Big Rock Updates Due for 4x4 3s line?

[Eno]

I own the Senton 3S and have to say it is one hell of a truck! Tough & fast. Running it on 3S exclusively.

 

[razorrc]

I have no inside information, but I would guess within 6 months. Cutout on chassis, higher chassis guards, 25T servo and black electronics, MAYBE a center diff if we're lucky.

The whole Boost/Mega/BLX line has gone in and out of stock the last few months, I'm not sure they're still producing the cars right now, which would lead to the liklihood of a new revision.

 

[phm14]

2s? I recently spent some time tuning my Granite. It's running so good, I can pin the throttle on 3s even over bumpy terrain. I'm spending so much time with the throttle pinned, I'm realizing I need more power, so I'm upgrading to 4s. The MT10 is a better behaved vehicle when it comes to steering/handling, but I have not anyone pushing an MT10 to the jumping/bashing limits that many send the Granite to. So yeah, depending on what your looking for, the 3s line really can't be beat in terms of performance/value. And with a few upgrades, they are as durable as anything out there, if not the most durable.

You running stock electrics? What punch are you running? I haven't heard any complain about lack of power, from anyone running 2s, especially with the punch increased. I guess if you don't try it, ya don't know. My K6s EXB on 4s, running punch at 8 of 9, and SMC batts, is barely controllable at WOT. Happy to say I've broken nothing, so less time fixing, and more time driving. If I swap in one of my HW XR8 combos, it'll probably be even stronger on 4s, and I still have another punch level to increase. I guess I just don't see the point of power (and the extra weight) that backflips the truck on the ground, just hitting WOT at speed. Maybe if decide I want to spend more time and money wrenching, it'll make more sense. In the vids I've seen with the BR3s, running on 3s, the truck looks over-powered to me. I have 2s and 3s batteries, so I'll find out how the BR3s runs for me, when the truck arrives next week.

 

[GRC]

Yes, stock electronics, stock 15t pinion. Needs 4s to fly further.

 

[phm14]

Yes, stock electronics, stock 15t pinion. Needs 4s to fly further.

Nice driving. Punch setting?

 

[Bustedaw11]

Yes, stock electronics, stock 15t pinion. Needs 4s to fly further.

Gotta say bro.. thats an awesome looking build and I certainly appreciate you sending the little guy. Looked like a blast. Very similar to my back yard/ramp.

 

[RCbuzz]

Yes, stock electronics, stock 15t pinion. Needs 4s to fly further.

Very nice, is that the stock plastic diff's and axles as well!?

 

[slick2500]

We have several 3s rigs, they are a lot of fun and have been good after figuring out their weaknesses.

IMO, seal the power module (search the forum, lots of threads on this), for some time there the forum was filled with posts on bad 3S spur gears and motor bearings. It is because that power module acts like vacuum and sucks up all the debris into the one location you don't want it.

Set proper gear mesh (spur/pinion), and get metal diff yokes for the front and rear diff's. It will keep the plastic gears lasting as long as possible by avoiding flex like the plastic yokes do.

I've tried every fix out there for power module issue, still can't get through more than 4 packs before the motor bearings are toast. I gave up on the platform for this reason. Btw the motor out of my Typhon has been in my Rustler for 1 year and 5 months now making it the longest it has ever gone without having to be rebuilt?

 

[Bustedaw11]

I've tried every fix out there for power module issue, still can't get through more than 4 packs before the motor bearings are toast. I gave up on the platform for this reason. Btw the motor out of my Typhon has been in my Rustler for 1 year and 5 months now making it the longest it has ever gone without having to be rebuilt?

Ditch the heat sink and vent the chassis below the spur... run a clamp on fan mount. I believe the extra room under the motor let's debris flow around and out from under the motor vs being channeled and stuck straight at the module/ motor mount.
Since doing this I've had very little trouble with crap in the module. I drive on a rocked road a lot so that shows me quickly the difference.

 

[slick2500]

Ditch the heat sink and vent the chassis below the spur... run a clamp on fan mount. I believe the extra room under the motor let's debris flow around and out from under the motor vs being channeled and stuck straight at the module/ motor mount.
Since doing this I've had very little trouble with crap in the module. I drive on a rocked road a lot so that shows me quickly the difference.

I have the slot under the spur in the chassis, but I haven't thought of removing the heatsink. I drive mostly in soft dirt that is comprised heavily of sandstone and clay. It has 2 consistencies, fine powder when dry or thick heavy paste when wet it reminds me of concrete when it dries on your car.

 

[Bustedaw11]

I have the slot under the spur in the chassis, but I haven't thought of removing the heatsink.

Looking at the sink from the bottom if you pay attention you'll noticed crap can get into the fins but not out. Especially in the gap in the middle. All build up at the module/motor.

Before I did the clamp on fan I used velcro at the rear of the motor to try and prevent this- worked well. Not as well as simply removing the issue (heat sink).

You also get the added benefit of the fan blowing down and blowing the dust and crud away from the chassis right there instead of sitting/collecting.
Motor runs way cooler as well

Just my experience. Worked well for me

 

[Glitch]

I have no inside information, but I would guess within 6 months. Cutout on chassis, higher chassis guards, 25T servo and black electronics, MAYBE a center diff if we're lucky.

