Big Rock Replacement Motor - Castle or Surpass Hobby

[chewiem16]

Motor is starting to cog on my BRCC v3. Figured I’d start the research process to upgrade. I have the stock tooth spur gear and the 15T pinion with granite tires. I run the car with 3S on hard dirt and grass and love to bash. This thing almost never sees pavement. I love to hit jumps and try and backflip the truck with my kids and their granites.

So I’m not looking to go any faster, but I would love to have the engine run cooler. I want to go try and at least go the same top speed if I can, and I know that means changing the the pinion. I know a torquey motor will help the situation overall, maybe as a bonus I’ll be able to have better rotation in the air.

Based on the research in the posts, I was looking at a Surpass Hobby 3670 or 3665 but wasn’t sure of the kV I would need. Also not sure if I should bite the bullet and pull the trigger on a castle 1415 motor. I don’t mind spending the extra money if this thing will be bulletproof.

I don’t plan on changing the stock ESC unless it fries, and I don’t plan on running anything more than 3S.

Any suggestions on which motor I should get?

 

[RCbuzz]

Motor is starting to cog on my BRCC v3. Figured I’d start the research process to upgrade. I have the stock tooth spur gear and the 15T pinion with granite tires. I run the car with 3S on hard dirt and grass and love to bash. This thing almost never sees pavement. I love to hit jumps and try and backflip the truck with my kids and their granites.

So I’m not looking to go any faster, but I would love to have the engine run cooler. I want to go try and at least go the same top speed if I can, and I know that means changing the the pinion. I know a torquey motor will help the situation overall, maybe as a bonus I’ll be able to have better rotation in the air.

Based on the research in the posts, I was looking at a Surpass Hobby 3670 or 3665 but wasn’t sure of the kV I would need. Also not sure if I should bite the bullet and pull the trigger on a castle 1415 motor. I don’t mind spending the extra money if this thing will be bulletproof.

I don’t plan on changing the stock ESC unless it fries, and I don’t plan on running anything more than 3S.

Any suggestions on which motor I should get?

I have a couple Surpass motors now, maybe I got lucky but they have been great! For the price I don't think they can be beat! I would stick with a similar kV rating (Stock I think is 3300kV).

You could also grab another stock motor from Jennysrc.com. If you seal the power module you will greatly extend the life of the motor, spur gear, bearings, pinion... (look it up on the forum, lots of pictures and examples)

If your current motor just needs new bearings you can change those out too! Jimsbearings.com has good bearings and kits just for your motor.

Lastly, the cogging could be because you have bearings that are failing and the resistance to the drivetrain is increasing. Could be bad motor bearings too. Remove the motor from the equation and see how the drivetrain spins. Lots of resistance, hard to turn, you might have another problem. That being said extreme cogging can be a bad motor but it can also be a bad ESC. Having spare parts on hand makes trouble shooting much easier.

 

[chewiem16]

I have a couple Surpass motors now, maybe I got lucky but they have been great! For the price I don't think they can be beat! I would stick with a similar kV rating (Stock I think is 3300kV).

You could also grab another stock motor from Jennysrc.com. If you seal the power module you will greatly extend the life of the motor, spur gear, bearings, pinion... (look it up on the forum, lots of pictures and examples)

If your current motor just needs new bearings you can change those out too! Jimsbearings.com has good bearings and kits just for your motor.

Lastly, the cogging could be because you have bearings that are failing and the resistance to the drivetrain is increasing. Could be bad motor bearings too. Remove the motor from the equation and see how the drivetrain spins. Lots of resistance, hard to turn, you might have another problem. That being said extreme cogging can be a bad motor but it can also be a bad ESC. Having spare parts on hand makes trouble shooting much easier.

I have a bunch of spare parts now, and I’m a regular Jenny’s customer lol. I’ve learned a lot about the 3S line from fixing this truck and the 2 granites my kids have. The one thing that still confuses me a bit is the motor with the KV and gearing. I don’t have time or money to trial different setups, so I was wondering what other people had done. I guess my ultimate goal is to get similar performance and keep the motor super cool. its like 40deg now and I’m worried about when the temps outside start rising. I really stress in the hell out of it when we bash.

Im going to definitely check out the motor and check out the bearings though!

 

[RCbuzz]

I have not had issues with heat on the stock motors at all. As long as the fans are working.

You can upgrade the fans as well and really be worry free.

