Kagama Horatio's Kraton 6S EXB V6 Build

[Horatio]

Here's the blank canvas.

Watch this space!

It's going to be fun comparing this machine with my XTR, which as you may already know - I'm a huge fan of.

Will the EXB live up to the hype? Guess I'm about to learn.

Oh dear. Yep! This ESC was one warm run away from a thermal shut down.

The world's most luxurious radio box lid!!

So after 30 minutes on my bench, it's now looking like this:

Thoroughly clean, corrosion free, this rig is looking sharper.

Now this is on the way:

And:

Let's see if we can make this EXB stronger and lighter!

These are going on later today:

Watch this space!

 

[Nelson.81]

nice, you have a slight problem don’t know if your aware of it but I think your addicted to carbon fibre chassis’s thinki g of a 8s Kraton next myself doing a truggy build with it, would be easier to buy an XRT but where’s the fun in that. Need to finish current build still but priorities been elsewhere lately

 

[BashingBrian]

Good luck wth the kraton build but trust me they’re not a patch on a Kagama or XTR

 

[Horatio]

nice, you have a slight problem don’t know if your aware of it but I think your addicted to carbon fibre chassis’s thinki g of a 8s Kraton next myself doing a truggy build with it, would be easier to buy an XRT but where’s the fun in that. Need to finish current build still but priorities been elsewhere lately

Erm, yes! Guilty as charged! I'm not well.

Can't wait to see your 8S Kraton build.

Good luck wth the kraton build but trust me they’re not a patch on a Kagama or XTR

Well, I'm already seeing areas where the trusty XTR has advantages over the EXB. More weight forward and a lighter overall build.

Looking objectively at the EXB - it has a really nice chassis layout and neat little features which the Corally rigs lack. Drive angles are better. Suspension arms are longer. Shocks are slightly longer and burlier.

There is more weight. Body is heavy. Bracing is heavier - it's more monster truck than Truggy.

So my job is to turn them both into great handling, fun to drive, off road speed monsters.

The XTR is very well suited to that task - speed and agility.

The EXB has stronger bracing and seems generally more bulky - definitely more geared towards big air and harder landings etc.

These rigs are going on the scales very soon. Before and after modification.

 

[Nelson.81]

Arms might be longer but are a weak point on the Kraton lots switch to the rpm arms, not sure if left/right are interchangeable too which kinda sucks if so but shocks & tires are definitely better & overall I think the styling is better on Kraton stock tx/rc be better on Kraton but I know they won’t stay stock anyway , don’t know if I’d say the bracing is better, I think I recall do rc saying corally 7075 was better quality than arrma so idk. But advantages of being an arrma is the amount of upgrade options available. Im surprised you didn’t pick up scorched standoffs & titanium driveshafts also shave bit more weight of it . 8s Kraton be a while before that happens but don’t see anything else out there that’s really appealing to me right now but that could change.

 

[Horatio]

Arms might be longer but are a weak point on the Kraton lots switch to the rpm arms, not sure if left/right are interchangeable too which kinda sucks if so but shocks & tires are definitely better & overall I think the styling is better on Kraton stock tx/rc be better on Kraton but I know they won’t stay stock anyway , don’t know if I’d say the bracing is better, I think I recall do rc saying corally 7075 was better quality than arrma so idk. But advantages of being an arrma is the amount of upgrade options available. Im surprised you didn’t pick up scorched standoffs & titanium driveshafts also shave bit more weight of it . 8s Kraton be a while before that happens but don’t see anything else out there that’s really appealing to me right now but that could change.

I have the titanium standoffs on the XTR - they're great!

With my XTR back on the standard 7075 chassis, the front centre Titanium shaft you kindly donated might end up in the EXB. There's all sorts of other loveliness occurring too.

But the CNC Carbon fibre receiver box lid is so over engineered - it makes me grin!

Pictures really don't do it justice.

 

[BashingBrian]

After owning both for quite a while, if I had to buy them again I wouldn't even look at the Kraton..!!

The Corally handles way better even in totally stock trim, I don't care about loads of upgrades anymore as I've learnt over time that the only reason the Arrma's have such upgrade support is because the stock product is so bad..

I don't believe any of Arrma's 7075 is actual 7075, if you own any of the Corally Swiss upgrades you'll know what real upgrades are..

The Corally has some weak points too, but they seem to address the downfalls much quicker than Arrma do.

 

[Horatio]

After owning both for quite a while, if I had to buy them again I wouldn't even look at the Kraton..!!

The Corally handles way better even in totally stock trim, I don't care about loads of upgrades anymore as I've learnt over time that the only reason the Arrma's have such upgrade support is because the stock product is so bad..

