Hello everyone. It has been a few months since my last post. I am still somewhat of a newb to the site, but i wanted to share the progress on my build.

I will post some pics as i get a chance and parts start to arrive

So as the title of the thread indicates i have started with the Helion Dominus 10scv2. While truck is not going to blow any doors off the competition right out of the box, for the price it is not a bad platform to start with.

I must say that I have thouroughly enjoyed working on this truck. Being that I live fairly close to a Hobbytown, parts availabilty has not been a problem at all for me.

So here is where I have taken this build so far:

Round 1

1. Ditched the brushless Reaktor system for a Castle Sidewinder 3 4600kv system i already had. Needless to say the acceleration and speed took a major jump.

2. Installed Integy motor heatsink with fan. This helped with keeping the temp down on the motor. Very easy install as it just clips onto the motor.

3. Purchased 1 Venom 2s 4000 and 1 Venom 3s 4000 lipos. Major difference in the performance of the sidwinder brushless system. The days of buying bulky Nimh packs are long gone

Overall I feel these 3 upgrades had served this truck very well. The great thing in my veiw is that even though the power was greatly increased by the new brushless system and lipo batteries the rest of the drivetrain and the whole vehicle in general held up great. Only problems i had at this point was a broken front bumper and i busted one of the front lower control arms due to stupid driving.

Round 2

1. Replaced the stock wheels and tires with a set of Traxxas 6873 B.F. Goodrich Mud Terrain T/A KM2 Tires on Chrome Slash Wheels. I cant really say to whether they made a marked improvment in handling or traction. I do however think they look much better than the stock wheels and tires.

2. Installed a set of upgraded all aluminum big bore shocks. These shocks are actually offered by helion as an upgrade. The local hobbytown had these in stock. This upgrade is one of my favorites so far.

3. installed new steel 13T pinion gear. Also had to replace the origional spur as the stock brass pinion came loose and did not so good things to the spur gear. went down in pinion size from a stock 15T to a 13T to help keep tempratures at bay on the SW3 4600kv brushless motor/ESC.

4. Installed a Savox 0251 high torque servo. I didnt want to spend alot of money but wanted a servo that had more turning power under load due to the upgrade in the motor/esc. I have been very pleased with this servo and for the price i think it is a great upgrade.

These latest 4 upgrades have really made this truck a blast to drive. I mainly bash this truck at the local hobby shop track. It is actually a pretty cool track setup to run actual events, though they have not done so at this point. There are usually a fair amount of people running their rigs on the weekends and they run the gambit from little kids be-boppin around with an entry level brushed rig to full on racing rigs. I would say that with where i have my truck at this point it holds its own with some of the other short course rigs that one would consider a moderate to higher end truck. That is just my opinion of course as i have no experience in actually racing events. Ive only bashed at the local track and have done random spur of the moment races between people at the track. The shocks made such a difference on this truck. Before it was very bouncy and all over the place. It was hard to control in the air during a jump and it was very squirrely upon trying to recover after landing a jump. After the shocks were installed it was so much easier going around corners and lining up for jumps. When jumping the truck would take off in a much more stable trajectory and it took much less throttle and brake control to keep it flying level in the air. The landings were nice and smooth and keeping control of the truck afterwards was greatly improved.

Coming Soon

I have now entered what I am calling the "Final Stretch" with this build. Here are the parts that have been ordered and are on their way.

1. Duratrax Onyx 1/10 Scale 3650kV SC Brushless System. I decided on this system to replace the SW3 4600kv setup i have now. Unfortunately one of the power terminals for the motor has become disconnected from the ESC board. I am looking to get this warrantied/fixed by castle. I had already purchased the SW3 system before i bought this truck and truthfully it probably wouldnt have been my first choice of brushless systems. So i took this opportunity to go with something else while I am waiting for the SW3 system to be repaired. In all likelyhood i will probably be putting the SW3 system into a 2wd stampede i have. I cant wait to get this Onyx system in and see how it performs.

2. 14T 32P associated steel pinion to match the 5mm shaft on the Onyx system.

3. FLY SKY FS-GT3B Digital 3-Channel 2.4ghz TX & RX LCD Transmitter & Receiver. I have been wanting to upgrade the TX/RX system on this rig for a while. This has been kind of a budget build for me and is my first really moderate/major build (at least to a newb like me ). I know i may be taking a shot in the dark with this system but for $40 i figured why not? I have read many reviews on this system and while most are good I know that there is the problem child system that pops up with these. Again, I didnt want to spend a ton of money on a radio system and for the price of this i figured it was worth the chance.

I cant wait to get these final 3 upgrades installed. this is my first real modding/building of a vehicle. it has been a great experience. I could have probably just went ahead and bought one of the more expensive RTR short course kits out there for the amount of money I have ultimately spent on this truck. But, I wouldnt have had the wonderful experience of working on a rig and building it how I wanted it. That to me is pretty much half the fun of this hobby. not just buying a rig and replacing parts as they break, but actually building a rig and making it your own. I have officially been bitten by the R/C bug. I am already looking forward to my next build. Maybe a Buggy or Truggy, who knows. Anyways, thanks for taking the time to read my experience. I hope some have found this somewhat useful and can reference it to help guide their own build.


P.S. - I will grab some pics soon and try to show the progression of my build.