Granite Project "Street Voltage" Build

[suchtragedy]

So my first Arrma was the Arrma Voltage and have since bought/built up many other Arrma models and the Voltage just doesn't get run that much at all. Since it's not really worth selling and I don't really have any uses for it I slowly been doing stuff to it just for fun. I been randomly modding the truck since January and thought I'd share since the Voltage doesn't get as much love around here

Current mods:

• Brushless 60A no-name ESC (supports 2s or 3s) + 3650 sized 4300kv motor + FlySky FS-GT3c radio/receiver
• Arrma ADS-15M Servo
• T-Bone front/rear bumper + wheelie bar (like it needs a wheelie bar but still)
• Metal diff outdrive cups with locked rear diff
• Speedtread Speedhawk wheels/tires
• 40mm/5v fan w/ blue LED in it, originally intended for a Raspberry Pi I think
• My own designed 3D printed top plate
  • Currently a prototype, more work to be done on this. Designed in a way that the underside has rooms for cable management, making install cleaner
• 3D printed receiver box
• Arrma 3s/4s wing mount with turnbuckle rear braces to secure the rear to the body
• Custom 3D printed TPU wing

I have the punch and braking turned down on this just because there is no slipper and the gearing is weak and with that and good driving it is holding up fine for now on 2s. I really like the wing + body lowered as much as possible + speed tires, it really gives it an aggressive look. The wing design is based on @magnetik 's Infraction wing that I've remixed to suit my purposes. Its scaled down, side fins redesigned/changed, mounting changed, voltage custom logos, and other cosmetic stuff. The wing lettering I did using a Gundum model marker (the blue came out to be a very good match with the blue on the truck body.)


Upcoming plans in the future if I don't lose interest and get around to them:

• Upgrade to better ESC/brushless motor (probably will use something I pull off another truck if/when I upgrade one of those to something else)
• Refine the design for my Lipo "Saddle Bags"
  • These are 2s Lipo battery trays I design to add to the sides of the chassis so I could run 4s with 2 x 2s packs. I may or may not make it so I can keep using the stock battery bay. These are shown in the pictures but not yet functional and more so there for proof of concept.
• Refine 3D printed top plate and make it a multi part print with incorporated mounts for a printed receiver box, motor fan mount, and mounting points for lipo saddle bags.
  • Might even abandon saddle bags and just widen the tray with additional body mounts/supports and lay it out more like the 3s chassis layout
• Replace stock shocks with metal oil filled w/ stiff springs
• Replace plastic turnbuckles/end links with metal/adjustable
• Replace stock steering horn
• Design custom lower skid plate intended to reinforce the weak chassis and mount with top plate and/or lipo saddle bags
• Design custom motor cover, wanting to make one would allow me to fabricate a custom made slipper/spur assembly to replace the weak plastic spur/gear combo
• Fabricate a way to replace the crappy plastic motor mount points and add a dedicated plate with adjustable mesh
  • Kind of a just a wish at this point, not sure if it can really be done with the voltage chassis how it is

 

[magnetik]

Looking great! Love the modeled parts

 

[Slevin]

That’s really cool. I’ve been wanting to get one of these for my kids.

 

[Outcastblxnut]

Make it into a no prep drag car?????

 

[suchtragedy]

Make it into a no prep drag car?????

After I started this I thought about doing something close to a drag slash, but the lack of swappable parts with the voltage make that a little difficult. Odds are if I go that route I will be doing a lot of fabrication to make it work and using a lot of 3D printed solutions I'll need to design myself.

The thing I can't fix easily is the chassis, motor mount, and spur/shaft gear combo. I hope I can at least figure out a way to get a slipper/diff like that on a 2WD slash. The idler gear is 32p/0.8mod and a 15T pinion gear mates up to it like the stock spur/shaft combo so if I can figure out a way to make a custom shaft with a 15T gear on one end and a slipper/spur on the other and a custom cover to replace the stock then maybe...

 

[suchtragedy]

Attached are some pics of the designs on where I think I am going to go with this for 3D parts and assembled integration. I added some components just to help illustrate dimensions.

