The Inspiration
Current Picture
Background
I can't even remember the last time I have posted on here, but I have been in and out of RC since I was 8 or so. Last month I was working out of town and bored so I picked up an SCX24 and caught the bug again. I have had a Proline ZR2 body in my shop for at least a year probably longer but didn't like the way it looked on my SCX10.2. Enter the Enduro. I have never really been happy with the quality of Axial's offerings so I was happy to see something from a company I know to make quality kit (I have always been a Losi guy but know associated is good.) When I saw the IFS kit I knew this would be absolutely perfect for the ZR2 Body. The goal of the build is to replicate the performance of the real deal (which I own.) This means good crawling and high speed performance.
The Plan
The original plan has changed somewhat but I am going to lay it out here along with changes to follow along with reasoning. Starting out I had planned to run an SCX10.3 transmission with 2 Speed and Dig, for now this idea has been scrapped, I didn't feel that the difference in speed with this transmission was enough to make it worth while, and the Dig while cool and likely useful wasn't worth the lack of range to me. At this point I am going to stick with the stock transmission with 5% overdrive, as the kit transmission comes with metal gears I am sure this will be a great option. Along with the 2 speed transmission I was going to use a Mamba X esc with Holmes Puller Pro V2 2700Kv, the beauty of this setup is I was going to have a single button on the radio to switch from crawl mode (crawl mode on esc and 1st gear on trans,) to race mode (Race mode on esc and 2nd gear on trans,) yes it would have been cool, but at this point it just isn't going to happen, in part due simply to availability of product. I am going to run 2 Stubby battery trays with 2s batteries in series(4S), at this time I will be running some Orion Pro Carbon batteries from my 1/10th buggy, but I will be switching to Spektrum for their smart system, with me going hot and cold on the hobby the smarts auto discharge to storage voltage and battery history record should be great tools for my lack of battery maintenance. The dual battery setup will also let me run a single 3s shorty in either the front or rear tray to adjust the trucks balance if I am just crawling or just flying. Another added benefit is I will be installing an additional (hard) chassis brace, I had read that the chassis flex on this truck is bad, but the kit seems to be much more rigid than my SCX10.2, perhaps they use better plastic in the kit than the RTR? The dual batteries will be heavy, but I am hoping it will help keep the truck balanced, I want to wind up with a 55/45 F/R weight bias to assist with crawling without totally tanking high speed ability. I am going to run some sort of aluminum beadlock with Proline 4.75" KM3's, this is the tire I run on my full size ZR2 so it should match beautifully. The 4.75's will mean I have to trim the body more than I like to prevent rubbing but I do not want to sacrifice performance for looks. I will likely add some weight in the future but I am going to be very conscious of where it goes, the goal will be to minimize un sprung weight while keeping the CG as low as possible, I am hoping someone will come out with a brass IFS lower a Arm bracket, or diff housing to help with this. I will also be changing out the spring rates, the IFS springs are laughably stiff, if you watch any YouTube videos of it running over terrain at speed, or crawling the suspension almost looks fixed, I will have more on this in my build notes.
Parts List
Element Enduro Builders Kit Completed
Element IFS Kit for Enduro Completed
Element Battery Box for 2nd Battery Completed
Element Hard Chassis Brace Set Completed
Element 2.49 Lb Springs (Front) Completed
Proline ZR2 Body (Completed, Badly)
Tekin RX4 ESC Completed
Tekin ROC412 3100KV Completed
Tekin T360 Completed
Traxxas Steel Pivot Balls (require shimming) Completed
Pro Line KM3's Coming Soon
Vanquish KMC Machete Grey Coming Soon
Element Factory Team Shocks Coming Soon
Build Notes
Instructions
The instructions are decent, I wish they had the screw size guide on each page like some other manuals I have used. There where also some steps that where incomplete that showed what needed to happen in the pictures but not the text, the IFS kit for example does not say anything about installing the upper front shock drop bracket.
Chassis
The chassis went together well with no issues to report. Part fitment was excellent I did not have to drill tap or flex anything to get it to go together. Many reviews on this truck have mentioned that the chassis is not very tortionally rigid, this is not something I observed, in fact it is much more rigid than my SCX10.2, this makes me wonder if the kit uses higher quality plastic than the RTR.
Axles
The axle went together very very easily and turns very freely, I did not feel that any shimming was necessary to get the ring and pinion to engage properly. I did not assemble the front axle as I was not going to use it. The axle also looks really good and seems to be stiff enough for the job.
Transmission
The transmission is very high quality with an aluminum motor mount plate and spins very nicely. This was one of the places I felt the instructions where lacking, in the main instructions it is not made very clear which gear goes where as far as the overdrive gears go, this is shown much better later in the manual where alternate overdrive setups are discussed. One thing I did not know when purchasing this kit is that the kit comes with steel transmission gears, shouldn't have any issues running 4s brushless.:twisted:
Shocks
For years I have been told how nice Associated shocks are. They live up to the hype. These shocks are nicer than anything I have had on my any of my race buggies, AND they where easier to assembly properly. The shocks on my SCX10.2 stick so badly that if you hold the chassis and lift the axle from the center with your thumb one side goes up almost completely before the other side starts moving, no such issues here. Smooth, buttery smooth,
IFS Kit
The IFS Kit went together very well and is of the same quality as everything else. I do however have a couple of gripes. The Arms themselves are fine, however they use the same rod ends as the links for the outter arm, only time will tell if this is ok, but I am concerned this could be a failure point. Another issue I observed is that the IFS has severe bump steer at full droop. It seems to only be present for the first 3/8s of an inch of travel after which it seems to be non existent, but the steering links are a different length than and not parallel to the upper a-arm. I can only assume this was done to improve steering angle but IMHO it is not ideal.
