jssouthtx
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 149
- Location
- New Braunfels TX
Got the rrp spur gear installed and 6 tanks run thru for break in. Soon as I find a pipe and some glow plugs it’ll get tuned.
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What did you do to your HPI Savage today?
- Thread starter SAVYDUNBROKE
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InTheZone
Active Member
- Messages
- 76
Went to balance my heavy beadlocks and big Joe's, got two wheels done and definitely didn't have enough weights/material to do the other two. Ordered some 1/4 oz weights on amazon along with some more wheel weight tape by dynamite so I'm not wasting an entire roll on two wheels again.
Also stopped by a small mechanic shop that had an offroad track and talked with the owner for a bit about being out and getting back in. I'll bring my savage up there today or tomorrow if I'm not at work too late. The track seems better suited for a buggy as there's smaller jumps and a section of continuous tight turns, almost like a slalom and seeing how wide my truck is it's going to be slow in that part but the rest isn't as congested.
I'm still on the lookout for any hilly areas with open fields just for bashing. I'll see how the savage runs in the track, if I like the track but feel the track is too tight or small I may end up getting a stadium truck or buggy just for that.
And here's some pictures if my X-Spede Aluminum Big Bores I installed last week.
edit: well I broke my pull start today when I was trying to go on my 3rd tank. I tried to keep the pulls as short as possible considering I'm over the fuel tank and away from the engine guard. The return spring is the culprit if I had to guess, can't remember how many springs I broke on my last engine or on my nitro rs4 2 back in the day. But guess what, I ordered another pull start assembly when I got this motor so I'll be seeing if they can give me a replacement. I looked for spare springs and couldn't find any.
follow up edit: Pull start wasn't broken, it's a defective design in the backplate and/or pull start housing. Here's my test - I removed the back plate with the one way bearing attached and was testing the pull start mechanism. When I lay the backplate up and rest the pull start I can see there's a very slight gap between the two. When I push them together as if the pull start were screwed down the pull start then struggles to retract after pulling. It seems the ring from the backplate that centers around the one-way shaft adapter is the culprit because it pushes against the internals of the pull start housing when they're seated together. It appears if I were to add a gasket between the pull start housing and backplate to prevent that center point from binding the pull start would work perfectly.
Lucky for me I have some unused 1/32" gasket maker sheets that I've had for at least 5 years for my real cars so I went looking for it to make sure I still had it and I do. I'm going cut a template of the outer portion of the pull start with this gasket, this will allow the housing to still be sealed, but will create a big enough gap to prevent the assembly from binding. I could also shave about 1-2mm from the center of the rotating pull start assembly, but I'd rather just create a gasket and not worry about messing anything up. So glad the engine and original pull start is good
Also stopped by a small mechanic shop that had an offroad track and talked with the owner for a bit about being out and getting back in. I'll bring my savage up there today or tomorrow if I'm not at work too late. The track seems better suited for a buggy as there's smaller jumps and a section of continuous tight turns, almost like a slalom and seeing how wide my truck is it's going to be slow in that part but the rest isn't as congested.
I'm still on the lookout for any hilly areas with open fields just for bashing. I'll see how the savage runs in the track, if I like the track but feel the track is too tight or small I may end up getting a stadium truck or buggy just for that.
And here's some pictures if my X-Spede Aluminum Big Bores I installed last week.
edit: well I broke my pull start today when I was trying to go on my 3rd tank. I tried to keep the pulls as short as possible considering I'm over the fuel tank and away from the engine guard. The return spring is the culprit if I had to guess, can't remember how many springs I broke on my last engine or on my nitro rs4 2 back in the day. But guess what, I ordered another pull start assembly when I got this motor so I'll be seeing if they can give me a replacement. I looked for spare springs and couldn't find any.
follow up edit: Pull start wasn't broken, it's a defective design in the backplate and/or pull start housing. Here's my test - I removed the back plate with the one way bearing attached and was testing the pull start mechanism. When I lay the backplate up and rest the pull start I can see there's a very slight gap between the two. When I push them together as if the pull start were screwed down the pull start then struggles to retract after pulling. It seems the ring from the backplate that centers around the one-way shaft adapter is the culprit because it pushes against the internals of the pull start housing when they're seated together. It appears if I were to add a gasket between the pull start housing and backplate to prevent that center point from binding the pull start would work perfectly.
Lucky for me I have some unused 1/32" gasket maker sheets that I've had for at least 5 years for my real cars so I went looking for it to make sure I still had it and I do. I'm going cut a template of the outer portion of the pull start with this gasket, this will allow the housing to still be sealed, but will create a big enough gap to prevent the assembly from binding. I could also shave about 1-2mm from the center of the rotating pull start assembly, but I'd rather just create a gasket and not worry about messing anything up. So glad the engine and original pull start is good
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Last edited:
InTheZone
Active Member
- Messages
- 76
So I got the homemade gasket installed between the backplate and pull start assembly, and the unit now works very smoothly, pulling and retracting.
