FLM Forward Conversion Build

[BashOn]

Well as I posted today in the FLM ...... in the Nude thread I pulled the trigger on a savage build. In this thread I will go through the build for anyone who is interested. I have built several RC trucks and a few brushless. My previous brushless experience was with 1/18th scale. I have a LST 2 (for sale) that I enjoyed but just couldn't stand all of the tuning and what not. I work a lot and want something I can just bash at the drop of a hat.

By the way, to introduce myself my name is Shon. I am a 27 year old from down in Houston. When I'm not messing with RC cars or playing golf I'm a Financial Advisor and MBA student..... Blah Blah Blah

So here are the specs on my build thus far. Its pretty over the top I know, I have a tendency to do that (bad tendency?).

Ordered today:

Savage X SS Kit
Savage X dual pad slipper
Savage 3 Speed Conversion (Not the pre-built one)
FLM Brushless Conversion
FLM Hybrid Bulks
FLM Extended Arm Set
FLM Shock Towers
Neu 1521/1y/S
MGM 22418
Flightpower 6s 5000mah Lipo
Pinions - 15t, 16t, 17t, 19t
Steering Servo - Hitec HSC-5998TG

Parts I had:

Brake Servo - Spektrum whatever.......
Spektrum DX3
Hyperion 1210i Charger

That pretty much sums it up. I bought the 3 speed not really because I think it will help performance in anyway, I just though the metal gears might be more durable. I know this thing is going to be heavy with all of that aluminum, but I want the drive train to be able to take the abuse and the truck to be able to take the bashing. It won't be a beauty queen. I'll have to learn how to post pictures so I can keep the project up to date step by step.

My e-savage went on ebay today and my LST 2 will be soon to follow.

If you were doing this build would you lock up the tranny and use the motor/esc for brakes and have reverse? Or stick with the disk brakes and not have reverse? I've read bad things about the HPI reverse module.

You input is welcome on this build.

[jhautz]

Sounds like its going to be a beast! Looking forward to the build pictures. I have my FLM kit just sitting on the bench and its killin me. I'm traveling like crazy for work right now and just cant get any time to build it.:grrrrrr: So seeing your build will have to inspire me.

As for the locking the tranny question... If you are going to lock the tranny and use motor brakes then there is no reason for the 3 speed tranny. If you want the 3 speed to work, you have to use the machanical brakes. I have been running the stock 2 speed tranny in mine with no problems at all. The 3 speed really isnt necessary. You could save yourself a couple dollars and not do the 3 speed.

My pesonal opinion is screw reverse unless you run in tight spaces that have alot of trouble.

[MTBikerTim]

That is a crazy setup. For the esc I would consider the MGM 16024 to allow for possibly more cells later even though 6s seems perfect in the savage. If you really want reverse definitely lock the tranny. The reverse module is too unreliable. Personally I find reverse not that useful anyway. Also if you really want to bash the savage I would stick to plastic arms, the plastic will flex and save your other parts. That is definately a sweet setup and that 1521 should push the savage along nicely.

[BashOn]

Thanks for the comments! As far as the tranny goes, I think I'll stick with the mechanical brake, screw the reverse. I may return the 3 speed, don't know. I guess I'll decide once it comes in. I realize it has little to no benefit with the brushless setup. Actually the increased rotating mass could be a detriment.

As far as choosing the MGM 22418 over the 16024, my thoughts are half one way half another. I think 6S will be plenty, and I like to have the room to run high capacity packs that may not be able to fit with more cells. The 22418 allows for more amp draw, the 16024 higher voltage. Given the size and weight I do think there will be a lot of amp draw, and the flightpower pack is capable. Even still I think its about the same. A few more cells would make it a bit faster, but at that point we are pushing against a lot of wind resistance and other factors. I may regret it in the future, but I'm going to stick with the 22418 for now.

The FLM Extended Arm kit is the one area where I see maybe I should have stuck with stock. I definately see the benefit of a wider wheelbase with the added length of the chassis and the increased speed. I coudl achieve similar results using wider offset wheels though. At least I know that FLM will replace this stuff for next to nothing should I destroy it.....

What wheel and tire combos are recommended. I know I am going to have to tape the tires. Any recommendations for something light yet not a dish? Maybe run the stock Savage X SS setup until I kill them. Even then I am going to have to go through removing them from the rim to tape them and then re-glue them.

Thanks!

[lincpimp]

If I remember correctly the tires do not come glued on the rims in the ss kit.

