Oops....I missed the point :angel:

The Castle HV controller will be car- specific ( or truck I suppose ), and will have brakes and reverse. If you really arent worried about that, then I'd say pickup one of their current ICE HV controllers, or for a cheaper option their is that hobbyking 200amp monster controller ( and numerous similar boat or plane escs ). The only trouble with alot of those kind of escs is that they wont work with pistol radios without a special adaptor called a 'Pistix'- it converts the throttle signal into something the esc can interpret ( since boats/ planes dont have reverse normally, but a car does, so the signal a pistol radio sends out is different to that of a stick radio ).

has anyone seen what the new truck specific esc will look like??? maybe they will have a built in cooling fan??? If so i woldnt mind waiting... Are there any pics of them?

here is a quick run on dirt... I was using my dish rims for this and dirt bonz

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fh7-wU71z-w

after this vid i caught a bit of air, cartwheeled and stripped m y plastic servo horn, i have an alloy one on there now

I found some more dirt places to run, and the truck is getting run hard...

Blew anotehr tire yesterday! THIS IS SO ANNOYING!

first my dirt claws now my dirt bonz... so 2 pairs of tires now useless!
Back on stock for the time being... cant decide what new tires to get.

Also has anyone got any tips for keeping dirt and dust out of the esc? im worried about rocks etc getting in there! but i dont want to restrict air flow

A thin pair of tights stretched over the esc should do the trick, just trim and secure as required- a well placed scrap of plastic ( lemonade bottle? ) can act as a good deflector too.

As for the esc, its only at the beta stage so no pictures until its offical release saddly; I have a feeling it will look like the other ICE controllers, no idea about a fan.

ill try it out neil and monitor the temps ... thanks
im considering badlands now... I will put them on dish rims and order some prolines road rages for the spis...

I chucked on the stock tires and they have changed the handling so much

Firstly i can no longer corner.
It wheelies very easily now, and the car is uncontrollable!

Just a few passes.
By the way the wheels have no offset so it the wheels are scrapping the body at times


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7LeFcsJRTc

Also this afernoon i managed to strip my stock tranny gears apart from my 39t idler gear and hd drive gear! Lucky i have some light weight gears to go in... Pics are coming

In a word: fast...

Managed to take the truck out today and it was not a good day!!!

Firstly i blew up another tire!!! Seriously i think these dirt claws tires are weak!!! Ive blown two tires out of 3 times of running the truck! The other time i blew my dirt bonz!!! Remember these tires are strapped aswel!!! LOOK AT HOW THEY BALLOON!!!

Also, i havent checked yet but i think i blew my rear dif as well!!! Im pissed off as i need to source all these products again!
I dont think strapping tires does enough! I may look into the fishing line mod to prevent them from ballooning!!!

At 35 seconds you can hear the tire pop! and at the end before stopping the vid was when i blew my rear diff!!! Do you think i could get HPI to send me a new one as these arent meant to explode so easily!???

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1Zzdq5DCXk

Some guys also punch small holes in their tyres to let the air out as they expand- whether that actually works or not I wouldnt like to say. My cure for burst tyres ( never had one, ever ) is to use Imex Jumbo Clawdawgs- they are soooo thick that they will happily balloon like crazy but never pop, just had to reglue them to the rim a few times.

HPI should send you some new diffs ( may need a picture as proof, no big deal )- if they werent bullet proof ones then they definately will, if they were bullet proof then they shouldnt have stripped; will have to dismantle them for inspection either way.

Only thing I can say really is to tone down the puch a bit and avoid the crazy burnouts and spins, those put alot of stress on the diffs vs normal driving up & down or following an imaginary track so to speak.

I will consider doing the hole trick, but i think the only way to prevent it all together is with the fishing line... Maybe i didnt strap it enough and it all came loose...

I think i will replace my dirtclaws with badlands on the spi rims, and use the dirt claws on a dish rim and get some on road tires like the phaltlines or hopefully i win these cheap 40 series roadrage tires on axial rims...

Took the car out yesterday on the new badlands...
But one of the strapped tires came unstrapped so as i type this i am boiling it off the rim, and going to restrap it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4cgABVuSGs

those badlands are nice I would like to get them for my xt8

swift they are great!!!

I am having big problems with my savage tranny and gearing!!!!

My gears are dying very quickly i have noticed! Gears are being changed every 5 runs or so. My pinion has held up for 8 runs and now i have stripped it... I was using a hardened one too, not stock!

I am eventually going to look into an centre diff conversion as to get rid of the extra gears set up in a tranny.......

But i can anyone point me in the direction of the strongest pinion gears made by anyone please... i know they are meant to wear out but not in less than 10 runs!

Mike makes the best hardend steel pinions- they are in the rc-monster shop under ' rc-monster parts'. Are you running a plastic or steel spur? that might explain the pinions wearing out quickly...

Of course i am using a metal spur... Not a hardened one though. I would prefer my weak point being the spur as it is easier to change more frequently than my pinion.

