Just bought my first RC in many years
 

Long story short, I had a rough few years in the 2010's and ended up losing all my old stuff. Been working on getting back into it again, I finally have. I bought an Arrma Big Rock 3s, This has been a great truck the last couple days, since I could finally run it. I had it last week, but had to wait on support equipment. My current support setup is Ovonic 5500 50C 3s packs (2) and a Hobbymate D6 Pro Duo charger with internal balancing

I had to swap the Spektrum IC5 plug to a Genuine Deans plug and been very happy with it so far. It just feels good to be able to get out and have fun and not be on a computer all day. To all those wondering about the Arrma 3s series, I have no complaints, except no adjustments for shock positions. In fact it's dealt with me relearning how to drive very well, not a part has broken in two days, very well built trucks

I didn't really post much, because I didn't have much to post about. But may post more since I have something to post about now. Don't have a good camera at the moment, but soon as i do, I'll post some pics

Edit, heads up, if you go with the packs i used, they might not fit the Granite, it has a shorter wheelbase than the BR. If you get the senton (CRT) or typhon (3s 1/8 buggy)share the same chassis, but you need to remove the blocks in the battery box

Good to see you! It's been a while, eh? I'm glad to read you are still around.

Thanks, I'm still around, getting used to this truck. this thing is a little beast. I am already thinking about upgrading the radio, honestly it needs a gyro based radio and a slight gear down (no alt pinion with this one). Motor feels very warm (almost hot), but so far the esc is not straining. thinking going from the stock 15 to a 13 tooth will probably make the motor live longer.

It's now been about 2 months since I got the Arrma Big Rock, I have to say I'm impressed. I'm not beating it senseless, but I'm not easy on it either, it seems to just take everything I give it and ask for seconds. It's a little front heavy, so without lots of throttle it'll endo easily. Hoping an eventual upgrade to a set of Proline shocks and springs will fix a lot of that. Right now there is two things that are bugging me on this truck #1. a lack of adjustments for the shocks (top or bottom) and I have seen no optional springs without looking third party. #2. This thing has two fans, one on the ESC and one on the motor. I understand the esc fan due to the very small size, but if you need a fan on the motor you have a mis-sized motor for the application. Just my opinion, never had to run a fan on a motor, never did on the esc either I ran Quark or mamba max esc's at up to 6s with 0 issues. BTW just temped the esc and motor after todays run 88*f outdoor temp, The ESC was in the 110*f range and the motor was in the 124*f range. not sure if that is good or bad but honestly both are fairly close, still not digging the fans though.

Like I said I'm not what people call a true basher, I don't willingly try to break my stuff. But accidents happen and not having an RC since 2013, there is a lot of accidents. I have hit trees at full speed, tumbles across the yard (long, narrow yard), this truck hasn't broke anything, not an arm, chassis or even a gear. As I said this is a little front heavy, requiring throttle to land right. Despite the plastic spur and ring and pinion (yes both are plastic), with metal planetary gears internally (think traxxas 2wd style diffs). they haven't even slipped and I've not even shimmed them yet, not sure if I'll need to.

The only thing i had to do to make this work for me was swap the connector from the IC5 spektrum connector to a deans so I could run more packs than their overpriced ones. My current packs are Ovonic 3s 50c 5500 packs, they are great packs and give me something like 15 minutes of run time (just a guess, not ever timed it).

I think this is a great starter car for almost anyone, though I'd suggest 2s to start with. 3s got me in a lot of trouble till I got used to it. It is an extremely tough truck, that can take a good pounding. My complaint of no adjustments, makes it even better for new drivers, since it's almost impossible to screw up a setup.

If you want to see what this truck can really handle check this guy out. he is extremely tough on his stuff and this vid convinced me to buy this truck
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2FpF3xexIU&t=70s
He's also converted it to 4s and it's a monster
If you read this, thank you and sorry for any grammar errors, was never good in my grammar classes

Hey guys 2 more months and 0 breakage, though the link ends on the front are a little stretched, got replacements coming so not too worried. Been getting a lot of rain recently, so been a bit of a damper of the fun. The electronics are claimed to be waterproof, but the bearings are my concern, once you get water in them they rust quickly.

So i decided to tear it down and see what's what inside. have not taken the diffs apart because they seem fine, but the grease on the ring and pinion was a little gritty. also both diffs were like 0 lash and there is a very slight warp on the front (not a perfect path on the pinion) where it got a little rough. So i got some silicone plumbers grease and a thing of loctite, I chose silicone plumbing grease because it's designed for rubber o-rings, so shouldn't degrade the plastic gears

Once I took the diffs apart from the carrier, I noticed, the u shaped carrier was extremely tight, so i took them apart cleaned everything well and reassembled tightening just enough to hold things together while not wrenching down hard. The front diff still has a little catch, but the rear is perfect and still 0 lash. A little trick i used to ensure proper seating of the bearings (Ring gear) was before putting the screws in the carrier assemble everything and roll the ring, if it doesn't feel right, Tap the side of the carrier opposite the way you want it to go. If for instance the gears are too tightly meshed tap the opposite to help seat the bearings properly. I used a rubber handled screwdriver for my hammer, worked just fine.

I'm posting this for everyone that has the experience to look over your truck, double check especially the diffs, they might be too tight and potentially causing issues. I did this to free up the drivetrain and take some load off the motor and esc, but also for the longevity of the parts in question. Being jammed together, is never a good place to be for gears. Hope this helps someone that suspects issues

Just dropping a line to let you know I keep reading your post here, Crazy. You are not alone LOL

A little update, had some breakages and wrecks. Amazingly hitting a tree and a house on the front suspension has done little more than bend an upper link (both were at about 45 MPH)

I did have some issues with the halfshafts when i tightened the slipper more than i should. For those who haven't found this out yet, the proper setting is two full turns out from bottomed out, once i found that (It's not in any manual) I've yet to break anything more in the driveline.

The motor is a different story, After about 15-20 runs the front motor bearing exploded, as in balls everywhere inside the motor. Thankfully the motor did not take out the esc. So i started looking for a way to fix it had planned to just get more motor bearing, but as i tried to remove the outer race I pulled the windings off a stator mount, so ended that.

So i looked on the arrma forums and a lot of people had similar issues and most went to the Surpass hobby motors, many just found a 3660 (36mmx60mm) 3200 kv (stock sizing) and just kept going. They seem to run better so I started looking for some. the only places i managed to find any were Ebay or Bangood, but on both they were shipping from china, roughly 30 days journey to get to me in the best of times, but with the traffic jam on cargo on the west coast, maybe longer. I started looking on Amazon for a suitable substitute. and i stumbled on a surpass 3665 (36mmx65mm) 2300 KV. Both motors (stock and the perspective one) had 5mm shafts, so looked to be a great fit and maybe more torque. I even dusted off brian G's old speed calculator and checked the potential speed. Stock this little monster is 50 MPH capable with a 3s lipo. I wanted it a little slower, BrianG's calc said new motor was doing 36MPH stock gear (15 tooth pinion) but with a 17 tooth it was 41 MPH which i thought more appropriate for this truck

I am so glad i did this, the truck is way more controllable it's more torquey, but it's more easily handled. I think the gearing and KV stock was too much, but looked good on paper. Now the truck is fun, I didn't need to get used to the power, I just needed to adjust it to work for me. Before it was like trying to control a 5 year old on red bull, now it's more like a Matured in it's prime horse. yes it's still strong, but it is easier to control