Fireteam Project Failure - A noobs attempt to keep a Fireteam on the road for more then 24 hours

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So i ended up drilling out the set screw but managed to save the pin so she is alive... for how long who knows.

More toasted parts to add to the ziploc bag

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Query for the good folks here... can you school me a bit on 6s and 8s.

Is that a function of battery output or engine output. One 3s is 3s and two is 6s. So when people upgrade a 6s to 8s it requires the stronger battery and motor?

What else is typically upgraded?

And what are the best brands?

Thanks all... two packs and its still going today!!
 
Query for the good folks here... can you school me a bit on 6s and 8s.

Is that a function of battery output or engine output. One 3s is 3s and two is 6s. So when people upgrade a 6s to 8s it requires the stronger battery and motor?

What else is typically upgraded?

And what are the best brands?

Thanks all... two packs and its still going today!!
I'm sure my answer will be extremely dumbed down compared to what other members here may say. But to put it simply, 6S is 6 lipo cells connected in series (hence the "S"), and 8S are 8 cells in series inside of the battery pack. Obviously the more cells you have in a battery, the greater your power output will be. When upgrading to 8S you must have an ESC & Motor capable of handling 8S power. "Best" brand is subjective, but the two most common brands you'll see mentioned on here are Castle & Hobbywing.
 
I'm sure my answer will be extremely dumbed down compared to what other members here may say. But to put it simply, 6S is 6 lipo cells connected in series (hence the "S"), and 8S are 8 cells in series inside of the battery pack. Obviously the more cells you have in a battery, the greater your power output will be. When upgrading to 8S you must have an ESC & Motor capable of handling 8S power. "Best" brand is subjective, but the two most common brands you'll see mentioned on here are Castle & Hobbywing.
Thanks. Im seeing the upgraded versions in classifieds and trying to understand how it all works... its pretty interesting in that its obvious that if you know what you are doing you can do pretty much whatever you want...
 
So yeah.. brand new set and just blew the brand new inner set. Gritty as hell now. 2.5 packs. Shaft pulled out and got jammed in the arm.
Yup, sounds about right unfortunately. Do yourself a favor and get some aftermarket bearings. Those Arrma bearings just won't cut it for the FT. For some reason the Fireteam chews through bearings at a waaay faster rate than the other Arrma vehicles. After you get new bearings do yourself another favor and get a Kraton, those things are tanks 🤟
 
Query for the good folks here... can you school me a bit on 6s and 8s.

Is that a function of battery output or engine output. One 3s is 3s and two is 6s. So when people upgrade a 6s to 8s it requires the stronger battery and motor?

What else is typically upgraded?

And what are the best brands?

Thanks all... two packs and its still going today!!
To expand a bit on what Mr. 305 was saying...The more cells or S's your battery has, the higher the voltage. 4S = 14.8V, 6S = 22.2V, 8S = 29.6V (these are nominal voltages @3.7V/cell, fully charged @4.2V/cell those numbers are 16.8, 25.2 & 33.6V respectively). Your motor is rated in KV (KV = constant velocity) which indicates how many RPM the motor will turn for every 1V under no load (the motor will have less KV under load in the real world, but that's another topic). So, each additional volt will increase the max possible RPM the motor can reach by your motor's KV value. Most motors will have a max RPM printed somewhere on the can (typical values are in the 50-60k RPM range). Take your motor's max RPM, divide it by its KV value and you have (roughly) the maximum voltage it can handle safely.

In order to upgrade, the first thing to look at is the max capability of your ESC (the Spektrum Firma 150A ESC that you find in your Fireteam, for example, is rated for 6S max). Then see if your motor can handle it and, if those two components are both sufficiently spec'd for 8S, then you'd get 2 x 4S lipos and run them in series, same as you do with two 3S to run 6S. Aside from the fact that your ESC can't handle 8S (the motor should be ok), I wouldn't recommend moving up to 8S as the increased RPMs and perceived power output won't do the longevity of parts in your vehicle any favors. If you're breaking stuff on 6S, it will only get worse on 8S. Maybe give 4S a try? Just a thought.
 
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Thanks for the answers guys. Makes more sense.

Im not there yet but i clearly need heavier duty stuff.

I found the vitavon. Is it any good?

Back together with another new bearing and on the new pro line belted badlands that arrived today. They seem more a mid size between stock and the massive trenchers.

20230417_171046.jpg
 
Thanks for the answers guys. Makes more sense.

Im not there yet but i clearly need heavier duty stuff.

I found the vitavon. Is it any good?

Back together with another new bearing and on the new pro line belted badlands that arrived today. They seem more a mid size between stock and the massive trenchers.

