jonUF02
Active Member
Hi All,
I just finished building what I'm going to call the "Kraut-cast X". I started with a really beat-down Kraton roller that I purchased pretty cheap. I thought I might want to convert it to Outcast in the future, so I also acquired some of the parts necessary from Ebay chop shop. Seller "luimdave35" is awesome. I just wish he were about 30 minutes closer to me so I could save all the shipping charges.
First things I notices on the Kraton donor was that the rear shock tower was twisted up, and one front axle shaft. Also all the bearings and diffs were making gritty sounds, so I decided to go ahead and order the Fast Eddy sealed rubber bearing kit. With the level of apparent abuse to this truck, I'll say those are small things to replace, but Arrma axles are not cheap. Parts cost and availability is my primary concern with choosing Arrma over another brand.
I proceeded to tear apart every screw from the Kraton. I washed every bit of dirt and grease from every crevice. I decided to spray-paint the bottom of the chassis which was 98% silver when I got it from so many scrapes. Putting everything back together, I decided I definitely wanted the taller plastic side guards from the Outcast, and the mud guards behind the front wheels to keep junk out of the electronics tray. I also realized that the taller side guards will allow me to velcro on the stock body, as I did on my Revo, so no more fiddling with those pesky body pins all the time!
For electronics, I chose the Castle Mamba Monster X ESC (with Castle Cap Pack installed), and Castle 2200KV Mamba motor. I'm a big fan of Castle electronics, and I love how much program ability you get with the PC connection. I really only want to run the maximum power, 6s, of course. I'm trying to build a 6s truck that can take punishment and stay intact through at least 2 sets of batteries in a day. I set my ESC to 50% punch, 10% drag brake, 50% brake, 6.0v BEC, and set the throttle curve more flat at the low rage, and ramping upward, that seems to keep the take-off under control. One of my major complaints with my previous Nero is that it punches way too hard, and has no way to adjust these settings like the Castle ESC. It's a big plus when running 6s.
I'm topping it off with Savox 1256tg servo soon, but I had a 1231sg for now, which does not quite fit because it's too tall. The stock plastic servo mount flexes Waaayyyyy too much. I'll be doing the aluminum standoff mod as soon as the show up from China. Because of this flex and taller servo, my steering was crap on my first run.
For tires, I love the Outcast "Backflip" tires, and ordered a set of those. They have excellent grip for grass and dirt, and the tread won't wear off if I use them on pavement a little (rare for me). I always loved the Proline Badlands on my E-revo, so these are similar, but appropriate scale for the Kraton.
I see the RPM bumper just released, so I'm going that way over the massive, cumbersome T-bone for the front, and trying to decide whether I should do the Outcast wheelie bar, or T-bone rear bumper to protect me from excessive wheelies and cartwheels. I already see some carnage of the wheelie bar. I'm hoping RPM will soon release a rear bumper, which they have alluded to more parts for Arrma being released soon.
Diff fluids: 50K-100K-50K Traxxas fluid. I like wheelies, so I wanted the center more or less locked, but not so locked it might break something. The 50K rear is pretty good, it tends to drift out in the loose stuff, and the 50K front may be too stiff, but I'll have to determine when I correct the servo and mount issues affecting the steering right now.
Shock fluids - I put 60wt in the rear, and roughly 70wt in the front (mix 60 and 80). I like the dampening effect, but I may need some heavier springs. Currently pre-load on the stock springs is almost as far as the collars will go. It's almost neutral now, drop it and it slowly rebounds to horizontal arms.
My first run was pretty successful. I'm running the Robinson Racing hardened pinion 15T. I ran through a pair of 3S 5500mah 35c batteries. I did a few cartwheels and a back-flip without breaking anything. The batteries felt a little warm at the end, but the motor was not too hot to the touch. I didn't temp gun it, I should have. I think it could handle a couple more teeth on the pinion, but it's pretty darn fast as it is, especially considering the ESC is toned down a bit. The backflip tires just bite hard and make it wheelie. I still have to exercise some throttle control to keep it down. It's wheelies on demand, as my throttle curve jumps up at the top of the throttle range. Punch too hard at fast speed, and it will flip backwards.
I think some suspension tuning is still necessary, but I like the truggy style handling far better than the Nero's bulky top-heavy, bouncy handling. I noticed that it really handles bumps well with the current setup. Most cars seem to rebound hard from the rear, say if you hit a sidewalk edge or root, and push the nose down hard, causing possible crash. With this setup, the nose sits down and just absorbs it and keeps running. Center of gravity is low. I didn't hit any jumps really, just breaking it in.
