XRAY - Model racing cars

I did this for a small webforum that i run here in the UK and thought you might appreciate it.

First of all Open the box I have to say the Xray kits are always a pleasure to build everything has its own bag and numbered so that you can follow the build manual with ease and not have to hunt about in other bags for parts.



Ok so following the manual the diffs are the first things needed to build looking through the bags i quickly find 1-2 these contain all the parts for the front and rear differentials.



Assembling the diffs i follow the reccomended method of shimming the main gears as well as the smaller planetery gears obviously adding a baring to both the diff side and the ring gear also. At this point you add the oil i am following a reccomended setup for novarossi fot this truck so i use 5000w in the front and 3000w in the rear diffs only fill the xray diffs half way as reccomended

Add the gasket to the ring gear and working diaganolly tighten the screws to complete the diffs.


Next up is the centre diff following the manual i locate bag 3 and basically follow the above method only this time there is no ring gear there is only a spur gear. Filling the centre diff i use 15000w oil half way again and tighten up to complete the centre diff.


Moving on now i start to assmble the front transmission as instructed by the manual. Locating bag 4 i find all the parts i need including pinion gear housing shock tower and centre driveshaft.

The first task is to assemble the driveshaft joint as in Xray kits its not prebuilt.

The small cylindrical insert fits snugly into the end of the shaft and a small grub screw is also inserted into the end of the cylindrical center of the joint you then add the cup and pin tighten it all up and hey presto you have a completed CVD.

Next up i add barings and the pinion gear to the outer casing for the transmission.

Then add the diff checking that the diff is shimmed as per the manual to allow for a snug fit and no movement side to side.

add the outer cover and screw together checking that there is still no movement from side to side bolt on the centre shaft to the pinion and check that the whole thing rotates freely and without any binding.

Add the front tower and bolt up securly and there you go all front transmission completed.


Repeat the above for the rear transmission and you get this as the finished item.


Staying at the rear you add the rear arms I am using the optional ISS plates and inserts from xray so that i can get rid if the dodgy eclip retaining system that comes as stock.
Once the lower arms are added and all secure you can move onto the anti roll bar first of all you have to add the ball joints to the linkage ends for the roll bar. I followed the xray method of using your engine mount and a screw to press these into the rod ends

I then add the centre threadded bar to join the 2 ends together to make the completed linkages.


Add the anti roll bar and this should be the finished article.

Staying with the rear for the time being you break open yet another bag of componants to complete the rear end.

Assembling the rear shafts exactly as i did the centre results in yet another set of CVD completed.

Next up is the rear turnbuckles these have to be measured as precisely as you can get to help the finished setup so i use a set of vernier calipers to check they are the same leangth every time and also even.

adding the wing mount and uprights to the transmission and placeing the upper turnbuckles and shafts in place and you should end up with this.
#

Back once again to the front and repeting the above steps firts of all adding the arms and anti roll bar (not fitted in pic)

Now moving on to constructing the Knuckles i have here chosen to use the alloy knuckles rather than the stock plastic for strength.

Constructing the upper arms at the front is identical to the way the turnbuckles at the rear was built. Bolting the whole thing together you should (hopefuly) end up with something like this.


Now that the front and rear ends are fully completed its time to fit them to the chassis.
Front end first.

Now the rear.

Adding the rear brace.

Next up its to the front to add the steering componants.

First of all i add the steering posts to the chassis then i bolt the ackerman plate to the servo saver add barings and slide into place.
Once this is done you can add the top plate and bolt the whole thing into place being careful not to overtighten the plate and checking thet the steering moves freely. Add the front brace and it should look something like this.

Add the turnbucles to connect the ackerman to the knuckles and you all done here.

Now its the turn of the centre diff housing and brakes.

First up i glued using zap a gap the brake material to the plates and stuck securely. Then its on to the construction of the centre diff housing adding the brake disk guides to the lower section and screwing into place then placing the centre diff into place in the holder and checkong for no movement side to side.
add the brake cams and arms to the housing and add the top plate. Once this is done bolt the pads to the housing and tighten the screws till they are about 1-2 mm away from the cams in the central position.
Once this is done it should look like this.


Bolt it into place on the chassis and it starts to look a bit like a truggy lol


At this point its time to add the side skirts and also the Fuel tank.
The fuel tank on the xray has rubber grommets that you bolt thru and to the supports to hold it in place securely whist reducing the risk of a fracture from vibration damage. the fuel filter holder is also bolted to the tank at this point.
add the side skirts by just bolting them into place on the chassis.

Ok back to it this morning and first thing on the list was fitting the radio tray,servos,Reciever and switch.


With the xray kit you get several types of mount for the different brands of servo with the ace servos i found the futuba mounts work best bolting it all together and the servos into place looks a bit like this.

Next up i fit the switch and reciever to the box and bolt the servo tray to the radio box add the transponder and route all of the wires out of the way of the spur and any other moving componants.


Then i build the linkage from the steering servo to the servo saver/steering this has to be precise again so i put my calipers to use once more.


Bolting the whole radio tray to the chassis and fitting the linkage


Then moving on to the throttle linkage

And the finished linkage there

Once this is done its onto the final thing to build the shocks.


The build of most shocks is pretty similer really with the xray kit again you get tons of options for piston size conical holes or straight holes the setup i am working to uses the stock 1.5mm straight holes in the piston using a pare of pliers and some tissue i grip the shaft and bolt the piston into place. the xray shocks use 2 seals and a felt gasket all covered by a rubber boot putting these together is a little fiddly so i didnt get any pics sorry guys
Front i used 45w oil and rears slightly heavyer at 50w. i take my time and make sure the shocks are fully bled and there is no air remaining to assure an uber smooth finish.
Here are the finished rears complete with 15mm preload clips.


Fitting the shocks in there final placement and tightened down.


Well thats the main build finished just had to add wing and hubs to make her complete and ready to recieve the engine once its rebuilt


I have to say what a plesent experiance building this kit was its quality and ease of construction made for a thouroughly enjoyable build.

Once the engine is fitted and my new shell arrives from custom coats i will take some final pics of her ready to run for round 1 of the SS

Hope you enjoyed the build and all of the pics sorry i missed some bits but im sure you all understand how hard it is to build a kit concentrating and constantly taking photos.

Gareth

Now all finished




And ryans special edition GOLD decal lol will let you know how it survives LOL.

Hope Mario and the Xray team dont mind me posting this here

Gareth

Thanks for your comments guys i did enjoy the build 110%

I like the composite braces tbh as the flex in the chassis i find makes the car ride the bumps better but thats just me

The tank has been foamed now and its been run in and checked for play its still great AWSOME CAR

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