Granite Voltage 2WD brushless conversion, Velo’s learning curve build.

[grihn]

Looks great! Does the compass hold some significe to you, or do you just like the design.

 

[Velodromed]

Looks great! Does the compass hold some significe to you, or do you just like the design.

Thank you!
My whole life it’s been important. I’ve always been trying to find my path you could say. Took near 50 years but I finally did a couple years ago. I have a similar one tattooed on my calf, with an XTR mountain bike chain ring in the center, that was done in 2012.

 

[grihn]

Nice! Glad to hear you've found the path you want to be on. Some of us find it early in life and for others it just takes more time, but finding it (and those who make it worthwhile) is what's important.

 

[Velodromed]

Nice! Glad to hear you've found the path you want to be on. Some of us find it early in life and for others it just takes more time, but finding it (and those who make it worthwhile) is what's important.

Yes it is. It really is. Thanks man

 

[CFoote]

Hey, new guy here, but wanted to say I have a set of close friends with Granite Voltage's and your thread was very informative, thank you. We ordered some Losi drivecups (part TLR242003) that came suggested on another forum. We'll put those on the output to the diff and hope for the best, we are running stock motor and 2S Lipos.

The integy gear kit looks great, agreed its expensive...it's just like a real car, you put as much into it as you bought it for over time! lol

It's a great starter RC and it's nice it can be upgraded.

Chris

 

[Velodromed]

Hey, new guy here, but wanted to say I have a set of close friends with Granite Voltage's and your thread was very informative, thank you. We ordered some Losi drivecups (part TLR242003) that came suggested on another forum. We'll put those on the output to the diff and hope for the best, we are running stock motor and 2S Lipos.

The integy gear kit looks great, agreed its expensive...it's just like a real car, you put as much into it as you bought it for over time! lol

It's a great starter RC and it's nice it can be upgraded.

Chris

Thanks man. Had a lot of fun with those trucks. Just remember the unavoidable differential weaknesses. If you go over 2s it will strip the internal gears or even snap the drive cup mounts. Someday I’ll probably get the Intergy full metal differential just for fun. But that’s 100 bucks I don’t wanna throw at a Voltage right now lol.

 

[CFoote]

Thank you, any other "spare" parts you would suggest? We have gone thru a few servo savers so far, and of course they are on backorder at the moment.

Do the control arms/shock mounts and other bits seem to hold up? Had a steering linkage arm popped off but it popped right back on.

Chris

 

[Velodromed]

Thank you, any other "spare" parts you would suggest? We have gone thru a few servo savers so far, and of course they are on backorder at the moment.

Do the control arms/shock mounts and other bits seem to hold up? Had a steering linkage arm popped off but it popped right back on.

Chris

Hey Chris,
It may be irritating how the steering links pop off whenever you hit something, but those are a well set up intentional failure points to avoid cracking the hub. On one of mine I put in fixed steering rods and broke several hubs pretty quickly.

The arms are fine, I’ve never actually broken one. The stock Servo savers seriously suck. They break when you sneeze on them. I put kimbrough Servo savers in (see below pic). I use the ones with the wide end , however none of the existing holes work. I ended up drilling a hole between the top two on each side. Otherwise if you use the existing outside holes it leaves you with negative toe.

In one of my Voltages I have a cheap $16 Amazon Servo. On the other two I used stock 3s s651 servos. Those don’t work well with the 3S cars but they work great with a lightweight voltage and only cost 10 bucks on jennysrc.com. On the stock ESC there are spots to plug in a five wire servo and a three wire Servo on the other side of the ESC.

Be careful with the wheels. The hexes will strip out if you have too much torque on the rear. I have found that a 19 tooth piñon gives good top end speed and adequate take off power without so much force torque, which helps save the drivetrain and wheel hexes. On the ones I stripped out I just gorilla glued the plastic hooks into the wheel and use them on the front.

The three in one esc things suck and will die if they get even a minor amount of moisture in them. I replaced mine with a stock mega system from a granite mega that I converted to brushless. The other two I got basic cheap brushless systems for $30 on Amazon. I only run them on 2s because 3S destroys the drive trains. I also use SLT3 remotes/receivers on all of them. 20 bucks for a set on Jenny’s. These things stock have a 48DP spur with 3.175 motor shaft and 16t pinion. Make sure to remember that when ordering those parts.

I love the T-bone bumper for the front, It’s pretty cheap and provides excellent protection. The rear bumper/wheelie bar is expensive and kind of pointless because it doesn’t really need a wheelie bar.

