THE ARRMA FIRETEAM
Review by Evo RC
The Arrma Fireteam 6S BLX Speed Assault Vehicle was released early 2022 as a new model. This extreme combat vehicle features an aggressive military look with a detailed cockpit and molded figures. You can choose from two body panel colors, flat black or snow camo. The Fireteam offers Arrma fans something that’s a little outside the usual monster truck look. It’s a blend of rock racer and all-terrain vehicle.
The Fireteam comes as stock with the Spektrum Firma 150A ESC, the Spektrum 4074 2050kv brushless motor, the SLT3 transmitter, SR315 receiver and the Spektrum SPMS652 servo. The gearing setup is 12T pinion and 50T spur.
Whilst the Fireteam is part of the 6S lineup, it is quite unique from the rest in more ways than one. For starters, it’s larger. The Fireteam is not an 8 scale, it’s a 7 scale. It shares the chassis setup of the Arrma Mojave. It also has a handbrake module that allows for creative driving and drifting situations. A handbrake on an offroader… hell yes, why not? The body looks different than a normal monster truck plastic body, well it’s not just the looks, there is much more behind the body. The body as well as the front and rear bumpers are made of plastic composite material and meshed much like a roll cage. When fastened, the body will lock into the chassis at eight different spots and the mesh structure is designed to absorb impacts.
I’m quite a fan of “different” so the Fireteam immediately caught my eye and had it on launch around January 2022. From day 1 I had a bearings issue, a known issue today but back then, there weren’t any reviews or enough posts online for help so I had to figure this one out on my own. Most monster trucks come with a thick silicon oil in their center differential. This is what makes monster trucks raise the front and go on the rear wheels. The Fireteam was not designed to be a monster truck so comes with thinner silicone oil in the center diff, hence if the rear wheels are dug in the ground power is transferred to the front making the front wheels turn at a higher rate. This makes the front wheel bearings run hot and wear out quickly. Another factor to consider on ripping those bearings is the stock suspension setup. Shocks from the factory come positioned more horizontally. Good setup for road holding but landing on a horizontally setup will transfer all the impact on those bearings. Took me three sets to figure it out. So my solution was repositioning the front shocks at the most vertical position and had replaced the front and rear bearings with ceramic bearings. Ceramic bearings can take up much much more heat, wear out less easily and are much tougher. Since then I have had no issues.
The Fireteam will always be one of my go to RCs, it’s been bashed through sand, water, rocks and mud, took on so many skatepark visits than I can count, nose dives, launch ramps like crazy. I mean, just watch the videos.
The Fireteam was met with an initial public awe, but soon the hype died down. A year after the launch, Arrma seem to be struggling with sales. Horizon slashed prices around black Friday, in the US by a whopping half and public went crazy, everyone buying. Is this the hype we hoped for is this the end? There are rumors spreading fast that Horizon might discontinue the model along with the 5 scale roller. But until then fingers crossed!
recommend UPGRADES
A bash bar if you’re looking at jumping, a must if you’ll be hitting skateparks. Bending the chassis without a bash bar is inevitable.
Shocks are good, not great, replacing the stock shock oil with 60 or 70 weight helps. If you’re looking to replace the shocks with something tougher, I replaced the front shocks with the Traxxas Maxx shocks and the rear shocks with the Traxxas Sledge rear shocks.
Stock springs become lame after a while, I’ve found the GPM silver to be awesome and can handle 80 weight easy.
The body panels come off the screws, so use plastic washers.
Tires are awesome, if you’re looking for a change, have a look at the DBoots 6S Backflip.
The Fireteam has plenty of power on 6S but if you’re looking for more power and consistently more power I recommend replacing the stock ESC with a Hobbywing MAX6, change the stock 12T pinion with something ranging from 15T till 18T. It will turn from ferocious to down right scary for many. On the MAX6, I would change the fan with a Rocket series 36mm aluminum fan.
If you want it to wheelie, then just change the diff oils front, rear and center to something like 50K.
