AoD
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 429
- Location
- Hammondsville, Ohio
Your A-Arms are an important part of the suspension on your truck. Without them, shocks wouldn’t be possible, and niether would many other important factors that are needed when bashing or racing your RC. RPM Products has made a history of having some of the tougher replacement parts out there to take more abuse then their stock counter parts.
[FONT="]“One of the main problems we found with stock suspension arms on these trucks is they have excess clearance built into them, making critical settings such as camber, caster & toe angles nearly impossible to lock down. RPM Savage & Savage-X A-arms have been engineered to strict tolerances and in some areas, we’ve eliminated as much as 0.051” (or in excess of 3/64”) of slop in the suspension system and completely eliminated the need for shim kits! These tighter-tolerance A-arms allow critical suspension settings to remain long after they’ve been set. Furthermore, our A-arms are still silky smooth throughout the entire range of suspension travel.” -[/FONT] http://www.rpmrcproducts.com/products/HPI/SavParts.htm#arms
Well shortly after breaking in my new Savage X RTR I broke my first A-Arm which was still stock. Over the years, I’ve seen many models with weak points in the A-Arms and usually have replaced them with RPM products. They’ve been known to have some quality products, especially in the suspension department.
Since then, I’ve put the RPM A-Arms through many abusive situations. Some things that I’ve noticed would even snap the best of stock or replacement A-Arms. They’ve remained very strong since I had purchased them, and they still have very little slop in any area that sees repeditive movement. They have not bent, twisted, or broke. They however do show some wear on the bottom where the surfaces have been scratched heavily by rough terrain, however this hasn’t affected their performance at all.
The problems I have had with the replacement A-Arms has been evident though. I’ve bent a couple A-Arm pins so far, but they were cheaper then replacing A-Arms after a serious crash. The added strength of the A-Arms will cause weaker parts to show their weaknesses and could end up causing other things to break instead of them. However, so far they haven’t caused any major problems with my truck. Run after run, they remain tough and don’t break, even with some direct hits on the wheels.
A set of these A-Arms won’t set you back a house payment, but might make you change your mind if you’re planning on putting them on all four corners of your truck. The A-Arms come in two kits, one is a Left Front or Right Rear, and the other is the Right Front or Left Rear. They range from around $11 to $13 dollars on average and come in three colors; purple, black and blue. One set will get you one wheel and it will require 4 sets to complete your truck with RPM A-Arms. However, each set comes with one lower arm and two upper arms giving the user an option of solid upper arms. The upper arms come in a 0 Degree camber or -2 Degree camber, giving the user a choice of which camber angle to run. Most advanced savage owners would rather run an adjustable setup where they can have full control over the camber angles. For the ametuer or novice owner, they have a selection of what to chose, without having to worry about these settings as much. RPM Retails the A-Arms at $14.95 a set, which most places sell them around $12.00. This will translate into a full RPM A-Arm set for just under $50.00. This isn’t a bad price, considering how much abuse these A-Arms are able to take.
I would recommend these arm to anyone who puts their truck through heavy abuse. These A-Arms are very strong, and do not seem to have any weak points to them. They have remained reliable run after run, and show no signs of heavy wear. The arms are high quality replacements and were very easy to install. They are a good alternative compared to stock replacements, even to the more advanced RC enthusiasts.
Pros:
Tough replacement compared to stock
High quality with very little suspension slop
Two different upper arms with different camber angles
Easy replacement, easy to bolt on
Three different choices of colors, including an HPI matching purple
Cons:
Can be harder on other parts, since they are no longer a weakpoint in the suspension
The cost can be high when doing all four arms at once
All in all, the A-Arms have been a worthy buy for me. The many hours that I’ve put them through, they haven’t seemed to break a sweat. They haven’t budged, and seem to hold up really well. Overall, these arms have impressed me, and seem like a very good option part to think about for your Savage. RPM also carries a lifetime warranty on their products, but there are some guidelines you must follow to take advantage of the warranty. The abuse I have put my set of arms through have certainly violated the warranty, and they still haven’t failed at their job and continue to be a rock solid product.
Tuning: 7 (You only have two upper camber selections)
Maintenance: 10 No maintenance, other than oiling the hinges
Value: 10 I can't break them... They are tough arms!
Directions: 9 Simple enough to follow, not extremely detailed
Quality: 10 Best looking arms ever. Really good quality!
Durability: 10 (I wanted to say 500..) Tough as all heck. I'm talking, WOT into many immovable objects, and they haven't broke.
