Granite The GINO (Granite in Name Only). Time for 4s?

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Billy Magic

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Arrma RC's
  1. Granite
  2. Mojave
  3. Notorious
  4. Typhon 3s
Hi Folks,

Just thought I'd share a bit about the upgrades I've put on my Granite 3S BLX since I bought it a little over a year ago. I've bashed it pretty hard and just about everything has broken at one point or another. With each replacement I've looked for an upgraded part, and now it's more of a GINO or perhaps a Granite EXB, your choice. :)

List of Upgrades:

1. RPM A arms front and back
2. Hobbywing Max10 SCT ESC Combo with 3660SL 3200kV Sensorless Motor
3. GPM aluminum drive shafts
4. 25 Kg Servo
5. Steel slipper clutch gear
6. Hot Racing metal diffs with steel outdrives front and back
7. ProLine Trenchers with 14mm aluminum mounts
8. Typhon 6s Shock Set
9. Hot Racing adjustable motor mount
10. Rubber Sealed bearings on diffs, motor mount, and wheels.

There may be more in the future. Who knows? 🤷‍♂️

This was my first car after getting back into the hobby last year. I took my son to the hobby shop to get some games and ended up with an RC car. 😂 I've since become an Arrma fanboy and have a Typhon 3s, Mojave 6s, and Notorious. I love the others but as they say, you never forget your first, so even though it's been on the shelf for a bit I keep coming back, fixing it up, and running it some more. Love this hobby!

The last thing I replaced were the motor and ESC. The ESC was acting up and I just decided to get the combo. It's been on three great bashes so far in it's current state with zero breakage. I'm sure something is going to go at some point but until then, I'm going to keep pushing it, lol.

Anything else to consider? I'm wondering if I can run 4S in it since the entire drivetrain is metal and the MAX 10 SCT accommodates 4S. Anyone have experience with that?

Thanks for reading. If you have a question, fire away.

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I'd get rid of that silly adapter between your battery and ESC and change your battery plug. The XT90 on your ESC is only rated for 75amps and and you have a 120amp ESC. Plus the XT60 that is on your battery is only rated for 60amps.
 
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I'd get rid of that silly adapter between your battery and ESC and change your battery plug. The XT90 on your ESC is only rated for 75amps and and you have a 120amp ESC. Plus the XT60 that is on your battery is only rated for 60amps.
Interesting! Thanks for the comment. The reason I have the adapter is only because I have a dual battery charger and one side is xt60. I need to get an adapter for that I suppose.

Do I get better power by removing it and going straight EC5 the whole way?
 
I have to admit, if i had to get rid of all my rcs the granite would hurt the most even though i don't drive it as much as my other rcs. It was my first arrma and its catching up to 3 years old. I still get it out every once and a while and im always pleasantly surprised how tough it is. Its one of the trucks i grab when i just want to drive and do what ever i want in the back yard.

However:
Keep the granite light or it gets luggy and weird to drve and breaks a lot. I do not recommend running 4s and i suggest avoiding it and stay less than a 8000mah 3s because they are obviously big, but heavy.

I have a similar setup as you, minus metal shafts and when ever i change something, i find myself going back to it.
 
I’d put one of the center drive support bearings on and go straight XT90 plugs. Other than that it should do fine on 4s. Maybe slap a fan on the heat sink. i run XT90s on 4s and 6s all the time….no issues.
 
I’d put one of the center drive support bearings on and go straight XT90 plugs. Other than that it should do fine on 4s. Maybe slap a fan on the heat sink. i run XT90s on 4s and 6s all the time….no issues.
Cool! Would I have an issue installing a drive support bearing on a V3, which I’m pretty sure this one is?
 
You could run XT90s the whole way, but XT90s ate only rated for 75amps continuous power and you have a 120amp ESC. If you are gonna change the plugs anyway, just do it right and change the plugs on your ESC and batteries to EC5s. EC5s are rated for 120amps continuous power. But, if you have to use an adapter for EC5 to XT60 for charging, it is ok. Adapters between batteries and charger are OK, just not recommended to run adapters between battery and ESC. Just my 2 cents, FWIW.
 
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Thanks for the replies!

I went ahead and ordered a center driveshaft stabilizer and two 4s Lipos with EC5 connectors so I can do away with the adapter. I also got a charging adapter so I can charge them at the same time as my other 3s and 6s batteries.

Also, I'm curious about these parts as additional upgrades. What's the verdict on if these would make the car more bulletproof?

https://www.amazon.com/Hot-Racing-A...x=hot+racing+arrma+3s+sterring,aps,100&sr=8-5

https://www.amazon.com/Hot-Racing-A...491a2&pd_rd_wg=HbYlL&pd_rd_i=B07M7FKP8V&psc=1

Lastly, do you think the aluminum pivot ball set is worth it?

https://www.amazon.com/Hot-Racing-A...=hot+racing+arrma+3s+sterring,aps,100&sr=8-13

As always, thanks for the help.
 
I have the aluminum pivot balls. It's basically personal preference. Can't really say if they are better than the stock pivot balls or not. They didn't eliminate the slop in the steering, but I would hope they would at least last longer than the stock pivot balls. Only had them for about 5 months but are doing fine so far.
 
I have to admit, if i had to get rid of all my rcs the granite would hurt the most even though i don't drive it as much as my other rcs. It was my first arrma and its catching up to 3 years old. I still get it out every once and a while and im always pleasantly surprised how tough it is. Its one of the trucks i grab when i just want to drive and do what ever i want in the back yard.

However:
Keep the granite light or it gets luggy and weird to drve and breaks a lot. I do not recommend running 4s and i suggest avoiding it and stay less than a 8000mah 3s because they are obviously big, but heavy.

I have a similar setup as you, minus metal shafts and when ever i change something, i find myself going back to it.
I HAVE THE SAME STORY WITH MY TALION!!
 
I'd get rid of that silly adapter between your battery and ESC and change your battery plug. The XT90 on your ESC is only rated for 75amps and and you have a 120amp ESC. Plus the XT60 that is on your battery is only rated for 60amps.
Thought about that before. But never have had any Problems with connectors getting hot. I am running xt60 on both of my rigs a 4s big rock and a 3s granite. What connectors would you go for?
 
Thought about that before. But never have had any Problems with connectors getting hot. I am running xt60 on both of my rigs a 4s big rock and a 3s granite. What connectors would you go for?
EC5s are rated for 120amps continuous current. Work good for 4s power.
 
Hey Everyone,

As an update I got a 4s battery with an EC5 connector so I don't have to use the xt90 converter anymore. I ran it over the weekend and it was A BLAST! Soooooo much power! It is a bit hard to keep the front wheels on the ground but I think the extra weight of the belted tires and aluminum hubs actually helps. This rig will rip through just about anything. Took some huge jumps (like 20ft up and 30ft out) off a grassy hill in a retention pond here in Austin and it just kept going, even when it took a bad landing and flipped 10-15 times. The only thing that held it back were the battery straps. They would come loose and the battery would fly out. I have some new straps on order.

I have to say I kind of like it more than the Mojave at the moment. It's definitely doing high 50's low 60's kind of speed.

On a semi-related note. Don't give your Notorious to a 6 year-old when you switched out the transmitter for one that doesn't have a 50/75/100 switch. All he did was make it do standing back flips until it stripped an input gear :ROFLMAO:
 
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