Built not bought

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So after years of messing around with nitro trucks I thought a change would be nice. I feel like I play with it for 10 min and work on it for 30. I tried to sell my savage XL for months, shame on me. With all the traxxas electric trucks, I thought it would be a good idea. Then I got a good look at an E Revo. EVERYTHING IS PLASTIC. So I went ahead and started converting my savage to electric. Here are some before pics.

 

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So Fast Lane Machine looked like they made some nice aluminium parts. If you are planning on doing something with fast lane parts be patient. They are hard to get but well worth the wait. If you go with there TVPs make sure you also get the engine plate. The stock savage plate doesn't fit. So now for the drive line components. I upgraded the drive cups, dog bones, and wheel hubs to the flux set up. Some of these parts are also very hard to find. Ended up driving 2 hours one way for the HD axle shafts. I changed out the 3 speed tranny for a single speed gear box. Something else I learned with the tranny, HPI 100905 i was not able to use the 3 speed gears or the top split box. Mabey I got the wrong part, but i was able to use a 2 speed box and those gears. If someone knows a different part to use let me know.

 

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So now for the motor and ESC. I've heard a ton of good things about the castle systems. Wasn't sure about all that sensored motor stuff, but I figured why not. So I got the mamba monster x with the sensored motor. 2200kv 4 pole brushless motor. It's a beautiful thing.

 

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Putting it all together was a little bit of a challenge. I would consider myself to be mechanically inclined, I work on diesel trucks for a living. I want to give a big thanks to NightFlierX4.6. He supplied picks and good pointers to get me thru it all. Mounting that big 2200kv motor was another problem. I wanted to stick with all Fast lane machine parts. But the motor mount was put of stock. So NightFlierX4.6 suggested I try a Kershaw motor mount. So I got that coming to speed you the build. It was a good thing I did. The FLM mount showed up a little late but it made it along with the Kershaw. So I tried the FLM mount, it was to tall for the motor and the TVPs I had. It may work with there LCG plates, but again no one has that TVP in stock FLM 45100. The Kershaw was a perfect fit. The servo mount plate I got for the car I would just buy pass if I did it again. The only way to mount it was upside down and it just looks awkward the way it sits. FLM suggested using the servo mounts that bolt directly to the TVP. That didn't work as you can see in the picks. I think just leaving the stock radio box would have been fine. As I continued to assemble the truck there were a few other holes I had to drill to mount things. The motor plate only had 3 mount holes to hold it. So I drilled a hole for that. The last thing was where to mount the ESC. That FLM motor mount I had came in handy. I drilled one hole on the back left side of the TVP and mounted the ESC to that.

 

[EUGENE477]

Your work looks awesome. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Codered3232]

Your work looks awesome. Thanks for sharing.

I just hope I can help others with there build

 

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Putting it all together was a little bit of a challenge. I would consider myself to be mechanically inclined, I work on diesel trucks for a living. I want to give a big thanks to NightFlierX4.6. He supplied picks and good pointers to get me thru it all. Mounting that big 2200kv motor was another problem. I wanted to stick with all Fast lane machine parts. But the motor mount was put of stock. So NightFlierX4.6 suggested I try a Kershaw motor mount. So I got that coming to speed you the build. It was a good thing I did. The FLM mount showed up a little late but it made it along with the Kershaw. So I tried the FLM mount, it was to tall for the motor and the TVPs I had. It may work with there LCG plates, but again no one has that TVP in stock FLM 45100. The Kershaw was a perfect fit. The servo mount plate I got for the car I would just buy pass if I did it again. The only way to mount it was upside down and it just looks awkward the way it sits. FLM suggested using the servo mounts that bolt directly to the TVP. That didn't work as you can see in the picks. I think just leaving the stock radio box would have been fine. As I continued to assemble the truck there were a few other holes I had to drill to mount things. The motor plate only had 3 mount holes to hold it. So I drilled a hole for that. The last thing was where to mount the ESC. That FLM motor mount I had came in handy. I drilled one hole on the back left side of the TVP and mounted the ESC to that.