I have a ss kit coming and the flm chassis. I am going to leave everything stock, 2 speed, mech brake, etc. I will either use a 9xl on 5s or a 14xl on 8s.

[BashOn]

Sounds like we'll both be having some good times!! Good to know about the tires. I hope so because removing them from the rim to tape them would be a PITA!

[lincpimp]

I hate removing glued tires, especially if they are done right. It is next to impossible then! I should have my kit on thursday, but I do not know when I will have time to get it together.

[BashOn]

Good news is all of my stuff has been shipped and it looks like it will all be here by Saturday. Bad news is that I ordered the wrong servo. I meant to get the Hitec 5955TG and instead bought the 5998TG. The 5998TG has 250oz/in of torque at 6v vs 333 oz/in on the 5955TG. Its not a huge difference but its enough to make me what to exchange it for the right one. Looks like I'll have to wait to send that one back and get the 5955........

[MTBikerTim]

Good choice on forgetting about the reverse. I tend to find I don't get my savage stuck that often and when I do reverse wouldn't help. A flip me over device would be much more useful. You are right about the 3 speed being stronger then the 2 speed with the metal gears so it might be worth keeping especially with your huge motor.

Can't wait to see your truck in action. Post a video if you can.

[lincpimp]

I got my kit and the tires are not glued, so you should be good for the taping!

I also just acquired a motor adapter that will allow me to run one of my kb45xl motors in the savage. Looks like it will have a bit more power than the 9xl feigao! Hopefully I have good enough batteries to run the motor. I have a 5s 5000mah 20c lipo that will fit the chassis. Hope it works! If not I have another 8s lipo and a lower kv motor, so we will see!

[BashOn]

Well my Savage X SS kit came in yesterday and I decided to do the 3 speed conversion. Lucky I did because one of the factory metal gears in the 2 speed was already missing a tooth. I've always been told its a good idea to go through your truck before you run it and now I know why. Other than that I am very impressed with the kit. I have never owned a savage and I am impressed by how beefy everything is.

[Serum]

Welcome to the world of the savage..

I can't wait to get mine.. :)

[BashOn]

I forgot to mention/ask......

I had ordered the dual pad slipper from the Savage X for 2 reasons. One, its plastic and my pinion is metal and I've always preferred this combo. Two, it has dual friction surfaces instead of just the one so I thought it might be better than the single surface. Well Tower forgot to include it in my box of goodies and they are sending me one out to arrive next week sometime.

The Savage X SS kit comes with the hardened steel spur setup. How do you feel about running a steel spur and a steel pinion? I am hoping my FLM kit and everything else arrives tomorrow and have set aside the good part of a day to build. Should I go with the steel setup?

[Serum]

With the RC-monster hardened pinions it should be no problem; but to be honest, i want to replace the gear with a plastic one too; it becomes louder with the metal to metal. i like the plastic/metal better.

[jhautz]

I am actually contemplateing doing the opposite. I have been running my savage X with a 1940/7 on 5s a123 for about 6 months and the plastic 47T spur is the only thing that ever fails on me. I have stripped 6 or 7 of them. Its not the end of the world cuz they are cheap and easy to change, but I'm thinking about switching to the steel spur and hardened pinion when I install the FLM kit to see it that fixes my problem.... Or just moves it to the next weak link.

[lincpimp]

Do you have a link to the slipper?

[tashpop]

hey man, i can't wait until you get some pics posted. your build sounds killer. i also love the fact that your a houstonian. you should make it a point to make it out to the drag races we do at track 21 west on 1960. i need a monster truck to run my maxx against. i had a long fight for finding tires that'll hold together with high powered high speed monster trucks. in the end, i just had to give up on monster truck tires. i favor truggy tires now. they are lighter and have much less sidewall to stretch when ballooning. i would always loose control of my truck at that sweet spot where my tires would balloon up. with my bl setup, i'm undergeared a little, and when the tires popped up, it was like hitting a nos button and my truck would always go ballistic. at least too much for me to hold. make an account on photobucket or something and get some pics up.

[Serum]

Linc;
what slipper do you mean? the standard X slipper uses two slipper pads and a plastic spur, while the upgraded HPI slipper uses a steel spur and one slipper pad;

Jhautz;

what went wrong on your slipper? stripped teeth? melted spur?

