Kraton Just Bought a Kraton, Thoughts as I Wait for It?

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GrymReaper

GrymReaper

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Arrma RC's
  1. Kraton 6s
New to this awesome forum, a lot of information here, and due to much praise of the Kraton over a few other RCs I was debating, I pulled the plug and ordered a Kraton V3 and should be here in a few days. That being said, I did have a few questions as I prepare to take it out for the inaugural run in a few days.

1) I want to run 6s so there are two parts to this question. The first is, my brother in law has 2 3s batteries, but they are for his Traxxas X Maxx that he upgraded to 8s and no longer needs. Does the Kraton's extra battery connectors come with a Traxxax adapter? Then the second part to this is there anything that needs to be done or recommended to put 6s in the Kraton right out of the box?

2) If I was just to grab batteries, what does everyone typically recommend running in this truck? 2x3s, 1x4s, 1x6s. I just want to make sure the batteries fit in the tray, as I know some of the 6s packs are huge. Any advice on well priced durable batteries?

That is mostly it I guess, so if anyone has any thoughts about what path I should take right out of the box, it would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance!
 
1 - For the Traxxas batteries - you can use the extra plugs that come with the kit to build an adaptor - you will need another set of Traxxas plugs, a bit of wire, and some basic soldering skills. This would work for testing, but I would not run the truck like this long term. Either (preferred) swap your batteries to XT90 or swap the truck's ESC to Traxxas plugs. On the Traxxas vs XT90 - There is generally more selection of batteries with the Traxxas plug vs the XT90*, but the XT90 is generally considered a much better plug for high current.

2 - *speaking of places that sell XT90 batteries, and also good, cheap batteries, check out SMC-Racing. Great prices on generally great batteries. https://www.smc-racing.net/ As for 2x2s vs 4s or 2x3s vs 6s, personally, I prefer the bricks. I have both, though. If you only have 1/8 scales cars, then just get the bricks. If you have some 1/10 scales too, then having some matched 2s packs that can be run as 2x2s adds flexibility to the tool box. As for fitment, if you get ROAR packs, they will fit. If they are not ROAR packs, then read the dimensions carefully.
 
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Yeah I don't really want to be soldering stuff from the get go so my initial thought was to just get new batteries.

I assume when you say "bricks" you are referring to a single 6s battery for this application like: https://www.smc-racing.net/index.php?route=product/product&path=67_119&product_id=440

My son has an ECX Ruckus, but right now we just use 2s in that one.

Any modifications needed to the actual truck to support 6s, or is it good to go out of the box when dropping 6s into it?
 
I just got a Kraton myself. I have 2 matched 2s packs for now. I had them for a 1/10th truck. They work fine but want to try 6s. SMC is coming out with some new pack hopefully by months end.

I consider Soldering practically a must with this hobby. It makes everything so much easier and versatile.
 
The truck is set up for 6s right out the box.
No modifications unless you want to bulletproof it (aftermarket parts)

The kraton has 2 plugs for you letting you choose between two 3s packs or one 6s. It has a connector for the other plug if you just want the single 6s.

I got the 2 of these 3s with the xt90 already soldered on.
A lot of people have mixed opinions about this battery due to some of them puffing. Idk if they are charging them to fast or what but I have had zero problems with mine and run them every day. I have probably 30 runs on them so far.
20180109_213804.jpg 20180109_213820.jpg 20180109_213830.jpg
 
Yes, to me a "Brick" is a single 4s or 6s, vs running 2x2s or 2x3s to make 4s and 6s.

For 6s, you will want to shim the diffs. Without shims, they will still last several runs, but with shims, they will last a long long time. For 4s, no shims needed. I run 4s, and my Kraton diffs (unshimmed) lasted about 1.5-2 years. Actually, for both that failed, the POF was not related to shimming, FWIW.

Soldering - maybe scary if you have not done it, but it is not hard, if you get the right iron and solder, and pay attention to a few details. Once you get soldering down, these wrong plug / adaptor issues / high end motors and ESC's with no factory wiring become a non-issue.
 
The few RCs I have do not run anything more than 4s, with the Kraton being 6s capable I really want to be able to utilize everything the truck has to offer. That being said, I have never shimmed diffs. I have taken plenty of them apart, but not exactly sure what is needed to shim diffs. I have done this before with hub and axle carriers, but never diffs. Are there specific parts that are recommended and do all 3 diffs need to have this done? I have been looking for some videos of this, but I am coming up short.

As far as the soldering, I am not worried about doing it, I have done it plenty of times for other applications, I just hate to stare at a truck on the bench while I make time to do things, I'd rather be out running it lol.
 
Cool, this helps - are there Arrma parts or other companies for the shims?
 
Before you jump on those Traxxas batteries, I'll tell you they probably won't do for the Kraton. When I bought my X-maxx 6S, it came with a free charger - ez-peak dual, & 2 5000mah 25c batteries. It was a smoking deal. But the batteries puffed b4 my 10th run. So Traxxas sent me 2 8400mah 25c batteries to replace them & they worked great.

But the minimum for the blx185 is 35c . . . so either the batteries or the ESC is going to give. Neither will be any fun.
 
@Mega, yeah I decided to go w/ new batts

So bottom line - shim the diffs and I can go 6s, if not go w/ 4s.

What seems to be the consensus on diff fluid, if I am in there may as well put new fluid in. From front to rear 60/100/50?
 
You will need a different pinion for 6s ASAP. Robinson racing or tekno.

EBay or Amazon some traxxas to xt90 adapters. You can get 2 for under $10. Plug and play.

Shim diffs per that video. Mugen 02606 and tekno kits. Avid or fast eddy bearings kits.

Gonna want at least 100k in the center diff. The other two are going to be preference.
 
When one says to "shim the diffs" is it just putting the larger washer at the bottom of the cup under the big gear? Is that all you do on all three diffs? I am confident that I can do it, just want to make sure I put the correct shims in the correct place. Also, I can't seem to find the Mugen shim kit anywhere. What Tekno kit should I be looking for?
 
Pipercam said:
When one says to "shim the diffs" is it just putting the larger washer at the bottom of the cup under the big gear? Is that all you do on all three diffs? I am confident that I can do it, just want to make sure I put the correct shims in the correct place. Also, I can't seem to find the Mugen shim kit anywhere. What Tekno kit should I be looking for?
Click to expand...
After watching the above video closer I think I might have this figured out... Is it just 3 additional shims per diff internally? One large under the planetary gear and then one extra on each small gear just before the mounting blocks? What about the last one shown after reassembled. That would be a fourth additional shim or is that already included on the diff from factory? So 3 new shims or 4 per diff?
 
Stock, there is a shim under each small internal gear. I added one shim behind each sun gear. So internal, 6 total shims, but I only added 2. External, I use one or two (as needed) behind the ring gear outdrive bearing. The idea is as you add shims, they push the ring gear closer to the diff pinion.

Here are the external shims I used -
https://www.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&W=003058064&I=LXDWDG&P=K
For the internal, I used a Team Durango diff rebuild kit that is no longer available.
 
It's crazy everyone says to do it but there are no specifics for the v3 Kraton or a video for goofballs like me
 
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