Kraton 8s won’t wheelie

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This is exactly my experience with my set of Hoovo's. I run hard on my two 3s packs in my 6s KEXB, and the big majority of the mah's are below 3.9v. Due to your change in style of driving (BMX bashing to higher off-road speed) there is more load on the battery and it's likely causing greater voltage sag which is triggering LVC early. The light duty BMX bashing let you reach lower voltages before LVC. So you may want to experiment with setting your LVC slightly lower on the esc if you can, so the batteries will finish around 3.3 or 3.2v. that should give you more mah's to use.

Something to keep in mind: given the same "C" rating, smaller 5500mah packs would be more affected by voltage sag than larger packs (like the 8500mah one). Not that the 5500's won't perform well, but just by reason of the larger 8000+ packs being easier to give out juice they will less likely to trigger LVC as early. I'd bet if you ran the equivalent 8500 pack to LVC doing the same kind of driving you're doing now the batteries would be lower than the 3.65v you're currently getting. So you'd be getting more mah's in two different ways.

I actually use a small lipo meter/alarm on the body of my Kraton to monitor voltage because hobbywing doesn’t offer any type of telemetry on the MAX 5.

My issue is not necessarily the low-voltage cut off but just that the resting voltage I was stopping at is too high for these batteries and I might be leaving 50% of the charge unused. I did say LVC in my last post but wasn’t referring to anything set in the ESC, just when I decide to stop based on this meter. FYI, they’re 2 for $8 on eBay.

I always thought a Lipo was a Lipo but It sounds like there is some thing different with these Hoovo batteries that changes the discharge curve.
6813C6F4-7A0C-4A91-A456-6AC69F2F5E9C.jpeg
 
The packs with the better matched cells will provide more capacity overal before LVC cuts in.
I think you have a cell that can't keep up with the rest and LVC cuts early for this reason.
Always check the Internal resistance of all the cells as well. Also a sign of unmatched cells. Sometimes don't balance well with the rest, no matter what you do.
It only takes one cell to Dump too fast from the rest and LVC will cut in too early.
Cheap lipos do this more so with heavy, high amp draw rigs/electrics more easily.
 
I actually use a small lipo meter/alarm on the body of my Kraton to monitor voltage because hobbywing doesn’t offer any type of telemetry on the MAX 5.

My issue is not necessarily the low-voltage cut off but just that the resting voltage I was stopping at is too high for these batteries and I might be leaving 50% of the charge unused. I did say LVC in my last post but wasn’t referring to anything set in the ESC, just when I decide to stop based on this meter. FYI, they’re 2 for $8 on eBay.

I always thought a Lipo was a Lipo but It sounds like there is some thing different with these Hoovo batteries that changes the discharge curve.
View attachment 244516
LVC on the ESC and lipo alarms function the same way. They both have a sensitivity algorithm that reads voltage from the battery to determine if it thinks the pack is low on voltage and tells the user (or if LVC, it MAKES the user) to stop the car. The point is that all batteries will have voltage sag, the 5500 batteries more so than 8500. Therefore if you have a lipo alarm, the 5500's are going to trip earlier than the 8500's. If you are using LVC on your truck, then the 5500's will trip that earlier. This is because the 5500's will sag lower, trip the algorithm, and then voltage will drift back up to a higher resting rate than the 8500s. If you have a lipo meter that reads out the voltage, rather than alarm, it will be harder to predict the resting voltage without stopping for a bit, letting the batteries rest and return to a standing voltage.
 
Alright, I found the perfect tire set up.
I put the duratrax lockup x belted in the rear and non belted stock tirs in the front. The lighter non belted in the front drives amazing. I literally pulled a wheelie for a solid 20 feet without trying. I have never had that type of control with any tire set up on the kraton 8s.
From now on I'm belted in the rear non belted in the front. It makes sense with the lighter tires In the front. But the coolest thing was the control with the belted tires. I'm going to buy non belted duratrax SC sports for the front to match.
Absolutely AWESOME, like driving a whole new beast!!
I actually had bad luck with the six packs on my kraton 6s exb. All 4 striped one after the other.
I do have the stock kraton 8s esc in my 6s for more power but regardless I would not buy them again. They were probably to heavy for the 6s.
Hey I am having the same issue as the op. 800kv, 39-39. Can only do 1 flip. Similar set ups in my friends 8S’s are doing two or three flips. Gonna check my earplugs. But considering lighter tires in front. Is this still working for you?
 
Hey I am having the same issue as the op. 800kv, 39-39. Can only do 1 flip. Similar set ups in my friends 8S’s are doing two or three flips. Gonna check my earplugs. But considering lighter tires in front. Is this still working for you?
what tires are you using?
 
what tires are you using?
Tried stock, Backflips and the new Proline MX57. The only thing that gave me more control in the air were the 8SEXB tires which are significantly heavier.
I’m considering trying reducing the spur to 34 so it would be 39 pinion 34 spur. Not sure if that will be too much for the diffs or heat issues.
 
