Granite BLS upgrade series

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

bogdaddyd82

Active Member
Messages
80
Reaction score
33
Location
Massachusetts
Arrma RC's
  1. Granite
As we all know, off the shelf upgrades for our rigs are sparse as of right now. Many of us want more! Ie. Steering upgrades, shocks, CVD's and so on. Though I hear RPM is working on possibly releasing some upgrade parts for our rigs. That won't be any time soon. And forget about Arrma / Team Durango hop ups.

So I decided to display the upgrades I have done up to this point. And I will also post any further tweaks and upgrades here in this thread. I have a $30/ week budget. If I don't spend it all in one week the remainder goes to the following week.

1455033098673292111071.jpg
 
So the very first thing I did was to add a layer of Gorilla tape and liquid tape to the underside of the body. I also dubbed some liquid tape onto the esc where the wires come out.
Next was teardown the diff and add Engine oil stop leak to the inside of the gear diff. Insteadof diff oil. I have no local hobby shop . Its almost an hour away. All of the materials for these simple things cost under $20
14550335648491944662743.jpg
1455033632409126290569.jpg
 
The next thing I did was to GET A BETTER BATTERY AND CHARGER!!!!!!!
I went to HK website and purchased a Turnigy 2200 mah 2s lipo and a HK B6 lipo/ nimh charger. Together was a bit over $30 with shipping.
The little battery really impressed me. With a 30-40c discharge rate the little guy put out like a champ! Still tho, I wanted more. The esc and motor were stone cold after running this pack. So I knew the system had more in it.
1455034466716-881702908.jpg
 
The next week I decided I was done messing around. It was time to go to SPC racing and get a big boy lipo!
I opted for the 5,000 mah 40c 2s hard pack the best part is it came with Deans connector! Sweet!
With this pack installed. I really noticed a big difference in top speed. However I also noticed just how bad the stock rubber was!
Off the line the stock rubber just spun out all over the place! I had to baby the throttle to get going, then punch it to get full speed runs.
The esc and motor where barely warm and the battery lasted at least 20 min. It could have gone longer. But I broke the body mounts so that was the end of my run. ( more on the stock tires later)
1455035246626-1342299249.jpg
 
Hi

You my want to see about getting a fan for the ESC, that heat sink on it is pretty small looking to me. As for tires take a look at Jconcept tires, the blue compound is really nice.
 
Now for a little bling! I like a stiff chassis for on road handling and off road durability.
1455035610781-1294307928.jpg
So here I added the red aluminum front shock tower brace. It fit perfectly and went in with no hassle. Now the shock mounts aare much more rigid left to right . And overall more sturdy.

For tires I went with Duratrax Lockup mts. What a difference! Wheelies on demand and plenty of sidebite for cornering off road!
14550366004371993676044.jpg
 
Hi

You my want to see about getting a fan for the ESC, that heat sink on it is pretty small looking to me. As for tires take a look at Jconcept tires, the blue compound is really nice.

I really like j concepts stuff!! Its so nice! But sadly I am on a tight budget. And also I can b impatient lol. The Duratrax tires are ok for now. If I get a decent tax return a J concepts Wheel and tire set just may be in the works.
As for my Esc, the dam thing just doesn't get hot! I don't know if I just got lucky . But I have run back to back nimh packs and 40c 5000mah lipo on it and It is never hot to the touch.
All though I do have plans for a hobbywing 80 amp esc and 3800kv motor.
Thank you for your reply.
 
All installed! Traxxas 3636x front hub carriers!
14556762663971664982758.jpg
I am not happy with the rotation I am getting on the front wheels now tho. I figure its the stock Arrma spindle and hex hub. I ordered the Proline Slash 2wd front axle kit. And Slash 2wd hex hubs and pins. Hopefully that will free up those bears and then I will be super happy with it!
It works good nuff for now. I just can't wrench the wheels on as tight as I like to.
 
All installed! Traxxas 3636x front hub carriers! View attachment 879I am not happy with the rotation I am getting on the front wheels now tho. I figure its the stock Arrma spindle and hex hub. I ordered the Proline Slash 2wd front axle kit. And Slash 2wd hex hubs and pins. Hopefully that will free up those bears and then I will be super happy with it!
It works good nuff for now. I just can't wrench the wheels on as tight as I like to.
Tell me how this works when you receive it :)
 
So I got everything installed and running well. The new servo is awesome for the $. I paid $30 shipped. I'm not sure exactly how, but I managed to alighn the servo horn perfect on the first shot! Although I did have to reverse the steering on my transmitter.
Performance wise it's a bit quicker not a ton quicker, but noticeably quicker. It tends to snap back to center pretty fast, wich I like. And it holds center very well, even off road.
All in all I am very happy with this little servo.
Now I gotta fix that steering slop!! Lol
 
