What no Axial Wraith Builds ? - better sort that out then !

[Percymon]

Before you start the build, get hold of some button head and socket head M3 screws to use in place of the kits self tappers, particularly on the axles as they will work loose and fall out pretty quickly.

Noted, and already ready to install

Beef tubes in the axles help a lot too, not only adding strength but a bit of weight down low too, I made mine from brass rod with a drill, some round files and an m3 tap for the C-hub screws. Next time I'll buy them as filing the grooves for the lower suspension mount screws is a right pain.

I agree, and if I was weighting the hubs or wheels for crawling duties then I'd be using them. However at $70 (+import duties etc) for two pairs I'm going to risk it without them. If I do end up breaking an axle (and bending a universal ) I'll deal with it at the time; probably by upgrading to alloy axle housings.

When you build the front diff, if you get the seal set for the Exo, you can play with the oil weights to get the right feel for how tight or loose you want it.

I'm going with anti wear grease so no need for the seal really, but as one comes with the Wraith kit it will be used anyway

[emory70]

There's a guy on RCMT that built a monster from a wraith with the CPE Barbarian chassis. He raced a lot with axles that only had aluminum lockouts and c hubs with no problems.

I wouldn't get too crazy with mods to those axles. Fix what breaks.

[Percymon]

There's a guy on RCMT that built a monster from a wraith with the CPE Barbarian chassis. He raced a lot with axles that only had aluminum lockouts and c hubs with no problems.

I wouldn't get too crazy with mods to those axles. Fix what breaks.

I guess its the same one on Clodtalk with TXT wheels, junfac shafts , HPI shocks and the CPE chassis - a great concept, but not where I'm heading this time round

[Percymon]

Waiting on just one or two minor parts, but can get cracking on the build in the next day or so

[Percymon]

So time to get going - and about time too I hear y'all cry

Axial build manuals are well laid out, but not as intuitive as Tamiya manuals. Axial's use of various, but similar, shades of grey in their schematics is their worst offence - you do get used to it, albeit it can be very difficult to interpret at certain points in the build. Having rebuilt an Axial EXO recently I do have some familiarity, although as with the EXO, I expect I will have to refer to the part sprue diagrams from time to time to locate the correct parts.

My start point is a AX90020 Wraith builders kit. I considered the various RTR versions, but the fact I didn't need the radio gear, or the brushed electrics, made the extra cost of RTR a little pointless. In addition, the kit version offers several 'upgrades' over the ready to race variants, namely

• Ripsaw 2.2" tyres in soft R35 compound
• Alloy lower links
• Universal driveshafts - Axials own are generally regarded as the best upgrade even compared to expensive after market items

The R35 compound tyres are much more capable than the hard compound RTR tyres. The alloy lower links are an improvement over the weaker plastic items and the driveshafts are stronger than the dogbone style axles,plus they don't bind at full steering angles.

The Wraith itself is far from new, having been on sale for three years now. That means a lot of the weaknesses are known and proven solutions are available - all good news for those like me who are late on the uptake I'll attempt to point out some of these issues as the build progresses, offering alternative parts or diy solutions where they exist for anyone's future reference.

My build isn't exactly a kit stock one , but its not a full blown $1000 build either (at least I hope not !). It's going to be built to a specific end point, one that is neither a trail rig nor a rock crawler. Anyone wondering whether it’s to be a drag racer build will be disappointed too

As you have probably already guessed certain kit items were either not required or were planned for upgrade, so the tyres, wheels and the plastic bodied shocks have already been snapped up by Mr. Crispy (many thanks Nic ) helping to fund other items which will become apparent as the build progresses.

[Percymon]

Step 1 is to build the axle differentials, or in the case of a stock build to install the alloy lockers into the diff casings (front and rear) and attach them to the ring gears.

http://s1194.photobucket.com/user/percymon/media/Axial%20Wraith/B471D895-CE92-4FD3-8605-ABBEBAE94605_zpswrvfkl4t.jpg.html'>

I'm using a locked rear 'diff' as per the manual but a 'semi open' front one which should improve stability and steering.

The front build trades the locker block for steel bevel gears. You can use the bevel gears and pins from the EXO buggy, but as these come as separate spares its cheaper to use the single pack items from the HPI Nitro (part HPI 86014) which provides the 10T,13T bevel gears, cross pin and shims in a single parts bag.

A gasket is provided in the Wraith kit to allow the use of diff oil, but since most people seem to be using 500,000Wt and higher. I've opted for Tamiya's anti wear grease, which is less likely to leak, but is nice n sticky so should give some resistance when needed.

