Kraton Kevin's Kraton 6s EXB v2 Build Thread

[954kevin]

Hope i didn't come off the wrong way yesterday with the questions.. I took woke up yesterday morning thinking about the Scorched hubs lol.
So they got back to me on the design question:

"The original parts are open too, through the 5mm hex hole – and completely open on the inside face, which is unavoidable. Ours will wear much better since we have the slippy Delrin liners rather than the glass/mineral filled stock plastic parts."

Also asked if the +1 shafts would be ok with them:
"Yes, they will be ok. Our hubs are very slightly narrower than stock (to help solve the same problem) – just check the shafts don’t bottom out in the cups – if they do you can just add a washer under the pillow balls"

I certainly didn't take you any kind of way. I thought that was a great question and one I hadn't even considered. So, I appreciate you coming back with the follow up from them. I also bought the +1 driveshafts from M2C, just trying to get ahead of the common axle shaft pop-out issue. I watched a couple reviews of the Scorched knuckles where guys who had removed the red collar(common axle pop-out solution) were putting it back on with the Scorched knuckles saying the fit being better allows for it.

I'll def take a close look to be sure they don't bottom out. I know that is just as bad as pop-out.

 

[Aqualungs]

I certainly didn't take you any kind of way. I thought that was a great question and one I hadn't even considered. So, I appreciate you coming back with the follow up from them. I also bought the +1 driveshafts from M2C, just trying to get ahead of the common axle shaft pop-out issue. I watched a couple reviews of the Scorched knuckles where guys who had removed the red collar(common axle pop-out solution) were putting it back on with the Scorched knuckles saying the fit being better allows for it.

I'll def take a close look to be sure they don't bottom out. I know that is just as bad as pop-out.

Right. I am actually sending back the M2C Pillow Ball cap set.. thinking they're a bad investment with the new V6 design going to the 3 or 4 bolts into a different cap design. They put a bigger inner bearing in there also.. so in a breakage who in their right mind wouldn't replace with the new series.. with that
I decided to just get aluminum knuckles.. not too big on the new Armma design.. So I was between Vitavon and Scorched.
With that being said I may send the +1 shafts back for The regular ones since I'm already going there.
Lst me know how the fit is with the +1.
Agree to be one step ahead on the main failures of a vehicle. Or at least have replacement parts in the field.. nothing worse than charging up packs and having to pack up early, go home, discharge vs storage charge, order and wait for parts

 

[blaster27]

I was thinking of getting extensions for the rear of my Felony. I think 5mm, rear only. I want to give it that look. Will that mess up the drive? Thanks.

 

[954kevin]

Right. I am actually sending back the M2C Pillow Ball cap set.. thinking they're a bad investment with the new V6 design going to the 3 or 4 bolts into a different cap design. They put a bigger inner bearing in there also.. so in a breakage who in their right mind wouldn't replace with the new series.. with that
I decided to just get aluminum knuckles.. not too big on the new Armma design.. So I was between Vitavon and Scorched.
With that being said I may send the +1 shafts back for The regular ones since I'm already going there.
Lst me know how the fit is with the +1.
Agree to be one step ahead on the main failures of a vehicle. Or at least have replacement parts in the field.. nothing worse than charging up packs and having to pack up early, go home, discharge vs storage charge, order and wait for parts

I sure will. I'll give them some careful scrutiny and report back.

 

[Aqualungs]

I was thinking of getting extensions for the rear of my Felony. I think 5mm, rear only. I want to give it that look. Will that mess up the drive? Thanks.

It will change characteristics.. may flip less. As far as 5mm not sure how much extra stress that would put on some components.
I know from my Jeep days any widening of stance caused extra stress and wear on the driveshafts and axles

 

[954kevin]

Couple more small additions. I mounted some high density sticky backed foam to the bottom of the battery tray and put a couple patches under the shell where the shock seem like they would dig into the hood. It's thin, but I think it'll help disperse the impact damage from the sharper edges in that zone.

I also fit the Garage Life bumper spring. I thought I would be cool and fill in the logo with some red paint out of a Posca marker, but it didn't turn out looking as good as I thought it would in my head. : )

I thought I would ask what orientation do you guys run your batteries in? Like, do you prefer the wires coming out of the pack to be in towards the center of the model, or with them towards the outside? So, battery label up, or label down in my pictures here... I ordered some kevlar straps to keep this big guy in check.

Also, what is this for? Is that like a little strap for balance cable leads or something? A back-up for out in the field? I have no idea!

Finally, I want to introduce you to my assistant, Princess Cutie Mouth. I call her Fro-Fro. She isn't much help with the wrenches, but she DOES know magic. She can turn 10lbs of cat food into 20lbs of cat sh!t.

 

[IgelEyes]

Awesome build! I really like the 3d printed shock cover in the front.

 

[954kevin]

Garage Life RC rear wing and wheelie bar installed! I'm not too proud to admit I had to take this most of the way back off when I realized I couldn't get the screws in the holes for the rear body post mounts with the wing support on. It's just barely too big to slide them in.

