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My Custom SAVAGE XL build!

8K views 22 replies 5 participants last post by  TTV8RA23 
#1 ·
Hey guys. I have here a Savage flux. Running standard motor and ESC i run it on 2X 2s 7600mah lipos. It goes plenty fast enough for me, no need to step up to 6s yet.

When i got it it was standard. It handled like a pig rolled over at the first sign of a corner and flipped on its roof at the slightest stab on the throttle! I have done a heap of work to it since.
First i bought the XL length chassis and widener kit. I have been running this for quite a while now. The standard TVPs are weak though and i have straightened them out many times. I have a few different sets of tires that i use, Standard ones, Road Rages, Phaltlines, and Big joes.
I have installed a set of RPM top arms with the -2 degrees camber. I run 40wt oil and hellfire springs at all 4 corners, with 20mm droop spacers which essentially lowered the truck about 40%. I run a sway bar up front and sometimes one on the back too. I run Vorza cups and Hotbodies internals in both diffs. Vorza cups are used to get rid of the weak 10mm ID bearing. I run 100k oil in both diffs. I like to drift and slide about rather than lift a wheel and spin the inside tire. I will put some pics up of it as it is now tomorrow morning.

Now for the bit i have been excited about for a couple of weeks! I had quite a bad crash the other day into a car tire at about 60kmh and this smashed the battery box and mounts so i jumped on the net to buy a couple parts to get it all fixed up and got a bit carried away, so as well as the battery boxes and a few other bits and pieces i bought these

Its pretty much everything you can buy from Alza Racing http://shop.alza-racing.com/index.php As well as a set of HD hub carriers, Alloy toe links for the steering, HD Alloy steering setup and servo spring and a set of Integy +12mm hubs. I havent heard great things about the hubs but i thought i would give them a go anyway.




These are a set of HD TVPs these i bought just incase i want to run a body ever again! Im a bit over them at the moment they cost quite a bit and dont last very long at all.


These next few photos are the buggy look chassis which i really like the look of and it does away with the need to run a body! Its also got fitted alloy battery tray mounts, alloy XL skid plate, HD extra length motor mount plate and alloy servo mount plate.









Sorry about the blurry photos it was very difficult to get the camera to focus for some reason.

So tomorrow i fit it all. As well as the HD MG servo i have. I also bought a small water proof receiver box. I plan on waterproofing the ESC and the servo as well so i can accidently splash through a puddle and not SH!T myself about frying my truck. I dont want to go drowning it like a SUMMIT just want a bit of piece of mind when driving near puddles.
Ill put up some pics of the truck how it looks now in the morning:confused: and maybe even weigh it so i can compare the the before and after product. Im really looking forward to seeing how it all looks put together.
Cheers
Simon
 
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#3 ·
mate thats looks bloody sweet! i wanna see that installed on the savage. i want that chassis! so i dont have to run a body, if you ever want to run a body and dont want that chassis pm me ;) haha my body is already smashed up. i bought some integy rear hubs, a fair bit of people have them so they must be alright! mine should come soon, hopefully today. my bigger motor turned up too, cant wait to finally run her again :) show us your car too ha
cheers
 
#4 ·
Bundy Racer your thinking of the hub carriers i think and yes they are fine! I bought some +12mm hex hubs which i havent heard great things about so ill see how they go, in saying that though i fitted them and they just seemed too wide seen as im already running the XL wideners. The chassis actually allows the body to still fit over the top of it. You do have to raise the body posts about 3 holes. Haha yeah the bodys dont last long. I have wrecked couple now.

Onroadoffroad Im running standard ESC and motor it goes plenty hard enough for me, im running an HK 20kg servo and as mentioned the ali bell crank set up. The toe links are not that great im not real happy with them, they need spacers under them to give them the articulation without binding up. Its not a whole lot extra weight a couple hundred grams at the most. But yep the handling has changed but i dont know whether its cos now im running the fixed hub carriers i dont have lots of rear toe dialled in. This makes it alot more twitchy and harder to keep in a straight line at high speeds under power. But I am very happy with how it looks and handles. I spent 7.5 hours converting it all over today! I am very happy with how it looks its a completely different vehicle.

















And a few here before i did the conversion with the different wheels i run.


