INTRO
So the first board I did minor modifications to was a BF2. I deck-swapped to a Loaded Vanguard, swapped battery pack for a Meepo Sanyo 10S2P, and cored out my own wheel sleeves to give me a 90mm ride.
Whelp I’m over it and very rarely grab it when I head out the door. Already had a spare dual ESCape with Housing, and a set of 107mm’s with pulleys already installed. To make a Rayne/Jet downhill build I still needed the deck, enclosure, battery pack, etc, basically everything except wheels. Well I couldn’t wait, so now this build is featuring the Loaded Vanguard from my first toe in the DIY pool. Will possibly strip the build again in the future. Hoping this build thread will help me keep this organized
Projected Issues
Old ESC Enclosure big enough for what I wanted, will customize one.
Power wire channels were too small, and messily done with Dremel. Needs to be updated
Deck previously modified, will try to use old bolt placement to secure new enclosure.
Part List
Deck - Loaded Vanguard Flex 2
Battery - 10S2P Sanyo 20700B
Battery Enclosure - BF2 Original Enclosure
VESCs - Dual ESCape w/ Housing by @stewii
VESC Enclosure - Lasercut 1/2" Birch (Still testing, may change to plastic if it doesn;t work)
Mount - Janux Dual Motor mount with stabilizing crossbars, Black Anodized Finish by @marcmt88
Trucks - Torque Board 218mm
Motors - Flipsky R-6374 190kv Sealed Black
Motor Pulley - Steel 15mm 14T from @marcmt88
Wheels - ABEC 107mm Black
Wheel Pulleys - 32T by @marcmt88
Remote - Mini from @JLabs
Parts Still to be Delivered
Belts - Measured and ordered 2 to be here Wednesday, then another 5 from China as backups
TO DO LIST
Add Belts
Probably should have thought of this beforehand lol
TO DO LIST (COMPLETED)
Disassemble Loaded Board
Remove Trucks
Remove Battery/Enclosure
Remove ESC / Enclosure
Remove Grip Tape and Power Lines
Scrape Grip Residue
Assemble Motor Mounts + Apply new grip
Change Split PPM Connectors
Verify Pinout compared to ESCape?
(Realize now it doesn’t matter as servo end can be flipped at receiver JST’s just need to match)
Make Loop Key
Luckily I had everything I needed to make one. Forgot I need to power on the board somehow after removing the old ESC with the on button lol
Mount in Battery Enclosure
Expand Powerline Channels
Fit 12ga Silicone Wire to Channels and this time make sure perfectly flat
Use router this time rather than Dremel
Assemble Electronics
Install CANbus Cable
Connect Motor Phase Wires + Sensor Wires
Connect Remote Receiver via Re-made PPM Splitter
Make and Connect XT90 Parallel Adapter
Swap motor sensor JST connections to match ESCape
Configure VESCs
Check Latest Ackmaniac Firm Version
Flash New Ackmaniac Firmware (Make Sure to Select Correct Hardware Version)
16a Battery Max, Motor Max 60a, Motor Min 50A, Regen Max 10a
Program Remote
Repeat for Second VESC
Review Configuration
Setup for CAN connection (Master/Slave)
Build Enclosure
Vector ESCape housing Cutout
Laser etch the depth for threaded tabs of enclosure
Laser cut enclosure bolt holes and large cutout.
Measure current deck holes and incorporate into enclosure design
Drill pilot holes, assemble with glue and wood screws, paint.
Add Thicker Neoprene Foam Between Enclosures
Measure, Cut, Adhere
Have verified Cutout dimensions, and while doing so noticed I’ll need to groove the inner side of the enclosure to account for the ESCape power inputs for the whole housing to sit flush
Just about done with the first revision for the enclosure.
Am only now realizing I have no mounting hardware for the ESCape housing itself lol. Amazon to the rescue, looking up which bolts I need for the dual enclosure first and they will still show up before the motors
Hoping to cut the first revision either today or early next week. That part won’t take long but I may procrastinate today as I don’t want to drop a machine currently running an order
I made a thing! Lol Learning to use the crimpers to make JST-PH stuff was new. But I figured it out and it’s super easy to do now. I started with a Split PPM Cable from Build Kit Boards, but if I do this again I’ll just pick up more connectors cause making these is kinda fun
Literally stalking the mail carrier for these trucks right now hahaha
I just got to wait for her to get back to the truck lol I popped up on her and let her know. Plus I have the postmaster s blessing so we’re cool. Mounts and motor pulleys arrived yesterday.
New mounts I picked up from @marcmt88 are gorgeous! Assembling the trucks/mounts today can’t wait to see these in action. Realized I didn’t order pulley covers along with the mounts so I bought those as well
Replaced the pivot cups in the TB218 trucks, and setup Krank Fatcone Boardside / Canon Roadside in the back, and Krank Canon Boardside / Orangatang Yellow Nipple Roadside in the front. All from Riptide Sports
It’s taking every cell in my brain to force myself to work with all the parts floating around the office today lol
Started putting on my smaller belts from my other build… crap lol didn’t even come to mind I’d need a different size for the updated mounts.