The wheelie bar looks a little clunky, but it does feel really sturdy with plenty of flexibility to avoid snapping. Can't wait to rip this dude!!!

 

[Aqualungs]

Nice! It will payoff I think and protect that wing. And the sick wheelies you will pop without flipping backwards and scraping things up.
You had a hard time installing it? I didn't understand what.you meant..

 

[954kevin]

Nice! It will payoff I think and protect that wing. And the sick wheelies you will pop without flipping backwards and scraping things up.
You had a hard time installing it? I didn't understand what.you meant..

Well, I took off the rear body mount posts to access the center brace pins etc, then installed the wing support and could not fit the screws that hold the body post mounts through their holes because the wing support was in the way. So, I had to take the whole wing support back off, slide the body post mount screws through their holes and reassemble the wing mount. I could get a hex driver on them to tighten them up, but the screws wouldn't go in with the wind support installed. The two stainless screws just above the wing support in the last pic.

The story of my life!

 

[Aqualungs]

Always something..

 

[aundro]

[...] put a couple patches under the shell where the shock seem like they would dig into the hood

Oh boy do they ever.

Also: glorious work on the battery tray foam. I did something similar but ... I prefer not to provide pics.

 

[N.Mango]

@954kevin
Cool rig, but this...

 

[954kevin]

Added some titanium replaceable bolt shock Standoffs from RamJam. These are pretty similar to the ones over at Scorched. They include a grade 10.9 through bolt that can be replaced if/when it breaks. I was all set to drill the holes out when I realized they shock towers already had 4mm holes. I know someone mentioned that to me previously, but I guess it slipped my mind. Install was a lot less involved than I had in mind though! : )

I also ordered some of the M2C shock cap grommets. These rubber units are sloppy af. I'm not sure if that was some kind of intentional design or not, but I'm not too impressed with it if it was!

Side note: These kidney shaped medical bowls are a key component to me keeping things organized during disassembly. I keep small parts and fasteners related to each layer in one before moving to the next layer and a new bowl.

 

[954kevin]

Some good progress today!

Front and rear TREAL hinge pin hangers installed.
M2C rear skid plate/chassis brace
TREAL one piece servo mount

The servo mount turned out to be the biggest pita of the bunch, but the stability of the servo is noticeably improved. The servo had quite a bit of wobble previously.

Disassembling everything I ran into a LOT of screws that should have had thread locker on them from the factory that just didn't. A couple of the diff housing bolts were bare metal and only a single screw for the servo mount has any Loctite. Also went though and gave every bolt through the chassis some love. Most needed a good 1/4-1/2 turn to be fully seated.

Everything went together great. One small mention is the Garage Life front bumper spring didn't fit quite as well when mated to the TREAL front hinge pin carrier. Still went on ok, but took some persuasion. The TREAL unit is just a lot thicker all around than the original part.

These TREAL hangers are a 7075 aluminum and they are pretty beefy. They might not look as trick as the Scorched parts, or have the through bolts of the M2C design, but I will be surprised if these get bent. They are just a solid chunk of aluminum. No skelitization or "weight saving" cut-outs.

Servo mount milled from a single piece of 7075.

 

[332_RC]

Great looking progress! Very nice. I had the same issue on my Kraton with the Garage Life bumper spring, a Scorched front super basher front hinge pin holder, & composite bulkhead. It all fit. But not just right. The Scorched holder was meant for a Arrma aluminum bulkhead & it didn't fit just right either. I got it all worked out. Treal makes some good stuff. I have several of their products on my bashers. Nice man!!

 

[Aqualungs]

Nice! Looks good. I saw this screw on mine just with a light overlook lol. I am about to take mine apart to diff the shims and other fun stuff. I saw the servo mount flex when I was doing a quick electronics test today also.. I figured the endpoints just needed adjustment lol. Guess I will just check every screw also while I'm in there. Gonna be a long winter lol

 

[Aqualungs]

I have the rear end pulled apart.. and holy crap was this person inconsistent on the locktite.. either it was enough or too much lol

 

[954kevin]

Another small addition. Just a couple wing buttons. The red is slightly off, but still an aesthetic improvement over the small factory plastic jobs.

Man... I got into the Scorched RC steering knuckles and hit a brick wall on these front hub grub screws. I use MIP bits and these are big 5x5 grub screws, but I managed to blow one out completely. I swear it was like they back filled the hole with thread locker. I did my best to clean it all out before I even put the tool in the grub screw. That dude was locked up! Stripped the grub screw and had to drill it and the pin out.

$40 later I have a pair of new front bubs, hex pins, and grub screws coming that will let me move forward with that end of the job. The other front was also uber tight and required a lot of small unscrew/tighten maneuvers to work the grub screw loose. It was also totally full of thread locker.

 

[asgard]

@954kevin Those medicinal kidney bowls are cool.
I also use forceps for delicate stuff when wrenching .

All in all awesome build