Jato Repents with a VS4-10 Origin Limited Kit

[JatoTheRipper]

If you guessd Step B is next you'd be correct. Congrats on high level Engrish skillz! You may also probably guess this step entails building the rear axle.

Warning. There is a fair share of nitpicking in this step so hike up your skirt before reading.




The stock gearing in the rear axle is 30/8. I assume the front is the same, but in my haste I forgot to take a photo. Impatience will be a common theme in this and other builds of mine.




More Vanquish shellac spread on dem gears.




And I work so fast that just like that you have a completed rear axle. So sexy.




Next up is the chassis. My kit did included the updated, aluminum braces.







Here's the upgraded, aluminum brace on the left next to the stock, plastic brace on the right. More beefy is more gooder!




Time for the chassis rails. Sonuva! A brand new frame rail nicked straight out of the box. This is very odd since the frame rails were packaged in the foam block rather than thrown together in a plastic bag. I hope this isn't an indication of weak powder coating. Oh well, it's going to get scratched anyway so let's continue.




The four screws that mount the bumper, frame rails, and brace together were a bugger to get in. The anodizing on the threads of the aluminum brace was thick and stubborn. I had to back them out and screw them in a few times until they were seated easily enough.




The front bumper has some issues with the anodizing. In this photo you can see a distinct section that isn't like the rest. That blotch actually appears to be the good part. The rest of the anodizing on the bumper seems thinner. Alas, we will still continue because the bumper will still do bumpering and after the first run it will be the least of my cosmetic worries.




Next up is the Jenner! Err, I mean tranny...as in trannymission.

The gears are excellent. Super high quality. I also found it odd that the idler rides on a hollow shaft. I don't think I've ever seen this before.




More Vanquish Venom schmeared on the gears. Some people say smear. I prefer schmear for more effect...of what I don't know.




Here's the transmission with the motor plate. Very nice and very beefy.




Not sure if you can see it in this photo, but the black screws have some of the coating chipped off out of the bag. I assume this is plain steal underneath and if so we are probably going to have rust issues.




The spur gear hub doesn't appear to be finished at all. You're really not going to see it once everything is assembled, but it would look much nicer if it got a coat of the anodizing.




I assumed, or as my jackass of a professor in college used to say, uh-shumed, the spur would be metal, but it is not. It's plastic, but it's from Kimbrough. That's about as high quality as you can get in the composite spur gear world so it should do just fine.

You can see the holes in the spur didn't exactly lineup with the holes in the hub. I had to move it around to get all three screws to lineup. Not uncommon with plastic spur gears.




This is the back of the spur gear guard. I'm not going to call it a cover because it's really not. The anodizing is shoddy here as well. Again, you'll never see it so it's a non issue outside of cosmetics. I'm glad I don't have OCD or this would probably work me up.




The completed transmission with the Incision driveshaft halves. I've never used Incision driveshafts, but they look darn good.

[JatoTheRipper]

The links are nice. The threads are machined into them rather than using grub screws. This is the slightly better way to go IMO. I don't hate the grub screw method as much as some others.

I do wish they were all tapered just because I think it looks better. They should all be tapered or all should be straight. The mix and match is odd unless it's for clearance. Maybe I'll discover the reasoning later.




Assembling links is just tedious, but these went together easily and they look good. I do wish they were thinner instead of 1/4", but it could be worse. They should be able to withstand a beating.




I stole the Tekin ROC412 3100kv from my unfinished Rock Rey. The Mamba X was attached via soldered wires so I'm hoping the wire length will be fine for this kit.

Vanquish gives you these nice washers to use with the motor screws.




Here's the motor attached to the transmission assembly.




When I saw this piece I thought it was going to be a PITA, but thankfully it was not. The spacer has little standoffs that press into the counterbores in the skid plate. This keeps the spacer in place while assembling the transmission.




Now we have a motor in the truck and it feels like we're starting to get somewhere!

[Stormin2u]

You got my attention. I actually haven't followed a build of one of these. Its an extremely nice kit and those axles couldn't look any better. Like everyone who's been crawled for awhile I've always enjoyed Vanquish quality parts. Looking forward to more of your build.