 
#7 ·
that looks sweet as! yeah im talking about the integy hub carriers! i bought orange off ebay because they where $10 cheaper haha don't forget the videos man, everyone loves them haha also do the 1/8 hex conversion to get rid of those $hit stock hexes. the 1/8 ones are so much better and its really easy to do!
cheers
 
#8 ·
I have no problem at all with the stock hexs. Just gotta do them up real tight. Like i have said three times now i bought some hubs but not running them yet. And yep would be cool to get some vids up but i dont have a decent camera or any experience editing etc. But will do my best to get some. My mate has a decent camera ill have to see how he goes behind the camera. Only another week of playing before i have to box them all up and send it over to Karratha!
Simon
 
#11 ·
BTW, i like the buugy look for the Savage. I have virtually all the stuff you got there but with the 4mm XL chassis. Going to build a 1717 and Mamba XL powered Savage. Might do the buggy thing to my other Flux.

Sent from my GT-I9210T using Tapatalk 2
 
#12 ·
Yep it was originally an HP. But the handling was disgusting thats why i have modded it so much and now it is awesome! It would roll over even looking at a corner and the slightest judicious throttle input would have it skidding down the road on its roof. It is a far more fun far more drivable truck now. Ill try get a video of it today. That sounds like it will be a beast big block. Not really sure why you would need to do that but ah well excess is always awesome! Mine i still have trouble controlling it on 4s and it never breaks so its good. I lie actually, had a pretty violent roll last night and it snapped one of the XL axles clean in half i was suprised actually cos it wasnt that bad. I think its the Low profile phaltlines having no big squishy rubber to provide a bit of absorption. The droop mod was the single biggest improvement in handling mod that i did. Its still very capable over rough ground and flys over it at very high speed dancing round like a demented spider!
Simon
 
#13 ·
Agreed on the droop mod. Single biggest improvement on the Savage. Sway bars and adjustable upper arms actually make the Savage kind of fun to throw around. Stil no where near truggy handling but you wouldnt expect it to be neither.
As far as the beast in the making.......no one needs that much. Even the good ol' 1515 Tork motor can throw the Savage XL around with ease as you know but hey.........I have to live up to my nickname. LOL. Go BIG or go home is my moto.
Which dogbone did you shear? I always bend one of the rear ones. I have tried everything to remedy this but it keeps happening. I even carry a magnet on a string so I can find the dogbone in the taller grass. :( Never sheared on though. Thats odd.
Need to go have a look at Alza site but I just know it will cost me. Also have a Baja that I want to convert so I just know my CC will get raped if I click on the site. LOL

Sent from my GT-I9210T using Tapatalk 2
 
#14 ·
Yep i run sway bars and the -2degrees arms from RPM and they help hugely. But like you say still handles like a dump truck compared to my mates Mugen truggy. Hopefully the new toy i have in the pipeline will be here in a month or so and that should sort out my handling desires. Fully modded 5ive-T.
Anyway a few more pics of the savage.







New shock protector i made up. Sort out one of the last weak links in the truck. I am spending less and less time on the roof as i get better at steering it but still it only takes one good skid upside down to wreck a shock top. I wrecked the 20kg HK Servo the other day. Nothing serious no big crashes/loads dunno why it done poos. So i guess ill spend the money and buy a good one now.
Simon
 
#15 ·
Looks killer. I am really liking the buggy look mate. Now have to get one. The shock tower guards are very good idea. Might have to copy that too.

I have a few of the Savox HV servos and have to say they are fantastic. Pumping 8V through them via Castle BEC and they are very powerful. Seem very durable too as about a year on and zero failures. For the price they are unbeatable value.

Sent from my GT-I9210T using Tapatalk 2
 
#16 ·
#17 · (Edited)
#18 ·
Yeah im running basically all alloy steering setup now with HD servo saver spring so need something with considerably more grunt than that. Im amazed it even moves the wheels on the savage haha. Im gonna get one of the 7955tg that'll make it steer very well and i have heard nothing but good things about them. While im ordering it i might get three in anticipation for twin steering servo conversion in the future project.
Simon
 
#19 ·
Well the 7955tg is fitted up and jeez the steering is awesome now! Might have to get one for my Summit too as that is horrible at the moment.
I have been shifted into my new place in Karratha for a couple of weeks now. Had a bit of a mission on on the weekend. I went down to Mitre 10 and bought a couple of sheets of 18mm ply and some screws and oil came home and knocked up a nice big heavy set of shelves to put RCs and parts on. Bought a bunch of plastic containers and small draws and i have got it all very well sorted now instead of digging through the bloody big box that i sent them all over here from NZ in. I also scored a nice office chair and big desk to use as my work bench.