I don't believe any of Arrma's 7075 is actual 7075, if you own any of the Corally Swiss upgrades you'll know what real upgrades are..

The Corally has some weak points too, but they seem to address the downfalls much quicker than Arrma do.

I'm a big fan of the Corally rigs - perhaps one day I can get my hands on a Kagama Limited Edition.

Diff related drama seems to be the Kraton's biggest issue, but I hope I can work some magic on mine.

I'm never that likely to break stuff on mine because I tend not to crash. Much.

I did send my XTR spinning into a kerb at 50mph - but that was a weather related incident. Obviously not my fault at all.

The only obvious weak points on the XTR are the Ackerman, rear wing and front drive angle.

Bending the chassis is something that won't happen to me because I don't do lunch Edit: (or launches) much higher than 10 foot in the air.

And bending the Carbon chassis just doesn't happen.

My XTR is awesome to drive - light, agile, bonkers but controllable.

Will I get the Kraton to drive like that - or is it always going to feel more...... agricultural?

Do any of your Kraton builds feel sporty?

 

[BashingBrian]

Will I get the Kraton to drive like that - or is it always going to feel more...... agricultural?

Always going to feel like a tractor in my opinion...

Do any of your Kraton builds feel sporty?

Short answer, no not sporty at all..

TBH the Kraton is my personal most disliked Arrma, I originally had a V4 which just broke and bent the chassis far too much, I went on to upgrade it until I gave up on it... I then bought multiple OG EXB's rollers which I then used as parts to build better cars, I did an EXB Outcast before Arrma did it, then Talion EXB before Arrma did it, if memory serves me right my last (EXB Kraton) was built into a LWB truck that I call Barbie's XXL..

P.S. I don't own any Kratons anymore and would never buy an other..

 

[Horatio]

Bashing Brian be like:

 

[Horatio]

However, the show must go on.

The tasty parts are here tomorrow. Scorched Parts fairy delivers next day here in Blighty, which may in some way make up for the Kraton's deficiencies.

If all else fails - I'll put it on a shelf and just drive my XTR.

All that being said - I'm quietly confident that I can make this rig drivable.

Watch this space.....

 

[Partydaz]

I think they are neat even with the issues the Kraton has, not owned one but driven three 1x EXB stock , 1x version 6 stock and a 8s stretched monster and liked them all felt bit more snapper than my Kagama 6s in the handling department to me.

They are not patch on the Kagama 6s for durability he breaks one every time he brings it out but if I had room I would snap up my friends v6 think its the pink/blue 80s colour scheme one as he has far too many rc cars and keeps trying sell me one of them at mates rates .

Going be a cool build looking forward to drooling over the upgrades that go on it .

 

[Horatio]

I think they are neat even with the issues the Kraton has, not owned one but driven three 1x EXB stock , 1x version 6 stock and a 8s stretched monster and liked them all felt bit more snapper than my Kagama 6s in the handling department to me.

They are not patch on the Kagama 6s for durability he breaks one every time he brings it out but if I had room I would snap up my friends v6 think its the pink/blue 80s colour scheme one as he has far too many rc cars and keeps trying sell me one of them at mates rates .

Going be a cool build looking forward to drooling over the upgrades that go on it .

Thanks for your reassurance!

I'm going to be perfectly honest - if it weren't for scorched parts, I most likely wouldn't have bought a Kraton EXB.

Bearing in mind I'm quite race orientated these days - what I really should have bought is a Losi 22X-4 2.0 - so I could maximise my chances in 4WD over the SWRCCC summer series. I had plans to combine all the best bits of my Elite with a 2.0.

This probably speaks more of my very high regard of Scorched Parts than it does of the Kraton, but either way - I'm good with Arrma. I'd buy any Arrma over a Traxass.

I think Bashing Brian is to Kraton what I am to Traxass.

Anyway, I'm sure Bashing Brian will be keeping an eye on developments here. I won't be pulling any punches.

This is the basher truck equivalent to Subaru Impreza Vs Mitsubishi Evo.

 

[Horatio]

Oh - it's Christmas every day.......

 

[KnowAir]

I'm a big fan of the Corally rigs - perhaps one day I can get my hands on a Kagama Limited Edition.

Diff related drama seems to be the Kraton's biggest issue, but I hope I can work some magic on mine.

I'm never that likely to break stuff on mine because I tend not to crash. Much.

I did send my XTR spinning into a kerb at 50mph - but that was a weather related incident. Obviously not my fault at all.

The only obvious weak points on the XTR are the Ackerman, rear wing and front drive angle.

Bending the chassis is something that won't happen to me because I don't do lunch Edit: (or launches) much higher than 10 foot in the air.

