Axial Yeti
 

I'm surprised no one is talking about this here. I only found out about it the other day but I'm a little late to the party as it's been talked about for over a month in other places.

I think it looks pretty cool. It appears to be the kind thing that you can take on a trail run or just bash on it. Maybe it could take some glory away from the Summit. Looks like it will be out mid August.

http://www.axialracing.com/products/ax90026

http://www.towerhobbies.com/products...rder_0614.html

http://www.rcnews.net/wp-content/upl.../06/Yeti-2.jpg

http://www.rcnews.net/wp-content/upl...Yeti-3main.jpg

http://www.axialracing.com/assets/pr...jpg?1403117629

http://www.axialracing.com/assets/pr...jpg?1403191150

http://www.axialracing.com/assets/pr...jpg?1403114305

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gH68SjZZMO0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7GA7XcaH0Y

Well it's past mid August. Anyone got any word on these yet. I hate buying the first batch of anything whether it's the latest gaming console or an RC, there's always a few bugs that need to be sorted out. I'd love to hear if people are getting their hands on them and what their thoughts are.

Certainly looks like a well-sorted chassis, everything mounted in the center. The motor is certainly capable, being a Castle. Interesting that you can, if you want, mount FOUR shocks on the rear. Not sure why they did not include the 2-speed tranny, other than to trim the RTR cost. The 2-speed is available as an option.

It looks like a beast and loads of fun!

I'm betting that the idea was spawned from many enthusiast's projects of building "WREXOs," (hybrid Wraith / EXO Terra Buggies). I would like to see a kit version with some aluminum upgrades included and possibly even the 2-speed transmission.

I am very curious to know how it handles on a track. Not that this is necessarilly a track car but, the EXO was a 4-wheel independent suspension car and shares the same dimensions as a SC truck. Hell, I entered mine in to a local SC4x4 race before. The Yeti appears to share the same dimensions but with 2.2 wheels. That live axle is what gets me in regards to agility / overall handling. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for this setup and it looks incredible. Well engineered. But, do recall that RC4WD used to offer the "Hardcore Slash" solid axle conversion kit a couple of years ago. While you ended up with a very unique looking vehicle, the solid axle setup diminished the handling characteristics of the original vehicle and made it less track worthy. For bashing and general driving this isn't an issue but even if you're running against your buddies in a field the Yeti could potentially be at a disadvantage. I'd like to see a heads up race between a Yeti and an EXO with similar setups on stock tires. I have an EXO ready to go, someone get a Yeti and meet me in the Central Valley of California. We'll make our own YouTube video!

Got Paint?
 

After almost a year of running the Yeti with recycled milk jug body panels, I've decided to break out the new airbrush and try my hand at it again after a 20+ hiatus from doing the time consuming task...test subject: Yeti :D. She's not the prettiest, but she's mine. The Yeti's RTR color scheme was one of the points of interest that got my attention to the platform in the first place. I'm a sucker for blue/white/black graphics!
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2150573http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2150574http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2150575http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2150576http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2150577http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2150578http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2150579

That looks excellent Rusty, nice work on that paint job. I am always too worried of screwing it up to do multicolor paint schemes, or if I do, it ends up looking amateur. This looks profesh!
Don't you love the Yeti? Its so versatile. You can run it all over. It is my go to vehicle now. Love it.

We should encourage everyone to post up their Yeti pics. builds, upgrades etc. Axial is a great brand, and even though they sometimes release with a few bugs, there are plenty of aftermarket parts to upgrade it to the wazzzooo! Thanks for reviving this Thread. I went the easy route and just used AMF aluminum panels with the Poison Spyder graphics. When the graphics get destroyed, I will repolish the aluminum and then lacquer coat it , then apply a different theme.
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2150616

Thanks for the approval of the paint :). And I totally like your two tone (black/aluminum) ride...sweeet!

The first moment I drove the Yeti I was in love. The body roll and suspension travel is what I love to watch the most on the Yeti platform. It is, hands down, the most fun I have had in RC in a long time.

Agreed. I did stiffen up the suspension a little but its because I added weight to the vehicle so I needed stiffer springs, and I went up 10 in each oil weight. I am building my Wraith now and I will do the same for it but I got the Gmade piggy back shocks so I can just turn a screw to adjust the plushness, and I bought 3 levels of springs for change in stiffness if needed. but I was looking and most of the weight on the Wraith is in the axles and the center. I don't think it will need stiffer springs.