View attachment 293592
Yes, Vitavon is quality kit, it does, however, come at a price (as I'm sure you've already noticed). Something to be mindful of (and I'm sure there are others who have used both Vitavon and other aftermarket parts) is that, while I think it's hard to go wrong with Vitavon anything, there are going to be parts where you can get something that will do the job just as well from a different manufacturer that will save you some cash.

I definitely know that it can be tempting to go crazy on aluminum upgrades but it's best to be strategic about which components you upgrade, particularly with off-road bashers. The problem aluminum upgrades can (and often do) present is: when you replace a part you've broken with aluminum, as you decrease the chances of that part breaking again, you're increasing the probability that the breakage point only gets transferred one component further down the line (i.e. let's say you replace suspension arms with aluminum the chance that the next time something breaks it will be the hinge pin holders or, worse, crack or break the bulkhead/diff enclosure will increase). Then if you upgrade the hinge pin holders or diff enclosure, next thing you know you're breaking shocks or something else. By the time you're done, you've spent a grand on aluminum upgrades and your entire car is made of metal.

Granted, it would probably be fairly bulletproof at that point but, now whenever you break something, the repairs will be a lot more expensive than had you just left everything as stock composites. I'm not saying not to upgrade anything, it's just something worth keeping in mind before upgrading parts to aluminum. The other part to look out for is, there's a fair bit of aluminum upgrades out there are just bling; no performance or durability improvement. Steer clear of those kinds of parts...unless, of course, you've got deep pockets and just wanna bling your whip out, cost be damned, have at it. Then there's always things like Beefcake kits from M2C. They're not cheap but, if I'm not mistaken, you get a lot of durability for your money. That's been my impression anyways whenever I've heard people mention them, I've never installed one on a vehicle myself.

Hopefully someone else who has more experience with upgrades on the FT (ideally having tried both Vitavon and other manufacturers) will be able to give you some better guidance on what parts are worth upgrading and which are best left alone.
 
Yes, Vitavon is quality kit, it does, however, come at a price (as I'm sure you've already noticed). Something to be mindful of (and I'm sure there are others who have used both Vitavon and other aftermarket parts) is that, while I think it's hard to go wrong with Vitavon anything, there are going to be parts where you can get something that will do the job just as well from a different manufacturer that will save you some cash.

I definitely know that it can be tempting to go crazy on aluminum upgrades but it's best to be strategic about which components you upgrade, particularly with off-road bashers. The problem aluminum upgrades can (and often do) present is: when you replace a part you've broken with aluminum, as you decrease the chances of that part breaking again, you're increasing the probability that the breakage point only gets transferred one component further down the line (i.e. let's say you replace suspension arms with aluminum the chance that the next time something breaks it will be the hinge pin holders or, worse, crack or break the bulkhead/diff enclosure will increase). Then if you upgrade the hinge pin holders or diff enclosure, next thing you know you're breaking shocks or something else. By the time you're done, you've spent a grand on aluminum upgrades and your entire car is made of metal.

Granted, it would probably be fairly bulletproof at that point but, now whenever you break something, the repairs will be a lot more expensive than had you just left everything as stock composites. I'm not saying not to upgrade anything, it's just something worth keeping in mind before upgrading parts to aluminum. The other part to look out for is, there's a fair bit of aluminum upgrades out there are just bling; no performance or durability improvement. Steer clear of those kinds of parts...unless, of course, you've got deep pockets and just wanna bling your whip out, cost be damned, have at it. Then there's always things like Beefcake kits from M2C. They're not cheap but, if I'm not mistaken, you get a lot of durability for your money. That's been my impression anyways whenever I've heard people mention them, I've never installed one on a vehicle myself.

Hopefully someone else who has more experience with upgrades on the FT (ideally having tried both Vitavon and other manufacturers) will be able to give you some better guidance on what parts are worth upgrading and which are best left alone.

Thanks for the extremely detailed reply. I had suspected that the whole chain of failure thing might happen.

Im definately not into the bling side of things. Im happy with it looking stock but being upgraded under the hood. I choose the FT because I like the look being a fan of most things military. I would upgrade but try to keep it all blacked out so it doesn't look like a lowrider. Thats personal choice really but its just not my thing... nothing against those that want to run full chrome.

That beefcake kit is something else. wow. Part of the problem right now is 100 bucks american is like 800 cdn. lol.

I don't mind trying stuff myself but i should likely stay focused for now as i learn the next step of maintenance like shocks and diffs.

Might be worthwhile to upgrade the steering couplers though as the plastic ones seem really easy to crossthread. Ive had trouble with them.

