The V5 6S Kraton is my first RC car other than the dinky Walmart cars you get as a kid. I love this truck greatly and I've wasted no time wrenching on it to make it mine.
The first thing I installed was the rear steel skid (Part #ARA320625) after I saw the chassis get some punishment in that area. I could not retain the stock plastic rear bumper when I installed it, but other people seen to have not had that issue. I've contacted HH, but no response so far.
Next up were some shock covers to keep the shocks clean and add a little flair. I got mine from FullForce RC.
After flipping the truck on its roof multiple times on the first outing, I decided to protect the body a bit and put some RPM universal roof skid protectors on it. (Make sure to measure a lot, my holes for it are not the best)
I also installed the full Polo Creations light kit + underglow mainly to help with low light driving, put it just looks rad. The headlights and taillight are LEDs in a 3D printed housing with a light controller that plugs into your RX. Looks pretty good quality, but I haven't bashed with it yet. The taillight just uses the stock screws on the shock tower and the underglow is attached with 2 sided tape. I used an X-Acto knife to cut the holes for the headlights. I made them too small and then slowly got the size right so they fit snug. I then hot glued them in place.
I chose to Gorilla tape my body instead of doing shoe goo. No particular reason other than I didn't want to do the shoe glue. I also used 1/8" tech sleeving for protecting most of the wires from the lights.
While I was at it, I installed the Powerhobbies dual fan heatsink to keep the motor cool. It hasn't been an issue so far, but I live in AZ so I suspect it will. The heatsink was not a snug fit, so I used some strips of 1mm thick thermal pads to make the fit snug. If you do this, make sure not to block the fins/direct airflow between the motor and fans. I used the 10mm spacers included with the PH heatsink and fans to allow more airflow. I also covered the motor and ESC fan with some net mesh, but I'm not satisfied with it. I've ordered some 30mm finger grills and carbon grills off Amazon for the motor fans and I'll see if those are decent. I also got a 35mm finger grill for the ESC. If I had a 3D printer I'd make or print some STL's I was able to find, but I don't. A small honeycomb grill seems like it'd be easier to find.
Finally I replaced the stock servo mount with the Hot Racing servo mount to reduce flex in the steering. I also replaced the stock steering servo with a 35kg Amazon DS3235KG (picked the one with the most ratings). I probably would have gone with the GKA mount since it's 1 piece had I known it existed, but the Hot Racing one is still pretty nice.
I am waiting for the 25T Hot Racing fixed link to come in so I can hook up the new servo and bash. I've already put 2 1/2" c-clips on the servo saver, but I am going to add 2 more on there to stiffen the steering further. Coming with the fixed link is a fast eddy bearing kit. For the moment I'm just planning to replace the steering bushings with bearings and keeping the rest of the kit for when other bearings die. I am also awaiting my dusty motors chassis cover to arrive.
I have a stock outcast wheelie bar and EXB bumper on backorder, but I'm starting to think I should look around for some aftermarket options. The GPM wheelie bar/wing mount looks very nice, but 50 bucks is a hard pill to swallow. I'm also waiting for TBR to finish developing some rear a-arm mud guards/skids. The confirmed their V4 versions would not fit the V5 and they had a V5 listing that said it would be out early April, but they've since removed it. Any other options to protect the rear a-arms?
The first thing I installed was the rear steel skid (Part #ARA320625) after I saw the chassis get some punishment in that area. I could not retain the stock plastic rear bumper when I installed it, but other people seen to have not had that issue. I've contacted HH, but no response so far.
Next up were some shock covers to keep the shocks clean and add a little flair. I got mine from FullForce RC.
After flipping the truck on its roof multiple times on the first outing, I decided to protect the body a bit and put some RPM universal roof skid protectors on it. (Make sure to measure a lot, my holes for it are not the best)
I also installed the full Polo Creations light kit + underglow mainly to help with low light driving, put it just looks rad. The headlights and taillight are LEDs in a 3D printed housing with a light controller that plugs into your RX. Looks pretty good quality, but I haven't bashed with it yet. The taillight just uses the stock screws on the shock tower and the underglow is attached with 2 sided tape. I used an X-Acto knife to cut the holes for the headlights. I made them too small and then slowly got the size right so they fit snug. I then hot glued them in place.
I chose to Gorilla tape my body instead of doing shoe goo. No particular reason other than I didn't want to do the shoe glue. I also used 1/8" tech sleeving for protecting most of the wires from the lights.
While I was at it, I installed the Powerhobbies dual fan heatsink to keep the motor cool. It hasn't been an issue so far, but I live in AZ so I suspect it will. The heatsink was not a snug fit, so I used some strips of 1mm thick thermal pads to make the fit snug. If you do this, make sure not to block the fins/direct airflow between the motor and fans. I used the 10mm spacers included with the PH heatsink and fans to allow more airflow. I also covered the motor and ESC fan with some net mesh, but I'm not satisfied with it. I've ordered some 30mm finger grills and carbon grills off Amazon for the motor fans and I'll see if those are decent. I also got a 35mm finger grill for the ESC. If I had a 3D printer I'd make or print some STL's I was able to find, but I don't. A small honeycomb grill seems like it'd be easier to find.
Finally I replaced the stock servo mount with the Hot Racing servo mount to reduce flex in the steering. I also replaced the stock steering servo with a 35kg Amazon DS3235KG (picked the one with the most ratings). I probably would have gone with the GKA mount since it's 1 piece had I known it existed, but the Hot Racing one is still pretty nice.
I am waiting for the 25T Hot Racing fixed link to come in so I can hook up the new servo and bash. I've already put 2 1/2" c-clips on the servo saver, but I am going to add 2 more on there to stiffen the steering further. Coming with the fixed link is a fast eddy bearing kit. For the moment I'm just planning to replace the steering bushings with bearings and keeping the rest of the kit for when other bearings die. I am also awaiting my dusty motors chassis cover to arrive.
I have a stock outcast wheelie bar and EXB bumper on backorder, but I'm starting to think I should look around for some aftermarket options. The GPM wheelie bar/wing mount looks very nice, but 50 bucks is a hard pill to swallow. I'm also waiting for TBR to finish developing some rear a-arm mud guards/skids. The confirmed their V4 versions would not fit the V5 and they had a V5 listing that said it would be out early April, but they've since removed it. Any other options to protect the rear a-arms?