Also balanced the heavy beadlocks with some 1/4 oz weights and dynamite wheel balancing tape. I didn't drive the Savage to test, but when I drove my T4 with the balanced wheels the belts and car operated smoothly. Holding the car off the ground and revving also resulted in no crazy vibrations, tires ballooned evenly and looked straight. Should be similar with the Savage, hopefully it'll help with the wobble in the suspension arms
Also balanced the heavy beadlocks with some 1/4 oz weights and dynamite wheel balancing tape. I didn't drive the Savage to test, but when I drove my T4 with the balanced wheels the belts and car operated smoothly. Holding the car off the ground and revving also resulted in no crazy vibrations, tires ballooned evenly and looked straight. Should be similar with the Savage, hopefully it'll help with the wobble in the suspension arms
InTheZone
Active Member
- Messages
- 76
Alright, going to single-handedly keep this thread alive lol
Truck ran great with the balanced wheels, infinitely less vibration in the suspension, which was a problem before all around the arms. Was still messing with tuning, but 2nd gear shift point is now where I want it. Need to play with 3rd gear now.
After topping off a 2nd time and am about to take off in the yard I noticed my left rear wheel was crooked. It had looked like the hub was broken or the wheel was somehow coming loose. Upon inspection I noticed the upper arm was popped out from the bulkhead, but my dogbone was still there. The stupid pin that secures the upper arm had fallen out. I was able to locate it in that section of the yard. I've never had a problem with this before, but my guess is the constant flexing of the wheelie bar caused the bumper arms to flex outward to allow the pin to eventually slide out. My fix was to take a medium/large size zip tie and wrap it around both bumper arms together in one piece. The zip tie is not tightened all the way, just snug around the arms so that when you push on the wheelie bar or front bumper those arms can no longer flex outward to allow this issue to happen again.
And I was going to run the truck for another tank. Got it started, gave it a few revs in air and noticed the front wheels weren't spinning...front dog bone was there but wasn't spinning. I think I may have finally broken my reverse module as nothing was spinning after reversing it or when putting it forward. Just yesterday I ordered parts for the reverse just in case I ever needed them, as I've never stripped those gears before.
My high torque Savox servo will be here tomorrow too so maybe I can finally keep the truck centered. My 14 year old MG Hitec servo can only partially turn the big joes while still and it's pretty easy to move the wheels by hand even though the servo post looks fully tight.
Truck ran great with the balanced wheels, infinitely less vibration in the suspension, which was a problem before all around the arms. Was still messing with tuning, but 2nd gear shift point is now where I want it. Need to play with 3rd gear now.
After topping off a 2nd time and am about to take off in the yard I noticed my left rear wheel was crooked. It had looked like the hub was broken or the wheel was somehow coming loose. Upon inspection I noticed the upper arm was popped out from the bulkhead, but my dogbone was still there. The stupid pin that secures the upper arm had fallen out. I was able to locate it in that section of the yard. I've never had a problem with this before, but my guess is the constant flexing of the wheelie bar caused the bumper arms to flex outward to allow the pin to eventually slide out. My fix was to take a medium/large size zip tie and wrap it around both bumper arms together in one piece. The zip tie is not tightened all the way, just snug around the arms so that when you push on the wheelie bar or front bumper those arms can no longer flex outward to allow this issue to happen again.
And I was going to run the truck for another tank. Got it started, gave it a few revs in air and noticed the front wheels weren't spinning...front dog bone was there but wasn't spinning. I think I may have finally broken my reverse module as nothing was spinning after reversing it or when putting it forward. Just yesterday I ordered parts for the reverse just in case I ever needed them, as I've never stripped those gears before.
My high torque Savox servo will be here tomorrow too so maybe I can finally keep the truck centered. My 14 year old MG Hitec servo can only partially turn the big joes while still and it's pretty easy to move the wheels by hand even though the servo post looks fully tight.
Savage 6768
Active Member
- Messages
- 100
- Location
- New Zealand
Got to run a couple of 6s packs with my new ebay special wheels. Thought they might be a bit soft but so far pretty good and the rubber seem to be handling the power Also gives the truck a wider stance than my previous wheels 
- Messages
- 2,627
- Location
- Dekalb, IL 60115
Wow! Those are really out there!
