Distrait's Savage X SS

[Distrait]

Hello everyone!

This is my first post, but I've been reading these forums for a while now. I think I read them a while back too when I had my .25 RTR. Awesome community here with TONS of info!

Anyways, I just recently sold my .25 RTR to a friend of mine and I'll be picking up my new kit this friday!

In the end I'm looking to have a savage that has good handling, but at the same time able to take some decent jumps as well. It will be used for bashing, not interested in racing it.

So I'm looking to you guys for some suggestions and build tips (for someone who's never built a kit from the ground up before).

Radio Gear: I'll be using my Jr xr3i and the matching reciever; worked good on the old Savage, so I figured no need for a new one. I've read other posts for which servos the community recommends, however I'm up in the air as far as analog or digital, are digital servos unnecessary for bashing?

Suspension: I think I want to stick with the stockers for now, cheap to replace and they work fine, I'd like some suggestions for oil weight and spring stiffness for good handling and decent jumping. Should I be looking at dual rate or tri rate springs?

I've got some 7000 wt and 5000 wt for the diffs, and I'll probably try out that ofna linkage setup you all seem to like, I also plan on picking up the dual disc fiberglass breaks.

Anything else you guys recommend? Thanks!

[Shaun]

welcome to the forum.. glad to have u here with us!!

[Jeremy]

Welcome bro .. you on the right track man

[whipnet]

Anything else you guys recommend? Thanks!

The fun thing about this is that the list never ends.

Welcome to the forum.

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[frddyj]

Anything else you guys recommend? Thanks!


Welcome Distrait. Xss is a pretty good set up, maybe just get it going with your radio equipment & put in some good runtime to decide the mods you really want to go after. :resp:

[X25]

Welcome to the family man. Right off the bat if you dont already have one i would say a hump pack and look into a new hi torque steering servo. other then that i would put her togeather and see what she needs after a few good bashings after break in of course. After that then the mods go on and on

[big worm]

if its a bashing truck then i think digital servos are a waste of money... for a steering servo i suggest a hitec hs-645mg

[dravage]

what x25 said and i would get extra spur gears but thats because i sometimes forget to check mesh and then i strip em but they are cheap
as for the servo hitec 645 or what i use the futaba s3305 both work great

[Distrait]

Wow! Didn't expect so many responses so quickly! Thanks for the warm welcome!

Yes! I definately need a hump pack, I had one on my old truck, thanks for the reminder! I also used the Hitec 645mg on my old truck, I was thinking about trying my luck on one of those cheap ebay servos that claim 208 oz torque - on that note, I should be looking for a stronger spring for the servo saver, correct?

As for the spurs.. I think the stock X SS now comes with the metal spur and hardened clutch bell, should I be converting back to the old style?

[whipnet]

if its a bashing truck then i think digital servos are a waste of money...

Good point as far as precision and smoothness, but I don't know of any analog servo's with enough torque for the Savage. The 645 is not enough especially if you want to go with some bigger tires.

This one here is only 4 more bucks at Tower and it's digital and 200oz.
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&W=001451871&I=LXNRT1&P=K

I use it's bigger brother. http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&W=001451871&I=LXNRN6&P=K

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[Distrait]

This one here is only 4 more bucks at Tower and it's digital and 200oz.
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&W=001451871&I=LXNRT1&P=K

I use it's bigger brother. http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&W=001451871&I=LXNRN6&P=K

*

Thanks for the links, I'll have to consider one of those :)

I remember with my old savage though, with the 645 (or any servo), I would turn all the way to the left or right and then try to move the tires back by hand (while still full-on turn with the radio) and it took almost no force to overcome the servo saver.

[Bankrupter]

thats gone with the Xss it has a bell crank saver. Also welcome one more time ...

[88gtanotchback]

welcome to the forums and enjoy the build. its always fun starting from scratch with all those shiny parts...and then they get thrashed.:jamout: as for additions it sounds like your well on your way but you could use heavier weight in the diffs if your just bashing. it all depends on preference i guess. i use 50000 front and back and it works well for me. although next diffs i do will prolly be 30000 front and 50000 rear. as for shocks i use 30 weight front 40 weight back. but as stated im a basher.

[f1n3sse]

welcome bro, get the triple rate springs if your going to keep the stock shocks, also when you buy the fiberglass brakes get the kit that comes with the brake hub to fit those pads, the are larger and require a larger hub.

[AllanQ]

Welcome to the forum. Looks like you have a great build going there. I have the triple rate springs and like them, they can take beating and i prove the handling IMO. the SS does comne with a steel spur and a hardened CB, and I have not had any issues with mine yet. Good luck with the build, take and post thos go along and if you have any questions just ask away.

