Kraton My newest build: The 6S Kraton SUPERLEGGERA!!

[Xjeepguy]

As you saw in my last post, I was trying to decide what to do with the brand new Kraton 6s BLX I had gotten. I decided on option 3. A build with pure emphasis on lightness and rigidity. I’ve selected all of the parts based on this, and I will strip away anything that is not necessary, to shed weight. There will be lots of carbon fiber and titanium, oh yes. The premise is, death by 1000 cuts. What I mean by that is, if you shave half an ounce here, an ounce there, it adds up. These trucks are heavy, because they are bashers. I want an Arrma based race truggy. I want to remove all slop from the steering and suspension, and make a truck that corners like a mosquito, but it will still be a Kraton, in that, any Kraton part will still bolt right up. I have no intention of actually racing it, I just want to build a beautiful machine, that can handle like it’s on rails. It will likely be fragile. I am not going to bash this truck. Small jumps and whoops will be all the air it sees.

I know what you’re thinking… But Maaaattt, you can just go buy a Mugen, Kyosho, or Tekno, and have all of this for less money. That’s true. But I’m bored, and I think this will be a cool, fun project… And I like Arrma…

Here is a small teaser pic of a small portion of parts I’ve ordered. The wing probably will not be on the final build because it’s heavier than a stock wing. I bought it because it’s shiny. It’ll look cool when the truck is sitting on the shelf between runs lol. I may leave out the upper brace too, it depends on how rigid the chassis is after assembly. This is why I need adult supervision.

 

[StephenSchandelmayer]

Never knew there were carbon wing mounts!! That's awesome. Should be an amazing truck

 

[Tex Koder]

...
Here is a small teaser pic of a small portion of parts I’ve ordered. The wing probably will not be on the final build because it’s heavier than a stock wing. I bought it because it’s shiny. It’ll look cool when the truck is sitting on the shelf between runs lol. I may leave out the upper brace too, it depends on how rigid the chassis is after assembly. This is why I need adult supervision.


View attachment 320322

I am an 'Adult'..
I can provide you with Super-vision.

 

[sumguy75]

Sweet, can't wait to see how it turns out!

 

[Xjeepguy]

It’s going to take a while to get all of the parts in and start the build. I’m probably going to be doing some machine work on them as well. I think it’s going to take some time to complete, but it’ll be worth it. Or it’ll be a colossal waste of time and money. Who knows? lol

 

[sumguy75]

Cant imagine it being anything less than awesome!
With as much customization as you are doing, it really will feel like a one of a kind rig. Stock rigs can be great, but awesome seeing them transformed into a killer custom rig.

 

[Moirae]

Nice idea! that looks like a scorched rc hybrid cf chassis? or is it the ebay version? I actually just built a kraton on the scorched rc talion hybrid CF chassis. I was a bit worried about the durability but I've already nose dived the hell out of it and smacked the sidewalk and it's still looking great. I'm not even worried anymore

 

[Xjeepguy]

Nice idea! that looks like a scorched rc hybrid cf chassis? or is it the ebay version? I actually just built a kraton on the scorched rc talion hybrid CF chassis. I was a bit worried about the durability but I've already nose dived the hell out of it and smacked the sidewalk and it's still looking great. I'm not even worried anymore

That makes me feel better about it. It’s an eBay chassis, I didn’t find the Scorched one until after I ordered it. I plan to machine reliefs into it and lighten it even further. That’ll be phase 2 of the project. Phase one will be assembling it the way it came and comparing the weights of a stock Kraton, built with lightweight parts. Phase 2 will be machining reliefs into certain parts, and seeing how much weight can be saved with customization of aftermarket parts. Phase 3 will be finally adding some really cool components to further save weight. It will be interesting.

 

[Ron Burgandy]

Some of these parts y’all come up with is frustrating!!!!
Looks to be a sweet build ….
I’ve also wanted to incorporate my machinist skills into a build .
Looking forward to seeing you progress.

 

[Dan B.]

That’s my kind of build, man! Plus, you can swap on a set of street tires and go rip up some asphalt!

 

[Xjeepguy]

Started on the build today. Checked diffs, they were actually full for once. Going to run all stock fluids as a baseline, and adjust from there.

Built the center section first.

Mounted the steering servo, using some M2C goodness. The servo is a Protek 170 SBL Black Label.

Then I went to the front bulkhead. I used M2C CF shock towers and steering brace, as well as Ram Jam titanium hinge pins, dog bones and shock standoffs.

