Granite Voltage Series Diff Outdrive Issues?

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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
I'm just wondering how many of you are experiencing diff outdrive breakages with your Voltage series? It seems to be a somewhat common issue. Asphaltlou here on the Armma forums, as well as the guys over at Big Squid RC have had this happen.

For those of you who have experienced this: What would you say seems to be the underlying issue? Is it an engineering flaw? User error? Or are these Voltage trucks in need of a slipper clutch to lessen the strain on the outdrives? I'm also curious to know how common a problem this really is. There doesn't seem to be very many threads regarding these Voltage trucks just yet, especially compared to the 4x4 Mega series that was also recently introduced.
 
@Thumper01 I just put my Ganite back together. And ran the LiOn batteries through it with some heavy beating. The best I can figure out is that. With the steel axle in the plastic cup, it's just going to eventually ware out and spin. Especially slamming it from reverse to forward. It's just plastic, whether it is designed to take the shock or not, it's plastic. I think on 2S lipo is where the problem will occur more so than the LiOn. I didn't even make it through the 2S pack before it broke.
 
I see. So it's not the steel shaft itself but rather the plastic that connects to it that's breaking. I wonder if Arrma will release updated metal parts to address the issue. Or at least offer some sort of an upgrade.
 
WOW ok 2S lipo is not kind to this vehicle. 3rd time on lipo and I stripped the spur gear. It does great with the lion batteries. Here is a pic of the diff cups and the spur gear. Oh well it's only money. I've ran lion batteries in this several times and it didn't break. I think I might try to buy several sets of lion and then run them in it instead of the lipo. I will admit the the suspension and steering seem to handle a beating. But the plastic gears don't seem to be a match for the lipo. Here is video link with the truck running on the lion batteries. It was a spur of the moment setup lighting sucked and the editing was done real quick.

0317181043a.jpg
 
I would bet that if these came equipped with a slipper clutch, the outdrives and spur gear would last much longer. I'm sure it's a cost savings effort for Arrma to build the Voltage series trucks without some sort of drivetrain-saving feature.
 
Ok sooooo, I got my box of Arrma goodies today for my Granite. I installed the spur gear and ran it on 2 lion batteries I went 5 minutes and I stripped another one. I was inside on the living room carpet an not back flipping it. So i took it apart again and installed another spur gear. I purchased 3 sun gears, 4 outdrive cups, and 3 spur gears. This time I noticed that the 2 screws that hold the motor in place were pretty lose. This might be something to keep an eye one. I will have to get some locktite.
 
I had this problem after approximately 1 (generous) hour of runtime by a 7 year old girl.
 
I had this problem after approximately 1 (generous) hour of runtime by a 7 year old girl.

That stinks. Did you contact Arrma about it? If so, what did they have to say? Surely they are aware that this is happening to a good handful of people by now. I feel fortunate to not have this happen to me (yet). It seems to be a manufacturing / materials flaw. I hope Arrma gets this worked out, as the truck is a lot of fun to drive, IMO.
 
I did not, although I probably will. I've never owned a RC before. I did understand that these things required a bit of a fix-it mentality, so I wasn't sure if my experience was out of the ordinary.

I bought this truck to initially give to my daughter for christmas, but when I saw how the wife and i had overbought (again) I figured I'd save it for her birthday. If I weren't well outside of the return window, I would absolutely return it and buy the Stampede locally. My own corner of NE Ohio doesn't have any seller of Arrma parts, so everything has to be shipped.

It is fun, though! My very very girly daughter absolutely loves it.
 
I did not, although I probably will. I've never owned a RC before. I did understand that these things required a bit of a fix-it mentality, so I wasn't sure if my experience was out of the ordinary.

I bought this truck to initially give to my daughter for christmas, but when I saw how the wife and i had overbought (again) I figured I'd save it for her birthday. If I weren't well outside of the return window, I would absolutely return it and buy the Stampede locally. My own corner of NE Ohio doesn't have any seller of Arrma parts, so everything has to be shipped.

It is fun, though! My very very girly daughter absolutely loves it.

I'm in N.E. Ohio as well. I usually end up getting parts on ebay or Tower Hobbies.

