Crawler Canyon Presents: the Vanquish VS4-10 Phoenix Portal. Build, test, (kinda) review.

Be aware, it's a LOOOOOONG one. So long that I filled the HD on my lappy trying to export it, and spent two hours in fear I'd just flushed 3 days of work down the drain.
I have everything broken into chapters, so watch the whole thing or watch just what you want.
00:00 Intro
00:29 In Memoriam
01:25 Build Intro
06:28 Front axle assembly and notes
08:45 Rear axle assembly and notes
11:01 Chassis assembly
13:43 VFD Gearbox and fitting the motor*
16:41 The Motor Merry-Go-Round
18:15 Even more gearbox
24:46 Yet still more gearbox!
27:08 Shock assembly and notes
32:19 Driveshaft assembly
34:24 Suspension links
37:25 Mounting front axle
39:13 Mounting rear axle
41:15 Chassis plastics
45:26 Fitting electronics
1:00:53 Body and Paint overview
1:02:56 Mounting the tires, notes
1:07:25 The Roller
1:10:42 Final tweaks
1:13:27 Trial run

[@BrandonM83]

I could rewatch this 100000 times lol

[@79Blazer]

I am glad I found your video before I started assembly on my Phoenix.

[@rccrawlingaddict207]

Are now have one and I'm waiting for warm weather to use it. The living room has already gotten old! So I built another truck.....while I wait......and another frame just showed up today!

[@joelouis6106]

Awesome video very detailed information will definitely save me some time on my build. Thank you

[@boosieboo497]

Great video sir. Just ordered me one and wanted to know the issues to look out for. Perfect

[@BlackSmithRC]

Hey bro, I have been reading your post on the forum since your Traxxas Stampede build. Like your work then, like your work still. Glad to see another O.G. RC enthusiast still loving the hobby. MIDWID!

[@CrawlerCanyon]

Man, that's a blast from the past. I sure do miss URC. About half of my old builds still line the shelves in my shop, including at least of the parts from that first Pede.

[@SlavaRC]

Cool build video, thanks bro!)🤩💥💯👍👏

[@unknwnrc]

I love it, Keep making these awesome videos!!!!

[@BrandonM83]

Ahhhhh yesss. I keep finding the phoenix vidssss Yesssss

[@CrawlerCanyon]

That's the OG Phoenix video, I wasn't even bothering to make thumbnails then!

[@BrandonM83]

@@CrawlerCanyon love it Mr canyon 😎😎😎👌👌

[@loichristopher3806]

Awesome video and wonderful build. Keep it up! 💯 👍

[@vbspeed7571]

Hello from V&b speed a new rc community channel ✌ stop in say hi thank you

[@drowildcat2960]

​@@vbspeed7571 that is super wrong and shitty of you to promote your channel on someone else's channel That's just straight up pathetic and I hope you never make it just because of that reason doing this type of thing on someone else's channel is a straight up low life move

[@EugeneRCDrezgalovo48rus]

Awesome video 👍

[@billderas3420]

Excellent video. Too bad I did not see it before I built my Phoenix. Swapping the two front shock towers will align their body post mounts with the holes provided in the front inner fenders. Only important if you want to utilize the front body post mounts to accommodate a different body. A friend 3D printed me a nice receiver box that mounts where the winch servo would go...Tucked the receiver and extra wiring into it which cleaned up my wiring immensely. I also cut off the supplied battery tray from the DIG servo mount and placed a 2200kv battery on the rightside slider tray and the ESC behind the OD servo on the leftside slider tray.

[@meirdeaph]

Great build video i want one so bad but still not sure id be able to get it together your vid definitely gonna help me try

[@CrawlerCanyon]

Everything in the build is pretty straightforward-- but do yourself a favor and take your time when you get to the gearbox. There should really have been more steps dedicated to it in the manual. There's a lot going on in that thing.

[@boosieboo497]

I thought the same thing first time I built a kit. But if you’ve worked on a crawler or really any rc then you get it no problem

[@jammer2150]

great build video so far, mines still sitting in the box waiting for other projects to clear up, think I will be in same boat as you with moving motors around beings that I bought an 1800kv fusion for it, I am up to the beginning of you building the incision shocks and paused to say those are not going on my rig I have a spare set of 90mm element shocks, If I feel the extra 10mm is too much I will find another shock, looks like I am 26 min in to your vid thumbs up so far :)

[@CrawlerCanyon]

There’s a shock merry-go-round here as well- though I don’t think the VS4-10 will be involved, even if I would like to try some 90mm. The geometry is pretty much perfect on the 80s, and those Incision shocks are sooooooo smooth.

[@dimo2224]

Dear god. A fusion does friggen fit. Your the king of fabricating kits. Would think u would see it just needs a tiny bit of modifications to have it fit. The spektrum 2in1 fits with no modifications. Other then that. Another great video.

[@CrawlerCanyon]

The NEW Fusions fit. The older 1200kv and 1800kv ones absolutely do not. I'm running a Caslte 1406 in there, and at 49.5mm it's got maybe 4mm behind it-- the sensor wire has to be plugged in before the motor is installed. The older Fusions are 58mm long. No way one is going in there. I don't own any of the new 1400/2300kv Fusions.

