Kraton RC-Dad's Kraton EXB Build

[Lynny]

A little bit about my Kraton EXB and gear.

Motor
Castle 1717 1650Kv (running sensored)
ESC
Castle Mamba Monster X 8s
Servo
DS3235 35KG
Receiver
Futaba R304SB
Transmitter
Futaba 3PV
Batteries
Zee 5500Mah 80C 3s Lipo (x2)
Charger
EV-Peak CQ3


Running Stock Pinion for now and am just getting used to the platform. I know everyone likes pictures so here we go...


Opening Day right out of the box
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Go big or go home they say
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Electronics fitted roughly. Still waiting on a longer sensor wire and a practical proto plate for the ESC switch.
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Curious kitty
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Cheap amazon servo seems ok so far.
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For an amazon special this charger seems like a tank.
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batteries with XT90 connectors
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Got some snow and so I snuck out for a quick snow bash. Still getting used to this much power, since my last RC prior to this was a 2s Stampede. That is now my daughters rig and I made a small upgrade.

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First snow bash led to my first broken part also. Like I said I'm still getting used to all this power. Anyone know of a replacement for just the inside buffer for the front bumper?
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Nice lookin rig and electronics but I could never pack that much snow in a brand new setup

 

[RC-Dad]

Yeah running in the wet and snow isn't for everyone. Anytime I've run it in these type of conditions it takes massive amounts of time to clean and re-lube everything. 15 minutes of running and an hour and a half of cleaning. Definitely wouldn't recommend unless you are diligent with the after run maintenance.

 

[RC-Dad]

Got a few action shots from today while testing out my modified servo saver. I stripped out 2 servo horns back to back once I installed the hot racing aluminum saver. Pulled it apart and saw that it was binding. I polished the mating surfaces and then applied a bit of grease. Hopefully that will keep me from stripping more horns or destroying servos. At least it held up today.

 

[RC-Dad]

well another stock part bites the dust. Maybe one day I'll learn how to drive this thing. lol At least now I get an excuse to try out some M2C parts. Just dipped my toes in though and only ordered the ackerman bar and rear shock tower brace.

 

[RC-Dad]

I've been going through an unlucky spell of bad luck breaking a arms lately so I decided to start transitioning over to rpm arms. So far it's just the upper front a arm so far. Will use up last spares before switching the rear and front bottoms to rpm. Also installed the atomik front hubs since I had it apart.

 

[RC-Dad]

went through the diffs this weekend and I was having issues with front dog bones popping out on landings in full compression. A few of pop outs chewed up the drive cups so I thought it would be a good time to pull and service all the diffs and install some new m2c drive cups. Also installed the rest of the RPM arms. Lower fronts and rears. The sway bar and shock pins showed up friday so I finally had all the parts for the swap.

Since the rig was all torn down I also took the time to get the atomik hub carriers installed on the rear, rpm wing mount (which still needs a little trimming so the m2c tower brace can sit flush against the tower), and new m2c chassis braces. Now I'm just waiting on a new gasket for the rear diff as I accidently tore it when disassembling.

my first diff apart, not including the gasket because I butchered it. Gaskets should be showing up in the next couple of days.

New m2c drive cups seem really solid.

RPM arms fitted and diff reinstalled in front with 30k, before applying grease.

atomik hub carriers installed and ready for service.

front end all buttoned up and ready for install. Removed spacers on the pillow balls, hopefully I stop spitting out dog bones now. We'll see I guess.

new m2c chassis brace fitted on the front.

Rear RPM arms installed with v4 sway bar and v4 shock pins. m2c rear brace getting a test fit. The rpm wing mount needs some slight modification to allow the tower braces to sit flush.

 

[Deiglie]

Crazy car

I also have Rpm at the back, but have problems with the droop screws. How does it hit/fit your chassis?

 

[RC-Dad]

Crazy car

I also have Rpm at the back, but have problems with the droop screws. How does it hit/fit your chassis?