Just try to keep it light. Don’t go crazy with metal upgrades. These things need to stay under 5 pounds with the battery. I even use lightweight softshell 3s 3000Mah, 30c batteries for them (see below pic). The lighter they are the better they can handle everything.
Doug

Hey Chris,
It may be irritating how the steering links pop off whenever you hit something, but those are a well set up intentional failure points to avoid cracking the hub. On one of mine I put in fixed steering rods and broke several hubs pretty quickly.

The arms are fine, I’ve never actually broken one. The stock Servo savers seriously suck. They break when you sneeze on them. I put kimbrough Servo savers in (see below pic). I use the ones with the wide end , however none of the existing holes work. I ended up drilling a hole between the top two on each side. Otherwise if you use the existing outside holes it leaves you with negative toe.

In one of my Voltages I have a cheap $16 Amazon Servo. On the other two I used stock 3s s651 servos. Those don’t work well with the 3S cars but they work great with a lightweight voltage and only cost 10 bucks on jennysrc.com. On the stock ESC there are spots to plug in a five wire servo and a three wire Servo on the other side of the ESC.

Be careful with the wheels. The hexes will strip out if you have too much torque on the rear. I have found that a 19 tooth piñon gives good top end speed and adequate take off power without so much force torque, which helps save the drivetrain and wheel hexes. On the ones I stripped out I just gorilla glued the plastic hooks into the wheel and use them on the front.

The three in one esc things suck and will die if they get even a minor amount of moisture in them. I replaced mine with a stock mega system from a granite mega that I converted to brushless. The other two I got basic cheap brushless systems for $30 on Amazon. I only run them on 2s because 3S destroys the drive trains. I also use SLT3 remotes/receivers on all of them. 20 bucks for a set on Jenny’s. These things stock have a 48DP spur with 3.175 motor shaft and 16t pinion. Make sure to remember that when ordering those parts.

I love the T-bone bumper for the front, It’s pretty cheap and provides excellent protection. The rear bumper/wheelie bar is expensive and kind of pointless because it doesn’t really need a wheelie bar.

Just try to keep it light. Don’t go crazy with metal upgrades. These things need to stay under 5 pounds with the battery. I even use lightweight softshell 3s 3000Mah, 30c batteries for them (see below pic). The lighter they are the better they can handle everything.
Doug

Oh, You might as well get an extra differential or two. They aren’t that expensive but it really sucks that you have to take the entire freaking car apart to get to the inner gears. You should go ahead and access it anyway to top off the stock differential with 10 K differential oil. They only come partially filled. It will track much straighter with a full differential.

 

[arrmaab]

First decent weather of the year where I live and we got the kids Voltages out with the "winter upgrades" in place. I ended up replacing the ESC on both with quicrun 1060s and switched the radio gear on both to the SLT3 system. This was the first time both ran without the ESC overheating or giving us grief. Last year we never had a session where one truck stopped working before the other due to issues with the ESC. We got about 30 mins of run time on the 2S packs and actually had some juice left but we had to cut the session short. Last year we'd get about 25 mins if we were lucky and one of the ESCs didn't overheat.

I do see tires in my near future as they both are pretty hard on them. Any recommendations for some rubber that won't break the bank seeing as though I'll need 2 sets? I'd likely just swap the rears and hope to get extended life out of the old ones as fronts.

 

[Velodromed]

First decent weather of the year where I live and we got the kids Voltages out with the "winter upgrades" in place. I ended up replacing the ESC on both with quicrun 1060s and switched the radio gear on both to the SLT3 system. This was the first time both ran without the ESC overheating or giving us grief. Last year we never had a session where one truck stopped working before the other due to issues with the ESC. We got about 30 mins of run time on the 2S packs and actually had some juice left but we had to cut the session short. Last year we'd get about 25 mins if we were lucky and one of the ESCs didn't overheat.

I do see tires in my near future as they both are pretty hard on them. Any recommendations for some rubber that won't break the bank seeing as though I'll need 2 sets? I'd likely just swap the rears and hope to get extended life out of the old ones as fronts.

Theses work good

 

[arrmaab]

Are you using 12mm hex? If so which ones? I picked up a set of the metal Arrma branded ones, the ones with the grub screw. They don't like to sit nicely on the stub shaft when the grub screw is tightened down. I've resorted to just not using the screw and make sure the pin is in the slot of the hex when I put the wheels on.

 

[Velodromed]

I think this is the one you’re looking for. I bought it a couple of months back but never tested it.

 

[arrmaab]

Thanks. Are those 12mm?

 

[Velodromed]

Thanks. Are those 12mm?

