Suits

Cool. I'll feel much better if I know it's not me be a wally 😄.

Yeah, great point, I did consider that - although AR330481 are 73.5mm, which is quite a bit longer than the front 62.5mm. I have a feeling it could have also just been the wrong part picked out of the bin, there is Typhon shaft that is 64.5mm (2mm bigger) which would fit the bill.

I managed to bend on of the front shock pistons in my V5 Arrma Notorious. I checked the part number on the exploded view diagram from the Arrma website (AR330490) and got a pair of new ones. Upon further inspection the OEM shock shaft appears to be a few mm longer than the new replacement part. Not the end of the world, I will change both shafts now so that they match and look to adjust the drop so that they don't pull out but can anyone offer any explanation to what I have done wrong here ?? My guess is that maybe on one of the revisions they changed the shaft lengths but didn't update the exploded view part numbers ?!

So, I finally took the Kraton out over the weekend. It was simply a test run to see if it held together after the rebuild and adjustments that I made with the motor, gearing and steering. In short it was fine, didn't catch fire and ran pretty well. The steering servo (Savox SW-0241) was woefully bad though, turning circles were silly and maneuverability was painful. So that was an area I HAD to improve ASAP. After barging into AJ's thread and quizzing him about suitable servos, I picked up a 65kg Power HD servo which will hopefully give me more ability in that department. I also managed to successfully trim the steering rack with a Dremel and smooth it off enough to clear the motor. It's tight but clears it, I'll just keep an eye on it after use and adjust if needed. If it does fail, or cause issues I'll pick up the M2C part but if it works/lasts that's a bonus. ***Last pic is the steering at it worst/closest point of the travel.

Ah, sorry man, I misread your thread - I can see now you switched it out now. The Savox SW0241MG I have at the moment is awful, so I need to do something quick. Sweet, I'll have a look at the 65 Power HD then. Cheers for your help.

Cheers man, thanks for the advice. I'm going to go with the 80kg Power HD unit you have, seems like the best bet at this point. Does it still use the larger servo housing (as well as the longer M3.5 and washers) ??

I have the TLR roller and I find it a very rewarding platform. It's a great woodland basher and with a quick wheel swap and adjustment becomes a great handling road car. I've used it many times like this when out with the lads. I'm not interested in changing your opinion, just offering a different point of view from someone that owns, tunes and runs this platform regularly.

Excellent man, thank you. It's on the list then. Would there be any others you'd consider in place of this, as a comparison ??

Hey man, how are you finding your steering servo ?? I had mine out today for a test run and the servo is pathetic, so I need a new one.

Hey man, thanks for giving me your experience with that part. My current plan is to try and Dremel out the steering rack and see what that gives me, it's cheap part and if I can get a good result with it, it'll be a bonus. If it breaks, or doesn't work out I will then look at the more expensive options like the M2C solution but I think it's worth giving it a try.

Yeah, seems like it's a thing doesn't it. Cool, well I'm in no rush so I might order one of those from M2C. At a very push, I could just Dremel out like you say. I'm hopefully having looked about and asked about I can keep this set-up and get it working.

Yeah, I was hoping to get something with what I have to hand to be honest - but they are both valid solutions. At very least I could just gear it up again to move the motor out but I'm sure I can work something out having asked around etc..

Got a bit of a problem. After a bit of a re-build and changing the pinion from a 39T to a 30T one, the motor has slightly shifted its position further toward the middle of the truck. This appears to have caused the motor to foul on the steering ackerman when turning left. Whilst the motor cables aren't ideal, they're not the problem here, (I can rotate the motor to completely rule them out) it's the rear of the motor housing completely blocking anything other than the first 10 degrees of left turn. Does anyone have any suggestions ??

😄 😄 What are you a Transformer or something ?!? Fair enough. I might have to get some of those thumb grip things, the Arrma tethers do nothing but disappoint.

Hey man, how do you find the body clips ?? Mine are bloody militant !! I'm going to have to find a solution, I can't loose anymore fingers.

I ordered some bits from Modelsport on Friday and it showed up Saturday. Once again incredible service. I have some rear mudguards on my Notorious and I like them, so I picked up the appropriate POS application. Also big shout to @.AJ. who sent me a link for the front stone guards. When it comes to gearing, I have two extra pinions, which now gives me 24T, 30T and 39T options. I'm going to start off with the 30T. Also picked up one of those Hobbywing program boxes as I now have two HW systems and might be handy to have in the bag when out and about. Batteries look great, I went for the cases Gens Ace 8000mAh 100C 4S packs, which should do me well in the Kraton.

Yes mate, I read exactly the same thing in AJ’s thread. Interesting stuff. Will see how I get on and adjust accordingly.