[jhautz]

Actually some of both. Mostly stripped teeth. I felt like if I loosened the slipper so I didn't strip the teeth, I would melt the spur and If I tightened the slipper so I didn't melt the spur I stripped the teeth. I just couldn't find a balance that worked consistently. If I run a fairly tight slipper and am very precise with setting the mesh as tight as possible but not allowing binding. I could get it to last a quite a while, but it has to be just right. I mean just right. Even then I would eventually strip the teeth. I thought maybe I had a pinion with poor tooth geometry or something so I bought a new one to replace it but there was no difference I could tell.

But really who knows. It could actually be a good thing that the weak link is so easy to change. I guess it could be diff gears or transmision gears or something. I'm gonna test the new setup with the plastic spur after I get it converted to the FLM chassis just to see if maybe the old setup was a little "off" in the alignment or something that could have caused it, but I dont think so. I think its just alot of power and alot of weight and a plastic gear.

[Serum]

that's odd.

With the old school slipper (not the dual setup) i had great succes with the spur/pinion. i dumped at least 50 gp3300 packs through 1 spur, before it started to worry about replacing. I use white-lightening on it, and a 18T pinion though. I can imagine a smaller pinion would cause wear sooner.

What motorplate where you using on yours? flex in that area is eating spurs.

[jhautz]

The motor mount was solid. The motor was sitting flat on the stock nitro motor plate and had a motor mount that I made holding it all in place. The motor wasn't moving. (see attached picture, its the best one I had of it and its in pieces now.) I was pretty hard on that poor savage so it might just be me that is the problem. :lol: But if I continue to see this same thing after the chassis and motor mount change I'll try the steel spur. I still have a few of the plastic ones sitting in the parts bin so I might as well use them.

I actually think the old single pad slipper setup might be better. The dual friction pads on the X make the adjustment real touchy IMO. Its either slipping allot or not at all. There really isn't much middle ground. The older single pad style is probably more forgiving on the adjustment.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h261/jhautz/CIMG1906.jpg

[Serum]

I'll continue using that. GPM also makes machined delrin spurs.

[BashOn]

lincpimp,

Here are the parts you need for the Savage X dual slipper, I ordered from tower.

HPI 86800 X 1
HPI 97042 X 1 (you may have these parts on your existing slipper)
HPI 86802 X 1
HPI 77094 X 1 (that is the 79t spur)
HPI 87243 X 1
HPI 86801 X 1

It sounds like the jury is still out on slipper setups. I'll run the steel setup for now. Since I ordered it already I'll give the dual slipper a try when it comes, if nothing else just to get rid of the noise of the all steel setup.

I just checked my USPS tracking and my parts look like they are going to arrive. I'll be building all day today, so pictures will follow. I built all of the shocks last night and glued the tires.

[BashOn]

I got super glue on the tires....... Acetone to take it off?

[BashOn]

I need a recommendation on the connectors from the 22418 to the Neu. Should I use the 5.5 hi amp connectors on Mikes site?

[jhautz]

Thats all I use and they are great. Never had a problem. I use them on every setuo I have. If you are racing you might consider a direct solder so there is not chance of the connector ever comming loose and shutting you down, but amp wise they are great connectors.

BTW I have only ever had the plug come loose on me one time so its not like its a problem or anything.

[BashOn]

I'm going to try to post some pics. I'll start with one and see how it goes. Its a pic of most of the parts before I started the build.


Okay, that didn't work..... what program do I use to resize my images? There all huge, too big to post it appears.

[BashOn]

Here are links


http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh28/shonb123/IMG_1289.jpg
http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh28/shonb123/IMG_1290.jpg
http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh28/shonb123/IMG_1291.jpg
http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh28/shonb123/IMG_1292.jpg
http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh28/shonb123/IMG_1304.jpg
http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh28/shonb123/IMG_1307.jpg
http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh28/shonb123/IMG_1308.jpg
http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh28/shonb123/IMG_1309.jpg
http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh28/shonb123/IMG_1311.jpg

[generalg]

Nice pics BashOn.

Curious for those who have already got your hands on this conversion kit. I'm anxiously awaiting arrival of mine. However what I would like to know is if the front steering setup comes with this conversion? I converted the existing steering setup over to a akerman style setup from a 1/8 buggy like majority of the Savage owners do for improved steering/response.

Will this setup work with this conversion? Or surely I don't have to use the old crappy steering setup the Savage comes with initially?

[jhautz]

I would think it would work with no issues. I cant see any reason it wouldnt work.

Do you have a link to this mod or pictures of yours. I'm interested in doing it on mine and seeing it will let me give you a better answer.

[generalg]

I would think it would work with no issues. I cant see any reason it wouldnt work.

Do you have a link to this mod or pictures of yours. I'm interested in doing it on mine and seeing it will let me give you a better answer.

