Looking at some used XL 5.9 savages....

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Mach-Lid

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4
Hello everyone.

I'm from the south east Michigan area, I've been into RC since the mid 1980s and grew up with a ton of Nitro, brushed, and brushless trucks & buggies over the years. (lots of airplanes too).

I had an original Savage 21 when they first came out, and had a blast with it during what some people consider the HPi Savage's golden years from about 2003 until about 2008 for me and several of my friends, and family during those years. I still think it was the first and ultimate basher !! And can still hold its own.

I slowly evolved and modified my savage 21 over the first few years, and by the time I sadly and regretfully sold it in 2009'ish,,, it had ended up with a XL chassis extension kit, .28 SH motor, 3-speed trans upgrade, and monster GT wheels & tires. I used to do lots of tweaks to the clutch for more punch from a dig, and loved adjusting and tinkering with the carb needles and the transmission shift points and etc. It was very quick at the time I thought.

Through out the years since then I've been thru countless (and still have) other brushless RC trucks and buggies. And because I needed a savage in my life again,,, in 2015 I built up a savage flux; again with the XL chassis kit, and the modern Terra-pin tires and wheels (at that time). Don't know what it is, but the Terra-pin look on those just gets me! plus they act like big soft pillows and absorb a ton of hits.
Absolutely loved the XL flux i did,, but against my better judgment I sold it in order to fund toward a Losi DBXLe buggy. (thought I was upgrading).
Since then I really mis the savage platform no matter what else I own or have had. I even currently have an Xmaxx and a 6s Kraton also. But the savage platform has me hooked and I want to go back to another one or two! LOL....
so again about a month ago I picked up really nice condition savage Flux that had already been extended and simply looked great for the asking price. I jumped on it and cleaned it up a bit and went thru a few things on it, and again installed the Terra Pin tires and Mag-8 wheels on it. I have no intentions of making the same mistake again and getting rid of this one or any other Savages I'm hoping to acquire in the near future.

This brings me to the key reason I've joined this forum and posted here today.... In a nutshell; I'm looking to get into a good used Savage XL 5.9...
Some pretty descent looking previously owned ones are posted for sale in several venues. I've decided to look for the 2014+ models which I understand had a few updates,, but primarily they only have 4 shocks rather then 8 shocks ( i like that) and improved ring & pinions, and some other tweaks I guess. As much as I love the savages,, I wasn't always up on the newer models that much a few years ago,, all I had noticed was the newer ones had 4 shocks rather then 8. I didn't know much else had been done to them as far as improvements go. And I want an XL to make sure I end up with a 3-speed trans also, and of course the longer wheel base that I prefer.

Recently I've really got a bug about doing a Nitro truck(s) again. A few months ago I picked up a HPi trophy truggy 4.6 for an absolute steel of a price locally. Got it all fixed up and cleaned up,,, and the stock used 4.6 motor was in great condition upon tear down & inspection of the piston, sleeve, and compression felt perfect while using the pull-start. Got it all tuned up and running great and decided to get back into Nitro for some nostalgic fun, and to get back to all tweaking stuff on them I used to do years ago.

So my main concern with getting a used savage these days is "spare parts" as I'm sure its an oblivious concern with all HPi stuff these days... It breaks my heart to see that HPi is for a lack of better words; is "unstable" as a company at the moment, or maybe uncertain? Either way, it worry's me, and is a shame that the savages arent what they used to be as far a popularity goes.

I know that most of the parts I/we would need may still be out there,, and the aftermarket seems to still offer lots of stuff as well for them also, or maybe its starting to run out too?
My two biggest concerns more then anything on a XL 5.9 would be parts for the motor (if I decide to stick with the 5.9), and the 3-speed transmission? Years ago when I had my savage 21 converted to the 3-speed sold by HPi at the time as a "drop-in".... the 3-speed was amazingly reliable for me even with the SH .28 I had at the time. If I recall correctly the 3-speed never had a problems for a few years i had it in there before selling the truck, and simply worked great and I really liked messing with the shift points and hearing it go thru gears also!