I own a Stampede, and can say for sure that the Arrma Granite Voltage is a much better handling RC. The Stampede has its own good points such as parts availability and pretty good Customer Service. But, it tips over so darn easily that it can be annoying having to flip it back on it's feet over and over again. This is especially the case for inexperienced drivers.

Like I said, each has its own strengths and weaknesses. Arrma has a much newer design and is fairly good about making needed revisions. Traxxas, on the other hand, has never addressed the issues that have plagued their 2wd 1/10 lineup since the early 90's.

At any rate, I hope you get the parts you need to be back up and running soon!
 
In Central Ohio here, the brand new Diff gear didn't even make it to the carpet! Put it together and it didn't even turn a wheel. Found the right outdrive cup stripped. Wasn't doing this with the Loin batteries. Going to save the LiPo for the ESX Torment truck and go back to Lion. Time to order more parts tonight. :(

By the way, on my 4th ESC. 1st one lost braking and reverse. No one could figure it out why, not even ARRMA. The second ESC worked for about a week and lost reverse and braking again. By now I'm thinking maybe one of the filter caps on the motor is bad or something. It sat at the dealer for a month and nothing happened while the hole ARRMA getting sold to Horizon Hobbies thing played out. So I bought another one from the dealer, and steering quit after about 1 hour of use. Put the old ESC in that had the braking/reverse problem, and steering ok, but still the other problems. Took it to the track and down the back straight away on the 1st lap, the outdrive cup stripped out and lost all drive. SO just checked on this forum and found out about the outdrive cup being the problem after assembling and dissembling the truck about 10 times. Got the 4th ESC in. We'll see. Oh this all happened at first with NiMH batteries in then the LiPO, No difference with the ESC porblem
 
It's disheartening seeing so many people having so many problems with this new truck. I would like to give Arrma the benefit of the doubt here, hoping that they will update and address all of these weaknesses. But time will tell I guess.

I am an avid 1/10 scale 2wd monster truck fan. I have (or have had at one point) a Stampede XL-5, Stampede VXL, ECX Ruckus Brushless, Arrma Granite BLX, Arrma Granite Voltage, two Pro-line Pro MTs, and a Monster Slash.

In thinking about how the Granite Voltage fits into that group, a couple things come to mind. Although having a brushed power system and being aimed at first time RC buyers, I think the Granite Voltage holds it own. It's the only mid-motored truck of the bunch, and handles very differently. It offers a unique driving experience, IMO. Tons of steering, a very neutral in-flight attitude, and very stable.

That said, Arrma REALLY needs to fix the driveline and electronics issues if the Voltage series is to survive and be a contender in a very populated segment. The competition is fierce and there's no way this platform will stay afloat without addressing these problems. That would be a shame since the truck really does have a lot to offer.
 
It seems that on high traction surfaces the Granite seems to break the drive train. When I first got mine it stayed in house and I was breaking drive trains left and right. Now since I have been running it outside I haven't broken a thing. I only run a 2S 5200mah 50C battery and I have beaten the living snot out of it. I have jumped it off everything I have jumped my Typhon and my friends Senton off of. It seems to do well on lose traction surfaces I've noticed. I think the reason for the all the breakages is from high traction surfaces.(ie indoor carpet or clean bare concrete, asphalt) I've been running through tall grass and everything. I am in love with this little truck. I bought a ton of spare drive line parts and haven't touched it since I've been running it outside. Hey it's even made my friend who spent twice as much on his Traxxas slash call his traxxas a P.O.S. and it is also what made him purchase a Senton. It has earned my respect and I am not ashamed to park it next to my Typhon and Truggified Typhon. Sorry for the rant. :p
 
It seems that on high traction surfaces the Granite seems to break the drive train. When I first got mine it stayed in house and I was breaking drive trains left and right. Now since I have been running it outside I haven't broken a thing. I only run a 2S 5200mah 50C battery and I have beaten the living snot out of it. I have jumped it off everything I have jumped my Typhon and my friends Senton off of. It seems to do well on lose traction surfaces I've noticed. I think the reason for the all the breakages is from high traction surfaces.(ie indoor carpet or clean bare concrete, asphalt) I've been running through tall grass and everything. I am in love with this little truck. I bought a ton of spare drive line parts and haven't touched it since I've been running it outside. Hey it's even made my friend who spent twice as much on his Traxxas slash call his traxxas a P.O.S. and it is also what made him purchase a Senton. It has earned my respect and I am not ashamed to park it next to my Typhon and Truggified Typhon. Sorry for the rant. :p

Traction certainly plays a role in how much strain the drivetrain has to withstand.
 
