Grimaces 'POS' Wraith

[Grimace83]

Wow been awhile since I last posted/updated this!

The wraith has been out of action for almost a year. But last weekend I spent a few hours on both my RCs and both are getting repaired. Just waiting on parts.

It seems the HH BRXL has died? I had all steering and power and signal inputs but no outputs to the motor, reverse did put out ~3v but nothing was happening.

I've opted to go cheap and replace the electronics with the Turnigy 120A Sensored Brushless ESC with a matching 21.5T 1855KV sensored motor.

Hopefully that was a good choice. I may consider replacing the HH BRXL down the track, or i might just sell the Crawlmaster 16T pro and the CC BEC pro.

 

[Grimace83]

I went even cheaper for now and got a 75amp waterproof turnigy ESC.
Got it going again last night. First time with the Dig working and it's orsum.
The turnigy ESC is not great. Needs the programming cars to increase the drag brake.

 

[Grimace83]

New Radio on its way..Cleaned it up, changed the colour and now running triple rate front coils.
Made the most of what I had available.
Needs softer fronts coils, and stiffer rear shocks!

 

[Grimace83]

Well another two years passed and I have not done anything with this.

Only now after a mate has purchased a crawler have I even looked at the box of bits and car. Totally forgot about what was what.

So its like I'm starting fresh again, hopefully there has been some advancements in products and I can do a couple of basic mods (lighting kit, rewire, new (lighter) batteries.

What are peoples opinions on the Turnigy 1800mAh 40c discarge 3s lipos?
I was previously running 2200mAh, but looking to go a tad smaller/lighter.

And light kits/options, any recommendations?

 

[Grimace83]

Got the ole girl working again, minus the dig servo (only cheap 2ch TX).

Verdict so far.... the Turnigy ESC and 21.5t are crap in comparison to the old setup.

It seems to have a lot mroe torque twist then I remember, which is a shame as its pretty poor performing right now. and when it does grip and bind the motor just hums and nothing happens.
One time I had to repower the ESC. Is it possible the binding over loaded the esc? only a 70a unit.

Will most likely go back to a brushed tekin or HH arrangement!

 

[Grimace83]

Got the ole girl working again, minus the dig servo (only cheap 2ch TX).

Verdict so far.... the Turnigy ESC and 21.5t are crap in comparison to the old setup.

It seems to have a lot mroe torque twist then I remember, which is a shame as its pretty poor performing right now. and when it does grip and bind the motor just hums and nothing happens.
One time I had to repower the ESC. Is it possible the binding over loaded the esc? only a 70a unit.

Will most likely go back to a brushed tekin or HH arrangement!

Following up on this, i found a few issues....

1. The top cad rear shocks are lacking damping. They have lost a fair amount of oil. Going to pull all the shocks down, check/service and change the oil weights.
60wt front and 80wt rear. Getting this kit for now.

2. My soldering skills are also lacking... Seems one motor lead to my Turnigy Trackstar 21.5t had come loose This could explain the odd running issues I had, and now why the ESC is dead, due to possible amperage overload from poor contact at the C terminal?

3. Rod ends and links are all very sad too.... just like the rest of the car

Undecided on weather to get a Holmes Hobbies BLE ESC and keep running the Trackstar motor or just replace the lot with the brush setup now??

 

[Stray]

Looks good,

I had fun reading your thread.

I buy most of my things form Hobby king AUS, if its breaks, just request a warranty return and usually (if its in warranty period) they will just replace it no questions asked (or give you a credit), might be worth a try. I actually think the hobby king products are really good for the cost.

get a soldering iron that's about 40-60w and you should be good. having more power makes it much easier! i got mine from Jaycar and it hasn't missed a beat

also id recommend getting the 103mm gmade XD piggyback shocks. i have them on my wraith and they are the ducks nuts. get the same length all round and use the droop kit to level it out. i run 10wt in mine.....

i am looking for inspiration for my wraith. Im thinking about putting on some SCX10 rails, losing the cage, and building a mega (mud) truck, or a monster truck.

anyway just my 2 cents looking forward to see what you do next

 

[Grimace83]

Thanks Stray!

I ended up getting a HH BLE esc!!!
And somehow ordered the wrong shock oil kit!!!
So just rebuilt the shocks as they were before with the 40wt oil.
They are feeling heaps better now, but will eventually re order the correct oil!

Going to use the Turnigy motor whilst I save up for a replacement, hopefully it's still good.
Just waiting on some 4mm bullet connectors to arrive. Hopefully today.