I will snap some pics of it at lunch time what my conversion looks like for you.

[jhautz]

Here are links


http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh28/shonb123/IMG_1311.jpg

Whats with the little legs on the bottom of your motor mount?

[Serum]

this one seems to be flush;

http://www.fastlanemachine.com/PublicPortal/Portals/0/savage-bl-battery-stops.jpg

[Serum]

or are the holes in the lower plate large enough so they fit through?

[captain harlock]

BTW, BashOn, how much did the whole thing cost you?

I might do one in the future.

[jhautz]

or are the holes in the lower plate large enough so they fit through?

No the holes arent large enough for them to fit through. Mine does not have the legs so thats why I was wondering why he did that. It looks like some sort of mod he did and I was wondering the reason why? I was thinking he wanted the motor pinion to contact the spur higer up so the motor could be moved farter to the side and allow more room for the battery.

Even with the spacers on the battery side TVP mine is tight for a 50mm wide pack. I ordered a 52T spur so I could use a bigger pinion and make more space. I was just thinking that this might have been his intention but wasnt sure.

[Serum]

What room can you get with the 52 spur? (width) 50mm is okay, but might be tight for some packs.

if it's higher, it sits more to the side with the same pinion/spur. perhaps it allows more clearance in the rear for larger motors too. I don't exactly know what to expect, since i am still waiting for mine to arrive.

[generalg]

Well I didn't get any pics as I said on my lunch hour. Will do so in the next day. However here is what the conversion for the steering looks like and how to set it all up.

http://www.savage-central.com/ftopic2361.html

[Serum]

that's a LONG time ago! nowadays the savage comes with a camshaft saver, and there is no need in modifying that kyosho/ofna saver. Since HPI came out with their saver this is an unneeded mod.

[generalg]

that's a LONG time ago! nowadays the savage comes with a camshaft saver, and there is no need in modifying that kyosho/ofna saver. Since HPI came out with their saver this is an unneeded mod.

Well... didn't I say my Savage was over 2+ years old sitting on a shelf for that long? :lol:

Now I gotta check to see if the new steering setup will work with my old hag of a savage... :surprised:

[Serum]

Yeah, no problem, that's a 1:1 fit. It's easier to go that route than to do the conversion as described in you link.

[jhautz]

What room can you get with the 52 spur? (width) 50mm is okay, but might be tight for some packs.

if it's higher, it sits more to the side with the same pinion/spur. perhaps it allows more clearance in the rear for larger motors too. I don't exactly know what to expect, since i am still waiting for mine to arrive.

a 52T spur will push the motor 2.5mm farther over to the side and get you an addional 2.5mm of battery space. Also with the bigger spur you can go another tooth or 2 bigger on the pinion to get the same overall gear ratio (or close to it) getiing another1mm or so in battery space. It might not sound like much, but that extra 3-3.5mm will allow me to fit my TrueRC 8000mah 5s pack right down in there for a nice tight fit. It firs now, but its litterealy touching the side of the motor and I'm afraind the heat from the motor may have an ill effect on the battery if its touching. The 3mm is just a little breathing room for this big lunkewr of a pack. The 5000mah Enerland based packs drop right in and fit like a glove with no worries at all.

[BashOn]

Serum,

I stole the idea for those little legs on the motor mount from knotted, who is doing almost the same build. I just used some Shoe Goo to attach some spacers to the bottom of the motor mount. This raises the 1521 so that it doesn't hit the vertical plate on the motor side. It isn't a problem with a 1515 but the longer can on the 1521 required more clearance.

As far as cost goes for this thing.............................its still adding up.

Just the power system: Battery, ESC and Motor add up to a little more than a grand.

I need my head checked basically..............

I picked up some screws I needed from the hardware store today at lunch, and my balancer for the flightpower came in today so I should be up and running soon. My 5.5 bullet connectors should be in tomorrow or Wednesday. I would have just soldered as someone suggested but I am still finishing painting the body and getting the last bits together.

[joeling]

Hi,

I have a set of conversion on the way too. Looking at the few posts above, I'm a little worried about my battery choice now. I bought 2 5S 5000mah packs from HK & they are advertised as 160mm X 51mm X 40mm. The 51mm width is a concern if it has the potential not to fit. Can I turn the battery on its side so that the height is now 51mm while the width becomes 40mm ?

