Bomber who? Wraiths still rule!

[OSRC]

I know Bombers are all the rage now, and they are very cool but I still like my lowly Wraith. I've had a ton of them, in various forms. Pretty versatile chassis! Since all my old threads have lost the pics, I dug around and found some old pics of Wraith projects for your viewing pleasure.

Of course, built as a regular 2.2/AR60 crawler in various ways...

OR with a set of SCX10 axles and 1.9's...

OR with Wheely King axles and 2.2's (on the right) ...

OR with portal axles..

OR secifically built to go fast

Also - not pictured as I couldn't find them - with Clod tires, Creeper Axles (with remote locking diffs), and probably 2-3 others I've forgot. At one point I had four of them, though I've thinned the herd down to just one, and it's the last one. It's been on the shelf without a set of axles for quite a while now so decided to blow the dust off and build something out of it - preferably using whatever's hiding in my shop.

Of all the versions I built, I liked the 1.9 versions the best. Just seemed to complement the chassis a bit better than the longer 2.2 setup. So I dug in my box-o-parts and found some homeless SCX10 axles and began to mock up some stuff.

Here's what I got so far.. Started with a pretty nice chassis with a BGR rear cage, lots of internal aluminum goodies, and an AX2 2 speed trans stuffed in there. Pretty heavy for a Wraith chassis, and stiff as a rock.

Up front I have a Boom XR mod SCX10 axle (from my first 1.9 Wraith build actually) set up for CMS. Shaved and smoothed the axle to remove the uneeded servo mounts and what not. Found an STRC servo bracket in my stash making it a pretty easy swap - just had to fudge up a panhard mount. I way shortened the front links to get the front axle somewhat under the fender.

Out back another V1 SCX10 axle with a Boom steel case that may or may not stay, UD gears and links chopped by about 1/2 inch.

Lately I've been trending towards smaller tire scalers leaving me with a lot of 4.75-ish tires collecting dust. I think the stance of this rig is nearly perfect with the larger 1.9 tires, so it'll be nice to put them back to use. Debating between Hyrax tires or Flat Irons for the moment.

Think it looks pretty cool with that cage hanging out the back. It's just mocked up at this point, got a ways to go to get it sorted out.

 

[OSRC]

Moving right along..

Not sure what happened to my AX2, but the spur turns 2 full rotations before engaging the outputs. I don't remember that much slop in the trans, but maybe it's just me. I don't have another Wraith trans, so in it goes. I did order a set of steel gears for a single speed if I decide to swap it out.

With the axle pulled back, the shock is slightly canted forwards at the top. Can't stand that! These are old XR10 shocks with the variable rate pistons and they are super smooth and have been leak free for years. Great shocks... BUT they are a touch too long for this setup. Off they go into the parts box for another low budget build someday!

And replaced with some Icons - 40wt all around with a ton of green slime on the new o-rings. Proline springs are on the front, Vaterra springs on the back. Feels decent - at least good enough to test with. Now sitting at the proper angle - looks much better to me.

Stance with the new shocks. Not bad, about 50mm clearance at the skid. I need to tweak this just a bit, the tires just hit the cage on full compression - about 10mm longer and it would be perfect. Need to dig out some longer rod ends for the shocks and that should do it. I don't know what's on TV at the moment, but man that guy is ugly! And save the blaze orange for the woods, jackwagon!

Wider stance with the XR mod axles. On the verge of being too wide...nah. It's fine.

Need to match the rear axle width to the front since it's a standard width axle out back..found a set of wider Gearhead hubs in the stash - perfect!!

Time to sort out the wiring under the hood. it's a bit of a rats nest in there. Then again, so are most of my trucks. Steve's getting impatient "Get me a beer!! WHAT? I said get me a beer! WHAT??"

 

[Gula]

Always love watching your builds, great minds think alike! I have a bunch of WK axles, how intensive would you say was it building one with those axles?

 

[DukeMinnix]

in the midst of shortening a wraith for bronco body and 1.9 XLs myself. Although I haven't decided whether to use SSD D60s or AR60s for that full width one ton swap look. To be determined.

 

[OSRC]

Always love watching your builds, great minds think alike! I have a bunch of WK axles, how intensive would you say was it building one with those axles?

Swapping on Wheely King axles was pretty easy. Only issue I ran into was I could not find reliable cvds. The width was perfect. I have better pics of it somewhere, I'll see if I can rustle them up

 

[RadioFlyer]

I know Bombers are all the rage now, and they are very cool but I still like my lowly Wraith.

+1

I have most of the models Axial ever made and my go-to trail rig is my Wraith. It just crawls so nice and I have room for 10+ Ah of battery capacity so I can pretty much run all day and never have to charge or swap.

Since I kinda snagged the AR60s off it for a 1/6 Willy build I was thinking of running narrow axles on it but not quite sure. It just works good the way it is...

But I like the narrow axle look of your rig so maybe.

Hey what wheels are those Duratrax Showdowns on in your pictures? They look pretty cool. 8)

 

[OSRC]

Integy wheels. Multi offset 2.2's for the Yeti. Not bad wheels honestly.

 

[OSRC]

Well, that escalated quickly... got a runner now.