Today I broke the body posts on the rear of the truck for the 4th and final time! I cut the remaining portion of the post . Enough to allow them to slide into the holes on the body for positioning.
Next I cut some velcro strips into rectangles and cut an X in the center so they will slide over the body post.
Then stuck one half over the rear body posts. And the other half over the body post holes in the shell.
Additionally I added a long strip of velcro to the rear shock mount brace and a corresponding piece to the underside of the shell.
Here's how it looks.
1456104239473-1938322505.jpg
 
After breaking the back posts on my granite, I cut the new posts and rounded them a little above the pin holes I use to secure the body with. Thathe way they wouldn't get dragged or hit directly. It's worked great so far!
 
Hi there @bogdaddyd82, I like what you have done so far but may i ask how the front hub carriers and caster blocks mod from the Traxxas Slash went..... Could you post some pictures and possibly list the parts you used. Tell us what you did exactly would be great. I am also interested to know if you did any upgrades to the steering setup? Looking forward to your response...cheers Cuzzy
 
Hi there @bogdaddyd82, I like what you have done so far but may i ask how the front hub carriers and caster blocks mod from the Traxxas Slash went..... Could you post some pictures and possibly list the parts you used. Tell us what you did exactly would be great. I am also interested to know if you did any upgrades to the steering setup? Looking forward to your response...cheers Cuzzy

Sorry for the late reply. After receiving my Axial Yeti I been neck deep into that project. I will get you the more detailed information you are looking for soon.
I did use a 3mm spacer on the shaft between the bottom of the steering knuckle and the c hub to make it snug. But really other than that and some link adjustment thats all it took to install. For the wheel hub. I used a 2wd slash wheel hub and 12mm hex. The stock ones had wayy to much slop. I hope this helps! I will get more posted on this soon.
 
No Probs.....Thanks for the feedback and look forward to more details on your upgrades . Cheers Cuzzy
 
I would like to know how the caster block worked out, they seem a little different tho I can't find the spec On them to compare. Also did the slash hub carriers use the same size bearing. I got a new set of fasteddys to put in them! Thnx!
 
1459733172726-1860198740.jpg

Okay if you look at this close up view. Its the passenger side from the front angle with the wheels turned full lock to the passenger side.

At the bottom of the red carrier you will see the 4mm spacer. Its actually a wheel bushing from a 1/18 scale ECX Ruckus. That piece fits perfect and shimms it just tight enough so there's just the very slightes bit of clearance wich is not a bad thing.
Now, in order to make this work I also needed to swap the hub, the hex, and also place a shim behind the pin for the hex. I used just your standard 4mm inner diameter stainless steel washer. The reason for swapping to the Traxxas 2wd slash hub and hex combo. Is 3 fold. The stock Arr.a unit was very sloppy left to right no matter what I did. Second, the stock Arrma wheel Hex pin is a 1.7mm ×11mm whereas the Slash pin is 2mm×12mm a much beefier setup and lastly the Slash 12mm hex is approximately 9mm wide wich gives me the clearance needed to run these wheels. I have the Proline plastic Traxxas Slash caster blocks waiting to be installed. I could go aluminum here as well. However. I'm not a big fan of metal on metal for high speed rigs. Better to have a cheap and easy break point IE. A plastic $5 caster block as opposed to an upper and lower control arm.
So. In closing, the Slash aluminum carrier, hub,12mm hex and pin, a 4mm spacer, and you're good to go. Oh, and if you look at the joint where the steering link mounts to the carrier, I used a few spacers and washers to raise the bottom of the screw because it would rub the lower control arm at full lock. I hope this helps! And I will post some more pics once I install the Proline caster blocks as well !!
 
I would like to know how the caster block worked out, they seem a little different tho I can't find the spec On them to compare. Also did the slash hub carriers use the same size bearing. I got a new set of fasteddys to put in them! Thnx!

Excellent @LunchBox !! I am still tied up in my Axial Yeti build atm. But should be done soon. I will certainly post up what my findings are with the casters as well bud! I'm glad you were able to get the carriers going!!
 

Attachments

  • 1459734375565440838104.jpg
    1459734375565440838104.jpg
    115.3 KB · Views: 51
Old Thread: Hello . There have been no replies in this thread for 90 days.
Content in this thread may no longer be relevant.
Perhaps it would be better to start a new thread instead.
Back
Top