Talion Talion v3 Conversion to Kraton

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2loki4u

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Arrma RC's
  1. Talion
Hard to come up with a good title for this...

I'm looking to see if anyone has put together a list of parts to upgrade a talion to a kraton...

I'm not looking to do a full conversion but I am looking to see what parts are different and to try and create a cross between the talion & kraton... Mostly because I want a slightly higher ride height - but without totally losing the handling that I love so much in the talion (otherwise I'd just buy a kraton) ..

Thx in advance for any guidance or thoughts on this!
 
For starters to actually to do a full conversion you would need to buy a new chassis, wheel hex, hubs and towers. There is alot more though so i would think its better to just buy a kraton so at least you have two rcs.

I am also planning to increase the height of thw talion but i am not doing a full conversion. I will just buy the kraton front shock set and the front shock tower to increase the height. So far i think that is all you need to increase the height.
 
For starters to actually to do a full conversion you would need to buy a new chassis, wheel hex, hubs and towers. There is alot more though so i would think its better to just buy a kraton so at least you have two rcs.

I am also planning to increase the height of thw talion but i am not doing a full conversion. I will just buy the kraton front shock set and the front shock tower to increase the height. So far i think that is all you need to increase the height.


Hey I thought that the Talion, and Kraton shared the same Chassis. Am I wrong in thinking that?
 
Hey I thought that the Talion, and Kraton shared the same Chassis. Am I wrong in thinking that?

Far as I know - the talion and kraton do - but not the outcast, it's shorter I believe - i think the typhon is the same as well... Rich Duperbash did a "truggified typhon" which was sweet, he as a youtube vid on it... I was hoping to make a "mosterfied talion" - lol

Hey I thought that the Talion, and Kraton shared the same Chassis. Am I wrong in thinking that?

I know the wheel hubs are extended on the kraton - and the shock towers are different - it also has longer shocks (i think) - not sure if the arms are the same or not - but i did notice that the talion seems to have limited downward angle on the a-arms even with the rest of the suspension apart - not sure why or if it is the same on the kraton...

I'm currently running a set of badlands to help with the ride height but i want a little more...

First two are without the TBR bumpers and mud guards - the other two with them show the ground clearance better...
 

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Hey what kind of wheels are those? I want to grab a set of the 3.8 Badlands, But im having a hard time finding wheels that look good. Currently waiting on a back order of a set of these as well, But those wheels you got look great!

https://www.sweepracingusa.com/Mons...tire-preglued-on-RED-wheel-2pc-set_p_646.html

Thanks! - So, I can't really take credit for the RIM and Tire setup - I too fell in love with them and bought them off a friend...
They are PL Badlands 3.8" mounted on chrome stripped and then black RIT dyed Geode Rims - final touches were then detailed by hand with a white sharpie oil paint pen...

Traxxas part #: 5671 - here's a pic of the rims stock:
geode 3.8in rims.jpg

Biggest issue is that Proline stopped selling / producing all of their 3.8 tires unmounted - so you're stuck buying their dull rims and then cutting the glue beads (hopefully not destroying the tires) and then mounting them on some proper wheels - really annoying - this is what I did for my ERBE rims - I wanted shockwaves and hated the F-11 rims so I customized them instead of hacking the tires -

Here's what my Shockwave F-11's look like now - imo (yes I am biased ;-) ) i think they came out dope looking...

20180521_112708.jpg

here's a shot next to my talion

20180521_112846.jpg

the original F-11's looked so drab when I got them - BORING :

20180521_113304.jpg

Here's a close up of the Badlands mounted on the customized Geode Rims:
20180611_132928.jpg
(they're looking a tad rough from bashing this past weekend)

Really, i just hate the hack job required to pull the badlands off the desperado rims - leaves them with an unclean bead when you re-glue them...
 
Way cool man! Your buddy put the time in to dress them up looks awesome!! Thanks for the info!
 
Saw a side by side of the two of them as well. They are different for sure. My bad!
 
I believe you are correct. When I saw the V3 chassis next to the Kraton, it was clear. Thanks for pointing that out!
 
Hard to come up with a good title for this...