Regards,
Joe Ling

[jhautz]

Hi,

I have a set of conversion on the way too. Looking at the few posts above, I'm a little worried about my battery choice now. I bought 2 5S 5000mah packs from HK & they are advertised as 160mm X 51mm X 40mm. The 51mm width is a concern if it has the potential not to fit. Can I turn the battery on its side so that the height is now 51mm while the width becomes 40mm ?

Regards,
Joe Ling

Yep. No problem height wise for the 51mm. Should work w/ no issues. And with a little setup work you should be able to fit the 51 in there too. Its tight for the 51, but you should be able to get it to work depending on your gearing.

[joeling]

Hi jhautz,

Thanks for the quick response.

I just saw in another thread started by knotted that HPI will have big bore shocks for the savage. 2008 is going to be good year for my savages. Bought 2 of these in 2006 & have not played with them much at all in 2007.

Regards,
Joe Ling

[jhautz]

BTW are these the Zippy lipos? I recently bought 3 of the 4s 5000mah packs I use in one of my buggies and they are pretty nice for the $$. Only a couple cycles on them so far they seem to be not bad for the cash.

[BashOn]

Just thought I'd post an update. I installed the electronics last night and programmed the MGM using the USB link, which is a very cool feature I think. I reversed the motor wires because the motor was spinning the wrong way and got everything ready for an indoor test, just to see if everything was working. Well I managed to screw something up with the motor direction because it was still wrong and this time the motor drove the spur in the reverse direction and stripped to teeth off the 1st gear (the only plastic one in the three speed). Not only that but it broke the one way bearing which now is a two way........

Lesson - When you are dead tired don't work on your expensive RC stuff.

So tomorrow I will have another 1st gear and should be good to go. I still haven't built a barrier to stop the battery from crashing against the spur in the event of a major nose dive... Probably work on that tonight.

[BashOn]

I also ordered the 52T hardened steel spur from Golden Horizons. As jhautz talked about it will add some needed space between the battery and the motor. I must say the metal on metal pinion/spur setup is really noisy and vibrates everything. The sound is pretty harsh. Kershaw sells some 5mm mod 1 delrin pinions with brass centers that might be worth trying. I just don't know how they would hold up though, probably not last long.

[jhautz]

Sweet! Do you have any updated pics?

I did a little test run around the living room last night at midnight. Its pretty much done with the exception of some tuning and whatnot that still needs to happen. But... the snow is flyin here now so I will ave plenty of time to get to htat before it gets a propertest run.

I actually went for the plastic spurs again. I got the 52T stock and a 51T delrin one on the way. I'm thinking the delrin one will be good for durability without some of the metal spur drawbacks. But in reality i dont think think a metal spur will be a problem, I run them in my buggies and they dont seem any louder than the plastic that I can tell.

(Truthfully I was to cheep to spend $25 on a metal spur so I went for the $10 delrin one instead :tongue:)

[MetalMan]

Just thought I'd post an update. I installed the electronics last night and programmed the MGM using the USB link, which is a very cool feature I think. I reversed the motor wires because the motor was spinning the wrong way and got everything ready for an indoor test, just to see if everything was working. Well I managed to screw something up with the motor direction because it was still wrong and this time the motor drove the spur in the reverse direction and stripped to teeth off the 1st gear (the only plastic one in the three speed). Not only that but it broke the one way bearing which now is a two way........

Lesson - When you are dead tired don't work on your expensive RC stuff.

So tomorrow I will have another 1st gear and should be good to go. I still haven't built a barrier to stop the battery from crashing against the spur in the event of a major nose dive... Probably work on that tonight.

The transmission can only accept one direction of rotation unless you lock it, right? If it's spinning the wrong way, sounds to me like the diffs need to be flipped.

[MTBikerTim]

It you put the diffs in the savage around the wrong way it won't be able to roll freely. Sounds like he did something I have done a few times. Unplug the wires to swap them around but plug them back in exactly the same way again.

[BashOn]

Correct MTBikerTim. The diffs are in the correct direction. The motor had so much torque it broke the one way bearing and now it is a two way bearing.

I took the truck out for a quick spin tonight right here by my condo. Not exactly the best spot to run a truck but I wanted to just see if everything was working. The truck ran great. The power was awesome..... The area I was testing in was way to small to really get a feel for what she is capable of. It was a little wet as well so was trying to avoid puddles.

This weekend I will get some time in at the local park and get a friend to shoot some video. It is early yet, but I think this thing is going to be awesome!

[MTBikerTim]

Correct MTBikerTim. The diffs are in the correct direction. The motor had so much torque it broke the one way bearing and now it is a two way bearing.