I tried to do a quick search on google just for a goof today, and was not able to find pistons or sleeves for the 5.9 in the event that I may need those on a future purchase. And I'm also seeing slim picking on internal parts for the 3-speed transmissions also? I'm still going to pursue purchasing a used XL 5.9 soon and will deal with parts availability as I go I guess. The motor parts wouldn't be the end of the world as I could just opt for something like a "big red" or currently available motors and not have to worry about parts for it.. but the 3-speed still worries me the most. All the suspension parts and ring and pinions and etc all seem rather easy to get still as stock stuff or aftermarket.

One more thing,,, While snooping around on all this HPi stuff recently,,, I found that HPi had what that call the "high speed" 3rd gear upgrade for the 3-speed trans. Did this come stock on some variant of the three speed in savages,, or was it strictly an optional aftermarket part from them?


Sorry for the long winded first time post here guys.


Thank you very much for any info : )
 
I believe the xl had 8 shocks right to the end of production ? Those with 4 shocks are probably upgraded just like mine is
 
I believe the xl had 8 shocks right to the end of production ? Those with 4 shocks are probably upgraded just like mine is

Thanks for the responses,,,, I took a quick look on the current HPi web site under the "discontinued" section... and there is a version of the Savage XL 5.9 that appears to have only the 4 shocks as a production truck... Most of the discontinued nitro XL's are clearly 8 shocks.... but this one:

https://www.hpiracing.com/en/kit/112601

... Looks like it was sold new with only 4 shocks,, not sure what years this was,, I assumed around 2014+ ?

And glad to hear you've have no trouble wieth the 3-speed trans. I'm making offers on a couple of XL 5.9 savages out there.
 
As far as I know you still can’t buy new parts from the manufacture so are you sure you want to buy it ?
 
As far as I know you still can’t buy new parts from the manufacture so are you sure you want to buy it ?


I'm pretty sure I do want to find and get into a Used XL 5.9 savage,,, is this a bad thing? or should I reconsider?
I've been into this hobby a long time and no my way around a ton of this stuff. Unless certain things or parts about the savage are totally obsolete or a complete dead-end??
I'm pretty sure I'm going to look for one.

Thank you
 
I recently did the same thing. Had an itch to build another nitro and chose the savage xl platform. Had several in the past, including a flux I was able to push to 79mph, and really enjoyed them. Oem hpi parts will be available again soon. I believe they already are in the uk or maybe that’s Lrp. Either way I know hpi is coming back. As for finding a 2014+ model. That may be a bit challenging. I built one from scratch and bought another stock 5.9 xl for bashing and spare parts. When I built mine last year parts were hard to find and I believe I may have bought the last FLM chassis kit available that was still nib. So far mine have only been off the shelf for break in.
 

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I recently did the same thing. Had an itch to build another nitro and chose the savage xl platform. Had several in the past, including a flux I was able to push to 79mph, and really enjoyed them. Oem hpi parts will be available again soon. I believe they already are in the uk or maybe that’s Lrp. Either way I know hpi is coming back. As for finding a 2014+ model. That may be a bit challenging. I built one from scratch and bought another stock 5.9 xl for bashing and spare parts. When I built mine last year parts were hard to find and I believe I may have bought the last FLM chassis kit available that was still nib. So far mine have only been off the shelf for break in.

Your Savage XL looks killer!!
I'm glad to hear that HPi parts and support may come back or improve soon... My LHS has pretty much given up on HPi (understandably). They haven't had anything HPi related products in the store for quite sometime. Crazy to see it fade like it did. My LHS had tons of HPi cars and parts in stock until about 2012 or so.. seemed like nitro savages were everywhere from about 2003 until about 2008 locally and from my vantage.

I'm still looking for a descent 5.9 XL to start with.

Thanks
 
There’s a member here named Scooter that you might ask about one. I wasn’t looking to buy when I got I touch with him but it might be worth asking. He has, by far, the largest collection of savages I’ve ever seen.
 
That thing has an integy frame. I wouldn’t give a pack of bubble gum for that truck.
 
Lol....never said they were good mods. That purple diff housing was hideous ?. I have a 5.9xl that’s stock with less than a gallon of fuel ran thru it. It currently has a reverse mod that I plan to remove and put on my FLM truck. I’ll ask my son if he’s ever gonna play with it again. If not, I would consider selling it for the right price. It’s not the single shock model you wanted but it’s a good starting point for a build.
 

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