Will get some fresh images of it on the trails this weekend all going to plan

 

[Grimace83]

First up the, Holmes Hobbies trailemaster BLE Pro!!! So glad I spent the $$$ to have the versatility of programming and motor choices.
New I went HH for a reason, I loved the old BRXL too.

Second, OMG how much better are RCs when the shocks actually have oil/work!!!
Cant wait to get the heavier weight 60 front 80 rear oil in these shocks, its orsum at the moment but can be better

I revised the front coil arrangement and lowered the front end almost 10mm too, reaches full compression easier now and stable as, even with all the flex from the 130mm shocks.

The young fella drove it pretty much 90% of the crawl session yesterday, so it really just got put into bad positions and bound up a lot, so not many great images of it in action.
But it did not break, just a few loose screws and a odd glitch on left turn that seemingly repaired itself???

I did notice the cons of the brushless arrangement, meant I was unable to crawl/creep ever so slowly downhill, where as the other two crawlers present could creep very well.
So perhaps I'll switch back to a brushed motor once the turnigy is cactus.

Got some new, tiny & light 1800MaH batteries that help to reduce the COG more so again.
A couple of places it amazed me that my son was able to keep it from it's lid!

Looking forward to more crawl sessions now the bug is back

It even loves the loose steep climbs!!!

Missed on orsum climb hard to the right of the above images where it was a send it till it made the top!

 

[PoorManRC]

Looking GOOD!!!!! "thumbsup" "thumbsup"
Glad that the bug bit you again. That's orson! How's the 21.5?? I've never run a Sensored Motor to date. Now, I'm running my ONLY choice, TenShock 6 Pole 9 Slot Sensorless Motor, with a Hobbywing Brushless 120A ESC.
She's SLOW - but that 6 Pole will Creep with the best Brushed Motors!! It's only a 1750kv.... If I'm ever able to get another, I would definitely get the SAME Brand (SO Smooth!), but the 2400kv version.
The Hobbywing ESC, IMO, is definitely underrated!!

I see you've given her the ultimate test... Letting the KID Wheel her!!! :shock: Seriously, the Wraith is quite Stout. The only things I would consider if I were you: Aluminium C-Hubs and Knuckles, and as old as I Think yours is.....
You may have the WB-I Driveshafts (one male end and one female end). I would seriously Upgrade those to the later WB--II Driveshafts (TWO female ends - with one male end in between).
It's a simple change, but Axial made them MUCH Stronger!!!

Sure, there's Cheap Chinese Crap ones, even some made of metal - but not as strong as you'd think!
The WB-II Shafts AREN'T that Expensive. Lots floating around EvilBay!!

You put enough Torque into her, and at least the rear Driveshaft will likely TWIST like a noodle!! I've seen it, often...

 

[Grimace83]

Looking Good!

whats next? a rig each for you and the lad?

I just purchased him a beginners RC today, got the Chinese 6x6 thingamybob for $188 delivered.

I told him it ain't strong like the wraith and I will have to modify it to keep up on the rocks, but it's more of a high speed thing as I've noticed he gets a little excited when he is allowed to open the wraith up.
Will strip it down and get him familiar with the time and work involved in maintaining them. Hopefully he takes to it and it isn't a complete disaster.

Basically it will be a toy hill climb vehicle for him with some minor crawling abilities.
And it will be fun around the campsite doing donuts and what not
Unfortunately the 1/5 Baja doesn't quiet get the welcoming reception when it's 2 stroking at 10000+rpm.

Looking GOOD!!!!! "thumbsup" "thumbsup"
Glad that the bug bit you again. That's orson! How's the 21.5?? I've never run a Sensored Motor to date. Now, I'm running my ONLY choice, TenShock 6 Pole 9 Slot Sensorless Motor, with a Hobbywing Brushless 120A ESC.
She's SLOW - but that 6 Pole will Creep with the best Brushed Motors!! It's only a 1750kv.... If I'm ever able to get another, I would definitely get the SAME Brand (SO Smooth!), but the 2400kv version.
The Hobbywing ESC, IMO, is definitely underrated!!

I see you've given her the ultimate test... Letting the KID Wheel her!!! :shock: Seriously, the Wraith is quite Stout. The only things I would consider if I were you: Aluminium C-Hubs and Knuckles, and as old as I Think yours is.....
You may have the WB-I Driveshafts (one male end and one female end). I would seriously Upgrade those to the later WB--II Driveshafts (TWO female ends - with one male end in between).
It's a simple change, but Axial made them MUCH Stronger!!!

