Nitro to LiPo race conversion

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oregonmud

oregonmud

Well-Known Member
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I will be converting my custom built Savage race truck over to brushless here over the next few weeks so I figured I would start a thread and share the build and gather some info from FLUX owners along the way.

I have been a Savage owner for 5 years now and am the proud owner of 3 great trucks. One is a mostly stock X my son and friends bash around. The other 2 are my babies. My basher x and my custom races X SS.

I'm in the process of ordering a set of carbon fiber FLUX TVPs from Jason at PRCP. I wont be getting the skid plate, motor plate or electronics right now but will slowly be parting it back together in time for the 2011 race season!

I sold the FLM TVPs today to fund the rest of the money I needed for the PRCP ones. I'm hoping to have them in the next week or so and be able to get back in one piece. It looks really sad right now.

29cta3p.jpg
 
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picture looks fine to me , not that big LOL , gives me a better look at your bits and stuff .
 
mud, be sure to get the skid plate bud, it holds everything together. i also epoxied a full piece of 1/8" plastic to the skid.
 
I will be getting the skid plate for sure. I'm also debating on getting the shock towers too because I remember early reports of ESC damage due to shock tower flex in bad landings. I also just realized I'm running a savage X transmission case so I don't think it will last too long with the brushless system and LiPo batteries. I will look for a nice FLUX or X SS case on ebay.

I started stripping the tank and breaks off it tonight. I'm surprised at how many parts I wont be using anymore. I guess I will have some midtank mod stuff to sell in the B/S/T. My other 2 trucks are still nitro but they have the stock tanks in stock locations for life. I liked the midtank mod and all but it did make the truck a little more tricky to work on.
 
i have the savage X 4.6 tranny case and just put in the flux gear for $8. works killer.
 
frddyj said:
i have the savage X 4.6 tranny case and just put in the flux gear for $8. works killer.
Click to expand...
Now does that case have 2 or 3 screws for the easy access top? My basher has an X SS case with the 3 screws but my other 2 trucks have the older 2 screw cases. I haven't had any transmission trouble since going to the 3 speed years ago so I'm hoping to avoid a bad situation and upgrade if I need to. I even have a spare 2 speed transmission thats new and never been mounted that I bought for a spare in case the 3 speed didnt work out during a race and it has the 2 screw top too.

I downloaded Irfanview again so now I can resize and clean up my pics again.:jamout: I got all the old stuff off last night and its just waiting for me to get some parts in. It already has some carbon on it from PRCP and other places. I even have the discontinued blue carbon braces from Xtreme RC.

Here are some shots for the new guys or people that haven't seen my truck in a while.
 
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frddyj said:
either case with the 2 or 3 screws will work fine. mine had the 3 screws, ba's had the 2 screws.

you buy this 39t idler gear (which converts your tranny to the single-speed flux tranny) http://www.tcscrawlers.com/HPI-Idler-Gear-44t-Shaft-Set-100905-p-17442.html

then you slap on this 44t spur gear & viola, instant (stock) flux transmission in about 10-minutes http://www.tcscrawlers.com/HPI-Heavy-Duty-Spur-Gear-44t-Savage-102093-p-17460.html
Click to expand...

10 mins and dirt cheap...... Hi Jeremy~! :happy:
 
gcm is working on a center diff gear box that bolts directly into the savage. takes a true buggy diff.


opens the door for buggy mech. brakes and brake tuning. not in production yet tho.
 
So then I might as well convert over my new 2 speed and throw my 3 speed in my loaner Savage? I didn't realize (unless I misunderstood) that the FLUX transmission was single speed.

I'm on the phone with my LHS now to see if they will order the parts for me. Thanks again frddyj.
 
you don't need new ones. any version of your choice will work. i got the gh alloys in mine.
 
I was thinking alloy diff housings might be a necessity with all the extra power. I know my plastic housings start to loosen up around the pinion bearing and bearing after about 3 gallons and need to be replaced before I start ripping ring gear teeth off. Alloy housings would do away with that for sure. If I decide to go with alloy housings I will probably just get the lightest ones I can find. My biggest concern with my overhauls is always dumping as much weight as I can but still leave it Savage tough.