The shelves make the rest of my room look small lol. The shelves are bloody big. 1500 tall by 1200 wide by 600 deep. Just gotta get a couple more cars to fill them up now. Next Cars in line are the SC8.2e, Vorza flux, MT4 G3 not sure what order though, probably MT4, SC8, Vorza.
Im still bloody waiting on a diff housing to get here for my Trophy truggy so i can get that all put together with the new ali uprights hub carriers and steering knuckles. I wish there was an awesome LHS here in Karratha. I would happily pay shop prices and not have to wait for blimmin shipping!
Simon
 
#20 ·
Very nice setup there mate i had a similar mission on the weekend me and the mrs made a space for me in the garage to leave all my things rather than just packing it away all the time. But i went the lazy way and bought some 150kg shelving units from masters lol.
 
#21 ·
Thanks mate. It all came out far nicer looking than i was expecting. The top shelf wasnt supposed to be set back like that i actually made a **** up with my measuring and cut one shelf too short but then thought about it a bit i made it the top shelf and angled it back and it actually made it look better, turned it into a bit of a feature lol. Yeah i looked at the similar shelves to that at the hardware store but none they had were really big enough for the massive 5ive-T so for about $150 and 3-4hrs work i built these.
 
#22 ·
A few pics of the Savage. I went out for a bash the other day and it overheated and burnt the deans out in about 6 minutes of driving so i brought it home and took the 25tooth pinion off and fitted the 20tooth, so i soldered up some EC5 connectors to the truck the batterys and my charger. I took it out again today for a thrash and it still got quite warm but it was 40 degrees and i was running it very hard full noise full brake then full noise again. The Turnigy Nanotechs swelled quite bad. It was weird to as i was noticing a serious drop in power and then it would come back for a bit then go again so i stopped removed the batterys and found them quite swolen so feared the worst and headed home. I put my multimeter on them and they were both above 7 volts still so left them to cool down and the swelling went away. The drop in power is still concerning me though.

A few post thrash pics with the big joes. It still does standing back flips even on 4s lowered 50mm and heavier XL length Alza chassis on dusty dirt not even trying! This thing still amazes me even on 4s i think the 65c batterys help there. I cartwheeled it endoed it and gave it absolute death and it just kept coming back for more! The strength of this truck now i have done the necessary mods amazes me!





It was awesome! These big joes are great in this loose as aussie soil!
Simon
 
#23 · (Edited)
Well i finally got one of my other rigs going. Its a trophy truggy flux that i bought when i was still in perth. It was broken when i bought it and the parts have finally showed up to fix it. So i tore into it changed the diff housing over and put on a few choice upgrades. Put the Receiver back in it(i had borrowed rx and tx for my losi) put the batterys in it and gave it death except the wheels spun nice and hard but it didnt go anywhere! Wheels bloody spinning in opposite directions!! So ripped it back apart turned the crownwheel setup over put it all back together and it was away.

So i bundled up the Savage and the Truggy and went for a bash. I cant believe how much more violent the savage is considering they are both on 4s. The Truggy is so different to the savage! Its probably a full 2kgs lighter and jeez do you notice it. It handles alot better (despite all the handling mods to the savage) than the big girl but it doesnt accelerate like it and just lacks the nuts out power of it. I do like how it seems to dance over the rough ground though. Im thinking maybe upgrade to 6s capable ESC and seeing how that goes. Only thing im a bit worried about is the very weak looking center driveshafts they are only tiny so dont know whether this is a good idea. It hauls arse and handles very nice compared to the savage it just lacks the nutiness that i crave haha. Maybe selling it and upgrading to Vorza will be a better idea then getting too carried away with this.

It will have to wait though as then next car in line now that the 5ive-T is almost finished is another 5 but with more nutty power that we speak of. Im gonna go brushless this time. MGM speed controller and lehner motor running on 12s. Good for about 20hp. Cant wait to have my mate paid off in a months time so i can get stuck into it!
Simon
 
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