A Newbies Experience with the Yeti XL Kit

[gotcorey]

I am a newbie. I have never built an r/c kit before of any kind. I only own 1 r/c. A Traxxas 1-16 Mini E-Revo. Had it for about 6 months now and caught the r/c bug. Saw the Yeti Kit on Axial's site and got excited to build my own. These are just my impressions and experiences from a newbies point of view. Take them with a grain of salt.

I had no tools for building an r/c. Period. This was going to be expensive...

• Black & Decker LI4000 3.6-Volt Lithium-Ion SmartSelect Screwdriver. This worked out very well coupled with the below hex bits. Just needed to be sure not to over tighten and strip any plastic.
• MIP Metric Speed Tip Set. Quality set.
• Sourcingbay 45 in 1 Precision Screwdriver Tools Set. Worked out well. Bits would pop out of quick release sometimes. Not the best. But cheap.
• RC Metal Ball Head Screw Driver Wrench HEX Set. Horrible quality. Stripped 2.0 after 1/4 through build. Needed for the long reach of drive shaft screw.
• Aoyue 469 Variable Power 60 Watt Soldering Station. Worked out very well.
• X-ACTO X5285 13 Blades in Zippered Storage Case. Perfect for cutting the plastic bits off the trees.
• Helping Hand Magnifier. Worked well for soldering.

After pre-ordering the kit I went to work researching what electronics and add-ons to put in the rig. I watched all the youTube videos I could find from RCNetwork, Scale4x4RC and FastEddy.

ESC/Motor:
Tekin 1/8 RX8 Gen2 Brushless ESC/4038 Motor 2250kV Sadly not water resistant but I've seen others plasti dip it. I'm OK with only running 4S.... for now.

Servo:
Futaba S9157 Digital High-Torque Servo (Torque: 425oz-in (30.6kg/cm) @ 6V, Speed: 0.14 @ 6V) Sadly not water resistant. May have gone another route had I got a chance to see what others were using. Not using BEC. ESC says 6V-7.4V/7Amps.

Radio:
FlySky GT-3C 2.4GHz Radio Controller

Batteries:
SPC LiPo Power, Lithium Polymer (LiPo) Battery Pack; 8200mAh, 50C, 2S, 7.4V Soft-Case x2

Charger:
Advantage Touch Duo AC/DC Charger

Hop-Ups:
Axial Yeti XL Sealed Bearing Kit
Axial AX30836 Aluminum Servo Horn 25T
Aluminum Steering Bellcrank & Plate
Steel Pivot Ball 3x6.8x8mm 8 pcs For Axial Yeti XL x3 for all links.

MISC:
Traxxas 3070 HC Connector, Set of 2
Du-Bro 438 3/16" Diameter White Heat Shrink Tubing
Du-Bro 939 3/16" Heat Shrink Tubing Set
3M Scotchprint 1080 Carbon Fiber Vinyl Flex Wrap Black CF12 60"x12" Just the right amount with a bit left over.
Pro-Bond Tire Glue
Silicone Wire - Fine Strand - 12 Gauge - 30" Black, 30" Red
Venom Traxxas Male to Charger Adapter
Paint from local hobby shop.

The build was fairly easy. As others have mentioned, the printed instructions (which I used) had quite a few errors. It was not hard to figure out what went where and where the actual parts were on the plastic trees. I just took my time as I was in no rush. The hardest part for me was gluing the tires. Never done that before and I probably did a crap job. We'll see if the beads hold up to the abuse. The wrap was a challenge too. Never worked with vinyl before and some of the panels were difficult to get good contact. I'm sure it will scrape off with all the crashing I will be doing, but it looks good for now.

So far I'm happy with the electronics. I had to reverse the ESC as the motor was rotating backwards. On 4S with a 2250kV motor this beast screams. It's actually quite dis-concerning as the weight, size and noise it makes does not even compare to the Mini E-Revo I own. I'll have to get more confortable driving it. I've had no issues with steering with the Futuba servo and the DHAWK steering bellcrank. I did have to adjust the end points on the radio so the steering link did ont hit the chassis. This monster has quite a wide turning radius.

Here are some photos. Only part not complete is the helmets. The paint I used did not take well to the plastic so I'll have to redo them.

Hope this helps out any other newbies like me. I'm sure I made mistakes and still have to tune the suspension. It rides soft and low. I've put a pack through it so far and look forward to putting in a few more this weekend.

 

[redemon]

Biggest issue I found in the instructions was the front link placements.
They are backwards I think.
Smaller ones go on the steering the bigger ones go on the knuckles I think.

 

[Dairy guy]

Question. ? How did you reverse the esc? I have the same set up and is running backwards. I am also new to building . Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Dairy guy]

Ps you did a very nice job on routing and finish work on the wiring.

 

[gotcorey]

Question. ? How did you reverse the esc? I have the same set up and is running backwards. I am also new to building . Any help would be greatly appreciated.

See step 15 on the RX8 Gen2 Manual. Option 7) Brushless, Same as (3) with motor reversed (LED1-7 ON)

Thanks for the wiring compliment! "thumbsup" I was able to run the sensor wire under the motor mount. It was just long enough and looks a lot cleaner.

 

[gotcorey]

Biggest issue I found in the instructions was the front link placements.
They are backwards I think.
Smaller ones go on the steering the bigger ones go on the knuckles I think.

Yes. The link ends are incorrectly labeled, but the picture is correct. I saw others ran into that issue (I think on Fast Eddy's build) so I just used the picture. In fact, more often than not, the picture was correct while the part number was incorrect.

 

[gotcorey]

Got a chance to take the XL out to the baseball field for a bashing session after work. It rained 30 minutes in. At least the 8200mah batteries lasted that long. They were at 3.77V per cell when we stopped so they had some life left in them still.

After spending some time with the rig it is obvious it needs some suspension work. Very sloppy all around and bobbing in turns and steering corections. Even with the rear 5th tire taken off. I think I'll take others advice and add thicker shock fluid at least in the rear. Also move the rear shocks to the rear position on the lower links and rear position on the upper mount points.

Had a blast though! With 4S and the 2250kV motor I could do standing back flips. Braking was so sudden that it would front flip as well at high speed. My son and I were grinning ear to ear while he ran the Mini E-Revo. It makes a hell of a sound. Glad nothing broke either. I was worried on some of the harder flips. And I hit a tree head on....

 

[Rjohn929]

What are you using for a pinion? Do you know what your motor temp was after you ran in the field?

 

[gotcorey]

What are you using for a pinion? Do you know what your motor temp was after you ran in the field?

Stock pinion. Motor temp was 166F. Acceptable?

 

[Rjohn929]

Absolutely. Thanks! "thumbsup"