lots.... and LOTS of questions about my Gorgon

[JustnWynn]

hey fellas. so I'm just gonna jump right into it.. I'm wanting to do a write up on all of this but first i need to know what i'm doing. lol
i'm doing my first hobby grade 2s to 3s build.
I've got the gearing all changed to metal. did the driveshafts and the front a arms.
i'll be honest.. I'm putting off the next part.. because it intimidates me a little bit. so lets start small... and yall tell me if i even have the right stuff. if its right and can be worked with then i have questions about that later.
ok, so i got this stuff used from a guy on ebay who said he was going with a 4s.. i got it all a good while ago.. somewhere around when i dropped off the map. so its been a minute. I've got the motor and the servo installed.. but i've taken pics of everything so yall can tell me if i'm at least moving in the right direction
heres what i got:

ok thats what I've got so far. if its wrong.. can i make it work?? stuff like that.
thanks for any and all help you're willing to throw a newbs way
cheers

 

[jojobeans]

You got the motor in, that's half the battle with that platform. Stuff everything else where it fits and make it as neat as you can, as long as all the wires are plugged in correctly it'll work fine. Don't overcomplicate it! It looks fine and all the electronics look properly sized to your application.

Make sure gear mesh is good and watch your temps. If the motor is over 160 degrees, drop your pinions tooth count. If the motor is less than 160 degrees, you can put a bigger pinion on. That's probably the most complicated and tedious part about upgrading a power system. No one can tell you what gearing to run as your driving style, batteries, terrain, weather, tires size, etc will all be a factor in what you can run. I usually start with the gearing that came with the car and go from there. Make sure the servo is on channel 1 and you ESC is on channel 2.

If you can break open the transmission and add metal gears, this will be a walk in the park for you. Gotta have more confidence!

 

[WickedFog]

Battery powered servo - nice. Solder the red and black leads from the servo directly to the power lead that plugs into the battery. You should probably toss a little connector in line there so you can remove the servo if needed. Like some small bullets.

On 3s though, those aluminum arms might cause a lot of damage to the bulkhead, and I see it is plastic. This will now be your breaking point.

 

[jojobeans]

Battery powered servo - nice. Solder the red and black leads from the servo directly to the power lead that plugs into the battery. You should probably toss a little connector in line there so you can remove the servo if needed. Like some small bullets.

On 3s though, those aluminum arms might cause a lot of damage to the bulkhead, and I see it is plastic. This will now be your breaking point.
View attachment 214271

Didn't even see that with the servo, that's really cool!

 

[WickedFog]

Didn't even see that with the servo, that's really cool!

Yeah, they are pretty wicked. A 16v servo lol. Hard not to like it.

 

[jojobeans]

Yeah, they are pretty wicked. A 16v servo lol. Hard not to like it.

Here I am excited about a 35kg servo I just bought.

That thing is going to be violent in that light of a car. Turning definitely won't be an issue, may even be necessary to bypass the servo saver at that point lol.

 

[CertifiedMike]

I'm interested to see how this truck holds up over time.
The Gorgon has been a great little truck for me in stock form!

 

[JustnWynn]

Wow... you guys are great!.. thank you so much!
Ok.. gonna get started on it today.
I never even thought of that being a breaking point now. I just figured stronger would be better. Ok.. food for thought at least. Thank you.
On the servo... I'm gonna try putting on some bigger and heavier tires that I have. They're a LOT heavier than stock. Plus I figured "gimme the biggest you got that will fit", you know?
Ok... this is good . The way my luck is.. Just wanted to make sure I didn't get hustled. Being a newb.
Alright... I've got more ?s but I'll need to take pics first... to be continued...
Cheers fellas

 

[JustnWynn]

ok.. lets talk the servo first.. cuz it has me all twisted up with those 4 wires instead of 3
alright.. i hear you about hooking the neg and pos to the power source.. i actually figured that so i got one of these..

but what has me caught up is the other 2 wires.. i know they go in the reciever but... tell you what.. lets list the questions.. lol
1. how do i hook the other 2 wires to the rx?
2. what are the connectors that go into the rx called? so i can order them if i need to
3. is there a special kind of connector for the 2 wires instead of the regular 3?
4. or do i just find a regular 3 wire connector for the rx and solder to only 2 of the terminals for it? if so, which ones?

ok.. thats it for now.. I've got more.. but lets figure out this servo first.. its what is intimidating me. lol

 

[WickedFog]

The black wire with the white stripe should be your signal wire (yellow in my pic). The other one is a ground (brown in my pic). The red/black wires go to the +/- on the battery.

That cable you bought is not going to work well. It will, but it's complete overkill.

Grab you some of these JST connectors off Amazon. Just for clarification, connectors are labeled male/female according to the pins/sockets inside them. Not the plastic housing. In the pic below, the ones on the left are female.

So solder a male one to the servo's red and black leads (use heat shrink). Then solder a female one directly to your power connector off the ESC.

For the other one, and to answer your question, it needs a JR connector to plug into the Rx. it appears it doesn't have a connector on it at all?

You can order servo extensions off Amazon as well. I always keep a stash of them on hand to hack up for custom projects. Like these.

You will remove the center (red +) wire out of the connector. Easily done by using an exacto blade or similar, less dangerous tool and push down on the metal tab on the middle wire here, and remove it.

