CamoColton's Mojave EXB Build

[CamoColton]

My first Arrma vehicle. First the components ordered so far, and some pictures to follow later.

Components:

ESC & Motor - Hobbywing MAX6 and 1650kv 4985​

Receiver - Futaba R324SBS. This is a telemetry receiver with dual antennas; the short grey whip, and an internal antenna for the most reliability.​

Servo - AGFRC 36kg A80BHSW (Aluminum case, waterproof, brushless, digital and high voltage capable)​

Battery - SMC True Spec Extreme Graphene V2 22.2V 5200mAh 120C Hardcase. XT-90 connectors (No proprietary for me)​

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The SMC battery and AGF servo are firsts for me, based on reccomendations found here. Hobbywing and Futuba are not.​

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Oddities so far:

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Servo horn included is 23T, as others have encountered.

Kinda ridiculous to be using a lighter spline than literally everyone else out there who have settled on 25T as a quasi standard, and on a vehicle of this size. I'm sure the strength difference between 23T and 25T is likely negligible. But it seems to only serve to steer purchasers towards HH's own Spektrum servos. So far using a Vanquish servo horn that I had on hand. Not the same height as the supplied horn, but binding doesn't seem to be present.​

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Pinion and motor screws missing, or not included anymore on purpose.

Would be nice if HH would add them to the "required to complete" items list in manuals and online resources. And at least give us the motor screws instead of those shock pistons. Tekno 18T, 20T, and 22T Mod 1 pinions on order per reccomendations found here for tooth count and brand of gear.​

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First time soldering wires this big .

I thought my soldering set up and skills were pretty well set. But these things tried me. Or the solder that Hobbywing is pretinning their wires with is very hard to melt and keep flowing. Because the 10-ga. wire I added with my own solder to make a series circuit was less of a hassle, as well as the jumper plug I made for bypassing one of the connectors.​

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That's all for now!
-Colton

 

[Cheez]

Welcome and have fun!

 

[CamoColton]

Some random build photos so far.

AGFRC 36kg with Vanquish 24mm arm. Mounted to the 20mm position to more closely match the length of the factory arm.
No real binding present, although when turned full lock to the right, the link isn't able to be rotated quite as freely when at rest, or full lock left.
Used all spacers included to lift the servo as much as possible to compensate for the shorter height of the servo horn.

 

[Jimbobjr]

Looks good Colton, have fun!

 

[Edough13]

Welcome to the forum! Looks and sounds like a solid setup you've put together for sure! Now it's time to get your tires dirty and send it

 

[CamoColton]

Welcome to the forum! Looks and sounds like a solid setup you've put together for sure! Now it's time to get your tires dirty and send it

Will do. As soon as those pinions show up

 

[Edough13]

Will do. As soon as those pinions show up

I'd start with the 18t and see how you like the speed and also see how hot it's running before possibly gearing up to the 20t next. I just picked up a Hobbystar 4585 1580kv for my Kraton and started with 20t which is too high it's stupid torquey and fast so I'm going to give 18t a try and see how I like it. I like higher gearing for the speed and air control but the 20t was just too much and ran too hot as well.

 

[CamoColton]

I'd start with the 18t and see how you like the speed and also see how hot it's running before possibly gearing up to the 20t next. I just picked up a Hobbystar 4585 1580kv for my Kraton and started with 20t which is too high it's stupid torquey and fast so I'm going to give 18t a try and see how I like it. I like higher gearing for the speed and air control but the 20t was just too much and ran too hot as well.

Excellent. Good to know. I'm guessing the 22T was a poor choice all around to buy. I'm not sure why I went that far with the three I bought. I guess because I read that what would have been the factory 16T being too low, I could jump all the way to 22T for some reason. Oh well.

I'll probably put the 18T in and never change it out. I'll take cool temps and longer runtimes over insane speed any day.

 

[Edough13]

Yep and with being a Mojave it's not made to flip like the Kraton or Notorious so you won't need the higher gearing for air control either

 

[CamoColton]

Yep and with being a Mojave it's not made to flip like the Kraton or Notorious so you won't need the higher gearing for air control either

Good deal. I know it says "Don't just bash. Blast" on the front of it, but I'm ok with not replacing parts every run.

 

[Woodentop]

Nice build man, looking good,might want to get some spacers under the servo arm where it connects to the bell bellcrank to straighten it out, takes some pressure off the servo.

Edit: or move it from on top to underneath??

 

[CamoColton]

Nice build man, looking good,might want to get some spacers under the servo arm where it connects to the bell bellcrank to straighten it out, takes some pressure off the servo.

Edit: or move it from on top to underneath??

On top would be just as bad, or worse. A spacer though is a good idea. I'll have to track one down.

 

[mloysch]

Looking good, I’m wanting to get one !!

 

[CamoColton]

Contacted Horizon Hobby customer service about the missing screws and pinion. Again, not a deal breaker but why is it not listed in the req'd materials and manual. And why the extra shock pistons?

Basically told it's a roller and "builders usually source their own gearing". Well excuse the hell out of me for getting a pinion and motor screws in every other kit I've ever built.

I'm still chalking it up to shortages, and not a design choice.

The Tekno pinions I've seen recommended here are as nice as everyone has made them out to be.

 

[CamoColton]

It's "complete". And has been run. Jeez is this thing fast. I'll be sticking to under 20T on the pinion for sure. Might also give a 4S pack a try.

Found that the screws that hold the motor mount into the bracket (I'm making up names here), have a bit of an odd sized, sloppily made hex socket - not quite 2.5mm, but definitely not 3mm. (An inch driver might fit, but I didn't try).

I've seen replaced those screws with some M4 FHCS, and some Tekno countersink washers. These screws have a much better toleranced hex socket, fitting a 2.5mm driver tightly and are easily sourced. The factory screws will very likely round out if you change pinions enough times or need to adjust gear mesh more than once.

Anyone else out there thinking of putting in a Hobbywing MAX6 ESC would also benefit from modifying the ESC mounting plate slightly.
Trim off the ridge of material circled in the view below. I'm sure it has some purpose with a spektrum system, but with the HW system it is a hindrance.
This will let the ECN be mounted back a bit farther and taking strain off the motor wires which are just long enough to work in this truck.

Hopefully I'm not oversharing info that is already commonly known.