Thanks 88gta! I didn't remember attached pics getting resized down so far. I will host them from now on and make sure they are visible with out being over sized. I knew there was a reason I always hosted pictures on this forum.

I got my servo mount figured out and the little braces I needed cut out and polished up. Tomorrow I will go to the hardware store and see what they have in the way of screws to use otherwise I will have to go to the LHS and pay 5 times as much for what I need.
 
if you do go alloy, couple things to consider is the GH Alloy are the new x-style case so you don't have to rip tvps off to get the diff out. plus, the XL/Flux diff outdrive cups are a direct fit, no modding or custom parts.
 
oregonmud said:
I found my batteries. I plan to run 4S so I just ordered a set. If they don't work out in this truck they will be perfect for my E Firestorm 10T....

http://www.hobbypartz.com/83p-4000mah-2s1p-74-30c-car.html
Click to expand...

careful with those packs mud. sorry for the late chime in but i just now got a chance to look. theyre only 4000 Mah. Some pack mfr's "mis-represent" the C-rating and with the lower Mah, you'll dance dangerously close to the 100A minimum that your MMM will need to not go up in flames.

personally, id rather see you go with a 5000Mah 30C (150A) pack to allow for "mis-represented" C-rating factor.
 
I have gotten into flying RC planes over the last year or so. I have a good watt meter that I got for that hobby that should translate over to my monster truck hobby just fine. After doing more reading I do believe your right, I should have a little more of a C rating buffer with those cheap packs. They were out of the 5000mAh 40C ones I wanted to order that are ROAR legal for when the Oregon State Pro Series comes around. I don't have to be ROAR legal for club races though.

I got my servo mounted up to my radio plate. I decided to mount the servo down low like it was with my FLM setup. I just have the RX attached to the top of the plate for now but it will be going into a radio box on the bottom side of the plate next to the servo. And that should help me get the nice clean look to my truck that I like.

j60w9s.jpg

jr2zp1.jpg
 
Quick update.

I was offered (on another forum) all the parts I need for my conversion for some cash and some other RC stuff. I got (all of it new) motor plate, motor mount, wheely bar, battery mounts, battery boxes, RX mount, sway bars and FLUX TVPs. All for about $120.

Stuff should be here in about a week.
 
I kind had to mount it that way. I requested my tank plate without the servo hole cut out of it. But it worked out because the servo is nice and low this way.

I got my FLUX transmission conversion gears today. They consist of a larger alloy idler gear that eliminates all the gears on the center cluster and an alloy 44 tooth spur gear.

The upgrade packages didn't come with any instructions but after a couple test fits I have it all installed and working properly. I guess with all this power I better use the slipper gear instead of just tightening it down all the way. So I will need to buy a new spring for the spur gear.

100_3999.jpg


100_4002.jpg
 
I don't know if anyone else has noticed but there is a lot of play from side to side on all the gear clusters in the transmission. I knew from my 3 speeds that it was bound to be a problem and it was.
I ended up adding a couple diff shims to the outside race of one bearing and shimming the bearing out on one side of the other 2 to hold all the gears in 100% alignment with each other. When the gears were pushed in opposite directions I lost about 30% of the contact area between the bottom 2 gears. Thats quite a bit of lost surface area so I decided to fix it. Here are where I needed to add shims. And no, its just powdered graphite.
100_4004.jpg

100_4005.jpg

100_4010.jpg

100_4011.jpg
 
oregonmud said:
I was told on another forum that the 18-23T gear (in the last pic) is not up to the task of running in the FLUX. He recommended I get part #102514 and replace them. Any info on this?:thinking:

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXXSA9&P=FR
Click to expand...


see, now thats what you get for going to another forum. i woulda recommended you the same gear but saved you almost $8.00 on it http://www.tcscrawlers.com/HPI-HD-DRIVE-GEAR-18-23-TOOTH-1M-102514-p-17468.html
 
Is that one necessary? Or will the original one likely last fine on 4S?
 
Noted.

I don't need aluminum shavings in my $80 bearing kit so I will just replace the $11 gears. My stuff has been shipped and should be here tomorrow or Thursday. I haven't ever seen any of the FLUX parts other then pictures so I'm excited to see how it all goes together.
 
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