Hawkeye_Joe
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Greeting everyone!
I was requested, in another thread, to post the conversion of my Granite 3s BLX v2 into the Vorteks. I did it because I wanted a fun project and I like to tinker, plus I wanted a Vorteks without spending $380. As you can see below I spent $240.68 in parts on this conversion, I could have saved a bit more through coupons , but with the initial cost of the Granite at $300 +tax this conversion cost a total of $540.68. That is Kraton 6s money there, but for me, it was about the fun of doing a conversion and wrenching on my truck to make something new. Not to mention I could easily replace the shock towers (with the body posts installed), shocks, and wheels and get my granite back. So it is kind of like saving $140 by just using elbow grease. That is the excuse I use on my wife and I am sticking to it here!
I did also replace the stock Granite servo as it was weaker than the Vorteks servo with a 25KG Amazon special. This is NOT needed to so I did not include that on the parts and price sheet. I had some sitting around so decided to use it.
The electronics are the same (other than the STX3 controller I had HH warranty) with the BLX100 and the BLX 3660 3200KV motor. It is the exact same specs as the stock Vorteks one and seems to work just great!
Here is the parts list, part number, and cost for everything for the conversion.
ARA320630 Body Mount Set $7.99
ARA330723 Shock Set Bore:11mm, Length: 109mm, Oil: 500cSt $17.99
ARA330713 Shock Springs: 70mm 1.2N/mm (6.9lbf/in) (2) $3.99
ARA330722 Shock Set Bore:11mm, Length: 87mm, Oil: 500cSt $17.99
ARA330712 Shock Springs: 55mm 1.3N/mm (7.6lbf/in) (2) $3.99
ARA402327 VORTEKS 4X4 BLX Painted Decal Trimmed Body(Purple) $39.99
ARA480045 Rear Wing And Roof Skids Set $19.99
ARA550091 2x dBoots Katar MT Pre-Mounted Tire 14mm Hex (2) $47.98
ARA320634 F/R Composite Upper Gearbox Covers/Shock Tower $13.99
ARA390165 2x Arrma 1/10 Body Clip Retainer (Black) (4) $9.98
ARA320453 2x Arrma 4S BLX Body Post $13.98 If you can get ARA320357, get it, I just could not get it so had to deal with the 4s ones...
ARA320638 Bumper Set $7.99
ARA310758 18t 0.8m Pinion Gear $7.54
Shipping $7.98
ATF18M02 Hot Racing Aluminum Adujustable Motor Mount (ebay) $19.31
TOTAL $240.68
It should be noted that you MUST retain ALL of your mounting hardware. None of these parts come with screws (well most of them do not) so you will need to reuse pretty much all of them on this. You will also need a few extra screws but I had them in a few screw kits and spare so did not need to purchase them, if you do NOT have spare screws you WILL need
4x M3x28mm Button Head scres
4x M3 Nylon Nut
4x M2.5x12mm Cap head screws
1) Remove stock wheels
2) Remove stock bumpers, wheelie bar, and bumper mounts (retain the bumper springs and wheelie bar as you will reuse them)
3) Remove stock body posts and body mounts, none of these will be reused from the v2.
4) Remove stock shocks and shock towers front and rear
5) Assemble your new Vorteks shocks. They come with 500cst or 40w oil in them, after driving it a bit I would recommend going to 50wt. They could use being a little stiffer. I also think that I would add more preload to the front shock as well just to raise the ride height a little bit, but this is a total feel thing, so do what best fits your driving style. 70mm springs in the back, 55mm springs in the front. When you get these shocks new, the red caps are NOT screwed down all the way so make sure to do it AFTER you put the springs on so you can screw them into the shock tower mounts.
6) Install the rear body post mounts onto your rear shock tower and the front body post mounts in the front shock tower. Insert the M3 Nylon Nuts into the cavity on the back of the Rear body post mounts, this is where the M3x28mm button head screws will screw into, make sure they are positioned right to catch the screw. This seemed to be easier when it was not on the car. You will install the body post after you install the shock towers.
7) Install the new shock towers. I would recommend that you check your diffs at this point too and make sure to clean and re-grease them while you are at it. My diffs needed to have the oil changed so I just did it at this point. I changed out to 30K in the front and 20K in the rear and I am happy with the performance in cornering. Props to this forum for giving me ample information on diff fluids and what people suggest using. I ALSO recommend that you pull out the stock drive shafts, unscrew the wheel axles. Then throw a little bit of blue loctite on them and screw them in again. RazorRC has a great video on the removal of the drive shafts from the diffs and it is the same for the wheel axles so check that video out for a great explanation of now to do it!
8) Install the new shocks. Short in front, long in back. I have RPM arms on this truck and am using the inner mounting hole on the arms to give myself a little more ride height.