The rear bulkhead is next, with the same CF and titanium treatment as the front. I chose to use RPM arms because they are slightly lighter than stock. I also added the CF camber links. I’m using stock shocks for now, just to gauge the truck’s dampening needs to help me choose a more permanent and lighter solution later. I also added Tekno droop screws, and set the ride height fairly low, since this truck is not a basher, and will not likely be doing much jumping

Circling back to the front, I installed some Ram Jam titanium pillar balls, and assembled the front suspension. There is a massive weight difference between the stock ball and the titanium ones.

Next came the electronics. I selected a Hobbywing Max8 G2 system, with a 2500kv motor. I made sure that all of the wires could not contact the moving parts, and made my battery connection nice and short.

You’ll notice the steering rack and axles have not yet been installed. I’m waiting on parts before I can install them. The last thing I did today was the body. For such a different truck, I wanted to run a body that was lightweight, and isn’t normally seen on a Kraton. It’s a J Concepts Racing truggy body, with a lexan TLR wing. You’ll notice I didn’t install the fancy CF wing, and I left off the CF wing mount as well. They were both much heavier than the stock wing mount and this lexan wing. I modified the stock battery mount by trimming off bits that weren’t completely necessary, and ditched the receiver box. All of this done for the sake of weight savings. The purpose of this truck is to be a field runner that may occasionally see casual track use. It doesn’t need to be a tough as a stock Kraton. The rest of my parts are supposed to be here by Thursday, so hopefully by this coming weekend it’ll be completed, and I’ll take it on it’s maiden voyage.

 

[sumguy75]

Awesome build, everything coming along nicely!

 

[Dan B.]

Dude, what a beautiful build! There’s nothing as cool as a very premium build on a 6s Arrma, dripping with carbon fiber and titanium.

 

[Xjeepguy]

Awesome build, everything coming along nicely!

Thanks! I am really enjoying the build, believe it or not, there has been a lot of trimming, fitting, and detail work to get it all to fit together.

Dude, what a beautiful build! There’s nothing as cool as a very premium build on a 6s Arrma, dripping with carbon fiber and titanium.

Much appreciated. You wouldn’t believe how light this thing is so far. All of those little weight savings are really adding up.

 

[CosmoM3]

Really impressed with this build.

A couple of things though:

• The RPM arms are lighter but they're also far less rigid (I believe that was one of your goals) and it actually adds a decent amount of slop during corning,
• I personally would have gone with the HW Max8 G2 4278 2250kv combo for this build. Despite the lightweight build, it's still heavier than you might believe and the wider track and longer driveshafts require more rotational torque that the bigger 4278 offers over the lighter and higher revving 4268.

Overall great build and I look forward to future updates in earnest.

 

[Xjeepguy]

Really impressed with this build.

A couple of things though:

• The RPM arms are lighter but they're also far from rigid (I believe that was one of your goals) and it actually adds a decent amount of slop during corning,
• I personally would have gone with the HW Max8 G2 4278 2250kv combo for this build. Despite the lightweight build, it's still heavier than you might believe and the wider track and longer driveshafts require more rotational torque that the bigger 4278 offers over the lighter and higher revving 4268.

Overall great build and I look forward to future updates in earnest.

I went back and forth on the arms for that exact reason. I have a set of stock arms, and I may switch them out during testing and see which is closer to what I’m looking for.

As for the motor, wait until you see my tire selection.

 

[CosmoM3]

I went back and forth on the arms for that exact reason. I have a set of stock arms, and I may switch them out during testing and see which is closer to what I’m looking for.

As for the motor, wait until you see my tire selection.

Sorry, I had a typo. The RPM are are far LESS rigid than the stock arms.

I mean, if you’re racing it, I can only think of a few options of tire/wheels you’ll be using. Also if you were more serious about reducing its weight, you would have gone with the XR8 Combo as well as they’re at least 100-150g lighter than the Max8 G2 combo.

Looking forward to seeing more.

 

[KnowAir]

I noticed the 4268 motor also, worth a shot I feel too. My brother runs a max8 G2 combo in a Maxx on 3,4s. It rips! The Maxx is fairly heavy, I thought it would run hot, not so.

 

[Xjeepguy]

Sorry, I had a typo. The RPM are are far LESS rigid than the stock arms.

I mean, if you’re racing it, I can only think of a few options of tire/wheels you’ll be using. Also if you were more serious about reducing its weight, you would have gone with the XR8 Combo as well as they’re at least 100-150g lighter than the Max8 G2 combo.

Looking forward to seeing more.

I didn’t know that. I may look into getting one of those combos and putting this setup in one of my other rigs.

 

[Xjeepguy]

I think this build might have gotten under my skin a bit. I actually busted out the airbrush for this one lol.