Axial Wraith Part Together....Build Thread

Brake Weight

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I've always wanted an Axial Wraith Spawn. The Jeep kind looks OK, but the SUV version gets it for me. So I finally started looking at used ones that costs too much. Being the tight wad I am I frequent the For Sale sections of various RC forums and came up with the necessary bits and pieces.

On hand
-AR60 Wraith axles with unis
-Hot Racing aluminum Wraith links
-various brushed motors and brushed ESCs
-several sets of 2.2 wheels and tires
-Wildboar driveshafts

Ordered used
-Axial AE-3 sensorless ESC
-Spawn body
-Deadbolt wheels/tires
-Bomber and Wraith shocks

Ordered new
-Wraith cage and tranny.
They come across the For Sale threads so rarely that I just bought new. I didn't want to, but I did. Then the day it shipped a used roller got posted up for a little bit more than the cage and tranny....oh well.

I haven't decided on the tires yet. But I've got a set of Bomber BFGs, Yeti 380 BFGs, HPI Rockgrabbers, Deadbolt Treps, and some 2.2 Mudslingers. Ive got a spare 2200kV 3650 brushless can and can pull the 3125kV long can from my Yeti380 to mate with the AE-3. Also have a spare AE-5 for brushed to match with either a 20t, 21t, 27t, or 35t. Also a Titan 12t 550 can. But the longer cans are reported more difficult to mount in the Wraith due to the raised link mounts on the skid.

The body is beat up some and that's fine. It'll see some more abuse in due time.

Rx and Tx will be an extra receiver added to my Radiolink RC4G transmitter. I'm liking on this thing vs. all the other stock combos I've been using.

Pics and more in a day.
 
The cage came in a bag of parts trees and not assembled. So I spent about an hour putting it together. Then stripped the axles, shocks, and driveshafts off of a failed project to reuse on this. Installed a cheap Chinese 2100kV sensorless motor and the AE-3 Vanguard ESC. Calibrated and set up the ESC the long way using the Tx and listening to beeps.

2100kV, 13/56 gearing, AE-3 ESC, and a 2s trial run looks promising. The shocks I used were HPI Wheelie Kings and are fairly stiff. But they were within reach at the time and slightly shorter than the Wraith shocks buried in a box somewhere.

Excuse the shop vac hose. I'll get better pics tomorrow.

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I'm liking it already. I need to swap shocks and maybe run it on 2s instead of 3s for better crawling. This low kV motor seems to do better than when I had it in a Honcho. But I'm thinking the cheap ESC when in the Honcho was the problem. This AE-3 is semi easily tunable. I've got the drag brake set high enough it'll do a stoppie when going fast.
 
I swapped in factory Wraith shocks with 2.07 lbs/in springs and swapped to the Rock Grabber tires. On 2s power it did outstanding.

For my Bomber I put on factory Bomber shocks and springs instead of a shorter stiffer setup and 2.2 Trepadors. It did outstanding also.

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I ordered some proper body panels and made some molds out of plaster of paris. Today made a redneck vacuum mold thing out of a piece of plywood, a bucket, and my shop vac. Used a piece of acrylic faceshield and the plaster mold to make a new hood and roof. I had this brainstorm/epiphany yesterday to be able to make multiple bodies of different colors.

Heat the sheet of plastic while applying heat and voila.
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Finished hood and roof.
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The camo looked good from 5-10', but weren't practical. They are flimsy, tear easy, and scratch easy, too. These new ones are very tough. Too tough really. I haven't decided on a paint color yet....
 
One of the acrylic panels I made shattered.
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After taking a tumble from the top of this pile.
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I'll rock the green body until I can get myself some thin sheet lexan to make another set of panels. The acrylic face shields I used can take some abuse as they are, but the heating/cooling 'tempered' them and made them brittle.
 
Long time and no update.

I gave up for the time being on forming up icy panels and decided to rock the green body. It takes the brunt of any tumbles and is already beat up.

I scored a second chassis from a sale section elsewhere and a set of axles. Somehow scored some uni axles from fleaBay for a steal and ditched the dogbones up front. This one is the Spyder one with a full two seat interior. For power I'm using a Hobbywing 1080 to push a geared down Traxxas 550 can 12t. I like this combo. I didn't like the color so I wrapped it with a matte black vinyl. It came out OK for a first attempt. But I wanted more. So I ordered some flat olive drab and the tag team Bushwackers. My third favorite tag team and the only one that has clothes on and not banana hammocks. They haven't made it yet. I've named the new one #2 and the first is....#1.

2.2 Ripsaws on the 1" wide CI wheels. Also using 93mm Yeti front shocks all around, too. Not in the pics but currently on it. Now when I get the time it'll get wrapped in olive drab and have a driver with copilot in camo pants.
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Little update. #1 got a 3670 2650kV motor and an Axial AE-3 ESC. It's more of a basher now and sticking with the green Spawn body to beat on.

#2 got the HobbyWing 1080 brushed crawler and a Traxxas 550 motor. Excellent combo but requires some throttle control. It's got the wheel speed and the slow crawling ability. Fantastic, IMO. It also got a matte black vinyl wrap and a driver with copilot of the infamous tag team, 'The Bushwackers'.

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For this one it has received a original body panels I painted camo. They don't look as good as I had hoped for though. The brushless motor is getting replaced with a 550 can I found on Banggood and HobbyWing 1080. So both the Wraiths will be brushed. I just find it too smooth to not do for the price point vs a real sensorless setup for quadruple the money. I'm acquiring too many to maintain and mod lately so I need to either box some or sell them. But I can't sell them because it would hurt me emotionally. LOL.
 
It's funny, I'm thrashing to set the Wraith up for a bounty hill climb this weekend. I'm just going with the old Axial 20t motor that came with it. Side note; not sure how I ended up with three of those motors :confused:. Feel your pain about the little trucks, get kind of attached to them.
 
For about $60 get a HobbyWing 1080 ESC and a Traxxas 21t 550 can. You won’t regret it. More power, TQ, and speed as well many programmable options with the ESC. Up the servo voltage as well. Can’t go wrong if you stay brushed.
 

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