My Kraton 8S journey.

[Batman]

I was out of the RC hobby for a good 5 years or so and had only 2 cars, a Losi 8ight 2.0 and the Redcat Rampage MT. Since the lock down I completely stripped down both vehicles and rebuilt them although still trying to get the MT.

I was looking for a Kraton 6S after stumbling upon it just randomly looking at RC's, back then I'd never even heard of Arrma. Due to the 6S not being in stock I settled for the 8S.

I opted for a new radio so I could use LiPos with my Hitec HV servos on the MT otherwise I was content with the FlySky GT3B, also I went right in to a chassis upgrade to get that out of the way.

During the transfer of parts to the new chassis I also changed the centre diff to the silicon ear plugs.

Comparison of K8 wheels to those of my MT.

 

[Batman]

Some more size comparisons.

 

[Batman]

Max 5 and servo upgrade time. Wish I knew about the M2C servo plate before installing but oh well. Servo is rated 62kg at 7.4v.

 

[jptothetree]

Gotta love that Kraton 8S! Total monster.

 

[Batman]

Time to turn this in to v1.5 or 2.0 as is being advertised in the UK.

 

[Batman]

Decided to upgrade the shock ends after reading a few reports of them falling apart right at the seam.

Comparison between the new one and the origional. Problem with the new ones are the hole at the bottom is M5 where as the screw is an M4.

It seats perfectly on to the origional plastic part.

As I mentioned earlier the hole is too big for the M4 screw so I tackled this for now by cutting some tube to the width of the origional ball head and then cutting it to about a 1/3 so it snuggly fits in between the hole and the M4 screw which got rid of any movement caused by the bigger hole yet allowed the the ball head to move freely.

I'm confident I won't be breaking these any time soon, most likely need to upgrade the shock shafts if anything.

Link to these for anyone interested in the UK: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/M5-5mm-F...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649

 

[Batman]

Time to make the body stronger. I proceeded as most with dry wall tape but with a substitute for Shoe Goo as the delivery times were way too long at that time and I couldn't be bothered to wait.

Cleaned the body and prepped it for the adhesive.

Adhesive fully applied and cured.

Then sprayed an entire can of Plasti Dip Blaze 400ml on, about 4-5 coats and put the roof support back on.

Prepped the exterior to spray the windows as I really hated the stock stickers and took all the stickers off the body except the lower side ones.

Sprayed the windows with Plasti Dip Chameleon, looks black and dull but when it hits the light it's amazing.

 

[Batman]

Difference between the stock Spektrum servo and the Banggood Racestar HV 62KG one.

 

[Batman]

First proper bash, hopefully bigger and better jumps to come.

 

[Batman]

Installed some edge trim all around the body today to help it last longer and prevent the Plasti Dip from peeling away from the edges which started to happen after the first bash. I can put the body down now without the worry of damaging the edges in any sort of way, also it looks amazing.

 

[KevinC]

Nice work man! Looks great.
What product is that edge trim?

cheers,
kev

 

[Batman]

I just put in 'edge trim' in eBay. The detail I guess that matters is it's designed to grip 1-3mm.

 

[KevinC]

I like the look of it. Snakeskin kinda vibe at a distance.

 

[Batman]

A few days ago I fitted the mudguards I got someone to make for me off of FB according to my measurements, made from 2mm Kydex.

Ordered some 2.5mm Kydex from Amazon Prime yesterday, it arrived today and I made some skid plates for the rear arms. Screws used on this were M4 16mm.

 

[Batman]

T-Bone Racing front skid plates came today from the US.

 

[Batman]

Put some carbon fibre tubes on the support braces today, ended up using a mitre saw to cut them, clean crisp cuts with no sanding needed.

 

[Stokedcrf]

Decided to upgrade the shock ends after reading a few reports of them falling apart right at the seam.

Comparison between the new one and the origional. Problem with the new ones are the hole at the bottom is M5 where as the screw is an M4.

View attachment 85863

It seats perfectly on to the origional plastic part.

View attachment 85864

As I mentioned earlier the hole is too big for the M4 screw so I tackled this for now by cutting some tube to the width of the origional ball head and then cutting it to about a 1/3 so it snuggly fits in between the hole and the M4 screw which got rid of any movement caused by the bigger hole yet allowed the the ball head to move freely.

View attachment 85866
View attachment 85870
View attachment 85868
View attachment 85869

I'm confident I won't be breaking these any time soon, most likely need to upgrade the shock shafts if anything.

Link to these for anyone interested in the UK: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/M5-5mm-FEMALE-RIGHT-HAND-THREAD-ROSE-JOINT-TRACK-ROD-END-COMPLETE-WITH-LOCKNUT/202621564147?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649

Dope looking truck man! But I gotta ask, are those grease nipples on the shock ends?!