Axial XR10 custom build...Fathers xmas gift :D

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Hey guys,

Last year I really wanted to get my father something related to RC but just couldn't figure out what to get him. After much consideration between a Crawler and Boat I decided to build him a custom comp worthy crawler! He really enjoys RC Boating and has since I was small when he first got into RC, but I honestly feel a boat is something that would sit on the shelf more than it gets used. Now in full scale my dad has always liked 4x4 offroad and rock climbing so I figure this would be something that has no excuse to sit on the shelf. He lives in the hill country near Kerrville, TX so there are large rocks everywhere (back yard too) that he can climb.

Now I believe I have mostly everything thought out as to how I will build the crawler, it is not going to be full out upgraded as I don't want to spend that much. On the other hand it will be semi-upgraded with options for him to upgrade in the future if he so chooses.

I found a website, Jpcustoms, that I will be ordering most of the stuff from and then everything else will be as I find it or what I can get for a good price.

So far this build will consist of:

Axial XR10 kit
Rc4wd Gears all around
Vanquish Products C-Hubs
Vanquish Products Knuckles
Vanquish Products Rear Lock-Outs
Jp Custom HellStrom-XR Chassis Plates
Jp Custom Delrin Upper Links
Jp Custom High Clearance Lower Links
x2 Holmes Hobbies TorqueMaster 45T brushed motor (specifically wound for the XR10)
x2 Tekin FXR ESC
Hot Bodies Rover White Dots
Vanquish Bullet Wheel Weights
Futaba 4PL

It will have 4WD mixing and All Wheel Steer!

I will update things as they get ordered and are in my hands

 

[slowngreen]

Building it right, nice job. Only thing Id watch on is Jpcustoms can be HORRIBLE with shipping time.
Rpphobby.com is the best of the best imo when it comes to buying offline crawler parts.

 

[override]

Yeah I'm starting to notice that he is horrible at replying back to emails aswell....Its been over a week now since I have tried to put in my order and he has only gotten back to me once.

I'll go check out rpphobby cause if he doesn't get back to me soon I am taking my business elsewhere.

 

[slowngreen]

rpphobby.com or tcscrawlers.com or ckrccrawlers.com are all good, ckrc can be flaky though. RPP is the best though.

 

[HPI-Killer]

Awesome list of parts and can't wait to see this baby start. I'm keeping my eye on you!

 

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Well I got a-hold of Bronson this am and sent my final parts list off, hopefully he will send me his PP info and we can get this stuff shipped....Anyone got any Tekin FXR's for sale?

 

[slowngreen]

Lots of people use fxr's but I always stick to Castle, sidewinders OR go with micro mambas or micro sidewinders, they take up hardly any room.

Just a reference pic, this was dual mamba micro's, rx and bec, barely filled up 3/4 of the skid.

 

[override]

Lots of people use fxr's but I always stick to Castle, sidewinders OR go with micro mambas or micro sidewinders, they take up hardly any room.

Just a reference pic, this was dual mamba micro's, rx and bec, barely filled up 3/4 of the skid.

Well I was going to go with FXR's because supposedly they are the better ESC versus Castle. Although the Micro Mamba's was another option I had looked into. I deff want more room to play with since this is my first build (and my fathers first crawler) I may take the step towards the Micro Mamba's instead.

Thanks for the info!

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So I got the Tx/Rx in day before yesterday! Futaba 4PL all the way

OK so.....In my invoice from JPCustoms there was $90 that was not accounted for so I emailed Bronson back asking about it. Sometime between me emailing him back and before I got his reply I decided to change my order. My decision was based upon the $90 that I couldn't figure out why I was being charged for, some of the parts he would of needed to order, communication can be difficult with him and it makes no sense to order parts from Hawaii that I can get right here in the US of A.

So this morning I put in my order, which consisted of:

x2 Holmes Hobbies TorqueMaster Expert 540 (45T wound for the XR10)
Jp Custom Rc's HellStrom-XR Chassis Plates
Jp Custom Rc's Delrin Upper Links
Jp Custom Rc's Front High Clearance Lower Links
Jp Custom Rc's Rear Ultra High Clearance Lower Links

 

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Got the XR10 in while I as at work

I started looking at putting in my orders to get the build started and finished and WOW was I surprised at how much $$ I am going to end up spending. I usually always do my research for a week or two before I go into buying mode but with this crawler, since I decided to build it on impulse, I did not prepare myself to know how much I truly am going to spend. :\

I may change the build up slightly to bring the cost down...I'll have to see where I'm sitting at after I figure up all the costs. So far just a quick run down It looks like I'm going be hitting the $1000+ mark.

Alright enough of that talk...Pics of the XR10 unboxing :

 

[slowngreen]

Make sure you are careful when assembling the rear axle to not put the wrong screws in the wrong place. Lots of people have and the screw over the main bearing is the one to be careful with, mix it up and it comes through the housing and into the gears path...Good luck with the build too!

 

[Phins Fan]

Wish my kids would blow a G-note on me for Xmas!! Enjoy the build and keep us posted with pics!

 

[override]

Thanks for the advice slowngreen I will keep it in mind when assembly starts!
@Phins Fan - lol I can assure you I am not thrilled about spending a G-note on the build but I want to make sure the build is initially done right and I know how RC is so I guess I also don't mind spending the money. Its a double edged sword I guess....

I will update you guys more as parts start coming in, I checked the tracking for my package from JPCustoms and it shows to be out for delivery since the 18th but the tracking hasn't been updated since the 19th. I haven't received it yet so I will be making a trip over to the Post Office soon.