 

[suchtragedy]

Reworked plate with holes preset for receiver box, removable ESC mounting plate, and 40mm fan mount came out really well. Also added a printed fan shroud with Arrma logo. Let me know if anyone wants any of these STLs to try for themselves.

Next stop is completing the lipo holsters (holster sounds better than saddle bags) and bottom support plate. I also designed a printed battery tray insert which only purpose is to add rigidity to the hollow middle chassis.

 

[jondilly1974]

Reworked plate with holes preset for receiver box, removable ESC mounting plate, and 40mm fan mount came out really well. Also added a printed fan shroud with Arrma logo. Let me know if anyone wants any of these STLs to try for themselves.

Next stop is completing the lipo holsters (holster sounds better than saddle bags) and bottom support plate. I also designed a printed battery tray insert which only purpose is to add rigidity to the hollow middle chassis.
View attachment 78754

Missing the R and G LEDs ???????

I don’t get the whole RGB trend in PC culture. I think a mono LED always looks better. Anyone else remember the old cathode tube days? Those were a hassle to ship.

 

[suchtragedy]

Build Thread Update (updating for the 5 year anniversary thread entry)

I've managed to design and 3D print 32P spur gears for the voltage printed out of high strength nylon. I am hoping that the larger pitch and nylon will hold up but even if they don't that's okay since I can make more of them at any time.

In addition I've added a BLX100 and 3200kv motor from a 3s truck and 18T spur gear complete with my own design/printed motor cover.

 

[suchtragedy]

Updating build for the contest...

So far the printed 32p nylon spur gear is holding up but only have had a chance to run it up and down the street a few times. I flash boiled it for a few minutes so hopefully it will want to flex slightly and not sheer apart.

Also made a V3 of the custom printed top plate and made just enough room for a topside battery tray and 3s-4s sized ESC. Benefit is now I can still use the original battery tray for 2s, top battery tray for 3s, or top + bottom for 4s (2s x 2 packs) if/when I put a blx120 in it. Had to ditch the receiver box I printed to make room for the battery tray. I could have made it wider to fit both but I didn't want to widen it that much as to keep the weight as centered as possible. I waterproof coated the receiver electronics with silicone conformal coating and just mounted it bare to the tray and called it a day.

So far I've found good mesh with a 60T 32p spur and 18T 32p spur mounted with the stock 26T 48p mounting holes. I can continue to experiment with reducing the spur size and increasing the pinion but I don't want to press my luck anymore than. I already am.

Waiting on shocks to show up this week to lower it before trying again.

 

[1stGranite]

Thats amazing

 

[suchtragedy]

Update for build thread May 25:

Didn't find any shock solutions that I liked so ended up lowering the stock shocks by 10mm front/rear with internal spacers. I am using the front shock springs from the 3s trucks for my rear shock springs and very compressed to make them very stiff for street/speed driving. I reused stock voltage springs in the fronts but compressed much more than normal to firm them up. Using 100wt shock oil which sounds too heavy but everything still rebounds well yet firm and bounce resistant.

Final ride height for now.

 

[5AFE CRACKER]

Looks awesome dude! ?

 

[Vedak]

Looks killer!

 

[suchtragedy]

So I had tested the 18T/32P pinion and 60T/32P 3D printed spur some time ago and felt that it could handle a much bigger pinion/smaller spur for more speed. Since adding a 6s truck in my fleet I now had a few extra Mod1 pinions laying around so I decided to design and print a Mod1 voltage spur gear, upgrading from the 32p version I made previously.

Spur is printed in high strength nylon and pairs nicely with a 21T/Mod1 pinion using the 25T stock motor mounting position. Did a bench test real quick to test the gear mesh and performance and I am happy with the results. The Speadtreads Speedhawk tires balloon like a mofo now so I think I will need to come up with 17mm hub adapters to fit this with some of my GRPs before testing in the field.

If this performs as well as I hope I may see if it's possible to turn this into a no prep drag build with a drag body. If I go the drag route I probably will need to source or design different length (shorter) arms along with different length dog bones/tie rods/steering linkage. We shall see.

