Axial AX10 Scorpion ARTR
Build-up and review by Sim Tong
August 5, 2009.
I normally like to build my own kits but went with the ARTR version of the Axial AX10 Scorpion because of all the extras that came with it.
Difference between the kit and ARTR -
Kit is unassembled, ARTR is assembled and painted.
ARTR has the rear axle lockouts and straight axles (highly recommended upgrades if you're not adding rear-wheel steering).
ARTR has high clearance rear links.
Kit has Axial rock lizard tires, ARTR has Proline Hammers with memory foam inserts.
Kit has green anodised aluminium parts, ARTR has orange.
|
This is what I had lying around, so they were the first things that went into the rig -
LRP Phaser Competition receiver, Moped Bravo esc, Fullymax 2s 2200mah lipo, and a 40-turn motor I wound myself.
Not shown is a KO Propo 2174 servo.
(Update: I promptly burnt out the motor and ESC. I now run a Tekin FX-R, an Integy 55T lathe motor, and a KO Propo EX-5UR radio,
reviewed here.)
|
|
The springs that came with the crawler are the stiffest ones made my Axial. This is about as much front articulation as they will allow
(hardly 3 inches) before one of the rear wheels leave the ground. I swapped out these springs with some Tamiya TRF buggy springs (for the DB01) -
red dots in front and yellow dots in rear. I had to use up all the Axial preload spacers to keep them from sliding about.
These softer springs allowed the suspension to work but then the torque twist got really bad. The truck was leaning over every time
I so much as touched the throttle. Also, the 40-turn motor with 14-tooth pinion seem to make the rig run much faster than I was expecting.
|
|
|
When the truck articulated, the lower links (especially the bent rear ones) would rub up against the shock spring
retainers and do this.
|
PHASE 2: BATTERY RELOCATION, MORE STEERING, NEW BEADLOCKS
|
Time to move the battery a little lower. I flipped the top plate so it mounts from the bottom (had to flip the two plastic mounts as well), and
tied the battery below that with the velcro strap.
|
|
|
Drilled some holes to mount some plastic widgets to stop the battery sliding around. If the battery starts bloating, it will no longer fit.
|
|
Stuck some velcro on the battery and attached a short velcro strap to the front chassis spacer rod.
|
|
|
That stopped the battery from sliding forward.
|
|
I shortened and grinded the front axle cup slightly to get a little more steering lock.
|
|
|
I installed the Axial front overdrive gears (30401) to try and get more steering.
While I was at it, I grinded a small flat spot opposite the original flat spot so I could use an extra grub screw to hold the input shaft.
|
|
Proline Titus beadlock rims come with about 7 oz of alloy weights in them. I cut the weights in half for the rears and have full weights
in the fronts. In theory, you shouldn't have to mess around with lead weights anymore, but in practice, the lead weights are still the easier
way to make fine adjustments. I slipped some rings around the hex area (made from some plastic plumbing joints) to hopefully prevent stripping.
|
|
|
I made some new mounting holes on the shell to lower it.
The front of the shell needed a trim for the wheels to clear.
|
|
A team driver puts the mods to the test.
|
|
|
I made some new link plates to run separate upper links.
The links are just M4-sized threaded rod with Kyosho rod ends, and some white tube I had lying around (to make them look pretty).
|
|
The front was totally rearranged. Servo moved to one side, a 800mah 2S Lipo next to it, all sitting on a big new 4-link plate.
|
|
|
I made some lowers out of 10.5mm acetal rods, M4 X 25mm set screws, and Traxxas Revo rod ends (Traxxas 5347).
Also, I replaced my broken kit slider shafts with some Traxxas Stampede ones (Traxxas 1953).
Two females on each end with a cut male shaft in the middle.
|
|
Hotbodies Rover white dot (soft) tires. The included foams seem too small to fill the tires, so some experimenting needs
to be done with alternatives. Still, the tires performed a lot better than the kit tires (Proline Hammers in M2, I think).
|
|
|
The soft Rovers balloon outwards quite a bit and rub up against my servo at full steering lock.
We'll just drive the truck this way until we get ourselves some thinner rims.
|
|
We'll call this Stage 3
|
|
|
Found a cheap deal on these Hot Racing chassis plates (SCP14CM01).
They were beefy, heavy and had lots of link mounting options.
|
|
Unfortunately, I didn't want to mount my links at any of the holes, so
I drilled some new ones and cut away all parts of the chassis that got in the way.
|
|
|
Managed to save a few grams along the way too.
|
|
I put some steel balls from Traxxas Stampede rod ends (1942) into the Axial bent rod ends. These will be my chassis side upper link ends.
