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My First Wraith PS From Essex England

B

burgerboy78

Rock Stacker
Joined
Jan 26, 2014
Messages
66
Location
Essex U.K
Hi Everybody.

Im new to this forum and also Crawler style trucks. I only recently got into the hobby after finding my old Tamiya truck that i built with my dad when i was about 14 hiding in my wardrobe.

After deciding to try and get her working again i discovered crawlers and the Axial brand and didnt realize it had such a big following.

Anyway after spending lots of money on the Tamiya just to bash around i kept going and looking at Axial Wraiths.

Heres the tamiya btw...



But yea there was just something about the wraith that just looked the nuts. I was in 3 minds on whether to get a cheap crawler like the Vaterra Slickrock to get me started to see how i liked it, an scx10 or the wraith.

I decided on the wraith so i had to buy one which leads me to my Poison Spyder that arrived friday :)

I want it to be more of a crawler than anything else with loight trail work so am going to do my best to upgrade her working around my budget. Im heavily into drifting (not rc drifting) so alot of my cash goes into my car but im sure my little truck will do its best to stop that.

Anyway..





The first thing i noticed when i unboxed was the stink coming from the Tyres!! The whole house stank of the rubber! Im not sure why as the Prolines i put on the Tamiya didnt smell but these were unreal ha!

As i wanted to cut the foams anyway i took the tyres and foams off and gave them a good soak but to no avail.



Anyway cut the foams into 8 sided stars shapes not sure if its made any difference but we will see.

Also put a new spur and pinion in using Harleys guide.

There must be an easier way of removing the motor and trans than taking off all the suspension links and all that?

But went for the 84t Traxxas spur and 16t RW Racing pinion



I found that the front wheels foul the front wings so i fitted the wider wheel hubs supplied but they still foul when the steerings turned. Any ideas what i can do?

Just a rookie flex pic



Ive got an Axial servo horn waiting to be fitted but im waiting for the metal Topcad steering linkages to arrive in the post, aswell as the axial light bar.

Can anyone recommend lights to put in them? Also im quite confused on how they wire up i assume they go into the ESC somehow as the standard wraith comes with lights?

Battery wise i only have a Overlander Tornado 3800mah 7.2v Stick Pack.

I want to mount this up front so im going to have a go at butchering the shell so i can have the flip up bonnet so i can mount it and move all the gubbins to the rear i just need to find a guide how to. I assume Harley must have one somewhere.

Anyway please to be here expect some stupid questions to be asked :flipoff:
 
So i have spent all evening attempting to mount the battery up front. I did a few searches on how to do it but could find a decent step to step guide on how to so i kinda worked it out and here is whats happened.

First off i removed the ESC and receiver box and undone the box so i could use the extra cable to mount the ESC at the rear.

Now seeing this annoyed me. This was an RTR truck as you all know but the the receiver box has been screwed down it has trapped the wires and crushed them.

Im not sure if this would have affected performance as i haven't even plugged a battery in yet but its pretty poor.





So after i resolved this i put the receiver box back in the truck (the rubber seal was a right pain to get it to say in place).

I mounted the ESC and the front of the original battery tray secured with a cable tie.





The battery plug then goes through the original hole in the interior. I also cut a hole to mount the ON/OFF switch above the hole but i haven't screwed it down in the photos



I also trimmed the interior so the battery fits. I just cut down the seam line and also cut a bit of the steering column off to allow the battery to fit nice. (column not trimmed in pic)



Then using the original Velcro straps put the battery in and secure it in!





I still need to trim the hood so i can get to it but i need a sharp blade which i will acquire and then add the necessary pictures :)

I enjoyed doing this and its letting me get to know the truck more. I assume if i bought an L.E.D light kit it will plug into the receiver and they just come on when you turn the truck on?
 
should have gone for the 2s battery or if you put a cc bec you can go for 3s a lot more punch and a lot more running time.
 
vegas1973 said:
should have gone for the 2s battery or if you put a cc bec you can go for 3s a lot more punch and a lot more running time.
Click to expand...

Just ordered 2 overlander 2s lipo's and a charger :)

Also cut the bonnet but now need a way to keep it shut. Not a fan of the magnet idea so trying to find some pins that i can get here in the UK
 
I got the Traxxas parts from Modelsport and used 6mm p-clips for the hinges which I got off ebay, the parts cost well under a tenner
 
Last edited:
Few more parts arrived today.

First of all two Topcad ally diff covers for a bit of shineyness. Put a thin layer of grease around them to seal them up. the site said they were gunmetal but they're more of a bronzey silver color.



