Until someone with Savage experience chimes in, I would say you have to find a way to secure the centrifugal clutch to second gear, similar to how the Revo tranny is done. You should try a few ideas and then post the one that works (and least expensive). :smile:

Sounds good to me. I will play with it tonight and see what i come up with. Will post my findings when i figure it all out.

I had come up with two ideas for the Revo. V1 lasted about 2-3 runs. V2 is still working. Just consider yourself in the R&D stage of development. :smile:

The only thing i would like to accomplish is that the mod is not permanent. That way if i ever need the 3 gears i can still use it. And not to mention i only have the 3 speed and it would be a waste of money if i couldnt EVER use it that way again.

Well, that might be difficult. Clutches don't have a lot of spare material that you can modify and still allow it to work if you decide to. But, you could always pick up a spare clutch/second gear and put it in a ziplock bag with all the other unneeded gears/parts you pulled out as a result of the mod. Most likely, once you get used to the simplicity of fewer parts to break and having brake/reverse, you'll probably never want to go back unless you decide to make it a high speed only vehicle where all the gearing is needed.

I think I've thought about retaining the two speed on my Revo twice and quickly changed my mind. Wasn't worth it for what is gained.

Well i was thinking more along the lines of if i ever had to sell it. Would bring a little more value if it was actually a 3 speed and not modded. but like you said i can always get the 2nd gear stuff as extras to replace it back to stock. I really dont see me selling any of this but you never know i guess. I have had 3 savages. I sell them cause im bored than buy another cause i want one again. this last time was to convert it to BL though. I do the same with the kyosho st-r. Have had 4 different ones. Gonna get a 5th to convert that to BL.

Okay i think i got it. I took the tranny apart and took of the 1st and 3rd gear. I took the 2nd gear clutch and took the grub screw out that adjust the clutch sensitivity. I then held the clutch open and soldered it. I then put the clutch back in the gear and soldered it all the way around and held it to the gear. So far it has worked great. If it doesn't hold i will tact weld the clutch to the gear. Problem i have now though is my motor is very hot after a run. But just the motor. According to the rule of thumb i am under geared. But i am already at 16/47. I know the motor will run hotter because of the motor brakes but i am just worried about smoking the motor. I will have to get exact temps, just have to find my telemetry for my nomadio.

Cool. I'm curious to see how well the solder holds up. Is it the typical lead/tin type? If that starts bending too much (solder tends to be kinda soft), maybe JBWeld can be the next step. I tried something similar with my Revo tranny (mod V1) except with epoxy since the gears are plastic. It didn't hold up, but then again, it was epoxy, not metal. Be careful when welding since the heat may make the gears more brittle.

The rule of thumb usually holds true, but if increasing your gearing isn't helping, try reducing the gearing instead.

I haven't played with the gearing yet. I loaded a whole bunch of solder in there so i am not sure how long it will hold. Like you said it is soft. Didn't really expect a whole lot just a test to see how well this setup would work and i like it. But if it holds like this i am going to leave it. Once this is all said and done i will do a write up of how to lock it in 2nd. The motor brakes are great, and the speed is incredible. And now i need taller gearing which will make it faster, :gasp:.

I think you can loosen or tighten the shift point screw to a point where it stays in top gear and doesn't shift back down. I haven't tried it yet, I am waiting for the mmm combo. With this, I dont think you will have motor brakes though.

I am wondering, when the motor brakes or coasts, does it act as a generator and put electricity back into the batteries? That may be a good reason to lock the tranny. I still have mechanical brakes, so this would be another reason to lock the tranny. Would it be too difficult to make your own tranny?

Well i am not sure if it puts energy back in the batteries or not. But the one less servo will save power and weight. Also the motor brakes are amazing. You could seriously get going good and slam the brakes and make it do a forward flip. Not recommending it but you could. So far i like the locking option better.

I have dual metal brakes and I can easily do a frontflip as it is.:wink: I dont need more braking power at all. I have the stock steering servo. It may have helped a lot that I modded my brake lever like this.

The slipperential would solve all these problems. I wrote Mike about it twice now and received no reply.