Rock4x4Runner's Rock-Running Wraith Project

[Rock4x4Runner]

Procrastination has taken its toll and I'm finally getting around to making this build thread after I've done all of the mods you're about to see. Well, up until the rig is orangeish/black color at least.

I'm lucky enough to live up around the Tahoe area where granite rock, sand and forested trails can be found in abundance. Moonrocks OHV down outside of Reno is a 1:1 and RC HEAVEN -> if you ever find yourself near that area with a charged LiPo, do yourself a favor and stop by, you wont be disappointed.

It's also worth mentioning that I bought the Wraith in-store at C-K-R-C Hobbies in Reno, NV and have experienced nothing but great customer service and good prices. If you buy from them in-store, DON'T FORGET TO ASK FOR INTERNET PRICING!!!

From what I've seen, I think my Wraith is some-what unique and can hopefully offer you some ideas to try yourself. Please critique the build and let me know what you think of my creation. And thank you to everyone out there who unknowingly has helped me with ideas of their own!

The Equipment List:

Electronics:
Stock Axial Wraith light harness
Futaba 4PL-S Rx/Tx
Castle Creations Mamba Max Pro ESC/ Sidewinder 3 (Spare)
Castle Creations BEC
Hitec HS-7950TH Servo
Tekin ROC-412 brushless motor (3100 KV)
I run ****'s 5000 MaH, 2-cell and 1300 MaH, 3-Cell LiPo Batteries
Hyperion EOS 0606i Battery Charger -> WORKS GREAT

Hardware:
VP Lockouts/ Knuckles
VP Tie-rod/ Draglink
VP Links
VP Aluminum axles housings F/R
Ballistic Fab Diff. Covers
C-K-R-C metal drive shafts (Comparable to MIPs)
Robinson Racing Metal Tranny Gears and One-Piece Bottom Gear
Robinson Racing Gen-3 Slipper Clutch
Stock Wraith Tranny housing
Motor Gear Ratio (20:80)
Axial HD R&P Gears F/R, (Stock Ratio)

Accessories:
VP KMC XD Aluminum Wheels
Pitbull Rock Beast II 2.2 Tires -> AWESOME TIRE BTW
VP 5" LED Lightbar
KING 90mm replica shocks w/ 55 wt. oil
3 Racing 1:8 Scale Winch, went a size up because Wraiths can get heavy
Custom Paneling
Custom Frame/ Roll Cage Mods
Stock Wraith Spare Tire
Boot string & Key-Chain Caribeaner Tow Strap

Last weight was around 7.0 Lbs, i think it weighs in at 6 Lbs without the KMCs & Pitbulls.

How it looks now:

 

[Rock4x4Runner]

Stock form gettin' it. on the Rubicon near Spyder Lake/ Little Sluice.

Bare with me while I get all of these uploaded. Im working with satellite internet out in the middle of the GOM, so thats what's taking me so long.

Lastly, a finishing poser for it's completely stock phase.

Change of scenery....

This was a fun night. I walked down the street to a partially frozen lake. YES, after almost a successful hour I jumped it off of some shore-side rocks and like some shit out of a Michael Bay movie, it took a roll, broke through the thin ice and started to go under. Luckily for me it was still in shin-deep water, not the 50 feet I had been drifting all over the place on. I could barely stand in the water long enough to recover it. Fired right back up though.

This is also right after round 1 of upgrades. I forget if its the Vanquish Stage 1 or 2, but I installed rear lock-outs, front knuckles, suspension links, steering linkage and changed out the front axle shafts with "dogbone" style axles. you get way more steerage out of the universals than the stock axle shaft joints.

Enjoy

It was only a matter of time before RC crawling took over the little bit of backyard that I had to work with. A few pieces of kindling, some tennis balls and some nails later I had this:

I highly recommend an aluminum can top/ side paneling. It makes the most SATISFYING crunching sound when you flop or roll. So cheap, practically free and you have a million skins to choose from.

Next playground- Moonrocks, NV. about 20 minutes outside of Reno. Absolutely epic for a 1:1 or any crawler. Heres a few pics that dont even do the place justice.

Like I said, notice the changed skins...

