ok so im about three weeks into my first proper 5inch freestyle build and ive hit a wall that feels dumb but i cant figure it out. running a true-x frame, got a stack with a 4in1 ESC and the FC sits on top. the issue is the motor wires ? specifically the length. every video i watch the guy just has perfect wire lengths and i have no idea how they know how long to cut them before soldering. do you just route them first and then cut? because i cut mine before routing and now one is about 8mm too short and im not sure if i can even solder it without it being under tension.

also semi-related but does motor direction actually matter for the soldering order or can i just swap any two wires after if its spinning wrong? i know thats probably a noob question but i genuinely cant find a straight answer that isnt buried under 40 minutes of youtube fluff

yeah the wire length thing is something everyone gets wrong the first time, dont stress it. the move is to route everything first, zip tie or hold it loosely in place, THEN mark and cut. if you already cut one short you might be able to get away with it depending on how much slack you need ? 8mm is tight but workable if the solder joint isnt being pulled. just make sure its not under mechanical stress or itll fail eventually, usually mid-flight.

and yeah motor direction doesnt matter for which pads you solder to, just swap any two of the three wires and it reverses. thats the whole point of brushless. just set up bidirectional in betaflight and set motor direction in the motor tab, way easier than resoldering every time you get it wrong.

the short wire thing happened to me on my second build lol, i ended up just leaving a tiny stress loop near the motor bell so it wasnt pulling straight on the pad. held up fine for like 6 months until i crashed into a tree and thats a different story