I'm using Stampede rod ends on the axle side, and Traxxas Revo (5347) rod ends on the lower links.
|
|
|
Everything mounted up almost the same as before.
|
|
Three delrin rods braces the top. Two between the four shocks and one near the endbell cutout (the most worrisome part of the chassis).
|
|
|
Looks like 2.5" ground clearance. I can quickly raise it up by a quarter inch by mounting the shocks lower.
|
|
The bottom.
|
|
|
The skid is 50mm wide. Hope that leaves enough space for a small dig unit later.
|
|
No point having a skinny chassis and body posts sticking out of the sides. I put some short ones up on top.
|
|
|
The rear body post is simpler.
|
|
Had some free time before the weekend, so I went ahead and machined the slot down the middle.
Went a little too far and cut into the screw holes (holding the lower links) a little.
Will replace the screws with shorter ones later but as you can see now, they're showing slightly under the skid.
|
|
|
I'm finally able to mount the body shell slightly lower now, but it had to sit a bit more forward.
|
Recommended Upgrades for AX10 ARTR: (last updated 28 Jan 2010)
Because of the humongous variety of aftermarket options, it's difficult to compile a static list of upgrades.
Instead, I'll run through what I'm running and upgrades I've read about.
Tires:
I'm happy with my Hotbodies Rover soft (HB 67772) but Hotbodies Rover medium (HB 67780), Hotbodies Sedona white (HB 67918),
Panther Cougar (T485), Panther Leopard (T486), Losi Comp Claws Blue (LOSA7681B) are all good tires.
Figuring out foam combinations seems to be a lengthy process, although Panther Cougars with Panther soft white foams (F400)
are a very popular combination at this time.
Beadlock Wheels/Rims:
My Proline Titus are okay but I wish they were thinner and fit the Hotbodies beads better.
I hear nothing but good things about Vanquish, DNA, Mayhem Engineering, Eritex and MSD (all machined out of aluminium or Delrin/acetal).
Chassis:
I'm eyeing the upcoming Billet Works Designs SSS-R,
but there are dozens of other good ones out there too.
The Bender Customs SWX Chassis (Axial 30506) works well with 4-inch shocks.
Shocks:
Traxxas Big Bore Hard Anodized Shocks (Long) (1 pair) for TRX-3, TRX-1 fronts (TRA2660) are 4 inches long - perfect for the Bender SWX.
Traxxas Assembled GTR Composite Shocks (1 pair) (TRA5561) are 3.5 inch long, but gets another half inch from a shock cap mod.
Centre driveshafts:
MIP CVD's seem popular but are heavy
I use modded Traxxas Stampede shafts (TRA 1953) and they've taken a beating so far.
Axle driveshafts:
Felsenfest CVDs are the beefiest, but are expensive and need a big outer bearing on the steering knuckle,
which in turn means you need a big steering knuckle (like the newer version Felsenfest knuckles).
3Racing, MIP and Axial also make CVDs but these are not as strong as the kit dogbones and axle cup
(they allow more steering angle though).
Underdrive/Overdrive gears:
I have the Axial 36T/14 overdrive gears (Axial AX30401) in my front axle. I don't recommend them as they
take away some gear reduction from the axle.
Instead, keep the normal ratio 38/13 HD gears (Axial AX30395) in the front and get the
Axial 43T/13 underdrive gears (AX30402) for the rear axle. This gives both an overdrive effect
(for more steering) as well as puts more overall gear reduction in the axles (reducing chassis torque twist).
Dig Unit:
I have no experience with digs, but from reading...
At the moment, Vanquish Hurtz seems to be the most reliable
Eritex HRD3.1 also seems to be a good unit
Billet Works Designs is coming up with a U-dig which can fit on either front or rear, tranny or shaft
Electronics:
These aren't upgrades but since everybody needs electronics, I should mention what I've found.
I am now running a Tekin FX-R with an Integy 55-turn lathe motor. I got them separately.
I could have saved some time and money by getting one of the Tekin combo deals.
I recommend the FX-R/45-turn combo (TEKTT2104).
The KO EX-5UR radio system is just perfect, so I highly recommend it.
As for a servo, I'm using an old KO 2174 but am eyeing the new Savox digital high torque servo (SC-1256), which has 20kg-cm of torque.
The next stage of mods will include a Castle Creations 10-amp switching BEC unit.
I am running a cheap 800mah 2S lipo battery which is small but also a little short on run-time.
Useful links:
Download AX10 ARTR instruction manual (PDF)
Complete Parts List (Excel)
Back to the Reviews page
Back to Mod RC home page