Performance 8 They are a bit lighter then stock X arms, however; 15 times tougher. No adjustments other than 2 camber differences on upper a-arms.
[FONT="]“One of the main problems we found with stock suspension arms on these trucks is they have excess clearance built into them, making critical settings such as camber, caster & toe angles nearly impossible to lock down. RPM Savage & Savage-X A-arms have been engineered to strict tolerances and in some areas, we’ve eliminated as much as 0.051” (or in excess of 3/64”) of slop in the suspension system and completely eliminated the need for shim kits! These tighter-tolerance A-arms allow critical suspension settings to remain long after they’ve been set. Furthermore, our A-arms are still silky smooth throughout the entire range of suspension travel.” -[/FONT] http://www.rpmrcproducts.com/products/HPI/SavParts.htm#arms
Well shortly after breaking in my new Savage X RTR I broke my first A-Arm which was still stock. Over the years, I’ve seen many models with weak points in the A-Arms and usually have replaced them with RPM products. They’ve been known to have some quality products, especially in the suspension department.
Since then, I’ve put the RPM A-Arms through many abusive situations. Some things that I’ve noticed would even snap the best of stock or replacement A-Arms. They’ve remained very strong since I had purchased them, and they still have very little slop in any area that sees repeditive movement. They have not bent, twisted, or broke. They however do show some wear on the bottom where the surfaces have been scratched heavily by rough terrain, however this hasn’t affected their performance at all.
The problems I have had with the replacement A-Arms has been evident though. I’ve bent a couple A-Arm pins so far, but they were cheaper then replacing A-Arms after a serious crash. The added strength of the A-Arms will cause weaker parts to show their weaknesses and could end up causing other things to break instead of them. However, so far they haven’t caused any major problems with my truck. Run after run, they remain tough and don’t break, even with some direct hits on the wheels.
A set of these A-Arms won’t set you back a house payment, but might make you change your mind if you’re planning on putting them on all four corners of your truck. The A-Arms come in two kits, one is a Left Front or Right Rear, and the other is the Right Front or Left Rear. They range from around $11 to $13 dollars on average and come in three colors; purple, black and blue. One set will get you one wheel and it will require 4 sets to complete your truck with RPM A-Arms. However, each set comes with one lower arm and two upper arms giving the user an option of solid upper arms. The upper arms come in a 0 Degree camber or -2 Degree camber, giving the user a choice of which camber angle to run. Most advanced savage owners would rather run an adjustable setup where they can have full control over the camber angles. For the ametuer or novice owner, they have a selection of what to chose, without having to worry about these settings as much. RPM Retails the A-Arms at $14.95 a set, which most places sell them around $12.00. This will translate into a full RPM A-Arm set for just under $50.00. This isn’t a bad price, considering how much abuse these A-Arms are able to take.
I would recommend these arm to anyone who puts their truck through heavy abuse. These A-Arms are very strong, and do not seem to have any weak points to them. They have remained reliable run after run, and show no signs of heavy wear. The arms are high quality replacements and were very easy to install. They are a good alternative compared to stock replacements, even to the more advanced RC enthusiasts.
Pros:
Tough replacement compared to stock
High quality with very little suspension slop
Two different upper arms with different camber angles
Easy replacement, easy to bolt on
Three different choices of colors, including an HPI matching purple
Cons:
Can be harder on other parts, since they are no longer a weakpoint in the suspension
The cost can be high when doing all four arms at once
All in all, the A-Arms have been a worthy buy for me. The many hours that I’ve put them through, they haven’t seemed to break a sweat. They haven’t budged, and seem to hold up really well. Overall, these arms have impressed me, and seem like a very good option part to think about for your Savage. RPM also carries a lifetime warranty on their products, but there are some guidelines you must follow to take advantage of the warranty. The abuse I have put my set of arms through have certainly violated the warranty, and they still haven’t failed at their job and continue to be a rock solid product.
Tuning: 7 (You only have two upper camber selections)
Maintenance: 10 No maintenance, other than oiling the hinges
Value: 10 I can't break them... They are tough arms!
Directions: 9 Simple enough to follow, not extremely detailed
Quality: 10 Best looking arms ever. Really good quality!
Durability: 10 (I wanted to say 500..) Tough as all heck. I'm talking, WOT into many immovable objects, and they haven't broke.
Performance 8 They are a bit lighter then stock X arms, however; 15 times tougher. No adjustments other than 2 camber differences on upper a-arms.
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