 

[JustnWynn]

perfect! ok.. i have jst connectors.. but not the servo extention wires.. so i need those to make this work.. ok.
hmmm... I've got the original servo.. could i just cut that wire and remove the tab you're talking about? solder that bad boy on this new one? or do they have to be new in order to do that?

 

[WickedFog]

Yeah, you can definitely do that.

 

[JustnWynn]

naaaaailed it...

it got a little hacked up.. but no worse for wear... i'm on my way!
can't wait til i can do the write up on this thing.. believe it or not.. theres isnt a lot of step by step stuff for this thing. i guess everyone assumes that if you're getting a gorgon then you know what you're doing. whoops... lol.
so just in case.. i want to do a good detailed as i can instructions for what i'm doing

 

[CertifiedMike]

naaaaailed it...
View attachment 214323

it got a little hacked up.. but no worse for wear... i'm on my way!
can't wait til i can do the write up on this thing.. believe it or not.. theres isnt a lot of step by step stuff for this thing. i guess everyone assumes that if you're getting a gorgon then you know what you're doing. whoops... lol.
so just in case.. i want to do a good detailed as i can instructions for what i'm doing

If the finished product is amazing... post your address and I'll mail you mine to do next!!!

I hope the big heavy tires dont cause breakage issues. There are a couple builds where the bigger tires helped the ride! Can't wait to see to builld and your results!
I really do love the stock Gorgon. So much that IF I get crazy... I'd likely keep this one stockish (the motor and esc 2in1 need to go, replace with a decent servo too) and buy/build a kit... if kit form can be found still.
The scale bumbling but powerful ride it has on 2s is just perfect for my liking... I mean box stock too! I think I topped off the shocks.
I saw exocaged build one but I feel like he isnt 100% open about this results ( like most paid youtubers) not knocking him.
This will be fun!!!

 

[332_RC]

These bigger tires are way better! I love mine.

Arrma Gorgon - Tractor Tires - Brushless - Sway Bar

My Arrma Gorgon - Tractor Tires - Brushless conversion. I cut the stock body into a truck body. It's been vinyl wrapped. The rollbars are Infraction 3s type. The center hoop from side to side is Delrin tubing. I heated & bent it with a small tubing bender. The cab bulkhead is made from 1/16" ABS...

• 332_RC
• Jul 1, 2024
• Reaction score: 11
• Comments: 2
• Category: Member RC Garage

 

[CertifiedMike]

These bigger tires are way better! I love mine.

Arrma Gorgon - Tractor Tires - Brushless - Sway Bar

My Arrma Gorgon - Tractor Tires - Brushless conversion. I cut the stock body into a truck body. It's been vinyl wrapped. The rollbars are Infraction 3s type. The center hoop from side to side is Delrin tubing. I heated & bent it with a small tubing bender. The cab bulkhead is made from 1/16" ABS...

• 332_RC
• Jul 1, 2024
• Reaction score: 11
• Comments: 2
• Category: Member RC Garage

THIS!!!

 

[WickedFog]

King Slings for the win

 

[JustnWynn]

If the finished product is amazing... post your address and I'll mail you mine to do next!!!

I hope the big heavy tires dont cause breakage issues. There are a couple builds where the bigger tires helped the ride! Can't wait to see to builld and your results!
I really do love the stock Gorgon. So much that IF I get crazy... I'd likely keep this one stockish (the motor and esc 2in1 need to go, replace with a decent servo too) and buy/build a kit... if kit form can be found still.
The scale bumbling but powerful ride it has on 2s is just perfect for my liking... I mean box stock too! I think I topped off the shocks.
I saw exocaged build one but I feel like he isnt 100% open about this results ( like most paid youtubers) not knocking him.
This will be fun!!!

thanks, man! much appreciated.. honestly.. i wouldnt mind. this one has been a breeze for the most part. but being my first time.. i'll bet i could do better a second go-around. anyway thank youu very much. i look forward to writing this up for folks like ourselves. cheers, bud

 

[JustnWynn]

These bigger tires are way better! I love mine.

Arrma Gorgon - Tractor Tires - Brushless - Sway Bar

My Arrma Gorgon - Tractor Tires - Brushless conversion. I cut the stock body into a truck body. It's been vinyl wrapped. The rollbars are Infraction 3s type. The center hoop from side to side is Delrin tubing. I heated & bent it with a small tubing bender. The cab bulkhead is made from 1/16" ABS...

• 332_RC
• Jul 1, 2024
• Reaction score: 11
• Comments: 2
• Category: Member RC Garage

bro... this.. everything!
VERY good job with that!

I'm gonna try and do a (very) short wheelbase pro wagon.. but a little different.. i'll be showing everyone.
if you watch the show 'roadkill'... think stubby bob.. but with huge honking tractor tires and a better paint job.. should be pretty rad

 

[332_RC]

bro... this.. everything!
VERY good job with that!

I'm gonna try and do a (very) short wheelbase pro wagon.. but a little different.. i'll be showing everyone.
if you watch the show 'roadkill'... think stubby bob.. but with huge honking tractor tires and a better paint job.. should be pretty rad

Thanks @JustnWynn !
It was a fun project & the sway bar really does help alot.