Need advice for my Ultima build

[WickedFog]

I will with lots of help from y'all.... I'm lost!

Hey, at least you were smart enough to come and learn. You'll be a pro in no time. And Kyosho kits are some of the funnest to assemble. Everything fit's perfectly on them. Just pay attention to all the secondary notes on the pages of the manual. Read everything on the page. Pay attention to where to use loctite, and where to apply grease. Not sure if your mechanical/soldering skills, so ask if you need help. Love my Turbo

 

[primebeatz]

You should start a build thread on that with lots of pics. I would love to follow along.

Ok... Any advice on a motor, a charger, battery, instructions say I need transmitter and a receiver... it recommends Syncro KR331. And any other oils or whatever I'll need to begin the build. Kinda want the gold shocks too.

Hey, at least you were smart enough to come and learn. You'll be a pro in no time. And Kyosho kits are some of the funnest to assemble. Everything fit's perfectly on them. Just pay attention to all the secondary notes on the pages of the manual. Read everything on the page. Pay attention to where to use loctite, and where to apply grease. Not sure if your mechanical/soldering skills, so ask if you need help. Love my Turbo
View attachment 135911

That looks amazing!

Hey, at least you were smart enough to come and learn. You'll be a pro in no time. And Kyosho kits are some of the funnest to assemble. Everything fit's perfectly on them. Just pay attention to all the secondary notes on the pages of the manual. Read everything on the page. Pay attention to where to use loctite, and where to apply grease. Not sure if your mechanical/soldering skills, so ask if you need help. Love my Turbo
View attachment 135911

I want an additional body so I can have one look close to the original Ultima but have one with my own custom paint as well

 

[WickedFog]

You can go from mild to wild with the motor and ESC. It depends on how wild you want it. Castle Creations or Hobbywing is what I typically run for motor/ESC. You'll only be running 2S in that, so maybe something like this...
https://www.castlecreations.com/en/mamba-x-1/mamba-x-1406-4600-combo-010-0155-01

My charger of choice is this one...
https://www.racedayquads.com/produc...c-battery-charger?_pos=2&_sid=355d44a56&_ss=r

Whatever battery you go with, you need to be mindful where the wires come out of the battery. The manual shows a stubby battery that uses bullet connectors, but I don't see how that would work in that car just looking at the manual. I usually wait to get em built, then see what works best. But this may work.
https://www.smc-racing.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=67_97&product_id=662

For the Tx/Rx, you can go cheap with a great radio in the Flysky GT3B. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08NHZDDV...abc_7R207V6H8MN5ZG0W026A?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Greywolf74]

Thanks.. so the pro one is 39.95. I'll get that one

Thank you!

The Pro is complete overkill for what you're doing. 95% of the time the CC 10A BEC (the one listed right under the Pro version) is more than sufficient for most rigs. Either way though, youll want to pick up a Castle Link also in order to program them. Unless you already own a Castle Link? Theyre also used to program Castle ESCs.

 

[primebeatz]

You can go from mild to wild with the motor and ESC. It depends on how wild you want it. Castle Creations or Hobbywing is what I typically run for motor/ESC. You'll only be running 2S in that, so maybe something like this...
https://www.castlecreations.com/en/mamba-x-1/mamba-x-1406-4600-combo-010-0155-01

My charger of choice is this one...
https://www.racedayquads.com/produc...c-battery-charger?_pos=2&_sid=355d44a56&_ss=r

Whatever battery you go with, you need to be mindful where the wires come out of the battery. The manual shows a stubby battery that uses bullet connectors, but I don't see how that would work in that car just looking at the manual. I usually wait to get em built, then see what works best. But this may work.
https://www.smc-racing.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=67_97&product_id=662

For the Tx/Rx, you can go cheap with a great radio in the Flysky GT3B. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08NHZDDV...abc_7R207V6H8MN5ZG0W026A?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Thank you so much for the recommendations!

The Pro is complete overkill for what you're doing. 95% of the time the CC 10A BEC (the one listed right under the Pro version) is more than sufficient for most rigs. Either way though, youll want to pick up a Castle Link also in order to program them. Unless you already own a Castle Link? Theyre also used to program Castle ESCs.

Thank you for the info!

 

[primebeatz]

Ok.. so this is what I'm about to order. Look ok so far?

 

[WickedFog]

Yeah. Do you have an infrared temp gun? You will want to do a couple runs, check motor and esc temps, do a couple more, check again. Work your way up through a pack, running it longer each time and monitoring temps when you first get it running. If anything starts to get close to 160°F you'll want to lower the number of teeth on your pinion gear.

I think that is a 48 pitch pinion. So you might grab a couple each way, 1-2 teeth more, just so you have some options. More teeth on the pinion gives more top end, less torque, and vice-versa. More teeth will raise your temps (typically), and less will lower them. You will wanna find the sweet spot for how you drive it. My guess, the stock pinion will be fine, but it will depend on how you want it vs your motor temps in the end as to where you end up in gearing.