I honestly cant say yet. I haven't mounted the rear end onto chassis since installing the rpm rears. I did lay the RPM over the top of exb arms and it appeared that the droop screws were in the same spot. I'll check it out when I install it back on the chassis.

 

[RC-Dad]

Rpm rear a arms droop screw location is definitely a problem. They are making contact but obviously an issue. So now I'm not sure what to do, go back to exb arms or try and fit wider head droop screws? Hmm

My gaskets came in so I was able fill the rear diff tonight and get the back end reinstalled. Went with 30k front with max effect, and 10k rear min effect. Haven't finished the center diff yet but going to try 200k max effect in there and see how it goes. New m2c cups installed on all three diffs, I saved the old cups from center and rear as they were still in good shape.

Lastly I had to make a slight mod to the rpm wing mount so my braces would fit.

 

[RC-Dad]

Some new parts showed up today, another evolution in my kraton beginning soon. Have to give @Basherqueen a shout out as she makes some top quality parts. Not really going to be able to call this an exb anymore.

 

[jondilly1974]

Rpm rear a arms droop screw location is definitely a problem. They are making contact but obviously an issue. So now I'm not sure what to do, go back to exb arms or try and fit wider head droop screws? Hmm
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My gaskets came in so I was able fill the rear diff tonight and get the back end reinstalled. Went with 30k front with max effect, and 10k rear min effect. Haven't finished the center diff yet but going to try 200k max effect in there and see how it goes. New m2c cups installed on all three diffs, I saved the old cups from center and rear as they were still in good shape.

Lastly I had to make a slight mod to the rpm wing mount so my braces would fit.
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It’s like a clean version of my KEXB

 

[RC-Dad]

So I made some progress on the Beast this week. (Can't call it an EXB anymore) Managed to install the new chassis, loomed all the wires in black, added shock socks, installed carbon towers and a few other bits from basherqueen, and swapped back to exb rear arms. My body is really beat up at the post holes so I'm looking at getting a new body for it soon.

Also installed the 3d printed dual 40mm fan adapter for the K8 heatsink and installed 2 reedy fans.

Here are some shots showing the mayham. I'm not the most organized wrencher when I work on this thing.

looming all the cables and heat shrinking before installing on m2c chassis.

installing carbon bits on the front end.

Installed rear tower and also added the nuts to back of bulkhead.

Reedy fans getting ready for service. Just need to get the the screens installed on top and they will be ready to go.

All buttoned up and ready for some more bashing. Time to get her dirty again!

 

[Monster Dork]

Nope, that's not an EXB anymore!

 

[BashingBrian]

Nice build, I've no idea where you hid all those cables because as I was reading through it I thought to myself omg those wires are too long..!!

 

[RC-Dad]

Nice build, I've no idea where you hid all those cables because as I was reading through it I thought to myself omg those wires are too long..!!

I had to get a bit crafty, I bundled the sensor cable with the two fan wires and put a large loom over all three of them. It turned out pretty well and kept everything nice and clean.

 

[RC-Dad]

It's nice when all the wrench time pays off. Had a little fun with the drone and rc collaboration.

https://www.skypixel.com/pilot/vide...f82-4abc-b101-dd5612d2398c?account_id=felmand

 

[Monster Dork]

Sorry if I missed it, but what did you pack the bumper-thinger with? Moar earplugs? (Just kidding, looks like something more useful).

 

[RC-Dad]

Sorry if I missed it, but what did you pack the bumper-thinger with? Moar earplugs? (Just kidding, looks like something more useful).

RTV gasket maker. I kept busting those bumpers. The gasket maker works pretty well and is still flexible.

 

[RC-Dad]

I was still not happy with motor temps even running dual 40mm fans on the K8 heatsink so I thought I'd give alza racing a try and see how that works out. Ran a few packs with this setup and temps haven't gotten over 125 on the motor since switching.

Also got my new body painted and fitted.

 

[RC-Dad]

Snapped my basherqueen Ackerman bar on my last outing. Threw the m2c bar back in, guess I was a little to hard on it.