Serpent Cobra GTe Build 2.0

 

Build of the Serpent Cobra GT-e 1/8 EP onroad (#600043)

Tools used

AM-110115 ALLEN WRENCH 1.5 X 120MM
AM-110120 ALLEN WRENCH 2.0 X 120MM
AM-110125 ALLEN WRENCH 2.5 X 120MM
AM-110130 ALLEN WRENCH 3.0 X 120MM
AM-150155 NUT DRIVER 5.5 X 100MM
AM-150170 NUT DRIVER 7.0 X 100MM
AM-150112 NUT DRIVER 12.0 X 100MM
AM-140135 PHILLIPS SCREWDRIVER 3.5 X 120MM
AM-130140 FLAT BLADE SCREWDRIVER 4.0 X 150MM
AM-190009 TURNBUCKLE WRENCH 4MM – V2 
AM-190031-P MULTI SHOCK-CLAMP V3
AM-190023 4.0 REAMER X 120MM

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Optional:

AM-170063 Multi Alu Case for Screws (120X80X18)
AM-170052 TOOLS BASE
AM-500902 POWER TOOL TIP SET 4 PIECES WITH PLASTIC CASE

Non-Arrowmax Tools needed:

Exacto knife
nail file from wife
Digital Calipers
needle nose pliers
Body Scissors
Power Driver

Chemicals used:

Red Loctite
Green Slime

Electronics:

HobbyWing XERUN-150A-SD ESC
MKT Racing 7200 80c 2s Lipo Black Line Lipo x 2 (waiting for one to arrive so fitted Unicorn 6600 35c 2s Lipo Pil to start with)
HobbyWing XERUN-4068SD 2250KV Motor (had in my offroad buggy and will use until Tenshock motors come)
Tenshock Motors coming for me to try thanks to Tenshock Europe who have sponsored this build with 2 different motors to test.
tenshock
1.) Sensored brushless motor TS X812 6-Pol Car Motor 2450KV  2.) Brushless Motor TS X-802 6-Pol Car Motor 2400KV
Sanwa RX 471 Receiver
ACE RC DS1015 Digital Servo

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Upgrades fitted:

Black springs (#600602 x 2 sets)
Body 1/8 Cobra GT pre painted (#170311) 
Chassis brace front alu 811-E (#600461) 
Chassis brace rear alu 811-E (#600462) 
C hub 0-deg (#600694)
Antiroll bar shaft front buggy (#600309)
Post wingmount alu (#600300)
Radiotray set light alu/carbon (#600681) 
Antiroll bar shaft rear buggy (#600310)
Servo Saver Alu (#600296)
Servo saver spring hard (#600330) 
Shock spring support alu (#600287)
Spurgear 46T composite (#600606)
Steering block alu 0-deg (#600611)
Steering Rack Option 2 (#600172)
Wheel-nut 17mm flanged-light (4) (#600297)

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Build Notes:

Before starting make sure you get the following downloads from Serpent

Upgrade Manual:
Manual:
Radio Tray Set Light alu/carbon (if fitting): see the images here
Switching between update manual and standard gets confusing, I must be getting old. You need to download the manual and also the upgrade manual see above links.
The updated manual does not show everything that has changed in the V2 car, so watch what you are doing and for the most part it is self explanitory,

1.) Also in the manual it shows in the diffs front and rear that there are washers over the outer oil seals before the pin is put in, this does not apply as there is no need for the washers anymore and they are not included in the kit so don’t panic when you cannot find them. (see pictures below)
2.) It does not show how the rear bodymount is fitted but scroll down the upgrade manual and you will see a greyed out picture of the new mount, including how the post wingmounts are fitted and orientation of the body mount. (see pictures below)

Tip 1: When fitting the front bumper it is very hard to get the nyloc nuts inside the plastic base to tighten up, if you use a bolt and push down it makes life so much easier see picture below.

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Other tips that are a must to read are in Ty Jacobs’s guide and Ty has put together this guide and setup for the GP version but it does transfer accross also to the GTe, here is Ty’s guide and also a download link. Thanks go to Ty for doing this for anybody who needs setup and build tips it is a great guide.

Ty Jacobs’s Guide: Download a PDF version and also a Base Setup below.

Serpent GT and GTe Guide
CobraGT BaseSetup_Ty_Jacobs

Serpent GT and GT-e guide
The guide below was written by Ty Jacobs and mainly used on the Serpent GT Nitro car but a lot of it will translate across to the GTe Electric car.

About Ty:

I began racing GTs in late 2011 with one of the class founders Gus “Spooky” Wood. In 2012 I attended my first big race at the 4th annual Timezone GP in Battleground, WA. At the race lone and behold is Paolo Morganti Serpent Factory Team Driver. I got to talking with Paolo about the new GT car Serpent had and he showed me the car. I qualified 9th placing me 1st in the B main. I put down a great race and bumped to the A main. I remember walking up to the driver stand for the A and looking at the drivers I was about to race in awe. Paolo looked over to me and said “let’s have some fun” which took the shell shock out of the moment. I relaxed and drove the main ending up 5th overall. I was hooked from then on.
From that point I began to travel more and after running into Paolo at a few more races I was brought onto the Team. My journey continues with Serpent and I am proud to be part of the Team. I primarily race the Serpent Cobra GT but I have also spent time with the Cobra Buggy, Cobra Truggy, ERYX, 747, S120 and S100.

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Okay here we go! The information I’m going to share comes from great amounts of testing and experience I have gathered from other Team Drivers as wells as experienced myself. There are a few concepts and ideas that will make this car great.