Onto the build..let's open bag A..

starting with the rear diff, as per the manual..

the diff locker block is quite a nice solid metal piece, and does OK..

..but its not the tightest of fits in the plastic diff case, leading to a little drivetrain slack when on and off the power. I'm stcking with this for now, but serious crawlers can and do upgrade to aftermarket lockers.

dropped into the plastic diff case..

gasket added and secured with the ring gear using M2x10 screws - I added a spot of CA glue to the thread for a bit of added security...

Moving onto the pinion gear, a simple cross pin holds the gear to the shaft, the gear slips over the pin and is secured at the front with a single e clip...

Moving to the front diff..

HPI bevel gear parts and antiwear grease at the ready..

13T gear and shim installed inthe bottom of the diff case..

10T gears and shaft across the case....

Topped with another 13T gear, shim and closed up with the ring gear

So that's the diffs done

[Percymon]

Step 2 involves fitting these parts and the pinion gear into the plastic axle cases.

http://s1194.photobucket.com/user/percymon/media/Axial%20Wraith/7F11DEF0-2AF5-4F06-9495-6CF9306D4D9B_zpsewkmzx1b.jpg.html'>

There are various ring / pinion gear upgrades available, with three heavy duty gear sets from Axial alone (stock ratio, under drive and over drive sets). I have no need for the latter two, and at this stage I'm sticking with the stock gears rather than the heavy duty sintered metal items; the reason for this is simply the fact that when putting more than stock power through these axles there is a weakness with the size of the bearings used around the pinion gear shaft. 11x5x4mm (or 1150 in Tamiya speak) really isn't big enough for the loads they are subjected to. If a bearing collapses in use then the pinion gear angle changes resulting in broken gear sets and/or casings..

The solution would be a bigger bearing but of course that would kill the scale look of the axles for the scaler/crawler guys, although DLux in the USA do sell a modified casing machined out to accept a 1350 bearing. 1150 sized bushings made from manganese bronze were in development with Vanquish Products, but other priorities meant these didn’t make it through to market unfortunately. So there is a trade off to be made - continue with bearings and the risk of a failure, or swap to metal bushings - oilite ones. The advantage of the bushing is that they won't fail catastrophically and you can check wear n tear easily by inspecting the play in the pinion gear shaft after every run. Any other time we'd be swapping oilite bushings out for bearings!.

My initial preference was to go 'old tech' with the bushings - options here are Tamiyas own (as used in TLT-1 crawlers), Traxxas (TRX1675) or HPI (B075) that supposedly fit just as well. I tried some new unused Tamiya items but I wasn't happy they were a close enough fit to the pinion gear shaft - even when new there was more play than with a bearing. I didn't try the Traxxas or HPI items mainly because I was alarmed how much play there was with the Tamiya items - reading other forums people have been happy with them so perhaps they are better fit than the Tamiya ones. As you can imagine until I have some confidence in the pinion bearing I'm not risking £60+ worth of heavy duty gears !

Adding 0.2mm of 5mm shim between the pinion gear and the inner bearing improved the fit and gear mesh - hopefully this action will assist in stabilising the gear mesh and prolong the bearing life. I am also going to try a cheap fix later in the build to stabilise the outer bearing - more in a future episode

Pinion gear and bearing instaled..

diff gear installed, lubed with Tamiyas molybdenum grease..

I've swapped the plastic kit bearing caps (clamps) for Vanquish products alloy items - I'm not sure they'll achieve much in a plastic axlecasing but they should be less flexible, and therefore keep the 1510 bearings more secure, than the kit plastic items.

To finish step 2 I've swapped the plastic diff covers for some alloy ones - I'm not too impressed with these Topcad items (rather thin metal)..

..but they do add a bit of bling I dare say the multitude GPM / 3Racing / Integy items are pretty much the same. Better quality ones are available, but as they aren't an essential upgrade I figured £30-40 on diff covers could be used elsewhere Having said that I think I'll be replacing them at a later date, they are a let down compared to the Vanquish clamps they hide

Finished..

[Shaggy39]

I salute you Percymon for such a detailed build thread and we're only on page 2. Rock crawlers and racers have never really rocked my world (geddit) up to now but seeing this makes me want a wraith.

Can't wait for the build to progress....

[Percymon]

Thanks for the kind comments. I felt the same way about the CR-01 chassis until I saw a couple of build threads, they convinced me I needed one - I enjoyed it so much I ended up with two - Ooops !

[Percymon]

Step 3 - builds up the front axle, inserting the universals into the axles housings using 1150 bearings, adding the C hubs (assymetric design for improved castor angle) and then the steering knuckles (inner 1510 bearing, outer 1150 bearing). Again the 1150 bearings are bit on the small size for the overall scale of the finished rig.

