Granite The Granite Voltage: RC's Greatest Mixed Bag!

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Thumper01

Active Member
Messages
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Location
NE Ohio
Arrma RC's
  1. Granite
  2. Senton 6s
  3. Voltage
My idea for this thread is to try to bring together all of the Arrma Granite Voltage owners and try to form some sort of consensus regarding this vehicle. The wide range of ownership experience with this truck so far is staggering. It doesn't seem that the Fazon Voltage has had the same variety of differing opinions up to this point (more on that in a minute).

So I guess I'll begin with my personal experience so far. My Granite Voltage is stock aside from a metal gear steering servo. I've been primarily running it on an older Venom 4000mah 20C 2s lipo. Lipo really wakes this truck up, IMO.

Although top speeds aren't staggering, I feel like this thing is very quick for having a 20T brushed motor. Handling is pretty amazing for this segment (2wd 1/10 monster trucks). I think the mid motor design has a lot to do with the great balance in air as well as the sharp steering. At times I think it has almost too much steering, lol. That's not something that can be said for any other two wheel drive monster truck that I can think of!

The suspension is definitely on the firm side, but I feel that the foamless tires aid in soaking up bumps and landing jumps. It drives a bit bouncy but not so much so that it becomes hard to drive or the handling is difficult to predict. The tires seem adequate and are up to the task for where I've been driving (driveway, side yard with short mossy grass, a little gravel, pine needles).

Durability wise, my Granite Voltage has been fantastic. Although I wouldn't say I've been excessively hard on this little guy, I've definitely put it through its paces. I've landed quite a few jumps very poorly as well as hit a tree mid-air a handful of times - with zero breakages. Perhaps the mild power and speeds this truck reaches in stock form are at least part of it's toughness. The chassis and suspension components (especially the A-arms) seem very durable.

I haven't yet experienced the drivetrain issues or electronics issues that many others have. This area is what I was referring to by my thread title. It seems quite a few people have suffered diff outdrive problems as well as faulty electronics. However, I don't see the outdrives being a problem with the Voltage Fazon owners. I'm thinking the smaller diameter tires relieve a great deal of stress on the drivetrain. There's a lot less rotating mass and therefore lot less stress transferred upstream upon landing on throttle or hard launches, etc.

In reading through some of the other threads, it seems there's been some heat issues (a melted motor mount!). This looks to be a problem when people try to run this truck on a 25 tooth pinion (which it seems Arrma leads you to believe is an acceptable gearing based on the pre drilled 25t slot in the motor mount). I have a hunch this is really only intended for the Fazon since it uses the same chassis, and therefore the same motor mounting plate. Arrma should definitely be a little more clear about this. While I'm griping, they should also publish ESC specs (especially motor turn limits and voltage thresholds). I have no idea what motors this ESC can handle, or if it's possible to run on 3s power (probably not recommended!)

That about sums up my ownership experience thus far. I've really been enjoying driving this truck. It's honestly kind of refreshing having a vehicle that doesn't do 40+ mph, lol. Being that the jury is still out on drivetrain strength, I'll probably leave mine in stock or close to stock trim. I feel that I've had a better-than-average ownership experience so far and would recommend this RC to first timers or those on a tight budget. I hope I don't have to come back and eat those words, lol.

What do y'all have to say about this truck?
 
Well I will say that the one we have in the family is for the kids, and they love it. We set up jumps, they run into everything (including my ankle), and the only part that has failed is the small drive shaft boot on the diff side in the rear. They were 6 bucks for 2 of them, so we now have three spares! In all fairness, the kids were running it when it was about 48 degrees outside, so breaking small parts like that isn't that surprising. All in all, it's stock for the kids to drive, learn the art of driving a RC, and it's doing the job quite well.

I would agree on the non-foamed tires adding to the suspension aspect of the truck. They do absorb a lot of the abuse of landing, or hitting stuff. The stock servo is a bit spongy, but it will not get replaced until the kids break it.

For the 129.99 I paid for it (RCPlanet.com had it on sale), It was well worth it. We run NIMH 3000mah, and the 6 Arrma 18650 batteries, and the run time is awesome.
 
Non-serviceable shocks, awesome. Just had one shock shaft come out today and low and behold the shock itself cannot be disassembled. So now I have to buy two shocks just to replace one broken one. All that has happened from what I can see is the c-clip has come off the top of the shaft but without being able to access it I cannot put it back on. Is there anything on this car that isn't cheap garbage? By the time i'm done this car will be less arrma than ebay replacements.

EDIT: My mistake, would have been serviceable if the cheap garbage tool they supplied didn't destroy itself on first use. Don't buy this car people, it's a complete waste of money.
 
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Non-serviceable shocks, awesome. Just had one shock shaft come out today and low and behold the shock itself cannot be disassembled. So now I have to buy two shocks just to replace one broken one. All that has happened from what I can see is the c-clip has come off the top of the shaft but without being able to access it I cannot put it back on. Is there anything on this car that isn't cheap garbage? By the time i'm done this car will be less arrma than ebay replacements.

EDIT: My mistake, would have been serviceable if the cheap garbage tool they supplied didn't destroy itself on first use. Don't buy this car people, it's a complete waste of money.

I think you may have had one of the worst experiences with the Voltage series so far. I think there was a You Tube video awhile ago that the same shock shaft issue happened.
 