[@dimo2224]

@@CrawlerCanyon if you take the red backing off the fusion it will fit. Or shave the plastic of trans housing it will also fit. Did it to mine when I first built it. And yes the new fusion pro will fit with no modifications

[@Oper8or]

I know this is an older video, but I'm weighing the options for my build and of course I value your opinion so I came to see the build of this. I'm still looking at the option of the Phoenix portal or buying the Element builders kit 2 and throwing the parts onto a THG Element kit. I really want to try portals, but it scares me because of the price. Heck a Base Camp costs 10 bucks less than the Phoenix and is much simpler but I'm sure the quality isn't near as good. Your video was fantastic as always sir. Now to go watch the portal battle to help me decide if I really want portals or if it's a fad that is stuck in my head.

[@CrawlerCanyon]

Also remember-- there's a straight-axle Phoenix now, a whole 10 bucks cheaper than the portal version-- but otherwise identical. If you like to throw mods at a rig, the Phoenix might not be for you. I've made zero substantive changes to it since it was built. Just one loon's opinion, but the Phoenix is the best rig I've wheeled "out of the box." The body is two things, though: gorgeous, and a bit of a porker. A Phoenix with a lightweight body? Watch out.

[@seanburrill8714]

That is a 20 on the steering servo correct? Vanquish likes 20 on the steering servos and 24 on the dig/overdrive. Just hoping to help. I cannot wait to get that kit, looks awesome sir!

[@CrawlerCanyon]

Yeah, it's REAL picky about the steering servo horn-- most of the 25T horns I have won't even physically fit. I ended up finding a 20mm horn in one of my bins, and that fits perfect, but still has to be clocked about 15º to the left so I don't have to dial in a massive amount of sub-trim. Since editing this video, the trims and horns have been sorted out all through the rig, and I can select RWD as well, which is pretty neat.

[@thindigital]

The portal builders kit is on black Friday sale right now! Watching this on repeat till mine arrives 😄 Didn't hobbywing release a shorter fusion this year?

[@CrawlerCanyon]

That's what I'm running in the straight-axle Phoenix on the bench right now, the Fusion Pro 2300. It is VERY good, and I don't hesitate to recommend. The older 1800 Fusion was pretty much my favorite powerplant for crawlers (I think I have 4 of them) but the Pro really is better. More wheelspeed, but even better control, and the package is quite a bit smaller. The reason the portal Phoenix didn't get a Fusion is because the older model absolutely would not fit. The Pro is around 7mm shorter, and JUST fits into a VFD Twin.

[@thindigital]

@@CrawlerCanyon excellent I shall add one to the wishlist, it's gonna be my first 'premium' build so I prepping to spend real money this time!

[@RC4X4]

Great video. What colors did you use on the body. It is a looker.

[@CrawlerCanyon]

This body was done entirely with Duplicolor Vinyl & Fabric paint-- silver for the body, matte black for the fenders, and desert sand for the seats. Works every bit as well as polycarbonate-specific paint at roughly 1/4 the cost.

[@TinyTiresRC]

Great video. Personally, I enjoy your brand of babble. One question for you.. I have just begun to fit the body on my Phoenix and I noticed looking at the truck head on the front axle seems to be shifted more towards the left(drivers) side of the chassis. Links are built to kit spec. Is yours the same?

[@CrawlerCanyon]

That's odd-- mine is perfectly centered, I just had to clock my servo horn ~15º to the left to get the front wheels straight without a ton of sub-trim. As the drag link and the panhard are the same length, you'd think it would push the steering to the left as well if the link(s) are too short. The front links being triangulated, if the drag link isn't the right length, the servo can push or pull the axle depending on the length of the link. I personally think every CMS crawler should have turnbuckles for both drag link and panhard, as it seems that no two servos are truly alike.

[@TinyTiresRC]

@@CrawlerCanyon Agreed. I will just adjust the Panhard and Drag link.

[@donald2818]

Put the shock collars over the stove or a heat gun then thread them on. They will stretch just enough.

[@CrawlerCanyon]

Speaking of, TRX-4 collars fix perfectly, and you actually thread them on. Vanquish seems to have addressed the issue (at least IME) because I now have 3 rigs with Incision SEs, and had no problems at all with "newer" collars, on both the 80mm and +90mm shocks.

[@donald2818]

@@CrawlerCanyon they they ship with aluminum collars now that fit right. I got the aluminum shock caps as well so that I don’t have to worry about stripping the bleeder screws.

[@teamsargentrc6399]

Beautiful job... amazing regarding noise, Have the Holmes 3500kv Puller Pro v2 to the copperhead esc & best in class vs all Hobbywing motor & esc's... Personally...

[@LumpkinMumfins1]

As someone who’s new to hobby-grade RC’s, watching you build this is both super exciting and incredibly daunting. Thank heavens I started with an SCX24 because if I’d started even with a RTR 1/10, the fire might have died by now 😅 Edit: love your content, btw!