9) Install the new bumpers making sure to use the bumper springs you took off the granite bumpers. As you can see, I have not done those with mine yet and in fact I am using the rear Granite bumper and v2 wheelie bar. I did not feel the need to purchase a new v3 wheelie bar and it seems to work just fine, just move the wheelie spring to the furthest holes out from the bumper. You can see where I mounted it in the picture.
I do not have the front bumper yet, and the granite bumper does not mount correctly to the new shock towers. If you are in the same boat as I am, you can actually still use the old Granite bumper, just don't screw the bumper spring into the tower. It actually is not that bad and seems to take impacts better, but I am positive at some point the hinges will break so I will be installing the new bumper when I get it.
10) Install the body posts on the body post mounts. This is where you need the 4 extra M2.5x12mm cap head screws as you already used the other ones to mount the body post mounts. You can see I do not have the body post platforms for the back yet, but will install them when I get them. You should be able to use the body to get the appropriate height. I used the short body post with platform in the front and screwed it in the middle hole. I used the Long body post in the rear and screwed it into the middle hole on that as well. This is what I looks like.
11) At this point you can remove the motor assembly and switch out the motor mounting plate and pinion gear. You do NOT need to do this imo. The stock 15t pinion on 3s seems to work great speed wise for bashing. If you would like to go fast, the stock v2 motor mount does come with 20t pinon mounting option so you can still install the speed pinion if you purchase it. I have not installed it yet but I will in the future.
12) Install the spoiler and the roof protection. Do yourself a favor, the M4x10 MM screws they give you are a little too short, replace them with M4x12mm screws and you will not drive yourself crazy like I did trying to get the shorter screws to bite! Put on the body clips at this point too, I do not have them yet but they are coming Friday.
13) Mount the wheels back on making sure to not make them too tight. I think they tighten them too much at the factory and that is why we are seeing people mess up the wheels a bit. Hand tight is perfect, but do not crank down on the hex TOO hard.
14) Throw in some batteries, turn that sumbitch on, slap that body on and go rip it!
I hope that helps anyone thinking about doing the Granite V2 to Vorteks Conversion. It was pretty easy and a lot of fun. It gave me an excuse to go through my truck and clean things up (just to get them dirty again) and do some maintenance as well.
Was it worth it? Like I said in the beginning, monetarily, it is debatable. I already had the granite and had the RPM arms and new bearings on there so it was a fun project. But for the tinkering aspect of the hobby, heck yeah it was fun! To me, I enjoy doing stuff like this as much as I enjoy bashing so it is up to you whether you decide it is worth it to you.
Happy Bashing and thanks for reading!
I was requested, in another thread, to post the conversion of my Granite 3s BLX v2 into the Vorteks. I did it because I wanted a fun project and I like to tinker, plus I wanted a Vorteks without spending $380. As you can see below I spent $240.68 in parts on this conversion, I could have saved a bit more through coupons , but with the initial cost of the Granite at $300 +tax this conversion cost a total of $540.68. That is Kraton 6s money there, but for me, it was about the fun of doing a conversion and wrenching on my truck to make something new. Not to mention I could easily replace the shock towers (with the body posts installed), shocks, and wheels and get my granite back. So it is kind of like saving $140 by just using elbow grease. That is the excuse I use on my wife and I am sticking to it here!
I did also replace the stock Granite servo as it was weaker than the Vorteks servo with a 25KG Amazon special. This is NOT needed to so I did not include that on the parts and price sheet. I had some sitting around so decided to use it.
The electronics are the same (other than the STX3 controller I had HH warranty) with the BLX100 and the BLX 3660 3200KV motor. It is the exact same specs as the stock Vorteks one and seems to work just great!
Here is the parts list, part number, and cost for everything for the conversion.
ARA320630 Body Mount Set $7.99
ARA330723 Shock Set Bore:11mm, Length: 109mm, Oil: 500cSt $17.99
ARA330713 Shock Springs: 70mm 1.2N/mm (6.9lbf/in) (2) $3.99
ARA330722 Shock Set Bore:11mm, Length: 87mm, Oil: 500cSt $17.99
ARA330712 Shock Springs: 55mm 1.3N/mm (7.6lbf/in) (2) $3.99
ARA402327 VORTEKS 4X4 BLX Painted Decal Trimmed Body(Purple) $39.99
ARA480045 Rear Wing And Roof Skids Set $19.99
ARA550091 2x dBoots Katar MT Pre-Mounted Tire 14mm Hex (2) $47.98
ARA320634 F/R Composite Upper Gearbox Covers/Shock Tower $13.99
ARA390165 2x Arrma 1/10 Body Clip Retainer (Black) (4) $9.98
ARA320453 2x Arrma 4S BLX Body Post $13.98 If you can get ARA320357, get it, I just could not get it so had to deal with the 4s ones...