Just got a granite voltage as a first RC and have ran it pretty hard. Have had no issues with it and can hit almost 30mph. Would like to find more aftermarket mods for it but as I'm new to the RC world I see a lot of learning with my new hobby
 
Just got a granite voltage as a first RC and have ran it pretty hard. Have had no issues with it and can hit almost 30mph. Would like to find more aftermarket mods for it but as I'm new to the RC world I see a lot of learning with my new hobby

Welcome to this awesome hobby Daddy-O! There's not much along the lines of upgrades for the Voltage series as of yet, but hopefully Arrma and some of the aftermarket companies are working on that.
 
Welcome to this awesome hobby Daddy-O! There's not much along the lines of upgrades for the Voltage series as of yet, but hopefully Arrma and some of the aftermarket companies are working on that.
Thanks, I have seen that options are really limited but I'm anxious to see what this truck can deliver. Just stock it's a beast for the price tag.
 
I just got mine and altho I haven't run it yet, I am impressed. It seems very solid, and I love the various power choices. I went with Lithium Ion. :)
 
I just got mine and altho I haven't run it yet, I am impressed. It seems very solid, and I love the various power choices. I went with Lithium Ion. :)
Seems like using 6 of those gives a ton of run time. I would guess you'd be in the half hour plus range.
 
What about power? Will it have the same amount of "go" as a 2S LiPO?
Should be the same. I believe both are 7.4v nominal, and 8.4v fully charged for a pair of 18650 Li-Ion as well as 2s lipo. Adding pairs of 18650 cells to the vehicle increases runtime. I haven't used the Li-Ion batteries in mine yet, but from what I've heard the added weight from using 6 of them helps the handling of the truck - more planted and less bouncy.
 
I'll be running six (3.7v each) 3000 mAh Lithium Ions so I imagine I'll get some good run times. I'll have 12 total on the 11th so I can do two full runs if desired. Also got a really nice charger!
 
I'll be running six (3.7v each) 3000 mAh Lithium Ions so I imagine I'll get some good run times. I'll have 12 total on the 11th so I can do two full runs if desired. Also got a really nice charger!

Nice. Keep us posted on how the Li-Ion cells work out for you!
 
Nice. Keep us posted on how the Li-Ion cells work out for you!
I had to return them. Turns out they might have not been making contact as the truck didn't work at all. lol Worked great with the 2 it came with, so I got 6 more of those. :)
 
Non-serviceable shocks, awesome. Just had one shock shaft come out today and low and behold the shock itself cannot be disassembled. So now I have to buy two shocks just to replace one broken one. All that has happened from what I can see is the c-clip has come off the top of the shaft but without being able to access it I cannot put it back on. Is there anything on this car that isn't cheap garbage? By the time i'm done this car will be less arrma than ebay replacements.

EDIT: My mistake, would have been serviceable if the cheap garbage tool they supplied didn't destroy itself on first use. Don't buy this car people, it's a complete waste of money.

The shocks are serviceable., I’m putting 30 wt oil in mine,..they don’t come apart like normal shocks...but easy to do. Check the armma videos it will take you through it step by step....
 
I love these Voltage models. We bought a Fazon for my boy for Christmas. We both had so much fun with it that I decided to get myself a granite so that we can jam around together. Then he started driving mine more than his because the Fazon was always stuck on all kinds a little rocks and crap. So, we converted theFazon to a Granite.

Issues and resolutions so far:

Rear left shock shaft pulled out of the lower mount- after having to stuff it in repeatedly, I used epoxy from the 99¢ store and Voila. Now it will outlast cockroaches. Cost, $1.07 with tax. These shocks also seem to be overdampened for the weight of this vehicle. I'm going to try lighter shock oil and see what we find.

Black servo saver loose as hell - trying to find suitable replacement. Trying to find an "red" one in the Kimbrough style. In fairness, this was installed on our Fazon, unknown if any Granite models came with the black one. Cost: $0 yet, customer service said they'd mail the "proper" one to us in the interest of customer service.

Stripped differential outdrives - happened yesterday. Customer service is sending a new set. I went to order spares, both Arrma and Tower Hobbies are on backorder. Yikes.Cost: $0 (so far)

Servo gears stripped - this happened with the stock 5 wire servo on the car's 2nd run. Sad ?. Replaced with a standard 3 wire servo, eBay purchase, metal-geared waterproof 7kg Arrma ADS-7V. Cost: $15. It works well but I like stronger steering and recommend the $20/20kg red ones.

Tires out of round - They are super super out of round do to mediocre manufacturing tolerances and/or imprecise installation. The stockers DO have foam in them, I can confirm. We received a set of replacement Granite Copperhead tires and wheels that we used for the Fazon conversion. The replacements are much heavier, 1.4 oz. per, and the foam is also much firmer. Haven't driven it in the dry or off-road to see if traction is improved.

Waterproof electronics not waterproof - While jamming around in a wet parking lot with puddles, my Granite stopped working. I suspected water was the culprit although they call it waterproof. I tore it down when I got home. I pulled the ESC/receiver apart and it has water inside. Dried it out in a bag of rice and reassembled. Worked fine until diff cup stripped out. Cost: probably Amy 14¢ of rice.

That's about all of my observations. I've spent too much time and money on this hobby since December, but we do love these trucks. They're a blast.
 
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