Kraton BLG Kraton

[ddt972]

Thought I'd start a thread for my truck. I've been following the Kraton thread on ultimate rc but can't post over there since registration is closed. I'm a fan of Thomas's videos and would like to match his components and mods eventually.

So far, I've had the following things break:
front ball knuckle cracked
wing mount snapped
two stock servos failed - one gears stripped and another fried

What I've changed:
500k fluid in the center diff and 100k in front and rear
TD330786 spring in rear
TD330432 springs in front
50 weight shock oil
MT4 wheelie bar
T-Maxx body posts 4914R
Parma Nissan Titan Body 10127
Pro-Line Big Joe 2
Pro-Line F11
Savox SC-1256TG is supposed to arrive today

I've mostly been running 6s with smc 7200mah packs. This being my first electric rc car in 20 years, I'm blown away by how long these run. My chassis got scraped up pretty bad, running on the street, before I changed the shock oil and springs. I found a small, local bmx track and the dirt is much easier on the truck. It's a blast jumping it 15 to 20 feet over and over - I just want to start working on front and back flips eventually. Since I got the Kraton, I got my little girl a Stampede and different neighbors have bought a Slash TSM, Yeti XL, Typhon. So, we're going to be having some fun races down our cul-de-sac street and over at Cranebrook Park (anyone live near the Woodlands, TX?).

I'm thinking about getting the quicrun 8BL-150. The hope is that it would be more responsive switching from forward to reverse and help with jumping. Can anybody that has it confirm? The other upgrade I'm looking at is a leopard 4092 motor, but I can't find the 1730kv in stock anywhere. How would the 1480kv be instead? Or, is there another good value alternative?

 

[Derrick 0511]

Thought I'd start a thread for my truck. I've been following the Kraton thread on ultimate rc but can't post over there since registration is closed. I'm a fan of Thomas's videos and would like to match his components and mods eventually.

So far, I've had the following things break:
front ball knuckle cracked
wing mount snapped
two stock servos failed - one gears stripped and another fried

What I've changed:
500k fluid in the center diff and 100k in front and rear
TD330786 spring in rear
TD330432 springs in front
50 weight shock oil
MT4 wheelie bar
T-Maxx body posts 4914R
Parma Nissan Titan Body 10127
Pro-Line Big Joe 2
Pro-Line F11
Savox SC-1256TG is supposed to arrive today

I've mostly been running 6s with smc 7200mah packs. This being my first electric rc car in 20 years, I'm blown away by how long these run. My chassis got scraped up pretty bad, running on the street, before I changed the shock oil and springs. I found a small, local bmx track and the dirt is much easier on the truck. It's a blast jumping it 15 to 20 feet over and over - I just want to start working on front and back flips eventually. Since I got the Kraton, I got my little girl a Stampede and different neighbors have bought a Slash TSM, Yeti XL, Typhon. So, we're going to be having some fun races down our cul-de-sac street and over at Cranebrook Park (anyone live near the Woodlands, TX?).

I'm thinking about getting the quicrun 8BL-150. The hope is that it would be more responsive switching from forward to reverse and help with jumping. Can anybody that has it confirm? The other upgrade I'm looking at is a leopard 4092 motor, but I can't find the 1730kv in stock anywhere. How would the 1480kv be instead? Or, is there another good value alternative?

Hi There,
I put a sensored xerun 2200 KV motor in and a xerun XR8 Pro. What this mainly does is give you a 100% improved forward backwards control and perfect brakeforce control. I must say the difference is significantly better. Although this ESC is NOT waterproof and I had some issues after cleaning with water. After drying it was ok though. Perhaps you want to consider an ezrun combo or even quickrun combo from Hobbzwing? for big jumps you absolutely need to change the springs. The stock ones will always let the car bottom out which has led to motormount screws ripping of because of the extreme hard impact impulse. I will mount a motor support shortly. If you put the 1730KV in your endspeed will go down, unless you compensate with higher teeth number pinion gear. Do you want that? As a matter of fact. to get a better Acc, brake, reverse control you only need to change the speed controller. the stock motor is awesome even in comparison with the xerun, that cost triple.
Hope this helps.

 

[ddt972]

Hi There,
I put a sensored xerun 2200 KV motor in and a xerun XR8 Pro. What this mainly does is give you a 100% improved forward backwards control and perfect brakeforce control. I must say the difference is significantly better. Although this ESC is NOT waterproof and I had some issues after cleaning with water. After drying it was ok though. Perhaps you want to consider an ezrun combo or even quickrun combo from Hobbzwing? for big jumps you absolutely need to change the springs. The stock ones will always let the car bottom out which has led to motormount screws ripping of because of the extreme hard impact impulse. I will mount a motor support shortly. If you put the 1730KV in your endspeed will go down, unless you compensate with higher teeth number pinion gear. Do you want that? As a matter of fact. to get a better Acc, brake, reverse control you only need to change the speed controller. the stock motor is awesome even in comparison with the xerun, that cost triple.
Hope this helps.

Thanks. I was hoping somebody would say there was a big difference in responsiveness from the stock esc. The quicrun 150a is what I'll get, if I upgrade. I did have a problem with the stock esc connectors arcing, so just changed to deans connectors. The truck would actually stop before, when running hot, with the old connectors - and then come back on if I cleaned them and checked the connection. So, I'm watching to see how it works now and thinking about waiting for the new blx185, due sometime in March. A free esc would be nice, if it's responsive, but who knows?

