Granite Durable Engine Conversion for Granite 4x4 Mega

[c911darkwolf]

I know there have been several post about converting a Granite 4x4 Mega to Brushless, but what I had in mind was a little different then what I was finding.

I'm not looking for performance here, but durability/longevity under a 2s Lipo use.

Backstory all 3 of my kids have Arrma Granite 4x4 Mega's. Now we have been through a few motors, and the oldest I put in Spektrum 3200kv brushless setup and it has trucked along just fine.
But I have 2 more that still run Brushed motors... (I did swap one of them for the Traxxas Velion (Sp?) 12T last time and it seems to last a bit now.

What is a motor upgrade that would give give me at least similar performance of stock (faster is ok, just not the goal) that I could upgrade the other 2 as well? There rough on them so i'm looking to balance Budget and durability.

Although we have started a family rule of "you break it you fix it" so the kids are now doing their own (Supervised) repairs

In case it helps the temps here can reach high 90's during the summer and snow during the winter. Water proof is a bonus as we like to take them up the creek beds too.

THanks!

 

[SrC]

NO motor or RC electrics will be truly Water proof at all. BLX or Brushed setups. I would run all 3200 kv identical setups in all of them. Keep with 2s running. Keep it simple. Running in the wet stuff=$$
My then 7 yo got into RC and I told him that if he breaks them they sit broken for a while and eventually he must fix them.
The motivation I was instilling was that you must learn how to drive better, and you will rarely break things. I had to also teach him that some parts just normally break from normal wear and tear and not his fault. It got him frustrated when that happened. But now he is 13 and gets it. Breaks way less than I now. He learned they are not bumper cars. And he knows when diffs and BB's need to be replaced. I always have the spares on hand. And he does most of the work. But I still don't let him do any Lipo Charging.

 

[c911darkwolf]

NO motor or RC electrics will be truly Water proof at all. BLX or Brushed setups. I would run all 3200 kv identical setups in all of them. Keep with 2s running. Keep it simple.
My then 7 yo got into RC and I told him that if he breaks them they sit broken for a while and eventually he must fix them.
The motivation I was instilling was that you must learn how to drive better, and you will rarely break things. I had to also teach him that some parts just normally break from normal wear and tear and not his fault. It got him frustrated when that happened. But now he is 13 and gets it. Breaks way less than I now. He learned they are not bumper cars. And he knows when diffs and BB's need to be replaced. I always have the spares on hand. And he does most of the work.

Yeah, but we don't drown them, they rarely go in anything that comes half way up the tires. More splashing then swimming. Should I just drop the $200 adn buy a couple more spektrum kits? Or is there a better or cheaper brand I should use? HobbyTown reccomends Spektrum for everything, but wanted to make sure i'm getting a good set, if one is a little faster I don't think they would ever notice lol, more concerned about the truck getting enough power to take the stress off running a 4x4 (which i suspect is the whole problem with those MEGA 550 motors).

 

[SrC]

Yeah the bushed setups just eat motors. But they are cheap enough to replace, just that you will be more of a slave to maintaining and/or replacing them.
FWIW, it only takes a splash of water, the perfect storm to brick an ESC or motor. And NO fan can handle water. The moisture can even cause a Fire. Been there, when Grass Dew developed at sundown out of no where. It sparked and smoked from a distance. ran up to it and the Notorious was totaled out in flames, Threw dirtn on it to put out the ESC fire.. HH repaired under warranty. A headache nonetheless.
Water also completely ruins all the BB's. Even at the motor. So No RC platform can be truly WP or WR. Despite what they say. Been there. The choice is up to you and your wallet. Muddy conditions are ok. Puddles , not so.

 

[Dan B.]

I’d say some inexpensive brushless combos from JennysRC.

 

[305HemiGuy]

I’d say some inexpensive brushless combos from JennysRC.

This. Throw some inexpensive brushless setups in the trucks and call it a day. You'll be glad you did in the long run.

 

[c911darkwolf]

Okay so Jenny's site completely confuses me, am I supposed to be looking under the armor section for a motor? Or is there a way to just search for motors that might work?

 

[305HemiGuy]

Okay so Jenny's site completely confuses me, am I supposed to be looking under the armor section for a motor? Or is there a way to just search for motors that might work?

Under the Arrma tab you can select any vehicle that has 3S next to it and use that motor. All of the Arrma 3S models use the same 3200kv brushless motor.

 

[Velodromed]

I’ve been your situation, and my best suggestion is to get the 3S, BLX 100 ESC from jennys (see below), as nd then a surpass 3665 motor (see below). The spectrum 3s motor bearings tend to fail. You’ll also need a non-safety D pinion, .08 mod (or 32dp) with a 5mm bore.
https://jennysrc.com/collections/ar...ess-blx100-esc-speed-control-granite-ar102711
Surpass RC 3665 Brushless Motor, 3150 KV with Sensor Port High Accuracy Detachable Supersonic Heavy Duty 4 Pole High for 1/8 1/10 RC Car https://a.co/d/j3K9rar
Axial AX30841 32P 15T Pinion Gear, 5mm https://a.co/d/00ZAPPK

Here’s a decent pinion

Axial AX30841 32P 15T Pinion Gear, 5mm https://a.co/d/00ZAPPK

 

[305HemiGuy]

I can attest to the bearing failure issue mentioned by @Velodromed . Happened with one of the very first brushless rigs I owned, a stock Senton 3S. Needless to say, when I build rollers now I use either Reedy or Castle electronics. Reedy for the 3S builds, and Castle for the higher powered 6S builds. I have a couple of 6S rigs still running the stock Spektrum 6S motor, they seem to be a little less prone to bearing failure than the 3S motors, in my experience at least.