I'm looking to see if anyone has put together a list of parts to upgrade a talion to a kraton...

I'm not looking to do a full conversion but I am looking to see what parts are different and to try and create a cross between the talion & kraton... Mostly because I want a slightly higher ride height - but without totally losing the handling that I love so much in the talion (otherwise I'd just buy a kraton) ..

Thx in advance for any guidance or thoughts on this!
1st off, your friend did a real nice job on the Geode wheels (look great).

The V1/V2 Talion & Kraton are almost the same, except mainly the body & tires/rims were different. However, the new "Low Profile" (LP) V3 Talion has had a lot of changes and is now marketed as a speed truggy. Besides the new LP V3 body and the tire/rims still being different, the chassis is now different for better weight distribution, being optimized through tweaks to the positioning of the electronics, including rotating the servo (which is a much better design, as it helps stop servo from flexing in mount). The chassis braces, shorter shock towers and shorter shocks are also now different, due to the new V3 LP design. The rear wing & wing mount, rear hubs & axles are also different (all dogbones are the same though, & the center driveshafts have just been rotated). Other differences are, the Kraton has a rollcage (which will not fit under the V3 Talion body) & front dirt guards (which should fit the V3 Talion). Although it does not sound like much is left, I believe everything else is the same on the V3 Talion & Kraton, including the suspension arms. By the way, wheel hexes are the "same" also.

The new V3 Talion has a better chassis, so I would not change that. I believe all the Kraton parts (longer shock towers/shocks) would transfer to the Talion chassis, and you could still use your Talion chassis braces, but the Kraton's taller shock towers & longer shocks unfortunately would not fit under that "cool" looking LP Talion body. I agree with Arrma Racing, I would not convert your Talion to a Kraton, as just too many differences & too costly to do, and really won't work, especially if you still want to use the Talion body.

The one problem with the design of the new LP V3 Talion, is the shorter suspension travel. However, this Low Profile design and aerodynamics body allows the Talion to hit the higher speeds with much more confidence, and just looks so good. If your main goal is really just to have more ground clearance/ride height, I would just get taller tires like the BACKFLIPS (6.8" tall compared to 5.75" tall for stock Katar tires). These tires really hook up & have the same cool moto-X tread as Pro-Line Badlands, but much taller & bit stiffer for less ballooning.
https://www.amainhobbies.com/arrma-dboots-backflip-mt-6s-premounted-tires-black-2-ara510092/p635439

However, if you do run bigger tires, you should upgrade to the beefier Kraton hubs/& extended axles:
1) Kraton CVD Axle (front): https://www.arrma-rc.com/part/AR310590
2) Kraton rear axle: https://www.arrma-rc.com/part/AR310591
3) Kraton steering block: https://www.arrma-rc.com/part/AR330505
4) Kraton rear hubs: https://www.arrma-rc.com/part/AR330404

I like that the V3 Talion can go from speed runs on the street to offroad truggy bashing, as not many RC's can do that. However, the V3 Talion can never be quite as good basher as the Kraton, as the Kraton is a beast and really a "Monster Truggy" on steroids. It is probably the best basher available, period. I could not choose between the V3 Talion & 2108 Kraton, so I ended getting both. This would be your best choice, if you can do it...

I'm a big fan of the Badlands tread design. They are the perfect size for the Talion (5.85" tall/2.72" wide), but not big enough for the Kraton. Arrma Racing, I'm not sure what you mean, as Pro-Line Racing does sell their 3.8 BADLANDS unmounted. I bought them unmounted & will be putting on "superlight" DE Racing Speedline Plus wheels.
https://www.amainhobbies.com/prolin...-truck-tires-2-m2-pro1178-00/p387158?v=205632
https://www.amainhobbies.com/de-racing-speedline-plus-1-8-truggy-wheel-4-black-der-pt4-8b/p705686

For premounted Badlands, besides the F11 wheels, the Desperado wheels look much better:
https://www.amainhobbies.com/prolin...-wheel-2-black-m2-pro1178-11/p387123?v=217639
 
Last edited:
Rc rod i can only imagine your rc must be well dialled in cause your response are well dialled in lol.

