m4inbrains Kraton EXB

[m4inbrain]

Hey everyone, decided i'll give that build thread thing a proper go for once. Tried it before, didn't work so great because i forgot to take pictures of pretty much everything. 

 

So, foreword. How did i end up deciding on a Kraton EXB? Well, that's somewhat simple. I've got a few large scale RCs (recently traded my DBXL-E away for a Felony plus some other stuff, X-Maxx etc), a few crawlers. 

I do feel a "1/8th itch", something that i can send without worrying too much in regards to how expensive the landings are going to be. I do have a 1/8th, my Corally Dementor, but since that bent pretty severely on a soft and easy run (on 4s), i've got zero confidence in that RC. And yes, i'm still sour about that. 

 

Anyway, another 1/8th. The choices were somewhat limited - had to be a truggy, and had to be a roller because i wanted to give something different a try. All my RCs run Hobbywing/Spektrum electronics (either ESC, Motor or both), and i wanted to give something else a shot. There really isn't much choice out there for "basher-truggy-rollers". There are a few, but of those few, the Kraton is for me the winner. Looks good, seems solid, 7075 aluminium. I understand that it's still just 3mm, but i'm no Duperbash, so for what i have in mind, it'll do plenty. In fact, a normal Kraton v5 would've probably done too, but that would've just been another Spektrum setup in the house, and as mentioned, i wanted to widen my horizon, if that makes sense. 

 

I very much like the EXB, but that doesn't mean i don't recognise the flaws. Hence why i waited until now (or in fact, until the 12th ish) to buy one - the second batch does not have the problematic rear diff anymore, which to me was the one issue that prevented me from buying it. Or rather, it's the same diff, but not open anymore - rather, it ships now with a single set of LSD plates in it, making everything fit properly (where as the open diff broke for many people because those LSD plates where intentionally missing - but not shimmed properly to take the resulting slop out).

 

Queue the much praised, but incredibly elusive (in the UK) Castle Mamba Monster X 8s, paired with a Castle 1717-1650 motor and a Power HD S35 servo. 

 

 

The motor and ESC came courtesy of Amain, got quite lucky with it, i paid around £285 for the setup, expecting roughly £105 in taxes/duty - but for some reason (i think it had to do with the routing - it came through the netherlands) it slipped through, saving me quite a bit of money. Which of course i invested straight back into new stuff, more on that later. 

 

Now, you might be wondering, well where the honk is the EXB then? Easy. It's probably somewhere on the Atlantic still. But i am incredibly excited, and today i did do a tiny bit of work "for" it, so decided to start the thread already. 

 

The truck is supposed to be somewhat of a functional centre piece, if that makes sense. Decent quality stuff, properly assembled - and cable sleeved. Never done it, turns out i really suck at it, but i did it anyway today. Made an incredible mess in the process, too. But: that's what it looks like. From this:

 

 

To in the end, this:

 

 

Apologies for the focus - it's dark, and my phone camera is struggling. While doing this, i also created a lot of this stuff.

 

 

Not sure what the actual term for it is, but from now on i'll call it the devils bellybutton fluff. It's pointy, and it got everywhere. It somehow even got on my seat while i was sitting on it. The result? Well.

 

 

I'm actually quite pleased with it. It doesn't have any practical purpose (i'm not gonna pretend that it's to protect the cables or something - in all my time with RCs i've never had a motor cable break unless i took a cutter to it) - it looks pretty tidy though, especially considering that the battery cable, and potentially servo cable will also get sleeved. Though, the servo cable already is full black, so that might not be necessary. Speaking of: here's the servo.

 

 

7.4v, 30kg and 0.075 sec turn time. Spec wise it's pretty decent, how well it's going to hold up, well.. time will tell. Not sure yet. The very little info i have, they're good. Bought on recommendation of another member (just pointing that out in case it's arse, i can then blame him ). 

 

Completing the electronics ensemble then would be my pre-ordered, but not yet arrived Spektrum DX5 Rugged in green, together with an SR515 servo. Picture for reference. Reason being, while not really helpful in regards to the EXB, it does do SMART stuff - and my Felony is still running the SMART ESC/Motor, as well as a SMART capable ESC (AT6110 or something). It also kinda makes a fun crawler radio due to the option of one-handed operation, but that's just a bonus. Main reason is the Felony and EXB. 

 

 

I'm assuming it's around two, maybe three weeks until the first drive. 

