Kraton Kraton vs Losi LST-2

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Jigstick

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Arrma RC's
I purchased a Losi LST-2 nitro truck years ago with the intention to just tinker with. I haven't really used it much at all. It has less than 1 gallon of fuel through it. Fast forward 8 years and I now have two young sons who love running their Traxxas Skully trucks that i got for them at Xmas time.

When I would run my LST2 in my neighborhood I would get the stink eye from people because of the noise. So I'm looking for a new electric "truggy / MT" similar to my LST2.

The local hobby shop is pushing the Kraton pretty hard. But I do "like" to build stuff as Im pretty mechanically inclined. Is it worth it for me to buy a Tekno truggy kit and build from the ground up? I will never race the thing. Mostly run on my buddys farm / dirt bike course.
 
I think you should go with the Kraton. It is very durable, very fast, handles great, and is super fun to drive! Tekno kits are great also however you will spend more money on electronics and such. You will wind up spending double on the Tekno. Although the Kraton is ready to run there is still just as much tinkering you can do. I've had my Kraton completely dis assembled twice for maintenance and upgrades. There are many after market upgrades and tuning options. The hype for Arrma is real. They are well designed trucks and the layout is perfect in terms of performance, maintenance, tuning, and upgrade-ability. Best $500 I've ever spent and if you pull the trigger on an Arrma you will not be disappointed. The Kraton is perfect for a farm/dirtbike course. You could also run it in the neighborhood and people will not even know you are there!
 
Well I have the JR radio from my LST so that would help offset the cost of building the Tekno. I may drive up to the local shop and check out the Kraton again.

The Kraton is smaller than my LST2 correct? Lower COG and shorter wheel base?
 
Well I have the JR radio from my LST so that would help offset the cost of building the Tekno. I may drive up to the local shop and check out the Kraton again.

The Kraton is smaller than my LST2 correct? Lower COG and shorter wheel base?
I don't even use my nitro RC's anymore, as just too much trouble to run and much more of a hazzle, and people just do not like the loud sound.

I agree, get the Kraton, as it is the best basher available, especially for the price of $499. On 6S, these things are a beast, and sets Arrma apart from any other RTR's. You can tear it down and rebuild it even better with upgrades, etc, so in a way, it can be like a kit. You could bash with it right away, then upgrade later, or tear it down and upgrade right away. In fact the Kraton does have good ground clearance, especially for a truggy. It is a Speed Monster Truck with large tires and long travel suspension, and with optional taller Backflip tires, it would have even more ground clearance. The clearance under the front and rear suspension/diffs, is probably almost the same as your LST2. Basically, it is a truggy on steriods (mix between a race truggy and a monster truck). It can go almost anywhere a MT can, but get there much faster and with a lot more stability (less roll overs).

In fact the Kraton is actually slightly larger at 23.29" long & 14.84" wheelbase compared to your LST2, which is 22" long & 14.2" wheelbase. Also the Kraton weighs 9lbs 15oz (w/o batteries), and your LST2 weighs a hefty 13lbs, so the Kraton is definitely lighter, which is another big bonus...
 
Maybe a conversion of the lst2...

Losi-Electric-Conversion-Kit-LST2-XXL2-770x527.jpg
 
Ok so if I pull the trigger on the Kraton can I use the charger I got for my kids Skullys to charge up 4s and 6s batteries?
 

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Ok so if I pull the trigger on the Kraton can I use the charger I got for my kids Skullys to charge up 4s and 6s batteries?

Yes, but you will need XT90 -> standard traxxas adapters. Arrma trucks use XT90's. That charger can use standard traxxas plugs with normal balance plugs. There are two little covers covering the balance plug port on the front of the charger. It's the charger I started with 1.5 years ago when I got my first electric, brushless revo v1. I since replaced mine with a quad 4x10A charger though as I've extended my brushless fleet a bit and wanted to be able to charge more packs more quickly.

