Kraton v2 K8S: Aftermarket frame worth the extra cash?

[Order66]

I have a couple of hobbies, and whenever trying to decide about a purchase, I’m reminded of the adage that when you cough up the extra cash for a premium product, you only feel the pain once. Take the cheaper path, and (depending on your knowledge, product line, manufacturer) you’re likely to feel the pain of purchase again. And again.

Like with my v2 K8S frame. I’m about to feel the pain for a third time. I’ve made a lot of cattywampus landings, but two of them have bent stock frames. (Ok, to be fair, the first was a collision). First time, I replaced stock. Do I really cough up the bucks for a (insert brand) aftermarket frame? What are the considerations? I remember reading someplace that they can be of varying gauge and might need different screws to mount to the bulkheads and other deck components.

On the plus side, these dirt cheapo tires off of Amazon absolutely slay on my (trimmed) 8S modified Mojave! Gratuitous pic for clickbait. Check em out if you roll that truck, it’s still my favorite RC and it just got even more favorited:

Rodalind 4Pcs 150mm Wheel Rim and Tires for 1/8 Monster Truck Racing RC Car Accessories https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07YW8R668/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glc_fabc_z2n8FbK44KN94?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1


Happy New Year to you all!

Dan

 

[Order66]

Ye Gods. $275 shipped? Ouch. I’m guessing there aren’t others.

 

[TooManyHobbies]

I have a couple of hobbies, and whenever trying to decide about a purchase, I’m reminded of the adage that when you cough up the extra cash for a premium product, you only feel the pain once. Take the cheaper path, and (depending on your knowledge, product line, manufacturer) you’re likely to feel the pain of purchase again. And again.

Like with my v2 K8S frame. I’m about to feel the pain for a third time. I’ve made a lot of cattywampus landings, but two of them have bent stock frames. (Ok, to be fair, the first was a collision). First time, I replaced stock. Do I really cough up the bucks for a (insert brand) aftermarket frame? What are the considerations? I remember reading someplace that they can be of varying gauge and might need different screws to mount to the bulkheads and other deck components.

On the plus side, these dirt cheapo tires off of Amazon absolutely slay on my (trimmed) 8S modified Mojave! Gratuitous pic for clickbait. Check em out if you roll that truck, it’s still my favorite RC and it just got even more favorited:

Rodalind 4Pcs 150mm Wheel Rim and Tires for 1/8 Monster Truck Racing RC Car Accessories https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07YW8R668/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glc_fabc_z2n8FbK44KN94?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1


Happy New Year to you all!

Dan

View attachment 117391

M2C is probably the way to go. Not cheap, but wayyyy better than stock. You won't need any longer screws, plus the chassis comes with stiffening bars for the center. I'm yet to have any tweak with all kinds of jumping, bad landings included.
https://m2cracing.net/arrma-kraton-8s/448-3200-arrma-kraton-8s-chassis-kit.html

 

[Order66]

M2C is probably the way to go. Not cheap, but wayyyy better than stock. You won't need any longer screws, plus the chassis comes with stiffening bars for the center. I'm yet to have any tweak with all kinds of jumping, bad landings included.
https://m2cracing.net/arrma-kraton-8s/448-3200-arrma-kraton-8s-chassis-kit.html

Thank you! How is M2C regarded vs the Bulletproof one I screen capped above? Is the one I showed an example of a chassis that will need different mounting screws?

 

[TooManyHobbies]

Thank you! How is M2C regarded vs the Bulletproof one I screen capped above? Is the one I showed an example of a chassis that will need different mounting screws?

Never seen the one you listed before, but it looks like it weighs a lot. It would possibly need longer bolts. The M2C chassis has no real unnecessary weight to it, but is plenty strong

 

[Order66]

Never seen the one you listed before, but it looks like it weighs a lot. It would possibly need longer bolts. The M2C chassis has no real unnecessary weight to it, but is plenty strong

The Bulletproof one I found weighs 1368g, looks like M2C weighs 1180. Stock is 850g. I do like the modular/adjustable tension aspect of the M2C.