I think I’m done for the night I’ll procrastinate on the enclosure another day You know, the second real DIY build you do is a totally different experience than your first. This time it went so much more smoothly. No major screw-ups, I felt more like I knew what I was doing. I even soldered on all my own plugs and made my own parallel connector/anti spark this build, it was fun.
@marcmt88 Sorry to tag you again but I just have to say again how much I love your new mount design. These things are rock solid and the new idler feels way more secure! My first build with your dual idlers is still running strong but I like these new ones even better
Didn’t want mismatching enclosure covers so I did away with the lasercut birch idea. Decided on Kydex sheet to be heat-formed to make an enclosure… Well I didn’t want to wait for the sheets to show up so I headed to Harbor Freight and bought a cheap rugged box.
First I tore off the lid with my manliness, then lasercut my mounting holes and cutout window
Then I marked a rough estimate of how much height I wanted to remove.
After that I heat-formed the shortened box to match the deck a little better. Used tape to place it, then a heat gun and some welding gloves (thanks mmaner for the tip) along with clamps to set the cooling plastic.
I originally made a T-shaped parallel xt90 adapter, thinking it would save space which it did not lol. So I ended up making a regular style one with XT-90’s flat copper plates I yanked from some Dean’s connectors, filled with hot glue for stability and shaped with cardstock, then finally wrapped in vinyl tape. Got it all bolted in.
I didn;t remember I should cut hole and windows AFTER deforming, but luckily it worked out just fine Holes all lined up and it doesn’t look half bad
Calculated I needed 295mm belts instead, when they came in they were too loose even using the idler. I was able to do a quick test run without hard braking or accelerating so that was fun.
Figured I want to remove the slack and possibly back off on the idler placement a bit and bought 285mms. Fast forward to today and they were too tight without idler. Dammit lol
Ordering 290s now. When all the slow shipping spares arrive I’ll have a solid 10 belts to trade lol
Checked on the 290’s I ordered, they are on backorder apparently and still 4-6 weeks out. Kinda wish the site would have said that upfront lol
So now I can either find another supplier in the US (or use a China supplier and hope they can beat the 4 week time) or buy two more idlers and use the 295’s. 290 is just a weird size to find I guess
EDIT : F** it bought 2 more idlers lol
I can still use the 290’s when they come in and drop back down to single idler but for now this will at least get this build rolling. Just in time for the couple weeks of rain we get a year
Hey everyone, long time reader, first time poster! I’m following a similar build with the Vanguard and Janus 6374’s/mounts. I’d like opinions more experienced than mine on the electrics.
So for the moment my electrical setup is dual Focboxes, 6374’s, an antispark switch and a 10s2p. I plan on building a 12s in the future for this board. My doubts comes down to 10 or 12 AWG and connectors.
From the top:
The 6374 motors have 12AWG and 5.5 bullets
this feeds into 14AWG and 3.5 bullets on the focboxes,
the focboxes have 12AWG and XT60 for the battery feed
I currently have 10 Gauge AWG flat wire braid to run across the top of my Vanguard between enclosures
This will feed into an XT60 on the battery
My motor wires currently do not reach my enclosure so I want to do a clean job on extending them, and I am curious what is the current recommendation for a build like mine. Is 12AWG/3.5mm bullets and XT60s more than enough, or do I need to step up to 10AWG/XT90s/5.5mm bullets?
The 10AWG flat braid I bought to run across the board just seems a bit heavy in the hand for everything else in front of me. Hope I’m not hijacking the thread, and thanks in advance.
Hey man, maybe consider creating a new thread just for your build? That way people can sort through who’s talking to who, and you can ask future questions without cluttering another thread.
As for your questions regarding connectors and wiring, I’m not qualified to answer, maybe someone else can grab it.
Always overbuild when possible, especially if you plan on upgrading to higher power output in the future. If you plan on moving to sticking with 2p packs you should be fine, as the amount of amperage you’ll be able to push will be limited by what your parallel groups can handle. But if you have the materials and the ability it makes sense to overbuild
One thing I will note with this build is that the 10s2p pack is very underpowered for what the dual 6374 setup can handle. I have a similar 6374 setup on a 5p which is a night and day difference in acceleration and speed. The limit here is like I mentioned earlier, the amount of amperage you can safely push from that amount of parallel groups. That being said I built this as a cruiser to enjoy comfy 10 miles rides weighing a little over 200lb, so it does exactly as intended
Thanks, that is a nice confirmation of ranges.
Would you mind sharing or PM’ing me your focbox settings? It would help me determine mine.
I do plan on a 12s4p setup in a few months, I am moving from the US to EU very soon and got the 10s2p to get me by here because i will not be carrying the battery home due to battery travel restrictions.
I agree with installing safety capacity of possible. The focbox has 12awg and xt60s, so I assume this is their preferred max cable/amperage sizing? And there is no point installing 10 gauge braid into a 12 gauge focbox cable.
I may create a separate build thread when I am more prepared, just posting here as I thought it was relevant to the topic.
Holes all lined up and it doesn’t look half bad 
Kinda wish the site would have said that upfront lol