The only thing with the above post you mistaken me for the other person about buying the badlands unmounted.

Did you find out about the chassis yet from PSM?
 
Rc rod i can only imagine your rc must be well dialled in cause your response are well dialled in lol.

The only thing with the above post you mistaken me for the other person about buying the badlands unmounted.

Did you find out about the chassis yet from PSM?
Rc rod i can only imagine your rc must be well dialled in cause your response are well dialled in lol.

The only thing with the above post you mistaken me for the other person about buying the badlands unmounted.

Did you find out about the chassis yet from PSM?
I've always been very detailed and just don't like any grey areas (unknown), and I can really 2nd guess myself, so I always do a lot of research, which helps solve most of these personality problems I have LOL. Also, since I could not choose & bought both the Talion & Kraton, I was very interested in all the differences & also what parts are interchangeable (which helped me decide what spare parts to also get). This is probably why I sound like I am way more dialed in, than I really am...ha, ha LOL

Sorry, yes the comment about unmounted Badlands being available was in reply to 2loki4u

Note: Yes, the Kraton front shock tower & shock towers should fit on the Talion, but will not fit under that very cool looking LP Talion body. Also, not sure, but, if you lengthen the front suspension & not the rear, this may upset the how the suspension works front to rear?

PS, I sent a message to PSM last weekend, and nothing back yet. Stefan at PSM sounded very interested & it looked like some upgrade Arrma parts were close to being in the works, but now it has been over 2 months since I last heard from him. I hope everything is ok & nothing has happened to Stefan or his company, PSM? I will advise everyone, once I know something further...
 
I've always been very detailed and just don't like any grey areas (unknown), and I can really 2nd guess myself, so I always do a lot of research, which helps solve most of these personality problems I have LOL. Also, since I could not choose & bought both the Talion & Kraton, I was very interested in all the differences & also what parts are interchangeable (which helped me decide what spare parts to also get). This is probably why I sound like I am way more dialed in, than I really am...ha, ha LOL

Sorry, yes the comment about unmounted Badlands being available was in reply to 2loki4u

Note: Yes, the Kraton front shock tower & shock towers should fit on the Talion, but will not fit under that very cool looking LP Talion body. Also, not sure, but, if you lengthen the front suspension & not the rear, this may upset the how the suspension works front to rear?

PS, I sent a message to PSM last weekend, and nothing back yet. Stefan at PSM sounded very interested & it looked like some upgrade Arrma parts were close to being in the works, but now it has been over 2 months since I last heard from him. I hope everything is ok & nothing has happened to Stefan or his company, PSM? I will advise everyone, once I know something further...

Yes i only just realised the rear was actually short when i was changing the weight of the schocks so now i am regretting i didnt buy the kraton cf rear shock tower. However i will use the kraton rear shock tower for now or leave as is for now until i do purchase the kraton shock tower. I am in no rush to upgrade my talion as i am waiting for jennyrc to re stock the shock set.

Yes let me know how psm goes i really want to my my rc light af lol
 
I'm a big fan of the Badlands tread design. They are the perfect size for the Talion (5.85" tall/2.72" wide), but not big enough for the Kraton. Arrma Racing, I'm not sure what you mean, as Pro-Line Racing does sell their 3.8 BADLANDS unmounted. I bought them unmounted & will be putting on "superlight" DE Racing Speedline Plus wheels.
https://www.amainhobbies.com/prolin...-truck-tires-2-m2-pro1178-00/p387158?v=205632
https://www.amainhobbies.com/de-racing-speedline-plus-1-8-truggy-wheel-4-black-der-pt4-8b/p705686

For premounted Badlands, besides the F11 wheels, the Desperado wheels look much better:
https://www.amainhobbies.com/prolin...-wheel-2-black-m2-pro1178-11/p387123?v=217639[/QUOTE]

Too bad Pro-Line stopped selling most of their tires unmounted. (although it does take time to glue them)
A good tire for the Kraton would be the Shockwave, which is not that much larger in diameter but is a beefier tire.
I managed to get a hold of some loose ones and mounted them on Desperado's, which i think is a much nicer wheel than the Geode, especially qualitywise.