I took the truck out for a quick spin tonight right here by my condo. Not exactly the best spot to run a truck but I wanted to just see if everything was working. The truck ran great. The power was awesome..... The are a I was testing in was way to small to really get a feel for what she is capable of. It was a little wet as well so was trying to avoid puddles.

This weekend I will get some time in at the local park and get a friend to shoot some video. It is early yet, but I think this thing is going to be awesome!

Awesome it will be great to see some video. Try and hit some jumps for us.

[BashOn]

I made a barrier as discussed to stop the battery from hitting the spur during bashing. I used a dremel and cut it out of a piece of carbon board. I attached it to one of the posts supplied with the kit using zip ties and CA.

It is pretty sturdy and I feel confident it will hold well. The lipo is nice and snug in there now.

[BashOn]

A few more

[BashOn]

Now that I know how to reduce the size of my pics here are the ones I linked to earlier.

[BashOn]

more....

[BashOn]

and more.....

[jhautz]

Serious beast there. It really looks bad a$$ with all that FLM stuff.

Do you have a scale to throw it on? I'm curouis what the weight difference is between that and mine with the plastic arms and bulks.

EDIT: Man that gonna be some serious power thith the 1521 and 6s.:tongue:

[cemetery gates]

Very cool, I really have to get pics of mine up on here!

Bye:mdr:

[BashOn]

Well I ran it tonight at a local park. It was dark but the park had a few lights. This truck is awesome!! The forward conversion does a really good job of keeping the nose down. I am running the stock bonz tires and wheels. The spur is a 47t and the pinion is a 19t and the transmission is the 3 speed. The truck was a blast. The Neu 1521 barely got warm. I think there may be plenty of room for more gear. Everything was going great when.......................... one of the wheels went flying off. It was too dark for me to find the 17mm hub. I am hoping that the local hobby shops will have a replacement in the morning.

I need to balance my wheels. They vibrate A LOT at full throttle. The duct tape I used inside of them is holding up great, NO ballooning.

When I got home I went ahead and replaced the 47t steel spur with the Golden Horizons 52t steel spur that came in. The Golden Horizons is a much nicer spur. The stock 47t that comes with the Savage X SS is really skinny. Due to how thin it is I could already see the wear on my hardened pinion. The Golden Horizon spur has much wider gear teeth, and I think it is going to have a much better wear characteristic on the pinion.

I have a variety of pinions coming from Mike. I will have everything up to 25t to play with.

What is the easiest/best way to balance my wheels?

[BlackedOutREVO]

BashOn your my hero!

I wish I was you so bad man! That savage is awesome man!

Make sure theres a vid

[lincpimp]

You can use a prop balncer and clay, or some sort of puty to balnce thewheels. Or get an old hub and bearing and use that to find the heavy area of the wheel.

[BashOn]

Serious beast there. It really looks bad a$$ with all that FLM stuff.

Do you have a scale to throw it on? I'm curouis what the weight difference is between that and mine with the plastic arms and bulks.

EDIT: Man that gonna be some serious power thith the 1521 and 6s.:tongue:

I do need to weigh this thing. Maybe I'll just stand on a scale holding it and then stand on a scale without it.

To update where I'm at:

I've run the truck several times. It is awesome and I hope to get someone who can video it soon. Some of you may have read that I had some problems with my Neu. The can was coming loose from the front end bell. Luckily it is threaded so I have used some blue loctite based on Neu's recommendation and hopefully it will hold. I am also working on getting the pinion set for the best combo of low temps and good top speeds. I thought I was going to be able to put more pinion on it, but now that the ground is totally dry and the truck gets traction the motor temps have increased. It is going to end up around a 19t or 20t. I am also finishing up a plate for the motor mount to sit on so I don't have to use those spacers to get the 1521 to fit. I noticed that the motor mount flexed a bit under throttle and I think it is due to having little support with just the spacers. My battery barrier (to stop the LiPo from hitting the spur) came of and was lost during my last bash so I am making a new one and using Epoxy to secure it to the stock post.

As far as the power goes, this trucks got it. Even with the extended chassis I think I could almost do a full backflip from a standstill. I put a brand new body on this truck and its already ruined after only 3 batteries through it. You really have to be careful with the throttle or the truck ends up on its lid. Even at speed it will flip right over, which is cool I guess but when it flips the truck ends up sliding forever on its top. It destroys the body. I just put a wheelie bar on it to help keep things under control.

That pretty much sums it up for now. I'll get the video I promised soon.