Thanks neil, ill have a look at the hardened pinions in the rcmonster shop... is there any specific one that would suit my needs better than other do you think?

which one is the strongest for my needs and the correct pitch etc...???

http://www.rc-monster.com/proddetail...nion5mm&cat=40

http://www.rc-monster.com/proddetail...1pinion&cat=40

http://www.rc-monster.com/proddetail...1pinion&cat=40

http://www.rc-monster.com/proddetail...mpinion&cat=40

Thanks

Jahay: Could you take a pic of your steering servo to servo saver linkage including it's proximity to the motor please?

Yes i can, but i will tell you now that i am having problems finding a small enough servo horn that will clear the motor if thats what you are getting at? This week i will be dremeling a part of the motor mount away to allow enough clearence...

New Compilation vid of the truck...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxET4OFe7mM

Im now seriously looking to carry out a centre diff mod and i am going to try and utilise my current driveshafts.
I think the slipper diff is the way to go as it can take some impact from bad landings etc... plus its smaller and therefore lighter....

I just need to work out a way of getting a decent mount figure out a way of fitting it to the savage....

I think a switch to plastic spurs is needed- even with a non-hardend steel spur it will still eat pinions pretty quickly, especially ones that arent hardend ( well ) either; got to bear in mind that the pinion spins twice roughly for everytime the spur spins once, so the pinions will wear out alot quicker. A locked down slipper should help prevent too much spur-melting slippage.

neil i would be happy to change spurs on a more frequent basis as they are simple and quick to change...

If i use a plastic spur, does that mean my metal pinion shouldnt really experience any wear???
So what are the toughest brand of plastic spurs then???

The pinions will pretty much last for years when used against plastic spurs, especially hardend ones- aluminium pinions will wear don faster but still last a long time ( seen a few pics, they end up with teeth that look like a circular saw blade! :lol: )

Generally speaking 99% of spurs are made form nylon, pretty tough material that doesnt wear down too quickly unless you set a realy bad mesh or you land on-throttle ( usually chip a few teeth off doing that once too often ). I've ran the same spurs for dozens of sessions and only ever damaged them from a melted slipper or bent motor mount (whole motor swung towards the spur and the pinion ate the teeth off it- 30mph crash into concrete steps will do that... :whistle: ).

You may get lucky and find some delrin spur gears from somewhere like integy or gpm ( actually one of the few good parts they make ), but otherwise the stock spurs will* be fine.

*more than likely anyway... :mdr:

awesome truck! hey was the grass wet or something in the video. how come your truck slides around like that in grasss?

thanks for the help neil... will take that all on board, and look into the delrin gears... If you can help in the slipperential section please do so... Im asking about Mounts and the slipperential... THANKS

Blue - in some parts of the vid, the truck is running just rear wheel drive, where it looks obvious that it is sliding around way to easily. But other times when i am doing donuts, its just gd control. usually the grass grips too much and flips it over. Thanks!

So a little update on the truck and whats been going on.....
I have been having a lot of problems recently with my steering:
- Getting full throw (motor mount is in the way so needed to relocate the servo
- Stripping 2 alloys servo horns (dont know how)
- Ripped the plastic steering bar that connects to both steering rods and steering posts! (Replaced with a metal one and screws continouslly fall out!)

willl get pics of this up tonight.

Problems with the tranny holding together and pinions stripping:
http://i878.photobucket.com/albums/a...7/DSC00314.jpg

Tires blowing
http://i878.photobucket.com/albums/a...7/DSC00317.jpg

I also destroyed one of my HD Axle extenders (will get pics later) i think i overtightened the bolt and it just snapped off were the thread was!

Some pics of the truck at the moment

http://i878.photobucket.com/albums/a...7/DSC00326.jpg
http://i878.photobucket.com/albums/a...7/DSC00330.jpg
http://i878.photobucket.com/albums/a...7/DSC00323.jpg


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mS9ziX12FaM

If your screws keep falling out like that then just use some blue threadloc & apply it the day before hand. Im suprized you're having such bad tranny issues really- I;ve seen a few flux & converted nitro savage trannies have issues, but not quite so bad as yours; centerdiff would be a great durability upgrade, and Mike has the generic version in stock currently, you'd just have to mount it to a custom bottom plate/ skid etc ( the Candyman could help you as he's UK based & a God of custom fabrication for r/c related stuff ). Ebay would be your cheapest option for alloy steering parts, though have a good rummage for other brand parts just incase ( like GPM or some other 'off' brand stuff ).

Flies pretty well for such a big truck, that 'clop' sound as it lands is kinda disconserting though :lol:

How are the cheapo alloy big bores holding up? Any leakage?

Shocks mounts also look a bit diff to the stock. Would they be able to be drilled to 4mm?

I've seen that happen before with the axle extenders. Third post down

The screw can not be threadlocked as it goes into plastic. Ill see what i can do. I have now managed to strip 2 aluminium servo horn.
What are the strongest servo horns out there for a futaba fitting?

