Just Another Wraith Build

[HahnsB2]

Just Another Money Pit

Howdy all. Back in 2011 I got into the hobby by picking up an RTR Honcho, then the Wraith came out and I really wanted one, nevertheless I built my SCX-10 into a Unimog. By the end of the year I was bored because none of my friends had crawlers and doing it by myself got boring.

I took my Mog out a couple weeks ago to let my kid play with it (He's 6), my friend/roommate decided he needed one, so he bought a Deadbolt and I decided it's finally time to build the Wraith I always wanted.

Anyhooo, it's the kit version but right I away I ordered some other goodies to go along with it. A full VP titanium link set, scale Cs and knuckles, VP CMS and Panhard kit as well.

I'm using a Holmes BR-XL and Torquemaster hand-wound 30T motor, Castle BEC and a Hobbico CS-170 servo, all robbed from my Mog. Using my old AX/AR-2 RX/TX set as well.

The front end it ridiculously wide because the Axial Trailready Beadlocks didn't work the VP knuckles with the narrow hub adapters, I'll be ordering VP hub adapters as narrow as I can get away with.

I went with Gmade 103mm piggyback shocks which I'm really happy with, knew I wasn't gonna bother with the leaky stock junk.

Using my SCX-10 MIP shafts with the Traxxas pins, they're a little short but work.

I don't plan on doing anything really custom or groundbreaking with this build as I'm kinda over doing that, I just wanna buy nice parts and bolt them on.

Next up will be the VP Curries with the centered rear.

I really love how this thing performs so far. Could use a bit more speed though, maybe it's time to jump to 3s. This servo was great with my Mog but it's pretty clear it's not enough for a 2.2 Wraith, I bumped it to 6.5V and it's just adequate. Thinking a Hitec 7950 should do the trick.


Looking at the pic I just realized my rear uppers are backwards

 

[HahnsB2]

Okay maybe I lied, spent a few minutes on the lathe today and made some hood pins, I really hate screws to access the battery. Also chopped the bumper a bit.

<a href="http://imgur.com/Y5w54fd"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/Y5w54fd.jpg" title="source: imgur.com" /></a>

 

[HahnsB2]

Got my Curries today and put them in. Really love these. The included C hub screws were 2mm too long, ended up have to grind and file them down, a bit annoying.

Also got my first 3S pack, lots of power now :shock:

 

[HahnsB2]

Well I did the typical fastback mod and installed an EXO light bar and radiator set.

The 475 size VP hubs were the perfect size for these wheels and knuckles.

 

[HahnsB2]

Maiden voyage to my crawling spot today, crawled for a hour and a half then lost a nut on one of the knuckles

Did really well though, really liking this rig. The servo is doing well on 6.5 volts, really didn't have any problem with lack of power on the rocks.

 

[HahnsB2]

Well I picked up a 5" VP lightbar, didn't wanna use the JK mounts since I didn't wanna drill holes in the cage. I made some mounts out of 1/8" aluminum, used a ball nose end mill on the back side to make a little channel to conform to the cage with, it also uses the existing holes.

The light will be controlled with a small switch in the cab.

 

[HahnsB2]

Built a bumper for it, broke the stock one on the first trip out. Mild steel for the lower bar and stainless round stock for the rest. Also swapped in a 16t pinion for a 5:1 ratio, kinda miss the top speed but it crawls better and battery life is better too. Took it out with my roomate's deadbolt today, it was pretty wet but it did real nice, surprised me a number of times with the lines it'll do. Crawled for a couple hours and didn't hit the cutoff with my 3200mAh 3s pack.

 

[HahnsB2]

Well, I've got a Hitec 7950 on the way, the Hobbico CS-170 that's served me well for so long will go back in the SCX10 build. What's also going back in the SCX10 is the 30t TM pro and HH BRXL ESC, because I just bought a Holmes Trailmaster Pro 3300kv brushless and Holmes BLE Pro ESC. I'm excited, this will be my first brushless setup

 

[HahnsB2]

Got my 7950 installed and the new Holmes Brushless setup :shock: This thing still crawls great and had gobs of torque and speed now. Quite impressed so far "thumbsup"

 

[Steve p]

Did the exo light bar bolt right on?

 

[HahnsB2]

I had to trim it a little underneath so it would sit in between the two down tubes, it's epoxied on.


Quick comparison video of the brushed and brushless system. I wish there were more of these on Youtube when I was trying to make the decision.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mqxNEzICZ8Y" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[Steve p]

Re: Just Another Money Pit

Ok cool thanks. I've been thinking of adding one to my wraith. Nice looking rig btw.

 

[HahnsB2]

Took her out crawling a bit yesterday, went great, needed more drag brake though. I did some ESC tuning today and got it where I want it I think. Took her outside at home and while trying to hop up some stairs I smoked the stock idler gear in the tranny :mrgreen:

Also I'm getting some glitching with this 7950 servo if I turn the voltage up more than ~6.4 volts. It's powered directly from the BEC. I've read a small capacitor should fix the issue.

She's pretty quick now.

 

[bilinvic]

Are you running with 2 or 3S Lipos? No shouldn't require a capacitor.

 

[HahnsB2]

3s.

 

[HahnsB2]

Put two sets of underdrive gears in it, the slight reduction in wheelspeed was perfect and reduced the torque twist a little. Also put in LockedUp FI spools in it a while ago which I really like. Contemplating putting in standard ratio gears in the front to help it stay a little more planted. Took out today and it went pretty well, really like the HH brushless system, tweaks I made since last time helped a lot, a little more and it should be perfect. Used 2/3 of my 3200mAh 3s pack in about an hour and 45 minutes with the last few minutes messing around at full throttle on the trail. Really need to be able to turn the voltage up on this servo, 6.3v is not enough.

 

[HahnsB2]

Looks like I figured out my servo glitching issue. Swapped out the BEC for a new one in an SCX10 build of mine and the problem went away, it's over 4 years old I guess.

 

[HahnsB2]

Made myself some free.99 dual stage foams. Found these 4 closed cell foam rings on the shelf at work that were used for packaging something, they're measured up perfectly for 2.2s. I put the inner bead lock ring inside then stretched the stock foams over them. Still plenty soft where it needs it but has nice firm stopping point and they don't roll over so bad now.

 

[HahnsB2]

Couldn't help it, saw the centered rear Currie on sale at amain hobbies and bought one. I'd love to get out and crawl this weekend but it's suppose to pour all weekend.

 

[68_f100]

Couldn't help it, saw the centered rear Currie on sale at amain hobbies and bought one. I'd love to get out and crawl this weekend but it's suppose to pour all weekend.

How do you like the centered rear diff? I have been thinking about doing it for a while.