Proper gearing for new tires

[Evil.One]

Hey everyone,

I've had my Savage X 4.6 SS for years now, and I'm finally getting back into using it again. After rebuilding the carb due to build up we got the truck running, and immediately I stripped our the clutch bell and spur gear.

I replaced the gears with the factory spec'd sizes, but wanted to use my larger tires for more control in the back grass field. The truck ran great for about 5 minutes , then started to slow down. I noticed the clutch bell has a blue ring from the shoes, and the shoes are down about 1/8th of an inch on the ends.

What would you recommend for gearing if I'm using larger tires? I used to know the ratios and everything, but I can't seem to find anything lately with suggestions for when you change tire size.

Thanks for any help, and sorry if this is covered in another post somewhere.

 

[ohsnap]

First things first.
The blue ring on you clutch bell is caused by heat - which is caused by the friction of the clutch shoes slipping. The slipping would explain the slowdown that you noticed.
You should replace the clutch shoes.

Also - stripping out the spur gear - that could be caused by several factors - for example a misaligned engine or landing a jump under power (heavy truck - big jolt of kinetic energy upon landing - something has to give) or ....

Gearing:
What is the number of teeth on your current clutch-bell?
What is the number of teeth on your current spur gear?
I go for speed and acceleration using aftermarket engines and utilize ratios like 17/47, 17/48, 18/49 (clutch/spur).
I do run a 16/48 combo with a Nitro Star .25, but it's in my slow truck that I loan to beginners, and it wears the stock HPI MT tires that came with the truck.
It's also boringly slow (for me).
The other trucks generally sport 17mm truggy tires (Pro-line Holeshots for example) with the aforementioned gear ratios.

Tires:
I don't know if larger tires would give you more control - or what you mean by larger tires.
Larger than what - the original MT tires that came with the truck or some smaller ones that you added?
What is the diameter or circumference that you are looking to utilize?
I guess that I am more concerned about what I want the Savage to do than the size of the tire when choosing clutch-bell and spur gear sizes.

The Savage already has a high center of gravity and for me, control is usually best managed by shock springs, shock oil viscosity, pre-load, and driving style.
Going into a corner too fast and you tip over type of control issues...

What type of terrain are you driving on (flat or bumpy / dirt / tall or cut grass)?
What is your driving style / what do you want the Savage to do?
ie - Are you looking for wheelies or top end?

 

[Evil.One]

I knew why the blue ring was there. The stripped out gears were from the motor mount screws coming loose because of old lock tite.

The tires I was running already were the dirt bones that came with the truck. The new ones are about 1.5 inches taller. I wanted the for the added height because the field we've been running in has tall grass and a lot of dips and divits. Top speed was good for the original tires and gearing, 17t clutch bell and 47t spur gear. I'm not too concerned about doing wheelies, but I would like to keep the top speed around the same. Basically just looking to rip around and launching off ramps

 

[Gazzman]

From my own experience I would change the 17T clutch to a 15T clutch if using a 47T spur. If keeping the 17T clutch use a 49t/52T spur. The only issues with using the latter is that you may experience adjustment problems with the engine mounts adjustments.

 

[ohsnap]

I agree with Gazzman.
16/47 or 16/48 are other options for you too.
I'm 99.9% sure that 17/52 will not fit (nor a 17/51 combo for that matter).
I believe that you would have to drop down to 15T or 16T clutch-bell to use 51T or 52T spur gears.

BTW - My Savage's original gearing was 14/52 - hence my asking what you were running.