lol I can't wait until you get some batteries in it to see how it holds up. Thanks for the write up so far!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I can't wait to get some batteries in it! Work is prohibiting me from making the video I want though, as well as the weather. Thanks for following along.

Originally Posted by binaryterror

I'm concerned about how quickly the unboxing went - I believe the box needs more details before we can move on to the actual included free prize inside the box.

There's a box report on my box related forum. www.boxesboxesboxes.com.

Originally Posted by RubHamuSan

This thing is huge! I work at a hobbytown and they sent us actual size signs to put out and I was in ahhh of it's size. 3.8 wheels are huge!

It's so big I have to keep it in its own bedroom.

Originally Posted by 67mustang

Can you tell or show us what is under that dust cover that covers the first few inches of the mainchassis?

There's nothing under there except the steering appendages and a very large driveshaft to the front diff.

Originally Posted by Cainlord

nice pics!

Can you take measurements of the battery tray?

Is the servo horn plastic or alloy?

Thanks! Battery tray is 35mmDx50mmHx170mmL. Servo horn is plastic out of the box.

Originally Posted by pardonmyn00b

Can we get a picture of you inside the box to see how big it is? By the way, what scale are you?

I'm thinking of making it into a robot costume for Hallowe'en. You can have a picture of that. I'm about 1/1th scale.

Originally Posted by Lentsnh2012

Looks plastic to me.

Yes, plastic. There's a lot of plastic, but it's got a bit of give, which I imagine is better than something that's just going to break.


A few more details. The inside of the rear axle,



Fairly strong looking parts here. Interesting that the shafts are dog bones. I wonder how those will hold up over the long term.



Big strong metal hexes with a pin that goes all the way through. Strong! These wheelnuts were exceedingly difficult to get off. Expect stripped bolts if you're as hamfisted as me.



The receiver box is housed under the ESC. Waterproof, as expected.

[lawhorn_derrick]

Pretty awesome! Thing is a monster

[Cainlord]

how do the rear swing arms feel?


Speaking of the dimensions, did you measure these?

Reason I ask is that on axial's site they are saying this:

Length: 6.89in (175mm)
Height: 1.3in (33mm)
Width: 1.7in (43mm)

If you dimensions are correct which at least for width I am thinking you are more right than axial as a standard ROAR pack is looking like 45mm - 47mm, looks like the maxamps 9000mah 2S battery will fit the tray, even the hardcase version.

LiPo 9000XL 2-cell 7.4v Battery Pack, LiPo 9000mah XL Packs, Lipo-9000XL-74-Pack

could almost fit the 12000mah XL version too, maybe with the tray bending slightly.

LiPo 12000XL 2-cell 7.4v Battery Pack, LiPo 12000mah XL Packs, Lipo-12000XL-74-Pack

The following from SMC appear like they would work too and appear to be very affordable:

http://www.smc-racing.net/index.php?...product_id=203

[millzee]

Great review so far, keep up the good work!
What size hex's and wheel nuts are they?

[imthatguy]

Originally Posted by Cainlord

how do the rear swing arms feel?


Speaking of the dimensions, did you measure these?

Reason I ask is that on axial's site they are saying this:

Length: 6.89in (175mm)
Height: 1.3in (33mm)
Width: 1.7in (43mm)

If you dimensions are correct which at least for width I am thinking you are more right than axial as a standard ROAR pack is looking like 45mm - 47mm, looks like the maxamps 9000mah 2S battery will fit the tray, even the hardcase version.

LiPo 9000XL 2-cell 7.4v Battery Pack, LiPo 9000mah XL Packs, Lipo-9000XL-74-Pack

could almost fit the 12000mah XL version too, maybe with the tray bending slightly.

LiPo 12000XL 2-cell 7.4v Battery Pack, LiPo 12000mah XL Packs, Lipo-12000XL-74-Pack

The following from SMC appear like they would work too and appear to be very affordable:

Factory Spec 7.4V 9400mAh 60C Deans

I'd say they were pretty conservative with their measurements, to make sure that a battery would fit, and I could be off by a bit. Depth was the most difficult to accurately measure. As pictured, a standard 2S 5000mah hard case will fit with room to spare.

[Cainlord]

cool. Hopefully that is the case as I am very keen on seeing if these SMC lipos would work out for maximum runtime.

[doudou]

Originally Posted by millzee

Great review so far, keep up the good work!
What size hex's and wheel nuts are they?

same questions , and thank s for sharing

[imthatguy]

Originally Posted by doudou

same questions , and thank s for sharing

17mm Hex and 5mm nut.

[Cainlord]

Do you notice any play between the wheel hex and the wheel itself? basically like the stock wheel could fit more snug?

[imthatguy]

Originally Posted by Cainlord

Do you notice any play between the wheel hex and the wheel itself? basically like the stock wheel could fit more snug?

Maybe a tiny bit, but it might just be a natural bit of play. It's at most a millimetre or two.

[kikcaffine]

That rear dogbone/doff set is how pretty much every 8th scale setup is.