Current Picture
Background
I can't even remember the last time I have posted on here, but I have been in and out of RC since I was 8 or so. Last month I was working out of town and bored so I picked up an SCX24 and caught the bug again. I have had a Proline ZR2 body in my shop for at least a year probably longer but didn't like the way it looked on my SCX10.2. Enter the Enduro. I have never really been happy with the quality of Axial's offerings so I was happy to see something from a company I know to make quality kit (I have always been a Losi guy but know associated is good.) When I saw the IFS kit I knew this would be absolutely perfect for the ZR2 Body. The goal of the build is to replicate the performance of the real deal (which I own.) This means good crawling and high speed performance.
The Plan
The original plan has changed somewhat but I am going to lay it out here along with changes to follow along with reasoning. Starting out I had planned to run an SCX10.3 transmission with 2 Speed and Dig, for now this idea has been scrapped, I didn't feel that the difference in speed with this transmission was enough to make it worth while, and the Dig while cool and likely useful wasn't worth the lack of range to me. At this point I am going to stick with the stock transmission with 5% overdrive, as the kit transmission comes with metal gears I am sure this will be a great option. Along with the 2 speed transmission I was going to use a Mamba X esc with Holmes Puller Pro V2 2700Kv, the beauty of this setup is I was going to have a single button on the radio to switch from crawl mode (crawl mode on esc and 1st gear on trans,) to race mode (Race mode on esc and 2nd gear on trans,) yes it would have been cool, but at this point it just isn't going to happen, in part due simply to availability of product. I am going to run 2 Stubby battery trays with 2s batteries in series(4S), at this time I will be running some Orion Pro Carbon batteries from my 1/10th buggy, but I will be switching to Spektrum for their smart system, with me going hot and cold on the hobby the smarts auto discharge to storage voltage and battery history record should be great tools for my lack of battery maintenance. The dual battery setup will also let me run a single 3s shorty in either the front or rear tray to adjust the trucks balance if I am just crawling or just flying. Another added benefit is I will be installing an additional (hard) chassis brace, I had read that the chassis flex on this truck is bad, but the kit seems to be much more rigid than my SCX10.2, perhaps they use better plastic in the kit than the RTR? The dual batteries will be heavy, but I am hoping it will help keep the truck balanced, I want to wind up with a 55/45 F/R weight bias to assist with crawling without totally tanking high speed ability. I am going to run some sort of aluminum beadlock with Proline 4.75" KM3's, this is the tire I run on my full size ZR2 so it should match beautifully. The 4.75's will mean I have to trim the body more than I like to prevent rubbing but I do not want to sacrifice performance for looks. I will likely add some weight in the future but I am going to be very conscious of where it goes, the goal will be to minimize un sprung weight while keeping the CG as low as possible, I am hoping someone will come out with a brass IFS lower a Arm bracket, or diff housing to help with this. I will also be changing out the spring rates, the IFS springs are laughably stiff, if you watch any YouTube videos of it running over terrain at speed, or crawling the suspension almost looks fixed, I will have more on this in my build notes.
Parts List
Element Enduro Builders Kit Completed
Element IFS Kit for Enduro Completed
Element Battery Box for 2nd Battery Completed
Element Hard Chassis Brace Set Completed
Element 2.49 Lb Springs (Front) Completed
Proline ZR2 Body (Completed, Badly)
Tekin RX4 ESC Completed
Tekin ROC412 3100KV Completed
Tekin T360 Completed
Traxxas Steel Pivot Balls (require shimming) Completed
Pro Line KM3's Coming Soon
Vanquish KMC Machete Grey Coming Soon
Element Factory Team Shocks Coming Soon
Build Notes
Instructions
The instructions are decent, I wish they had the screw size guide on each page like some other manuals I have used. There where also some steps that where incomplete that showed what needed to happen in the pictures but not the text, the IFS kit for example does not say anything about installing the upper front shock drop bracket.
Chassis
The chassis went together well with no issues to report. Part fitment was excellent I did not have to drill tap or flex anything to get it to go together. Many reviews on this truck have mentioned that the chassis is not very tortionally rigid, this is not something I observed, in fact it is much more rigid than my SCX10.2, this makes me wonder if the kit uses higher quality plastic than the RTR.
Axles
The axle went together very very easily and turns very freely, I did not feel that any shimming was necessary to get the ring and pinion to engage properly. I did not assemble the front axle as I was not going to use it. The axle also looks really good and seems to be stiff enough for the job.
Transmission
The transmission is very high quality with an aluminum motor mount plate and spins very nicely. This was one of the places I felt the instructions where lacking, in the main instructions it is not made very clear which gear goes where as far as the overdrive gears go, this is shown much better later in the manual where alternate overdrive setups are discussed. One thing I did not know when purchasing this kit is that the kit comes with steel transmission gears, shouldn't have any issues running 4s brushless.:twisted:
Shocks
For years I have been told how nice Associated shocks are. They live up to the hype. These shocks are nicer than anything I have had on my any of my race buggies, AND they where easier to assembly properly. The shocks on my SCX10.2 stick so badly that if you hold the chassis and lift the axle from the center with your thumb one side goes up almost completely before the other side starts moving, no such issues here. Smooth, buttery smooth,
IFS Kit
The IFS Kit went together very well and is of the same quality as everything else. I do however have a couple of gripes. The Arms themselves are fine, however they use the same rod ends as the links for the outter arm, only time will tell if this is ok, but I am concerned this could be a failure point. Another issue I observed is that the IFS has severe bump steer at full droop. It seems to only be present for the first 3/8s of an inch of travel after which it seems to be non existent, but the steering links are a different length than and not parallel to the upper a-arm. I can only assume this was done to improve steering angle but IMHO it is not ideal.
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