Maxxmasher's budget bomproof Wraith makeover

[MAXXMASHER]

I had been pretty much running my Wraith stock, except for moving the battery to the front and using a VXL ESC so I could use lipos without fear of over-discharging them. I know it's not the ideal crawling ESC, but I need to be waterproof more than I need to be able to creep down a rock face. Everything was fine until the stock motor went up in smoke. I wasn't sure what motor I was going to replace it with, but after seeing my bro's Wraith run on brushless, I knew I wanted to go fast. I figured I'd throw the VXL motor in there since it was waterproof, too. What a blast! (for about five minutes) The driveline just couldn't take the power. Hhhhmmmm.... Better start shopping for upgrades. (thanks to Harley for giving me a good idea of what to look at)
I started by deciding what I needed, how much I wanted to spend, and who had the best prices. I would liked to have bought everything in Harley's post, but I'll have to do this in a few steps if I want to stay married much longer.
Any ways...enough blabbing! From CKRC, I got
CKRC stainless steel idler gear
RR hard diff gear
CKRC Heavy duty driveshaft kit
XR-10 aluminum C-hubs
RR Supertuff spur gear
CKRC MG946R servo (yes, even my servo is still stock)
CKRC aluminum clamping servo horn
CKRC hood hinge kit
HR fold up tool kit (nice for trail repairs)
CKRC stickers (everybody likes stickers, right?)

And from RPP Hobby I'm getting.......
STRC aluminum steering knuckles
HR aluminum Wraith dress up kit
(Includes 4 upper links, 4 lower links, steering linkage, and diff covers)
"thumbsup""thumbsup"This will be a good start for now; all for around 250 bucks. My next round of parts will be HD bevel gears, gear lockers, diff gear holders, universal steering joints, and maybe the RR slipper and some aluminum axles. I can't wait to get my parts and start the re-build!! Next post I'll have some pics and hpoefully a batch of shiny new parts! Just in time for my 40th birthday!

 

[Sh0rtBus]

Looking forward to seeing the build.

I will say, though, that I did not have good luck with the CKRC MG946R servo, made by TowardPro. It actually died within the first 10 minutes of use. Not sure why, or what happened. Could've just been a bad servo. But if you want a better servo, with tons more torque, check out the Hitec HSR5995TG at Servo City. Normally about $120, but I picked mine up through them, shipped, for about $75. 333oz-in @ 6V and 416oz-in at 7.4V. Titaium gears and water tight to boot. And strong like an ox!

 

[MAXXMASHER]

Maybe you got a bad servo or something; I know they're not top quality, but I have had quite a few of the MG995 servos and they have performed pretty well for the cost. I'm trying to do this on a bit of a budget, and they seem to have the most bang for the buck. Optimally, I think I'd go for a cs-170 servo from Hobbico. 333oz. of torque for a pretty good price. I had one on my AX-10 comper, but since I just play for fun now, I switched that servo to my FLM EMaxx. I've had it like five years, and it's great. I know Axial didn't intend for the Wraith to be a comp crawler out of the box or anything, but that stock servo is pretty weak. I also want the RC4WD bumper braces too, as one of sides of mine is broken at the momemt. Seems to be out of stock everywhere....

 

[MAXXMASHER]

Thought I'd post a few pics of my Wraith in action and the breakage that lead to this re-build.....

Blasting through the snow, on a cold and windy day....

A few reasons why my Wraith needs to be tough and waterproof....

Whoooops!!

 

[MAXXMASHER]

Got my first round of parts today and hats off to RPP!! I placed my order online around 4pm on Thursday and the parts were on my doorstep today (Sat.) at 1pm!! I didn't opt for any expedited shipping either; just regular old 1st class US postal! I got some of the Wraith ripped apart last night. I'm going to put the reciever behind the cab and the ESC (VXL) just ahead of the battery under the hood. There's no sense in starting the build until I have the rest of my parts from CKRC. Unfortunately, they got a bunch of orders for the C-Hubs I wanted, so I missed out. The cool thing is they called me the next day to see what I wanted to do before they shipped my order. I got a refund for those and I think I'll get some STRC hubs on Flea Bay. I'm leaving to go on a trip to Valley Forge National Park and Casino for a couple of days and the rest of my goodies will be waiting for me when I get back. Snapped a few pics of my progress.....

Let's get this thing built, Maggot!!

Almost gutted....

A pile of stripped pieces....

Nothin' better than a package of new parts!!

 

[tmack]

What links you got there?

The road to success is always under construction.

 

[MAXXMASHER]

They're Hot Racing steering, upper, and lower links. Came with the diff covers in a set called the Wraith dress-up kit. Good amount of stuff for the price. The diff covers seem a bit on the thin side, but I don't know how thick other brands are. Time will tell how they hold up.....

 

[94smasher]

nice...I have the same dress-up kit. The diff covers are pretty thin, and dent rather easily. I don't really care much about the dents, but keep an eye on the mounting flange area. It can get hung up and bend, letting crap into your axles. Just an fyi....

