3 Speed Savage SBK gearbox has arrived, Guess what I'll be doing this weekend.

[Gazzman]

So looks like my weekend has been arranged. Picked up another 3 speed Savage tranny. Got this one for a steal and will makes 4 now for my collection of Savages. Been a few years since I got one in kit form and not pre-assembled. Arrived as a big bag of parts. will need to find the assembly instruction. got them somewhere. Expect it will need siming still to stop the wobble on the second shaft, doubt if HPI have sorted that out yet but will see when assembling. Nice to see the SBK gearbox has finally got steel 2nd & 3rd gears.
These look like they are now made in China and not Taiwan as are alot of HPI parts since their relaunch after they went thro some bankruptcy issues back in 2021/22. They lost alot of the tooling for manufacturing during this time and alot of the new parts are not quite up to the standard of the older parts. Just take a look at the fuel tanks to see the difference. The old ones made in Taiwan were Opaque in colour with ribs on the lower part for extra strength while the new one are almost clear and the ribs have gone. You can see the same sort thing in the quality of the 3 shafts in this kit but Hay-Ho it's still a 3 speed.

 

[Vinni]

So looks like my weekend has been arranged. Picked up another 3 speed Savage tranny. Got this one for a steal and will makes 4 now for my collection of Savages. Been a few years since I got one in kit form and not pre-assembled. Arrived as a big bag of parts. will need to find the assembly instruction. got them somewhere. Expect it will need siming still to stop the wobble on the second shaft, doubt if HPI have sorted that out yet but will see when assembling. Nice to see the SBK gearbox has finally got steel 2nd & 3rd gears.
These look like they are now made in China and not Taiwan as are alot of HPI parts since their relaunch after they went thro some bankruptcy issues back in 2021/22. They lost alot of the tooling for manufacturing during this time and alot of the new parts are not quite up to the standard of the older parts. Just take a look at the fuel tanks to see the difference. The old ones made in Taiwan were Opaque in colour with ribs on the lower part for extra strength while the new one are almost clear and the ribs have gone. You can see the same sort thing in the quality of the 3 shafts in this kit but Hay-Ho it's still a 3 speed.

Man ive done nowt but search ha add couple days off n 1 must o popped up happy for you tho bro n if you spot another giz heads up ASAP 👍👊look forwood to ya opinion on it n ya bang on bout all new parts I did few side by side comparisons n wow 👍

 

[Gazzman]

Man ive done nowt but search ha add couple days off n 1 must o popped up happy for you tho bro n if you spot another giz heads up ASAP 👍👊look forwood to ya opinion on it n ya bang on bout all new parts I did few side by side comparisons n wow 👍

@ Vinni
Will do on the gearbox search mate. Yer wow on some of the parts quality now, I try to collect as many of the older parts as I can especially when new old stock comes up on eBay.
On another note, them Motorsaver filters have arrived in the country but UPS are totally crap and I as of yet I have had no joy in tracking them down. Said they had delivered them to the UPS access point I asked for but they haven't. Spoke to customer services yesterday and they gave me the postcode of another collection point they delivered it to, well guess what, not there either. Even the tracking info just says waiting for collect but don't tell you were. Total bullocks.

 

[Vinni]

@ Vinni
Will do on the gearbox search mate. Yer wow on some of the parts quality now, I try to collect as many of the older parts as I can especially when new old stock comes up on eBay.
On another note, them Motorsaver filters have arrived in the country but UPS are totally crap and I as of yet I have had no joy in tracking them down. Said they had delivered them to the UPS access point I asked for but they haven't. Spoke to customer services yesterday and they gave me the postcode of another collection point they delivered it to, well guess what, not there either. Even the tracking info just says waiting for collect but don't tell you were. Total bullocks.

Thatss wot always put me off from getting the 3 speed from USA incase it goes missing but I’m gonna after take a risk n man well the hell cant Hpi sell us some o them new SBK trannys seperate you’d fink they’d wonna make money ? 👍👊

 

[Gazzman]

Thatss wot always put me off from getting the 3 speed from USA incase it goes missing but I’m gonna after take a risk n man well the hell cant Hpi sell us some o them new SBK trannys seperate you’d fink they’d wonna make money ? 👍👊

Well if come via UPS (useless postal service)you'd be right to worry. Finished the assembly and all went pretty good, was missing a sim (6x9x0.5mm) #160404, which would have been abit to thick anyway so used acouple of 0.2mm ones instead. Didn't have to add a second sim on the middle shaft as have had to use in the past to remove the wobble. Think that could be due to the steel gears in the SBK gearbox.
What has pissed me off is that the casing screws are now 2mm hex button head and not Phillips, Well as the case was new the holes in the plastic are not threaded (thread gets cut 1st time you wind the screw in). One of the 3 top screws (3x15mm) cammed out just before it pinched up. Not an issue unless I have to go back in the box in which case I will have to drill the head off. Goes back to want we were saying earlier, cheap chocolate metal now. Other than that it all went well.