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Tried stock, Backflips and the new Proline MX57. The only thing that gave me more control in the air were the 8SEXB tires which are significantly heavier.
I’m considering trying reducing the spur to 34 so it would be 39 pinion 34 spur. Not sure if that will be too much for the diffs or heat issues.
Proline trenchers give me more air control than anything else. I think you will probably be okay running that gearing though. My k8s has an xlx2 and tp 5670 1270kv and I'm geared 31/39. 1270kv is a lot higher than 800
 
what tires are you using?
I have the belted duratrax in the rear and kraton exb copperhead v2 in the front.
Wheelies and excellent air control.
Have you ever considered going up to 47 spur for more responsiveness and torque?
 
I have the belted duratrax in the rear and kraton exb copperhead v2 in the front.
Wheelies and excellent air control.
Have you ever considered going up to 47 spur for more responsiveness and torque?
I hesitate going up in spur as it moves the heavy 800kv further out. I have considered moving down in pinion to 34/39. I understand lower pinion = more torque, less top speed. But what about larger pinion for more wheel speed instead? So which would give more ability to do backflips: 34/39 or overdriving with 39/34?
 
I hesitate going up in spur as it moves the heavy 800kv further out. I have considered moving down in pinion to 34/39. I understand lower pinion = more torque, less top speed. But what about larger pinion for more wheel speed instead? So which would give more ability to do backflips: 34/39 or overdriving with 39/34?
Making 100% sure your CD is packed with 20M will get you the wheelies you desire.
 
I have the belted duratrax in the rear and kraton exb copperhead v2 in the front.
Wheelies and excellent air control.
Have you ever considered going up to 47 spur for more responsiveness and torque?
That's a unique combination of tires. (y)
Belted at the rear.
 
I hesitate going up in spur as it moves the heavy 800kv further out. I have considered moving down in pinion to 34/39. I understand lower pinion = more torque, less top speed. But what about larger pinion for more wheel speed instead? So which would give more ability to do backflips: 34/39 or overdriving with 39/34?
I would keep it simple, go with 34/39.
You will have more responsiveness more torque.
The bigger the SPUR the more bottom end and torque/however less top end speed.

Did you say you have the castle xlx2 or max?
Whatever you have I would increase the punch that will also help your desired outcome.
39/34 might bring you back to a whole other list of potential negative scenarios....
 
I would keep it simple, go with 34/39.
You will have more responsiveness more torque.
The bigger the SPUR the more bottom end and torque/however less top end speed.

Did you say you have the castle xlx2 or max?
Whatever you have I would increase the punch that will also help your desired outcome.
39/34 might bring you back to a whole other list of potential negative scenarios....
Max 5. Max punch. Can’t hurt to try.
 
Kraton 8s BLX won’t wheelie. It has tons of power but it seems like traction may be the issue because the wheels just spin no matter what surface it’s on. Also using belted tires which don’t balloon at all and the weight doesn’t help. Specs below, any thoughts? Thanks

K8s BLX 1.5
Hobbywing MAX 5 with 800kv motor
Punch 4
34/34 gearing
500k/20M/500k diff fluid
Duratrax Six Pack X Tires
Hoovo 5500 mAh, 120C batteries
Power HD 65kg servo
Quite a few M2C and hot racing aluminum parts which add some weight. Haven’t weighed it yet but it’s a pain to carry.

View attachment 196491
I don’t if anyone mentioned this yet, but I stiffened up the center diff on my Outcast 8s and it wheelies on trigger and tops out at 64 mph with 800kv 29/39 setup.
 
I think the default is 3. If you haven’t touched it, that’s what it should be. That’s good info. Was hoping to find someone with a similar set up that can wheelie to see where the issue is before I start swapping things out blindly.

I’m really not a huge fan of these tires anyway. They almost seem too firm so I may try to pick up a set of stock tires or the ones that came stock on the EXB.

Thanks for the reply. I definitely agree that these tires seem very firm. I was hoping once the weather warmed up they’d get a little more pliable but the rubber is still way thicker then stock so I don’t think they’re ever gonna flex like the stock tires. Plus they don’t help the suspension soak much up when ridding over rough terrain and landing jumps.

They do have their place though. They handle great on hard packed dirt like a track or baseball infield. I have a BMX track nearby and it absolutely rips around there...until I break something. There’s also hardly any body roll around corners so I think they’re fast, just not great for bashing.

Either way, Sounds like a new set of tires is in order. I’m already over budget by a lot so it might be a little while but I’ll update this thread once I have a chance to get some thing else.
20 million center diff oil, and it will do backflips too.
 
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