Well... if the Yeti is so much fun then bigger must be more fun, right? I went with the Yeti XL kit version and it's a beast. Castle Mamba Monster X ESC and 2200 KV motor, Hot racing aluminum steering system, shock tower, motor mount and plate, Axial aluminum servo horn, etc. Not much. Just some minor bulletproofing. I only got the shock tower because I had Tower cash to burn. Which reminds me... I have Tower cash to burn! Anyway, here's my contribution to this fine thread.

https://youtu.be/6uyN-7GTQ5k

I like it man. Nice graphics on it and the upgrades you made were on point. Neighbor got the XL and he did not replace the bushing in the metal spur and it melted instantly, he did not replace the motor mount and his motor is coming loose often and flexes causing damage to the pinion. Any issues with the 4 screws that capture the pinion in the solid rear axle? He had problems with that too. Otherwise that thing is a BEAST. He is using the same motor/esc and with 4s even it is a wheelie stander. The Wraith is pretty. I am currently building my Wraith. Taking my time with it to prolong the pleasure. Like Tantric RC Building lol prolong the pleasure of building. Ok maybe that was a bit much lol. Trying to stay happy on a Saturday when I have to be at work for 9 hours.

I took Yeti to work with me to show to a co-worker my latest paint job. Well, I made the mistake of having the battery in the tray. The question came up..."Is that thing charged up?" Long story short...Yeti sped off through the office, and out the back door; launched off the loading dock, and landing on the asphalt with the right rear tire causing a nasty cartwheel. Co-workers were like, "Dude, that was an awesome crash!" I'm thinking to myself this is gonna be a expensive repair. To my disbelief, no parts were tossed anywhere or broken.

I very rarely take the Yeti on asphalt, but me watching someone else drive it on a high traction surface, I did notice was the tires folding over on the asphalt; thus causing traction rolls on every turn. At the moment I'm looking for some new foams as the stock ones are becoming pretty much useless. I've looked into Crawler Innovations Deuce's Wild standard foam to be the replacements for the Yeti's stock tire foam. Any thoughts on, or anything other foams I should look at?

I have no idea. I just use the foams that come with them. I bet someone on here has some suggestions. I got a pair of Proline Flat Irons and the foams are huge and they are so big they are kind of warped in a spot so it creates a flat spot in the tire. I think over time it will even out. I also noticed that the stock tires and foams are very pliable but I think that is because its intended for gripping onto rocks well. These things were not intended to run on asphalt.

On another note, What the heck were you thinking letting coworkers run your Yeti?? NO ONE runs any of my vehicles but me. I don't trust anyone with them and if they did crash them they wouldn't pony up the loot for parts. I let a friend of mine run the Jato once. He broke an A Arm because he sucked at driving and broke the drive shaft. He wouldnt give me a dime. Laughs and says sorry. He isn't a friend anymore thats for sure.

I let pretty much let anyone have a hand at my RCs. If they can walk away with a smile and potentially have enough interest in purchasing a model for themselves...my job is done. If they are really noobish to the whole RC thing, I tone the speed down (EPA) and/or use 2S packs etc. etc. What I didn't count on, with my Yeti, was the back doors to the dock being open, and Mr. Happy Trigger Fingers taking my words literally ..."Let's take it outside" meant "Go For It!" to him, and the dock jumping incident commenced.

Oh, well. It just proved to me at how durable the Yeti is in box stock form. I thought for sure a bent axle, at least, was coming home with me to add to parts order. If the whole thing was done with one of my graphite chassis stadium trucks, I'd likely be here typing with a big pile of broken poo to repair.

I've only run it on 4S with 50% punch control programmed into the ESC so I have not had any rear pinion / diff problems yet. It'll still wheelie and flip over backwards so throttle control is a must with this beast. I'm still waiting for the rear diff shims to be restocked so I can do the three bearing mod to the rear end. That will solve many potential pinion problems back there.

Rusty or others, do you know how to adjust the Aftermarket Hot Racing steering servo saver? I have it set to tight and when I clipped an object yesterday it shredded the internal gears... its a mess. So there goes a hitech ultratorque servo. I will get a new one today but I was curious if anyone knew how to adjust it so I won't have this issue again. Need to loosen it up a bit.

They make two steering bellcranks systems... one is non adjustable, and of course the other one is/has an adjustable "thumb wheel" servo saver set-up with two different springs included (stiff & soft). I don't know which one you have. I guessing you just bought the aluminum/graphite one with the non-adjustable servo saver like comes with the RTR/kit. In that case, I just use a spare bearing (inner diameter x outer diameter x width) 10x15x4mm bearing in the servo saver to compress the spring more...this will take care of the slop in the steering...well a lot of it anyway. I still have a working servo saver that will engage when big hits arise. But unlike the stock set-up, I can definitely turn the wheels now at a standstill.
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2151693http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2155459http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2155460

Im upset with Hot Racing. They claim that I have the non adjustable one, but the advertisement they had up was a misprint and said adjustable. I want it replaced. That cost me a servo. so irritating.