Spent a bit of time tweaking the shocks, links, and driveshafts and threadlocking everything. Good to go! Now all is smooth and moving well. Outboarded the shocks at all 4 corners and added some longer rod ends. Very happy with the ride height and flex. View of the front

and from the rear...

Got the rats nest cleaned up. Ish. I swap electronics a lot, so I just bundle everything up as neat as possible and zip tie it all in there.

Reciever was moved to the interior footwell. Ran out of room under the hood and the shift servo's lead didn't quite reach anyway.

Couple of finished pics... Has about 2 tires of flex which is just right imo. WB came out to 328mm, has about 55mm of ground clearance at the skid at ride height, and weighs in at just under 8lbs with 55% on the front wheels. Running a 1080 ESC and 35t motor. Moved over to my desk since my workbench pics suck.

And out on the test course, Runs great!! It's heavy with steel axles front and rear so it's got a nice planted feel to it. Very stable in all circumstances. Steering is pretty good though the longish wheelbase makes for a larger turning radius. First gear is super low, and second gear right above walking pace - pretty much exactly where I like it to be. Lots of slop in the trans though. I'll wait for a trail run or two before deciding if I want to swap it out.

Climbed "The Bitch" no problem. I had to redo this ramp, pretty much nothing made it up before. Now it's very doable but still tricky. Waiting on warm weather to finish it off.

Oh, and that desk... my workbench pics are terrible, and there's always some goon reflecting back off the TV. Or Couples Court is on, and not sure I want to publicly admit I watch that show...so I painted my desk. Hopefully going to be a better area for pics. Nice little side project for the winter.

One of my stainless Boom universals is bent, so I've got steel ones on the way. Tried to bend it back, but I can't get it quite straight. I'd like to add some details here and there - otherwise it's ready to go!! Awesome little project, very happy with how it's coming along.

 

[OSRC]

Calling this one done..

Well, sorta. I'd like to strip it down and paint the chassis once the weather warms up. Lots of multicolored aluminum bits in there. Think it would look better all blacked out. Thought the body looked a little plain, so I threw on some sponsor decals. Flatirons kinda look like BFG's, right?

Added a few details out back. The spare is a 4.2 Flat Iron, was an original spare from the OG honcho kit. It's been around for quite a while.

Faked up a fuel cell and filler. Just needed something to fill in the back.

Also replaced the bent front axle with a set of HD steel ones. It's good to go !! Now if I could just get the weather to cooperate.

 

[2mtech]

Very nice!

I do want to point out that it would take 368 Wraiths to make a ton...you must have been busy! :ror:

 

[OSRC]

Ha! I'm being fact checked... lol.

 

[OSRC]

Finally got around to taking the Wraith out for a spin... Reminds me of my old Twin Hammers in that it's super low and stable. Gives up a lot in breakover, but everything is a trade off I guess.

Ran excellent, the shift servo quit for some reason, so I jammed it into low gear and kept going. This truck crawls incredibly well. It has just enough flex to twist over the rough terrain, but never really gets tippy. If it does roll, it just goes - there's no real warning. May look into a set of Wraith shocks for a bit more flex and a touch more ride height.

The Stuggle is Real!!! Man, I HATE graffiti. Why some ijit decided to spray paint one of my favorite crawling rocks with some dipshit message, I'll never know.

Otherwise, the scenery is beautiful!

Went though some pretty knarly terrain.... Flat Irons did really, really well - especially on rock. These tires always seem to surprise me. Big enough so that the old SCX10 v1 pumpkins weren't such a big deal too.

Was crawling with a Sendero...nice truck, but man, that body is paper thin. The rear cage is nice, but the front of the body flops around everywhere.

Made easy work of my test rock. Didn't even break a sweat.

Not sure why I don't run this truck more... it's super capable and looks great. It's on the list...

 

[Lashlee]

Great info and lots of good pics!! I use my Wriath on occasion when I'm out with my Enduro. The Wraith is so good it's almost like cheating!

 

[punkindrublik]

Great info and lots of good pics!! I use my Wriath on occasion when I'm out with my Enduro. The Wraith is so good it's almost like cheating!

That was my combo yesterday "thumbsup"

 

[Brake Weight]

I like the shorter 92mm, IIRC, front shocks for the Yeti. They seem to do better in my area/terrain than the longer shocks did.

 

[HumboldtEF]

Thats a great looking wraith! I like the hunkered down stance. I can relate the belly dragging you speak of and I too cant bring myself to raise mine up any.

I've got both the Wraith and a Bomber and I still prefer the Wraith, though I've modded it a ton more than the Bomber. The Bomber has turned into the loaner rig.

 

[OSRC]

I could tummy tuck it, but then I'd lose the interior. Don't want to do that!

Debating some smallish 5.5" 2.2's....will give it a bit more clearance. Might just try some on and see if I like it.

 

[jps3903]

I could tummy tuck it, but then I'd lose the interior. Don't want to do that!

Debating some smallish 5.5" 2.2's....will give it a bit more clearance. Might just try some on and see if I like it.

I love this thing, well done. One of my wraiths is tummy tucked with full interior, it does require some creative trimming, but nothing too crazy that’s noticeable wih a driver/passenger.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[DukeMinnix]

next time you go out crawling, take yourself a two liter of generic brown cola with you and pour on that paint. It has the chance to eat the paint away.

 

[punkindrublik]

My girl just got a makeover...