From experience users with crawlers I would like to ask a question - Is 4wheel steering really worth the extra money to achieve it? It's going to cost nearly an extra $400 just to add rear steer to the XR10 and the more I think about it the more I wonder if I should. Its one extra servo to burn up (which I imagine happens easier since the rear has more tension on the servo) and more parts to worry about breaking. I am thinking of opting out of the 4wheel steer to put this crawler back closer towards my budget and just give him a parts list for a future upgrade if he so chooses to do so.

 

[Phins Fan]

If you/he plan on comping with it at all you may want to check local rules as some spots dont allow rear steer or do allow it but give penalties for using it (depending on the class you go with). I'm just getting started out in it myself but havent seen the need for rear steer yet. Then again I'm more of a noob than most with crawling so I havent found a situation where I've needed it ......yet

 

[override]

If you/he plan on comping with it at all you may want to check local rules as some spots dont allow rear steer or do allow it but give penalties for using it (depending on the class you go with). I'm just getting started out in it myself but havent seen the need for rear steer yet. Then again I'm more of a noob than most with crawling so I havent found a situation where I've needed it ......yet

Yeah I know that most comps don't allow it and to be honest I am not sure what he will do with it. I'm sure it will be just bashing but who knows he may really get into.

I know after this build I plan to get me a build started so me and him can go out and bash together! I've been trying to get him back into RC for awhile but I think he just doesn't want the hassle of the keep up with things. It's not anything like back in the day when he first got into RC. Buy a kit, build the kit and play with your build. Brushed electric with NiCd packs...man that was way back. lol

---------- Post added at 4:08 PM ---------- Previous post was at 4:01 PM ----------

Sorry for the crappy picture, I will get a better one during the assembly. Parts were at the post office, postage was due on the package. Not sure how that happened cause I paid $22 for shipping. Oh well though, the chassis plates are alot smaller than I thought they were going to be. Delrin links are beefy and the motors look brilliant!

Anyone selling any ESC's I can snag for my setup?

 

[override]

Put my Vanquish and RC4WD orders in tonight! Getting down to the bare bones now, got a few parts left over to get.

Tires, Foams, Wheels - Picked out already
ESC setup - MMP or FXR...Still not sure which ones I'm gonna get.
Batteries - Not sure but thinking of going with CKRC 3S 1300mah lipo
BEC - Need to look into this some more but thinking Castle BEC
Servo - Hitec 7950 or 7980
Servo Horn - Racers Edge (unless I can find a different one to fit the vanquish servo armor)

and I think that's it

Last thing on my list is figuring how to wire all the electronics together, I found a few places with information but I'm unsure cause they don't mention capacitor information. I have plenty of high heat capacitors just need to figure out which ones to use.

 

[WoodiE]

I can't wait to see the build, going to be a nice one for sure.

 

[override]

Thanks woodie! Ya know as much as I want to set this up as 4wheel steer I have decided to pass. I added up the cost and minus shipping costs it is exactly $400. That will make the difference of spending another $1000 or $5-600 to finish the build. I could always dip into savings to do it but that wouldn't be a very smart decision. I will leave it as an upgradable option for him to choose.

As of right now I am sitting at $1600 to finish this build (minus rear steer) as a fully RTR package deal. He won't have to buy anything for it unless he wants upgrades or spares etc. All I can say is WOW, my initial thoughts on this build was like $600...lol

I just put my order in for HB White Dot Rovers, Crawler Innovations 5.25 foams setup front soft outer, wider inners and rear medium outers, Racers edge servo horn and delrin motor savers. Also picked up a Hitec 7950TG from servocity

 

[slowngreen]

Definatly go with a Castle Bec, no other. You might end up wanting to wire it directly to the servo too. On the esc's, going with sidewinder micro's will save you some, they run just over $50 new and running duals they work perfect and take up very little room.

On lipo's, dont go with ck's. Go with Gen 1000's from HobbyPartz.com trust me. Or sky's, or turnigy's, but dont pick up any ckrc packs.


I'm glad to see your willing to spend the money and realize what it actually takes to make a top level crawler. Most people get into it thinking a couple hundred bucks will set them up but a comp level crawler is so much more involved than that.

 

[override]

Definatly go with a Castle Bec, no other. You might end up wanting to wire it directly to the servo too. On the esc's, going with sidewinder micro's will save you some, they run just over $50 new and running duals they work perfect and take up very little room.

On lipo's, dont go with ck's. Go with Gen 1000's from HobbyPartz.com trust me. Or sky's, or turnigy's, but dont pick up any ckrc packs.


I'm glad to see your willing to spend the money and realize what it actually takes to make a top level crawler. Most people get into it thinking a couple hundred bucks will set them up but a comp level crawler is so much more involved than that.

I don't mind spending the money on the Mamba Micro Pro's, I have seen a few that are used setup for crawlers so I'm waiting on replies to see if they are still available. If not then I will pick two up within the next day or so.

I will look into the lipo's you mentioned....thanks on the advice on those. Have you ever shopped at cheapbatterypacks.com?

Saw this website recommended off of rccrawlers.com forum which I have still yet been approved for. I emailed the administrators to see what the hold up was but no luck yet getting a reply.

I may be getting with you on wiring this crawler together when the time comes...I have very good soldering skills and have a nice soldering station from when I used to repair and mod old game systems. I have a basic understanding of wires and how to make things work but it seems like it can be so much more complex than it looks.

 

[slowngreen]

Yeah I've bought from them back in the day but seriously the gensacearespammers packs have taken over the scene because of their cost, size and reliability.