 

[Vinni]

Well if come via UPS (useless postal service)you'd be right to worry. Finished the assembly and all went pretty good, was missing a sim (6x9x0.5mm) #160404, which would have been abit to thick anyway so used acouple of 0.2mm ones instead. Didn't have to add a second sim on the middle shaft as have had to use in the past to remove the wobble. Think that could be due to the steel gears in the SBK gearbox.
What has pissed me off is that the casing screws are now 2mm hex button head and not Phillips, Well as the case was new the holes in the plastic are not threaded (thread gets cut 1st time you wind the screw in). One of the 3 top screws (3x15mm) cammed out just before it pinched up. Not an issue unless I have to go back in the box in which case I will have to drill the head off. Goes back to want we were saying earlier, cheap chocolate metal now. Other than that it all went well.

I can’t wait to get 1 n inspect it n hear that 3rd shift are they really a lot weaker than the 2 speed ? N y av they only upgraded 1st n 2nd ? The FLM 1s are all steel ye ? Were bouts do you add ya shimms on the 2 speed cluster ?? So far ive only added 1 between the case n slipper clutch setup ?

 

[Gazzman]

Well they do say that the 3 speed is weaker than the 2 due to the gears being narrower & the fact that there are more moving parts in it. If your going to use your truck for bashing they recommend the 2 speed. If it's speed you want it's the 3 speed with the high speed third gear set #77065 which provides a much tighter gear ratio allowing for better acceleration and higher top speeds, 10-12% more. Without this there ani't much difference to top speed, maybe 1-2%.
Yes 1st gear still has a plastic gear on the middle shaft.
I generally use sims on all of the 3 shafts if they need it. Alot of the boxes I have worked on are old and have probably gone through hell, I know back in the day I used to abuse the hell out of mine. Over time the parts wear & play naturally appears, normally I fit sims to compensate for this. but yes your right normally between the gear cluster on the middle shaft & also between the bearings & the case to reduce end float.
I am or was 20-30 years ago a City & Guilds qualified mechanic with alot of OCD, the days before fitters, when Grease monkeys actually fixed stuff and not just switch out parts, very old school here. I just like thing to be right, there is no such thing as 'That will do' in my book. It just depends on how long you want to piss a round to get it right. I piss a round alot. Look at it this way, these model are 1:8th scale, so if you have say 1-1.5mm of end float on the output or input shafts it would be like have 8-12mm in your real cars gearbox. Not really ideal is it. a loose transmission causes,
1.......Noise.
2.......Friction.
3.......Adverse wear.
4......Immanent component failure in time.
Well that's my take on it anyway, Figures and numbers may be off abit, but the principle remains. It's all about getting the tolerances right.

 

[Gazzman]

@Vinni

On another note, think I have tracked down them Motorsaver filters. Got back on to UPS this morning and seems like I have finally got a postcode of the Delivery Shop that are now at. Alot of good their tracking service, when they say your parcel is ready for collection from "UPS collect point Crawley GB" but don't give any postcode for. Well according to UPS, Hayward Heath is part of Crawley, so is Burgess Hill. Don't know if you know West Sussex but these are 3 different towns

 

[Vinni]

all the trannsmission talk must o jinxed me bro i shredded 2nd gear today since I got the Lrp 4.1 ive add shiftpoints on 3 n half turns out from fully closed but fancy’s bit earlier shift so turned it out half a turn to 4 n it shredded on 2 run 5 days apart it’s bin fine on 3 n half fo over a yr wi real late shift wo gunna add a shimm uva day as well just orderd sum gears n touch wood on the airfilters mate 👍

 

[Gazzman]

@Vinni

Well that's a major bummer mate, Can't say I have ever had issues with any of my gearboxes, even back in the days when I used to bash the crap out of them. Stripped a few spur gears in my time and on one occasion had one melt the centre were the brass bush is. This happens when the clutch bell get to hot, or the slipper is slipping to much which I think was the case in is instance. I always run vented bells these days anyway. Got 3 spare gearboxes now, a 2 speed, a 3 speed now & one for a flux with the rc4me.us #G89017 gears and centre diff. Not sure why as I don't run electric, think I got sent it instead of a 2 speed by mistake. Thought I'd keep it anyway.
Are you going to fit the hardened #87227 Heavy-duty gear(39T), I'm assuming your not using one yet. It's a must have upgrade, discontinued now but they are still around. If you do sim the gear cluster remember not to sim it to tight, that's worse than having wobble, friction is a killer.
And on the air filter sager we will see if and I say if they do actually turn up tomorrow. God I hate UPS, so hard to deal with.

