Granite Arrma Granite 4x4 Mega or BLX 3S?

[NCbasher33]

@Cheapbastard thanks for the links i will check them out. I been watching some YouTube videos about Lipos to get educated.

Budget I would say around a $100 or under if possible for a charger and battery to get started.

 

[Cheapbastard]

@Cheapbastard thanks for the links i will check them out. I been watching some YouTube videos about Lipos to get educated.

Budget I would say around a $100 or under if possible for a charger and battery to get started.

Here's where it can get touchy. Do I spend my money on a good charger or use my money on good batteries. Six one way half a dozen the other. Lipos can come and go but a good charger can be a mainstay in your Rc tools. You won't get much benefit from say a 300watt charger if all you charge is 2s to 3s that aren't super high capacity charging at the usually recommended 1c chrage rate (1a for every 1000mah).

Then there is the warranty side spend more on a name brand with a better warranty or go with something a little less expensive brand and save money plus probably get higher specs but probably no warranty that will be up to you. I tend to go on the cheaper side of things but that's just me.

 

[slick2500]

BLX for $255 all the way!

The brushed system in the Mega may or may not give you problems depending on hard you run and how long you want to run. It can overheat the stock esc and burn up the brushed motor.

The battery in the Mega isn't the best and won't give you a very long runtime (low mah) and the charger it comes with will take a long time to charge a battery so there's not much benefit that they are included. Batteries are not like they used to be back 20 years ago like with 1500mah and so on capacities. What some may say about inexpensive lipo's they are still better than using nimh and a 2s 5000mah battery can be had for around $20. Multi chemistry chargers can be had very inexpensive also. These extra battery and charger costs should be figured into any RC purchase if you don't already have them. Because as mentioned the stuff that comes with a lot of RTR's are not very good anyways.

There is also that the BLX has bigger teeth on the drivetrain parts (spur, diff inputs, diff ring gears) and the diff inputs have metal shaft instead of plastic. The slipper assy is also better on the BLX.

As mentioned above you will get bored of the brushed motor speed and want more. There are ways to slow a fast RC down it get's more expensive to speed one up. There are plenty of threads on the forum about people having problems with the stock brushed system or generally just wanting to go faster than what the Mega does with the brushed system. It ends up costing more in the long run with the cost of a brushless combo (esc/motor) and changing parts in the Mega drivetrain than what it costs for what the BLX comes with stock.

If you want a project that you don't mind costing more over time you can try a Mega. But at a only $35 difference now while on sale now I would just get a BLX. You will have to factor in the cost of a charger and battery but as said earlier that should be figured in anyways. You can get started with a lipo and charger for around $50 whether you have to spend more than that to me is debatable.

This ^

The only brushed rcs that I would bother with are crawlers.

 

[NCbasher33]

@Cheapbastard what charger do you use?

Looks like I will need to do some more research on chargers those links were helpful now I have a better idea what I'm looking for dual charger for 3s Lipos at minimum 150watt charger. I know I will want to charge 2 batteries at time when I'm.able to get more batteries.

 

[Cheapbastard]

@Cheapbastard what charger do you use?

Looks like I will need to do some more research on chargers those links were helpful now I have a better idea what I'm looking for dual charger for 3s Lipos at minimum 150watt charger. I know I will want to charge 2 batteries at time when I'm.able to get more batteries.

Common Sense RC charger it's basically a Imax B6 (AC adapter built in) like charger got it used for under $20 awhile back. I aslo use a Dynamite Prophet Sport Plus I picked used for $15. Check the cells with a Tenergy 5 in 1 cell meter and balances them to if need be after charged. A Aokoda (150w discharge) cell balancer/discharger also for discharging and balancing if need be. I only use 2s and 3s packs (one 4s pack) and the two chargers work fine for my use my packs are around 5000mah max.

I'm not going to claim to be a charger or battery expert. Too many brands to try and too many choices for either batteries or chargers. Should I buy a better charger probably should but why what I have suits my needs.

 

[NCbasher33]

Getting excited tracking says my truck should be here Saturday and battery tomorrow...now the charger that's another the story hopefully don't have to wait till next Friday like eBay said.

I have reason to believe that it may come tomorrow based on the email I got from ups package alerts. Looks like htrc eBay account may use new egg as a shipper.

 

[VerticalChallenge]

@NCbasher33 I know you made your purchase but just wanted to get in on the thread. I purchased a Granite Mega for my son a few months ago from my LHS, with the Tactic radio, and more recently a Kraton 4S for myself.

Adjusting the throttle endpoint on the Tactic allowed me to have my son run it at a slower pace, but the NiMH battery's quick voltage drop meant I had to adjust it back up a notch a few times running through the pack. That's less of an issue running 2S LiPo, but the 7.4 v is a bit underwhelming at full speed. I'm surprised how hot the brushed motor and 35A ESC gets bashing through grass. I think I hit thermal cutoff last weekend with temps around 78F at a shaded park. I'm hoping that zip-tying 40mm fans to both helps alleviate the problem, but suspect I'll be looking at an ESC and motor upgrade in the future.

On the Kraton, I like the Spectrum radio's ability to switch easily to 50% or 75% speed, but reverse doesn't work consistently in those modes and the radio seems a bit sluggish when the car is more than a few houses away... otherwise I'd swap it to the Mega.

 

[Arrmajunk]

Have old 20+ year old trucks I was going to fix up to get back in the hobby but a lot has changed in that time period. So I figured would save some hassle and just buy a new truck. I believe I have narrowed it down to either Arrma Granite 4x4 Mega or BLX 3S seems like a good value for some one who isn't sure if they will have time or be able to drive much. Budget is around $250.

I will mainly just be bashing in my yard with some grass driveway/street/some woods near my property. Maybe the occasional construction site. If there is another truck I should be looking at let me know.

My question: Is the price difference worth it to go up to the BLX 3S. I like that the mega comes with a battery to get started. If I do stick around with the hobby can I upgrade it easily to run brushless?

Can currently buy the mega $220 or the blx 3s $255

Thank for any advice.

I’ve had both Mega and BLX , it’s definaey worth going for the BLX from the Get go, it has quite decent BL motor the ESC is So so but does the Job. The Steering Servo has a bit More torque which helps it to turn under Load, I bought the Mega First wanting to build it into a BLX and retain the Brushed Gear for something else, but swapping over the running gear cost a Small fortune .