For those that want to do serious competition trailing / crawling with their Wraiths, especially with heavily weighted wheels, it is probably a good idea to look for quality alloy axle casings to replace the plastic kit / RTR housings. The plastic items have been known to fracture due to the strain of torquey motors, heavy wheels and negotiating obstacles. Several quality alloy casings are available (Vanquish products AR60 casings or Currie axles to name just two). Alternatively steel 'beeftubes' can be inserted into the plastic housing tubes ($28 +shipping per axle)…

.. or another option is a sort of hybrid axle case such as the scaler store (TSS) hybrid beefy axle…

All of these will help prevent this..

Ouch !

Despite all that, as I'm not using weighted wheels or planning to bind the Wraith up in a rock garden, I'm not upgrading the axle cases or using beeftubes. If , down the line, I do have a failure then the $60+ I've not spent on beeftubes can be used towards some alloy axle cases; time will tell !

I am dispensing with the plastic hubs and knuckles though, in favour of the Stage 1 upgrade kit from Vanquish Products, which includes alloy C hubs plus zero ackermann knuckles at the front axle, and lock-outs for the rear axle (see step 4).

The C hubes are castelated to match the axle tube ends..

and also assymetric in design so car is needed to get them installed the correct way up but also rotated the right amount..

Locktite is added to the inner ends of the universal shafts (engaging with the HPI bevel gears in the diff), and a 1150 outer bearing..

The steering knuckles come in two parts, with a few options for the arms - these are zero ackermann design, being slightly higher when installed than the stock plastic items..

Inner bearing is a 1510, the outer another 1150..

Flanged tubes are used top and bottom..

through which the kuckles are bolted on..

The C hubs are then secured by screws into the plastic axles housings, but as these can strip quite easily I've swapped the self tapping screws for machined ones and also added a spot of CA glue for extra security.

Complete..

[Percymon]

Step 4 - rear axle build - as per the manual (straight axles, 1150 bearings )..

http://s1194.photobucket.com/user/percymon/media/Axial%20Wraith/7236D653-ACDB-47C9-96D3-0455252B0722_zpsi9puvx7v.jpg.html'>

..bar swapping the plastic lockouts for the alloy Vanquish items - simple stuff

[Percymon]

Steps 5 and 6 add the top axles trusses (these act as the upper link points later) and the lower link mounts. In both cases there are loads of alloy 'hop-ups', virtually all of which just mirror the kit / RTR items. The trusses are pretty bombproof in their plastic form so I'm sticking to them.I've chosen to use alloy lower links, this time from Jazrider. These appear to be reasonably good quality, and hopefully a little more durable than the plastic Axial items.

The link mounts are an assymetric design, but the mounting points are symetrical - this allows the option to flip the mounts upside down sompared to the manual. lowering the both the point at which the link arms and the shocks attach. Its not a huge amount, maybe 5mm..

but a useful 5mm to lower the chassis in my case.

A side shot to show the downward orientation..

[Percymon]

Both axles complete..

[ukfox]

Great detail percymon

[Percymon]

Steps 7 through 9 deal with building the plastic bodied kit shocks...

Whilst the Axial shocks aren't poor I've opted to replace them with alloy items, in this case Gmade Team Zero 104mm items. In hindsight perhaps a shock length nearer 95mm would have been preferred for my application, but there is another free trick that can be employed later in the build to assist lowering the ride height

So what comes in the zip seal bag ?

Included are both slotted plastic lower spring cups and non slotted alloy versions. Gmade build instruction sheet..

Gmade shocks are pretty good quality based on my previous experiences but some users have reported these Team Zero versions leaking , so I'll try to address this potential issue with alternative shaft seals. I had to hand the following Tamiya seals..

Tamiya TRF clear O rings from 53574

Tamiya Competiton O rings 42137

Tamiya X rings 42215

and the typical red O rings for CVA dampers 50597

Comparing the Gmade seals (right) with a Tamiya clear o ring - not much difference other than a little roughness on the outside of the Gmade ring (looks as though they mould a sheet of these and then cut them out leaving little 'tangs' in places)...

I test fitted all the Tamiya seals, the red and clear ones were a very marginal better fit to the damper piston rod than the Gmade ones but nothing you'd realy consider an improvement. The blue competition O rings were a much tighter fit, as were the X seals. I opted to use the X seals on the basis of their extra sealing lips.

X seal test fit..

As I started with a supposed 104mm shock kit I needed to limit the length a little - I used the Gmade o rings, 3 for the rear shocks and two for the front shocks (the Wraith has a slightly downward stance at the front to start with), supposedly limiting by 6mm and 4mm respectively..