I have been speaking to candyman and he has agreed to help me out. Havent decided what exactly i am going to do regarding the CD but i have a couple options. Just a little limited by funds currently.

I have my eye on the GH Steering bell crank kit so ill wait for that.

Also regarding the loud bangs and the truck on the jumps...
It is a large truck and i think that when i jump next time i will use my plastic shocks which allow full travel.
I guess it was hitting the ground hard as i was using my lowered shocks set up for handling.
But although it was hitting the ground hard, we all know the savage can take that sort of abuse.

@dv The alu big bores after these jumps (and i have done some big ones) have held up extremely well and i am very very happy with them considering the price i got them for. I am still eventually going to get the titanium shock shafts for them, but none have bent thus far and i am pleased.

Regarding the shock mounts, i know of people drilling them to 4mm and using a thicker screw... But people did that with larger shocks like LST and Baja shocks.
Its not necessary but i will def look into it eventually.

I saw that issue with the axle extenders... i think i may have just tightened it way too much. My wheel came off just driving in a straight line!

The truck is not out of commision for a little bit until i can get my steering sorted out. But my Steering servo arm is restricted and hitting my motor mount. So realistically i have to do my CD and Motor mount installation so i can place the steering servo back in its original location and give me the space needed for the servo arm to move if you catch my drift....

Got some more pics... And need some help...

Anyway here is the result after overtightening the nut on my axle... Drove 10 seconds and literally fell off.

http://i878.photobucket.com/albums/a...7/DSC00408.jpg

I have been having bad steering problems recently... Mainly because my motor mount is getting in the way of my servo horn. So i had to move my servo outside of the TVPs... So i had to do a custom temporary job and wondering what else i could use which is stronger and more reliable... Some pics of what i have had to do...

http://i878.photobucket.com/albums/a...7/DSC00339.jpg

[IMG]http://i878.photobucket.com/albums/a...7/DSC00340.jpg[/IMG]

I was also experiencing steering throw problems and found out i was being obstructed by my steering bar... So i found where it was hitting and dremeled it to work properly... here is what the after math after one cart wheel

http://i878.photobucket.com/albums/a...7/DSC00409.jpg

This is why i have decided to go with the GH steering assembly....

But has anyone got any advice one what i can do to replace the temporary screw that goes between my servo saver and my servo? What other things would you use?

I am thinking once i put my centre diff in and mount the motor off the motor plate, then i will be able to return the steering servo back within the tvps and use the stock connecting arm, but for now i need something else.

A few things just to liven this post up a bit...

Here is my temporary steering assembly. I made it out of combining a GPM Steering assembly and the stock servo saver. I will be using this till i have funds to get the GH Assembly...

http://i878.photobucket.com/albums/a...7/DSC00411.jpg

http://i878.photobucket.com/albums/a...7/DSC00413.jpg

My new tyres just for jumping purposes... My smaller wheels do not have the weight to give me good control over the length of the truck in the air... I originally ordered Joes but these MOABS came by accident. I dont really care now and i think the moabs have a thicker side wall for soaking up heavy landings correct?

http://i878.photobucket.com/albums/a...7/DSC00424.jpg

http://i878.photobucket.com/albums/a...7/DSC00425.jpg

After a bash on the weekend and after a bad crash (will get the vid up later)

I shredded my pinion if you can see it in the pic below...
http://i878.photobucket.com/albums/a...7/DSC00426.jpg

And i am not entirely sure, but my rear shock tower shouldnt be bent this far forward correct?

http://i878.photobucket.com/albums/a...7/DSC00427.jpg

Is it time for a new one?

haaa my towers did that

some are saying, that it should be fine for now... some are saying i should change it?
Maybe ill run them for a little longer, when it gets worse, ill change them

I would say change now to avoid possible shock damage. You would be suprised how much further they bend under impact. I'm trying to devise a way to support the back of the tower for my build.

i was thinking today, and thought if there was a way or connecting both shock towers with some thin aluminium. THat would help support both shock towers correct?

You could get a long rectangular piece of aluminium, sit it on top of both shock towers (so its stretching from one to another. Drill 2 holes either end so the body posts can slide through and sit in their original place, and mount the shock towers as low as posible to hold the aluminium in place. Wont be pretty but it could work???

I know the shock towers bend a lot, my carbon fibre PRC wing mount which helped strengthen the rear shock tower, broke on a small roll over due to the shock tower flexing so much. I am going to make a replacement wing mount, with a similar design in aluminium when i can be bothered to do it. I may do one for the front while i am at it.

I was thinking of connecting the shock tower from the back of the shock bolt to a hole in the tvp with tierod ends.

hmmm i may look at that idea when i get home. Thanks for the tip

i put tubes from inside nut to inside nut on the shock top bolts. from front left to rear left, and front right to rear right. cured the bending. tube just sits over the nut

What kind of tubes? pics?