Kraton Kevin's Kraton 6s EXB v2 Build Thread

[Aqualungs]

Oh no! That stinks, i have the Scorched hubs on the way.. i wonder if that hole wasn't drilled out right? I will be careful.. i guess sheesh
I wish these trucks came as kits. No locktite added. Taking things apart either they globbed too much locktite or there was none added. Taking apart a new RC because of this just defeats the purpose lol. They could lower the cost and save us some time lol
So did you buy completely different Knuckles?

 

[954kevin]

Oh no! That stinks, i have the Scorched hubs on the way.. i wonder if that hole wasn't drilled out right? I will be careful.. i guess sheesh
I wish these trucks came as kits. No locktite added. Taking things apart either they robbed too muchb locktite or there was none added. Taking apart a new RC because of this just defeats the purpose lol. They could lower the cost and save us some time lol
So did you buy completely different Knuckles?

I bought the front and rear from Scorched. To replace this hub I had to drill out I just bought the corresponding oem replacement parts. I had done the other side already and it was tight as a button. I should have stopped and added a little heat to it, but tried to muscle through it and stripped the grub screw instead.

That is the first hex head I have ever stripped with these MIP drivers though. The replacement parts are supposed to be here today. I hate leaving things disassembled with parts scattered around! : )

 

[Aqualungs]

I bought the front and rear from Scorched. To replace this hub I had to drill out I just bought the corresponding oem replacement parts. I had done the other side already and it was tight as a button. I should have stopped and added a little heat to it, but tried to muscle through it and stripped the grub screw instead.

That is the first hex head I have ever stripped with these MIP drivers though. The replacement parts are supposed to be here today. I hate leaving things disassembled with parts scattered around! : )

Oh gotcha I read that totally wrong. I will probably get my soldering iron out for those little jerks then lol.

 

[954kevin]

Oh gotcha I read that totally wrong. I will probably get my soldering iron out for those little jerks then lol.

I have my doubts that even heat would have done any good. I don't think I have ever found a fastener laced with a medium threadlocker to be more impressively stuck.

 

[Aqualungs]

I have my doubts that even heat would have done any good. I don't think I have ever found a fastener laced with a medium threadlocker to be more impressively stuck.

I ran into some over spill that bonded parts outside of the threads.. good lord

 

[Aqualungs]

I have my doubts that even heat would have done any good. I don't think I have ever found a fastener laced with a medium threadlocker to be more impressively stuck.

Thank the maker all my hexes came out.. one of them was in there good though

 

[954kevin]

Still waiting on those parts that AMain said would be here Thursday....

 

[954kevin]

Some good progress made today, coupled with a small setback and a dash of waiting on parts that were supposed to be here last Thursday(thanks Jesus).

I got the dual fan setup from Campfire carbon installed along with a couple 40mm Rocket fans. I have primarily used the chunky 40mm server fans as upgrades, but I didn't think they would fit under the shell utilizing the oem heatsink and dual fan adapter plate. So, I am trying the famed Rocket fans for the first time. I'm a little skeptical, but at the same time, I'm certain they outperform the the stock fan. Everything looks nice and tidy.

Second, I was able to install the titanium motor mount bolt/screws from RamJam Racing. There was some modification required to the upper cage for clearance. I don't think there is any kind of structural compromise, but the bolts are totally acceptable and the cut-out looks nice and clean.

Finally, I got the kevlar straps from Garage Life RC installed. I cut the built in hoops off the bottom of the battery tray because these straps were too big to slide through it. The battery is really secure and I imagine the whole tray is going to break off the chassis long before these straps give way or need replaced. If the effort needed to get this pack back out of the tray once it's tightened down is any indication, I should not need worry about battery ejection.

The set-back I mentioned concerns the servo mount from TREAL. The back corner is juuuuust touching the center driveshaft. I don't think the driveshaft has enough movement to get into the servo mount enough to cause anything other than superficial surface marks, but it bothers me. So, I plan to take the servo mount back out and grind or file that closest edge back a couple mm for better clearance.

If you made it this far, maybe you can tell me what these extra two unused countersunk screw holes are for towards the back of the battery tray... Is there a longer battery tray that fits in here?

 

[332_RC]

Looks awesome! Yeah I think the battery tray can be moved or there is or used to be a longer one. I've wondered the same thing but no extra holes up front so Arrma may have a longer tray. Great work- great photos! The Rocket fans are superb. All my rigs have them.

 

[Aqualungs]

Nice, i was planning on ordering those batteries straps also, but just needed to measure what lengths I need.
Hoping my rocket fans get here tomorrow or monday.. they were supposed to be here days ago lol.
I have the Scorched Motor mount screws coming, but those look nice.
Those rear Hubs sure look nice! As far as the extra screws no idea

 

[954kevin]

Nice, i was planning on ordering those batteries straps also, but just needed to measure what lengths I need.
Hoping my rocket fans get here tomorrow or monday.. they were supposed to be here days ago lol.
I have the Scorched Motor mount screws coming, but those look nice.
Those rear Hubs sure look nice! As far as the extra screws no idea

I asked him what lengths I needed and he said a 500 and one or two 300's. I got the 300's and wasn't sure if they were going to be long enough for this chunk pack. So, I ordered a couple of 350's(shown).

