Kraton Second hand (but nearly new) V2 Kraton - price?

[L0stB1t]

I have the chance to buy a V2 Kraton for € 350. I haven't seen it yet but the vendor claims it's nearly new, no scratches on bottom or body. Is this a good price for a V2?

I looked up the differences with a V3 and it seems like I'd have to spend quite a bit on upgrades if I theoretically would want to get all the improvements a V3 has. So a brand new V3 (which is "only" € 180 more) may be a smarter choice? Or should I ask for a lower price and upgrade the most important parts?

Also, what are the things to check when buying a second hand Kraton? I'll get a test drive and I'll obviously check for scratches or bent parts, but are there any potential problems I should check?

 

[Jerry-rigged]

If it is in good shape, 2/3 of v3 retail can be good. If has been run hard, I'd want closer to half.

The bottom of the chassis will tell the tail of run time and jump time. Deep scratches come from jumps and crashes, a polished look comes from track running, shallower scratches from general running and small jumps.

Also, look at the drive cups for wear, and dog bone pins for flat spots. Both are indicators of run time.

 

[WeekendRCwarrior]

Couple months ago I scored a v2 kraton for $225 but it needed some work. I think $300 is more realistic. The only v3 upgrades I did was the battery tray but need to drill chassis and diff cases after extreme jumps and crash. Shocks have been great.

 

[L0stB1t]

Thank you very much Jerry-rigged and WeekendRCwarrior, very helpful information!

 

[L0stB1t]

I've made a summary of V2 to V3 upgrades based on information from https://www.arrmaforum.com/threads/differences-between-v1-vs-v2-vs-v3.8796/ and https://www.arrmaforum.com/threads/battery-tray-replacement.3293/

I've added the old and new part numbers, the cost and my reasoning why (not) to get the new part. It's sorted from what I consider most important to least important.

upgrade	V2 part	V3 part	cost	reason
bulkhead	AR310427	AR310854	2 x € 13	+ stronger shock tower mount
front mudguard		AR320376	€ 12	+ more protection, less cleaning
battery tray	AR320192	AR320351	€ 15	+ prevent battery damage
stronger shock springs	TD330816,TD330786	AR330507,AR330508	2 x € 9	+ better suspension, jumping capability
new shocks with 4mm shaft				- only upgrade when broken, consider Tekno?
shock top cap		AR330492	€ 6	- just add padding on the body?
servo mount	AR320193	AR320430	€ 12	- better get Hot Racing upgrade (€ 24)
chassis brace	AR320196	AR320446	€ 16	- better get Hot Racing upgrade when broken (2 x € 24)
front bumper	AR330230	AR320432	€ 11	- better get a T-Bone bumper
receiver box	AR320169	AR320422	€ 13	- no bigger box needed if receiver fits fine?

If I get the first four upgrades in this list, that would be € 71 plus shipping. So I'll definitely ask for a lower price.

Not directly V2-V3 related I'm thinking of the following upgrades, also from most to least important:

• T-Bone bumpers
• shim diffs & put heavier oil (50k/300k/30k)
• replace shock oil (1000 cSt)
• better servo & Hot Racing servo mount
• replace the bearings with Fast Eddy's

Any thoughts on all this would be very welcome!

 

[WeekendRCwarrior]

also replaced chassis braces with v3. I ordered aluminum ones but don’t think I need them. Overall this thing can take serious bashing !

 

[Jerry-rigged]

don't worry about the v3 braces. They are not much of an improvement over the v1. If you want to upgrade, go aluminum.

 

[L0stB1t]

So guess who bought a Kraton today? This guy!

It was pretty much unused. Tiny scratch on the bottom, tiny scratch on the body, nothing bent and zero signs of wear. I tried to lower the price to € 300 by putting on my puppy face mentioning the cost to upgrade to V3 but that didn't work. But hey, € 350 for a new V2 is a really great deal!

He said the truck was way too powerful for his liking, even on 4S. He let me try it on 4S and it's not bad, but not really faster than my DHK Zombie, so knowing this beast can do much better I made up my mind to get a 6S battery.

Put my 1:1 in gear to the LHS and got a gensacearespammers 3700 mAh 60C for a reasonable price (just don't tell my wife it didn't come with the truck ). After soldering some XT90's and charging it was ready for its first flight under my command. And fly it did! Some wheelies, roof landings and a cartwheel later I already caused more damage than it had before Lost one of the wing screws so that'll be nr 1 to find a solution for.

So which V2 to V3 upgrades do I think I should actually get now? In short term, none really; the bulkheads looks strong enough, front mud guard doesn't seem too important (rear got way dirtier than the front), the battery tray is fine for the current battery and the shocks seem ok.

First extras to buy will definitely be the T-Bone bumpers, in the rear to hopefully protect that wing better, front in case a tree jumps in the way out of nowhere. Putting heavier diff oil doesn't seem too urgent, and I'm surprised with the servo and the servo mount, they're not as bad as I imagined.

 

[L0stB1t]

By the way I'm really impressed how well it handles. There's an insane amount of power but it feels like I have much more throttle control than with my DHK Zombie. And the Minokawa tires may not be the best but they allow the truck to slide in a pretty predictable way.

One thing that worries me was the motor temperature after the run. With my DHK Zombie the motor barely gets warm but the Kraton's motor was way too hot to touch, is that normal? I really need to get a temperature gun to know just how hot it gets...