I only run 2x2S in my revo and savage. Many arrma guys seem to lean towards running 2x3S or 1x6S. That charger can only charge 2-3S packs though, so you would want to use 2 3S lipo's vs 1 6S lipo unless you get a different charger.

IMO, using adapters on a charger is fine, but I'd be less inclined to use an adapter on the truck itself, due to adding more connections to come loose when running and adding connections in a high current environment can add heat/power loss to the connections overall. With them on a charger though, your likely to only transfer 10A (8A max with that charger) vs the 100A+ spikes you get when in the vehicle. Looking at the data log from my castle MMX esc, over the course of a run, there are a lot of 50A-100A spikes with some going to 150A! So, less connections between your batteries and the esc, the better I'd think. :)
 
Ok.

So basically I need to purchase the truck itself. Two 3s Lipos. Adapters to charge the batteries on that Traxxas Charger. And maybe the reinforced steering servo mount. ?

My boys are excited that I’ll be able to run with them. And they “promise” that their upgraded Skullys on lipos are going to win every race lol.
 
Ok.

So basically I need to purchase the truck itself. Two 3s Lipos. Adapters to charge the batteries on that Traxxas Charger. And maybe the reinforced steering servo mount. ?

My boys are excited that I’ll be able to run with them. And they “promise” that their upgraded Skullys on lipos are going to win every race lol.

Yeah... with 6S, your going to smoke them. lol!

You might want to read up on the diff builds that most people typically do, with any arrma truck out of the box. They need shimming and usually diff fluid. Also, the tower to tower brace. Do those things before your run it the first time and you should have a better experience.
 
Yeah I noticed those mods. I’m going to cut some carbon fiber arrow shafts to make the tower braces. And I think I have some diff fluid from my Losi laying around.

Is it possible to link the JR radio from my Losi to the Kraton? I think that JR radio is better quality
 
Ok.

So basically I need to purchase the truck itself. Two 3s Lipos. Adapters to charge the batteries on that Traxxas Charger. And maybe the reinforced steering servo mount. ?

My boys are excited that I’ll be able to run with them. And they “promise” that their upgraded Skullys on lipos are going to win every race lol.
Very good comments by olds97_lss, however, I have not needed to upgrade the servo mounts on either my V3 Talion or 2018 Kraton. I just replaced the rubber servo grommets with solid servo mount spacers, and now I have no servo flex/movement.

I'm using these carbon fiber spacers on my Talion for zero flex/movement:
https://www.amainhobbies.com/align-carbon-servo-plate-set-8-agnh60074a/p216317

I'm using these composite spacers on my Kraton:
https://www.amainhobbies.com/serpent-servo-spacer-set-8-ser600500/p218360

Tip: With 4 various sizes of thickness included in the servo spacer sets, I was able to get the servo to sit as low as possible, moving a piece of paper back and forth under the servo.

Yes, you can link your JR radio to the Kraton, as you will just need a compatible JR receiver to put in the Kraton receiver box.

I agree, it is always good to shim diffs and change diff fluids. A good range would be 50-60k Front / 100-200k Center / 7-20k Rear.

The tower to tower brace is still disputable, depending who you talk to. I'm not using the tower to tower brace, but I am using HR front/rear chassis braces and carbon fiber shock towers, and have not bent a chassis yet (however I am not hitting over 50ft jumps, maybe only 8-10ft high & 20ft-30ft long).

These comments are from Voltage Hobbies about using a tower to tower brace:
We don't recommend the use of a "tower to tower brace" as it makes the shock towers and gearbox cases more likely to bend/break under hard impacts/crashes, the reason is most of the energy gets transferred directly to those two parts. We've tested out a tower to tower brace and it does lead to broken gearbox cases and bent shock towers from our testing. Even high-grade aluminum or carbon fiber shock towers are still prone to bending or snapping (it takes a lot more force for it to happen, but it does). Also we recommend that you run with your wing in place at all times as it acts as a bumper and absorbs most of the impact energy in crashes/rollovers, by doing so you'll better protect your rear shock tower.
 
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