Also, thanks to knotted I ran the automatic setup option on the MGM. This truly helped a lot. I started feeling like I wasn't getting the power I should be. I sent knotted a message and he made some recommendations. If youy have an MGM and you haven't run the automatic setup option do it! It added a bunch of power to my setup.

[generalg]

VIDEO I want some video please!!

[MTBikerTim]

I do need to weigh this thing. Maybe I'll just stand on a scale holding it and then stand on a scale without it.

To update where I'm at:

I've run the truck several times. It is awesome and I hope to get someone who can video it soon. Some of you may have read that I had some problems with my Neu. The can was coming loose from the front end bell. Luckily it is threaded so I have used some blue loctite based on Neu's recommendation and hopefully it will hold. I am also working on getting the pinion set for the best combo of low temps and good top speeds. I thought I was going to be able to put more pinion on it, but now that the ground is totally dry and the truck gets traction the motor temps have increased. It is going to end up around a 19t or 20t. I am also finishing up a plate for the motor mount to sit on so I don't have to use those spacers to get the 1521 to fit. I noticed that the motor mount flexed a bit under throttle and I think it is due to having little support with just the spacers. My battery barrier (to stop the LiPo from hitting the spur) came of and was lost during my last bash so I am making a new one and using Epoxy to secure it to the stock post.

As far as the power goes, this trucks got it. Even with the extended chassis I think I could almost do a full backflip from a standstill. I put a brand new body on this truck and its already ruined after only 3 batteries through it. You really have to be careful with the throttle or the truck ends up on its lid. Even at speed it will flip right over, which is cool I guess but when it flips the truck ends up sliding forever on its top. It destroys the body. I just put a wheelie bar on it to help keep things under control.

That pretty much sums it up for now. I'll get the video I promised soon.

Also, thanks to knotted I ran the automatic setup option on the MGM. This truly helped a lot. I started feeling like I wasn't getting the power I should be. I sent knotted a message and he made some recommendations. If youy have an MGM and you haven't run the automatic setup option do it! It added a bunch of power to my setup.

That sounds fantastic. The savage wheelie bar should help keep your bodies a bit longer. The wheelie bar works really well.

[theJoker]

I do need to weigh this thing. Maybe I'll just stand on a scale holding it and then stand on a scale without it.

To update where I'm at:

I've run the truck several times. It is awesome and I hope to get someone who can video it soon. Some of you may have read that I had some problems with my Neu. The can was coming loose from the front end bell. Luckily it is threaded so I have used some blue loctite based on Neu's recommendation and hopefully it will hold. I am also working on getting the pinion set for the best combo of low temps and good top speeds. I thought I was going to be able to put more pinion on it, but now that the ground is totally dry and the truck gets traction the motor temps have increased. It is going to end up around a 19t or 20t. I am also finishing up a plate for the motor mount to sit on so I don't have to use those spacers to get the 1521 to fit. I noticed that the motor mount flexed a bit under throttle and I think it is due to having little support with just the spacers. My battery barrier (to stop the LiPo from hitting the spur) came of and was lost during my last bash so I am making a new one and using Epoxy to secure it to the stock post.

As far as the power goes, this trucks got it. Even with the extended chassis I think I could almost do a full backflip from a standstill. I put a brand new body on this truck and its already ruined after only 3 batteries through it. You really have to be careful with the throttle or the truck ends up on its lid. Even at speed it will flip right over, which is cool I guess but when it flips the truck ends up sliding forever on its top. It destroys the body. I just put a wheelie bar on it to help keep things under control.

That pretty much sums it up for now. I'll get the video I promised soon.

Also, thanks to knotted I ran the automatic setup option on the MGM. This truly helped a lot. I started feeling like I wasn't getting the power I should be. I sent knotted a message and he made some recommendations. If youy have an MGM and you haven't run the automatic setup option do it! It added a bunch of power to my setup.

How how much run time are you getting and whatcapacity batteries are you using ??

[BashOn]

How how much run time are you getting and what capacity batteries are you using ??

I am running a Flightpower 5000mah 25c 6S lipo, the one in Mike's store.

I know this sounds unrealistic and next time I will time it but it has to be 25 to 30 minutes. Even then the MGM Lipo slowdown wasn't engaged. I could tell the top speed was dropping off so I stopped running it. I have only run 1 full pack through it, every other run I stopped long before I had to for whatever reason.

I checked the voltage of the pack when I got home after 45 minutes or so and it was close to 24 volts, so I didn't over discharge it.

I could not believe how long the truck was running, and I was being harsh, constantly stopping and starting. I guess the Neu motors efficiency really helps in this area.