Thanks again for clueing me in; are there any other vendors to consider? I’ll point out that M2C doesn’t show up in EBay or Google searches, so I wonder what else is out there in the specialized knowledge pool that I don’t see by only knowing a handful of suppliers!

 

[GRIFFINJ]

M2C is the way to go. Order direct and they have great customer support.

 

[TooManyHobbies]

The Bulletproof one I found weighs 1368g, looks like M2C weighs 1180. Stock is 850g. I do like the modular/adjustable tension aspect of the M2C.

Thanks again for clueing me in; are there any other vendors to consider? I’ll point out that M2C doesn’t show up in EBay or Google searches, so I wonder what else is out there in the specialized knowledge pool that I don’t see by only knowing a handful of suppliers!

Looking through these forums is a great way to find new brands. Plenty of good stuff out there, but not many of them put real videos of people actually pushing their stuff like M2C does. If you break a stock part on your cars, it's not the worst idea to check if M2C makes an upgrade as they are very high quality components. I have their chassis, motor mount, shock shafts, steering assembly, and shock piston kit on my K8S and have had zero issues with install or failure

 

[Order66]

M2C it is! I also picked up their steering/bellcrank kit. I hope I can figure it out ??

 

[TooManyHobbies]

M2C it is! I also picked up their steering/bellcrank kit. I hope I can figure it out ??

Not tough at all. Remove the 3 bolt that hold the steering top plate(Thing that sits lower behind body posts) and it pops off and reveals everything. Make sure you reuse the tiny washers that sit on top of the stock steering arms.

Doing the chassis is easy as everything is super modular. Just do the front, center, then rear one by one and it's surprisingly easy

 

[DanielW]

M2C chassis is 4mm thick. Bulletproof chassis is 6.35mm.

I have just ordered Justbashit chassis. 9mm total thickness but has floor been machined down to 4.5mm and weighs the same as M2C (1190 grams).

https://justbashitrc.com/shop/pre-order-only-kraton-8s-jbirc-7075-t651-aircraft-grade-aluminum/

 

[TooManyHobbies]

M2C chassis is 4mm thick. Bulletproof chassis is 6.35mm.

I have just ordered Justbashit chassis. 9mm total thickness but has floor been machined down to 4.5mm and weighs the same as M2C (1190 grams).

https://justbashitrc.com/shop/pre-order-only-kraton-8s-jbirc-7075-t651-aircraft-grade-aluminum/

You can make the M2C thicker/stiffer with 7075 strips that allow you to choose chassis stiffness. I just like the ability to tune the chassis, but JBI is definitely makes good stuff as well

 

[Order66]

Not tough at all. Remove the 3 bolt that hold the steering top plate(Thing that sits lower behind body posts) and it pops off and reveals everything. Make sure you reuse the tiny washers that sit on top of the stock steering arms.

Doing the chassis is easy as everything is super modular. Just do the front, center, then rear one by one and it's surprisingly easy

I know, but the less easy/fun part is going to be replacing the front differential case

Not tough at all. Remove the 3 bolt that hold the steering top plate(Thing that sits lower behind body posts) and it pops off and reveals everything. Make sure you reuse the tiny washers that sit on top of the stock steering arms.

Doing the chassis is easy as everything is super modular. Just do the front, center, then rear one by one and it's surprisingly easy

Thanks for the tip about the tiny washers; the little bearings in there look a little tricky too, but I’ll be interested to see if this brings some more stiffness and response to the steering. Upgrading to a full sized servo was an early mod, and unfortunately, I’m getting pretty good at swapping chassis.

..which brings me back to my Q: at 2-2.5X the cost of stock, do these aftermarket units actually hold up better? I was waaaaay impressed with the Duperbash video accompaniment and he definitely stuffed a few of the landings in ways that have bent my frames in the past, but I’ve always gone the way of stock replacement for the deck.