Savage 6768
Active Member
- Messages
- 100
- Location
- New Zealand
Yep shes pretty wide now and I am running the XL wide axles to. Suppose I could swap over the axles from my savage cd conversion and see how that goes
- Messages
- 2,627
- Location
- Dekalb, IL 60115
I put the wide super HD cups/axles on my X so I could run 0 offset wheels. The intent was to run 3.8" trenchers, but they were too hard on it and made it tough to tune right. Before, I was running 1/2" offest wheels with stubby super HD cups/axles. I don't think I'd like the extra leverage running 1/2" offset wheels with the longer shafts. Make it too likely to break stuff on bad landings... which I tend to have a lot of.
Savage 6768
Active Member
- Messages
- 100
- Location
- New Zealand
Went back and had another look, got the tape measure out it was 470mm wide from outside tire to tire so I have now swapped the axles out of my savage cd v2. Also had some 17mm truggy hubs so have used them on the XL. New measurement now 440mm and looks better plus should reduce the strain on the axle bearings. The Savage CD v2 will now get the XL axles
so I have now swapped the axles out of my savage cd v2. Also had some 17mm truggy hubs so have used them on the XL. New measurement now 440mm and looks better plus should reduce the strain on the axle bearings. The Savage CD v2 will now get the XL axles 
NitroNick
Active Member
- Messages
- 96
Decided to do something a little different with my wheel setup. I’ve always liked the Hellfire tires so I decided to match them up with some Warlock flat chrome wheels and I really like it. I’m going to white out the “aggressors” logo soon. ?
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NitroNick
Active Member
- Messages
- 96
It took me 3 hours and change but I finally finished installing the MIP CVD kit on my 25. I also installed a new header and pipe from Novarossi. I probably could have picked a better header for the truck but this was my first time ordering anything so wasn’t sure what to expect. I think it looks killer though ??
Attachments
- Messages
- 2,627
- Location
- Dekalb, IL 60115
I never had good luck with the HPI wheels. Even with 17mm, I'd tend to round a hex out.
I've got two sets of warlock wheels, never rounded a hex. Pays to be vigilant with the wheel nuts I guess.
- Messages
- 2,627
- Location
- Dekalb, IL 60115
I was. The hex would usually strip when I was removing the wheel nut and it was stuck. I stripped 2 or 3 of those wheels removing the wheel nut. Then I'd have to totally destroy the wheel with a dremel to cut the center out of it so I could put pliers on the actual hex to break the nut loose. I had that happen back in my t-maxx and aftershock days as well when I ran 14mm hexes...I've got two sets of warlock wheels, never rounded a hex. Pays to be vigilant with the wheel nuts I guess.
That makes more sense. Perhaps for whatever reason the molds for HPI's wheels have a bit of tolerance in the hex. Quality control isn't fantastic in hobby stuff. Luckily mine have been tight.
- Messages
- 2,627
- Location
- Dekalb, IL 60115
Doesn't help that the 17mm hexes that come on the savage's don't have the sharpest of corners to really lock in to the hex on the wheel.
True enough.
@NitroNick, you could try Hot Racing's Warlock hex kit. Likely wouldn't have an issue then.
https://hot-racing.com/?partnumber=HSF10X07;c=462
- Messages
- 2,627
- Location
- Dekalb, IL 60115
InTheZone
Active Member
- Messages
- 76
I got a notification on ebay a few days back that someone listed the high speed 3rd gear set so I snatched that up as soon as I could and it just came in the mail today. I had found another previously, but found out the kit was incomplete and missing the smaller gear. At the time I thought that might've been my only chance to find this rare piece.
I also have a novarossi roto start ready to install and I've yet to install the sway bar kit. I'll be tackling those this week, but my luck is that after being scorching hot and dry for 3 weeks it's going to pretty much rain nonstop for a week.
I also have a novarossi roto start ready to install and I've yet to install the sway bar kit. I'll be tackling those this week, but my luck is that after being scorching hot and dry for 3 weeks it's going to pretty much rain nonstop for a week.
- Messages
- 2,627
- Location
- Dekalb, IL 60115
Just ordered a 48T RRP spur for my flux as I went from 17/47 to help with esc heat to 16/47, but the mesh is a hair loose for my taste. So figured 1 more tooth on the spur would help without grinding the chassis plate, then having a hard time getting at the outer motor mount screws. Ordered a range of pinions to have a spare 16T and 13/14 for my outcast. Also ordered some odd looking slipper pads for the savages. Not sure if they are any good, but figured I'd give them a try as I only have 1 or 2 left with old plastic spurs I ordered and never used many years ago for my nitros.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DJ2BCB8
Will take a while to get here and not sure what they are made of.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DJ2BCB8
Will take a while to get here and not sure what they are made of.
Biddie_fiddler
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 332
- Location
- Perth, WA
Tried the rig out on 6s at 50% power and pooed a little