Hello everyone! I'm new to this forum as i got tired of dealing with the Traxxas one. My wife and I are about 1/2 way through our first kit (Yeti 1/10th) and i had a couple of questions about electronics options. I already know what transmitter setup i'm going to use (Specktrum dx4s) and have already installed the 2 speed kit as well(hot racing). As far as servos i'm planning to use a Savox 1210 sg for steering and a 231wp for shifting. The two things that I'm not 100% on is what motor esc combo and if i should just get a BEC right away or run first to see if glitching occurs as i don't know much about the glitch busters. This will more than likely be my wife's car for the most part. I say this because she is new to the hobby. I on the other hand am not. So I'm looking for power when i pick it up and the ability to program it down when she picks it up (on the fly if possible). Also i have mostly 3s packs so i would like to be able to run those without any real chance of overheating (within reason of course). Also i don't wanna deal with traxxas anymore so giving them any money is out of the question for me. I really appreciate your guys' input on all this and i look forward to participating in this forum! One thing i forgot to add is that EVERYTHING MUST BE WATER PROOF! i live in washington and it rains 200+ days out of the year so not getting wet is pretty much impossible!

Welcome to the forum! Nice folks here.
If yer gonna run a Savox, and especially if you're going to run two, DEFINITELY get an outboard BEC. Glitch-buster caps only do so much. Savox are power hogs.

That's really good to hear! Its hard to find friendly forums! Can you tell me a little about the difference between a glitch buster and a BEC? I have always been more into nitro so my electric experience is a little lacking at this point aside from the basics. The way things are worded i was having a hard time telling the difference between the two.

You will definitely want a 550 sized motor. 68mm is about the maximum length that will fit in the chassis before having to mod/cut the battery tray. I had three different motors in my Yeti. My favorite, for running on 3S, is a Neu-Castle 1512 2650kv. I'm not about speed any more, so you may want a motor in the 3000kv range if you want even more speed. Or (I haven't done it) throw a 4S pack at the motor. I only use 4000mah 3S hard cased LiPo packs, and they just barely fit in the Yeti's tray. I've seen people using 4S soft cased packs, but I think the sweet spot for the rock racer is 3S.

Thank you Rusty! What kind of speed are we talking? As long as i can make it hit around 35-40mph then i think we will be happy ( i know gearing play a role but just in general)! Also what esc do you like to run with that? I was originally looking at the sidwinder 8th combo or the monster 8th combo because of the power and water resistance of both the controller and motor along with the program-ability but i'm not fond of cutting to make the motor fit like you said. 3s is were i like to be with my slash right now so i figured that wouldn't change with the yeti being heavier and pushing 4wd rather than 2wd. Having the ability to run a 4s if i get really brave is a definite plus! Also what battery brand do you use for that 3s pack as i don't think my normal 3s pack will fit in that tray now that im looking at it lol. Thanks for the responses so far guys!

So i just looked at the Neu-Castle 1512 2650kv and i had a question. I don't mind forking out for that level of motor but only if its reliable and rebuild-able? Just don't wanna be paying $160 annually is what im getting at lol

You don't want to know what ESC I use...the cheapest "blue" 120A you can find on eBay :p. They work for my needs...yes, I have multiples of them Tyrannosaurus Rex ESCs. The one has survived last years Yeti adventures on 3S and another one is currently in a 1/8 buggy handling the same 3S power. Only problem...not waterproof.

Since you said about the price of Castle Creations, I gather you are wanting something like a Tenshock SCEK4V2 1/10 Short Course Combo...3400kv option?

The 35~40mph benchmark you look to achieve is asking a lot from the Yeti...straight line shots over uneven/bumpy terrain...not a problem. Navigating the Axial beast over rough stuff, and at moderate speeds is a joy to watch. Has anyone ever ran a Yeti at that 40 mph mark before? I don't have a number for you as far as how fast my Yeti runs with the 2650kv motor. My Garmin GPS is crapping out on me and won't hold a charge after it's last use the other day. I'd guess 25~27mph just by the way it feels/looks compared to a SC or eBuggy.

Oh no i'm not afraid of the price point at all i just don't wanna be replacing it every 3 months like the velineon motor. I'm one of those people that has learned it is often better to spend a little more upfront lest you pay for it later. The main concern that i had with the less popular brands is safety as this will be my wife's car and i don't want esc fires to scare her away from the hobby or turn her hard work into a bubbling puddle. I know that fires are possible no matter what brand but i guess i just assumed cheap escs' are gunna have a higher catastrophic failure rate. If you say that you have had good luck with the cheap escs' then i might give them a go and see. When shopping for the cheap ones is there anything to look out for or particular models that you like? Also if i cant hit that speed mark then thats ok, it will just mean that my wife will drive it more than me which is prolly in the trucks best interest lol.