Eoin
Newbie
Unfortunately I'm on of those 'Cant leave it alone' guys. Its awful.
I can't keep money in the bank... for some reason I'm always looking for something to make better on everything I own or anything anyone else owns... I also hate having things that arin't awesome...
I have about 20 Hobbies. Apparently RC cars is the flavor of the month.
I was dragged into a local Hobby store by some friends. One looking for rocket motors and the other looking for lower links for his night crawler. I start poking around and see the Wraith and obviously it looks cool. Im a Car guy and when I saw the tube frame it caught my eye. I love functionality and in the real world the wraith looks like a mostly go design. So I purchased it and a battery. I told myself that I would only upgrade parts if they broke. For those of you that own a wraith and are aware of how bad the RTR trucks are... please stop laughing at me! thanks.
First night I ripped it around... It flipped over... A lot.
Second Day I tried to climb a set of four stairs... Got up one and then snapped the right front knuckle while trying to climb the second. That night I started browsing the aftermarket parts available and because I'm use to buying parts for my cars, truck, boat, computer, guns or girlfriend I was amazed how high the quality was for the low price. So I purchased a pair of CNC knuckles and some replacement bearings, they imploded due to knuckled failure and my determination to climb some stairs... I waited impatiently for their arrival. I had been drinking and it was 1 am but I had no work in the morning so I started tearing the front end apart. I started to realize it was pretty simple and fun to work on these things and also how many things were put together improperly or just sloppily. Once the knuckles and bearings were installed I placed it on the kitchen floor and drove left. SNAP. Awesome.
The right C hub snapped in 8 seconds. I left it were it was and called it a night. the next day I realised that the wait for it to break idea wouldnt work. I made an order. A axial 55t motor, some random 12t hong nor motor, Lower links, pumpkin covers (cool factor) servo mounts, metal servo horn, steering links, the rear hubs (whatever they call them), front c hubs, shock bodies and tops, 1.04 lbs springs, and a lowering kit. All Aluminum or titanium of course. I took the truck apart waiting for the parts to show up. (heres a tip, when ordering from amainhobbies and they give you free shipping you should take it but use USPS. ups took 8 or 9 days... USPS parcel post takes 2 or 3)
Let me put this all into perspective for you all.
I spent $380 or so on the truck, $45 on the battery, $35 on knuckles and bearings, about $250 on other miscellaneous parts and had about 25 minutes of run time. needless to say I was frustrated.
So the parts come in and I put them all on (other then shock bodies) and in the process realized the end pin in the dog bone had moved and probably was the cause of all the failures in the front right so I was able to hammer it back to center. After about 5 minutes of use everything was loose but I didn't have any locktite at the house. So it was a total crap fest of trying to adjust the front links so my truck wasn't toed in or toed out and trying to tighten EVERY SINGLE ALLEN OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER again.
BUT I got it sorted, found some locktite and moved my battery forward and had most of my parts in. We went down to a hobby shop about 45 minutes away and wanted to do some driving. The 12t motor was hilarious but the truck wasn't fast enough to really go around the track and jump shiz, plus if the battery is in the front it just nose dives like a bastard and either smashes the front end or smashes the front end and then front flips. So i put the 55T in and went crawling. Well the Servo could barely turn the truck at all so it required a lot of reversing. Plus the stock tires are awful and you cant weight them unless you feel like carrying clue around with you. So obviously I purchased some wheels and tires. I don't remember the price but it was at the hobby shop so it was a little high, Somewhere around $100.
once the wheels were on and the truck was locktited I thought I was done for a while... I figured i could just use a crappy servo until I found a good one I wanted or at least had some fun with the truck (total run time was like 45 minutes at this point and it had been like 3 weeks).