Here's a video of the wheel speed test on the bench for those who are curious:

 

[LibertyMKiii]

Wow impressive work.
I have honestly never seen the Arrma Voltage. I may have to get one for my son. Im tired of his Slash 2wd

 

[suchtragedy]

Wow impressive work.
I have honestly never seen the Arrma Voltage. I may have to get one for my son. Im tired of his Slash 2wd

Thanks man I appreciate it!

It's a very limited platform in terms of upgrades and has its weaknesses, but for beginners I think it's not a bad truck to pick for only 100 bucks. If you get one stock up on diff outdrives or upgrade to 6s metal out drives (they fit), and also spur gears and diffs themselves - these are what break the most. Also be careful of the 2 piece plastic chassis. The motor mount and shock towers are all integrated so if you break any one of those it's a complete chassis replacement. Prior to covid all these parts were easy to source and cheap but right now I think spares are hard to find still. I only did these upgrades because I had outgrown the voltage long ago but didn't want to sell it since it was so cheap haha.

 

[Velodromed]

So my first Arrma was the Arrma Voltage and have since bought/built up many other Arrma models and the Voltage just doesn't get run that much at all. Since it's not really worth selling and I don't really have any uses for it I slowly been doing stuff to it just for fun. I been randomly modding the truck since January and thought I'd share since the Voltage doesn't get as much love around here

Current mods:

• Brushless 60A no-name ESC (supports 2s or 3s) + 3650 sized 4300kv motor + FlySky FS-GT3c radio/receiver
• Arrma ADS-15M Servo
• T-Bone front/rear bumper + wheelie bar (like it needs a wheelie bar but still)
• Metal diff outdrive cups with locked rear diff
• Speedtread Speedhawk wheels/tires
• 40mm/5v fan w/ blue LED in it, originally intended for a Raspberry Pi I think
• My own designed 3D printed top plate
  • Currently a prototype, more work to be done on this. Designed in a way that the underside has rooms for cable management, making install cleaner
• 3D printed receiver box
• Arrma 3s/4s wing mount with turnbuckle rear braces to secure the rear to the body
• Custom 3D printed TPU wing

I have the punch and braking turned down on this just because there is no slipper and the gearing is weak and with that and good driving it is holding up fine for now on 2s. I really like the wing + body lowered as much as possible + speed tires, it really gives it an aggressive look. The wing design is based on @magnetik 's Infraction wing that I've remixed to suit my purposes. Its scaled down, side fins redesigned/changed, mounting changed, voltage custom logos, and other cosmetic stuff. The wing lettering I did using a Gundum model marker (the blue came out to be a very good match with the blue on the truck body.)


Upcoming plans in the future if I don't lose interest and get around to them:

• Upgrade to better ESC/brushless motor (probably will use something I pull off another truck if/when I upgrade one of those to something else)
• Refine the design for my Lipo "Saddle Bags"
  • These are 2s Lipo battery trays I design to add to the sides of the chassis so I could run 4s with 2 x 2s packs. I may or may not make it so I can keep using the stock battery bay. These are shown in the pictures but not yet functional and more so there for proof of concept.
• Refine 3D printed top plate and make it a multi part print with incorporated mounts for a printed receiver box, motor fan mount, and mounting points for lipo saddle bags.
  • Might even abandon saddle bags and just widen the tray with additional body mounts/supports and lay it out more like the 3s chassis layout
• Replace stock shocks with metal oil filled w/ stiff springs
• Replace plastic turnbuckles/end links with metal/adjustable
• Replace stock steering horn
• Design custom lower skid plate intended to reinforce the weak chassis and mount with top plate and/or lipo saddle bags
• Design custom motor cover, wanting to make one would allow me to fabricate a custom made slipper/spur assembly to replace the weak plastic spur/gear combo
• Fabricate a way to replace the crappy plastic motor mount points and add a dedicated plate with adjustable mesh
  • Kind of a just a wish at this point, not sure if it can really be done with the voltage chassis how it is

Nice!! Curious to see how the parts you design work out. As well as the rest of it.