Ha, I just spun my first set of outdrives the other day. I have 2 sets on order, when they come in I'm going to take one set and try applying a coat of super glue on the surface that has the oval hole that slips over the diff shaft and then drop some baking soda on the super glue to harden it. I might need to take a needle file to clean up the hole a little, but until someone comes out with steel outdrive cups instead of these plastic ones that we're all stuck with, maybe this little trick will help them last longer and hold up better. What do you guys think, will it work?
 
Last weekend at Sparks, it ran fine for me, but my 16 year old is a little harder on it than I am. After about 10 minutes, he spun both outdrive cupswithin a lap if each other. Then after another 3 laps, he did something to the differential as now it just makes a whining grinding sound. Haven't looked at it yet. Will get it soon.
I also noticed that EN Hobbies has 2 rental Voltages that are broke, just sitting there. Just an observance.
We got a Associated buggy for the track, and are gonna use the truck at home only.
 
Ha, I just spun my first set of outdrives the other day. I have 2 sets on order, when they come in I'm going to take one set and try applying a coat of super glue on the surface that has the oval hole that slips over the diff shaft and then drop some baking soda on the super glue to harden it. I might need to take a needle file to clean up the hole a little, but until someone comes out with steel outdrive cups instead of these plastic ones that we're all stuck with, maybe this little trick will help them last longer and hold up better. What do you guys think, will it work?
Sounds like it's worth a shot!

Last weekend at Sparks, it ran fine for me, but my 16 year old is a little harder on it than I am. After about 10 minutes, he spun both outdrive cupswithin a lap if each other. Then after another 3 laps, he did something to the differential as now it just makes a whining grinding sound. Haven't looked at it yet. Will get it soon.
I also noticed that EN Hobbies has 2 rental Voltages that are broke, just sitting there. Just an observance.
We got a Associated buggy for the track, and are gonna use the truck at home only.
At this point I'm convinced that it is a design flaw, not a bad batch of outdrives. Although mine haven't spun themselves yet, I'm sure it's just a matter of time. Arrma definitely needs to offer steel versions, IMO.
 
Just a quick follow up from me for anyone interested:

My daughter (7yo) still loves playing with it. I instructed her not to go from full reverse to full forward (which I believed may have caused the outdrives to strip) and since then my replaced outdrives seem to be holding. We use 6 of the lion batteries and she probably runs it empty 3 times a week so I guess we've probably run it about 15-20 times for about 1/2 hour each.

Overall, I'd say I'm a satisfied buyer. It's fast, almost never tips over unless it hits something that causes it to get air, and other than the outdrives hasn't required much from me.

Arrma should really, really, include a couple of spare outdrives in the box and maybe a couple of screws in the box though. Considering that the parts are not readily available in many locations, the shipping times (and charges, of course) are very annoying for a part that breaks so easily.
 
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Just a quick follow up from me for anyone interested:

My daughter (7yo) still loves playing with it. I instructed her not to go from full reverse to full forward (which I believed may have caused the outdrives to strip) and since then my replaced outdrives seem to be holding. We use 6 of the lion batteries and she probably runs it empty 3 times a week so I guess we've probably run it about 15-20 times for about 1/2 hour each.

Overall, I'd say I'm a satisfied buyer. It's fast, almost never tips over unless it hits something that causes it to get air, and other than the outdrives hasn't required much from me.

Arrma should really, really, include a couple of spare outdrives in the box and maybe a couple of screws in the box though. Considering that the parts are not readily available in many locations, the shipping times (and charges, of course) are very annoying for a part that breaks so easily.

So nice to hear that your daughter is enjoying the hobby. I tried (unsuccessfully) multiple times to get either of mine interested, but no dice, lol.

I completely agree that it would be a good move on Arrma's part to include a couple extra bits and pieces (especially the outdrives) right out of the gate. Being that this targeted for beginners/first time buyers makes an even stronger case for this.
 
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