Granite Granite BLX 4x4 (V2?) advice

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

simonisaacx

Fairly New Member
Messages
45
Reaction score
14
Hi, I'm a new member from the UK and new to RC's. Bought my first car which is a Xmas presnt for my son (but kind of for me too!). Being completely new to the hobby I didnt really know where best to start but looking at the various You tube videas etc thought the Arrma Granite 4x4 looked a pretty good bet. Unfortunatley at the time I wasn't aware there were different versions - I bought the ARA102720T1 4X4 3S BLX Monster Truck ORNG/BLK, but only just know realising this is an older model and I'm starting to see some poor reviews, with some of the issues apparently resolved in the V3. It's really devastating now that I realise I could have got the V3 for only slighlty greater cost, and it's too late to return it to the web site I purchased from.

It's still in the box, as its a present so I'm just wondering if anyone would recomend trying to sell this version and go for a V3, or is it still considered decent enough to be worth keeping? If so, the main issue appears to be the poor STX2 controller. I guess I'll find out for myself when I try it out, but just interested in any views on what to look out for with this model. Or any other general tips.

Thanks
 
Last edited:
It's not horrible by any means, I have the v2 and it's an absolute little tank with few upgrades. The main difference in the v2 to v3 is rubber sealed bearings, pre-vented tires, better transmitter, motor fan and heatsink, spectrum servo, motor and esc and shocks added or different O ring to stop them from leaking. The v2 is an awesome little MT and with few upgrades such as sealed bearings, RPM a arms(if you plan to jump it hard) and changing the rx/tx to a DumboRC rx/tx or even the new spectrum rx/tx you can get cheap from JennysRC, it is a blast!
Here's my v2 Granite with a custom body I did.
IMG_20201221_184935_849.jpg
 
You'll find that the difference between different versions of the granite are fine, but not worth up grading. you can buy the upgrade parts if and when the granite breaks. my first rc was a granite BLX 3S 4x4. Still have it and love it! I upgrade the steering linkage on it and am on my second set of tires. Great truck. Yeah the latest version would have been best, but don't kill yourself over it. The v3 has better bumper, you can get better bumper still from tbone racing when yours break. all the parts are compatible between them so I would sweat it although I know how you feel. Enjoy the new toy and my suggestion is stay away from concrete at the beginning. Enjoy!
 
It's not horrible by any means, I have the v2 and it's an absolute little tank with few upgrades. The main difference in the v2 to v3 is rubber sealed bearings, pre-vented tires, better transmitter, motor fan and heatsink, spectrum servo, motor and esc and shocks added or different O ring to stop them from leaking. The v2 is an awesome little MT and with few upgrades such as sealed bearings, RPM a arms(if you plan to jump it hard) and changing the rx/tx to a DumboRC rx/tx or even the new spectrum rx/tx you can get cheap from JennysRC, it is a blast!
Here's my v2 Granite with a custom body I did.
View attachment 115461
Thanks mate looks great! its Just annoying to now have to think about doing all that after paying all that money, when I could have got the v3 for basically the same amount
You'll find that the difference between different versions of the granite are fine, but not worth up grading. you can buy the upgrade parts if and when the granite breaks. my first rc was a granite BLX 3S 4x4. Still have it and love it! I upgrade the steering linkage on it and am on my second set of tires. Great truck. Yeah the latest version would have been best, but don't kill yourself over it. The v3 has better bumper, you can get better bumper still from tbone racing when yours break. all the parts are compatible between them so I would sweat it although I know how you feel. Enjoy the new toy and my suggestion is stay away from concrete at the beginning. Enjoy!
Thanks mate, how about the radio? Read a lot of posts abou t being unreliable? t-bone racing, I think that’s a US site, I’m in UK, I’d also be interested to hear from anyone of good uk stores for parts
 
Last edited:
It's not horrible by any means, I have the v2 and it's an absolute little tank with few upgrades. The main difference in the v2 to v3 is rubber sealed bearings, pre-vented tires, better transmitter, motor fan and heatsink, spectrum servo, motor and esc and shocks added or different O ring to stop them from leaking. The v2 is an awesome little MT and with few upgrades such as sealed bearings, RPM a arms(if you plan to jump it hard) and changing the rx/tx to a DumboRC rx/tx or even the new spectrum rx/tx you can get cheap from JennysRC, it is a blast!
Here's my v2 Granite with a custom body I did.
View attachment 115461
V2 granite owner. For sure radio sucks. STX2 is terrible. Went for dumborc and super happy. Fast eddy sealed bearing kit is a great idea. Also shocks to new version or chang o rings. Is it a 3S? Personally I love the arrma motor and have read poor reviews of the spektrum motor in the v3 so. . .
 