 

[MAXXMASHER]

That would be the exact opposite of their intended function! Thanks for the heads up! If they do start to ding up too much, I wouldn't mind getting those ARB red covers. They sound like they're pretty tough. Hopefully the diffs will hold out until I get some Axial HD ones. I also gotta get some chubs soon, as well. CKRC not having the ones I wanted is a bummer. When I first got my Wraith, the biggest problem I had was the screws backing out of the chubs. I have the aluminum knuckles, but the screw going through them is still going into plastic until I get some replacements. Eventually I will have this whole truck upgraded, because it is getting more use than my other nine RC's put together! :mrgreen:

 

[Sh0rtBus]

You can fix the chubs problem temporarily with some red Loc-Tite until you can get aluminum/steel ones.

Also, as far as diff covers, check out the Poison Spyder ones. I'm currently waiting for them to release them for my 1:1, but will probably pick up a set for the Wraith very soon.

 

[MAXXMASHER]

I got my second round of parts today! A full day ahead of schedule! Thanks CKRC! I got my HD driveshafts, hood kit, servo & aluminum horn, RR diff gear and a cool Hot Racing trail tool. My hubs were not available, so I still have to get those. No building tonight. Wife's birthday. Have to be good. Tomorrow its on!!

 

[MAXXMASHER]

I received my refund from CKRC last night, so I ordered a set of STRC C-Hubs from RPP. Going on experience with them, they'll be here in no time!! Pics tonight.....

 

[MAXXMASHER]

Got some pics of my new shipment of parts; can't wait to start wrenching on this thing. Unfortunately, work and trying to sell my house is leaving little time for my favorite hobby right now. I don't have another day off for another five days and we have private showings almost every night. Pain in the ASS keeping everything pristine at all times! Sometimes our realtor gives us a call and has people over while we're at work. Everything has to be put away; that next person who walks in may be our buyer.

Anyways, enough of that crap. Here's what I got in yesterday. Just gotta get my C-Hubs and I'll have all my stuff for now. Until next payday....

Digging the CKRC shafts, mmmmm, beefy!

I believe this will be handy on the trail....

Everything all together.

 

[radster87]

Looks good but if ya wanna save yourself some trouble, go ahead and replace the ends on those links with plastic. The pressed in balls tend to fall apart very easy with the hot bodies dress up kit. I know this from watching it happen to many of my local friends rigs.

 

[MAXXMASHER]

Thanks for the info. I'll look into that. I had some titanium links for my Slash from Integy that did that. Should've known better. All their parts are shit. Hopefully I didn't waste my money. Haven't really had any experience with Hot Racing parts. Considering selling my AX-10 and just going hog wild on this Wraith. With the Wraith and SCX-10 in my stable, it doesn't get used so much anymore.

 

[MAXXMASHER]

Well, I finally got some work done last night. Put the wife to bed and headed down to the basement, finally! I pretty much dismantled the entire truck. Cleaned all the bearings and re-lubed them. I got the new hubs and knuckles on, new steering links, new servo and horn, new diff. covers, and all the tranny gears are now hardened metal. Next up will be to re-do the wiring and get the interior situated. Ready to run this baby, now!

Front end demolition

New cover

Steering all done and pretty

Horn looks to be heavy-duty. The stock servo was a piece of crap, too.

Robinson spur with the slipper attatched next to the old stock spur

Gutted!

RR bottom tranny gear vs. stock plastic

All hardened metal now

New links and CKRC ceter shafts mounted up

A few of these helped greatly!!

 

[crazee horse]

ok not the best in the world, but for bashing and thrashing and submersion i bought these from asiatees.com steering blocks, chubs , and lock-outs cost me about $50 posted. would definatley buy them again.

 

[Fanfor88]

I have been sitting here looking for an alternative to MIP cvd`s. I cant handle the $60 right now. Can you let us know how those CKRC Heavy duty driveshafts do? I`m thinking about grabbing a set of those. I love the price!!

 

[MAXXMASHER]

ok not the best in the world, but for bashing and thrashing and submersion i bought these from asiatees.com steering blocks, chubs , and lock-outs cost me about $50 posted. would definatley buy them again.

I want to know how those parts hold up. I had never heard of them before, and found them when I did a google shopping search. Their prices are pretty good, but I was wary since they were unknown to me. I also feared a long shipping time. I've had ebay Hong Kong parts take a month to get to me and I don't even know if I'll be at this address in a month......moving......rrrrrrrr!!!

 

[MAXXMASHER]

I have been sitting here looking for an alternative to MIP cvd`s. I cant handle the $60 right now. Can you let us know how those CKRC Heavy duty driveshafts do? I`m thinking about grabbing a set of those. I love the price!!

Yeah, for the price, I had to give them a whirl. Notice in my thread title the word budget? I could go crazy and get everything, but with a Harley, guns, fishing, an F-150 to fuel up, and moving expenses, I can't go off the deep end or I'd be looking for an economy apartment for one instead of a new house for me and the wife!!! (All that, plus I have nine other RC's that are modded out, too.
The shafts seem pretty solid, although not quite as much as the MIP ones. I have those shafts on my AX-10, and I might just do a swap because this Wraith absolutely rips on 2s and a 3500K VXL motor!!!!