Also, in went the first of about 4 more servos to come. DO YOURSELF A HUGE MONEY-SAVING FAVOR AND BUY ONE QUALITY SERVO AND A METALLIC HORN. I kept trying to get the bare minimum and kept having to upgrade. now I have a bunch of spare/ dig servos laying around.

 

[skidtoy]

if I ever get over there I gotta get to moonrocks for the rock zombies challenge!!!

 

[Rock4x4Runner]

if I ever get over there I gotta get to moonrocks for the rock zombies challenge!!!

Are you referring to the "real size" rock crawler club competition they do every year, or do they have a scaler comp as well? and yes, yes you do. Love Moonrocks!

Getting a bit more competent with my beer can skin making. I forget, but I think I'm running without any foams in the tires at this point. Besides side-hilling and the fact that they get pinched up easily if you don't choose a good line, I really liked how much more traction I got out of the RTR Ripsaws. Without cut foams, they're stiff and kinda "plasticy".

You can also see where the grill would be some lead weights zip-tied to the frame. I picked up some flats sticks of lead from my local Ace hardware that was meant for adding weight to duck decoys. Its cheap, and provides a lot of extra weight for its size. The most my wraith weighed at one point was 12.5 Lbs. It sat down, had a low COG, but ultimately I determined that that was too much weight. It puts a lot of extra stress on the driveline and steering servo. I later removed all of the lead that I put on after I was able to relocate the battery up in front of the firewall.

Im also up to my 4th and final servo by this point. The Hitec HS-7950TH is a GREAT servo and have had ZERO issues over about 7 months of harsh crawling & bashing

More changes to the skin. This time I stepped it up a notch with a hoodscoop to let this monster breathe.

Excuse this Frankenstein of a mess right now... :roll: It gets better, I promise!

A battery that big (5,000 MaH) REALLY sucks in the back of a Wraith. You can kiss any hopes of climbing any impressive incline good by.

 

[Rock4x4Runner]

Alright, lets put some bling on this beach. Pics speak for themselves. Once my patience was restored I finished adding the jewelry screw to the rims. Nicely done VP, nicely done.

5 screws. Its easier if you start with the longer screws provided. Then once the bead is in place and all 5 have been bottomed out equally, you go back and install shorter bolts that ultimately hold the bead. This tire/ rim combo worked really well for me, no mounting issues.

I ran a ring of wheel weights in both front tires. Definitely makes a positive difference for crawling. I ran them most of the life of the rig (you will want a beefy servo), and only ended up removing the wheel weights when it became more of a basher/ Ultra4 rig.

Mocked up

The 2.2 Pitbulls are a good bit bigger than the 2.2 Ripsaws in every dimension, I think that goes for most 2.2 tires except for maybe the Mickey Thompson Baja Claws from what I've seen.

Practically free spare tire mod, depending on what exactly you have laying around the house. For me it was this, which worked well, but I just couldn't get enough bite out of the clamp and I had a bouncy spare tire.

A few more minutes of rummaging through miscellaneous drawers and I came up with this clamp that provided me with the clamping force that I needed. 8)

I couldn't resist taking it out already before I got some pics of it all fresh and clean. Biggest bolt-on difference you can make- a good set of tires.

I regret not taking the time to remove some stubborn stickers from the stock paint scheme, I thought the coats of primer + a couple coats of the DuPont Spray on bedliner would be enough mils to mask them....but nope. The pick up bed liner has been VERY durrable, resistant to cracks and has held up great against rolls, scrapes, dents and discoloration.

 

[Rock4x4Runner]

Out messing around with some friends on Donner Summit and their super crawlers. Since, I've tried to incorporate some stuff that they do to lower COG, reduce weight where needed in order to become more capable. Its been fun watching the Wraith grow so much more capable over the months. Big difference between going out stock and trying to keep up, versus what it was like at this stage. My Wraith kept up just fine with their crawlers and often surpassed them when ground clearance was necessary. Just about the only time it couldn't keep up was during insanely inclined lines up the granite.

The Tamiya Hilux body fits really well on the Wraith chasis. I have gone through 3 of the bodies and each time I got better at fitting the body to the Wraith. Here it is with little trimming for the first fit.

Fun lines in the front yard.

Aaaaaand the best mountains to crawl over. Girlfriend mountains.