 

[bicketybam]

So guess who bought a Kraton today? This guy!

It was pretty much unused. Tiny scratch on the bottom, tiny scratch on the body, nothing bent and zero signs of wear. I tried to lower the price to € 300 by putting on my puppy face mentioning the cost to upgrade to V3 but that didn't work. But hey, € 350 for a new V2 is a really great deal!

He said the truck was way too powerful for his liking, even on 4S. He let me try it on 4S and it's not bad, but not really faster than my DHK Zombie, so knowing this beast can do much better I made up my mind to get a 6S battery.

Put my 1:1 in gear to the LHS and got a gensacearespammers 3700 mAh 60C for a reasonable price (just don't tell my wife it didn't come with the truck ). After soldering some XT90's and charging it was ready for its first flight under my command. And fly it did! Some wheelies, roof landings and a cartwheel later I already caused more damage than it had before Lost one of the wing screws so that'll be nr 1 to find a solution for.

So which V2 to V3 upgrades do I think I should actually get now? In short term, none really; the bulkheads looks strong enough, front mud guard doesn't seem too important (rear got way dirtier than the front), the battery tray is fine for the current battery and the shocks seem ok.

First extras to buy will definitely be the T-Bone bumpers, in the rear to hopefully protect that wing better, front in case a tree jumps in the way out of nowhere. Putting heavier diff oil doesn't seem too urgent, and I'm surprised with the servo and the servo mount, they're not as bad as I imagined.

I don't know if it's a different ESC in the V2 but the minimum mAh is 5000 for the V3. Just an FYI.

 

[L0stB1t]

Oh I didn't know it should have that high of a capacity , I only remembered reading it has to be 35C at least.

The ESC is the same in the V2 and V3: BLX185, part AR390211. On the site (https://www.arrma-rc.com/part/AR390211) it reads 5000 mAh recommended and 35C minimum.

My guess is that the battery should be able to provide more than 150 amps, so they recommend 5 Ah x 35C which makes 175 A. My battery can deliver up to 222 A (3.7 Ah x 60C) so no problem there, right? I haven't timed my first run but I didn't have the feeling the battery was empty too fast, so I'm still happy with my purchase.

Anyway, I appreciate the heads up, and I'll get a higher capacity battery next time

 

[WeekendRCwarrior]

I’ve been running 4000mah 60c and they are great. Enough punch and runtime but in a light weight package. Got the tip from rich duperbash on YouTube who is the king of flying!!

 

[L0stB1t]

So last week the pinion lost a tooth Seems like the grub screw loosened and had some fun damaging the motor shaft?

This is the 14T pinion and I'm wondering if the previous owner installed it badly. The truck comes with a 12T pinion installed and a 14T pinion in the box, am I correct? I never got the 12T pinion by the way, didn't know so I didn't ask for it. On 6S I don't think it makes sense to go lower than a 14T pinion, only useful for 4S I guess.

Anyway, while waiting for my order of new 14T and 16T pinions I'm also taking the entire truck apart to clean and check everything. This led me to ordering a lot more stuff so I can put it together again with all the upgrades:

• T-Bone bumpers
• Mugen E0206 diff shims
• JX BLS-HV7032MG servo
• Fast Eddy bearings
• Hot Racing AON21N02 pivot ball nuts
• HobbyWing C4 heat sink + fan
• aluminium tube to create T2T brace

As you can see, I haven't ordered any Arrma V2 to V3 upgrade yet as I don't think they're that important now. So in the end I just want to say that if you can get a good deal on a V2 Kraton, don't worry about the difference with a V3 and just go for it!

 

[WeekendRCwarrior]

Agreed I’m also very pleased with my used v2 kraton. Btw I just picked up a used v3 too!!!

 

[L0stB1t]

To keep the inside of the truck cleaner (to avoid repeating this: https://www.arrmaforum.com/media/img_20190413_151002208-jpg.5829/ ) I wanted to get the front mud guards so I finally got some actual V2 to V3 upgrades.

I decided to get the "Arrma OUTCAST 6s BLX - Side Guards, Battery Receiver Tray, Roll Tower" set from Jennys RC on eBay because in addition to the front mud guards it also has the taller side guards, new battery tray, bigger receiver box and some other spare stuff that may come in handy sooner or later.

However, I didn't realize that the plastic part that goes on top of the steering plate to hold the front mud guards is not part of the set JRC actually leaves that part for their "steering bellcrank" sets. So that's a big disappointment for my primary reason to get this set. Secondly, the battery tray doesn't fit because 4 extra holes need to be drilled in the chassis. I've read about this before so I'm not that upset about it, but it requires extra work and I'll need to borrow some tools from a friend to drill clean straight holes. Next, seeing that the new receiver box can be attached to the old battery tray I wanted to install it but then noticed this battery tray now requires M2.5 screws for the lid, instead of M3 screws on the old box. Again, these items are not included in this set, I assume JRC puts them in their "screws & tools" set I did have some M2.5 screws lying around but they have countersink heads so that's not ideal.

Luckily, the tall side guards do fit nicely without any issues. I also like the new position for the ESC power switch.

So while the Jennys RC set seemed like a great cheap way to get many improvements, it's going to require some extra investments and work to get it all installed...