And bending the Carbon chassis just doesn't happen.

My XTR is awesome to drive - light, agile, bonkers but controllable.

Will I get the Kraton to drive like that - or is it always going to feel more...... agricultural?

Do any of your Kraton builds feel sporty?

I agree that the diffs are Arrma’s biggest weakness, but going lightweight with modest size/weight tires will help significantly. I do like Arrma’s steering setup better in general, shocks definitely. If it weren’t for the extreme offset of the center diff TC easily wins the drivetrain durability contest. Plastics quality goes to Arrma for me, but neither is very impressive compared to TRX. Best plastics I’ve come across, just short of race kits. Arrma and TC plastics wear too quickly for my liking. I don’t experience much breakage however.
The Kraton, or at least v5 that I have doesn’t handle as well as my XTR, not even close. The v5 Talion is much closer, maybe better than XTR, not sure.
But yeah, I’m definitely tuned in brother!

 

[KnowAir]

Always going to feel like a tractor in my opinion...


Short answer, no not sporty at all..

TBH the Kraton is my personal most disliked Arrma, I originally had a V4 which just broke and bent the chassis far too much, I went on to upgrade it until I gave up on it... I then bought multiple OG EXB's rollers which I then used as parts to build better cars, I did an EXB Outcast before Arrma did it, then Talion EXB before Arrma did it, if memory serves me right my last (EXB Kraton) was built into a LWB truck that I call Barbie's XXL..

View attachment 12670

P.S. I don't own any Kratons anymore and would never buy an other..

At this point, the only Arrma’s I’m really into are K8 and Mojo. Both are more unique. Sure there’s the XRT and Shiroi, both are excellent but neither were available when I bought the K8 and Mojo.
If I were doing it over I’d probably have the XRT and Shiroi.

 

[KnowAir]

nice, you have a slight problem don’t know if your aware of it but I think your addicted to carbon fibre chassis’s thinki g of a 8s Kraton next myself doing a truggy build with it, would be easier to buy an XRT but where’s the fun in that. Need to finish current build still but priorities been elsewhere lately

Yeah, I want a large scale truggy to! Actually have the K8, I love it, but my biggest issue (besides budget) is tires. No one makes a legit 1/5 scale race tire for truggy. I have all kinds of tire and wheel combos for the K8 but still always looking for more grip on my clay track.
@Horatio had mentioned the Dirt Buster tires made for the HPI Baja which might be okay, but honestly they're still rather narrow at 80mm wide. I have a bunch of the 5ive T tires from HPI and Jconcepts (80mm), also GRP 1/6 tires that measure in at 75mm wide but to really hook up I think they'd need to be around 100mm wide. The narrow tires look wrong too.. so in other words I'm looking for unicorns, LOL.

 

[BashingBrian]

XRT is awesome.!!! So is the Xmaxx I still have Arrma’s (built, not boxed) their best truck, PERIOD, is the Mojave.!!
The Mojo is the only truck I didn’t build out of parts, was lucky enough to pick up two OG EXB rollers back in the day

I truly hope @Horatio you can make a Kraton into something good.!!
And if you can’t, you nearly have all the parts to make a Talion, Arrma’s second best truck EVER….

 

[KnowAir]

XRT is awesome.!!! So is the Xmaxx I still have Arrma’s (built, not boxed) their best truck, PERIOD, is the Mojave.!!
The Mojo is the only truck I didn’t build out of parts, was lucky enough to pick up two OG EXB rollers back in the day

I truly hope @Horatio you can make a Kraton into something good.!!
And if you can’t, you nearly have all the parts to make a Talion, Arrma’s second best truck EVER….

I'd suggest skipping the Kraton carbon chassis and go straight to the Talion chassis.. but that will change the driveshafts and bracing.

 

[Nelson.81]

Yeah, I want a large scale truggy to! Actually have the K8, I love it, but my biggest issue (besides budget) is tires. No one makes a legit 1/5 scale race tire for truggy. I have all kinds of tire and wheel combos for the K8 but still always looking for more grip on my clay track.
@Horatio had mentioned the Dirt Buster tires made for the HPI Baja which might be okay, but honestly they're still rather narrow at 80mm wide. I have a bunch of the 5ive T tires from HPI and Jconcepts (80mm), also GRP 1/6 tires that measure in at 75mm wide but to really hook up I think they'd need to be around 100mm wide. The narrow tires look wrong too.. so in other words I'm looking for unicorns, LOL.

Traxxas xrt tire is 100mm wide just need to modify the hex to fit arrma or check out brp tires they do some 3” & 4” wide but ain’t cheap

https://taylorrc.co.uk/collections/1-5th-scale-wheels-tyres