But no... of course not. the ESC died literally the DAY AFTER I got my parts on the truck! So we took the 10t brushless motor and esc from my roomates slash and put that in it just to make sure the esc was the problem. but in the process I noticed that the end pin on the dogbone was shifted again and was destroying the C cup and destroying my new CNC alumminum C hub. so i hammered it back to center and took it on a hike with the 10t in it. it was hilarious and so much fun. But after 5 minutes on the trail the pin on the dog bone was shifted again and would lock the truck up on full turns.
I was frustrated and went online and ordered axial universal joint axles to replace them and also some end links for the lower links because I broke some on the trail. To top it off I ordered a NOVAK timbuk2 brushless 13.5t wraith specific motor and ESC combo. I installed that last night and put the battery back to the back (wires aren't ling enough so new ESC has to be in front). When I stalled the new ESC motor combo it seems the servo had had enough. It quit completely... so I stole my roommates extra servo that he took out of his night crawler and put it in and then the transmitter and receiver had had enough and stopped working. So I stole my roommates spare traxxas transmitter and receiver and I finally have a functional truck.
BTW I took out all the interior junk im not a big fan of little shifters and seats. I like the look of the chassis but I don't care for the scale bits and pieces. anyways here are some quick phone photos. I have a lot of work to do as far as arranging all the electronics and hiding wires and so on. Also the lowering kit will probably come out. with softer shocks and weights in the tires I don't need it lower and its just robbing clearance.
This is with the slash guts in it:
IMG_1190.mp4 video by Eoin16V - Photobucket
work area:
you can see what the faulty dog-bone did:
This is what almost happened to the truck on multiple occasions:
IMG_1219.mp4 video by Eoin16V - Photobucket
Total price is somewhere around $1,000 and that's without counting the new servo that I need or the New transmitter that I Need.
in hindsight I would have bought a comp crawler and made it awesome and then bought a slash or something like that for my speed kicks.
Overall:
IF YOU WANT A WRAITH GET A KIT AND BUILD IT PROPERLY!
Best upgrade so far was universal joint axles.
If you all want more pictures or to know anything let me know.
Don't get a wraith unless you already have a few RC cars and trucks.
I can't keep money in the bank... for some reason I'm always looking for something to make better on everything I own or anything anyone else owns... I also hate having things that arin't awesome...
I have about 20 Hobbies. Apparently RC cars is the flavor of the month.
I was dragged into a local Hobby store by some friends. One looking for rocket motors and the other looking for lower links for his night crawler. I start poking around and see the Wraith and obviously it looks cool. Im a Car guy and when I saw the tube frame it caught my eye. I love functionality and in the real world the wraith looks like a mostly go design. So I purchased it and a battery. I told myself that I would only upgrade parts if they broke. For those of you that own a wraith and are aware of how bad the RTR trucks are... please stop laughing at me! thanks.
First night I ripped it around... It flipped over... A lot.
Second Day I tried to climb a set of four stairs... Got up one and then snapped the right front knuckle while trying to climb the second. That night I started browsing the aftermarket parts available and because I'm use to buying parts for my cars, truck, boat, computer, guns or girlfriend I was amazed how high the quality was for the low price. So I purchased a pair of CNC knuckles and some replacement bearings, they imploded due to knuckled failure and my determination to climb some stairs... I waited impatiently for their arrival. I had been drinking and it was 1 am but I had no work in the morning so I started tearing the front end apart. I started to realize it was pretty simple and fun to work on these things and also how many things were put together improperly or just sloppily. Once the knuckles and bearings were installed I placed it on the kitchen floor and drove left. SNAP. Awesome.
The right C hub snapped in 8 seconds. I left it were it was and called it a night. the next day I realised that the wait for it to break idea wouldnt work. I made an order. A axial 55t motor, some random 12t hong nor motor, Lower links, pumpkin covers (cool factor) servo mounts, metal servo horn, steering links, the rear hubs (whatever they call them), front c hubs, shock bodies and tops, 1.04 lbs springs, and a lowering kit. All Aluminum or titanium of course. I took the truck apart waiting for the parts to show up. (heres a tip, when ordering from amainhobbies and they give you free shipping you should take it but use USPS. ups took 8 or 9 days... USPS parcel post takes 2 or 3)
Let me put this all into perspective for you all.