Sure, there's Cheap Chinese Crap ones, even some made of metal - but not as strong as you'd think!
The WB-II Shafts AREN'T that Expensive. Lots floating around EvilBay!!

You put enough Torque into her, and at least the rear Driveshaft will likely TWIST like a noodle!! I've seen it, often...

Hey PoormanRC, The 21.5t has actually been pretty good behind the HH ESC.
I'm sure the HH motors would be an improvement, I found the Turnigy lacks torque which is good with the young fella driving it, gives plenty of warning/forgiveness when bound up.

The mods to the wraith are fairly extensive, it's got vanquish chubs & knuckles, metal gears in everything except the stock 87t spur.
Driveshafts are MIPs have been the best thing, used to spaghetti the plastic shafts every session back when it was a brushed BRXL combo.
Even the modified/reinforced plastic shafts I made didn't last all that long.

Next on the upgrade/maintenance list is the new links all round, and maybe some new wheel hexes and axle shafts as mine are showing huge amounts of slop

 

[Grimace83]

It's always been a wonder to me why no one talks in final drive ratio when commenting or suggesting gearing for certain batteries or styles of rock crawling/racing.

Out of curiosity I thought i'd work out my final drive ratio compared to stock.
According to axial, stock ratio is 35.47:1
My current configuration is 62.34:1 final drive. with a 1855kv motor.

So it should crawl good yeah!

 

[TheLetterJ]

That's pretty low gearing. I'm currently at 45.3 with a 27t 550 on 3s... I know that doesn't translate nearly as well as a kv rating would, but it's a point of reference anyway. Rollout is an even better way to compare, since it also factors in tire height, but you'll still have different throttle percentages (not rpm) for a given ground speed depending on the kv of the motor. Mine could definitely stand to be geared lower if it was strictly used for crawling, but I like to be able to drive it to the rockpile instead of having to carry it, and have a little bit of extra wheelspeed on tap for loose climbs or hopping small gaps.

 

[Grimace83]

p.s. the chinese 6x6 thingamybob was a true disaster! Not worth $50 let alone $188...

 

[Grimace83]

so this happened!

Wonder if anyone recognises it, used to be Orange?

Got some weird shock stuff going on. 210mm shocks front and rear :shock:
Front has had the frame cut out to install shocks at some ridiculous angle, so will need to be repair/replaced and some new shocks sourced to rectify.
Will be interesting to see how it goes following my original wraith as is!

 

[Grimace83]

Completed the battery forward mod to the second wraith last night. So far i am certtain it has the following specs;
Holmes Hobbies Torquemaster BRXL
Axial 26t or possibly Mabuchi 540 Can lol
Castle BEC @ 6v
Savox SC-1256TG Steer servo 20kg @ 6v
Ebay alloy servo horm (25t)
Robinson Racing 96T 48p Spur
Robinson Racing 12T 48p Pinion
Stock trans
HR Motor mount
Boom racing driveshafts
Bent aluminium links
Vanquish Ti Steer links
HR Chubs & Knuckles
RC4wd Interco Super Swamper Iroks (drilled by me)
Crawler innovation Double Deuce Soft foam inserts
Beadlocked wheels (plastic) with weights installed
210mm shocks front and rear (40wt)
Dx2s TX
SR3300t RX

I was really impressed with my battery forward mod, considering this was take 1, and my other wraith has had 4 revisions to the electronics and not near as neat!

I also got the new titanium links from Priceys Custom Crawlers for my original wraith!
Pretty neat, bent for clearance and tiny (ignore the bent link, it is for a mates SCX10.2)

Comparison of New (front) v Old (rear) links;

Side profile, nice and low with plenty of link clearance :O

Side by side almost ready for this weekends crawl

Waiting on the 93 and 96t spurs and another 12t pinion, as going to set them both up pretty low speed

It's great to be back in it properly. Can't wait to RC side by side with the young fella

 

[Grimace83]

Looking really good

Sent from my LG-H870DS using Tapatalk

Cheers Mate, I'm hoping to muster up enough courage to start modifying one abit more extensively, the second one already has a lot of tube frame missing so will most likely be the victim of major rear end modification/removal.

But for now I just want to wheel them as much as possible

 

[Grimace83]

Things have got a bit out of hand and i have another wraith!
Stock Poison Spyder, unsure of its future.

But have just order some more Pitbull RBIIs in Alien Kompound.
and a second hand set of VP wheels and CI foams wrapped in Bully Comp pin tyres.
So have a bit of tyre shuffling to do in the next few weeks!