[HumboldtEF]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

The links are nice.
I do wish they were all tapered just because I think it looks better. They should all be tapered or all should be straight. The mix and match is odd unless it's for clearance. Maybe I'll discover the reasoning later.

I just had a look at mine to check and all of the tapered links are upper links so its in the name of CG

I'll be following along too, I wasn't vocal about it much but I was also a bit of VP critic.

Oh and just to touch on the metal bracing vs plastic, Plastic is better because after an impact it usually bounces back to its original shape (plasticity) where metal might not. Plastic also absorbs the impact where metal just transmits it on down the line.

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by Stormin2u

You got my attention. I actually haven't followed a build of one of these. Its an extremely nice kit and those axles couldn't look any better. Like everyone who's been crawled for awhile I've always enjoyed Vanquish quality parts. Looking forward to more of your build.

Thank you!

Originally Posted by HumboldtEF

I just had a look at mine to check and all of the tapered links are upper links so its in the name of CG

I'll be following along too, I wasn't vocal about it much but I was also a bit of VP critic.

Oh and just to touch on the metal bracing vs plastic, Plastic is better because after an impact it usually bounces back to its original shape (plasticity) where metal might not. Plastic also absorbs the impact where metal just transmits it on down the line.

Interesting. I never even thought it could be to keep the COG low, but that's a good point.

Did you build one of these or did you just mean you're just a critic of Vanquish in general?

True, but if the aluminum bends I can replace it with plastic.

[HumboldtEF]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

Did you build one of these or did you just mean you're just a critic of Vanquish in general?

Well both, I used some of their older stuff and found myself having to file down parts to get them to work together with other VP parts. I had a number of issues with their AR60 curries and knuckles. I grew to dislike the fact that they were held on a mythical RC pedestal when what I experienced demonstrated that wasn't quite deserved.



Like you the VFD drew me back in and I decided to picked up the pro, I've got a build thread going.

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by HumboldtEF

Well both, I used some of their older stuff and found myself having to file down parts to get them to work together with other VP parts. I had a number of issues with their AR60 curries and knuckles. I grew to dislike the fact that they were held on a mythical RC pedestal when what I experienced demonstrated that wasn't quite deserved.

Like you the VFD drew me back in and I picked up the pro, I've got a build thread going.

Thanks. I'll check out your thread. I've probably already seen it and just forgot about it because my brain is mush.

[GA Dawg]

I left the transmission spacer out of mine and didn't have any issues. I'm glad I did because it made for a handy drill guide when I modified a Capra skid to accept a 3 gear transmission.

[B-MOW71]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

Besides the issues that you and B-MOW mentioned, are there any other reasons I wouldn’t want to use the aluminum braces? The chassis is already built and I was already impressed with the rigidity compared to the competition.

I have to say that after I built my Origin with the the updated aluminum braces I was very happy with how they stiffened the chassis up. I also liked how they looked in the chassis too. Since my Origin was one of the first to be shipped out originally, it came with the original plastic braces instead of the upgraded alum braces. These new updated alum braces were far better than the plastic.

I never planned on changing the alum braces out until I built my PRO. After seeing how well the new plastic braces were made and how much better they stiffened the chassis up, I then decided to swap out the alum with the new PRO plastic braces. I'm really glad that I did and the new plastic braces made it easier to swap out the 3 gear trans with the new VFD trans.


Your build is looking good Jato! Looking forward to seeing more!

[OSRC]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

I also found it odd that the idler rides on a hollow shaft. I don't think I've ever seen this before.

Tamiya uses a combination of solid and hollow shafts in their transmissions. Actually chassis/transmissions. TL01 comes to mind, plus some others. And no, I have no idea why.

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by GA Dawg

I left the transmission spacer out of mine and didn't have any issues. I'm glad I did because it made for a handy drill guide when I modified a Capra skid to accept a 3 gear transmission.

Good to know. Thanks. I was thinking about leaving the spacer out, but I wasn’t sure if it was there to solve a clearance issue.