I spent $380 or so on the truck, $45 on the battery, $35 on knuckles and bearings, about $250 on other miscellaneous parts and had about 25 minutes of run time. needless to say I was frustrated.
So the parts come in and I put them all on (other then shock bodies) and in the process realized the end pin in the dog bone had moved and probably was the cause of all the failures in the front right so I was able to hammer it back to center. After about 5 minutes of use everything was loose but I didn't have any locktite at the house. So it was a total crap fest of trying to adjust the front links so my truck wasn't toed in or toed out and trying to tighten EVERY SINGLE ALLEN OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER again.
BUT I got it sorted, found some locktite and moved my battery forward and had most of my parts in. We went down to a hobby shop about 45 minutes away and wanted to do some driving. The 12t motor was hilarious but the truck wasn't fast enough to really go around the track and jump shiz, plus if the battery is in the front it just nose dives like a bastard and either smashes the front end or smashes the front end and then front flips. So i put the 55T in and went crawling. Well the Servo could barely turn the truck at all so it required a lot of reversing. Plus the stock tires are awful and you cant weight them unless you feel like carrying clue around with you. So obviously I purchased some wheels and tires. I don't remember the price but it was at the hobby shop so it was a little high, Somewhere around $100.
once the wheels were on and the truck was locktited I thought I was done for a while... I figured i could just use a crappy servo until I found a good one I wanted or at least had some fun with the truck (total run time was like 45 minutes at this point and it had been like 3 weeks).
But no... of course not. the ESC died literally the DAY AFTER I got my parts on the truck! So we took the 10t brushless motor and esc from my roomates slash and put that in it just to make sure the esc was the problem. but in the process I noticed that the end pin on the dogbone was shifted again and was destroying the C cup and destroying my new CNC alumminum C hub. so i hammered it back to center and took it on a hike with the 10t in it. it was hilarious and so much fun. But after 5 minutes on the trail the pin on the dog bone was shifted again and would lock the truck up on full turns.
I was frustrated and went online and ordered axial universal joint axles to replace them and also some end links for the lower links because I broke some on the trail. To top it off I ordered a NOVAK timbuk2 brushless 13.5t wraith specific motor and ESC combo. I installed that last night and put the battery back to the back (wires aren't ling enough so new ESC has to be in front). When I stalled the new ESC motor combo it seems the servo had had enough. It quit completely... so I stole my roommates extra servo that he took out of his night crawler and put it in and then the transmitter and receiver had had enough and stopped working. So I stole my roommates spare traxxas transmitter and receiver and I finally have a functional truck.
BTW I took out all the interior junk im not a big fan of little shifters and seats. I like the look of the chassis but I don't care for the scale bits and pieces. anyways here are some quick phone photos. I have a lot of work to do as far as arranging all the electronics and hiding wires and so on. Also the lowering kit will probably come out. with softer shocks and weights in the tires I don't need it lower and its just robbing clearance.
This is with the slash guts in it:
IMG_1190.mp4 video by Eoin16V - Photobucket
work area:
you can see what the faulty dog-bone did:
This is what almost happened to the truck on multiple occasions:
IMG_1219.mp4 video by Eoin16V - Photobucket
Total price is somewhere around $1,000 and that's without counting the new servo that I need or the New transmitter that I Need.
in hindsight I would have bought a comp crawler and made it awesome and then bought a slash or something like that for my speed kicks.
Overall:
IF YOU WANT A WRAITH GET A KIT AND BUILD IT PROPERLY!
Best upgrade so far was universal joint axles.
If you all want more pictures or to know anything let me know.
Don't get a wraith unless you already have a few RC cars and trucks.