ARA320638 Bumper Set $7.99
ARA310758 18t 0.8m Pinion Gear $7.54
Shipping $7.98
ATF18M02 Hot Racing Aluminum Adujustable Motor Mount (ebay) $19.31
TOTAL $240.68
It should be noted that you MUST retain ALL of your mounting hardware. None of these parts come with screws (well most of them do not) so you will need to reuse pretty much all of them on this. You will also need a few extra screws but I had them in a few screw kits and spare so did not need to purchase them, if you do NOT have spare screws you WILL need
4x M3x28mm Button Head scres
4x M3 Nylon Nut
4x M2.5x12mm Cap head screws
1) Remove stock wheels
2) Remove stock bumpers, wheelie bar, and bumper mounts (retain the bumper springs and wheelie bar as you will reuse them)
3) Remove stock body posts and body mounts, none of these will be reused from the v2.
4) Remove stock shocks and shock towers front and rear
5) Assemble your new Vorteks shocks. They come with 500cst or 40w oil in them, after driving it a bit I would recommend going to 50wt. They could use being a little stiffer. I also think that I would add more preload to the front shock as well just to raise the ride height a little bit, but this is a total feel thing, so do what best fits your driving style. 70mm springs in the back, 55mm springs in the front. When you get these shocks new, the red caps are NOT screwed down all the way so make sure to do it AFTER you put the springs on so you can screw them into the shock tower mounts.
6) Install the rear body post mounts onto your rear shock tower and the front body post mounts in the front shock tower. Insert the M3 Nylon Nuts into the cavity on the back of the Rear body post mounts, this is where the M3x28mm button head screws will screw into, make sure they are positioned right to catch the screw. This seemed to be easier when it was not on the car. You will install the body post after you install the shock towers.
7) Install the new shock towers. I would recommend that you check your diffs at this point too and make sure to clean and re-grease them while you are at it. My diffs needed to have the oil changed so I just did it at this point. I changed out to 30K in the front and 20K in the rear and I am happy with the performance in cornering. Props to this forum for giving me ample information on diff fluids and what people suggest using. I ALSO recommend that you pull out the stock drive shafts, unscrew the wheel axles. Then throw a little bit of blue loctite on them and screw them in again. RazorRC has a great video on the removal of the drive shafts from the diffs and it is the same for the wheel axles so check that video out for a great explanation of now to do it!
8) Install the new shocks. Short in front, long in back. I have RPM arms on this truck and am using the inner mounting hole on the arms to give myself a little more ride height.
9) Install the new bumpers making sure to use the bumper springs you took off the granite bumpers. As you can see, I have not done those with mine yet and in fact I am using the rear Granite bumper and v2 wheelie bar. I did not feel the need to purchase a new v3 wheelie bar and it seems to work just fine, just move the wheelie spring to the furthest holes out from the bumper. You can see where I mounted it in the picture.
I do not have the front bumper yet, and the granite bumper does not mount correctly to the new shock towers. If you are in the same boat as I am, you can actually still use the old Granite bumper, just don't screw the bumper spring into the tower. It actually is not that bad and seems to take impacts better, but I am positive at some point the hinges will break so I will be installing the new bumper when I get it.
10) Install the body posts on the body post mounts. This is where you need the 4 extra M2.5x12mm cap head screws as you already used the other ones to mount the body post mounts. You can see I do not have the body post platforms for the back yet, but will install them when I get them. You should be able to use the body to get the appropriate height. I used the short body post with platform in the front and screwed it in the middle hole. I used the Long body post in the rear and screwed it into the middle hole on that as well. This is what I looks like.
11) At this point you can remove the motor assembly and switch out the motor mounting plate and pinion gear. You do NOT need to do this imo. The stock 15t pinion on 3s seems to work great speed wise for bashing. If you would like to go fast, the stock v2 motor mount does come with 20t pinon mounting option so you can still install the speed pinion if you purchase it. I have not installed it yet but I will in the future.
12) Install the spoiler and the roof protection. Do yourself a favor, the M4x10 MM screws they give you are a little too short, replace them with M4x12mm screws and you will not drive yourself crazy like I did trying to get the shorter screws to bite! Put on the body clips at this point too, I do not have them yet but they are coming Friday.
13) Mount the wheels back on making sure to not make them too tight. I think they tighten them too much at the factory and that is why we are seeing people mess up the wheels a bit. Hand tight is perfect, but do not crank down on the hex TOO hard.
14) Throw in some batteries, turn that sumbitch on, slap that body on and go rip it!
I hope that helps anyone thinking about doing the Granite V2 to Vorteks Conversion. It was pretty easy and a lot of fun. It gave me an excuse to go through my truck and clean things up (just to get them dirty again) and do some maintenance as well.
Was it worth it? Like I said in the beginning, monetarily, it is debatable. I already had the granite and had the RPM arms and new bearings on there so it was a fun project. But for the tinkering aspect of the hobby, heck yeah it was fun! To me, I enjoy doing stuff like this as much as I enjoy bashing so it is up to you whether you decide it is worth it to you.
Happy Bashing and thanks for reading!
also next time you plan to waste a bunch of money like this maybe look at JennysRC and save about half what you shelled out for the exact same parts