[@michaellenheiser3157]

New Crawler name for it…. El Fenix (El Phoenix)?

[@gregoryduvall4758]

Did you get the steering links and travel figured out?

[@CrawlerCanyon]

I did. The Phoenix is SUPER particular about what servo horn you use-- I'm sure it wants a Vanquish 20mm horn-- but I managed to find a horn that sat just right on the servo, and properly cleared the panhard mount. It's on a completely different servo now (4S direct power) but same brand (AGFRC) so the horn sits the same. I didn't even have to adjust the trims.

[@gregoryduvall4758]

@@CrawlerCanyon Would the vanquish horn have solved the problem?

[@CrawlerCanyon]

@@gregoryduvall4758 ...possibly. The clearance might have been better, but there's no guarantee the horn would have clocked properly, or sat at the right height, because I feel like no two servos are 100% alike, and designers seem to build rigs around a particular, undefined servo-- that they keep secret. Also, while pretty, I've stripped out two Vanquish horns, so I tend to stick to the uber-cheapo 5-for-$10 horns from Amazon, and just treat them as disposables (I actually just saw a 10-pack for $16.) When you break all the teeth out of a $14 Vanquish horn on it's second run, it stings a little.

[@cl-audio322]

RIP Remutation! Still have my Phoenix in the box. I love its quality for the cost, but just wish it was a better performer. My hope was it would be more premier performer and less trail truck.

[@Rc-Adventurers]

Where is the receiver “intended” to go??

[@CrawlerCanyon]

Every photo I've seen, they put it one of the little "notches" in the back side of the right front fender. I had absolutely no intention of putting mine there. If you're using a full-size 2S/3S pack, I have no idea where they want you to put an Rx that isn't super tiny-- short of putting extension cables on everything and putting it in the fuel cell.

[@drowildcat2960]

Best setup I found is to move the ESC up to where the steering servo is You can put a plate on the place where you can add a winch and put your ESC there to add more weight forward bias and put RX on side You can do it the other way around too put Rx in place where winch mount is and ESC on side like this gentleman has it but then the heaviest part is on the side of rig more towards the middle and not centered instead of The weight in the front over the axle and will be more in the center if put ESC on a plate u can order plate to move esc off eBay for 6$ to make it easy that plate even comes with an extra area on it to put Rx right in front of steering servo and ESC then all weight is forward bias and nothing on side rails of truck there is a few options I put mine also in a waterproof box a Traxxas Maxx one it fits perfectly and has enough holes for all wires to be water proof I mounted Traxxas box on the side of the rig and ESC in the winch placement it works great 👍 just thought I would try to help have a good day gentlemen

[@chrissorge9575]

Strap battery in front of radiator.

[@erichiles9568]

Without subtrim

[@dennychaput4689]

I think your paint job is exemplary Mr Canyon, the silver radiator pops real good. I’m getting ready to paint my first body ever: my Ecto Powee Wagon body , I’m going for bittom half flat black “”and gold mini flake checkers, tip half will be flat black with some rust patina. Check out the “Ectoplasmic Trail Keeper@

[@erichiles9568]

Center ur servo horn

[@donald2818]

They leak some unfortunately. They are nice otherwise. Traxxas seems to be the only company that can make a shock that doesn't leak.

[@CrawlerCanyon]

I have one of three on my straight axle that's a bit of a weeper, but amazingly the shocks in this build have been super solid. From back in the day, Losi 8ight shocks could be almost guaranteed to never leak-- but the shock o-rings would fit on a body post (the pistons are 17mm) so I'm sure the size of everything getting a little closer to "real" things doesn't hurt.

[@erichiles9568]

I thought u was building a truck

[@shlomogoldstein3373]

I thought u was speaking english then I realized you're just speaking tardish

[@davidhighfill9356]

Please please stop with all the really bad porn music you use to cover up the back ground noise i never hear until you say something. I like what your doing i have watch all your videos from start to finsh. some more then once.

[@CrawlerCanyon]

I don't know if a better microphone would help, but without something to cover up the ambient noise, the raw audio is pretty terrible. My "recording studio" is a section of workbench in the corner my workshop, which is a metal truss building with no insulation, so I might as well be recording in the middle of a field. Only it's louder.

[@ceff01]

you left motor cover off

[@CrawlerCanyon]

I think I'm only running a full cover on one VFD Twin, and "chopped" covers on a few others (just the top half, to keep wires out of the spur gear.) Argentum the Zoku Phoenix, no gear cover at all. I won't run one unless absolutely necessary.

[@ceff01]

@@CrawlerCanyon I think my gear cover is rubbing on spur, did that happen to you thanks

[@ceff01]

@@CrawlerCanyon hi what size spur and pinion thank you

[@CrawlerCanyon]

@@ceff01 stock gearing, 15/52. Still running that gearing with the Fusion Pro.

[@ceff01]

@@CrawlerCanyon thanks, I'm using 56 and 13t that's why it's hard to push the portal vs410