 

Apart from the electronics and sleeves, i do already have a set of mudguards plus centre guard: 

 

 

as well as a rear bumper:

 

 

Plus of course bits and bobs like connectors, Tekno pinions etc. The plan currently is to run it geared for slightly under 60mph (18t pinion), to get a feel for the temps of the ESC/motor, add fans (a fan mount is currently being envisioned/designed by a forum member), add a plate to hold the power switch of the ESC (as a sidenote, what an awful switch that is - for that kind of money i do expect more than that) on the ESC itself. When i'm satisfied with the temperatures etc (data log, yay), it'll probably end up somewhere between 21t to 23t. 

 

So.. So far, that's where i'm at. More updates to come, as more stuff (including the RC itself, that's kinda important) comes in, and/or when i remember stuff that i've inevitably forgotten this time around. 

 

Thanks for looking.

Edited December 3, 2020 by m4inbrain

[James.S]

Ooo, nice parts 😍 This is an awesome build you got going on here mate. I look forward to seeing it take shape!

[.AJ.]

Nice 👍 

[tomr]

Ooooh this gunna be the RC equivalent to a right good looking bird in the full stockings get up 👌😁

[mydoddy69]

Thinking of joining the party but nothing as fancy as this set up it’s a close contest between this and a Tekno 👍

[m4inbrain]

Small update:

 

 

Not 100% happy how it turned out, but because i had to extend the incredibly short factory power wires, they were kinda hard to sleeve (since i had to sleeve them from the centre, basically). Was a pain in the rear, and in fact a pain in the eye because i'm an idiot, when i forgot one of the connector rear casings i had to unsolder one connection and flung molten solder into my eye.  

 

Left a small "burn mark" on the cornea, thank god i'm too blind to notice - will heal in a few days, just itchy now. Note to myself, don't pull too hard on the wire when liquifying metal on top of it. Public service announcement for the day.

 

Basically, i hate connecting wires and i currently don't have my crimping tool here (garage of parents in law), so i decided to buy some incredibly (stupidly) expensive 6.5mm castle bullets, solder them to both ends, connect them and then heat shrink it. Seems solid, and i prefer that over the alternative which would've looked awful. There's a small bulge in the sleeve, but who cares. Well i do actually, but nothing i can do about it.

 

Looks good enough for a basher, not gonna faff around for hours now. Or rather, even more hours, first time ever it took me 2.5 hours to basically extend two wires and solder a harness. Not gonna do that again anytime soon, lol.

 

3 hours ago, mydoddy69 said:

Thinking of joining the party but nothing as fancy as this set up it’s a close contest between this and a Tekno 👍

 

Why not both? I certainly know that somewhere in the my future there's a MT410 waiting for me. If you don't want both, kinda can't help you there - depends entirely on preference i think. The EXB is cheaper though, so there's that to consider. And easier to throw way too much power at (size). That said: it's a roller. If you fancy building, the MT410 is obviously the better choice. In terms of quality, i'd probably rate the MT410 higher than the EXB, but honestly, the EXB is good enough for me personally. 

 

Considering you have/had a 410, i'd take the EXB though. I usually tend to take new things over "known" things, hence the castle system in mine. 

Edited December 8, 2020 by m4inbrain

[m4inbrain]

Just got the dispatch email, next day delivery. 

 

[mydoddy69]

Couldn’t resist had to order one 🤯. 

[froggy8]

if you are getting it tomorrow then it has only been a week, that isnt too bad is it?

[m4inbrain]

3 hours ago, froggy8 said:

if you are getting it tomorrow then it has only been a week, that isnt too bad is it?

 

Well considering i was waiting for over 6 weeks to get it.. 

 

Depends on how you look at it, i think.

 

[froggy8]

1 hour ago, m4inbrain said:

 

Well considering i was waiting for over 6 weeks to get it.. 

 

Depends on how you look at it, i think.

 

sorry i thought i read that you ordered it on the 3rd, my bad.

[m4inbrain]

Just now, froggy8 said:

sorry i thought i read that you ordered it on the 3rd, my bad.

 

Yeah, but that's because it wouldn't have made a difference either way. It wasn't in stock for over 6 weeks. I see now why that might've been confusing. Reality is, i could've ordered 6 weeks ago and still would've only received it tomorrow. 

[froggy8]

10 minutes ago, m4inbrain said:

 

Yeah, but that's because it wouldn't have made a difference either way. It wasn't in stock for over 6 weeks. I see now why that might've been confusing. Reality is, i could've ordered 6 weeks ago and still would've only received it tomorrow. 

ah i get ya now

glad to hear you are getting it tomorrow, going to say whats on other people mind, cant wait to see it 🤣

[m4inbrain]

1 minute ago, froggy8 said:

ah i get ya now

glad to hear you are getting it tomorrow, going to say whats on other people mind, cant wait to see it 🤣

 

Can't wait, somewhere between 11am and 12pm. 