One thing I thought of is to just upgrade the right side with all metal parts. that seems to blow apart constantly so it's like one of those people that tends to use one hand more then other for certain activities and the one forearm is way bigger and way stronger ;) LOL
 
Thanks for the extremely detailed reply. I had suspected that the whole chain of failure thing might happen.

Im definately not into the bling side of things. Im happy with it looking stock but being upgraded under the hood. I choose the FT because I like the look being a fan of most things military. I would upgrade but try to keep it all blacked out so it doesn't look like a lowrider. Thats personal choice really but its just not my thing... nothing against those that want to run full chrome.

That beefcake kit is something else. wow. Part of the problem right now is 100 bucks american is like 800 cdn. lol.

I don't mind trying stuff myself but i should likely stay focused for now as i learn the next step of maintenance like shocks and diffs.

Might be worthwhile to upgrade the steering couplers though as the plastic ones seem really easy to crossthread. Ive had trouble with them.

One thing I thought of is to just upgrade the right side with all metal parts. that seems to blow apart constantly so it's like one of those people that tends to use one hand more then other for certain activities and the one forearm is way bigger and way stronger ;) LOL
My pleasure man. You sound like you're taking the right approach to the whole thing, I'm certain you'll get it sorted out. :)
 
Thanks for the extremely detailed reply. I had suspected that the whole chain of failure thing might happen.

Im definately not into the bling side of things. Im happy with it looking stock but being upgraded under the hood. I choose the FT because I like the look being a fan of most things military. I would upgrade but try to keep it all blacked out so it doesn't look like a lowrider. Thats personal choice really but its just not my thing... nothing against those that want to run full chrome.

That beefcake kit is something else. wow. Part of the problem right now is 100 bucks american is like 800 cdn. lol.

I don't mind trying stuff myself but i should likely stay focused for now as i learn the next step of maintenance like shocks and diffs.

Might be worthwhile to upgrade the steering couplers though as the plastic ones seem really easy to crossthread. Ive had trouble with them.

One thing I thought of is to just upgrade the right side with all metal parts. that seems to blow apart constantly so it's like one of those people that tends to use one hand more then other for certain activities and the one forearm is way bigger and way stronger ;) LOL
Have you looked at any Hot Racing upgrades? They have plenty of upgraded parts at a fraction of the price of Vitavon. Those Badlands look awesome btw. Is the Fireteam your only rig?
 
Have you looked at any Hot Racing upgrades? They have plenty of upgraded parts at a fraction of the price of Vitavon. Those Badlands look awesome btw. Is the Fireteam your only rig?

Ive seen them and just had another look. Vitavon seems to have a wider selection but HR does the Steering couplers in black so I might try a set.
I don't want silver or red which Vitavon seems to favor.

The badlands seem really good. The trenchers are massive. the difference in width between the three is interesting and the badlands seems closer to stock but more aggressive. Basically 3 trenchers are the same width as all 4 stock tires.

As for my only rig....

Feast your eyes on this and feel no shame in the feelings of envy

20230417_192921.jpg
 
Ive seen them and just had another look. Vitavon seems to have a wider selection but HR does the Steering couplers in black so I might try a set.
I don't want silver or red which Vitavon seems to favor.

The badlands seem really good. The trenchers are massive. the difference in width between the three is interesting and the badlands seems closer to stock but more aggressive. Basically 3 trenchers are the same width as all 4 stock tires.

As for my only rig....

Feast your eyes on this and feel no shame in the feelings of envy

View attachment 293637
:ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO: Hey man, we've all been there before we arrived here. I'll give it another 2 months before you're trying to figure out to put a brushless system in that thing. Once you really get a firm grasp/understanding of this hobby you will truly discover how deep this rabbit hole is...your collection of rigs (hobby grade hopefully lol) will soon start to grow exponentially.
 
:ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO: Hey man, we've all been there before we arrived here. I'll give it another 2 months before you're trying to figure out to put a brushless system in that thing. Once you really get a firm grasp/understanding of this hobby you will truly discover how deep this rabbit hole is...your collection of rigs (hobby grade hopefully lol) will soon start to grow exponentially.

I think it all started recently because I came across Kevin Talbot's channel in October and started watching some of the vids. I think the 2nd or 3rd was the fireteam review and that appealed more to me then a truck or something.

I watched a bunch of vids and almost got a Traxxas Xmaxx but I noticed the FT was on a black friday sale and it basically covered the lipos and charger in the savings so i figured I would do that and see if i actually used it rather then trying it a few times and then putting it in a closet.