 

[chewiem16]

I have not had issues with heat on the stock motors at all. As long as the fans are working.

You can upgrade the fans as well and really be worry free.

I tried that already too. I did get this BRCC second hand, and he put a 17T pinion on it. It was cogging over the summer so I put double aftermarket fans on it. It helped for awhile, and then I started it cogging again. I put the 15T pinion back on and helped for an awhile again. Now it’s starting again. I’m not sure how much abuse and care was taken care of the original motor before me.

 

[morrjr71]

I have a Surpass motor in my Typhon 3s, and it runs cool with larger tires like Pro-Line Trenchers. It's a good bang-for-the-buck motor.

Castle motors tend to run really cool: I have a 1717 1650kv motor in my Kraton 6s, and the highest temp I got after 20 minutes of full throttle runs in grass and dirt in low eighty-degree weather was 128F. That was without a fan on the motor, and I was really trying to see how high the temp would get.

 

[Dandolorion]

I run a Surpass Rocket V4S 5.5T modified 6650Kv and I have nothing but praise to say about it. Quality motors.

 

[chewiem16]

Ok! I’m definitely liking the idea of a less expensive motor lol, so Surpass it is!

But what would be the appropriate kV? Length shouldnt matter too much in the long wheelbase, so which one should I get? Stock motor is 3200kv and they don’t offer anything at that rating.

Also, does anyone know the difference between the KK models and the Blue cans?

 

[Hector_Fisher]

If you want to keep the same gearing, then stick with roughly the same kv. Stock for the big rock is 15t, so you'd want to stay in the 3100 to 3300 kv range. If you get a longer or larger can motor, that will help slightly with torque and heat dissipation. But you can always change the pinion if you get a different kv motor. You could get this for pretty cheap:
https://www.amazon.com/VGEBY1-Brushless-Surpass-Waterproof-2650KV/dp/B07XDWSSNB/
Then grab a 17 or 16t pinion and you would be good to go.

This would be a roughly direct swap replacement motor (same size as original) if that's what you're interested in:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/313844037962

I personally don't think a castle motor is worth it in this car. Surpass will get you out the door much cheaper in my experience.

 

[Killacam]

castle 1415 and mamba x is my go to 1/10 combo. i have it in a ryft, trx6, and mt10. the main benefit of the castle motor over the surpass is that it's sensored. when you pair that up with a castle sensored ESC, you can have that motor perform however you want through castle link programming. you can adjust the throttle curves to make it crawl or bash. castle also has one of the best warranties in the business if you have issues.

if you're gonna keep the stock esc, get the longest surpass motor you can fit. if heat is an issue, you can use your existing pinion with a lower kv motor. if it's still running hot, pinions are cheap, get a few different ones and see what works best.

i like the black surpass hobby motors with the machined heatsink, they look high quality. the 3670's are only $36 from aliexpress if you don't mind waiting.

 

[chewiem16]

does anyone know the difference between these 2 versions? I know that they have 2 different kVs, but I’m talking about the construction. The website doesn’t really go into detail. Obviously the black has cooling ribs and an exposed shaft on the back end. That’s all I can see.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2556906901...hSD2KskSQW&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2553866245...hSD2KskSQW&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

 

[Hector_Fisher]

does anyone know the difference between these 2 versions? I know that they have 2 different kVs, but I’m talking about the construction. The website doesn’t really go into detail. Obviously the black has cooling ribs and an exposed shaft on the back end. That’s all I can see.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2556906901...hSD2KskSQW&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2553866245...hSD2KskSQW&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

One has fins and the other one doesn't. You'll probably want to do a gear change either way. You might be able to use the stock heatsink with the smooth can motor (although i've argued before it's less effective than just having a fan blowing across the motor). i wouldn't use the stock heatsink with the finned motor. Because they are both bigger (longer) than the stock motor, you could try running with out a heatsink and just monitoring temps frequently.

Thinking about it again, I don't think you can use the stock pinion with any of these motors since the stock ones are D-slotted. You'll have to buy a pinion either way. 16t for the finned 3050kv and 17t for the 2850kv smooth can motor. Both look like good options

 

[chewiem16]

Lucky for me I do have an aftermarket double fan without the shroud I can put on either one! Also, my original motor didn’t have the D pinion, so I have a standard 15T and 17T ready to rock

I think I may just go for the smooth can. At least it’s sealed on the end.

 

[N.Mango]

Tough question...NOT! Just kidding. I'm just a fan of CC