FRESH!!!:mrgreen:

I think the body came out really well and it all works really well together. I used some framing nails through the hood and they happened to fit snugly and were perfect for securing my hood down with some extra small cotter pins. In the rear I flipped my brake lights upside down to make for a hugely improved departure angle. With the full back of the Wraith still on, that was a good mod for me at the time.

A couple aesthetic changes.

1.) Front bumper cracked (right where they alsways do) Wish I new about the DMGs before this had a chance to happen. When the frame cracked where the battery box mounts up forward, it forced me to relocate the big battery up forward in front of the dash. With the stock ESC moved out of the way already, that battery fir really nicely with no need for the special flat mounting plate your supposed to put in there.

2.) The spare brake light housing that come with the RTR Wraith (I think) make really good looking headlights, especially for a Toyota-based Wraith, as it is right now.

3.) Also trimmed the fenders up forward because I was tired of the scale "tires rubbing on fender" sound

4.) And found out that there is a lot less stress on the plastic body with the A-pillars cut out. Fits better/ easier too.

Back up on Donner Summit with another buddies Ax-10 running my spare, stock Ripsaws. Didn't do so good lets say....his spare fit nicely while I was going for more of a G6/ trailer look. Truck performed pretty well that day, and weirdly- nothing broke.

Truck actually held this line and the Tekin T-35 with crawler gears made for a nice, slow, controlled decent.

 

[Rock4x4Runner]

The Hilux body got beat up real bad, so Iwent back to the stock panels which i've cut up and painted over the spray on liner. Flipped my steering horn and move my tie-rod up above my knuckles for more clearance. Scored some Ballistic fab Diff covers for $5 in a bargain bin. Installed KING 90mm shocks, metal drive shafts.

I soon thereafter back-halved it. It was VERY EASY to do for anyone thats wondering. I used a small metal hacksaw to cut through the cage. Took some of the stock links I had laying around, then with a lighter I slightly heated them up just enough to bend the lower holes into place on the back part of the cage. I am always stunned at how versitile the Wraith cage is and how many different way we all run them on here- so cool! I also took the small, skinny tubes left over after the back-halving job and like other people, use them as front windshield braces. Gives it a more aggressive look IMO, and the back half brings it right up to KOH status.

 

[Rock4x4Runner]

NOOBS---> notice in this picture the rear shock mounts can be easily flipped upside down and is a good way to lower the Wraith a few mm.

 

[Rock4x4Runner]

A wire pulled out from the headlights so I used it to repower some LED lighting strip under the hood that worked as rock lights.

Excuse the sloppy ESC location, looks like hell, but was meant to be only temporary. I later moved it to a verticle position in between the seats and got the Rx box moved to the rear as well.

 

[Rock4x4Runner]

This is a prime example of what happens when you dont let your buddy drive your Wraith enough....Same reason why I had to go buy my own months ago. Vicious cycle.

In went the new Tekin ROC 412, 31ooKV. GREAT MOTOR! With a sensored ESC, like the CC MMP, it maintains great crawling control and then obviously has more than enough ground speed and torque. The limitless programming options through the Castle Link are a huge plus, you can get very creative with your ESC tuning on a PC.

Btw the gears pictured DON'T HOLD UP worth a crap. cheap almuinum, idk what I was thinking...better than plastic?, wrong. I shortly thereafter installed the RR Gen-3 slipper and a 20T pinion. Much, much better performance. Tip on the RR slipper- wipe off/ lightly sand the disc surface or else you will most likely get a lot of slippage and wont be able to put any power to the ground. Then, RR recomends a "break-in period" Use it lightly for 5-10 minutes before you start quickly accelerating, After the break-in my slipper worked perfect, but at first I was a little put-off and worried.

Switched things up and went with suicide steering. Basically, I like it/ I dont like it. Its fairly cheap to do, provided even more steerage, but I really prefer the looks of a solid tie-rod bar.
Notice the spacers underneath the servo mount. It can be installed withouth those, but my servo horn isnt trimmed and im not using the shortest radius hole, so it would hit my diff. cover with out the spacers.

Yeaaahhhhhh Boyyyyyy check out that Toyota paper clip emblem!! uhhuh!