The whole Boost/Mega/BLX line has gone in and out of stock the last few months, I'm not sure they're still producing the cars right now, which would lead to the liklihood of a new revision.

This seams most reasonable. Visual/QOL upgrades to match the 4s update but nothing too major as it sells a lot regardless.

 

[SrC]

I don't forsee much of any of that being addressed aside from the servo saver, but even then they will probably only change it back to a 25t of the same crappy design.

The entire platform needs to be scrapped and redesigned from the ground up by someone who isn't a complete idiot.

Arrmas bread and butter is the 6s platform anyone who says otherwise is just blinded by their love of Arrma. Everyone always rags on Traxxas but at least their 1/10 4x4 platform isn't riddled with a multitude of design flaws and stupid design decisions. Yes the platform does have issues but at the end of the day you can at least fix them.

+1
1000% so true. All points made.

 

[GRC]

Nice driving. Punch setting?

Punch 5

Very nice, is that the stock plastic diff's and axles as well!?

Front diff is stock. My factory front diff ran 3 years no issues before the input gear simply wore down. Rear diff is CNC, absolutely necessary once you jump 10ft+. Hard landings kill the rear diff. 17mm Typhon axles. Also absolutely necessary for big jumps, I snapped so many stock axles.

I've tried every fix out there for power module issue, still can't get through more than 4 packs before the motor bearings are toast. I gave up on the platform for this reason. Btw the motor out of my Typhon has been in my Rustler for 1 year and 5 months now making it the longest it has ever gone without having to be rebuilt?

Motor bearings with a rubber seal. O-ring and washers on the motor shaft, under the pinion, to cover the motor opening. Velcro sealed power module. After having repeated problems, all these combined enabled me to run about 2 years no maintenance. Just recently, looks like the bearing is shot.

 

[slick2500]

Punch 5

Front diff is stock. My factory front diff ran 3 years no issues before the input gear simply wore down. Rear diff is CNC, absolutely necessary once you jump 10ft+. Hard landings kill the rear diff. 17mm Typhon axles. Also absolutely necessary for big jumps, I snapped so many stock axles.

Motor bearings with a rubber seal. O-ring and washers on the motor shaft, under the pinion, to cover the motor opening. Velcro sealed power module. After having repeated problems, all these combined enabled me to run about 2 years no maintenance. Just recently, looks like the bearing is shot.

I tried hybrid bearings, with the rubber seal on one side, velcro under the spur, oring and washer between the pinion and bearing, rtv sealed the entire power module case and no dice the motor module still filled up with crap and destroyed the bearings on both the Senton 3s and the Typhon 3s.

 

[phm14]

I've tried every fix out there for power module issue, still can't get through more than 4 packs before the motor bearings are toast. I gave up on the platform for this reason. Btw the motor out of my Typhon has been in my Rustler for 1 year and 5 months now making it the longest it has ever gone without having to be rebuilt?

3s, or 4s, and what kind of motor temps were you seeing? You're the 1st I've heard of with bearings failing that quickly. Heat can kill bearings, same as contamination. Did you check the motor plate? A tweaked plate could also increase bearing wear, but you may have noticed some noise, if that were the case. Sounds like you sealed the module well. How do you think the dirt was getting in? Did you say the bearings were only sealed on one side? Punch 5 is all the way up, on that ESC?

 

[slick2500]

3s, or 4s, and what kind of motor temps were you seeing? You're the 1st I've heard of with bearings failing that quickly. Heat can kill bearings, same as contamination. Did you check the motor plate? A tweaked plate could also increase bearing wear, but you may have noticed some noise, if that were the case. Sounds like you sealed the module well. How do you think the dirt was getting in? Did you say the bearings were only sealed on one side? Punch 5 is all the way up, on that ESC?

3s on the Typhon and 2s on the Senton. The motors never got hot to the touch even maybe warm at best. Motor plates are flat. I'm not sure how or where it was getting in fwiw both modules are the V1 version. Bearings were TRBRC Hybrid ceramics(same bearings I run in all of my motors) they have a rubber seal on one side and a metal shield on the other, I always faced the rubber seal to the outside of the motor. Both escs are running the box stock settings.

FWIW I honestly think it is the fine sandy dirt at the track, short story long I rebuild a Trinity Speed Gems II Quartz brushed motor with new Japanese bearings, new brushes and new springs from Holmes Hobbies and within 1 pack the bearings in the motor were done.

 

[GRC]

FWIW I honestly think it is the fine sandy dirt at the track, short story long I rebuild a Trinity Speed Gems II Quartz brushed motor with new Japanese bearings, new brushes and new springs from Holmes Hobbies and within 1 pack the bearings in the motor were done.

I've seen a few posts that people running in fine dirt do better with a hole in the chassis than trying to seal the power module.

 

[phm14]

My Big Rock 3s came in today. With several days of rain likely, I couldn't resist rippin' it, right out of the box. I liked it.

 

[slick2500]

I've seen a few posts that people running in fine dirt do better with a hole in the chassis than trying to seal the power module.

Tried that too. My latest attempt was just buying a V3 motor module and ditching the stock V1 module. I've only been out with it once since though.