 

[m4inbrain]

Well, my DPD driver was eager today, christ.

 

 

Glad he didn't just throw it at me while driving past - 8 o'clock sharp the guy sprinted past our house at 495 miles per hour, not even waiting for me to open the door - he was half way down the road already before i opened the door.

 

Either way. Well chuffed, looks great. Don't have the time right now to give it the once-over, but will do later today. The usual, checking bolts, taking out the rear diff to check for play (fingers crossed), then chucking all the niceties at it. Potentially having a whoop up and down the road, maybe, if it's not too wet.

 

 

[.AJ.]

Check all the diffs for oil level 👍 

[m4inbrain]

31 minutes ago, .AJ. said:

Check all the diffs for oil level 👍 

 

Yeah, the usual stuff. Gotta take the rear apart anyway for centre guard/rear bumper. 👍

[Jambo.26]

Just got mine this morning. We’ll sort of. Have to wait until Xmas morning for mine properly but it is here 

[froggy8]

did that guy really run 495 mph?! 🤣

you must be still at work, want to see when you put the combo in.

[m4inbrain]

18 hours ago, froggy8 said:

did that guy really run 495 mph?! 🤣

you must be still at work, want to see when you put the combo in.

 

At least, yes.

 

Combo is in, i'll take pictures once there's at least some light outside. Already scratched the body shell up good, because i'm a moron - i'll explain once i took pictures.

 

[froggy8]

1 hour ago, m4inbrain said:

 

At least, yes.

 

Combo is in, i'll take pictures once there's at least some light outside. Already scratched the body shell up good, because i'm a moron - i'll explain once i took pictures.

 

sorry about the shell, i used to have a vorza with new shell, i made another shell with a hyper 7 and just kept using that and left the shell new  

[m4inbrain]

So, here goes then.

 

First, pictures.

 

 

 

It's a very snug fit, took me a few swear words and cursing to get everything somewhat in place. Not entirely happy yet, a few things are simply too short - like the sensor cable for the motor, that's the only way it'll fit. Already ordered a longer one that i then can route out of the way, but for now, that's how it looks.

 

 

Servo. That thing is absolutely lethal. Very quiet, stupid fast. Like, actually stupid fast. Same anodizing as the rest of the truck, so looks  spot on. very happy with that part.

 

 

The POS rear bumper. POS being the company name (i know). Quality part, looks good and feels incredibly strong. Doubles as a skid plate on the bottom. Again: very happy with fitment/looks. 

 

 

M-Line centre guard and mudguards. Hassle to mount (driveshaft/centre diff has to come out), but once in there, i never want to drive anything without that level of dirt protection anymore. It's brilliant. 

 

And, that's for now where i am, got to wait on bits and bobs. I did have a test drive yesterday, turns out i'm pretty stupid and forgot that i'm working with a sensored system, not the usual Max6 stuff. After connecting everything, the throttle was reversed. I thought "no problem, reverse the channel, sorted". Did that, give it a go, thought it was kinda slow - and then tried braking, which the truck responded to with a 3/4 front flip, landing on the roof and skidding 15 yards across the concrete. Hence, shell is already christened and i don't need to worry about scratching it anymore. 

 

Here's the problem. You can't reverse the throttle channel with a sensored system - nor can you switch two motor wires around (usual fix), since they have designated slots. So what happened yesterday was that i was driving it in reverse down the road (well the truck went forward, you know what i mean) - and when i tried "braking", i instead gave full throttle. And i did that twice because i'm an idiot and didn't realise in the spur of the moment that i actually didn't have a brake, but immediately spun the wheels the other way around. 

 

Didn't grenade a diff though, so that's great.

 

It's a learning process, i guess. 

[.AJ.]

You can change motor direction with the castle link 👍 

[m4inbrain]

12 minutes ago, .AJ. said:

You can change motor direction with the castle link 👍 

 

I know.

 

Just being excited yesterday, i forgot.

[m4inbrain]

After driving the truck forwards, i feel like i've built a weapon. 

 

This is severely fast. The bad kind. Half throttle at 10-15mph = wheelies - didn't go anywhere near full throttle yet. Half is the most it manages at low-speeds, otherwise backflip. 

 

Exactly what i was aiming for.