17.jpg

18.jpg


A picture of one of my Geode setups for my E-Revo, the chrome was removed with a sodablaster, no dye needed.

20.jpg


Another nice tire/wheel combo for the Kraton would be Traxxas 8672 that comes on the E-Revo V2, although you would have to hack away the ribs inside on the 17mm hex, good price though. Too beefy for the Talion :) !?
 
Last edited:
I'm a big fan of the Badlands tread design. They are the perfect size for the Talion (5.85" tall/2.72" wide), but not big enough for the Kraton. Arrma Racing, I'm not sure what you mean, as Pro-Line Racing does sell their 3.8 BADLANDS unmounted. I bought them unmounted & will be putting on "superlight" DE Racing Speedline Plus wheels.
https://www.amainhobbies.com/prolin...-truck-tires-2-m2-pro1178-00/p387158?v=205632
https://www.amainhobbies.com/de-racing-speedline-plus-1-8-truggy-wheel-4-black-der-pt4-8b/p705686

For premounted Badlands, besides the F11 wheels, the Desperado wheels look much better:
https://www.amainhobbies.com/prolin...-wheel-2-black-m2-pro1178-11/p387123?v=217639

Too bad Pro-Line stopped selling most of their tires unmounted. (although it does take time to glue them)
A good tire for the Kraton would be the Shockwave, which is not that much larger in diameter but is a beefier tire.
I managed to get a hold of some loose ones and mounted them on Desperado's, which i think is a much nicer wheel than the Geode, especially qualitywise.

View attachment 19500
View attachment 19501

A picture of one of my Geode setups for my E-Revo, the chrome was removed with a sodablaster, no dye needed.

View attachment 19502

Another nice tire/wheel combo for the Kraton would be Traxxas 8672 that comes on the E-Revo V2, although you would have to hack away the ribs inside on the 17mm hex, good price though. Too beefy for the Talion :) !?[/QUOTE]

@RCROD look at what you started, now everyone saying that i said badlands no longer comes unmounted lol
 
Too bad Pro-Line stopped selling most of their tires unmounted. (although it does take time to glue them)
A good tire for the Kraton would be the Shockwave, which is not that much larger in diameter but is a beefier tire.
I managed to get a hold of some loose ones and mounted them on Desperado's, which i think is a much nicer wheel than the Geode, especially qualitywise.

View attachment 19500
View attachment 19501

A picture of one of my Geode setups for my E-Revo, the chrome was removed with a sodablaster, no dye needed.

View attachment 19502

Another nice tire/wheel combo for the Kraton would be Traxxas 8672 that comes on the E-Revo V2, although you would have to hack away the ribs inside on the 17mm hex, good price though. Too beefy for the Talion :) !?

@RCROD look at what you started, now everyone saying that i said badlands no longer comes unmounted lol[/QUOTE]

:) Well my post does not really say that, this was much earlier in the conversation and RCROD did clarify that they sell the Badlands unmounted, my post says they stopped selling most of their tires unmounted, and that would of course be the 1:8 Monster Truck Traxxas Style Bead, which the subject is kinda about.
I guess Pro-Line decided to do this because of of warranty claims, people bought i.e trenchers and did'nt use the correct wheel or glue and then blamed Pro-Line for a bad quality tire ??? The premounted Pro-Line's that I have bought have been holding up extremely well but it is always nice to have a choice, i would like them to sell all the 1:8 unmounted, both tires and wheels, i.e they stopped selling the Desperado wheel, which I think is a really nice looking and quality wheel/rim.
https://www.prolineracing.com/1-8-monster-truck-tires/
https://www.prolineracing.com/1-8-monster-truck-wheels/
 
1st off, your friend did a real nice job on the Geode wheels (look great).