The shocks are assembled from the bottom - the two seals and a single spacer are built into a cartiridge that is then slipped over the piston shaft. I've shown the components and a mock up of the cartidge below as per Gmades instructions..

.. but I don't like to install o rings like this, prefering to slip each part over the threaded end separately - this reduces the risk of the seals being damaged by the threads as they are installed in the open, rather than in the confines of the cartirdge..

Shocks were built using Associated Green Slime, filled with Team Associated 45wt oil (the Gmade provided oil is VERY thin, probably 15wt equivalent), before screwing the cartridge and tightening with the provided 'spanner'..

The lower rod ends are standard plastic affairs with anodized metal balls. There are two options for the lower spring cups - I've opted for the alloy items since they look better than the black plastic ones !

The spring pre-load adjusters are alloy threaded rings fitted with a rubber o ring seal..

These are threaded over the top of the shock body after the spring..

All four done - different preload is purely to allow me to distibguish the different front/rear shocks at this point

[MadMax]

Looks like you have some very nice option parts there Bud and a nice build up so far, Keep her coming.

Steve.

[Percymon]

Cheers Steve - I have a long way to go yet though

[ChrisRx718]

Those are some seriously nice shocks.

Never really got into the whole rock crawling thing. It certainly interests me, but I've never had the funds to put into a big kit. I have my CC01s, but I prefer just driving those quickly over dirt and trying not to roll them - which is more trailing than crawling I guess.

Maybe I'll take the plunge someday...when the backlog of unfinished projects is cleared!

[IBIFTKH]

I'm sure I'm not the only one finding this a fascinating thread. It's obvious that you've done a heck of a lot of research before starting the build. So we're given a superbly-documented build thread complete with hop-ups and your reasons for choosing those parts. A lot of time and effort on your part but it's certainly appreciated.

Eagerly awaiting the next instalment...

[Percymon]

Onto Step 10 - this involves building the kit plastic drive shafts (propshafts)



These have been know to twist / fail even using Axials 20T brushed motor in the RTR versions when rock crawling. There are a couple of free tricks that can be used to improve their performance..

1. place some M6 threaded rod, or a cut off M6 bolt, at suitable length into the core of the male propshaft with epoxy adhesive
2. use one of the spare female propshaft halves from the kit, cut it and use this to 'sleeve' the male part, leaving a 1/4" gap between the end of the sleeve and the female propshaft.

Both methods give extra rigidty to the male propshaft , and are virtually free mods that will extend the life of any plastic propshaft.

Alternatively there are after market items. MIP driveshafts come in a Wraith variant (thats a direct fit) and also a Axial AX10 version which uses bigger cross pins (4mm vs 3mm) but does need a little modification to the transmission gear cover to gain clearance and the use of Traxxas 4mm cross pins. Both MIP items are high quality (the latter virtually bombproof) but they are heavy and a little expensive. Almost as bombproof, lighter and a bit cheaper are the Gmade / Junfac drive shafts (part J90029) that I'm using here..



These come pre assembled (bar the cross pin securing ring) but I took them apart to apply a thin smear of Tamiya anti wear grease and thread lock on the grub screws. The spring steel rings are a great idea to retain the cross pins...

[Percymon]

Those are some seriously nice shocks.

Thanks - and not too pricey either from RCMart given they come as a set of four (also come in black and silver bodies)

someday...when the backlog of unfinished projects is cleared!

Do you really believe that

[zomboided]

Lovely build thread...lovely hop ups...keep the photos coming!

[Percymon]

I'm sure I'm not the only one finding this a fascinating thread. It's obvious that you've done a heck of a lot of research before starting the build. So we're given a superbly-documented build thread complete with hop-ups and your reasons for choosing those parts. A lot of time and effort on your part but it's certainly appreciated.

Eagerly awaiting the next instalment...

Thanks Rob - I've had to up my game, the standard of build threads on this forum has increased hugely in the last year or so.

[SteveU30]

 

 

Thanks Rob - I've had to up my game, the standard of build threads on this forum has increased hugely in the last year or so.

Plus with the all new Builds section making them easier to did it's nice that everyone is making a real effort. Suppose I'll have to dust off my proper camera instead of using my iPhone all the time!

Great build thread David, I've never been a fan of crawlers, preferring scale over ability but I have to say I'm intrigued by this build!

[mr crispy]

The builds coming along nicely Percymon. Those drive shafts look very well made, might have to grab a set of those. I've found Junfac items are good quality at very reasonable prices, shipping is fast too.