 

[Greywolf74]

Just an FYI, Castle also makes a bluetooth version of their link that you can use either your computer or your phone to make programming changes. Its $50-$60 bucks but you may want to go that route up front. Just so you are aware.

 

[primebeatz]

Just an FYI, Castle also makes a bluetooth version of their link that you can use either your computer or your phone to make programming changes. Its $50-$60 bucks but you may want to go that route up front. Just so you are aware.

I'm getting the Bluetooth one. Thanks!

Yeah. Do you have an infrared temp gun? You will want to do a couple runs, check motor and esc temps, do a couple more, check again. Work your way up through a pack, running it longer each time and monitoring temps when you first get it running. If anything starts to get close to 160°F you'll want to lower the number of teeth on your pinion gear.

I think that is a 48 pitch pinion. So you might grab a couple each way, 1-2 teeth more, just so you have some options. More teeth on the pinion gives more top end, less torque, and vice-versa. More teeth will raise your temps (typically), and less will lower them. You will wanna find the sweet spot for how you drive it. My guess, the stock pinion will be fine, but it will depend on how you want it vs your motor temps in the end as to where you end up in gearing.

Getting a temp gun. Does it matter what kind of connectors are on the battery?

 

[WickedFog]

I prefer XT60's on my 1/10 stuff. If you are planning on getting more RC's (and who doesn't), I would recommend buying a pile of Amass brand, no matter what connector you go with. You can find them on Amazon.

Other ones to consider are Deans (or T-Plug), or EC3's.

It's all personal preference, but based on amp rating as well. These will all handle that setup.

Once you get the connectors, solder the mating connector onto your ESC aling with your BEC.

You mught grab some heat shrink as well if you don't have any. But if you like the XT60's, Amass has an updated version with a plastic cover over the soldered wires that doesn't need heat shrink, but I still add it anyway. I tried to post a link to the connectors on Amazon, but for some reason when you click it, it takes you to generic XT60's. Just search Amass XT60 on there and you will find them. MAKE SURE IT SAYS AMASS BRAND ON CONNECTOR

These are what I bought.

 

[Greywolf74]

I'm getting the Bluetooth one. Thanks!

Getting a temp gun. Does it matter what kind of connectors are on the battery?

Connectors are more of a personal preference. The 3 main connectors are the XT-60s, EC-3s, and the Deans Ultra Plug which the generic versions are called "T-Plugs". If you want something small and compact then go Deans but the main complaint about them is that they are harder to pull apart because they are smaller. If size doesn't matter than any of those 3 are good. My only real advice is that if you buys Deans connectors make sure they are genuine Deans Ultra Plugs and if you use XTs or ECs then buy AMASS brand. You pay more than the generics but theyre better quality too.

 

[WickedFog]

Connectors are more of a personal preference. The 3 main connectors are the XT-60s, EC-3s, and the Deans Ultra Plug which the generic versions are called "T-Plugs". If you want something small and compact then go Deans but the main complaint about them is that they are harder to pull apart because they are smaller. If size doesn't matter than any of those 3 are good. My only real advice is that if you buys Deans connectors make sure they are genuine Deans Ultra Plugs and if you use XTs or ECs then buy AMASS brand. You pay more than the generics but theyre better quality too.

I haven't tried the Amass brand T-plugs, but pretty sure I'd like them better with the grips on them. Wish I had tried these before switching things to XT60.

 

[Greywolf74]

The AMASS T-Plugs are definitely the best out of all the generic Deans I've ever used and they are great for light duty applications but heavy duty applications I would get genuine Deans. One thing I really like about the AMASS T-Plugs is the plastic guards so you dont have to mess with heatshrink.

 

[WickedFog]

The AMASS T-Plugs are definitely the best out of all the generic Deans I've ever used and they are great for light duty applications but heavy duty applications I would get genuine Deans. One thing I really like about the AMASS T-Plugs is the plastic guards so you dont have to mess with heatshrink.

View attachment 135941

Oh, hadn't even seen those.

 

[primebeatz]

Oh, hadn't even seen those.

My stuff came in... hopefully I get to start building it tonight.

 

[Greywolf74]

Awesome...can't wait to see it!

 

[primebeatz]

Awesome...can't wait to see it!

ESC won't fit where it's supposed to in the Ultima... can I put the battery on the radio plate and try to squeeze the ESC where the battery should go? It would be touching the radio plate

 

[WickedFog]

I can't see in that pic why it is not fitting. Can you take a couple more pics?

 

[primebeatz]

I can't see in that pic why it is not fitting. Can you take a couple more pics?

I'll have to take better pics after work. Here you might be able to see that it's too long to put like this because it doesn't clear the battery slot. If I put it lengthwise the chassis isn't wide enough. I can take off the ESC fan and put the esc under the radio plate but I'd still have to put it lengthwise and I'd still have the issue of it not fitting with the battery.

 

[Greywolf74]

It doesn't really matter where you put the electronics as long as you can get everything to fit.