[lincpimp]

Well a 6s 5000 lipo should be roughly equivalent to a 4s 8000 lipo. I can get 25-30 mins out of my trakpower 4s setup (4900mah) with an 8xl, so your runtimes may be longer than you think. Plus higher voltage does cut down on the amp spikes, that hekps too. That 6s pack will most likely last a while too, much less stress on it than a 4s setup.

[theJoker]

I am running a Flightpower 5000mah 25c 6S lipo, the one in Mike's store.

I know this sounds unrealistic and next time I will time it but it has to be 25 to 30 minutes. Even then the MGM Lipo slowdown wasn't engaged. I could tell the top speed was dropping off so I stopped running it. I have only run 1 full pack through it, every other run I stopped long before I had to for whatever reason.

I checked the voltage of the pack when I got home after 45 minutes or so and it was close to 24 volts, so I didn't over discharge it.

I could not believe how long the truck was running, and I was being harsh, constantly stopping and starting. I guess the Neu motors efficiency really helps in this area.


Thanks for the reply!

[MTBikerTim]

That's an impressive setup. After hearing this I am thinking I will change my mind on my setup again. I think I will run 6s lipo as fitting the a123's is going to annoy me.

[BashOn]

A few pic that show the new barrier I made using a stock chassis brace and some fiber board. Also check out the heat sink I got from tamjets.com.

A few videos to follow...

[BashOn]

Jumping a bit at the local park...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdJCBYswTLs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hX4mKfaxelE

[generalg]

Nice heatsink. BUT wow $49 for it!?!?!

Need more video!!!!

[Serum]

got a more specific link to that heatsink?

[david lamontagn]

BashOn, could you tell me the total weight of your Savage without the batterie please??
I want to convert my XSS too but want to know exactly the weight of this beast just to compare to my e-revo before to do it.

So please if you can give me the exact weight without the li-po, because i'll use my 5000, 4s in it.

Thank you!

David

[mothman]

got a more specific link to that heatsink?

Serum here you go..

http://www.tamjets.com/original/product_info.php?cPath=75&products_id=368

[BashOn]

I posted this in the Brushless MGM thread but I thought I would add it to my build thread so if you already read it, sorry about that...

Well I ran my truck yesterday with the updated 22418 and my Neu 1521. There is a huge difference in power now! I knew that I was not getting all the power that this setup was capable of. Before the truck was impressive, now it is just plain ridiculous.

I don't think that everyone will notice as much of a gain. MGM had said that the issue was with large motors that pull a lot of current. I'm just guessing that a 1515 might be a bit more punchy, but anything over that will be quite a bit improved.

My run was cut short (I knew in my head that something was going to break!) when the threads that hold my shock tower to the FLM bulkless failed and the shock tower came loose after a poorly landed jump. I think the screws that come with the FLM are too short because they only seem to engage about 1/3 to 1/2 of the thread. I am sending my hybrid bulkhead to FLM today and ordering some longer M4 screws. I can't wait to get this thing back out.

Another benefit of the new software on the MGM is that my motor ran super cool. Now that it is getting enough juice I am sure it is more effecient. I was hoping it would run cooler but I didn't know it would be that different. I ran the MGM software when I got back and sure enough the numbers were much improved from before. I don't have the saved screen infront of me with the exact numbers, but I can say that for the first time the data had a number for the "current at full throttle". Peak amps were up near 400 and max RPM was 37500ish. Before the upgrade the max RPM I would have after a run was in the 32000 - 33000 range.

All in all I would say that the upgrade was worth it. My controller was dead at the time anyway. There is the risk of loosing your controller in the mail if you do the $10 declared value thing. I think I would only send the controller in if I knew that I was missing power that I should have or I was running the controller in "cutoff" mode and the truck was constantly cutting off even with high quality lipos (due to the current cuttoff, not the low voltage lipo protection). Remember that my controller ran without cutting off in "reduce RPM" mode, it just performed poorly. In cutoff mode the truck was useless. I can't comment on the brakes, I use mechanical.

Shon

[BashOn]

BashOn, could you tell me the total weight of your Savage without the batterie please??
I want to convert my XSS too but want to know exactly the weight of this beast just to compare to my e-revo before to do it.

So please if you can give me the exact weight without the li-po, because i'll use my 5000, 4s in it.

Thank you!

David

And David, I know this is the most delayed response ever, sorry....

I don't have a scale to weight the thing. Once I get it back together (read above) I'll stand on the scale with and without it to get a rough estimate.

Shon