Granite Is this a good decision?

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zfranklin20

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Arrma RC's
  1. Granite
So last Friday i purchased a granite mega 550, for my 5 and 9 year old , mostly the 5 year old because all he asked for Christmas was a remote control car....why buy another 80$ battery powered from the Walmart shelf? .

And since i joined This forum and learned a little bit, still too much to learn, i think I will return it to the store and exchange it for the granite 4x4 blx....

Is this a good decision??? As this is my son and also my first experience with rc cars or truck!
 
Yes, the Brushless is indeed a much better choice than the Mega on all counts.

However, I find 5 years old can be a bit young for such RC cars, but you know your kid and his maturity level. For sure put the throttler limiter to 50% for a while in order to avoid expensive crashes and potential injury. Your 9 years old will have a blast.
 
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Yes, excellent idea, you can run it on 2s or dial down the radio on 3s until you're ready for full power.
 
+1 on the BLX. I bought one for my son's 5th b-day. He runs on 2S with throttle limited unless we're in a wide open area. That truck has been through hell but has held up like a tank! Have replaced steering bushing with bearings, HR pivot balls, TBR bumper, 4s OC wing, adjustable motor mount & ditched the STX2. He's had the truck for almost a year now. I still can't seem to get him to understand the meaning of throttle control tho! All he knows is WOT or brake! He handles it pretty well & hits the same ramp that I do like a champ!

**Forgot to mention, I went down the brushed motor road prior to getting the Granite BLX, although not an Arrma. It was probably more suited for his age, tbh. However, it didn't take long to burn up the motor. Then I wound up spending way more than if I had bought the brushless from the start when I started upgrading to a brushless system! Plus, there's more room for him to grow into the brushless system as well. So, pay more money now or waaay more later! Just my 2 cents!
 
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good idea yes GIF by Robert E Blackmon
 
Yes, the Brushless is indeed a much better choice than the Mega on all counts.

However, I find 5 years old can be a bit young for such RC cars, but you know your kid and its maturity level. For sure put the throttler limiter to 50% for a while in order to avoid expensive crashes and potential injury. Your 9 years old will have a blas
I just Figured it’s one they can grow into ... after reading about the 550 burning up servos and motors and such
 
Not a lot. There are good chances that you can drive it without issues out of the box.

The only thing that got reported for the V3 are the following:
- Add threadlocker to the screws connecting the drive shaft to the rear hub. Some had issues with that.
- Add threadlocker to the motor-mounting screws. Some reported these screws backing out and that will destroy the spur gear.
- Add washers between the motor-mounting screws and motor plate (mine were missing)
- Mesh is sometimes sub-optimal from the factory
- Check that the bearings are spinning freely. I had a bearing in the power module that was seized after 2 packs.
- The shocks are sometimes low on oil from the factory. Mine were ~half empty.

If you’re new to this and don’t want to address all these points right away, I would say at least open the power module, address the motor screws and washers and you should be good. The shock rebuild can wait if you don’t want to work on this right away.

For everything related to the motor screws and power module, mesh adjustment and the shocks rebuild, it’s all fairly easy. Razor RC has very nice video tutorials on Youtube. Check them out for sure before working on the car.
 
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Must do's for a 5 yr oId.... Charge a 2S battery & limit the throttle to 50%. I chose to do some upgrades like put a T-bone bumper on pretty quickly & added the Outcast 4s wing to protect the rear of the body, replace all the bearing with sealed bearing. I ended up replacing his STX2 as well. I wouldn't say those r all "must do's" tho. Definitely check the shocks for leaks! I'd recommend the newer V3 if at all possible.
 
Not a lot. There are good chances that you can drive it without issues out of the box.

The only thing that got reported for the V3 are the following:
- Add threadlocker to the screws connecting the drive shaft to the rear hub. Some had issues with that.
- Add threadlocker to the motor-mounting screws. Some reported these screws backing out and that will destroy the spur gear.
- Add washers between the motor-mounting screws and motor plate (mine were missing)
- Mesh is sometimes sub-optimal from the factory
- Check that the bearings are spinning freely. I had a bearing in the power module that was seized after 2 packs.
- The shocks are sometimes low on oil from the factory. Mine were ~half empty.

If you’re new to this and don’t want to address all these points right away, I would say at least open the power module, address the motor screws and washers and you should be good. The shock rebuild can wait if you don’t want to work on this right away.

For everything related to the motor screws and power module, mesh adjustment and the shocks rebuild, it’s all fairly easy. Razor RC has very nice video tutorials on Youtube. Check them out for sure before working on the car.
Okay i will try to find that video... not finding it at the moment
 
Sure, but can't speak for them personally since I don't them. However, I feel there are cheaper options out there, especially for a 5 yr old. I think the Spektrum is a little overpriced for my son's needs. For a charger, I bought a Hota D6+ for all of my charging needs. Excellent charger btw.
 
Yeah, the Spektrum batteries and charger are pretty pricey. You don't need their "smart" system. Get a brand hardcase battery with at least 35C discharge (better more, it says that on the battery) and EC5 connector. EC5 will fit the IC5 used in the Granite. Get a charger for balanced charging. Only charge in balanced mode and you'll be pretty safe. I have one for $35 and am happy with it.
 
Yeah, the Spektrum batteries and charger are pretty pricey. You don't need their "smart" system. Get a brand hardcase battery with at least 35C discharge (better more, it says that on the battery) and EC5 connector. EC5 will fit the IC5 used in the Granite. Get a charger for balanced charging. Only charge in balanced mode and you'll be pretty safe. I have one for $35 and am happy with it.

Not sure about "brand hardcase". I've done well with HRB and Zeee soft cells so far. Few wraps of duct tape and make sure you use foam in the battery box so it can't slide around. I am sure there are "name brand" batteries that come off of the same line in the same factory as the ones labelled Zeee, HRB, etc.
 
Not sure about "brand hardcase". I've done well with HRB and Zeee soft cells so far. Few wraps of duct tape and make sure you use foam in the battery box so it can't slide around. I am sure there are "name brand" batteries that come off of the same line in the same factory as the ones labelled Zeee, HRB, etc.
I use genace softcasers myself, with a strip of ducttape and some foam, but ARRMA recommends hardcasers. Sure, there are many useable batteries out there. Genace is a brand and their batteries are reasonably priced too. It also depends on what you plan on doing with your truck to decide if you need a hardcase or if softcase is sufficient.
 
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