I guess I can remove it in the future for a performance mod. Removing that spacer would drop a significant amount of weight 2mm or so.

Originally Posted by B-MOW71

Your build is looking good Jato! Looking forward to seeing more!

Thank you!

Originally Posted by OSRC

Tamiya uses a combination of solid and hollow shafts in their transmissions. Actually chassis/transmissions. TL01 comes to mind, plus some others. And no, I have no idea why.

Interesting. I’m trying to remember if I’ve ever seen that. I’ve only built or worked on about a dozen Tamiyas and a TL01 wasn’t one of them. You certainly have way more experience with Tamiyas than I do though.

[mikemcE]

The spacer is needed more with certain motors and running the Hurtz dig. The newer braces also make a difference with the digs mounting.

I m running a mix of both with my VFD in my original VS4


Hang up and Drive

[VP Dan]

[JatoTheRipper]

One thing I forgot to mention about the links is that some of mine were about an 1/8th inch shorter than the manual. I'm not sure if that's common or if the manual was printed exactly to size and my links are short. I don't think I overtightened any of the ends. I did try to ensure link pairs were the same length though. Manuals are typically right on or way off. This is somewhere in between.

At the end of the day it shouldn't matter much. Just curious how everybody else's link lengths matched up to the diagram in the manual.

My shock oil came today so you can guess what I did instead of updating this thread.

[HumboldtEF]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

One thing I forgot to mention about the links is that some of mine were about an 1/8th inch shorter than the manual. I'm not sure if that's common or if the manual was printed exactly to size and my links are short. I don't think I overtightened any of the ends. I did try to ensure link pairs were the same length though. Manuals are typically right on or way off. This is somewhere in between.

At the end of the day it shouldn't matter much. Just curious how everybody else's link lengths matched up to the diagram in the manual.

I noticed the same thing with the Pro, eye to eye measurements would have been nice.

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by HumboldtEF

I noticed the same thing with the Pro, eye to eye measurements would have been nice.

I was hoping for some type of measurement as well. Not a huge deal. The 1/8” variation or so is going to be mostly negligible in terms of wheelbase, etc.

[B-MOW71]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

I was hoping for some type of measurement as well. Not a huge deal. The 1/8” variation or so is going to be mostly negligible in terms of wheelbase, etc.

I honestly can't remember how the diagram looked in my manual when I put my links together for my Origin.

I do remember threading the rod ends on until the threads on the link were not showing. I then measured each pair of links to make sure they were the same length.

After I installed all the links on my Origin, the wheelbase looked good and it drove OK.

[JatoTheRipper]

The Tekin T-360 servo came before the Hitec HS-7954SH, despite the Hitec being ordered first, so that made the choice for me. The Tekin is a lot of money for not so much in terms of specs, but in my experience Tekin underrates everything they sell. I don't think I'll be disappointed. Waterproofing is a bonus even though I've only ever had one servo fail due to getting wet.

I'm not the stickler of packaging, but the box looks nice.




Inside is even nicer looking.




But what is that red ball holding in the servo horn. That isn't...it can't be...what the frig?! It is a push pin! Those bastards wanted me to get stuck. It feels like Tekin received the packaging and somebody said, "Oh shit! We forgot to have a spot for the servo horn. Oh well. Let's just hold it in with a pin." Dumb. But it is nice they included a servo horn at all.




It is a good looking servo. And it should be fast since red is the fastest color.





It sure does look nice in there.




This post may have seemed like a Tekin ad, but, sadly, it isn't. I had to pay for this servo with my own money.

[Brandon]

Did you get your shocks sorted out?

[HumboldtEF]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

I was hoping for some type of measurement as well. Not a huge deal. The 1/8” variation or so is going to be mostly negligible in terms of wheelbase, etc.

Yeah I made out fine just fully threading all of the links on except the steering link which needs a spacer or to not be fully threaded on to get the front tires parallel.

I also though the push pin holding the Tekin servo horn was odd. I also found the servo horn didn't work for the VS4-10 since it hits the frame, it needs more offset to clear. It is a nice that they include it though.