Also fitted my Axial servo horn (a right pig to get on i must say) and Topcad steel steering linkages. I thought this may make my servo better but its still junk. It wont even turn the wheels lock to lock. Ive ordered a metal bearing for it but if that doesnt solve it im getting a new servo. Does anyone else have this problem?





Bonnet pins also. the pins aren't to everyone's liking and are definitely not scale but i like it





And the Axial universal 5 bucket light bar. I think this looks so cool so had to get it. Mounted it differently to how the instructions say. Guess its just my own spin on my truck. Waiting for the 5 light string and standard wraith light controller to arrive.





Here is is how it stands. I get paid Friday, so do i buy 2 2c lipos and a charger like Vegas recommended. Or do i get Vanquish titanium link set and their heavy duty axle shafts.




Decisions decisions.
 
Last edited:
evan03 said:
I would not get vainguish links. See if r2j will ship to you

This is a awesome low cost servo upgrade. I have a lot of these and have been unable to kill them.

HXT 10kg Servo (metal gear) 55g / 10kg / .16sec

I'll see if I have enough revo ends to do some links.
Click to expand...

Whats R2J? i dnt mind spending the money on the links its either them or some topcad ones as i thought the quality of their parts were good!

And you reckon that servo's a winner? i dont understand why the stock servo cant turn the wheels but i guess for a tenner its worth buying and seeing if it makes a difference!

Reckon its worth spending a bit more for either of these?

http://www.modelsport.co.uk/alturn-...race-servo-high-speed-/rc-car-products/359785

http://www.modelsport.co.uk/savox-s...tal-gear-digital-servo/rc-car-products/377022
 
Last edited:
277 oz will be enough to bash and crawl but its to close to the Savox 1230 in price. 1230 is 500oz.

But the 277 oz servo may be good to go on the esc's internal became.

Vainguish links are good. Just cost about 60 dollars to much.

I don't have enough ends to build a set of links or I'd over to build and ship to you to keep you from spending 99 bucks for a at most 50 dollar set if links
 
In the end i got the Savox SW-0231 just because o the metal gears and its waterproof so saves me doing this in the fute. Took it out for the first time and was pretty impressed wth it. Although the only downside was the lack of grip on loose terrain, OH and the servo mount came loose!

I like the look of of the Krawlers but the tread isnt Gnarly enough. They'll do for the time being as ive spent all my money but the future may contain the Krawlers in the R35 compound



 
been bashing it around alot. the Servo keeps coming loose so ive super glued the screws in and its not come loose since. Need to water proof it as im getting bit risky with the puddles!

Also there's alot of play in the front wheels. I've taken it all apart but cant see a problem so im going to order alloy chubs and knuckles see if that sorts it out. Also going to take the foams out the tires to see if i can get more grip as they don't seem to flex much.



 
vegas1973 said:
were is that with all the rock looks like a good place. p.s these foams are great Single Stage Closed Cell for 2.2 Tall Tires
Click to expand...

Its called East beach in Shoeburyness, just along a bit more from southend seafront. Its on the beach its the only rocky place around here i can think off. Struggles with traction with all the sand on your tyres plus the cold and wet slippery rocks don't help but will be good in the summer!

sweet i'll check them out i was looking at the foams rc-bitz sell
 
Few updates.

Been using the truck alot recently, got it stuck in some deep mud which burnt the motor out so replaced it with this

Tamiya 35t Crawler Tuned



Also bought the Krawlers in the R35 compound

Cant believe how soft these are compared to the standard ones



Then took her out to play

Took it to the olympic mountain bike track that was used in the 2012 Olympic games which is only down the road.



The speed difference is crazy its so slow with the new motor but i knew it woul be and it is more of a crawler than a trail truck.

However i was so disappointed with the tyres because i have stock foams they just fold over and pinch all the time.

So as soon as i came to a tricky rock section this happened...

(not the tricky rocks in the pic)



so i persevered i wasnt going to let it ruin my day.

Also got some shots of my new Vanquish axle trusses



And my ally rock sliders



and then finally this happend



So this was the end of my day.



Didnt even get through one battery. Stiffer foams are obviously a must but they will have to come from America so will be waitin a while. Ive just built all the wheels back up so i can still use it but it will happen again.

Metal bead locks would be nice aswell but they are so expensive. But hey ho all part of the hobby i guess!
 
You may find the softer tyres need better beadlocks. My TSL Swampers used do this until I fitted them to Proline Titus wheels.

There are a few good trails up at Langdon Hills if you fancy a forest nimble.
 
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