A month with a Yeti XL

[marsterg]

I thought I would give a short account of my first month with the Yeti XL. I was originally sold on the smaller Yeti and sold my Vaterra Glamis Uno to get one, but I have to say that I was somewhat disappointed. The Vaterra was more fun for me but that's a different story. Then I saw the Yeti XL version and convinced the wife to get me an early Christmas present. The XL is much better.

First things first - the XL needs a rear sway bar. I don't think the car should be sold without one, and if it must be, then the full sway bar should really be available for purchase. The "sway bar parts", part number AX31029, is available from Tower and you will need two of them but the bar itself cannot be bought yet. Worse still, the sway bar parts need a sway bar with threaded ends to make use of them.

So I made my own sway bar using Traxxas links and 1/8 inch music wire. After a while I made a sway bar for the front as well, which reduces rollovers and keeps the inside rear wheel down when cornering. Pics below. Other changes include a much better servo (Savox 1256TG), metal servo arm, Lunsford titanium turnbuckles for the steering links and futaba r304sb receiver with temperature sensor to hook up to my Futaba 4pls radio.

The Yeti XL is marginally better than my 1/10th scale Summit. If the Yeti had the Summit's remote locking diffs, it would be streets ahead.





The XL is also big enough for onboard video. I made a short video using a Mobius camera using a unique angle inspired by joerc2013. Enjoy.

Yeti XL - YouTube

[relay1]

Wow, I love the cam angles in the video, nicely done! What rod ends and ball did you use on the front sway bar? Is that a ball with separate collar or is it one piece?

[I4C4LO]

Nice video. What were you using to capture that video including hardware (please)?

[millzee]

That looks to handle much better, thanks for that.

[marsterg]

Originally Posted by relay1

Wow, I love the cam angles in the video, nicely done! What rod ends and ball did you use on the front sway bar? Is that a ball with separate collar or is it one piece?

Thanks, but all credit to joerc2013 for inspiration for the camera angles. Check out his yeti video on his JPRC youtube channel.

It's hard to give exact part numbers for the front sway since I just used parts that I already had. I believe the rod ends are from a set of hot racing slash 4x4 sway bars that I no longer needed. The ball and collar are one piece, like this ofna part (OFN30341), but I don't know what rod ends those will fit.

[marsterg]

Originally Posted by I4C4LO

Nice video. What were you using to capture that video including hardware (please)?

Thanks. The video was recorded with a Mobius ActionCam. Try Mobius ActionCam for more information. I attached the camera to a "selfie stick" that was a bit of a joke gift. It's very handy though they are cheap and it is easy to attach the Mobius to the end using a standard tripod screw.

If you take the roof panel off the yeti xl, you can simply velcro the selfie stick to the roll cage and you will have access to variety of angles. The trick is to angle the camera so that the selfie stick is not in view.

[marsterg]

Here is another video from a different angle. This time it's recorded by a GoPro 3 that is mounted behind the drivers in order to give a truer on board view.

http://youtu.be/4BvlnGaaysM