Now for the pinion and spur gear. I learned the hard way that there are different styles of teeth. Of course I had 2 different and this is what it looks like when you hit the throttle. Made sure you get Mod 1 teeth for good mesh. After that I was off and running. After much research I went with SPC 3S lipos. Proline Treacher X tires. I've been thru 2 battery cycles now and I JUST LOVE IT. No starters, glow plugs, igniters just running.

 

[NightFlier X4.6]

I thought the same thing when I did mine I absolutely love mine!

 

[olds97_lss]

I really like my brushless revo. I was kind of dumbfounded when it showed up and the entire chassis deck is just plastic. With a couple braces, it seems to be holding up fine. Not sure why traxxas went that route, cheaper I guess.

I was toying with the idea of converting my savage-x. I already have super HD outer bones/axles/diff cups and BP diffs. I think I'll hold off for a while.

My first electric was the revo, which I got last Christmas (wife bought it after I sent her the link). 17 years in the hobby and it was my first. I've since bought a 4x4 stampede and have converted my jato to brushless. LOL! I also now have a decent quantity of LiPo's. All mine are 2S, I only run 4S in the revo (2x2S) and I just run 2S in both the stampede and e-jato. All of them are SMC. 4x2S 9000mah, 2x2S 9500mah, 4x2S 7200mah. Plenty of speed and power for me... well, the stampede could use a bit more speed.

So now I have 3 nitro's and 3 electrics. I don't count the micro's. 🙂

 

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I really like my brushless revo. I was kind of dumbfounded when it showed up and the entire chassis deck is just plastic. With a couple braces, it seems to be holding up fine. Not sure why traxxas went that route, cheaper I guess.

I was toying with the idea of converting my savage-x. I already have super HD outer bones/axles/diff cups and BP diffs. I think I'll hold off for a while.

My first electric was the revo, which I got last Christmas (wife bought it after I sent her the link). 17 years in the hobby and it was my first. I've since bought a 4x4 stampede and have converted my jato to brushless. LOL! I also now have a decent quantity of LiPo's. All mine are 2S, I only run 4S in the revo (2x2S) and I just run 2S in both the stampede and e-jato. All of them are SMC. 4x2S 9000mah, 2x2S 9500mah, 4x2S 7200mah. Plenty of speed and power for me... well, the stampede could use a bit more speed.

So now I have 3 nitro's and 3 electrics. I don't count the micro's. 🙂

So do you find it hard to get the nitros out when the electric trucks are so easy and reliable?

 

[olds97_lss]

So do you find it hard to get the nitros out when the electric trucks are so easy and reliable?

Somewhat. They are a lot easier.

Most of the places I run are public areas with people around. I only have one other place I can run that doesn't have people nearby, but I'm only able to run there in the spring as it gets overgrown with weeds. If I had a group of people to run with, I'd be more inclined to run the nitro's. As it is, I get a few hours in at the skate park and local park usually when people aren't there anyway, but having a quiet electric does open up a few other places I can run without getting the stink eye.

Also, being able to do winter running without worrying damaging an engine or fighting with tuning a cold nitro engine has been a lot of fun.

 

[NightFlier X4.6]

I find it much more fun and easier to run my Flux than getting out my nitro. A lot to due with once you charge the battery and put it in the truck all you have to haul to wherever you run that's all you need. And then yes the constant tuning socks. Also you won't have those pesky neighbors call the cops on you like I have.

 

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I find it much more fun and easier to run my Flux than getting out my nitro. A lot to due with once you charge the battery and put it in the truck all you have to haul to wherever you run that's all you need. And then yes the constant tuning socks. Also you won't have those pesky neighbors call the cops on you like I have.

I think I may look into converting the X to electric as well. It's just so much more practical. I need to make the time count when I have a family

 

[NightFlier X4.6]

That's my main reason I did mine my boy loves them and with a 6 year old nitro is just to difficult.