V2 granite owner. For sure radio sucks. STX2 is terrible. Went for dumborc and super happy. Fast eddy sealed bearing kit is a great idea. Also shocks to new version or chang o rings. Is it a 3S? Personally I love the arrma motor and have read poor reviews of the spektrum motor in the v3 so. . .
Yes it's the 3S. I've read about the shocks leaking after a while, it sounds to me like a design flaw so you'd think Arrma should replace them! I've noticed a few videos where it came with a differne radio so crazy why Arrma supplied this one. Interesting what you say about the motor, guess there's always gonna be poor reviews about stuff. Anyway I'll be giving it it's outing tomrrow, have a good Christmans dude
 
Yes it's the 3S. I've read about the shocks leaking after a while, it sounds to me like a design flaw so you'd think Arrma should replace them! I've noticed a few videos where it came with a differne radio so crazy why Arrma supplied this one. Interesting what you say about the motor, guess there's always gonna be poor reviews about stuff. Anyway I'll be giving it it's outing tomrrow, have a good Christmans dude

The shocks leaking I believe you can fix with a cheap bag of the new O rings. I heard the same about the radio so I never ran it in my Notorious as I have a DumboRC already. That said, when you start running it with the STX2 make a little video of the delay between turning the steering and the wheels moving. Then call horizon hobby and request a replacement if he delay is noticeable. Show them the video and tell them that delay is not acceptable and dangerous and ask them how they plan to resolve it. Make sure they know it is your boy’s Christmas present. See if they offer to replace the whole truck with a V3 or the rafio with with the new SLT3 and receiver. I would let them suggest an option first but if it isn’t one of those two options I would insist on one or the other.

Hmmm. I think I’ll fire up my STX2 and test it. I’ll get my LHS to warranty it from HH if I see a delay. I want to put the radio in a Redcat volcano I am donating to my son’s friend. Actually I should sell the (heavily upgraded) Volcano and buy my son’s friend a Granite Mega instead.
 
Bro. STX2 loses radio contact also.

Randomly: not at extreme distance or something.

It literally caused 2 super bad wrecks on my typhon 3S v2 and the granite mega v2. Not having control is very very bad and the STX2 was super unreliable.

Given the cost of those wrecks changing the radio/reciever should have been our first mod.

It caused more than the two wrecks in crashes and damage. Cannot slag STX2 enough. Terrible radio.
 
The shocks leaking I believe you can fix with a cheap bag of the new O rings. I heard the same about the radio so I never ran it in my Notorious as I have a DumboRC already. That said, when you start running it with the STX2 make a little video of the delay between turning the steering and the wheels moving. Then call horizon hobby and request a replacement if he delay is noticeable. Show them the video and tell them that delay is not acceptable and dangerous and ask them how they plan to resolve it. Make sure they know it is your boy’s Christmas present. See if they offer to replace the whole truck with a V3 or the rafio with with the new SLT3 and receiver. I would let them suggest an option first but if it isn’t one of those two options I would insist on one or the other.

Hmmm. I think I’ll fire up my STX2 and test it. I’ll get my LHS to warranty it from HH if I see a delay. I want to put the radio in a Redcat volcano I am donating to my son’s friend. Actually I should sell the (heavily upgraded) Volcano and buy my son’s friend a Granite Mega instead.
Good idea about contacting HH, not sure how easy it is to contact them here in uk but I’ll give that A go!
 
Bro. STX2 loses radio contact also.

Randomly: not at extreme distance or something.

It literally caused 2 super bad wrecks on my typhon 3S v2 and the granite mega v2. Not having control is very very bad and the STX2 was super unreliable.

Given the cost of those wrecks changing the radio/reciever should have been our first mod.

It caused more than the two wrecks in crashes and damage. Cannot slag STX2 enough. Terrible radio.

Slaghingnit w
Good idea about contacting HH, not sure how easy it is to contact them here in uk but I’ll give that A go!
Email works from anywhere!
 
I was lucky and got one of the last V2's with the Tactic.
20190514_172300.jpg
 
TBH I’ve tried it out today and seems ok so far. One question tho, you have to push the trigger two e for reverse, e.g. the first push nothing happens. Is that normal?
Yes first push forward is brake/neutral then second is reverse?
 
TBH I’ve tried it out today and seems ok so far. One question tho, you have to push the trigger two e for reverse, e.g. the first push nothing happens. Is that normal?
It's also for safety so you don't throw it into reverse and tear up transmission and gears.
 
Definitely contact HH. I did after a week of owning my V2 granite and they sent me a tactic radio to replace it.
Hi, thanks for getting back to me, did you send them a video showing a delay or just tell them it was no good? when I steer the wheels with the car stationary you can’t actually see a noticeable delay, and tbh I’ve not really noticed a delay when using it. But that may just be cause I’m a complete newbie,
 
Hi, thanks for getting back to me, did you send them a video showing a delay or just tell them it was no good? when I steer the wheels with the car stationary you can’t actually see a noticeable delay, and tbh I’ve not really noticed a delay when using it. But that may just be cause I’m a complete newbie,

It could also be that your vehicle doesn’t draw as much power instantaneously as those that see the problem. You may not have the delay that others have experienced. They may also have added a capacitor or updated the receiver to address the problem.

Check for throttle delays too. You probably won’t need to send a video, but if you don’t have a problem then you don’t have a problem. For those that do it is very noticeable.
 
Back
Top