Yup
I’ll try to find them and dig out one of my voltages and test it. I bought these a couple weeks ago…I was positive at a time they were right for the voltage but again, I haven’t tested them. I cleaned/rearranged everything the other day so I’m not quite sure where I put them. May take a day or so as my wife’s just out of the hospital.

 

[Velodromed]

Well, my favorite voltage was ripped off awhile back. Sucks but figured I might as well update this thread. Man…I loved how this body turned out. My second paint attempt and Perfected using stencils to paint my signature compass on the inside.

This is the voltage that I put the electrics from my mega Granite into. They provided a good combination of power and speed while at the same time they didn’t damage the drivetrain.

Think it’s time to pull out Redneck Truck and start working on it again. I miss having one of these little 2WD beasties to play with.

https://www.arrmaforum.com/threads/guess-i-left-the-garage-open….51009/

 

[Velodromed]

Hmmmm…yeah, why not? I don’t feel like working on the Noto anyway quite yet. Think I’ll go back to the basics

TaaDaa! Voltage pile cleaned up and ready for assembly I’ll finish it up later. Need to pull all my other misc parts out and see how I’m going to do this. I could throw the stock mega infraction motor and esc in. Or use just the motor and a brushed hobbywing esc I have. I won’t go brushless I know this much. I want it to last longer then 10 minutes before breaking the diff

 

[Velodromed]

Semi-organized chaos but coming along. I’m putting in the mega esc and motor from my new mini infraction. I think it’ll be perfect and hopefully not kill the drive train.

 

[Velodromed]

Red Neck truck revival is coming along!! I refused to buy anything for this build. I’m using parts I have accrued over time. With two voltages left over I pulled them both apart, using the best shape parts from each, along with other parts I have.

Man, the infraction mega brushed motor is huge compared to the small Voltage stock one heavy as well. But that’s OK, I took the best shape remaining lame-ass front end Amazon shocks I had and rebuilt them using stock 3s vorteks Springs and 2.5k oil. The only good thing about them is that they hold oil well. The heavy oil and heavy springs I think will work great on this short suspension 2wd car.

I put a set of integy CVDs on the rear. These are dangerous for the differential, especially with a brushless motor and really especially on 3s. I figured that out way back after killing several differentials. Not just breaking inside gears but the actual drive cup mounts snapped. But with the brushed motor and running 2S I think it’ll be fine.

 

[Velodromed]

That was kind of weird. Test drove it in my living room briefly this morning, it ‘popped’ and spun so I figured I either didn’t tighten the grub enough and the pinion came off or the spur stripped. Instead I found this. The pinion broke at the grub screw hole. It’s my only 19t pinion so I put a 17t in. It may work out better because the 19 T Nash was awful tight, the 17t is a touch loose. An 18t would probably be perfect so I’ll order one if needed. I can’t wait to test drive it later.

The size and heft of the motor still cracks me up. Feel like I’m putting a V-8 in a Ford ranger. I’ll have to use some moldable plastic and make a shield for the motor wires connection. I’m hoping it has a decent amount of top end (for what it is of course) but not so much torque so that it destroys the diff. With the relatively short suspension I think it’ll be zippy and fun to drive. That’s why I wanted to use the 19t pinion, less torque more speed.

Reviving Redneck Truck has been fun. This is the first RC that I really tried to work on and modify. It taught me so much, setting me up for converting my granite mega to brushless and eventually lead to owning five, 3S cars and two 6s cars. I love working on these things and it all started with this little guy

 

[grihn]

That was kind of weird. Test drove it in my living room briefly this morning, it ‘popped’ and spun so I figured I either didn’t tighten the grub enough and the pinion came off or the spur stripped. Instead I found this. The pinion broke at the grub screw hole. It’s my only 19t pinion so I put a 17t in. It may work out better because the 19 T Nash was awful tight, the 17t is a touch loose. An 18t would probably be perfect so I’ll order one if needed. I can’t wait to test drive it later.

The size and heft of the motor still cracks me up. Feel like I’m putting a V-8 in a Ford ranger. I’ll have to use some moldable plastic and make a shield for the motor wires connection. I’m hoping it has a decent amount of top end (for what it is of course) but not so much torque so that it destroys the diff. With the relatively short suspension I think it’ll be zippy and fun to drive. That’s why I wanted to use the 19t pinion, less torque more speed.

Reviving Redneck Truck has been fun. This is the first RC that I really tried to work on and modify. It taught me so much, setting me up for converting my granite mega to brushless and eventually lead to owning five, 3S cars and two 6s cars. I love working on these things and it all started with this little guy

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The stock skid works pretty well to protect the back of the motor.