My Furious Disease…. How do I ARRMA against it?
How do you spell obsession? I know... AARMA. Give me an A ... A for Addiction. Give me an R... R for Repairing, Give me an R… for Recharging, Give me an M for Manic, and Give me another A... for Affliction. You get the point. Yup, these RC trucks can be a bit addictive. However, this is not some newfound fetish or strange obsession. Well, it is partly that. It is rather to do some experimentation. This is like being in college, but with a lot more wisdom and a lot less self-harm.
The Thought Process
It was about a year ago that I was at a pinewood derby race that my son was competing in, and some kids had an electric slash they were running on their breaks in the parking lot. I heard a dad say to his kids, “You know that looks fun, but those things are crazy expensive.” So, I got to thinking.... is it really that expensive to get a car to run close to 40mph? Personally, I think that is the sweet spot because you will have a decent straightaway run, and you can set it up to corner like a freak without spending a gazillion dollars. Then I was thinking: how much would it really cost? Could I get a truck with a brushed motor to hit almost 40mph?
So, I want to keep the blue truck that I bought at the scratch and dent sale at Tower Hobbies as the base. I plan to run only the NimH battery and a 2S Lipo with the bone stock setup. On the new truck I have, I bought it off eBay for 90 dollars, shipped to my door. I want to do progressive upgrades to see what will get me to 40MPH without breaking the bank.
Unfortunately, my Blue Fury was red with Envy… and we had to do an intervention before the first speed run. I guess RC cars need love too? The poor thing took the new truck coming home pretty hard.
Whatcha Doing there Paulie?
I scored the new AARMA off eBay and wanted to do some testing. I had tower cash, so I bought a 1080 speed control because the stock one was a little cooked I sort of messed up because I should have bought the 1060 speed control. However, I will count the 1080 as a splurge item. It will take a 2s or 3s Lipo. The limit is the motor, as it will only power brushed motors. However, that is perfect for my plan because brushed motors are cheaper to run than brushless. Yes, you got a lot more power out of brushless, but I’m pulling for the underdog here. I want to see how close we can get to 40MPH without breaking the bank.
So, what is the cost thus far?
Truck $90 (Bad speed control & receiver)
Speed Control $43.99 (https://www.towerhobbies.com/product/quicrun-wp-1080-brushed-g2-esc/HWI30120202.html)
Transmitter/Receiver $49.99 (https://www.amainhobbies.com/furitek-microflex-4channel-4ws-transmitter-w-micronode-receiver-ftk-fur-2689/p1646501)
Or upgrade the transmitter/receiver for a little more: https://www.towerhobbies.com/product/slt3-3-channel-slt-transmitter-with-slr300-receiver/SPMSLT350.html
So, yeah, we are just under $185 right now. This is a really good price for everything you get. You will already have the NIMH battery, which is not that great, but it is a start. You could get a Spectrum LiPO for $28.93 (Amazon affiliate link). This would bring the total up to $212.91.
I have the new speed control mounted in the truck with a receiver. It is bound to my Spectrum DX5 Rugged. Well, it should be called, “Probably more durable than a non-rugged, but it looks way cooler…and comes in more colors… and looks really RUGGED DX-5.” I think that title would be too long, and I doubt that Spektrum is going to invite me to participate in their marketing meetings. However, I entertain myself, and we will stick with the name they gave it…. “rrrrRRugged.”
(There is a cutout in the chassis so you can run wires to the battery box. It works really slick! I love the design.)
(This is the truck flipped over. You are looking up through the chassis. This is the battery compartment and you can see that it is really easy to run wires through for a different speed control)
I programmed the speed control using the Hobby Wing Card (Amazon Affiliate Link). This is like getting the secret decoder ring, but better than tuning into little orphan Annie, and deconding a message that is a crummy commercial. The Hobby Wing Speed controller is way cooler! You can program how the speed control works. You will receive a “decoder card” in the 1080 speed control, which decodes the numbers that the programmer card displays. You follow the prompts on the card, and you will easily program the speed control. The best part is that this take minutes, and the program is instant. If you plug the card in and nothing happens, there is a good chance you plugged the programming wire into the wrong port. Just turn off the speed control, plug the wire into the other port, and turn the speed control back on. You should see numbers if it is talking to the speed control. Don’t worry…. my goldfish memory interferes with my competence. Thankfully, my goldfish memory never wins! (How to program is in the video at the bottom of this link. Just click on the chapter if you want to skip to it.
Nevertheless, I will list how I programmed the speed control.
When you want to program the speed control, you remove the little rubber cover that goes over the three prongs.
You hook up the cable, paying attention to the positive and negative terminals that are marked on the speed control. You will line up the negative with the black wire and the positive with the red wire.
You take the other side of the wire and plug it into the program port on the hobby wing speed control.
Why Cut up This Truck?
I have an eBay search set for AARMA Fury Brushed. Lo and behold, I found a ton of the Furys on a particular eBay seller’s store. I am thinking that he buys the warranty truck from Tower because he is based out of Illinois, and all the trucks he has have bad speed control or receivers. When I received the truck my speculation is that the dolt who ran the truck put a 3s LiPo on the truck and found out what will happen. Well, it will smoke.... a lot of smoke... like Mount Sinai scary smoke.... like get this thing outside before my house burns down type of smoke. So, please don’t put a 3s LiPO on the stock speed control. It took a few days for the electrical fire smell to go away the first time I opened the box. So, the lesson we learn: Don’t put too much voltage into an electric vehicle! So back on point…. the squirrel ran away…. I am cutting up the truck because it’s already out of warranty! Warranties and I do not always get along….
So, why not have fun with it? I need to buy something a little more…. well…. serious to get speed. I know that the GoPro is going to impact the aerodynamics and slow the truck down a bit… not to mention the extra weight. However, it looks cool, and it really sucks when you crash. Oh well, isn’t this where old GoPros go? They get sacrificed for science. They also capture some epic footage of crashes. The cool part is I think my son helped me figure out a better way to mount the GoPro on the rear bumper. So, I am back to getting results for speed runs.
My son and I already did some speed runs and had a blast driving the trucks. You know, if you think about the cost of video games…. this is a really fun game console. It is close to race sim, only you go outside, exercise the eyes with depth perception, and it is a hoot to chase each other around with these trucks. I will say that no matter what happens, these trucks are a hoot. They are not the fastest thing I have ever driven, but man, they are just hilarious to drive. Seriously, most people have the means, and I encourage you to buy one.
I used to think that the truck had a face that only a mother could love. However, either I have become a mother, which I haven’t, or the looks are growing on me. The best part is they are not growing on me in the sense that I want something removed…. like a tumor….. I no longer park the truck with a brown bag over it. In fact, I am starting to like the electric truck look. Maybe Tesla should take note. Hey Tesla! They invented curved lines! You might want to check that out for the next cyber truck!
Conclusion
I look forward to doing some testing. When I get the truck where I want it, then it is time to run it against the slash nitro. Supposedly, the Slash will do 50. I think I have had it tuned well enough at one point. My frustration is when you get the carb dialed, then it seems to lose the tune. It could be the carb, but it is probably more me. Personally, I just need to buy some more nitro and spend time giving the slash some love. I am not sure if the Slash will make an appearance in the video, as we had enough technical issues with the GoPros and the truck making left turns. I think we have it resolved with my son’s new design, but in the meantime, we won’t be bootlegging in NASCAR.
Thanks for reading this. Remember to use social media to be social. Until we meet again, may the Lord’s blessing and peace be upon you.