I was able to pull several backflips the other day (not several in one jump - one at a time, several times). And, I was able to flip the truck over by itself - rocking back and forth. The esc does seem to correct itself more on its back and in the air than it appears than when resting on all 4 wheels.

I don't mind loosing a bit of speed to gain a cooler motor, more torque and longer run times. So, I'm pretty set on the 4092 1730kv when it gets back in stock. Or, maybe just stick with the stock motor for awhile and check it out, after I get a new esc.

I did put thicker oil and stiffer springs on the shocks. I haven't modded them and they seem to be holding up well after lots of decent sized jumps. Haven't shimmed the diffs yet either, as I recently checked them for the 2nd time and they don't seem to be wearing anywhere. The dogbone pins have really bit into the receiving cups though. So, I swapped those around to hit from the other direction. That should buy me some longer wear.

 

[Derrick 0511]

Hi, the quickrun 150A is a very good Choice aswell I have put that one in my Buggy and still Not sure if I like the handling from quickrun Or Xerun better. If you ask me, I can't really make out a big difference. Of course the quickrun is waterproof and I had no issues even with high pressure water jet. What I would recommend if you buy the quickrun to ad 8 bucks and get the programcard along with it. Programming without it really sucks. The preset values however will already give you tons of improvement compared to the original esc in the Kraton. Check it out with the stock motor, I think that one is really great. What I also did is replace the bearing with sets from FastEddy after a steering buckle was schredded. Of course the bearings on that buckle were totally destroyed but I checked the other bearings while I was at it and they were in a terrible condition and would have been the next to go. And that was after 3 or 4 runs.... The capsules ones from fast Eddy however are perfectly holding up to the task after roughly 40 runs und extreme conditions. Live in Malaysia and always hot, wet and humid here + the soil here is a mere killer for the cars. Hope this helps you in some way. Best regards

 

[ddt972]

My bearings seem good so far, but I will check them again. The one time I covered the truck in mud, I cleaned it pretty well and I always use a compressor to clean it after running it on the dirt track. Otherwise, maybe I just got lucky with the bearings - I ordered mine in December. I've got to say that Arrma customer service has been awesome. They've replaced every broken part I listed and I'm impressed. I actually bought a set of bearings early on because I read about problems, but I haven't needed to install them so far. Maybe they started putting better ones in the later ones they shipped out?

I will pick up a programming card. I think I'll one to switch off from running 4s, 5s and 6s, so it sounds like I'll need it. I already ordered the quicrun - just have to wait for the epacket from China. I've heard from a couple different stores that the leopard 4092 1730kv availability is still weeks away. So, I may have a gap where I'll have to try out the stock motor with the quicrun. I know it's good, but mine has been getting really hot at the dirt track, even with a 14t pinion.

 

[ddt972]

Hi, the quickrun 150A is a very good Choice aswell I have put that one in my Buggy and still Not sure if I like the handling from quickrun Or Xerun better. If you ask me, I can't really make out a big difference. Of course the quickrun is waterproof and I had no issues even with high pressure water jet. What I would recommend if you buy the quickrun to ad 8 bucks and get the programcard along with it. Programming without it really sucks. The preset values however will already give you tons of improvement compared to the original ESC in the Kraton. Check it out with the stock motor, I think that one is really great. What I also did is replace the bearing with sets from FastEddy after a steering buckle was schredded. Of course the bearings on that buckle were totally destroyed but I checked the other bearings while I was at it and they were in a terrible condition and would have been the next to go. And that was after 3 or 4 runs.... The capsules ones from fast Eddy however are perfectly holding up to the task after roughly 40 runs und extreme conditions. Live in Malaysia and always hot, wet and humid here + the soil here is a mere killer for the cars. Hope this helps you in some way. Best regards

By coincidence, the next time I took the truck out after reading your post about bearing failure, guess what happened:

Some of the others were not turning well either.

Here is a video of the session that busted it.

 

[ARRMAgeddon]

Man you have a nice playground for rc there

 

[Derrick 0511]

Hi ddt972,

that could have been the picture from my Truck. It looked exactly the same. I ordered a set of bearings from Fast Eddy and they are keeping up perfectly! I can really recommend them.

Nice track and I love the aerial footage so much that I will by a drone next week

 

[ddt972]

Man you have a nice playground for rc there

It's a fun spot: Cranebrook park, in The Woodlands, TX, if anybody is around there. It got crazy one day with people standing all around and running cars all over the place and I got blindsided in the ankle. But, I'll try to just invite people over to all stand on that ledge from now on. It's lucky to have such a perfect, too small for a good bike track, place for RCs.

Yesterday, I found a different launch and was landing huge double backflips on just 5s. I'm thinking I'll probably break something on 6s, but will try it anyway.

Hi ddt972,

that could have been the picture from my Truck. It looked exactly the same. I ordered a set of bearings from Fast Eddy and they are keeping up perfectly! I can really recommend them.

Nice track and I love the aerial footage so much that I will by a drone next week

You can get the phantom 3 standard for 10% off at $450, if you have a .edu email.