The V1/V2 Talion & Kraton are almost the same, except mainly the body & tires/rims were different. However, the new "Low Profile" (LP) V3 Talion has had a lot of changes and is now marketed as a speed truggy. Besides the new LP V3 body and the tire/rims still being different, the chassis is now different for better weight distribution, being optimized through tweaks to the positioning of the electronics, including rotating the servo (which is a much better design, as it helps stop servo from flexing in mount). The chassis braces, shorter shock towers and shorter shocks are also now different, due to the new V3 LP design. The rear wing & wing mount, rear hubs & axles are also different (all dogbones are the same though, & the center driveshafts have just been rotated). Other differences are, the Kraton has a rollcage (which will not fit under the V3 Talion body) & front dirt guards (which should fit the V3 Talion). Although it does not sound like much is left, I believe everything else is the same on the V3 Talion & Kraton, including the suspension arms. By the way, wheel hexes are the "same" also.

The new V3 Talion has a better chassis, so I would not change that. I believe all the Kraton parts (longer shock towers/shocks) would transfer to the Talion chassis, and you could still use your Talion chassis braces, but the Kraton's taller shock towers & longer shocks unfortunately would not fit under that "cool" looking LP Talion body. I agree with Arrma Racing, I would not convert your Talion to a Kraton, as just too many differences & too costly to do, and really won't work, especially if you still want to use the Talion body.

The one problem with the design of the new LP V3 Talion, is the shorter suspension travel. However, this Low Profile design and aerodynamics body allows the Talion to hit the higher speeds with much more confidence, and just looks so good. If your main goal is really just to have more ground clearance/ride height, I would just get taller tires like the BACKFLIPS (6.8" tall compared to 5.75" tall for stock Katar tires). These tires really hook up & have the same cool moto-X tread as Pro-Line Badlands, but much taller & bit stiffer for less ballooning.
https://www.amainhobbies.com/arrma-dboots-backflip-mt-6s-premounted-tires-black-2-ara510092/p635439

However, if you do run bigger tires, you should upgrade to the beefier Kraton hubs/& extended axles:
1) Kraton CVD Axle (front): https://www.arrma-rc.com/part/AR310590
2) Kraton rear axle: https://www.arrma-rc.com/part/AR310591
3) Kraton steering block: https://www.arrma-rc.com/part/AR330505
4) Kraton rear hubs: https://www.arrma-rc.com/part/AR330404

I like that the V3 Talion can go from speed runs on the street to offroad truggy bashing, as not many RC's can do that. However, the V3 Talion can never be quite as good basher as the Kraton, as the Kraton is a beast and really a "Monster Truggy" on steroids. It is probably the best basher available, period. I could not choose between the V3 Talion & 2108 Kraton, so I ended getting both. This would be your best choice, if you can do it...

I'm a big fan of the Badlands tread design. They are the perfect size for the Talion (5.85" tall/2.72" wide), but not big enough for the Kraton. Arrma Racing, I'm not sure what you mean, as Pro-Line Racing does sell their 3.8 BADLANDS unmounted. I bought them unmounted & will be putting on "superlight" DE Racing Speedline Plus wheels.
https://www.amainhobbies.com/prolin...-truck-tires-2-m2-pro1178-00/p387158?v=205632
https://www.amainhobbies.com/de-racing-speedline-plus-1-8-truggy-wheel-4-black-der-pt4-8b/p705686

For premounted Badlands, besides the F11 wheels, the Desperado wheels look much better:
https://www.amainhobbies.com/prolin...-wheel-2-black-m2-pro1178-11/p387123?v=217639


Thanks for taking the time to write such a thorough response - I appreciate it...

To everyone else - soooo sorry, to have begun a war over ProLine no longer selling 3.8" tires unmounted - I didn't know they began selling (or maybe got back in stock) the 3.8 badlands unmounted - as well as the SlingShots (which i hadn't paid any attention to) - When I spoke to PL back 4-5mo ago, they told me they made a decision to stop selling the 3.8" unmounted tires - perhaps this was in response to my inquires about the shockwave or the masher or the trencher and the badlands just were assumed - either way - it's still a big loss - i hate ballooning tires under 6s power - the fact they still haven't come up with a method of reducing the ballooning is frustrating - needing to cut the damn things off just to strap them with gorilla tape or fishing line is ridiculous - watching them turn in to pizza cutters and risking them shredding is negligent given all the big boy toys are 6s - 8s now (hell, even my 3s 1/10 scale MT did this to all the PLs I tried - had to go to Horizon Hobbies for my tires to limit it)

Thx
 
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