Turns out its a ton of fun and having a bunch of land really makes it fun. the previous owners had a little track already as well and the pegboard in my office had a traxxas and pro line sticker on it when i moved in so clearly they had the same idea

I took it out to one of the pastures last night and thats where I blew the bearing. They had built some jumps etc already so I guess this might stick. Only problem is I gave up a few hobbies that were money pits so getting another isnt great lol

The better half will look up from her phone or book on the deck and say " Is it broken again?"
Ill say " no, seems ok"
She will reply " oh that's good" in a mildly surprised voice....



Hold on... did you say my motor isn't brushless...........
 
Thanks for the extremely detailed reply. I had suspected that the whole chain of failure thing might happen.

Im definately not into the bling side of things. Im happy with it looking stock but being upgraded under the hood. I choose the FT because I like the look being a fan of most things military. I would upgrade but try to keep it all blacked out so it doesn't look like a lowrider. Thats personal choice really but its just not my thing... nothing against those that want to run full chrome.

That beefcake kit is something else. wow. Part of the problem right now is 100 bucks american is like 800 cdn. lol.

I don't mind trying stuff myself but i should likely stay focused for now as i learn the next step of maintenance like shocks and diffs.

Might be worthwhile to upgrade the steering couplers though as the plastic ones seem really easy to crossthread. Ive had trouble with them.

One thing I thought of is to just upgrade the right side with all metal parts. that seems to blow apart constantly so it's like one of those people that tends to use one hand more then other for certain activities and the one forearm is way bigger and way stronger ;) LOL
I've found that the m2c pillow ball retainers are MUCH easier to get get threaded correctly, I use them & they're not really that expensive. They also sell the handy dandy wrench to install them
 
I think it all started recently because I came across Kevin Talbot's channel in October and started watching some of the vids. I think the 2nd or 3rd was the fireteam review and that appealed more to me then a truck or something.

I watched a bunch of vids and almost got a Traxxas Xmaxx but I noticed the FT was on a black friday sale and it basically covered the lipos and charger in the savings so i figured I would do that and see if i actually used it rather then trying it a few times and then putting it in a closet.

Turns out its a ton of fun and having a bunch of land really makes it fun. the previous owners had a little track already as well and the pegboard in my office had a traxxas and pro line sticker on it when i moved in so clearly they had the same idea

I took it out to one of the pastures last night and thats where I blew the bearing. They had built some jumps etc already so I guess this might stick. Only problem is I gave up a few hobbies that were money pits so getting another isnt great lol

The better half will look up from her phone or book on the deck and say " Is it broken again?"
Ill say " no, seems ok"
She will reply " oh that's good" in a mildly surprised voice....



Hold on... did you say my motor isn't brushless...........

We Must see said pasture and track!
 
I think it all started recently because I came across Kevin Talbot's channel in October and started watching some of the vids. I think the 2nd or 3rd was the fireteam review and that appealed more to me then a truck or something.

I watched a bunch of vids and almost got a Traxxas Xmaxx but I noticed the FT was on a black friday sale and it basically covered the lipos and charger in the savings so i figured I would do that and see if i actually used it rather then trying it a few times and then putting it in a closet.

Turns out its a ton of fun and having a bunch of land really makes it fun. the previous owners had a little track already as well and the pegboard in my office had a traxxas and pro line sticker on it when i moved in so clearly they had the same idea

I took it out to one of the pastures last night and thats where I blew the bearing. They had built some jumps etc already so I guess this might stick. Only problem is I gave up a few hobbies that were money pits so getting another isnt great lol

The better half will look up from her phone or book on the deck and say " Is it broken again?"
Ill say " no, seems ok"
She will reply " oh that's good" in a mildly surprised voice....



Hold on... did you say my motor isn't brushless...........
Wow, sounds like you have the perfect property for running these rigs wide open! And just for clarity, the motor in your Fireteam is absolutely brushless, but the motor in that new bright is brushed as they come and probably looks something like this lol...

Transmotec-JD5-14200-CVC.jpg
 
I've found that the m2c pillow ball retainers are MUCH easier to get get threaded correctly, I use them & they're not really that expensive. They also sell the handy dandy wrench to install them
Thanks Ill have a look at those. They really don't want to thread in straight

We Must see said pasture and track!

i got a vid last night or two. Nothing fancy and its short but it gives a sense of the space. ill see if i can get it on youtube on private just to share here. its really just me driving it out and then back flat out but you can see some of the jumps. Its pretty overgrown coming out of xmas so i may need to weed eat it and take out the dead stuff
Wow, sounds like you have the perfect property for running these rigs wide open! And just for clarity, the motor in your Fireteam is absolutely brushless, but the motor in that new bright is brushed as they come and probably looks something like this lol...

View attachment 293703
lol... It has to be possible to mount the new bright body to the fireteam chassis... that would be hilarious.
 
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