 

[Vinni]

@Vinni

Well that's a major bummer mate, Can't say I have ever had issues with any of my gearboxes, even back in the days when I used to bash the crap out of them. Stripped a few spur gears in my time and on one occasion had one melt the centre were the brass bush is. This happens when the clutch bell get to hot, or the slipper is slipping to much which I think was the case in is instance. I always run vented bells these days anyway. Got 3 spare gearboxes now, a 2 speed, a 3 speed now & one for a flux with the rc4me.us #G89017 gears and centre diff. Not sure why as I don't run electric, think I got sent it instead of a 2 speed by mistake. Thought I'd keep it anyway.
Are you going to fit the hardened #87227 Heavy-duty gear(39T), I'm assuming your not using one yet. It's a must have upgrade, discontinued now but they are still around. If you do sim the gear cluster remember not to sim it to tight, that's worse than having wobble, friction is a killer.
And on the air filter sager we will see if and I say if they do actually turn up tomorrow. God I hate UPS, so hard to deal with.

It’s first time ive shredded 2nd ive add it shifting late after hearing the Lrp chews them up wi early shifts so my bad n ye all the good stuffs discontinued only place offering the 87227 gear is surprise surprise USA wot part number screws do you use to reach fru the centre skid plate ?

 

[Gazzman]

It’s first time ive shredded 2nd ive add it shifting late after hearing the Lrp chews them up wi early shifts so my bad n ye all the good stuffs discontinued only place offering the 87227 gear is surprise surprise USA wot part number screws do you use to reach fru the centre skid plate ?

The standard screw are M4x10mm button heads but you should use M4x14mm Flat heads if you have the skid fitted. If you are using the standard plastic braces they will be self tappers or they used to be, but if you have the aftermarket ally ones then they need to be Machine thread screws.
You can use machine threads in plastic as well. I think HPI use machine screws in the plastic on their new models, on the older models they were self tapper or as they call them 'Binder Screws'

 

[Vinni]

The standard screw are M4x10mm button heads but you should use M4x14mm Flat heads if you have the skid fitted. If you are using the standard plastic braces they will be self tappers or they used to be, but if you have the aftermarket ally ones then they need to be Machine thread screws.
You can use machine threads in plastic as well. I think HPI use machine screws in the plastic on their new models, on the older models they were self tapper or as they call them 'Binder Screws'

Ye thats them pal n it’s the ally skid plate ha man trust me i searched high n Lowe fo long time fo the plastick RPM 1 n ye so I’ll need the 14 mm version there’s no threads on the skid plate n av add sum screws pop fru it so wo using shims will the flat head av bigger heads

 

[Vinni]

Ye thats them pal n it’s the ally skid plate ha man trust me i searched high n Lowe fo long time fo the plastick RPM 1 n ye so I’ll need the 14 mm version there’s no threads on the skid plate n av add sum screws pop fru it so wo using shims will the flat head av bigger heads

Ye thats them pal n it’s the ally skid plate ha man trust me i searched high n Lowe fo long time fo the plastick RPM 1 n ye so I’ll need the 14 mm version there’s no threads on the skid plate n av add sum screws pop fru it so wo using shims will the flat head av bigger heads

The Hpi z644 flat heads are in stock at wheelspin ha damm orderd sum bits last nite as well on shadow stock gunna c if I can add these screws to it as well so save on postage 👍👊

 

[Bondoboss1]

So looks like my weekend has been arranged. Picked up another 3 speed Savage tranny. Got this one for a steal and will makes 4 now for my collection of Savages. Been a few years since I got one in kit form and not pre-assembled. Arrived as a big bag of parts. will need to find the assembly instruction. got them somewhere. Expect it will need siming still to stop the wobble on the second shaft, doubt if HPI have sorted that out yet but will see when assembling. Nice to see the SBK gearbox has finally got steel 2nd & 3rd gears.
These look like they are now made in China and not Taiwan as are alot of HPI parts since their relaunch after they went thro some bankruptcy issues back in 2021/22. They lost alot of the tooling for manufacturing during this time and alot of the new parts are not quite up to the standard of the older parts. Just take a look at the fuel tanks to see the difference. The old ones made in Taiwan were Opaque in colour with ribs on the lower part for extra strength while the new one are almost clear and the ribs have gone. You can see the same sort thing in the quality of the 3 shafts in this kit but Hay-Ho it's still a 3 speed.