..and as for the adjustability and stiffening bars that you bolt onto the M2C, (I just bought the full kit) what are scenarios where you’d use or not use a particular combination of the bars? I think that my inclination is going to be maximum beef, but curious about when or why you’d want flex in the body. Is it about shaving weight between bashing and speed run applications?

I’m also a little excited for this rebuild after reading @KevinC ’s data when he weighed the various wheel and tire combos in common use on K8S. I have been running Hatchet X belted monster truck wheels on it since day 1 and made all mods to motor and gearing to drive the heaviest of them all. I’m about to switch to the stock copperheads for the first time. I’ll be trading some of that weight back in the added 300g on the chassis, but the loss of spinning weight is gonna be massive and I think it’s going to seriously fly!

 

[TooManyHobbies]

I know, but the less easy/fun part is going to be replacing the front differential case

Thanks for the tip about the tiny washers; the little bearings in there look a little tricky too, but I’ll be interested to see if this brings some more stiffness and response to the steering. Upgrading to a full sized servo was an early mod, and unfortunately, I’m getting pretty good at swapping chassis.

..which brings me back to my Q: at 2-2.5X the cost of stock, do these aftermarket units actually hold up better? I was waaaaay impressed with the Duperbash video accompaniment and he definitely stuffed a few of the landings in ways that have bent my frames in the past, but I’ve always gone the way of stock replacement for the deck.

..and as for the adjustability and stiffening bars that you bolt onto the M2C, (I just bought the full kit) what are scenarios where you’d use or not use a particular combination of the bars? I think that my inclination is going to be maximum beef, but curious about when or why you’d want flex in the body. Is it about shaving weight between bashing and speed run applications?

I’m also a little excited for this rebuild after reading @KevinC ’s data when he weighed the various wheel and tire combos in common use on K8S. I have been running Hatchet X belted monster truck wheels on it since day 1 and made all mods to motor and gearing to drive the heaviest of them all. I’m about to switch to the stock copperheads for the first time. I’ll be trading some of that weight back in the added 300g on the chassis, but the loss of spinning weight is gonna be massive and I think it’s going to seriously fly!

I think if the chassis flexes a little on landing, it reduces the stress on all the other components on the truck as it has a little give, but not enough to stay bent. I personally used the thicker stuff included in the kit as well. As often as the stock chassis bends, they're well worth it just for the peace of mind

I'm also gonna be doing my front diff case lol. This will be my second time doing it. Definitely not the easiest thing to do, but not hard either. Just time consuming

 

[Primarrma]

M2C shock parts upgrades are definitely worth it too, they perform so much better with the high grade pistons. I've got shock shafts, caster blocks, esc adapter, motor mount, servo saver spool, motor mount chassis brace block, and I'm sure something else I've forgotten about. All super high grade stuff.

 

[Order66]

Sweet action. Funny how it can be hard to notice your bent chassis, even the second time, unless you look at it just right. Otherwise you’re looking over the thing and nothing is broken or dislodged, but it’s driving like there is a rope pulling it off to the side

Idk if this counts as a build log, but I’ll update as I go. Started with the easy part in rear. M2C chassis. Man, this thing is BEEFED. @WoodiE does this count as a build log? It’s the third frame-up rebuild for me, but I’ll chronicle it in this thread

What do you guys think of my inversion of the stock frame brace to (even) further beef the rear end? I kinda like it. The massive support beam on the M2C chassis prevents install of the brace in the upright position, but you can pin up the four corner posts with it upside down

 

[KevinC]

Some of us here have done that. (Inverted the brace). I eventually removed mine, I wasn’t convinced of the merits of having it installed. But hey......maybe it’s a positive.....who knows?

cheers,
kev

 

[Order66]

Finally had a minute to put the rest together!