 

[Aqualungs]

I asked him what lengths I needed and he said a 500 and one or two 300's. I got the 300's and wasn't sure if they were going to be long enough for this chunk pack. So, I ordered a couple of 350's(shown).

Awesome thanks! Yea that is quite the battery! I have 6200s

 

[954kevin]

Awesome thanks! Yea that is quite the battery! I have 6200s

Honestly, I didn't quite realise how big it was gonna be. I just followed the "Arrma battery guide" over on the SMC site. Hopefully, the chonk factor doesn't dig into air time too bad. It weighs less than the gensacearespammers bashing battery I was looking at though...

 

[Aqualungs]

Sgould be too bad.. I have a 5200 ans 7400 smc for my stampede and notice zero difference except longer run time. 2s compared to 6s though but you havr a bigger motor lol! I would think any bigger and you may suffer a bit

 

[954kevin]

Well, that servo mount rubbing the front center driveshaft had to be dealt with.... The first time I installed it, it was a pita, but this time it went a lot smoother. Like so many things in life.

It's hard to see from these first pics because I couldn't get a good angle on it, but the servo mount is touching the driveshaft. If you look closely, you can see the rub marks on the shaft. Plus, it probably doesn't help the shaft is slightly bent, right out of the box.

I took a Dremel to it and finished it with a hand file. I slapped a coat of red sharpy over the exposed aluminum and it virtually disappeared. Plenty of breathing room now!

There IS a cat in the last picture.

 

[954kevin]

So.... I've been kind of stuck waiting on various parts and returns etc. I had the M2C +1 front and rear CVD's and I can only attribute this to the Scorched RC front and rear hubs, but the +1 CVD's were too long. With the suspension droop properly set, the CVD's were bottoming out in the drive cups binding the steering. As the suspension sagged, it would tighten up and the steering knuckles wouldn't budge. Once the arms were essentially on a flat plane with the diffs, the steering would loosen up and function properly. I put the oem axles in and everything moves properly. I suppose the geometry of the Scorched RC hubs is designed a little tighter than the oem hubs reducing the space between drive cup and hub.

I ended up returning them in exchange for the regular length axles. I also picked up front and rear drive cups from M2C while I was at it. Still not installed either as I've been accumulating all the parts to build bomb proof diffs front, center and rear.

I've got 3 Arrma metal diff covers to replace the plastic units. I got the thicker diff pins from RamJam Racing to replace the undersized pins throughout the diffs. I also found an interesting thread here on the forum about using part of the LSD plates in conjunction with a non-oem shim stack to further increase the internal gears strength. So, I bought a pile of shims to complete that project. I didn't have and 80k diff fluid on hand and that is the last thing I'm waiting on to tear these diffs apart and rebuild all three.

I jumped on JennyRC and scooped up a set of 6s Backflips. I run an eBay business as my source of income and was going to sell the CopperHeads there, but looking at the prices, I think I'll just hang onto them as back-ups.

 

[Aqualungs]

Yea i talked to David @ Scorched about this a few weeks back and glad I sent the +1 shafts back. He adjusted the tolerances on the Knuckles to counter the issues with the shafts popping out. Glad you found out before you used them and broke something and couldn't return them. Im using the stockers for now and the fit is good! I want to see how they hold up to my driving.. I have other RCs if there's downtime. I also have M2C diff cups on standby lol

 

[954kevin]

Yea i talked to David @ Scorched about this a few weeks back and glad I sent the +1 shafts back. He adjusted the tolerances on the Knuckles to counter the issues with the shafts popping out. Glad you found out before you used them and broke something and couldn't return them. Im using the stockers for now and the fit is good! I want to see how they hold up to my driving.. I have other RCs if there's downtime. I also have M2C diff cups on standby lol

It had been a while since I ordered the +1's from M2C, but they were totally cool and understanding through the whole return process. Couldn't be happier with M2C as a business.

 

[Aqualungs]

It had been a while since I ordered the +1's from M2C, but they were totally cool and understanding through the whole return process. Couldn't be happier with M2C as a business.

Same! They let me exchange and even extended the black friday discount I had on the original order. So I went with their hinge pin kit, for easy A-arm changes in the field. Won't have to take off hinge blocks and reapply locktite

 

[954kevin]

Same! They let me exchange and even extended the black friday discount I had on the original order. So I went with their hinge pin kit, for easy A-arm changes in the field. Won't have to take off hinge blocks and reapply locktite

That's something I didn't consider when I bought the Treal blocks! I have been really happy with the Treal parts on all my Traxxas models, but quick changing arms wasn't something I thought about.