[Distrait]

Anywhere I can get triple rate springs that doesn't charge 12 bucks to ship to canada?

Also, I was looking at servos again and came accross the JR 9100T.. wow. 270 oz @ 6v.

** edit **

@f1n3sse

Thanks for the heads up about the break hub!

[AllanQ]

distrait, that JR 9100T is 370oz @6v, and it also comes at a hefty price...$140.00. I have two of them, one in a savage and the other in a HF. Great servos but super pricey.

[Distrait]

Typo...

370 is crazy. I'll bet you've never stripped one though!

[AllanQ]

Not yet, but I am sure its just a matter of time...LOL

[Distrait]

Hey guys! Just got my break parts in (dual disc fiberglass) and I'm just waiting on my steering servo; I broke down and decided to go big so I got the Hitec HS-7955TG. Also ordered some shock socks for the hell of it.

So I'm here looking at the XSS wheels. I don't like 'em. Chrome doesn't suit what I want to go for with this truck. Is there any way to strip the chrome, or should I be looking for another set? Ultimately I'd like to go with some dark wheels, grey or black.

[big worm]

get some black rit (fabric) dye and turn em into black chrome!!!

[Distrait]

You can dye right over the chrome? Sweet!

[Distrait]

Got some stuff back this week from black ano:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v211/Distrait/HPI%20Savage/17mm_extensions_black.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v211/Distrait/HPI%20Savage/17mm_extensions_installed.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v211/Distrait/HPI%20Savage/anodized_black.jpg

[I-Hate-Traxxas]

Looks sweet did you by chance get the tvps done too?

[Distrait]

Looks sweet did you by chance get the tvps done too?

I didn't. Seriously considered it, but I like the stock grey.. for now.

[Distrait]

So, I got laid off and scince I have lots of free time now, I decided to get the Savage out and drive it hard. I've neglected this project for a while now, just been busy with other hobbies and stuff... long story short, I haven't painted the body yet so I just used my friend's old S25 body.

There is a public BMX course being completed about 5 minutes from my house,... it was perfect!

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0vwljAzHy8

More videos and pics to come... after get all that dust and dirt cleaned off and get out again for more bashin' :jamout:


Oh, and I'm totally amazed with how TOUGH this truck really is! Only 'broken' parts were the body mounts, and they only cracked a little.

Also, my throttle linkage always wants to pop off the ball where it attaches to the carb, any suggestions?

[Blinko]

Are you using the stock linkage?

[Distrait]

Yeah, still using the stock stuff. Haven't sourced out any kind of mod for the linkage yet.

[Mr.Monster]

The running out of gas part of the vid is good. If I made a big jump vid that would be me for sure.

[Distrait]

The running out of gas part of the vid is good. If I made a big jump vid that would be me for sure.

Yeah, that part was classic. I'm thinking about using it as kind of an intro for future videos.

[soulja]

more pics....must see pics!

[Scott]

Nice video there bud..

[Distrait]

Thanks, hopefully more to come + pics.

[Distrait]

Alright, went out bashing again. Not such a sucessful outing this time. My turnbuckles/tie rods are already getting quite worn, and I had some issues with a faulty break part, so I'm now waiting on breaks. Got some pics of it though when it was dirty just to show off how f'in dusty and dirty bmx bashing gets... especially then you forget to wipe off the wd-40 after cleaning ;)

First pics before the run (June 27th)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v211/Distrait/HPI%20Savage/DSCN1947.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v211/Distrait/HPI%20Savage/DSCN1950.jpg

Dirty:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v211/Distrait/HPI%20Savage/DSCN1960.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v211/Distrait/HPI%20Savage/DSCN1966.jpg

Some damage:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v211/Distrait/HPI%20Savage/DSCN1956.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v211/Distrait/HPI%20Savage/DSCN1965.jpg

... and finally, mostly clean again and awaiting parts:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v211/Distrait/HPI%20Savage/DSCN1969.jpg

** Edit

I thought it was worth mentioning a little tip, maybe some of you do it already. Whenever you're wrenching on your trucks for whatever reason, its always a good idea that you put screws back into the holes they came from. I mean immediately after removing a part, thread the screws back into the hole it came from at least a few turns. This way you won't end up with too few screws when you go to re-assemble, and you won't forget what screws go where.

[I-Hate-Traxxas]

I know this thread is a little old but get a rpm skid plate and then you wont be breaking your breaks