I just finished building what I'm going to call the "Kraut-cast X". I started with a really beat-down Kraton roller that I purchased pretty cheap. I thought I might want to convert it to Outcast in the future, so I also acquired some of the parts necessary from Ebay chop shop. Seller "luimdave35" is awesome. I just wish he were about 30 minutes closer to me so I could save all the shipping charges.
First things I notices on the Kraton donor was that the rear shock tower was twisted up, and one front axle shaft. Also all the bearings and diffs were making gritty sounds, so I decided to go ahead and order the Fast Eddy sealed rubber bearing kit. With the level of apparent abuse to this truck, I'll say those are small things to replace, but Arrma axles are not cheap. Parts cost and availability is my primary concern with choosing Arrma over another brand.
I proceeded to tear apart every screw from the Kraton. I washed every bit of dirt and grease from every crevice. I decided to spray-paint the bottom of the chassis which was 98% silver when I got it from so many scrapes. Putting everything back together, I decided I definitely wanted the taller plastic side guards from the Outcast, and the mud guards behind the front wheels to keep junk out of the electronics tray. I also realized that the taller side guards will allow me to velcro on the stock body, as I did on my Revo, so no more fiddling with those pesky body pins all the time!
For electronics, I chose the Castle Mamba Monster X ESC (with Castle Cap Pack installed), and Castle 2200KV Mamba motor. I'm a big fan of Castle electronics, and I love how much program ability you get with the PC connection. I really only want to run the maximum power, 6s, of course. I'm trying to build a 6s truck that can take punishment and stay intact through at least 2 sets of batteries in a day. I set my ESC to 50% punch, 10% drag brake, 50% brake, 6.0v BEC, and set the throttle curve more flat at the low rage, and ramping upward, that seems to keep the take-off under control. One of my major complaints with my previous Nero is that it punches way too hard, and has no way to adjust these settings like the Castle ESC. It's a big plus when running 6s.
I'm topping it off with Savox 1256tg servo soon, but I had a 1231sg for now, which does not quite fit because it's too tall. The stock plastic servo mount flexes Waaayyyyy too much. I'll be doing the aluminum standoff mod as soon as the show up from China. Because of this flex and taller servo, my steering was crap on my first run.
For tires, I love the Outcast "Backflip" tires, and ordered a set of those. They have excellent grip for grass and dirt, and the tread won't wear off if I use them on pavement a little (rare for me). I always loved the Proline Badlands on my E-revo, so these are similar, but appropriate scale for the Kraton.
I see the RPM bumper just released, so I'm going that way over the massive, cumbersome T-bone for the front, and trying to decide whether I should do the Outcast wheelie bar, or T-bone rear bumper to protect me from excessive wheelies and cartwheels. I already see some carnage of the wheelie bar. I'm hoping RPM will soon release a rear bumper, which they have alluded to more parts for Arrma being released soon.
Diff fluids: 50K-100K-50K Traxxas fluid. I like wheelies, so I wanted the center more or less locked, but not so locked it might break something. The 50K rear is pretty good, it tends to drift out in the loose stuff, and the 50K front may be too stiff, but I'll have to determine when I correct the servo and mount issues affecting the steering right now.
Shock fluids - I put 60wt in the rear, and roughly 70wt in the front (mix 60 and 80). I like the dampening effect, but I may need some heavier springs. Currently pre-load on the stock springs is almost as far as the collars will go. It's almost neutral now, drop it and it slowly rebounds to horizontal arms.
My first run was pretty successful. I'm running the Robinson Racing hardened pinion 15T. I ran through a pair of 3S 5500mah 35c batteries. I did a few cartwheels and a back-flip without breaking anything. The batteries felt a little warm at the end, but the motor was not too hot to the touch. I didn't temp gun it, I should have. I think it could handle a couple more teeth on the pinion, but it's pretty darn fast as it is, especially considering the ESC is toned down a bit. The backflip tires just bite hard and make it wheelie. I still have to exercise some throttle control to keep it down. It's wheelies on demand, as my throttle curve jumps up at the top of the throttle range. Punch too hard at fast speed, and it will flip backwards.
I think some suspension tuning is still necessary, but I like the truggy style handling far better than the Nero's bulky top-heavy, bouncy handling. I noticed that it really handles bumps well with the current setup. Most cars seem to rebound hard from the rear, say if you hit a sidewalk edge or root, and push the nose down hard, causing possible crash. With this setup, the nose sits down and just absorbs it and keeps running. Center of gravity is low. I didn't hit any jumps really, just breaking it in.