I have this 3speed aluminum housing upgraded internals what's fair price for it runs great shifts great

 

[Vinni]

So looks like my weekend has been arranged. Picked up another 3 speed Savage tranny. Got this one for a steal and will makes 4 now for my collection of Savages. Been a few years since I got one in kit form and not pre-assembled. Arrived as a big bag of parts. will need to find the assembly instruction. got them somewhere. Expect it will need siming still to stop the wobble on the second shaft, doubt if HPI have sorted that out yet but will see when assembling. Nice to see the SBK gearbox has finally got steel 2nd & 3rd gears.
These look like they are now made in China and not Taiwan as are alot of HPI parts since their relaunch after they went thro some bankruptcy issues back in 2021/22. They lost alot of the tooling for manufacturing during this time and alot of the new parts are not quite up to the standard of the older parts. Just take a look at the fuel tanks to see the difference. The old ones made in Taiwan were Opaque in colour with ribs on the lower part for extra strength while the new one are almost clear and the ribs have gone. You can see the same sort thing in the quality of the 3 shafts in this kit but Hay-Ho it's still a 3 speed.

Finally got the 3 speed fitted bro ive screwd 3rd clutch all way in so can get 2nd on point first ive started 3 n half out from closed n it’s shifting but pretty late so gunna try 4 turns out ? Any tips on 3rd settings pal ? Hope ya builds are all up to spec n once again it’s nice not avin to wurry bout dust n it also looks sick the motosaver 👍👊

 

[guinnessdublin]

@Vinni
Good luck with dialling in the g/box mate, have tried endless ways but have thought like you to work on 2nd gear first May try that this time.
Hopefully with this new lot will save having to take 2nd gear out each time to fine tune! 👍🏻

 

[Gazzman]

Finally got the 3 speed fitted bro ive screwd 3rd clutch all way in so can get 2nd on point first ive started 3 n half out from closed n it’s shifting but pretty late so gunna try 4 turns out ? Any tips on 3rd settings pal ? Hope ya builds are all up to spec n once again it’s nice not avin to wurry bout dust n it also looks sick the motosaver 👍👊

Like guinnessdublin says 'good luck', LOL. It's going to be a case of trial & error bud. But sounds like a good plan to sort out 2nd gear shift 1st then move on to 3rd. Everyone has their mill tuned different which has a massive effect on the shift points. Seeing as all mine are shelf-queens and don't get used, I can't really help on this.
As for the builds, well there was 4 on the go, all are now what you could call complete, just abit of fiddling to do but all up and running finally. The XTM Mammoth Monster truck is completely finished, most of the parts which corrode have been replaced, New reverse module fitted along with a new Kingtair .32(5.2cc) mill.
The XTM XT2 is also finished. Just got to fit the receiver which I now have. This has a new SH.21(3.5cc) on it & a set of ZD racing shocks, which I must say are abit of an over kill for this buggy.
The XTM Mammoth Stadium Truck is getting there. Just need to paint the body shell. I nicked the SH .28 off the MMT for this build as seems like a very good mill.
The Frankenstein buggy which turned out to be a Carson Specter is also complete and ended up with an HPI S25(4.1cc) mill fitted as had a good one sitting around.
Have to say, these 4 builds have turned out to be quite pricey as all the XTM & Carson parts are so rare now a days, that if you want the parts you have to pay the price. Many of the parts have had to be shipped from the USA, Australia & Italy.
But never the less, 4 more vintage RC's get a new lease of life. Think I have enough XTMs now, maybe time to find another brand of vintage RC to rebuild.
Don't worry still got the Savage bug with 12 in my collection, just thought I'd try something different.

So this is how they look now.
Photos 1 & 2 are XTM MMT
Photos 3 & 4 are XTM MST
Photos 5 & 6 are XTM XT2
Photos 7 & 8 are Carson Specter

 

[guinnessdublin]

@Gazzman
As ever take my hat off to you they look amazing mate, fair play to you! 👍🏻
Have you had chance to run any of them to see how the run/handle yet?