So, after being left a bit frustrated by the supply issues facing the Kraton 4S platform, I did the only sensible thing and picked up a Kraton EXB. The actual tale of the tape was that a few of us went to Arc Raceway in Essex last weekend and whilst I had a great time with my 8th scale tracks, it was clear that my two buddies were king of the circuit with their X-Maxx's. With that memory fresh, my mate spotted a lightly used Kraton EXB on a Facebook group and sent me the advert. After a brief chat with the seller, I left work and jumped in the car. The truck came with a Hobbywing Max 5 800kv motor combo, Savox large scale servo and Sanwa radio and receiver. When I arrived the truck was as advertised, the gentleman was cool and the price was good. After the details were sorted and paid, I loaded the box (and postage box) into the back of the car. Banana for scale. Unreal how big these things are when you're not used to them. Got it home, checked it over, lots of red wine, then started to play about with it. It had all been put together very well, however, it was geared up quite high, or higher than I'd like to run anyway, the 65 series motor mount was already fitted, with the 39T spur gear and a 39T pinion. This was how the truck was as I got it home (minus the shell and wheels). I then proceeded to clean things and slowly remove bit's to get the motor and servo. Got the motor and ESC out, removed the 39T pinion and had a good look about, everything moves freely, smooth and how you'd expect/want. The previous owner said he'd had it out three times, and to be honest it seems that way. I've ordered a 30T pinion, so I'll see how that does with the 39T spur. Got a couple of the Gens Ace 8000mAh 100C 4S cells on the way as well to get the hefty girl on the move. Hoping to get her out soon to see what all the fuss is about .....

Seems like there’s a bit of a delay on these landing in the UK. I preordered one of these from Modelsport back in July and the release date slipped twice. Then last week it just simply said Out of Stock. I spoke to the guys at Modelsport for any info I could get and they kindly looked into it and advised that demand for this truck just simply hasn’t been met and due to its popularity the first batch won’t even be making it to the UK. Around November was the date mentioned about stock coming in. I’ve cancelled my order and will see how it all pans out, I’ll pick something else up instead.

Not really updated this much, just had so much going on, anyway here's a quick update. So, after running the car in a Park & Ride for a while and being happy with it, it just kind of sat there whilst I was out bashing. I've since decided to bash it a little as it would get much more use, short version - it's great fun. Been out with it in the woods about five times now as a basher and even took it to Arc Raceway last weekend, where it performed very well as a semi racer. I left the car as it was really, just switched out the Hoon's for the DBoots it came on and just went straight on the dirt and jumps. The motor pulls great and seems to be handling the abuse well, as does the rest of the car really. I did pull out a rear bottom suspension mount with a silly landing and cartwheel, but simple fix. RPM do a front bumper that I squeezed on to offer a bit more front end deflection. The woods where we bash regularly has a lot of roots coming through due to the dry weather and a few times it's just caught the car dead, this adds a good deal more protection to the car and look pretty cool I think. We threw a GPS on it, just to see what it's pulling now and it topped out at 62MPH which is great fun, as the acceleration and punch it has is significant. My mate Ricky also filmed a little piece on it for his RC channel, which was very embarrassing but was great fun and we got some good footage of the car.

Ordered. Nice one 😎.

Hahaha, yeah those mud guards look well handy. Do you mind me asking where you got them from ??

Nice man, great read. Very helpful. I've just picked up a K8 EXB, Hobbywing 800Kv MAX5 combo. Interesting stuff with your gearing, good to hear your settled on 30/47, are you still running that ?? I'm going with 30/39 and see how I get on. Much like yourself, I have no desire to be climbing towards three figures with this, I prefer the torque. Yeah, those HB fans are pointless. Those mud guards look great, I fancy a set of those.

Couldn't handle the football last night, so went out and ran the TRL for the first time. Sadly the industrial estate I went too was having a late evening and was rammo, so I had to make do with an awfully pot-holed loose surface road. I grabbed a very crude video of it, just in case it caught fire or it ploughed into a curb (sorry about the audio, I don't really know what I'm doing) which I know is always fun to see 😆. Overall everything seems fine, it's very punchy, handles very well, steering could be a bit quicker and the temps all seemed reasonable. It does feel very soft, I'll stiffen the shocks a little to give a bit more feel through the chassis and get some different wheels and tyres as these have some super sidewall flex which isn't what I'm looking for at the moment. BUT, it runs and it runs well, it's great fun to drive , very responsive and smooth compared to my other bashers. Plan now is to go out with the lads on the weekend with their buggy's and see if I can get a base speed rating from it, as well as learn from the others who are much more experienced than myself.

Looks like I'm ready to go now. Out with the Boys this weekend and hoping to give the TLR some carpark action and see how she handles out of the box. That said, if the weather can hold off raining for an evening this week I'll see if I can get it out and see if it goes as it should before the weekend. The only tweaks I've done to the car is set the rear wing for speed stability but left the chassis as is. I'll drive it first and see if I want adjust anything from there. Had a bit of an issue binding the Sanwa RX6, the manual says to wait for a solid blue light to indicate successful binding but mine just stays solid red. Every other part of the process goes as documented it just doesn't go blue. That said, I've managed to set my end points, throttle rates and I think all is set and ready to go. Going to pick up some road tyres this week and a few little bits and bobs. I'm going to hold off bashing this for a while and just use it as a carpark/road car, see how she handles, performs and just enjoy it. Had such a great time learning about and putting this car together, as a relative noob its such a rewarding experience.