Build Tips:

Tip 1: Probably the most important is the differential case. When you go to install the differential case together you may experience some binding. Every piece if finely made and will need to wear in over time. The trick here is to tighten the screws all the way in and then back them off a half to 1 turn. This will ensure you do not bind the outer bearing of the differential and you will have very low resistance setup.
You also do not need to shim the diff from side to side like mentioned in the manual. Again the new gears can fit tight and it is best to wear them in. I run the car with this setup all the time. Some like to only do it for the first few weeks with the car.
My drivetrain has very little resistance using this method which means more power to the ground. This also results in significantly less wear on your driveshaft pins and differential cups.

Tip 2: I have often heard the car referred to as a Rattle Snake. I myself have experienced this but have found a way to keep everything together and have no fear. In the manual it suggests using lock tight on the drivetrain in a few locations. I highly recommend using Red Loctite on the drivetrain as I have seen many people have issues there.
Again this is only a suggestion some people have the car apart so often that everything is getting torqued frequently. For those weekend racers who like to put the car together and only fix stuff that breaks this is for you.
I Loctite the Diff couplers, Wheel Axels and the 2 speed out drives on the nitro GT with Red. Since changing over to the Red I have had zero issues with the Rattle Snake phenomenon.

Tip 3: Kudos to the Off Road Team on this one. The Cobra kits come with a unique sway bay setup that has instant reaction to arm movement unlike many other chassis. If you are running on a bumpy surface take the Anti-Rollbar nut and loosen it to give you about 1-2mm of play on the ball. This will give you that small amount of play to keep your sways working the corners not the bumps.

Setup Tips:

To me this car is very impressive. Out of all the drivers I have met across the country and around the world you can set this car up to do anything you want. Here is my advice and my concept I take on the car. First set a theme. Your theme will be something like Stiff and Flat or Soft and Rolly. This refereeing to how the chassis reacts to weight transfer.
I myself like the Stiff and flat concept. In my setup I try to keep the car as flat as possible though the entire course. This enables me to keep power to the ground very well and maintain high corner speeds. The car through the corners is very lenient and has a large window you can push before you lose traction on the rear. You will more than likely see a push from the front before you see the rear of the car become unstable.
So there is my concept, here is how I achieve it.

Shock Springs: First I go black springs all the way around the car with 1k oil in all 4 shocks. I prefer the 1.3 insert on all four corners in the shocks. This is most of your stiff.

Shock Position: Next I run the front shocks in position 2 on top and B on the arm. Rear shocks go B on the arm and depending on type of track I go from position 2 to 4 on the top. If the track has a large sweeper section or higher corner speeds I will run the shocks in the 2 location. If the track doesn’t have much of a sweeper and I am trying to dig out of the corners as much as possible I will move into the 3 position or sometimes even the 4. You will have to play with this of course as track conditions vary.

Droop: Along with the shock position I will adjust droop as well. Droop is very powerful on this car and will make huge changes to how the car handles across the whole track. My base setting is 4mm front 7mm rear. I will often find myself running as little as droop as possible as needed for traction. So some days I may end up with 8mm front 12mm rear. Again play with this at the track and see how it feels for you. I measure this by sitting the chassis flat on the table and using a ride height gauge on the lowest part of each arm. Key is always measure in the same spot.

Camber: Camber links are pretty stagnant for me on this car. I have found that a short front camber link in position A and 2 to be best. This keeps with the responsive theme of the car. Rear Camber link I go long with position C and 4. This gives the rear end that forgiveness described above. Camber is all off tire wear.

Caster: I prefer the new zero degree blocks with the zero degree knuckles. The Zeros give the car a much more linear feel to the steering. On the suspension bracket inserts go as flat as you can on the front. I stick with 3 down FF and 3 up FR. For the rear of the car I usually start with 5 up FR and 4 in RR. These are just basics I haven’t made changes to in a long time. The car has great forward traction and rotates well.

Toe: I usually don’t run much toe out on the front tires maybe .5 degrees is all.

Differentials: I run 300K front 40K rear for tight tracks and 500K with 60K rear for faster sweeping tracks.

Option parts: I recommend in two categories. Keep it simple and cheap or go all out.

First keep it simple: First 10 deg plastic caster blocks 600136. Second depends on how you want the car to feel. I have seen many cars do very well with just the plastic blocks. Set the car up and go for the win.

For the all-out setup: I recommend the following.
Center Diff Support Alu 600286
Servo Saver Alu 600296
Servo saver spring hard 600330
Steering block alu 0-deg 600611
C hub 0-deg 600694
Aluminium servo arms for both steering and throttle.
Black springs 600602
shock tops alu 600347

Tires: I use Sweeps and have had zero issues with them. I like to run a harder tire on the front much like you see on other chassis. I will typically go 45s front and 40s rear for qualifiers. For the main I will jump up a set to 50 fronts and 45 rears. The trick with the Sweeps is make sure you get the right compound for your conditions. If you have a nice prepared surface go with the EXP tires. If you have a rough or unprepared surface go with the GT natural rubber tire. 50’s are the hardest I go and we see track temps in the low to mid 40Cs.

This is the first time I have done any kind of write up like this so I am very open to feedback. If you have any questions on the cars please feel free to ask.
The car is an absolute tank and a dream to drive. I hope this info helps some of you out and I hope I get to meet you all at the track. See you there…
Ty Jacobs
Go to the facebook group and ask any questions on there, all the Serpent FaceBook groups here 

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